Chapter 10: Shadow Meadow
The mountain loomed ominously before them… The mountain which contained the old abandoned mines that were once harvested for their gold, iron and zinc so long ago. But at the heart of this mountain…was a forbidden area. A place where the heart-broken spirits were put to rest… Shadow Meadow. A sacred meadow that was said to grow above the netherworld…. It was also a place where those suffering from Hanahaki Disease chose to embrace their fate. This was it. This was their final destination…
Aimi and Shou stood side-by-side, staring determinedly at the mine entrance into the mountain. They weren't looking forward to going back in there…especially Aimi. She could sense so many restless spirits residing within. So many ghosts and their tumultuous emotions… She wondered if she would be able to withstand it. Shou couldn't stop worrying about Aimi's wellbeing. Her being so close to the mountain seemed to be having a negative effect on her. He was still against going to Shadow Meadow and had argued with Aimi all the way here. But now he knew there was no changing her mind. Aimi was dead-set on confronting the Unloved Woman and ending her relentless curse.
"I'm going with you," Shou vowed. "I won't leave you."
Hearing Shou say that gave Aimi the courage to do what she felt she needed to do. Despite her growing anxiety, Aimi held up the Spiritual Shears in both her hands. Shou eyed the shears uncertainly. Would this even work? So many things could go wrong. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Shou asked. "Will this really end the nightmare?"
Aimi stared down at the Spiritual Shears and then bravely took a step forward. Shou watched as Aimi slowly started walking toward the mineshaft. Just when he thought he wouldn't get an answer from her, Aimi suddenly stopped and without looking back at him, she began to speak softly. "I felt what she felt…," she admitted.
Shou didn't understand at first but then Aimi continued. "I saw into her heart… Her name was Hanari Kimura… She was the daughter of a wealthy lord. One day, she got married to a samurai… and she fell deeply in love with him." Aimi vividly recalled the icy hate in the ghostly woman's heart. It still made her feel cold all over. "She loved him…but he didn't love her. And so her love went unrequited…"
Shou couldn't take his eyes off of Aimi and hung onto her every word. This strange girl he's known since childhood. A girl unlike any other… "Her love went unrequited... and she contracted Hanahaki Disease," Aimi gently explained. "But her husband didn't love her… not once. She succumbed to her emotions and died from the disease."
As Aimi gazed into the darkness of the mineshaft, she could feel it just by standing here… The presence of malevolent spirits was getting stronger. A cold breeze blew from inside the mountain, sending chills down her spine. "She died…but she can't rest. She can't let go of her love," Aimi went on. "Even in death… she can't let go of her attachments. So Hanari continues to suffer from the disease. Her love has become twisted now."
"And how do you know all this?" Shou suddenly asked her. He came over to join Aimi by her side while listening to her every word. "How do you know how that woman feels? How could you know?"
Aimi hesitated… She couldn't look Shou in the face, she was too afraid. Her heart wouldn't stop pounding like a drum. She could feel the cursed disease writhing within her and threatening to make her throw up more gardenias. She was running out of time. She wouldn't be able to fight the Hanahaki Disease forever. If this final journey ended in her death, she at least wanted Shou to know the truth about one thing.
"It's because I can see ghosts," Aimi confessed. Shou stared at her in stunned silence. Aimi closed her eyes and let out a low sigh. "I have a sixth sense. It runs in my family. We also have a unique ability called "Empathy." It enables us to look into the hearts of ghosts and know what it is they're feeling."
Shou didn't know what to say. Somehow deep down inside, he always knew… Now knowing this interesting bit about Aimi, he realized that this didn't change anything. His feelings for Aimi Hanazawa will never change. And yet…Why did Aimi avoid looking at him? Shou's need for her was so strong that before he realized it, he was already reaching for her hand. He wanted to take her into his arms, to comfort her and to accept her. But Aimi was already moving away and Shou missed his chance… Aimi stepped in front of the entrance and shined her flashlight into the darkness to make out the tunnel.
"She's in there… Down at the deepest part of the mountain," Aimi was saying. "I can feel the emotions of so many heartbroken spirits… It's growing stronger. There's no one here to bring comfort for their souls. But I'll try to put an end to their suffering. And I'll try to free "her."
Armed with the Camera Obscura and the Spiritual Shears in hand, Aimi finally turned to Shou who was right behind her. It was time. Aimi was scared of what fate possibility awaited her. But she boldly stepped into the tunnel and prepared for the horrors waiting for her inside. Shou kept close to Aimi as he followed with his own flashlight. Walking through the railway tunnel which was lit by the old mine lanterns, Shou could sense something wrong. The air in here felt different. It felt cold and oppressive. Most unsettling of all, as they went further in, that's when the Red Spider Lilies seemed to suddenly show up…
All along the tunnel, brightly glowing Red Spider Lilies seemed to create a path of its own. "It is said that Red Spider Lilies bloom between those who will never see each other again… Shou looked uneasily over at Aimi and wondered if this was a foreshadowing sign… Deeper into the tunnel they went and along the trail, more red spider lilies appeared. It was so ice cold that Shou was already hugging himself while trying to keep warm. Something about this wasn't right. Shou was already getting goosebumps and he could feel the hair on his skin standing on end. This wasn't such a good idea. They were walking right into forbidden territory here.
"Aimi… I don't feel right," Shou finally broke the scary silence. He could hear his own trembling voice echoing throughout the tunnel. "We should go back." He got no response. "Aimi? Can you hear me?" Almost immediately Shou realized something was wrong with Aimi.
The powerful emotions of the spirits… They were too strong for her. Aimi couldn't keep them out. Her disease… she couldn't fight it any longer. The pain in her stomach had now traveled to her chest. And Aimi keep herself from falling victim to her own emotions. Her heart, her feelings… She couldn't ignore them any longer. Shou became alarmed when Aimi doubled over and uncontrollably vomited out beautifully glowing gardenias that flowed to the ground. Choking and gagging, Aimi found it harder to breathe. She was reaching the final stage of Hanahaki Disease… She was tempted to stop fighting it. Somehow without her realizing it, she felt compelled to follow the path of the Red Spider Lilies.
"Are you okay? Wait up!" Shou noticed that Aimi was walking further and further away from him. She seemed fixated on the Red Spider Lilies that lined along the tunnels. Almost like the flowers were luring her away… "Aimi stop! Don't go too far!" Shou shouted after her, hoping his loud echoing voice would snap her out of it.
But Aimi didn't slow down nor did she seem to hear him. As he feared, something was influencing her. Aimi was going further and further away from him. Shou started to run to catch up with her when something unexpected happened. Ghostly voices suddenly began to echo all around them. All around them, voices of the dead could be heard. Shou clamped hands over his ears to try to drown out the supernatural voices. This must be what Aimi was hearing as well… Due to her sixth sense, she was extra sensitive to the dead voices… Shou listened to the wailing voices of those who died brokenhearted and realized the voices were emanating from the Red Spider Lilies themselves.
"I just wanted him to love me…" "I…will…always love you…" "I'll make him love me…I'll make him." "Please love me and only me…" "My love wasn't enough…" "I'll never love again. Never…"
So many voices of the restless dead… Shou wondered if he'd be able to shut them out. And then Shou remembered Aimi and realized she'd gone ahead without him. "Aimi!" Shou shouted while hurrying through the dark tunnel with his flashlight in hand. "Aimi!" Trying to ignore the chilling voices of the dead in the background, Shou hurried down the cavernous tunnel that led ever downward. He knew where Aimi was heading. She was being lured to Shadow Meadow itself… Would she succumb to the Hanahaki Disease?
Along the way, Shou's foot suddenly kicked into something. Looking down to see what it was; Shou saw the Camera Obscura lying abandoned on its side. Aimi must have dropped it. Shou picked up the camera and continued his way down the tunnel. Finally Shou reached the center of the mountain and recognized the chamber where there with different tunnels leading into different directions. Luckily he didn't have to figure out which one was the right tunnel because bright Red Spider Lilies seemed to form a path toward the tunnel on the far right. He had to stop Aimi before she reached the meadow…
Following the path of the red spider lilies, Shou hurried down the tunnel that seemed to lead ever downward. Deeper and deeper into the mountain itself. Shou reached the wooden plank that formed a bridge where he was able to safely walk across. And as Shou followed the tunnel even further, the air was so cold that Shou felt numb from it. And in the distance, he could hear Aimi's voice ringing through the tunnel ahead. She seemed to be talking to herself. Shou was able to make out some of the words what she was saying…
"I don't want to stop loving him… I love him…too much. So I'll go on loving him… Forever…"
Shou realized to his horror what Aimi was planning. "Aimi! Don't!" Shou shouted loudly, hoping his voice would reach Aimi. "Don't do it! I can't lose you! Not like this!" Feeling his heart pounding hard in his chest and his own growing fear, Shou didn't slow down as he ran faster down the icy tunnel. "Don't leave me, Aimi!"
Shou hated himself for his own cowardice. He should have told Aimi his feelings a long time ago. He let fear come in between them. But he now knew there was only one true way to end this nightmare. There was only one way to pull Aimi back from the precipice. "I'm going to tell her," Shou thought determinedly. "I have to tell her. It's the only way to save her life."
At last, Shou saw the Torii gate and that's when he knew he'd reach the point of no return. Once he crossed this gate, there was no turning back. Without hesitation, Shou crossed the gate and entered the pitch-black Mountain Abyss. So dark that not even the light could penetrate its wall of darkness. Taking a few more steps forward, Shou spotted the little patch of red-spider lilies where he earlier found Aimi. That's when Shou realized there was someone sitting in the patch of red-spider-lilies. He immediately hurried toward the shadowy figure…
"Aimi…," Shou said hopefully. But he stopped and froze on the spot. It wasn't her. Shou watched in fright as the figure slowly stood up and turned to face him. At first he didn't recognize her, but then he realized who it was. "Naoki…," he murmured.
Naoki glared angrily back at him, bright beautiful orange lilies sprouting from her neck and chest which seemed to only add to her pain. "Why couldn't you… love me?" Naoki's voice dripped with bitterness. Shou started backing away as the ghostly girl started to move menacingly toward him. "You didn't love me… NOW I SUFFER BECAUSE OF YOU!"
Without warning, Naoki started lunging for him in a terrifying screaming rage. Shou cried out in terror as he could feel the ghostly hands of Naoki Sugitani grabbing at his throat. He fought with all his might to rip those icy-cold hands away and pushed the ghost of Naoki back. Shou massaged his neck while trying to catch his breath and stop his heart from pounding so hard. That took a lot out of him that Shou took a swig of Herbal Medicine for an extra boost of energy. He realized that the cold oppressive atmosphere down here seemed to make malicious spirits stronger than ever. Maybe it was because they were closer to the netherworld?
"Why couldn't you love me?!" Shou heard Naoki spat those spiteful words at him. He spun around in time to see her standing there in the pitch-darkness of the chamber, orange-lily petals floating all around her. Suddenly the brightly-colored petals shot at him like bullets, causing Shou to shield himself from the oncoming attack. Again Naoki came running at him in a fury but this time Shou was ready for it. With his finger on the shutter-button, he automatically pressed it to snap a fatal-shot of his former classmate coming at him.
It wasn't easy moving around in the deep-dark chamber. The flashlight was dim in the deep darkness. Shou managed to adjust his eyes to the darkness while looking for the evil ghost stalking him. All around him, orange-lily petals floated in the air like dust particles. The orange petals shot at him like darts in a move to distract him. But with perfect timing, Shou spun around in time to furiously snap photos Naoki who came charging after him with such aggression. It hurt him to see the fate that befell Naoki Sugitani. He was determined to make sure Aimi wouldn't suffer the same fate…
Shou stepped onto the patch of red-spider lilies that glimmered brightly in the darkness. Just as Naoki was moving in to attack him again, Shou used all the exorcising power in the Camera Obscura to deliver the final fatal shot that sent Naoki reeling. Shou watched pitifully as Naoki clutched at her chest and seemed unable to look at him anymore. Suddenly in that very moment, she appeared human to him… As he watched her, the ghost of Naoki didn't vanish and instead continued to linger. Would she ever be able to move on? Or would her love for Shou always anchor her to the world of the living?
"Why couldn't…you… love me?" Naoki asked sadly for one last time.
Shou thought she deserved an answer. "Because I love Aimi…"
Naoki said nothing. Maybe she would never stop loving him. Instead Shou watched solemnly as Naoki slowly went straight for the little patch of red spider lilies. Right before Shou's eyes, Naoki's spirit seemed to become absorbed by the red spider lilies until her soul became one with the garden… The red spider lilies turned extra red and then Shou knew in his heart that he and Naoki were destined to never meet again… Maybe it was for the best. Naoki would be guided to afterlife…
Once this emotional dilemma was resolved, Shou decided to head for the tunnel on the other side. He had to reach Aimi fast. Hurrying down the cavernous tunnel, Shou felt himself heading ever deeper underground. Reaching the bottom, Shou entered a large opening where the path continued downward alongside a deep chasm on the side. Carefully walking along the cliff-side, Shou looked uneasily down into the deep bottomless abyss below. But all he saw was darkness. If he didn't watch his step, he could lose his footing and fall to his death… an unsettling thought.
Shou was following the stone-carved path downwards when he suddenly felt the Camera Obscura growing warm in his hands. Even without a sixth sense, Shou realized the camera seemed to pick something up. Something supernatural emanating from the dark abyss itself. Out of curiosity, Shou held up the camera and took a picture of the abyss. A ghost materialized into view… "Talking Eyes." Further and further down he went until at last Shou reached another tunnel that seemed to only taking him deeper. Just how deep did this go? But he had to keep going. Aimi could be somewhere down below.
Before Shou reached the end of the tunnel, he stopped when suddenly another ghost appeared. A ghostly man was walking down the same path as him. A man who judging by his old-fashioned garments and eboshi hat indicated he was probably from an older time period. Unaware of Shou, the mysterious man seemed to head deeper into the mountain. However Shou was able to overhear what the ghostly man was saying…
"She must be put to rest… She must let go of her love…" Shou watched the man disappeared from sight. And then he headed down the exact same tunnel. He wondered what awaited him up ahead.
Shou continued to follow the rocky tunnel and all while hoping to find Aimi on the other side. Along the way, he ended up finding something interesting along the way. Shou spotted something lying abandoned on the dirt-ground and shined his flashlight down to see that it appeared to be a Black Notebook. Maybe that man dropped it? Shou picked up the notebook and saw that most of its pages were dirty. It must have been down here a long time. Luckily the writing was still legible.
Black Notebook 1
The restless spirits of the heartbroken have been growing intense. Even from my own residence, I can sense imbalance and malevolence coming from the mountain. I fear a powerful presence. I try offering prayers, love trinkets and tokens at the Hollow of Comfort. It's not enough. Something won't rest. Something deep down below…
Matsumura is a town rich with fabled stories and fairytales but the most popular one of all is the story about the Princess and the Flower. A story passed down since the Edo period. During those times, the Kimura Family was the richest family in the town back then and it's often said that the lord's only daughter was the first to contract the Hanahaki Disease around these parts. It's said that the princess's body was buried at sacred ground in the deepest part of the mountain. This would later become the legendary Shadow Meadow…
The next couple of pages were too dirt-smeared to read. However Shou was able to make out the last part.
She won't rest. She must be put to rest. I'll go there… To the forbidden garden… Deep in the mountain… I will end her suffering. It's the only way.
The ghostly man must be the Shrine Keeper. He must have come down here in a brave attempt to exorcize the Unloved Woman. And yet… What happened to him? Did he not succeed? With these thoughts in mind, Shou hurried down the tunnel. No doubt about it… It all leads back to the Unloved Woman. Her cursed presence had a major effect on other sufferers of the Hanahaki Disease. She encouraged all victims to join her in her garden of suffering… "Aimi…" Shou thought worriedly. He hoped it wasn't too late.
Shou felt as if he'd travel for miles but finally the tunnel seemed to end in another large and wide cavernous chamber. Stepping into the pitch-dark room, Shou took his time exploring. This appeared to be the oldest place in the mountain. Shou looked up but it was too dark to see the ceiling from above. After taking a couple of steps forward, that's when he nearly tripped over something lying on the ground. When Shou looked down to see what it was, he couldn't stop himself from uttering a horrified gasp.
Lying before him was a body… Once Shou got over his shock, he hesitantly approached the body and held up his flashlight for a better look. It was the Shrine Keeper. The very man he saw coming this way. It looks like he'd been dead for a very long time. As Shou stared down at the dead body before him, he wondered what could possibly have happened to him. Upon further examination, that's when Shou spotted it… Clutched in the Shrine Keeper's fist was a shining Red Spider Lily. Shou stared at the flower and wondered if he dare touch it. Very slowly, Shou reached out a trembling hand and tried to see if he could remove the flower from the dead man's grip. One touch of the red lily's petal and immediately Shou could tap into the memories contained within.
(Flashback)
He could sense it. Just beyond this door. The stone-door was carved into the mountain long ago. It took a little strength to push the door open and gain entrance into the "Forbidden Garden." The one place where the living should never go… Before him was a wide expanse of brightly glimmering Red Spider Lilies… He'd reach Shadow Meadow at last and it was as beautiful and haunting as described.
Only those suffering from Hanahaki Disease or nursing a broken-heart chose to come here. To become one with the garden and where the fabled Red Spider Lilies then guided their lost souls into their next afterlife… It was a lonely journey. In popular folklore, Shadow Meadow is said to be directly above the netherworld… the land of the dead.
The Shrine Keeper took a couple of steps into the massive garden of red lilies and could only see darkness as far as the eye could see. But she was here… This was still her final resting place. Only she refused to let go of her attachments. Her love had become too powerful, too corrupted now. The Shrine Keeper took ten steps but stopped when he finally saw her. He knew her name, knew the fairytales still told about her. Hanari Kimura…
Despite her old-fashioned yet elegant orange kimono, red-spider lilies could be seen nesting in her long waist-long raven hair. Hanari's back was to him, she didn't seem aware of his presence at first. Instead the Unloved Woman sat crouched among the sea of red lilies, sobbing miserably. The Shrine Keeper felt immense sympathy for the restless spirit. Hanari continued to suffer the disease in death. There was only one way to sever her attachments once and for all.
Reaching into his kimono, the Shrine Keeper took out a specially blessed Kama that would he enable him to perform the deed. Holding the weapon in front of him, the Shrine Keeper mentally prepared himself to do what needed to be done. It would be doing Hanari a kindness… Her tainted love would only continue to spread like a curse. The Shrine Keeper slowly moved in while trying to keep his breathing under control. Closer and closer to the dead woman… His heart was beating so hard that he was afraid Hanari might hear it. Finally he was practically behind her, and he raised the Kama…
Suddenly something slithered around his leg. It stopped him in his tracks and made him look down. The Shrine Keeper's eyes widen in horror as he saw the Red Spider Lilies move as if alive. Tendrils of Red Spider Lilies seemed to start wrapping around his legs and start growing on him. In a fit of panic, the Shrine Keeper desperately tried hacking away at the flowers slithering up his waist like snakes. He could feel the stems tightening around his legs; he could smell the poisonous spores from the flowers. He'd been so distracted trying to cut the red spider lilies, he looked up and he saw her.
Hanari stood facing him now… Her orange kimono smeared with dirt-stains, half her face covered with Red Spider Lilies, and glaring furiously at him with her one good eye. And as the Shrine Keeper stared back at her in horror, Hanari lifted her hand reached out for his face. It happened so fast. Her hand was icy cold to the touch that it seemed to freeze his insides. But then the Shrine Keeper felt unspeakable pain growing on the side of his face.
Filled with absolute terror now, before he knew it, the Shrine Keeper was already running breathlessly through the fields of Red Spider Lilies for his life. Clutching at his face, the pain didn't subside and seemed to grow worse. Then he could feel it… Plants growing underneath his skin, his cheek… bursting out of his flesh and covering and entwining around his head, his neck… The Shrine Keeper finally reached the stone doors but didn't realize he was screaming… Until his blood-curling screams were cut off by the vines growing in his lungs… silencing him for good.
It was too much for Shou who immediately flinched away from the corpse and needed a moment to calm his wildly thudding heart from fright. As Shou was trying to process what he just seen in the flower's petals, that's when he saw the corpse suddenly move… The flashlight shook in Shou's hand as he couldn't take his eyes off of the corpse slowly starting to rise before him. That's when Shou saw the Shrine Keeper's face and stared in stunned horror. A skull grinned back at him… All that remained of the Shrine Keeper was his twisted grinning skull with vines and plants growing out of its eye sockets along with his skeletal remains. The dead man was now an evil ghost and he was advancing toward Shou. And that's when Shou saw the Shrine Keeper raise his Kama, preparing to attack…
Shou tried to get his hands to stop shaking so much as he raised the Camera Obscura to his eye just as the Shrine Keeper reached him. Shou cried out as he dodged the ghost's slashing Kama. Shou scrambled to put distance between him and the hostile ghost. When he turned to look back, the Shrine Keeper was already pursuing him, armed with his deadly weapon. "She must be put to rest," the Shrine Keeper's raspy voice croaked. Shou steadied the Camera Obscura and waited for the ghost to come closer.
Just as the Shrine Keeper reared back his arm and prepared to attack, Shou pressed the shutter-button and snapped powerful shots of the ghost. The Shrine Keeper let out a wailing shout as he was blown back by the power of the camera. As Shou was trying to keep the ghost within his viewfinder, suddenly the Shrine Keeper retaliated. The Shrine Keeper started swinging his Kama in pure aggression, causing Shou to run for safety. Trying to see his way through the pitch-dark chamber, Shou frantically looked around for the ghost. The Shrine Keeper seemed to blend in with the darkness.
Using his flashlight to locate the attacking ghost, Shou thought he spied the Shrine Keeper lurking in the distance. Shou was raising the camera to his eye when he noticed the Shrine Keeper doing something unsettling. Staring back at him with those soulless eye-sockets, the dead man pointed his Kama right at Shou, and suddenly his skull started flying through the air to attack him. Shou cried out in pain as he felt the Shrine Keeper's skull try to sink its teeth into his neck. Shou struggled to pry the biting skull off. It wasn't easy; the ghostly skull seemed to drain his energy by the second. Finally he managed to swat the skull off and watched as the flying skull continued to circle around him from above like a vulture.
Soon Shou was constantly on the move, running blindly through the dark chamber while the ghastly skull continued to hover after him. As the ghostly skull swooped down at him, Shou also had to contend with the headless Shrine Keeper still coming at him with his deadly Kama. It was difficult but Shou managed to stand still long enough to use the Flash on the camera to repel the levitating skull. This enabled him to take more powerful shots at the Shrine Keeper with the Camera Obscura. The Shrine Keeper put up a big fight until finally Shou delivered the fatal shot to exorcise the spirit once and for all.
The Shrine Keeper with its skull-head attached once more, collapsed to its knees before falling flat-down onto the ground and disappearing with a loud pained groan. "She must be put to rest," the Shrine Keeper's voice echoed into the cavernous chamber. "She must sever her attachments or she will only continue to suffer…" And just like that, the Shrine Keeper was no longer of this world, or so Shou hoped.
Once the danger has passed, silence descended upon the dark chamber. Despite the cold air, Shou was sweaty from all that running around. The Shrine Keeper failed to stop Hanari Kimura. Now it was time to prepare for the final battle. Now Shou moved forward and just like in his vision, that's when he spotted the big stone-door. This was it… The forbidden garden was beyond here. This must be where Aimi went. It was also the place where Hanari Kimura was buried… Shou didn't know what fate awaited him beyond this door but he prepared himself mentally and emotionally. He had to get to Aimi before it was too late. Ignoring the dread in his heart, Shou bravely pushed the heavy stone-door open and slipped inside.
This is it. The Final battle. I hope my readers are prepared for it. I wanna thank you all for reading this far and I hope it was a spooky scary Fatal Frame experience for ya. I promise the ending won't disappoint! And now my reading peepers have to make the ultimate decision of their own.