All right, more editing! I'm enjoying this, in case you couldn't tell.

Inspiration: Moonlight Sonata (totally gorgeous!), My Creepy Pony (a short a friend of mine read to me—I think it's found on Creepypasta), and Lord of the Flies. That movie itself is ten times freakier than this story! If you haven't read it, maybe you shouldn't, and if you have, then you know what I suffered reading the book and watching the movie. Amazing story, but horrifically terrible.

Horror of the Piano

Xxx

As if lead by the hand of God, the key slid perfectly into the slot and Hiroshi twisted as, literally, his life depended on it. He wouldn't acknowledge any relief until he was safe and secure behind a closed door.

A shriek-like creak echoed around the hallway as Hiroshi kicked the door open with the last bit of his stamina. The door collided with the wall. Hiroshi rushed in and whirled around to slam the door shut.

At the end of the hallway, the thing's eyes bore into Hiroshi's as it closed in, as if attempting to paralyze Hiroshi in fear. But the only emotion Hiroshi had room for was security, as he childishly believed if he closed this door he would be safe. It was all he could cling to, even if it were a fake sense of security. And slamming a door shut would only take a second.

And slam it shut Hiroshi did. He slammed it so hard the wall shook and some of the paint peeled. Then he sped over in between two plain beds and dropped to his knees right in between, shivering uncontrollably.

All was silent for a full minute before Hiroshi finally sat on his haunches and peeked over the top of one of the bed. The door was still shut and he saw no sign of the monster. He waited impatiently another few moments before finally lying on his back and resting his jellified legs with a tremendous sigh. He had eluded the purple monster.

"Was that the Ao Oni…?" He murmured, heart in his throat. "What am I saying? That's—that's impossible. There's no such thing. There can't be, it's not possible."

He couldn't digest what had happened. It wouldn't register in his mind. He just couldn't wrap it around that an actual monster was raging through the manor. What is humanly possible? No, it wasn't humanly. It was the-last-thing-from-humanly possible.

It was downright deranged. Was that even the right word?

Then another thought occurred: were the others safe? Where were Takuro, Mika, Naoki, Takeshi, and Nikoru? Takuro and Mika were probably in some dark closet but either way, whether they were or not, they were in danger. Naoki, wherever he was, was in danger. Takeshi was hiding in the closet for a definite reason, not because of a mouse or a bug like he'd thought. That blonde twit had even tried to tell him and he had thought nothing of it! How stupid he was!

He could have cared less about Satō's safety. He might have been better off dead. Then he thought of Nikoru

Why had he left her? Was he stupid! He had left her alone to defend for herself!

He rolled around the image of that thing in his mind, trying to calm himself. He hadn't the slightest idea of how to handle this situation. His head was mushed with thoughts and mist, wanting to rescue the others, but a small voice contradicted him: It's all a dream, HiroshiPEN. You just need a pinch and a smack and you'll be fine.

Oh, then if that's the case.

He pulled down his sleeve and pinched the side of his wrist as hard as he could, squeezing his eyes shut. Then, he slapped himself four times on the right cheek and reopened his eyes. Nothing had changed. Nothing at all.

Abruptly his eyes started to sting and he wiped them with the back of his hand, forcing himself to hold it together. Now's not the time to lose it on yourself, Hiroshi, he thought defiantly. Don't give up hope. You can beat this. This isn't the end. You'll find a way. Think!

He attempted to push himself back onto his feet put his hand slipped away from him, as if falling right through the ground. Hiroshi caught himself and curiously checked under the bed for what had swallowed his hand. There was a wide hole in the ground that opened to the floor below. It was dimly lit with a buzzing light in the left far corner.

Hiroshi stood and began pushing the head, trying to uncover the hole. He dug his toes into the planks with the hefty weight. Finally, he had it pressed against the wall and he sighed heavily in relief. What a weight that had been!

Next he gathered blankets from the cots. He couldn't just jump through the hole; he would break his legs. He tied the ends of each blanket until the last one had been fastened. After tying one of the ends to one of the bed frames, Hiroshi squatted down, pushed his glasses up and slowly dangled his legs through the hole. He took a deep breath and scooted to the edge. He dared not leave through the door he had entered; there was no turning back. However, it wasn't wise to just fall through without knowing what exactly was inside, but what other choice did he have?

"Here goes nothing," he murmured a little sardonically, lingering on every syllable. He wasn't sure why he hesitated; maybe it was because he was nervous of dropping at least ten feet, or maybe he thought or knew he was forcing himself into acting brave for his own sake or for the others' sake. But hesitation would get him nowhere, so he clenched his jaw, gripped the makeshift rope, and nodded sharply. "Yes, here goes nothing."

He slid through the hole with his fingers tight on the rope. But the fall was faster than he had thought it would be and he yelled in trepidation as his stomach flew into his throat. Before he could scold himself for doing something so stupid, when all he had to do was walk out that door, he found himself dangling a few inches above the ground. He bounced back up with the rope once and when it lingered by the ground instead of flying back up, Hiroshi then released it. It wasn't difficult to land and it definitely wasn't painful.

Hiroshi cleared his throat, embarrassed. That hadn't been as bad as he thought it was going to be.

No one had seen that, right?

Turning, his vision revealed an old, ebony grand piano, lid closed and secured with what looked to be a rust caked nail.

As he stepped closer he noticed a pool of blood splattered on some of the keys. Upon further inspection it appeared to be old and crusted.

"Revolting," Hiroshi mumbled with irritation; someone had mucked up a beautiful piano with blood and a nail. And there was no way he would willingly dry it off with his own sleeve or scarf. He had more pride and dignity than that. He wiped a black glove over one of the keys above the mess and snorted in disgust. "What can I wipe this off with…?"

He immediately went for the cabinets in the back of the room. There was nothing useful inside, but he could see something metallic behind one of the cupboards. Like he did with the bed, Hiroshi pushed the cabinet off to the side and revealed some sort of safe. There were four spaces for digits and a small, gray button.

Hiroshi tried to recollect some sort of number he could put there, but nothing came to mind. He silently cursed himself.

He thoroughly investigated the rest of the room but found nothing of use. He debated on searching other rooms for a cloth or something and was seriously starting to consider it after he accidentally walked through a giant spider web in one of the corners.

"Dammit!" He exclaimed furiously, pulsing with pent up nerves. He waved his arms around and wiped his face with his sleeve until the last of the web was gone. "Get off of me! Dammit…"

That was it, that was it. He was going to leave the room and look elsewhere. He stomped to the door and exited rather loudly. But first, before finding a cloth, he wanted to find everyone and make sure they were safe.

Xxx

Mika sobbed silently in a corner, pressing herself closely against the wall until there was no space between them. Her heart was still pumping from her encounter and that had been about an hour ago. She still couldn't shake the shudders raging her body as she comforted herself, all alone in the dark room.

It boggled her mind how everything had been fine just an hour ago and how quickly the house's charming façade had dissipated. Takuro had been expressing how much he loved her just forty minutes ago, and now he was gone.

She sobbed for Takuro, who had used himself as a decoy when that thing had crashed through the closet. She sobbed for the terror she'd felt as she scurried under the bed. She didn't know where he was. She couldn't muster enough courage to leave the room.

And what could come from cowering? She also cried out of guilt: she was hiding in a room when she could be helping the others escape. She was ignoring their safety for her own. She felt she was denying their friendship and it made her queasy.

Why had they ever stepped foot in the house? Why had they ever thought it would be a good idea—fun? Why, out of all the haunted houses in the town, did they have to choose this one? They had entered hell itself.

Takeshi was right. Monsters did exist.

The Ao Oni wasn't myth—it was fact.

Xxx

"And that's the final line," Naoki murmured appreciatively as he finished the Lock and Key, something that would keep Takuro away until he decided to release him.

He smirked, pleased with how well things were going. He'd been waiting for this for so long. From his space, he could hear every step, every scream, every sob his unfortunate pawns made, and it filled his heart with such power and triumph. He couldn't wait for the finale.

As he prepared for the next spell, an image of Hiroshi by the piano flashed in his mind, and he grinned maniacally.

Riddles are fun, aren't they, Hiroshi? Naoki thought fixedly. Let's have a little more fun, shall we? I won't hurt you…His grin widened. But that can't stop us from having some enjoyable diversion, am I right?

Now, let's see; who should be our next victim? Ah, how about fire verses fire? Satō will be fun to—

Another image flashed—Takeshi sliding out of the closet and mumbling, "What happened? Who yelled?"

"Won't he be fun to cadoodle," Naoki chuckled caustically, momentarily forgetting Satō. His dark eyes skimmed the black book's yellowed pages for something more exciting. "I love this game."