After we got back to the motel, we started in on research. We tried to find if there were any other similar unusual occurrences either in this town, or across the country. Eventually Sam found a similar case from Oahu in Hawaii fifteen years ago, and we did a search within a ten-block radius of Main and Fourth to see if there were any families that were in Oahu fifteen years ago.
Sure enough, one name popped up. Ida. Two blocks away from where Abigail ran into the ghost.
So, here we are now, five hours after meeting with Abby, sitting in the living room of a second-story apartment across from a family of three. The parents have heavy Japanese accents, so most of the talking is done by their daughter Katsuke, who looks to be about sixteen.
Like Abigail, the family knows of Kuchisake Onna; the parents were kids in Japan during the seventies, when the scare about the ghost was at its peak.
"Do you have anything—an heirloom, maybe—that would have belonged to somebody who died in a similar manner to Kuchisake Onna?" Sam asks calmly.
"Kuchisake Onna is just a story," the father says emphatically.
"We're just exploring every angle," Dean throws in.
"My mom's sister disappeared when I was a baby," Katsuke chimes in. "They never found the body, but her boyfriend was convicted for killing her because he found out she was cheating on him. We still have my aunt's necklace, it was all they found at her apartment after she disappeared. Does that help?"
Her parents shoot her a glare.
"Yes, it does help," I say. It does sound similar. I take a deep breath. "If you don't mind, we're going to need to take that necklace from you as evidence."
"I don't understand why you need that as evidence," the mother says indignantly. The necklace is probably all that she has left of her sister, and I understand why she doesn't want us to take it. Unfortunately, we have to.
Dean and I exchange glances. It might make it easier if we just tell them the truth. Or, it might make it harder. They could think we're crazy and kick us out.
I let Sam and Dean make the decision.
"Listen," Sam says, leaning forward and putting his elbows on his knees. "Kuchisake Onna is real. Ghosts are real. Everything that goes bump in the night… It's all real. The three of us, we hunt those things in order to protect people. And right now, Kuchisake Onna, or rather a version of her, is out for revenge. The only way we can stop her is if we destroy that necklace."
The father shakes his head. "You're crazy." Next to him, his wife looks skeptical.
Katsuke, however, nods. "Okay," she says.
"Katsuke!" her mother hisses.
Katsuke replies in Japanese, and her and her parents argue for a minute or so without me, Sam, or Dean able to understand in the least.
Finally, Katsuke looks back at us. "My parents say you can take the necklace," she says solemnly. "What are you going to do with it?" she adds after a moment.
"We need to destroy it," I say. "Which usually means salting and burning."
She pauses and relays the information to her parents. They seem upset but finally they hesitantly agree. "Okay," Katsuke says. She stands up and goes into another room, and returns after about a minute with a locket hanging from her fingers.
"Here you go," she says, passing it to me.
I look at it. It's heart shaped, and when I open it up, it has a picture of a man on one side, a woman on the other. Probably Katsuke's aunt and her boyfriend.
"Would you like us to burn it now?" I ask, nodding towards the fireplace that's across from us.
The mother nods.
Dean stands up and goes to start up the fire.
Sam asks, "Are you sure this is the only thing that's connected to her? There wouldn't be anything else? Or any remains, like hair or fingernail clippings?"
The mother shakes her head. "That's it. That's the only thing I brought with me that was hers."
Dean finishes building up the fire, so Sam holds out a hand for me to pass him the locket. I visibly flinch in surprise, and Sam drops his hand with a pained expression on his face. I take a deep breath and stand up to give the locket to Dean, noting the confused expressions on the family's faces.
"Ready?" Dean asks the family. They all nod, and he tosses the locket into the fire. He pulls some salt packets out from his back pocket and sprinkles those on top.
We're all silent as we watch the locket slowly melt. It takes a while, and after about ten minutes, Katsuke asks, "Is that it?"
"Hopefully, yes it is," Dean tells her.
"It seems kind of… anticlimactic," Katsuke says. "Are you sure you did it right?"
"Yes," Dean replies. "Trust me, we do this for a living."
There's a pause.
"Well, if that's it," I say, "I guess we should get going."
"Yep," Dean says. He pulls out a business card and hands it to Katsuke. "This is our card, if anything comes up and you need to call us."
"Okay," she says, looking at the card. She glances up at us and gives us a doubtful smile. "FBI, huh?" she asks.
I cough and straighten the bottom of my jacket. "Yes. FBI."
"I guess we'll see you around," Sam says, standing up and moving past me towards the door. The Ida family stands up and gathers near the door to see us out.
"Thank you," I tell them sincerely. "I know it's hard to give up something like that, but you've helped us immensely."
"No problem," the mother says, but I can tell by the strained tone of voice that it definitely is a problem.
Sam opens the door and the three of us file out. I close the door behind us.
"So that was it?" I ask as we start walking down the stairs to the street.
"I guess so," Dean says.
But it doesn't help make me any less worried.