The four children stood in the Koto Room, talking. At first they had continued their discussion of ghosts, but Yoshiko started crying a few minutes into it. She told them that her grandmother had vanished during the night, leaving only a black mark across her bed. The conversation grew stale, until…
"Um…do you guys want to play something? I bet this house would be great for Demon Tag…" Mikoto asked.
Yoshiko looked up. "That sounds fun," she said quietly.
"Fine with me," Katsu said, shrugging. "Bet you'll have trouble catching me, though!"
"I already have a spot picked," Mitsuko said, "but I can be the demon first if you want."
Mikoto pursed her lips. "I'll be it," she offered, "since I know the mansion best. Okay?"
"Right!" Katsu acknowledged as he tore out of the room.
"Uh…go?" Mikoto grinned. The other two girls laughed and fled.
Ryozo sat in the study, poring through various texts he had acquired in the mansion. He had decided to spend that morning looking over the older texts, to ensure that he had not missed anything important.
As he sat in his alcove, he heard what sounded like…humming? He looked up from his book. It was coming from somewhere in the room…
He stood up and walked into the study proper. Yae lay on the floor, her arms and legs thrown out as though she were making a snow angel.
"-from her dream….perform the Rite of Stakes…her limbs…pinned tight…"
Ryozo's eyes widened. What was this?
"Lest the doors…open wide…and suffering unleashed…"
He knelt down beside his wife, trying to hear what she was saying.
"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…"
He reached over and shook her. When she didn't wake up, he called to her.
Nothing.
Mitsuko slowly made her way across the Fish Tank Room, and ran through the door to the Backyard. She knew that Mikoto wouldn't come back here first, which naturally made it a good place to go. She grinned. It would be a while before she got caught!
She looked around. Even though the backyard was a good escape, she still needed to be hidden. And…there! The perfect place! She could hide behind the well. She giggled and ran towards it and
"My daughter…"
She froze. "Wha…?"
"Give back…"
She spun around, looking for whoever was talking to her. "Katsu?" she called out, hoping that this was a game – even though she knew it wasn't.
"Give…BACK!"
She shrieked as something grabbed her leg. She felt herself falling, felt a splash of water, and, finally, felt herself leaving her body.
Yae stood in the Rope Altar. She remembered everything now – the death of Seijiro Makabe, the failed escape – and some other things, as well. She knew now…she knew how Itsuki Tachibana died, she knew that the Ritual had failed, that All God's Village lived on as a specter of itself.
She raised her head and looked at the double doors on the other side.
"Sae…"
She walked over to them and threw them open.
"I'm sorry…I left you behind…all alone…"
She heard something coming from down the hall. Sae was down there – she was sure if it.
"I'll go there…with you…"
She stepped through the door.
Yoshiko ran into the Doll Room through the revolving door. She had tried to go in through the normal door, but it was stuck fast for some bizarre reason. As she entered, she looked around for a good hiding spot.
"Where to hide, where to hide?" she wondered. Mikoto would never look in here, since the door was locked, but it still would be nice to have a hiding spot…
"Oh! That's perfect!" she exclaimed. There was a small closet she could just barely fit under – Mikoto wouldn't ever look there!
She crawled inside and closed the door. It's a little cramped, she thought to herself. Well, it's not like she's coming in here anyway…I guess I can wait outside until I hear her coming.
She reached for the door and tried to open it.
It was stuck.
She shook it several times. No budge. "Relax…" she muttered to herself. "Mikoto probably just fixed it or something…" She tried to ignore what an unrealistic idea that was.
"My daughter…"
She gasped and looked behind her. All that was there was dust.
And then a man's head.
She let out as scream as he reached his arm out to her.
Ryozo was beginning to panic. He had done several studies of sleep, but he had no idea what kind of sleep this was – he certainly hadn't heard a reference to sleeping priestesses before, much less lucid dreams about your supernatural home village. He paced back and forth. He didn't know how to handle this…
He finally fell to his knees and grabbed his head.
"Yae…please, wake up!" he called to her.
Katsu ran into the sunken fireplace room and looked around. This room had all sorts of hiding spots – there was under the stairs, or behind the partition, or…
"Forget those!" he exclaimed as he saw the best spot in the room. The Grandfather clock would do nicely…He grinned and opened the door. The pendulum would prove to be annoying, but it would also make him hard to see…
He sat there for five minutes. At one point he heard a voice coming from the study, but he wasn't sure if it was Munakata-san or Mikoto. He smiled as his thoughts came to rest on the young girl – he had wondered if she liked him. Perhaps, later today…
"Give back…"
He frowned. "Huh?" he asked. "Munakata-san?"
"Give back!"
His eyes flew open as hands enveloped his neck. He kicked the door open and tried to run out…
But the arms pulled him back in.
Yae walked through the caverns under the village. After what she estimated to be ten minutes, she reached a large room with candles spread throughout it.
Sae stood under the Shinto gate on the other side. She was walking down the stairs…
Yae…please, wake up!
She clutched her head as the world around her fluttered. For a second she was suspended in nothingness, and then the cavern returned.
Yae, come here…hurry!
She stood still for a moment and then continued forward.
Mikoto looked up from the floor. "That should be enough time," she commented to herself. "I hope the found some good places!" She started walking towards the door…but then she noticed.
The closet door was open. That door hadn't been open in the entire time they had lived in the mansion.
"Somebody must have gone this way…" she muttered. She started toward the door, wondering where it might lead. As an afterthought, she picked up her mother's camera – after all, there might be some cool stuff to get a shot of.
She walked forward until she reached a series of beams suspended over a room she didn't recognize. At first she was nervous, but then she remembered Katsu running across the Fish Tank Room. It really wasn't that big a deal…
She began to walk across the boards. After a few steps, she actually began to enjoy it, reveling in the adrenaline coursing through her. She halfway to the door on the other side and took a picture of the room from her perspective.
"I hope Mommy doesn't flip out when she hears about this…" she mumbled to herself.
"My daughter…"
She took a sharp breath. That man…he was here! She turned to the statue behind her and looked…
He was there.
She yelped. His eyes – they looked so murderous. So empty…She ran across the beams to the small door on the other side, but it was locked. She turned to face him, praying that she didn't fall off the beam, praying that her idea worked…
As the man reached for her arm, she raised the camera and took a shot. He let out an agonized scream, and then he was shrinking. Shrinking into a little blue ball.
The camera fell out of Mikoto's hands and onto the floor a story below. Her eyes teared, her vision blurred as she felt the rush of feeling that the man had felt upon his death.
She shoved the door open, not even realizing that it wouldn't have opened five seconds earlier. She ran into the next room, not noticing her surrounding, only knowing that she was dead, the girl was dead, his child
(Katsu)
(Yoshiko)
(Mitsuko)
Was dead.
"Mom…"
She fainted.
Yae entered the final cavern. Sae stood before her, in her bloodstained kimono, looking at her with an empty gaze.
You finally came.
"Yes…I finally came…" Yae's jaw began to tremble. "I've come to be with you…"
The sisters stared at each other. Yae slowly began to walk forward, the feeling of unreality falling away. Now…now she could be with Sae again. She could regain what she had given up…
The cavern filled with a bright light. Sae let out a scream and fell over. And then Yae saw…
Yae's eyes flew open.
"MIKOTO!"
Well...It's been a while, hasn't it? Stupid Driver's Ed. BUT, only one week left, and then I can update more frequently!
Unfortunately, this story's almost up. Two chapters left...(sniff)
Read! Review! Please. I'll try to update soon - but, again, it'll probably be next weekend...
Valete!