Chapter 4's basically the same as Chapter 3, except instead of being Michiko's chapter it's going to be...(dramatic pause)...Reiko's! The same timeline goes, so while Michiko's talking to Mafuyu, Reiko's wandering around looking for Michiko.
Overview: Reiko is slowly going insane, (I've always wanted a story with an insane person in it, finally my dream's come true!) with Kirie stalking her, the ghosts trying to kill her to prevent her from leaving, and with the rope burns silently draining her life, she starts to believe she can't handle it. The only thing keeping her alive and from not succumbing to her 'fated destiny' is the fact Michiko's looking for her. But is she really, or is she going to leave Reiko behind and save herself...?
Chapter 4
Chanting filled Reiko's ears...
The cold, bloodstained wheel-like table she was strapped down onto was uncomfortable, but not as uncomfortable as the five ropes tied to her neck, wrists, and ankles. She looked around at the four priests who had their hands on the pulleys, which had the ropes she was tied with wrapped tightly around them. Reiko raised her head slightly to look behind her and saw the master grasp the pulley that held the rope to her neck. She avoided looking at the mask that he wore at all costs, it terrified her, but she knew it was the master from the clothes. Without any warning the men started to move the pulleys, tightening the grip of the ropes.
Reiko screamed as she felt her skin pull away...
The blood that coursed through her veins slowed...
"Don't," Reiko whispered inaudibly, as the men paused momentarily. "Stop...please..."
The master and the priests pulled harder and Reiko screamed one last time as her bones crunched and her blood spilled...
Reiko bolted upright, still screaming. She breathed rapidly and brushed the sweat from her eyes. As she put her hands down on the floor, she could see ropes dangle from them and looking down at her ankles she could see the same thing. Reiko tried not to scream again at the sights, so she cried silently. As her tears stopped she heard noises from behind the kimonos next to her. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and stood up quickly. Reiko walked behind the nearest one and peered through the small gaps between the two hanging kimonos. A man stood in front of the door and looked around anxiously. Reiko held her breath for fear of being noticed by the stranger, but she wasn't, instead he walked to the other side of the room where there was a drawer.
Reiko backed away from the kimonos to catch a clear view of the man to see what he was doing. He leaned in front of the drawer and searched the floor for something.
"I have to find the key…where is it?" he muttered, his voice was far away though he was two feet from Reiko. "I left it here…I had to have."
The man turned, disappointed, and left the way he came. Reiko followed his path and looked down at the drawer. 'That's where I found the key,' she thought. 'It had a strange locking mechanism though. I'm surprised I thought of it.' She turned and came across the door. She put her hands on it, about to slide it open, when a sudden freeze made her think twice about going into the next room. Curious, she opened the door a crack and watched what was happening behind.
The man looked behind him in shock and ran to something out of Reiko's view. She decided he hid into the closet because she heard a door slide open, but not shut. The cold came nearer and Kirie came into Reiko's view. She almost fell back in fear and surprise, but remembered that this had to be a memory since the man hadn't seen her and that he wasn't a ghost…yet. Kirie went straight to the closet and Reiko heard the man's painful yell and bones crunch. Her hand went to her mouth and the vision slowly vanished.
After getting over the shock of the memory, Reiko decided to get out of the kimono room. 'I should go to the entrance,' she thought, somewhat happily. 'Maybe Michiko will be there.' Reiko was about to slide open the door when a hand grabbed her wrist. Startled, Reiko screamed and backed away from the door. The man who she had seen a moment ago stood in front of the door, slowly pushing it open, with his other hand writhing through the gap to grab Reiko. When Reiko saw the man in the doorway fully, she knew that this wasn't a memory, this was his spirit. And he wasn't happy. Reiko stared in surprise how much his appearance could change from being dead. His clothes were in tatters and he had bloody gashes on his limbs, where rope burns could still faintly be seen in the blurry apparition.
His arms reached out to Reiko, and he was about to grab her neck when she made a sudden decision to run through him. 'Well, you are dead, so this shouldn't hurt either of us.' Reiko put her hands up to face, instinctively, and dived through him. She screamed at the painful chill and crashed to the floor in shock. The ghost turned around slowly and passed back across the kimono he went through. Reiko turned her head to see how close he was, and pushed herself to her feet. Half crouching from the pain, she ran out the door into the hallway with the votive lamps. Not wanting to find out if he could phase through the walls, she ran to the door that led into the broken fireplace room. In here, Reiko relaxed slightly at the realization that there were no spirits in this room. She went through the rope hall and stopped after entering in the entrance hall.
The room was still in disrepair and the only light was from the lone candle by the stairs. Reiko walked carefully past the giant hole, not wanting to fall through it, and walked down the small set of stairs. She tried to push the doors open again, but they were still stuck, just like when Reiko tried the same thing when the doors slammed shut on them when they first came in. She went to different areas of the doors, but felt something across them. Reiko grabbed the rope and moved away so the light could shine onto it. 'No wonder I didn't see this when I tried to open the doors,' she thought as she looked at them more closely. 'They're the same color as the door, which is a gray for me.'
"How long do I have to see this stuff!" Reiko shouted at the ceiling. "Ghosts, memories, and all in gray! I want to get out of here, now!" Reiko kicked the door in anger and pounded her fist against it. "Where's Michiko? I can't leave here without her. Damn it! Someone answer me! Why can't we leave?"
No voice answered her. Reiko sighed sadly and was about to go back into the rope hall when a chill came back. Her hand tightened against the door and she waited for the ghost to sigh or speak or make any noise. But there wasn't any. Reiko turned her head and saw Kirie hovering over the hole. Reiko tried to open the door, but it wouldn't move either. Finally something snapped in Reiko, she was tired of being afraid and tired of being chased by ghosts. Her hand left the door and she faced Kirie defiantly.
"What the hell do you want?" Reiko asked, her temper rising. "I'm tired of you and your freaky friends chasing me and trying to kill me. Just let me and my sister get out of here! Why are you even keeping us here!"
Kirie floated over to Reiko and stayed a few inches away from her. Reiko didn't budge at all; she continued to stay in the same spot.
"You can't leave," Kirie hissed. "The ritual…it has to be finished." With that, Kirie vanished.
"That explains everything. Without that helpful sentence, I'd never have figured this out." Reiko paused. "This is driving me nuts! Everything about this place is insane!"
Reiko pushed her hair back and looked at the door again. 'No way out, huh?' Reiko felt dizzy and exhausted all of a sudden. There was no real place to lie down so she fell to the floor in front of the door. With her back against the door, she slowly fell asleep.
"I want to be able...to leave. Me...and Mafuyu both. I want the both of us...to leave and to move on." Kirie whispered.
She stood in front of a giant door that had a black smoke-like substance flowing out of it. Her hands were in front of her and seemed to be in some sort of prayer position, her black hair blew as if there was air coming from the door, and her white kimono shone brightly against the all black setting.
"I found...the perfect substitute. She can perform the ritual...and it won't fail like mine did back then. I just need time...for her to come back and for her to grow up. Just wait...please...she'll be perfect."
The ground rumbled as an answer. Kirie looked up at the giant doorway and smiled, almost insanely. Her figure changed and she was the same hateful being that chased Reiko.
"That's right...just a few more years and she'll come back. She'll set the both of us free..."
"Is that what you want?"
Kirie turned and saw Mafuyu standing by the Holy Mirror stand. She opened her mouth to talk, but he cut her off.
"You'll risk someone else's life so that we can leave? That's not what you would do. You wouldn't have ever thought of something that extreme. You wanted to stay here, and finish the ritual. You wanted to permanently stop the Malice and set all the souls free."
"I wanted to. Now I've thought more about it, and I don't want this fate."
"You were destined for it!" Mafuyu shouted, taking a small step forward, trying to avoid the darkness.
"I didn't want it," Kirie said coldly. "I never wanted to die."
"You can't change that. You're dead. So am I. That won't change. So, just leave it as it is."
"I won't," she stood in front of him. "I'll wait for her to come back...the ritual has to be performed properly and she's not of age yet. She's the right age to be chosen...and I've chosen her."
"How do you know that she'll come back?" Mafuyu asked confused. "For all you know she doesn't live nearby, she could be visiting."
"She'll come back," Kirie brushed past him and vanished. "I told her to...she'll come back."
Mafuyu stood there frozen for a few minutes later. He was amazed at how much Kirie changed and he was starting to become fearful of that. He was also confused about her last sentence. He walked back upstairs, thinking about what he could do, if he could do anything, to stop Kirie.
The memory faded and another invaded Reiko's thoughts…in this one it was a dark expanse, Reiko was the only thing there. She stepped forward and tried to see into the darkness but it was impossible.
"What now?" Reiko asked, her voice echoing.
A white light caused Reiko to shield her eyes, and Kirie stood before her, not as the angry spirit but as the peaceful one. She brushed her hair out of her eyes and Reiko could see how similar they looked. Not exactly the same, as if it were a mirror image, but still close enough that they could be relatives.
"Reiko Tetsuya, I've been waiting for almost ten years."
Reiko stepped back, worried that Kirie might attack her. "You've been waiting? For ten years? For me?"
"Yes, you are the perfect sacrifice. An outsider, you have no real ties to this world."
Reiko stared in wonder. 'No ties? Of course I have ties to this world, I have family, friends, what does she mean?' Kirie smiled at her. 'Is she reading my mind?' Kirie nodded.
"No secrets in the darkness, Reiko."
"Fine," Reiko sighed. "What do you mean by no ties? I have ties. And how could you tell, you saw me when I was seven, I changed a lot since then."
"It's hard to explain, but I...I...I talked to you when you first came here. Do you remember?"
Reiko laughed. "Right, I remember all conversations I have with a ghost."
"You could see me. I didn't think that you would, you have no sixth sense, as Mafuyu called it. You could only see me if you have the same...aura that all Shrine Maidens have. The same aura that prevents the Blind demon from catching the maiden until last."
"An aura? Is this...aura...the cause for me seeing all those ghosts?"
"...Possibly. This aura binds you close to the maidens, to me; I can see them because I am dead, and so you must be able to see them from when I grabbed you. When I first grabbed you in the rope hall, the power in you was awakened. That's the best logical thing I can think of."
"You're killing me," Reiko muttered abruptly, looking down at her wrists at the rope burns imprinted in her skin.
"Do you remember what I said to you then?" Kirie asked kindly, trying to change the subject. Reiko shook her head. "Your death will spare the souls of many."
"I feel honored," she said sarcastically.
"You should. Without you, this mansion will never rest."
"It rested when Miku left this mansion."
"Things have changed since Miku left," Kirie said darkly.
"Michiko and I are leaving. You're not keeping us here, and I'm not dying because you want to leave."
Kirie paused in thought before talking. "Michiko already left."
"What?" Reiko asked, shocked. "She wouldn't leave without me!"
Kirie smiled sadly and waved her hand. The darkness around them faded and the entrance hall came into view with Kirie and Reiko in the middle of the room. Reiko stared confused at what happened, but was jerked back when the door from the rope hall opened. Michiko stumbled out wearily, clutching her side and taking deep breaths. She walked over to the door and pulled on it. To her surprise, it opened. Michiko laughed happily at the light. She stepped outside and turned back to face the house. She stared right where Reiko and Kirie stood, but Reiko knew she couldn't see either of them.
"I'm sorry, Reiko. I don't know...where you are," Michiko panted. "I don't know if you can hear me...but I'm sorry. Forgive me." She shut the door.
Reiko started to breathe heavily. Michiko left without her. 'My own sister, left me here? All alone?' Reiko fell to the floor and started to cry. Kirie hovered over her and placed her hand on her shoulder. Reiko shirked away from her and walked to the door. She slammed her palms into it, no pain coming from the image.
"My own sister," she choked. "She left me here. I have no one else...no one..."
"I told you that your ties were severed from this world."
Reiko started to laugh quietly. "No one...no one's here except me...and ghosts...no one will care that I'm gone...Damn them!" she slammed her hand against the door. "I have no reason...to live...anymore..."
Reiko woke up, lying under the angry mask on the wall. She looked at the exit and remembered seeing her sister leave. Reiko started to laugh quietly to herself and stood up carefully, not thinking about how she was moved across the room. She went to the door to the rope hall and took the left door instead, not surprised that it was open. Her body moved mechanically, she felt like she wasn't in control of anything except her laughter. Her eyes roved the great hall and she could see many ghosts lined up, watching her intently. As she came closer to the door, she could see the four priests and the ceremony master waiting. They turned and led the way to the shrine in the atrium. Reiko paused before going up the stairs. She turned around and looked at the surroundings. Cold…empty.
"Michiko's…gone…I have the chance…to finish what needs…to be done. The final sacrifice…"
So, the end of chapter 4. I had an extreme case of blockage, but I got over it! Reiko didn't come out as insane as I wanted, she came out almost Sae-ish. Sorry! Is it still good, even with that?
Next is obviously chapter 5. I'm still thinking on adding alternate endings or not. I don't know. If anyone has an idea about that, please tell me!
