“Are you ready?”
Wind chimes. Laughter floated down the hallway, getting closer.
“W-Will that keep her out?” I pointed to the talismans covering the door.
“Not for long.”
“Oh.”
“We need to do this now. Just repeat after me.” Sayumi started chanting in an ancient language I didn’t understand. She said the words slowly, and I repeated them after her, one by one. My eyes fluttered to the door. The laughter was getting closer. Sayumi’s voice rose, and I followed suit. She was repeating the same words. It was a chant, and we’d reached the beginning again. The second time around it came easier. I couldn’t tear my eyes from the door, but as Sayumi spoke louder and more confidently so did I. Adrenaline coursed through my veins while my feet froze to the floor inside the circle of salt. My skin crawled and itched but I couldn’t scratch it. I stared at the door, repeating the words Sayumi yelled. On the opposing side of the door, the shrine maiden was listening to us, and she wasn’t happy.
The door shattered into tiny splinters, mere moments before I could grab Sayumi and pull her into the circle. The shrine maiden glanced at the torn talismans on the floor and stepped inside.
34
Several shards of wood splintered my skin, but I continued the chant. The blast shook Sayumi, but I remembered the words. I stared the shrine maiden down, repeating the mantra louder and louder in defiance. If it was a battle of wills she wanted, she’d get it.
Sayumi stirred beside me, rubbing her head. “The salt…” she muttered. Her fall broke the ring of salt around us. She turned towards the door. “Mother… I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. If I had known you were there, I… I was just a child.” The shrine maiden shifted her gaze to Sayumi and stepped closer. The talismans burned a trail as she walked through them. “I’m sorry you never had a proper burial. I didn’t know you were there, and I was scared…”
The shrine maiden stood before us. I continued chanting the words, each round making my skin crawl like a thousand ants all over my body, biting and nipping and setting my skin ablaze. The maiden glanced down at me and the black veins crawling up her neck pulsed. They grew, spreading up throughout her face, and she turned back to Sayumi.
“No. Please, don’t. I’m sorry. No!” Sayumi’s voice filled the room as the shrine maiden fixed her gaze upon her. Sayumi grabbed at her neck like she was being choked by an invisible noose, her voice coming out in pained chokes. Squeezing her hand even harder, I focused all my energy on the shrine maiden. I knew the words. I could do it. Sayumi trusted me. She believed in me. I wouldn’t let her down. It wouldn’t end like this.
I repeated the words, louder and louder, until I could barely hear anything over the sound of my voice. The words took over like a mantra; I was no longer the one speaking them, they were speaking themselves. Sayumi’s grip weakened with each passing moment. The shrine maiden—her own mother—was killing her, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. No doubt her mother brought Sayumi to this very house when she was born, introduced her to her grandparents, and perhaps even played in the same room we were sitting in. Happier times when she had a loving husband, a healthy baby girl, and their whole lives ahead of them. She was filial to her parents, but she never forgot her duties, even after she quit working at the shrine. She returned to the forest and continued to attend to the unmarked graves. The anonymous souls forgotten by time, but not by her. They deserved to be remembered, to be cared for in the afterlife, and Sayumi’s mother did just that. Yet they claimed her all the same, took her from her family and warped her. Tainted her with their combined malice and corrupted her into the evil being trying to kill her own daughter before me.
Sayumi’s grip on my hand weakened. Her body hit the floor, and I squeezed even harder. There was something hard inside her grip that fell into my hand. I let go and shifted my gaze from the shrine maiden for just a second. It was the blue stone. I turned back to the shrine maiden and smiled. I closed my eyes and squeezed.
When I opened my eyes again, I saw the shrine maiden in her true form. Webs of light snaked out from the stone, some reaching down to Sayumi on the floor, others towards the maiden herself. The dark veins visible to my naked eye ran much deeper in the spirit world, the corruption so deep that I wasn’t sure if any of Sayumi’s mother was left. Dark strands of her hair blew up in waves, and the air crackled and buzzed with energy. She turned from Sayumi to me and grinned.
I continued the mantra, not thinking about it but letting the words flow. I didn’t understand their meaning, but I did understand their intent, and the sounds took on a life of their own as they left my lips. The shrine maiden floated towards me, a shadow blacker than the darkness itself, and every fibre of my being screamed to run, to get away as far and fast as possible. She didn’t just want me dead; she wanted whatever it was inside me that allowed me to see things that others couldn’t. Whatever it was that connected me to both worlds.
I thrust my hand forward and into her chest. I let the fear melt away and instead embraced the rage bubbling deep inside. Rage at the pain the world had caused me. I embraced the sadness of my family lost, and the happiness of a new family found. I embraced all of it, let it wash over me as the chant surged out of my mouth, and finally, I embraced the power within that always frightened me. The power that let me see things I never wanted to see, and the power that brought forth the evil that forever changed my life. Not this time. No more running. No more fear. I was in charge. I was in control.
Tendrils snaked out of the shrine maiden, grasping for me like talons of corruption. They coiled around my neck, around my wrists, around my ankles. I shouted the words one last time, putting every last ounce of strength I had left into them. The shrine maiden got closer, her face mere centimetres from mine. She stared into my eyes, curious and unafraid. There was mirth there, perhaps even joy. She was not afraid. The attempts to exorcise her; the talismans, the incense, the holy water, the chanting, it was nothing to her. She was a shrine maiden. How could I dream of hurting her?
I embraced her, pulling her close. She struggled against me as I spat the final words out, the tendrils around my neck squeezing tighter and tighter in an attempt to deprive me of air and voice. I clenched the stone in my hand and the maiden screamed, her voice hoarse and otherworldly. She was bare to me, and I to her. I knew all I needed to know. There would be no more running. No more hiding.
As the final word left my lips, I smiled through the pain. I had done it. I didn’t know how, but I had done it. Her eyes widened, her grip on my throat unrelenting even as the darkness began to drain from her soul. She was so close, the finish line in sight and she did not want to give up, but it was too late. The darkness unravelled and confusion flickered in her eyes. I smiled even larger through the pain, my vision blurring.
“It’s okay. It’s over,” I choked.
She screamed, an ear-shattering shriek that pierced my eardrums, and the room exploded into white. I hit the ground and the tightness around my neck faded away. The burning sensation across my skin dissipated and the frigid coldness in the air snapped. Warmth returned, and gradually, so did Sayumi’s mother. The darkness melted away, the veins of corruption retreating. Her inner light returned, filling the room with her purity. The effort drained me of what little energy I had left and I fell to my hands beside Sayumi. As the last of the darkness drained from her feet I looked up. A beautiful woman stared down at me, confused and seemingly taking in her surroundings for the first time. Her eyes widened when she saw Sayumi and she dropped to her knees beside her. She pressed a hand to Sayumi’s cheek and whispered something I couldn’t hear. Sayumi moaned, her hand grasping for the source of the voice. Relief washed through me. She was still alive. Thank god. The maiden then turned to me.
“Thank you.”
I opened my mouth to say something but then closed it again. There was nothing to say. She clasped her hands around mine; around the blue stone I was still holding. It beat like a heart
inside my hands, reacting to her touch. She smiled at me a moment, expressing everything she wanted to say with her eyes, and then turned to Sayumi. Sayumi pushed herself up, rubbing her head and groaning in pain.
“Ugh… What happened…?”
The blue stone stopped beating.
I smiled.
The shrine maiden was gone.
35
I presented Sayumi with sencha in the cherry blossom tea set I kept for her return. Several days had passed since the events with her mother and, while there was some bruising around her neck, she was otherwise fine. Physically, anyway.
“How are you feeling?” I asked. She picked up the teacup and admired it.
“Where did you get this?”
“It came in while you were out. I thought you’d like it, so I put it aside for you.”
Placing a hand on my arm, she smiled. “Thank you. It’s beautiful.” She took a sip of tea and closed her eyes.
“What are you working on?”
Books lay strewn across her desk that looked older than the house itself. Half were open and spread across every spare space while the rest towered high in the corner.
“I’m trying to dig into the history of Kurohana Forest. I thought that if I uncovered what really happened there, and those involved, perhaps we could appease the spirits. Let them finally move on.”
We had helped Sayumi’s mother, and with her gone the disappearances had stopped. We visited the little girl’s father the next day and Sayumi delivered his daughter’s necklace in person. His cries rang through the closed screen door as Sayumi told him in private what happened. My heart sank. But while Sayumi’s mother—the shrine maiden—had passed on, the other spirits continued to linger. The forest was still dangerous.
“Do you really think we can help them?”
“Honestly? I don’t know. My mother tried for so long, and in the end they took her with them. We can’t let that happen to anyone else, and if there’s a way to allow them to move on, we have to try. They’re angry and lost. They didn’t ask for this, just like my mother never asked for it. Sometimes bad things happen, and we’re the only ones left who can deal with it. Oh! While you’re here.” Sayumi bent down and rummaged through the bottom drawer of her desk. “I have something for you.”
“For me?” The surprise in my voice escaped before I could hide it. Why would she have something for me? She handed me a small box about the size of my palm.
“Open it.”
I tore the paper off and opened the box. Inside was a bracelet with a shining blue stone. I looked up.
“I don’t…”
“It’s yours now,” Sayumi said. “I received it from my mother. It was all I had to remember her by. Now I’m giving it to you.”
“Sayumi, I can’t—”
She placed a hand on my arm again. “After my parents died, my grandparents were the only family I had. After they passed, I had no-one. It was just me and this big, empty, haunted house. But the more I thought about it, the more I realised that that’s not entirely true. I do have family left. I have you.”
Flustered, I could do nothing but smile. She took the bracelet out of the box and put it around my wrist.
“T-Thank you.” They were the only words I trusted to come out.
“And if I ever go missing again, well, you can use that to find me quicker, hey?” She smiled. It was a joke, but the meaning behind the gift wasn’t lost on me. We had both lost our families. We were both alone, burdened by a similar past and similar gifts that kept us separated from the public at large. But we weren’t alone. We had each other.
“Do you think your mother is okay now?” I asked. “Did she… move on?”
Sayumi leant back in her chair and took another sip of tea. “I think so. I hope so. But the funny thing is that since she left… I can still sense someone here. I don’t know if it’s her, or…” She shrugged. “Anyway, I should get back to this. The sooner we can figure this out, the better. Thank you for the tea. Oh, and the electrician will be out tomorrow to check the house, although something tells me he’s not going to find anything wrong with the wiring.” She smiled. “The repairman should be out to fix the door before the weekend as well.”
I nodded and stopped by her door on my way out. Behind Sayumi stood two figures. They looked down at her, smiling, and I realised I had seen them somewhere before. Hiroshi’s vision. They were in my room the night Hiroshi broke in. They attacked him with the pen. The same two faces stared back at me from the photo on Sayumi’s bedside table. They turned in my direction and smiled before fading away. They were still watching over their granddaughter and her family.
Family.
I smiled and returned downstairs. The store wouldn’t run itself.
After the events with Sayumi’s mother, Sayumi called the police chief personally to come around to the store. They were old friends and, she said, the only one who would believe her when she explained why there was a dead, mutilated man lying on the floor of a tea and sweets shop. He took care of things, and a few days later called to tell Sayumi there was enough evidence to connect Hiroshi to the murder of Mr Fujita’s neighbour’s daughter. They found hair and DNA, in addition to fingerprints at the scene that matched. “I’ll take care of it,” he said, and that was the last we heard of him.
That wasn‘t the end though. There was still one problem left. Mrs Tamita’s family album. I sat at my desk with the photo before me. Now or never. I grabbed it and closed my eyes.
I felt the usual pushing and pulling of energy leading me in all directions, but I blocked out everything that wasn’t the album. Colours swam in and out and before long I was standing in a rice field. A farmer bent down and picked the album up. He took it to his storage shed and closed the lock. I let go and smiled. It was still there. I grabbed my stuff and ran downstairs.
“Where are you going?” Sayumi called out after me.
“I found Mrs Tamita’s album! I’ll be back soon!”
The train rocked and shook, mirroring my excitement. I flew down the stairs and made my way over to the rice fields. Two boys ran past me, chasing each other by the water. I knocked on the door and a familiar face greeted me. It was the farmer.
“Hi! It’s a little sudden, but my name’s Mako and I’m looking for this.” I showed him Mrs Tamita’s picture of the album. “Some children said they saw it nearby and—”
“What? Oh, the album! Yes. It’s in the shed out back. I found it in the fields a few days ago. I was wondering how it got there. It looked important, so I didn’t want to throw it away. Come. I’ll go get it.”
I went with Sayumi to return the album to Mrs Tamita. Her face lit up when she saw it.
“Oh my! You found it! You really found it!” She held it close and took my hand. “Thank you, dear! Thank you. How can I ever repay you?”
I shook my head. “I’m just glad you have it back now.” She didn’t need to know how difficult it was to locate, nor the ghostly figure of her husband I saw along the way. He stood in the corner as we said goodbye, only this time, he was smiling.
Two days later, Sayumi knocked on my door. Somehow I already knew what she was going to say. “Mrs Tamita passed away last night.” Her husband knew. He feared that her concern over the album was so great that when she passed, it would keep her on earth, her business unfinished. Quickly. The word echoed in my head once more.
I picked up the photo when Sayumi returned to her room and closed my eyes. Threads of colour pulled me here and there, but I couldn’t find Mrs Tamita, nor her husband. The album sat in pride of place on her mantel, her oldest daughter crying on the sofa nearby. They were gone. Both Mrs Tamita and her husband had moved on.
I found the album in time. I opened my eyes and tore the photo up.
“Mako! Someone’s here to see you!” Sayumi called out from the storefront. I put my cup of tea and magazine down and stuck my head around the corner.
“Hmm?”
A familiar smiling face gree
ted me beside an unfamiliar one. My face lit up.
“Megu!”
“Mako!”
I ran into her arms and let her envelope me.
“It’s been so long! How are you?”
She held me at arm's length and looked me over. “It’s a long, long story. You look well. And—” she peered over my shoulder and waved at Sayumi “—I see I’m too late, as usual. Hi, Ms Matsuda!”
“Hi, Megu.” She smiled. “Lovely to see you again.” She shifted her eyes to the woman beside her. “Who’s your friend?”
“Oh, uh, this is Aya. She’s… my friend.” Megu let go of me and rubbed her hands together. “We heard Mako was having some troubles and thought we’d come to help. Aya is a… or can release her… I dunno how you say it, what did you call it again?”
“Ikiryo,” I said. Sayumi raised her eyebrows.
“Oh. Well, I can’t say I’ve ever met a person who could do that before. Welcome!”
The young woman she called Aya looked around the room and shifted closer to Megu.
“I can see ghosts,” I said with a smile. “She can too.” I pointed to Sayumi.
“I can turn on a computer!” Megu punched me on the shoulder with an awkward laugh and then withdrew her hand just as quickly. “Sorry. I’m the useless one, I know.”
“You’re not useless,” Aya and I said in unison. Megu sheepishly grinned.
“Anyway, it would appear that our help is no longer needed? I feel kinda silly now, rushing all this way…”
I pulled her into another hug. “You’re always welcome here, Megu. Always. You’re family, after all.”
Sayumi stepped out from the counter and rested a hand on my shoulder. “Why don’t you girls go catch up. I can cover out here.”
When was the last time we were all together like this? Warmth spread throughout my chest and I smiled despite myself. I wasn’t alone. Not anymore.
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