Here's Chapter 3. There will be some mature content in the future, but it won't be enough for me to have to up the rating of this story. Also, I might have mentioned this before, but this story will be dealing with some rather dark and triggering subject matter, so I'll be putting trigger warnings when I need to. That being said, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Disclaimer: Beelzebub belongs to Ryuuhei Tamura, not me.
Chapter 3- Demon of the Third Floor
"Morning, Hecadoth," I greet upon seeing him in front of my house. I walk up to him and plant a short kiss on his lips.
He kisses me back briefly. "Morning," he greets. "Are you ready?" he asks.
I nod. "Sure, let's go," I say.
As we walk to school, Hecadoth and I catch up on various things and talk about simple things. Eventually, he decides to ask me the question that I've been expecting. "So Yumi, what made you decide to ask me to accompany you to school today?" he asks.
"Well…" I glance at him from the corner of my eyes. "It's about something that has been bothering me for a while. You see, I recently heard a story about how a second-year student was murdered twenty years ago in St. Ishiyama, and there are rumours about how a ghost is haunting the school. I didn't think much of it until yesterday evening, when Shizuka and I were on our way home from the movie theatre."
"Go on," he tells me.
"We passed by the school, and at some point, I just happened to glance at the school building, and we noticed someone staring out from a window on the third floor. Since yesterday, it's been bothering me, and I can't ignore it," I finish.
Hecadoth looks thoughtful for a moment. "Is that so?" he asks. "Well, is there anyway I can help you with this?"
I think for a moment. "Well, after school, I'm planning to do a bit of searching up about the person on the third floor of St. Ishiyama, just to try and understand what is going on," I say. "I was wondering if you'd like to come to the library with me?"
"Of course," he says. "I'm more than happy to help you out."
Smiling at him, I stop walking before giving him a sweet kiss on his lips. He kisses me back just as gently, caressing my face with his gloved hands. When I pull away, I smile at him again."Thanks, Hecadoth. I really appreciate it," I thank him sincerely.
Eventually, we reach the school, where we part ways. "I'll see you after school!" I wave to him before giving him a short kiss on the cheek.
"See you too," he tells me as I make my way to the school.
For the most part, school is uneventful. Classes go by as usual, and today, we receive our World History tests. Much to my relief, I have a pretty good mark on the test, an 81% to be exact. Perhaps the most interesting thing that happened today is the ammonia fountain experiment we did in Chemistry. However, other than that, classes were pretty normal.
After school, I go to Pom Team practice as always, where we do some routines that involve a lot of hip movements and suggestive moves. By the time we're done, I'm rather tired and sweaty, and I make sure to clean myself thoroughly in the shower after practice.
"See you after school, Yumi-chan!" one of my teammates, a second-year named Kanako, calls after me.
"See you, Kanako-chan!" I call back as I walk out of the change room with my school bag under my arm.
As I make my way out of the school building, I see Hecadoth waiting by the gates. However, just as I'm walking towards him, I stop as I realize that I forgot something.
"Shit!" I curse in frustration. "I left my Japanese textbook in the classroom!"
Hecadoth looks at me in confusion. "Everything okay?" he asks.
"Sorry, I forgot to bring one of my textbooks before coming here," I explain. "Can you wait here? I'll just run back and get it."
"Sure."
I hastily walk back into the school and quickly change my shoes in the shoe rack before going up to my classroom on the third floor. Upon entering the hallway of the third floor, I feel a strange chill running down my back. The hallway is unusually dark and chilly, and for some reason, there's hardly anyone else. In fact, it's so chilly that I can see my own breath.
"No, Yumi," I tell myself softly. "You're just here to get your textbook. That's all. Just retrieve the textbook and go." Letting out a sigh as I shake my head, I enter the empty classroom and make my way to my desk. Opening up my desk, I find my Japanese textbook and I put it into my school bag before leaving the classroom.
Upon entering the hallway again, I feel another chill running through my spine. Despite my attempts to ignore it, I suddenly feel a sharp demonic presence. This puts me on high alert. When I take a step into the hallway, I feel as if someone's watching me, and I shudder lightly. Suddenly, I hear what sounds like a low, chilling whisper in the halls, and I look around warily. That's when I see it.
Standing in the far end of the hallway is a female figure. However, because majority of the lights are turned off, I cannot make out as to who she is. Then again, her head is bent down, so I can't even tell who she is. Upon looking at her, I feel a quiet dread within me.
"H-Hello?" I ask. "Are you lost?"
The girl just stays motionless and doesn't respond. Frowning, I take a few steps towards her. "Are you a student here? What's your name?"
Even though I'm reasonably far, I still feel an uneasiness. Though my gut is telling me to run away, my mind is telling me to see who this girl is. However, she suddenly starts to walk towards me, much to my shock. No, more like she's stalking towards me. My eyes widen in surprise and I turn on my heel and run down the stairs, trying to outrun her.
No doubt, she isn't too far behind me, as I can hear the eerie whispers and feel the demonic energy that she seems to be emitting. Instinctively, I run faster, my breathing becoming quicker as I finally make it to the shoe racks, slamming the door behind me and hastily changing my shoes. Once I've done that, I run even faster out of the building to where Hecadoth is.
Upon seeing me, I see a curious look cross Hecadoth's face. "Yumi, what's wrong?" he asks. "You look out of breath."
"S-Sorry…" I pant, bending down slightly to try and catch my breath. "I… ran… all the… way here…"
"Well, I clearly see that, but why?" he asks.
I laugh nervously. "Oh… no reason…" I try to shrug it off. "Well, let's go to the library."
Hecadoth looks at me suspiciously, but he decides to drop it, much to my relief. As the two of us walk to the library, I try to take my mind off what just happened by telling him about my day at school, as well as an exciting event that's coming up.
"Did you know? There's a kabuki theatre troupe coming to Ishiyama to perform Yotsuya Kaidan, the play that the movie from yesterday was based off!" I tell him eagerly.
"Is that so?" he asks.
I nod. "Yeah! My parents and I are going to see it! You should totally come and see it, it would be a nice opportunity for you and the Pillar Squad to learn about Japanese culture," I encourage.
"I'll see," he tells me.
Eventually, we reach the library, and we make our way to one of the computers. "So, you wanted to read about…?" Hecadoth asks.
"Ishiyama Urban Legends," I say, entering it into the search bar.
Upon hitting 'search', I search through the list of results that have appeared, trying to find a useful and reliable one. I find a source on a website that is about the urban legends of Ishiyama, so I click on that one. "Let's see here…"
Upon clicking the link, a page comes up with various stories. Right then, I see one that has an image of a shadow of a girl, standing in a hallway. Underneath reads 'Demon of the Third Floor'. Hecadoth glances at that story curiously as I click on it.
"'Demon of the Third Floor'?" he asks.
"This is probably the one." I read through the details of the story.
"The Demon of the Third Floor is the ghost of a girl who died a violent death on the third floor of the school she attended." I frown slightly. "So, she's a vengeful spirit?"
Hecadoth's eyes widen in surprise as he reads further. "Yumi, she went to the school you're going to," he tells me, pointing at the screen. "St. Ishiyama."
"Seriously?" I read where he's pointing at, and my eyes widen in shock. "She was a second-year St. Ishiyama student… who was rumoured to be a delinquent."
Finally, we manage to reach the section that details her death. As Hecadoth reads through the details, his eyes then widen slightly in surprise. "Apparently, she was brutally murdered, and her death was never solved, her murderer never caught. That's why her ghost is said to wander the halls of St. Ishiyama, because she cannot rest in peace."
"It is said that those who see her ghost will be tormented by her until they commit suicide." I suddenly feel a quiet horror growing in my gut.
If this is true, then… I saw the Demon of the Third Floor. Twice. So… what's going to happen? Am I going to go crazy? My mind is already a blur as this realization hits me… but it can't be real! It's just an urban legend!
However, I can't help but feel a bit unsure about that. And for some reason, I find my mind going back to Shibuya Airi, the girl who was killed twenty years ago. No, that can't be possible. It's probably just a coincidence. Ghosts don't exist… right?
"Yumi? Is everything okay?" I'm brought out of my thoughts by Hecadoth, who is looking at me in concern.
I shake my head. "No, just thinking," I mumble as I close the window. "Let's go, Hecadoth."
On the way home, Hecadoth turns to me. "Yumi, something's bothering you," he tells me bluntly. "Don't try and act like you don't know what I'm talking about. I've noticed."
I sigh. "I honestly don't know how you're able to tell this…" I mutter.
"Mind telling me what's bothering you?" he asks.
I hesitate, but I decide to tell him about what happened. "You know how I had accidentally left my Japanese textbook in the class, and I had to go back to retrieve it?" I recall.
"Yeah."
"Well…" I trail off. "After getting it, I suddenly felt this… weird presence. Like, I felt this chill in the air, and I could hear what sounded like whispers," I continue. "But what really made me… unnerved was that I could feel this demonic aura in the hallway."
Hecadoth looks surprised. "Go on," he tells me.
"And then… at the end of the hallway, I saw a girl standing there," I finish, looking down. "She started stalking towards me, which was why I was running so fast. But… I'm kind of worried now. I feel like something even worse is going to happen."
He looks thoughtful for a moment. "You said that you could sense a demonic aura when you saw that girl?" he asks.
I nod. "Yeah," I say.
He seems both confused and surprised by this. "I'll try and find someone in the Pillar Squad who might have a clue about this," he tells me. "As you said, something does seem a bit off about this, and I want to try and see what we can do."
"Okay."
We finally reach my house, and after giving Hecadoth a kiss, I go inside to tell my parents about my day, hoping to forget about what I just saw. However, it doesn't leave me alone, even as I'm getting ready for bed. In fact, when I find myself jolting out of sleep because of a vividly surreal nightmare, I know that it's because of the incident in the hallway.