Under the strict watch of both Mei and Toya, Taryn had been confined to something akin to house arrest. Having to remain in the room that she was now resting in. Mei reprimand Rachael in the hallway like a scolding mother for forcing Taryn out of bed to role-play a scene for their comic, as Rachael told her. It was a lie, of course, but a needed one.
Taryn had yet to tell Rachael anything of what happened, the parts omitted by choice. As much as she trusted her friend, Taryn worried about how Rachael would even react to knowing that a doll was the real culprit. A regular person would go into complete disbelief, laugh it off even, but this was Rachael. She wouldn’t outright think what Taryn was saying as false; they had history involved with it after all. But if anxiety were to be included, who knows how much Rachael’s worry and fear would be amplified. The last thing Taryn wanted was to give Rachael a panic attack after dealing with a life or death situation.
Once was already enough, she couldn’t bare to put her friend through that again…
That coming night, Rachael had stayed in the room, having no intention of leaving Taryn alone after what transpired. With Toya coming to check on the two of them a few times during the night, Rachael noting the affection Toya seemed to hold for Taryn when he spoke with her. As Rachael poked fun when the two women were alone trying to make a tense situation lighter as best that they could. Even to the point where Toya had even fallen asleep for a short time while looking out for her.
Yet being at ease was far from Taryn’s mind.
“If you wish to seek the truth, then when you are able, go back to the Shrine and go down the well. There is a tunnel deep underground. There, you should be able to see the truth with those eyes of yours. But once you do, leave and don’t look back. Forget you ever came here. Forget everything.”
That was what Yoko had said to Taryn when she first woke, it seemed too real to be a dream. It lingered in her mind throughout the whole night, yet sleep was few and far between.
For even as she lay prone on her side, curled up underneath the heavy covers trying to sleep, she could feel it. As though the Doll was there. Of those glassy dark jade green eyes boring into her, and the squeaking of joints coming from its limbs moved towards her. With hands resting on either side of her, entrapping her in the bed with its unblinking stare. She dared not move until that feeling began to overwhelm her and could no longer take it.
Taryn forced herself up, to confront it, of what her mind believed was there. But saw nothing. Of course, there wasn’t anything; it was just her stress, making things manifest in her head. With the feeling of what if kept filtering through. What if it came back, what if it did it again, what if it killed the people closest to her?
It was a nightmare; it wasn’t real. The doll wasn’t here.
She took in a few steady breaths as she looked to see Rachael fast asleep in a nearby corner at the far end of the room, then glanced to her side to see Toya; he had merely come to check on them a few times. Yet here he was fast asleep in his kimono. How long had he been here? He lay on his side, one arm tucked under his arm as though he had done this a thousand times before.
She reached to wake him, to get him to head back, only to stop when he shifted in his sleep and grasped her left hand, giving it a light squeeze. It felt warm. Alive. Nothing at all like the doll’s hand.
A faint feeling of relief washed over her as the tension began to ease in her shoulders. Knowing she couldn’t move out of bed; she tugged the lighter blanket from her covers over Toya to at least give him something while he slept by her side.
As she laid back down into the futon’s softness, she grasped his hand with her other and brought it up to her. And pressed the knuckles of his hand rest against her forehead.
Even though she would normally never do this, having the reassurance of another living being near brought comfort after dealing with something so horrible, no matter how short the moment lasted. Or how little she knew Toya; it didn’t matter right then and there.
So, she allowed that feeling to envelop her for this brief moment and bring her drifting back to sleep where no nightmares dwelled.
* * *
The coming morning, Toya was gone long before Taryn woke, as the rain continued without stopping. Covering the whole village in a thick fog, making the village a rather dreary place to look at given what happened. Yet as the rain fell, Taryn slowly recovered; she had overheard some things from both Rachael and Stephanie, who came to check on her; one thing, in particular, brought Taryn to her full attention.
Yoko was missing.
No one had seen the woman since the day of the festival.
Warning flags went off in Taryn’s mind.
“…it seems that the demon has his eyes on me.”
“Taken?” Rachael repeated as Stephanie looked confused. “What makes you think that?”
“Because she came here when I first woke up. I asked about where she was through the notebook Mei gave me, but the workers only said that she was busy,” Taryn said softly. She could talk, given the okay to do so by Mei, as long as she didn’t push herself. “But she was there, I had seen her, she talked to me.”
“How can you be sure that this woman came to see you?” Stephanie asked. “You were pretty out of it when you first woke upright? You said so yourself that you thought it might have been a dream.”
Taryn got out of bed and crawled over to her bag. She pulled out a small black leather-bound notebook. One that could easily be hidden into a sleeve of a kimono without anyone the wiser that it existed.
“Isn’t that one of yours?” when Taryn simply handed it to Stephanie, she opened it, and the blonde woman’s confusion mounted. For it was all written in Japanese.
“It wasn’t part of my belongings,” Taryn said simply as Stephanie slowly went over page by page. Dark blue eyes scanned at what was written. “There’s a part at the first page,” she says, making her go back to it. “You can read Kanji, right?”
“‘Go to the well.’” Stephanie said it in English. “What well?”
“There’s one underneath the shrine at the top of the village,” Rachael answered as Taryn went back under the futon covers. “We kind of found it on accident, I dropped something, and it went under the Shrine, Taryn went to get it and saw the well.”
“Really? I didn’t even know there was something like that under the Shrine.” Stephanie looked back to the notebook. “But why would she go this far?”
Taryn and Rachael looked at each other with knowing eyes before Rachael stood up and clapped her hands together, saying in a slightly louder voice. “You know, I think we should help Taryn to the baths. She mentioned needing one. Want to come with Stephanie?”
Stephanie was quiet for a moment before realizing what it meant. Were they worried that people listening in? “Sure, I’ll come with.” She smiled at Taryn as she quickly handed the notebook to her; Taryn discreetly hid it in her robe’s confines. “I’ll even help wash your hair; you know I’m good at that kind of stuff.”
As they neared the baths, the three girls bumped into Toya in the hallway. When he saw them, he approached Taryn and asked to check her throat, something she saw no harm in doing. Only to frown slightly when his fingers brushed against the side of her throat where one of the main arteries lay, asking if she was indeed alight to bathe so soon after what happened.
“I can manage,” she said to him. “Any luck with the police?”
Several fingers remained on her throat while his index finger and thumb rested along the fine line of her jaw. “Unfortunately, no one will come today. It will be impossible with just how heavy the rain is, especially if the roads are flooded. An officer may arrive tomorrow, but it will probably be the day after that.”
“That’s too long, isn’t it?” Rachael asked as a frown formed on her face.
“There isn’t much we can do about it until the rain clears. Though the officer in question who will come to investigate has been to this village before, so he knows the layout well. Hopefully, we’ll find something of use to catch who was behind this.”
Taryn remained quiet; this wasn’t right. Law enforcement should have already arrived regardless of the weather. Someone, several people, should have already been here investigating, but only one police officer was coming from its sounds. Did that mean that the police in this area didn’t think it was of that great concern? Or was her attack merely downplayed by another party?
Toya smiled faintly at Taryn, his hand still staying along her throat before asking. “Have you contacted your families to let them know what happened?”
“No we’ve had no luck,” Stephanie answered as she rested a hand on her hip. “I’ve been trying for two days even before this and nothing. How do you people survive without a phone?”
Toya’s smile brightened a bit, giving a soft laugh as he removed his hand from Taryn’s neck. “We manage Stratford-san, although it has its disadvantages, much like now. I can only apologize for such a turn of events, even though you all have the right not to accept it.”
“It’s not like it was your fault,” Taryn told him. “You had no idea something like this would happen. You said so before, but all the same, I do hope the person behind this is caught.”
“As do I and the rest of the staff,” Toya said as he continued to look at Taryn, knowing what she meant behind those words. “I have informed the staff that if they were to see anything suspicious to report it to me right away. And in turn, I will tell you, Lowell-san.”
“And what about Yoko? Have you been able to find her yet?”
Toya shook his head. “No, we’re wondering if she might have left the village, it’s really unlike her to just disappear.”
“I see. Oh, and thank you for what you did last night. But you should try not to do that again, I’m sure it’ll cause concern for your staff if you end up sick on my part.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
He smiled again. “I only promise to try. Although regarding that, I simply can’t help but worry for my guests if they’re ill or even hurt. It is simply in my nature, regardless if I am a host to all or not. I should let you go, I shouldn’t hold you up any longer.”
She merely looked at him; maybe she was wrong than about what she felt right then.
However, as the three of them walked past, Toya spoke again, causing them to stop in their tracks. “One more thing,” Taryn felt his hands slowly rest gently along her upper arms, keeping away from the injury but also keeping her in place as he hovered over her like a shadow.
She could feel his gaze as he leaned over to speak softly, long dark hair falling over his shoulder as his green eyes peered down at her. “Please be careful, we don’t want anything else to happen to you with what’s already transpired that night.” He then moved back, hands now resting in the sleeves of his kimono. “Enjoy the bath, ladies.”
Taryn turned her body to look at Toya’s retreating form down the hall, her left hand resting along her throat. Maybe not…
“That… that was weird…” Stephanie said when Toya was gone. “I get that he likes you, but, still…” No one commented in response as the three of them went into the changing room for the baths.
When the door closed, Rachael asked. “Do you think he’s lying?”
Taryn didn’t answer as her hand returned to her throat. He was feeling her heartbeat, was he trying to see if she was lying?
Stephanie looked confused. “Lying? About what?”
Rachael looked to Taryn’s back; she had just closed the door and remained there; Rachael could understand why. She was making sure no one overheard their conversation. Grey eyes then tore away to look back at Stephanie. “There’s something we need to tell you, Stephanie. It… it may be hard to grasp, but it’s something you need to know.”
Rachael then went into detail about what the two had previously found. Of the notes from June Suchiko, the reporter who went missing and the reality that many people came to this village and possibly vanished to an unknown fate. All the while, avoiding the parts in how such things were originally discovered.
“Good God…” was all that Stephanie could say as she sat down on the bench. As though the strength in her legs had utterly left her. She mulled it over in her head before asking. “Is there any way to find out just how many people went missing? If they went missing here?”
Rachael shook her head. “Not without knowing names. Perhaps if we were able to see if they’re in the register book by the front desk. But getting to it without being seen as suspicious will be difficult.” She stopped short when Taryn then pulled out the black notebook from inside her sleepwear. The notebook that had supposedly belonged to Yoko, as Taryn looked through the pages before stopping and taking out a rather long piece of paper. Sitting on the floor, her legs tucked underneath herself as she used the bench as a makeshift table.
Rachael looked at it over Taryn’s shoulder, quickly realizing what it was. It was a copy of the register that was by the front desk. Several names circled in red ink. Two names jumped out at them instantly.
June Suchiko and Ai Matsushita.
And there were others, names that had been circled in red ink, name after name after name. Around fifteen people were circled in red for last year and two of this year, making the total amount too seventeen.
People who had gone missing, the only reason that the two women could conclude to it was that the first names were marked the same way.
So many people. “How long do you think that this has gone on for?” Stephanie asked as worry edged her tone.
Rachael shook her head. They had no clue. “We only know that people have gone missing because of June. The first person circled here, she was a journalist for a Tokyo newspaper. She came here looking for her friend, Ai Matsushita, who had gone missing at the beginning of the summer. And June was the last person to come here, well, before us.”
“But why have people been going missing?” Stephanie asked.
“We don’t know,” Rachael answered.
“Actually,” Taryn spoke, cutting her friend off. “There might be a reason, but before that.” Taryn got up and back to the door, not only checking to see if someone might be listening in again but also to block the sliding door so no one could enter. “There’s something I need to tell you both. It’s about the person who attacked me.” She said as she turned to them.
“But you said you didn’t see the…” Stephanie trailed off when she saw Taryn’s expression, making the answer clear.
“I lied; I have a reason for it. I’ll tell you who, or I should say, what attacked me. Just bear with me for a minute.” She took a deep breath. “I was attacked by a doll.” The moment she said it, the silence was deafening to her, but she pushed on. “I know it sounds crazy, but it’s the truth. I was attacked by a life-sized doll.”
“But how could a doll do that?” Stephanie asked. “It’s not like one can move on its own.”
“Do you remember the story of the Priestess and her husband?” Taryn asked.
“Yes, she was turned into a doll by her crazy husband, and… burned the village as revenge.” A sudden feeling of dread slowly began to grow as her shoulders drew tense. A sick feeling enveloped Rachael as she began to grow pale, a hand covering her horrified expression. “The missing people… oh my god.” Stephanie shot up; as her body began to shake. “You don’t think someone’s been turning people into dolls?! Do you?”
“I’m not sure if that’s the case, but I don’t think we’ll ever get an answer,” Taryn said softly. “If we did get that information, it might be too late.”
“Then, we need to leave!” Stephanie said quickly and went for the exit.
“And how should we do that?” Rachael asked her, causing the woman to stop. “It takes an hour’s walk just to get to the car, and with this heavy rain, it will be even harder. On top of that, even if we were to just leave all of our things, Taryn’s still recovering. And there could very well be landslides or worse. If we aren’t careful, we’d be heading into a corner with no way out.” Rachael let out a breath, walked the short distance and folded the information back up into the small notebook before going over to Taryn and grasping her hands, her own hands shaking as she did so. “Does anyone else know? About the doll that did this?”
“Toya,” Rachael looked at her in shock, something that Taryn still regretted. That she had given in just like that. “It wasn’t my intention to tell him. After escaping it, waking up while still trying to come to terms with what just happened, I told him. I felt like I needed to say it aloud once, so I wouldn’t think I was crazy. He believed me. On top of this, he says that the doll is modelled after his late grandfather. So, there’s that.” She paused, regret clear on her face. “I’m sorry. I know this could make things worse for…”
Rachael stopped her friend from talking any further by hugging her tightly. “Next time, tell me right away. Even if you think it’s crazy or insane. Just tell me. Regardless of what it is, you idiot.” Tears were in her eyes as she kept hugging Taryn. “Seriously, I mean it. You know what we’ve been through. Even if knowing all of this is terrifying, and it is. You told me that you wouldn’t leave me in the dark. And you know that goes for information too! Not just literal.”
“Right,” Taryn hugged her back. “I’ll be sure to remember that. Thanks, Rei.”
“Okay!” Rachael moved away, gripping Taryn’s upper arms. “We need to get you cleaned up; we need to make it convincing right?”
Taryn smiled slightly, sometimes she forgot that she didn’t need to worry so much for her friend. Rachael said she wasn’t a strong person, but really, she was in her own right. And that made Taryn grateful to have her.
“What do I tell Robert?” Stephanie asked, after mulling over the information. She still had a hard time believing that a doll could even do such a thing. But it conflicted with what she had heard of the village’s legend and the state of her friend’s throat. If someone was indeed turning people into dolls, kidnapping to do so, that made it all the more disturbing.
“Probably not about the doll,” Taryn said. “You’re struggling with the information yourself; do you think Robert would be able to grasp it?”
“He’d say it’s a poor joke.” Stephanie sighed and muttered. “This sucks...”
“It could be worse.” Rachael offered. “Taryn might not have been able to get away.”
“No, I mean, I brought us here. This is my fault.”
Taryn moved past Rachael and placed her hands on the taller woman’s shoulders, causing Stephanie to look her right in the eye. “No, it’s not. You couldn’t have known; we couldn’t have known. We’re all just stuck in something none of us could be aware of. Even if the warning signs were there, the likelihood of us heeding it would be small given how wonderful the place looked. No one would want to believe that people are being taken against their will and… turned into something else in such a wonderful-looking village.” Besides, she thought. I am just as equal to blame. “We’re at least aware of it now. The issue we’ll have, however, is how to get out of here. We first need to see the roads.” Then a sudden thought accrued to her. “Rachael, if the weather permits, could you go around the village and see how they leave? If the villagers have cars or not. There has to be another way to get out of the village, considering how many people live here and seem to work office jobs in Tokyo. Talk to that old man if you have to.”
“Sure, I can do that. There’s something I’ve meant to ask the villagers in regard to the legend of the Priestess.” Since getting this new information, she began to wonder if there was more to the legend. And of a demon that has been said to spirit people away at night. Was there a possible connection between the two?
“Stephanie?” Taryn spoke, drawing her attention. “Are you going to be okay?”
That stunned her. “Me? What about you? You’re the one who had to deal with whatever that monster was. You should be worried more about yourself than anyone else right now.”
Taryn gave a slight sombre smile. “Maybe, but I’m not like that. I’ll always worry about others, which is a given considering…”
Stephanie frowned at Taryn’s odd choice to trail off like she didn’t want to add something to this already crazy conversation. Even when looking at Rachael, who cleared her throat, Taryn seemed to know more than what either girl was willing to speak aloud.
“Okay then, but that means I get ample amount of reason to worry about you,” she told Taryn with her hands on her hips. “Someone has to, and your friend who already worries doesn’t count. You need someone else to think of your well-being if you won’t for yourself.”
That baffled Taryn. “Uh… okay? But you don’t need to…”
“I am!” she said in a stern tone before pushing Taryn to get changed. “I’m also helping you wash your hair! No buts about it!”
She’s like Mei. Taryn thought, finding herself unable to do anything but listen to her.
While Stephanie helped Taryn wash, Rachael remained in the changing room, looking over what was in the notebook but also making sure no one else was trying to get in and look through their things. With how Taryn had been receiving notes, the very opposite could also have been a possibility.
When Stephanie lifted Taryn’s hair after the bandages were removed, the blonde woman could see the tell-tale signs of scratches along the back of the girl’s neck and the ample bruising that brought a sickening contrast to her already pale skin. As if something was trying to get a good hold of her but couldn’t. Adding even more credibility to such an implausible story.
A doll’s hands wouldn’t get a good grip on something if they held something in their hands.
Yet, why was Taryn not afraid? Her calmness to the whole situation was a bit surprising, to say the least. Was it because of her family background? No, somehow that didn’t seem to fit. Rachael was panicking when Taryn went missing, but now she seemed to have calmed down as well. As if the two had a deep understanding of all of this craziness.
When Taryn had finished getting her hair washed along with her body, careful to avoid her injury. Then a thought came to mind. “By the way, Stephanie, where’s Robert?”
“He’s in our room, he’s been quiet since that night. Even more so today. I think what you said got to him.” Then quickly added. “Not that I’m saying you shouldn’t have said those things! I know Robert’s been grappling with all this himself; he won’t tell me everything, not that I could force him. For a while now, he seemed to be struggling to come to terms with Paul’s death. But… and I know it’s not my place to say, I think he needed to hear those things from you.”
She didn’t respond, disappointed with herself for how it went. “I’d rather not have said it at all. I don’t like us fighting. I just hope that things will get better and that we can at least talk like before. When we were friends…” She gave a short, humourless laugh as Stephanie dried her hair. “As idealistic as that sounds, perhaps I’m just a fool to think that.” When they were finished Taryn dressed back in the same sleeping robes and did what she had before with the notebook. “I’m heading back to the room. Rachael, you should sleep in our regular room tonight, okay?”
“What? Why? What if something happens again?”
“I have some of my strength back, so I’ll be fine. Besides, we need to make sure nothing of our things goes missing. You wouldn’t want to lose your tablet or laptop, right?” Taryn laughed slightly, for Rachael’s seemed to be enveloped with anger at the mere thought of someone taking her most important things.
“How do you guys manage it?” Stephanie asked Rachael as Taryn began to walk down the hall. “How can you both remain so calm when this happened?”
“You think we’re calm?” Rachael said as she looked to Taryn’s back. “I know it may not look like it, but it’s not the first time we’ve dealt with something strange. We know things could always get worse, but what I’ve seen is about a fraction of what she has. Like we did before. And I doubt Taryn could run away from it, it’s just not who she is.”
Like before? Stephanie didn’t ask what that meant. It was clear that the two had gone through something else long before this. Perhaps when they left this place, she’d ask. And maybe, they’d tell her. Now, however, was not the time to go digging into people’s past.
Taryn cast a glance back at the two women as they conversed. There was another reason why she asked Rachael to remain in their old room, one that she wasn’t willing to tell just yet. For she didn’t want her friend to stop her. And it entailed the key that they had found only a few days ago. Something about it nagged at her since they arrived, and she was going to find out exactly what that was.