Mei had gone back to Tokyo.
Or at least that was what Toya told her.
Did Mei really choose to go back?
Was it the truth? Was it a lie?
Mei didn’t seem the type to just up and leave. With how the woman cared and worried greatly about Taryn’s injuries and people’s health in general.
Taryn slammed her hands against the tiled walls of the bath out of frustration. There was a real grim possibility that Mei had been taken against her will. It was one of the last things Taryn wanted to think. But she couldn’t stop herself from thinking about such an outcome.
Worst of all, Taryn knew that there wasn’t anything that could be done. At least not by her and certainly not alone. They needed to get out of this place; the sooner, the better. That’s all that mattered when it came down to it. As much as she hated that thought…
After letting out a heavy sigh, Taryn quickly rinsed herself off and went back to the changing rooms. The same white and blue sleeping robe had been left on the bench, neatly folded and waiting for her. That wasn’t there before, did Toya or someone else leave it?
Putting it on with no other choice, she paused when she saw her reflection in a nearby mirror. Seeing it, she moved closer, her left hand gingerly touching the glass as she looked at herself. Removing the bandages from her throat, she could see changes in the colour of her bruised skin, outlines of hands clear around her throat like a noose. Yet it was her expression that seemed to hold Taryn’s attention the most. She looked exhausted.
And her eyes, deep within the blue of her eyes, she could see murky darkness, her mind still trying to come to terms with what she had seen when touching that slab of rock. The trauma had been too much to take, so it was repressed, locked into the recesses of her mind possibly to never come to light, like so many other things she had witnessed over the years. She gave a short laugh and smiled bitterly at this realization. even if she wanted to recall it, thinking there could be a clue, she had no means of retrieving such a memory. There was a chance it could come through all on its own, but that was unlikely. The events would forever be locked in the recesses of her mind never to come forth.
As her hand fell away from the mirror, her smile vanished as her expression became doer as she inhaled from her nose and exhaled through her mouth.
Toya didn’t seem to notice. She had no blood on her clothes, thankfully, but the treads of her boots were a different story. She took them with her when heading to the baths to clean the bottoms off before cleaning herself. Toya didn’t seem to mind Taryn taking them with her. If anything, he seemed more on edge about her being alone.
The same went with the staff—as she had received a stern talking from Ayako and a look of indignance from where Shoko was hiding when Taryn first headed to the baths.
Taryn played it off by acting as though she had gotten lost again since it was something that they, the workers and Toya, were aware of because of the stories they had heard about her.
But now, now she just felt tired. Hollowed out from the events as all her body wanted to do was sleep. To forget if only for a short time.
Leaving the changing room; however, she found herself being watched. Her gaze drifted over to her right when she felt that someone was there, only to see Toya sitting in the hall by the door. His legs were tucked underneath himself as he looked at her.
What was he doing here? Why was he waiting? Did he suspect something?
“You seem surprised,” Toya stated.
“You’re sitting on the floor near the baths,” Taryn stated back to him. “I’m more inclined as to what you’re doing than being surprised.”
“A fair statement,” he said as he stood. “I’m only here to keep an eye out, in case it comes back.”
She eyed him with suspicion. “You never did that before.”
“You weren’t alone before.”
He has me there. “Right, okay. You could have told me that.” There was an awkward pause between them. “I’m going to head back to the room; I’m exhausted.”
“Have you eaten at all?” he asked, and when she faintly shook her head, he simply said. “I’ll be sure that something is brought to your room.” He glanced at her again. “You don’t look well, are you sure you’re all right?”
No, she wasn’t; she felt awful. Exhausted as her mental state frayed from what she witnessed. But she had to act like she was okay. She needed to, for this wasn’t the first time.
“I already told you that I’m tired, though if I’m honest, I’m still on edge after what happened from my attack. Is there still no sign of it?”
Slowly Toya shook his head. “No, I’m sorry.” When they then began to walk to her room, he added. “We’ve tried looking throughout the mansion but have found no sign of it. We saw nothing along the treeline, either.”
No one went into the forest? She thought then remembered what he told her.
“There are many tunnels underneath the mountain, many passageways that have become closed off over time. While others bend and twist, making any poor soul lost. If that were to happen, I don’t think even I could find you.”
Right, he mentioned something like that before, but I need to know more. “You once told me that wandering in the forest can be dangerous with underground tunnels but you never told me how it could be dangerous. Were you referring to caves that bears have as their homes?”
“Well, there are bears, but that’s not what I was referring to when being careful.” He stopped suddenly, turned to her and gently placed his hands along her upper arms, avoiding her shoulders. “I’ve told you before about the underground tunnels, but there are also openings in the forest surrounding this village and the mountains.”
She looked at him with confusion. “Openings?”
“Ah, pardon me, I said the wrong word. Think of it like sinkholes; that’s what you need to be careful of. You could fall and become trapped with no way out.”
“Really?” So, there’s something else that we’d have to watch out for if we had to make a run for it. “I wasn’t that far in the forest, but that’s good to know.”
Toya glanced at the boots that she was carrying in her left hand. “You told me before that you’re the type to explore everywhere. I suppose I should have realized that you did mean everywhere.”
“If you ask Rachael or even Robert, they’d tell you I’m pretty notorious for going and looking around all that I can find. Well, within reason.”
“But don’t in a game, correct?” he smiled. “I think I recall that bit of conversation.” His smile then turned into a rather peeved expression. As though he had eaten something foul. “Apologies, I should not remind you of that either.”
Taryn said nothing of it, choosing to remain silent for the rest of the way. Once back underneath the covers of the futon, Taryn could already feel her mind creeping toward sleep until Toya returned with a tray of food. He was urging her to eat before falling asleep.
She looked at it, and for the briefest of moments in her tired mind, she thought it was drugged. Though if Toya had wanted to drug her, he could have done it ten times over by now. That line of thought brought her pause before taking a bite of porridge, recalling that one night when Toya had given her a type of tea to help her sleep.
She glanced at him as he merely sat waiting for her to finish; when he noticed her looking at him, he smiled softly. Could he have drugged her then? Was that why she had slept for almost a whole day?
If that was the case, then why not take her when she was alone and asleep? Or was she overthinking things after what happened?
No, if that were true, he, or whoever else, would have acted long before then. That much Taryn was sure of. Stopping her train of thought, she ate all of what he had brought her.
Then she began to apply fresh bandages after rubbing the medical cream along her skin while Toya removed the tray and empty bowl, only to pause and look at her over his shoulder. “Your throat must be doing much better since you ate all of it.”
“I bruise easily, but I tend to heal quickly. This isn’t the worst I’ve had.” Not by a long shot. She rested a hand along her now bandaged throat, recalling something. “There’s something I want to ask you.”
“Yes?”
“Will the police be arriving tomorrow? Since the weather seems to be taking a turn for the better, I kind of figured that they’ll come tomorrow after checking the roads today. Or am I wrong in thinking that?”
“A police officer arrived today while you were gone, and he left around early afternoon.”
That caused her head to turn to look right at him. “What?” only for a sudden amount of pain to erupt from her neck. “Ow! Damnit… what do you mean?”
“He left, the office came looked around in the place where you were attacked, spoke with me and to the other staff before leaving.”
That wasn’t right. And from how Toya worded it, the officer came alone? “Did he take notes? Photos? Was anything bagged as evidence? The knife I used or even the clothes that I wore that day?”
He shook his head. “No, he didn’t.”
Taryn was dumbfounded. She couldn’t even say anything as her mouth hung open. What kind of police officer did that? A real incompetent one, that’s what! Her father wouldn’t let that kind of shit fly, not in his city. People like that were either re-trained or fired with a written report attached if they ever tried to work as a police officer in another jurisdiction.
“And you let him go?”
“Ayako and I did try to stop him, we tried explaining to him that he needed to stay while we were looking for you, but the officer became agitated. That he had more work to do than helping us track down a foreigner’s so-called attacker, as he said it, and left shortly after. Do you think other police are like that?”
The fuck? Was all she could think. This man was worse than incompetent, from the sounds of things; he didn’t even do his damn job. If I get his name and badge number, I wonder how likely it would be to get this man fired for it. A random thought popped into her head. She was honestly thinking of trying to do that. As the daughter of an officer of the law, this shit was inexcusable to her.
Unless that was the point.
Was this officer a local? Could the officer in question be in on it rather than just bad at his job? She couldn’t ask Toya that since he never seemed to leave the mansion and probably wouldn’t know, or pretend that he didn’t. With a groan of annoyance, Taryn lay down on the futon; her arms splayed out on either side of her.
She wanted to curse out loud, but couldn’t with Toya here; if she did, it’d probably worry the man even more. What more could happen?
That was quickly answered with the sound of rushing feet outside the hall as the sliding door opened and in burst Rachael with Stephanie close behind.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Rachael practically pounced on Taryn before she had the chance to rise in bed, and snarled down at her like an angry cat. “I. Should. KILL. You!!”
“Hi to you too, Rei…” was all Taryn could respond with.
Rachael was having none of it. “If I could shake the life out of you, I would! Do you have any idea how long we were looking for you?”
“All day?” Taryn asked warily.
“ALL DAY!!” Rachael yelled, causing Taryn to cover her ears. Racheal was too loud and too close. It made her ears ring. “Where the hell did you even go?”
“She went for a walk in the forest, and before that in the village,” Toya answered. “I asked her that too, and you’re not the only one who’s been worried.”
Taryn glanced over from Rachael to Stephanie. “Are you going to hop on the bandwagon to yell at me, too or am I safe from your wrath?”
Her expression, a tight-lipped smile, said it all. For now. “We ran into Robert on our way here. He said that he saw you come back, and we figured you’d either be here or in your original room or the bathes.”
He’s probably back in his room then, good. Taryn looked to Toya while Rachael remained on top of her. “Actually, could I go back to the original room now? I’m more than capable of moving around without too much issue.”
All three girls now looked at Toya, the Japanese man merely sighed. “I suppose since with how things went with that officer, being with someone whom you trust is better than being in a room alone at night.”
Shortly after that, they gathered up Taryn’s remaining things and returned to the original room as Toya instructed the staff to take the futon and let her continue to use it. The reason for that was that it was designed with the help of those who have dealt with aches and pains. Generally, for those who came here that were elderly or had other physical limitations regardless of that person’s age. It gave the reason as to why Taryn was able to sleep so well at night.
When it was all set up in the original room, the staff turned to leave as Stephanie said that she would be back after checking in with Robert.
Toya, however, hesitated in leaving. “Lowell-san,” he looked at her over his shoulder and smiled faintly. “Sleep well.” Then with a faint bow, left the room. Leaving both Taryn and Rachael alone.
There was an awkward pause between the two friends, one that continued to grow between them the longer they remained silent.
I should say something… both girls thought to themselves as Rachael opened her mouth to speak only to have Taryn beat her to it.
“I’m sorry,” she said, when Rachael turned to look at her friend, only to see Taryn’s back, she couldn’t bring herself to look Rachael in the eye. Not out of shame, but out of concern for what her face might betray. “I should have told you what I planned. But I couldn’t bring you with me, not for this.” Taryn paused, feeling arms wrap around her stomach, as Rachael pressed her front firmly into Taryn’s back. “I know you’re still mad. And you have every right to be.”
“I’m not, I get why you did it. I do. But… even if the cell service is crap, you should at least try and text me to keep us informed of what’s happening. Of where you are.”
“Even if those texts don’t get to you?” Taryn held up her phone, showing the messages she tried to send to Rachael. When she and Robert walked in those tunnels, Taryn tried to send word a few times, but there had been, and still to this moment, no signal. “I couldn’t get through, so I focused on getting out first. After what we found though I… it’s hard to talk about.”
“If it’s anything like what we’ve dealt with at the hospital, all those years ago, I think I’ll be fine in handling it,” Rachael said simply. However, Taryn didn’t take those words in such a way as she pushed Rachael’s hands off her.
“This is nothing like the hospital!” Taryn snapped, turned to face her friend and looked her dead in the eye. Her breathing was heavy and her expression was clear as to what she had seen. “It’s worse. Trust me…”
Rachael was taken aback, not at Taryn’s words, but her expression, her eyes.
It was fear. Taryn was afraid.
Rachael had never seen her like this before in all the years they’d known each other, or perhaps Taryn was always good at hiding it. Not here, though. She let it show, making it abundantly clear to Rachael that this was serious. It was before but this was on a greater level than what Rachael was used to.
She knew that there would be times when Taryn would often check abandoned places out on her own before bringing Rachael along; it made sense why she would look into this on her own too. If it was as bad as Rachael could imagine, then the reality of it was probably ten times worse than that or more.
Slowly she reached out and grasped Taryn’s hands, hands that were faintly shaking, and clasped them tightly in her own. “I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. I guess we’re both pretty suborn, huh?”
Taryn laughed faintly as a smile touched the edges of her lips but didn’t reach her eyes. “Yeah, no kidding.” That faint amusement didn’t last long, as her smile faded away. “We need to leave. Tomorrow is best.”
Rachael nodded, giving a silent agreement. Only to then add. “I wasn’t going to say this, but you don’t look well.” It could work to our advantage, but will she be okay? It was a dumb question to think of. “Did you see something? Something you shouldn’t have?”
Taryn didn’t answer right away as her shoulders started to shake. With a shuttered breath, she said. “I… I died, Rachael. I died from shock after I touched an altar of some kind.” She looked at her left hand; she could still see the blood from the stone. “If it weren’t for Robert if he hadn’t come with me… I wouldn’t be here. What I saw… no one should see.” Tears began to fall from her eyes, ones she couldn’t stop. “There were just so many… so many… people. I-I just… I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t stop it from flooding into my head. Constantly, over and over… of people dying. They were screaming, begging, I felt like I was being ripped apart and put back as if time had reversed, so much of it blended together… I couldn’t tell what was what anymore. But I only remember pieces, the rest I… can’t. It was awful… I don’t… I don’t want to ever see that happen to you or anyone else for that matter. Never.”
Rachael had slowly gone pale while listening to her friend, recount such a horrible event. Like with her brother, and that girl who had been murdered by those boys from Taryn’s school.
But this was one of the rare times she’d cry, at least openly, it made Rachael recall something that Taryn’s uncle once said to her.
“…She may seem strong to you now, but there will come a time when she will show you how she really feels after witnessing a horrible event. There are so few who know it, while there are many that forget that even she can’t handle everything on her own…”
Her throat growing tight, Rachael pulled Taryn into a tight hug, refusing to let go as she could feel herself on the verge of crying. Why couldn’t she be stronger to help her friend when she needed it the most? “We’ll work it out.” Rachael’s voice cracked as tears of her own began to form. “Okay? We’ll work it out, I promise.”
“Rachael…” Taryn gripped her friend’s back tightly, now sobbing into Rachael’s shoulder as she allowed herself to vent her now broken emotions. “I… I want to go home. I know it’s childish to say that, but…”
Rachael’s grip along her friend’s back tightened. She couldn’t tell Taryn what she had seen. Not now, when her friend was so distraught, it could wait. “Yeah… yeah, me too.” She sniffed back her tears. “We’ll do that. We’ll all go home tomorrow. All of us.”
* * *
Robert walked the halls of the mansion’s ground floor, quickly heading down to the room that Taryn was staying in, he made up his mind, he needed to tell her. He couldn’t bring himself to tell her right when they headed to where Stephanie had parked the car, couldn’t when they were about to head down the well, couldn’t after finding that room and the reporter’s notebook. And most of all, he couldn’t when she had shown him the one thing that would have been the best moment to do so when she told him about the doll that attacked her.
Yet something kept holding Robert back, a feeling that was deep-rooted in his mind, one that kept telling him that he would not be believed. When he realized that, it made him wonder if this is what Taryn felt like when she had to keep her abilities a secret. How maddening would that have been?
“Shit…” he muttered to himself as he stopped in his tracks. Pushing back his hair from his face as Robert looked back from the direction he had come from.
How would he go about telling her, though? Should he just come out and say it, just like that? It seemed a little anticlimactic but given how Taryn never liked people talking in circles it would be the best but…
After everything she’s told you, do you really think she wouldn’t believe you in what you have to say? His thoughts chastised him. He shook his head quickly like a dog shaking off water. No, he couldn’t get cold feet. He had to do this.
He needed to.
When they had gone their separate ways, Robert went back to the room, along the way, told both his girlfriend, who was so freaking pissed at his sudden disappearance but was glad that he was okay, and Rachael that Taryn would be back in her room. From the looks of things, the two women had done some discoveries of their own, things they couldn’t bring up on the spot. Something he related to.
Now though, as he made his way back from the baths in fresh clean clothes, he marched his way to Taryn’s room. And if Toya were there, then to hell with it, he’d get Taryn out of that room and back to the others.
He needed her to be safe. His friend to be safe. Safe and away from the monster that lurked here in this old place. It was late now, the sun had set, and everything was slowly growing dark, putting Robert on edge.
Hell, the creaking of the wood from his footsteps was causing him to freak out. Making him second guess what it might have been.
He stopped and frowned at what he was hearing.
Those sounds weren’t coming from him walking.
They were coming from behind him.
He turned quickly towards the sound, looking behind himself as his mind screamed to run, but his feet were rooted in place, refusing to budge. And in the far back of the dimly lit hall, he saw it. That thing. The doll that had attacked his friend was now standing at the end of the hall staring at him with those glassy dark green eyes. Eyes that were filled with rage.
His heart all but stopped as his throat became tight with fear, teeth clenched as he kept telling his damn feet to move as it started to move towards him, slowly it crept closer and closer. The sound of its joints squeaking like nails from a chalkboard.
Move. Robert’s mind demanded, but his feet refused. Move. Move. Move. FUCKING MOVE!!
When it was no more than twelve feet away, he could see its long black hair, the black haori robe with the white spider lilies and the deep red kimono underneath as its piercing green eyes remained locked on Robert with every step. And as it began to extend its hand, that was when his feet decided to listen. Robert bolted down the hall to get away.
He wasn’t that fast when it came to running, but he wanted to be as far away as he could. Taryn was even closer to that thing and yet it didn’t scare her in the slightest. The girl had more guts than he ever did.
As he ran, further and further away from the doll, Robert vaguely realized something in his fear-clouded mind.
Where was the staff?
There should have been someone, anyone, around, but there was no one. No one at all, as though everyone had just vanished into thin air. No matter where Robert ran to, not a single person was in sight. At first, he thought to head back to Stephanie and run to the others. Only to scrap that line of thinking, this thing went after Taryn; he’d lead it right to her, and god only knows what would happen then.
He needed to ditch this thing, then, when the coast was clear, get the girls and get out. To hell with leaving the next morning. He’d carry Taryn on his back if he had to so to get her out. That thing attacked her, yet deep down he felt something about it was amiss, the way her injury was described by Stephanie didn’t sound at all like this thing was trying to kill her. It wanted her.
Just like Toya did.
The sound that he had been hearing was now starting to increase, he had a vague notion of what that meant. The doll was now running, chasing after Robert, with its arms stretched out to grab him. At least that’s what his mind imagined, for he refused to look back, to lose what momentum he had, if anything hearing that made him run even faster.
Fuck! His lungs felt like they were going to burst, his legs strained to keep going wanting to stop, but he had no intention of stopping. He ran through open rooms and the adjoining hallways hoping to lose it without getting lost himself. Darting around like a mouse being chased by a starving cat. If it caught him, he’d be ripped to pieces.
When he rounded the nearest corner, Robert quickly ducked into a nearby room, closing the door as softly as he could. The doll had a bit to go before it could reach him, and hiding just seemed like the best course of action to take.
The room he was in wasn’t a room at all but some type of storage closet. Moving to hide in a corner obscured by a large chest as he kept both hands over his mouth and nose as he tried to calm his rapidly beating heart.
He could hear the doll now rounding the corner; it had come to a complete halt. Robert had to force himself from snickering; fear really could make a person do stupid shit. Like laugh when there was nothing funny about it.
Robert closed his eyes tight when he began to hear it move again, his whole body growing tense from where he hid, as the doll now walked a slow pace down the hall. Robert refused to move or make a single sound as he listened to the creaking joints of the doll’s limbs. Hearing it made his skin crawl. That sound would forever remain etched into his skull. No wonder Taryn reacted in such a way when touching that reporter’s notebook.
He wasn’t sure if he’d be the same ever again after hearing that.
The sound began to grow faint, slowly dissipating down the hall. Robert opened his eyes, but his body remained tense, and still, he refused even to let out the breath he had been holding, for he felt that the doll was standing just beyond the door. Even when the sound was gone entirely, Robert remained where he was. Just like when Robert and Taryn waited in the forest after seeing Toya disappear. He added even a few more minutes just to be sure.
When those minutes passed, he lowered his hands from his mouth and took several deep breaths as his whole body now shook, slowly trying to relax the now frayed nerves. Even clenching his jaw to stop his teeth from chattering. It was like he had plunged into a frozen lake.
Running his now sweaty hands over his face trying to compose himself, but it did little to help. Fuck… he needed to tell Taryn, no more being on the damn fence. Not after this. Not after having to run his ass off from that goddamned monster.
And from what he had seen, Toya wasn’t all of what he seemed.
She needed to hear what he had to say.
After letting out one final deep breath, Robert stood up to leave the room. Only to hear that familiar sound once more that caused him to freeze in place. The sound came from a different location than it had before.
From behind.
This time, he didn’t get the chance to act, for those doll-like limbs came out from the wall itself, coiling around Robert like a snake catching its prey, pulling him into the darkness with only the squeaking of joints being heard.
And with it, only one thought permeated Robert’s mind as he was dragged in. A plea to those he knew, a single word to all of them.
Run.