Jukai (The Torihada Files Book 2)

by Tara A. Devlin

  What was going on?

  Keiko’s necklace lay discarded where I dropped it the night before. Its connection to Keiko was so strong that it instantly drew me in, and it wanted me to know where she was. Well, not technically ‘it.’ Keiko did. Her energy. Whatever it was. Kurohana Forest. I’m in Kurohana Forest. Come and find me. Please.

  I put my gloves on and picked up the necklace, placing it in a small bag with the photo. That would solve any unwanted touching for the time being, but it was clear what my next move had to be. Keiko was in Kurohana. I had to go there.

  I typed a new search into the computer. A private train line stopped just a five-minute walk from the forest. What to do? I was the only person running the store; I couldn’t just pop on over to the forest for a few minutes, drag Keiko out, and then everything would be over. It needed planning, preparation, and the right state of mind. It also needed to be after work, and my heart sank. After work meant darkness. A dark forest in the cold of night. Well, how much worse could it be than a dark house in the cold of night? At least I knew there were people in the forest… alive or otherwise.

  After work, then, when everything was ready. I would take the train over, assess the situation, and with enough lighting, protection, and a way to make sure I could find my way out safely, everything would be fine.

  “Think things through carefully.” Sayumi’s voice echoed in my head. “Don’t go into matters half-cocked. That’s when mistakes happen, and you of all people can’t afford mistakes. You need to be thorough, but most of all, you need to be safe. If you misjudge a situation, it’s life or death, literally. You’re different, Mako. Special. You’re half in, half out, for better or for worse. You need to be more careful than other people, and you need to be smarter, too. Take your time. Get things right the first time because there may not be a second.”

  She never explained what she meant by “half in, half out.” I had my suspicions, but I never brought them up. Kurohana Forest needed detailed plans. I would be safe and I would be certain. My first field mission all by myself. I’d show Sayumi I could do it. She wouldn’t always be around. It was about time I started taking care of myself. Learn how to stand on my own two legs.

  A soft buzz and the sound of voices filtered upstairs. The TV? I could have sworn I turned it off. I got up and walked past Sayumi’s door, stopping to do a double take. A figure was standing over her bed. A darkness in the dim light looking down at the empty space where she usually slept. It turned to look at me, but when I turned back, it was gone. I shook my head. No, I was just seeing things. I was tired. It had been a rough few weeks, and the last few days especially had me run off my feet. Exhaustion played tricks on the mind, and for someone like me, that meant seeing things that may or may not exist. The house was clean and free of ghosts; the second floor was, anyway. Talismans and charms decorated the walls to ward off evil. That part of the business was also in Sayumi’s family for generations, or so she said.

  This whole Kurohana business and the photo album and running the store alone was getting to me. I wasn’t sleeping well. Once I saw the forest for myself, got the album back for the old woman, and once I cleared my head, then everything would be back to normal. Or, mostly normal. Who knew, Sayumi might come back the next morning, her job successfully completed and I wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore. I could sleep soundly again and we’d laugh at how scared I was, worried that she’d gone missing after only a few short weeks. It wasn’t the first time, so why was I acting like a puppy without its owner? The photo on Sayumi’s desk smiled back at me. That’s right. I’m an adult. The dark doesn’t scare me. I know what’s in the dark; I’ve seen it with my own two eyes, many times.

  The house creaked, and I jumped. “Now you’re just playing with me.” The words seemed to echo off the walls, highlighting how empty the house was with only me in it.

  I hurried downstairs to turn the rogue TV off.

  9

  A knock at the door caught my attention. My heart dropped. Hiroshi, the delivery guy. He pointed at a few boxes on the ground and grinned. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with him again.

  “I thought you were going to keep me waiting out there forever!” he said as I opened the door. “Phew, sure is cold out there, don’t you think?”

  “I’m used to the cold.”

  “Yeah, sure, no, it’s nothing. Anyway, another delivery for the lovely Matsuda Tea and Sweets, if you could just sign here.”

  I took the pen and scribbled my name. “Thank you.” He dropped the boxes off and, as I suspected he would, followed me back to the front counter.

  “So, I see Ms Matsuda is still on vacation, huh?”

  “You were only here a few days ago, so yes, she’s still on vacation.” It was difficult to keep the venom out of my words. Something about him rubbed me the wrong way. Why was it so difficult for him to just do his job and leave? Why did he constantly have to pry? It was unbecoming.

  “Sure, sure, yeah. Just making conversation.”

  I grabbed one of the boxes and started cutting it open. Maybe that would give him a clue to leave, but instead he leaned on the counter and watched me.

  “You know, it’s not really safe for a beautiful young lady such as yourself to be working here all alone.”

  My skin crawled. “I’m fine, thank you. I’m sure you have a lot of deliveries to get back to.”

  “I mean, you’re all the way out here, basically the middle of nowhere with little traffic other than what comes to the store. Even if you screamed for help, who would come running?”

  Alarm bells rang. I tore open the tabs of the cardboard box and forced my lips shut.

  “Why didn’t you call me the other day? I left my number. It was the correct number, right? Where’s your phone, I can put my number in there for you, just to make sure.”

  I stood up and slammed my hands on the box. “Sir, I think it would be best for you to go now.” I couldn’t take it anymore. He was either extremely ignorant or extremely rude, but the end result was the same. It had to stop.

  He put his hands up in the air and took a step back. “Hey, calm down.” He laughed. “I’m just trying to be friendly. You seem lonely here, that’s all. I thought you might be shy. Sometimes you’ve gotta take the initiative or things will never happen, you know? Look, why don’t we have lunch together, my treat. My way of saying sorry. I’m sorry if I came across as a little pushy, I just… there’s a nice ramen store on the corner up there, right? I’m sure you’ve been there many times before. Why don’t we go there together?”

  I clenched my fists until my knuckles turned white. “Hiroshi, yes?”

  He beamed. “That’s right.”

  “Thank you for the delivery. You should go.”

  He nodded and took a few steps back. “Yeah, sure, my bad. I overstepped my boundaries, okay. I was just trying to be friendly. I mean, you’re all alone out here in the middle of nowhere, you know? You seemed sad. I can see it in your eyes. You want a friend. Someone to protect you, is my guess.”

  The filth spewing from his mouth brought the contents of my stomach back up, and I wondered if he knew how he sounded to the outside world.

  “There’s not much traffic out this way. Every time I’ve come here the store has been empty, you know? Well, anyway, my bad. I was just trying to help.” He grabbed the door handle. “I wonder how long this place can stay in business without many people around. I was going to help, but—”

  “Please go.” It took all I had not to throw the box at him. He smiled.

  “I’ll see you next time.”

  My hands shook; whether in fear or anger, I couldn’t tell. He got back in the truck, gave a friendly wave, and drove off up the street. At least part of what he said was true; the shop wasn’t getting a lot of traffic lately, and without Sayumi around to brighten things up, fewer and fewer customers were buying.

  The storefront seemed to darken. I put my jacket on and kept the phone nearby; just in case.


  I retreated to the back room after work. It was a combined break/lounge room with a tiny kitchen in the back and a TV and couch on the other side. I didn’t watch much TV, but after the day I had, some background noise seemed like just the thing. I was reminded of the TV turning itself on the night before. Between that and the lights constantly flickering on and off in the storefront, it was clear that something was wonky with the house wiring, but I wasn’t sure if I should call an electrician in Sayumi’s stead. I flicked through the channels until I came across a pair of entertainers making their way through Africa. They were attempting to communicate, unsuccessfully, with a local tribe. It was better than nothing. I let it play and grabbed a book from the shelf.

  Zhoomp.

  “What the hell?”

  The room went black. I pressed the POWER button on the remote over and over, but nothing. I flicked the light switch and no response. My heart raced. Maybe waiting for Sayumi’s return wasn’t the best course of action.

  “The breaker?” I wondered.

  No need to panic. This sort of thing happened all the time in old places. It was fine. The breaker was by the back door, all I had to do was go down the hallway and flick it back on. I put a hand on the wall and fumbled my way to the other end of the house. It was dark and silent, but no spirits were waiting to jump out and grab me. No intruder waiting to stab me and rob the store blind. Nothing but an old house unable to handle an increase of power for the moment. That was it. An electrician could fix it later. I reached up and flicked the switch. The TV roared to life in the other room. See. Nothing to worry about.

  I returned to the break room and sat down. I reached for the book again and zhoomp. Darkness. Twice in a row wasn’t the breaker. Adrenaline pushed me out of the chair and I pressed my ear against the door. Too quiet. A door slammed suddenly and I jumped.

  It was him. The delivery guy. Hiroshi. It had to be. It was too obvious, but it was so obvious that it looped back around to him again. He was behind it. I hurt his feelings by ignoring his advances and now he was carrying out exactly what he said would happen. He was proving a point.

  “Shit!”

  I reached for the phone and grabbed air. I was using it earlier in the store and must have left it there. Dammit.

  “Think, Mako. Think.”

  The only way to get to the safety of my room was down the hall and back up the stairs. If he was already at the back door, that option was out. Only the storefront remained, and the phone was there as well, but it was dark. Darkness was their domain, not ours. It was an unspoken agreement. They stayed in the front and we stayed upstairs. We each had our personal space and didn’t intrude upon the other. I jumped at another bang, this time closer.

  The front was my only option unless I wanted to face the intruder head-on. For a brief moment that almost seemed preferable.

  I pushed the door open with a creak and stuck my head around the corner. The hall was pitch black. To the left was the back door and stairs; to the right the door leading to the front. After confirming nobody was in the hall, I tip-toed to the right and slipped through. I got to my hands and knees and closed my eyes. ‘I’m sorry,’ I apologised in my head. ‘This is your space, I know. I’ll be out of your hair as soon as possible. I’m sorry.’

  Crawling towards the front counter, I fumbled for the phone. It fell and I caught it in my lap. Safe. I put it to my ear, but it beeped like it was already in use. I hung up, over and over, and pressed 110 for the police, but nothing. Somebody was blocking the line.

  Hiroshi.

  I closed my eyes, kept my head down, and crawled back towards the door. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end and chills ran down my arms and legs. They were close.

  ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry.’

  I reached up and grabbed the door handle; it was ice cold. A wisp of cold air brushed past my ankle and I jumped through the open door. I leaned back against it, my breath coming in ragged. It was only a few seconds, but they moved on me in an instant. I could still feel their cold tendrils running over my skin as they brushed past. Who were they? What did they want? Ugh. It didn’t matter, there was still the tiny matter of the intruder in the house to attend to. The phone was no good. Perhaps the bathroom? I could hide in there for a while and wait it out. No, hiding wouldn’t do any good. I needed help. If I could slip out the back, I could run up the street and get help. The street was full of pure businesses, unlike Sayumi’s combined home, but there had to be someone nearby. There had to be. Anything that didn’t require me going through the front…

  I pressed myself against the wall and took careful, methodical steps. With each step I confirmed that I was alone, and that nothing was nearby. Where was he? Still in the house? Or was he playing cat and mouse for fun? I inched down the hall, step by step, listening and waiting. The house was silent. Almost too silent, considering the usual moans and groans it made as night fell. I reached the back door and grabbed the handle. I jiggled it a few times and pushed. Stuck. He had jammed the door closed. Did that mean he was inside or out?

  It didn’t matter. The only way out was through the front unless I went upstairs and climbed out my second-floor window. I had no veranda; it was a straight drop to the ground below. The considerable drop was not a deterrent compared to the only other option available. Go upstairs, open the window, jump out. I wouldn’t have to go out through the front, but the chances of spraining something were high. If that happened, however, and he was outside, it was all over. And if he was inside… it was probably still all over.

  The front was a straight line. Down the hall, through the door, and then a few metres to the entrance. It was the clearest and simplest route. I could run and be out of the house in just a few short seconds. All I had to do was go through them.

  I didn’t know who they were, and the one time I asked Sayumi about the strange presence I felt in the storefront after dark, she said, “We don’t go there at night.” That was it. She smiled and patted my shoulder and walked away like that explained everything. “We don’t go there at night.” I had no other choice.

  I crouched down and ran towards the door. Reaching up for the handle, I took a deep breath and steadied myself. Just a few short metres away, freedom awaited. You can do this. Don’t disturb them, don’t look at them, don’t acknowledge them. Just go for the door and get out.

  I pushed and crawled across the floor as fast as I could. My shoulder hit a shelf and bags of tea tumbled to the ground. I ignored them and kept going. Eyes fell upon me instantly. I was in their territory, disturbing their peace. I slid across the cool floor and hit another shelf. Everything was dark; if I opened my eyes, I would see them. I couldn’t allow that to happen. They closed in. The air grew heavy and cold, pushing in on me, sucking out the oxygen I had stored in my lungs. Something called out to me, an incorporeal voice that knew my name. “Mako~” I shook my head. Cold tendrils drifted across my ankle and up my calf. They snaked across my shoulder. They brushed across my hair.

  I hit something hard and reached up. The front door. The handle, just grab the handle…

  Something screamed upstairs, an ear-piercing scream that shattered the night silence. I opened my eyes and saw them. Countless figures in the dark, crowding around me, pushing in on me. They turned in unison to the sound upstairs. I pushed back against the door, willing myself to melt through the glass and end up on the other side. Footsteps thudded on the stairs and something crashed like a door being thrust open. Then… silence.

  I ran. I threw the door to the hall open and ran all the way to the back. The lock lay on the ground, and the door swung back and forth in the breeze. A chair lay on its side in the wet grass, but the yard was empty. I pulled the door closed—the best I could with the handle busted—and made my way upstairs. The stairs creaked beneath my feet, mingling with the pounding of my heart in my eardrums. I hurried past Sayumi’s dark room and found my door wide open. Blood covered the pen on my desk, and a few drops stained the wooden floor below. The drawer
s sat open and various items were strewn around the room, but it was otherwise empty. The intruder was gone.

  What on earth had happened?

  10

  “Welcome!” A large voice boomed as I stepped into the ramen shop for lunch. A waitress I had a passing familiarity with greeted me and guided me in. “Would you prefer a table or counter seat?”

  “Counter,” I said. The events of the previous night had shaken me and I wanted to be near people. Not necessarily to talk to them, just to be in their presence. Safety in numbers. I figured that listening to other people as background noise would be a nice reminder that I wasn’t alone.

  The waitress cleared away a few empty bowls and I sat down. “Let me know when you’re ready to order.” I visited the ramen shop on occasion, but not enough to remember the waitress's name. Her name tag said AKARI in large letters. Her name was Akari. Somehow knowing that made me feel better, like we were less estranged. Now I knew something personal about her, and that was the first step in eliminating the unknown. It was in the unknown that fear lay. I was done with fear.

  “I’ll have a regular miso ramen, please,” I answered.

  “Certainly,” Akari smiled. She wrote a memo and slapped it on the board for the chef out back to see. “Anything else?” She put a cup of hot tea down before me. I shook my head. “Okay. We’ll bring your meal when it’s ready.”

  I nodded and took a sip. An unfortunate side effect of working in a tea store with a boss who was obsessed with the different qualities and tastes of tea was that I unconsciously judged everything I received. It was a mild blend of bancha; a personal favourite of mine. A little cheap, but not unexpected of a restaurant such as this, and it was pleasant nonetheless. I warmed my hands around the mug and took in the conversations taking place around me.

  “I wanna buy a house in the city.”