Chapter 10:
1st night: Part nine
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Hey all! First off, I hope you guys are enjoying this story!
Second, to Shadow Knight2: I thank you very much for your wonderful praise. It's reviews like yours that really give me a jump-start to really crank out some chapters! As for the idea about the scraps: keep in mind that these scraps did come from a log or journal at one point, and that they were ripped out at some point. But I will take that idea and use it. Thanks for the tip. (By the way, just so you know, there are some helpful spirits that may have something to do with the random papers… HINT HINT) Anyway, because you asked so nicely, I think that I'm going to really work hard on this chapter!
Third, to Kayn: Thank you for reviewing as I asked. For my spelling and grammar problems, Sorry! ^_^;;; I try to run a spell check on it when I'm done, but every so often it slips my mind… Anyway, thanks for the tips and such. This isn't my first horror story, but the other ones weren't that good…
Um… okay, here's the chapter.
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The room was incredibly dark, and Lina couldn't see two feet in front of her with out her flashlight. Her newly healed arm stayed by the wall as she carefully made her way through the room in which she had determined to be a storehouse. There were numerous boxes and shelves around, as well as a few dressers. Off in the corner to her upper right, there was a suit of armor that had marks as though it had been used.
Lina wandered over to the latter eventually. Her heart and breath picked up speed and Lina felt a strange pulling motion towards behind it. Carefully, Lina pulled up her camera and aimed behind the latter. The instant the camera was up, the feeling increased. Lina struggled to control her shagged breath as she carefully timed her shot. Then, she let her finger press down on the shutter.
There was a quick flash and the photo slipped out the tiny slot. Then, out of nowhere, the few chests behind the latter that obstructed her view of the tiny space began to move. Lina only had a spilt second to hit the floor and cover her head just as one of the heavy chests went flying above her head, smashing anything in it's path. It went straight into the door, breaking off of its hinges and crashed into the hallway. Lina curled up into a ball as she heard the wood on the door spilt and break. Debris fell and bounced around her head.
Lina took in a deep breath and tried to calm herself. This room was filled to the rim with spiritual energy. Her chest was tight and her heart was beating so fast she feared it would explode. Slowly, her heart began to calm and her breath returned. Gently, she sat up and her hand went to her heart. Gasping for breath, Lina turned and looked towards the door, using her flashlight for light. She turned slowly to face the area the chest had flown from.
There, where the chest had obscured her vision, was a talisman. Right before her eyes, it irrupted into a burning crimson flame. Lina was taken back by this sudden happening, but quickly remembered where she was. The thing was, the talisman looked identical to the one in the room filled with candles. She bit her lower lip and sighed. What other things lay dormant in this mansion waiting to be awakened?
Sighing, Lina stood up and took another good look around. There didn't look to be anything on the ground level, but what about up the latter? Lina gently set down her camera and flashlight and carefully took hold of the first step. The latter shook, but held. Lina grabbed her flashlight and put it in her pocket, and with one hand holding the camera and the other holding on to the latter, Lina began to climb up.
When she finally reached the top, Lina pulled out her flashlight and looked around. There was a small dresser pressed up against the back wall, and a very narrow board that at the end held some boxes filled with books. Lina glanced around carefully. She wandered over and checked the drawers of the dresser. Inside there was a very old newspaper article.
The girl who was missing for about three days from the Mikumoru mountain area has been found. Though rumored to have been snatched away by ghosts, the young girl is in fairly good health. She shows sign of fatigue and weariness, but no real injuries appear on her body. The police are waiting for the girl to return to full health before questioning about the other three children.
But the child's hardships are only beginning, for her parents have also seemingly gone missing. The police are currently looking for a foster home for the poor child.
Lina's heart seemed to soften slightly. The poor child was probably so frightened. But how long ago had this article been published? Lina couldn't find the date on it, but she expected it to be very old.
Lina gently put the article away and glanced back into the drawers. There was one more scrap of paper. Lifting it up, Lina realized that it was written in Rezo Akahoshi's handwriting. Lina scanned over it slowly.
The disaster called "Calamity"
Long ago, great tragedy struck this region. One legend calls this event "The Calamity", but reveals no detail involving the event in anyway.
One source refers to the events as "The Five Mirrors of the Five Gods promise of protection shattered above the earths rumbling surface, and souls climbed up from the pits of hell and returned to this world". I wonder what it truly means, because the passage can't be literal.
"The Five Mirrors of the Five God's promise of protection…" Lina repeated. "Shattered above the Earth's rumbling surface… could that have anything to do with the earthquake that caused the Holy Mirrors to break…?" Lina shook her head slightly and put it away. A chill suddenly went down her spine. Lina scurried down the latter and out of the room.
She wandered back to the room with the candles. She had seen the talisman burn up in front of her, maybe this one had as well. Carefully, she checked the door.
"No more talisman," Lina mumbled to her self. "The door is open," She swung open the old door. It made a loud creak that echoed through out the not so empty halls.
There, she faced a small hall that led to an open porch. She walked towards the porch. The floorboards, like in many of the rooms, were wooden. When she reached the porch, she got a good look around.
Facing out towards the porch, to her right, there was a very small walkway that was partially fenced off, but the fence had rotten holes in it, so she could see through. It led to a door. The porch, all the way across, there was another door. There was a small set of steps that led into the yard. In the yard, a small coble stone walkway led to a shrine. To the right side of the shrine, there was an old cherry blossom tree that looked like it hadn't blossomed in many years, and a very big door.
Lina began to walk towards the far door. Then, out of nowhere, a pale woman with long dark hair walked right by her. Lina held back a startled cry and watched. The woman seemed to disappear. Shaking slightly, Lina wandered over to where the spirit had disappeared. Nothing. Lina pulled her jacket around her more tightly as a breeze picked up. The moon was in view, so round and bright. It was nights like these in which you should fear the moon, the moon and everything it revealed in it's white light.
Lina shuddered and started down the steps. It was when the moon struck her when she realized that she had already made her first mistake. That was entering the mansion. But now, now the mistake was much worse. Lina had angered something she wasn't ready to deal with. Something that should have stayed buried where it was. Something that even her brother must have feared.