A Tale of Horror

Chapter Four

By Amazon

All five Ronins rushed upstairs as another scream pierced the air, this time a female’s scream. In the library, stood Rowen, with books flying around him. His face was pale and his mouth hung open.

"Um…are books supposed to fly?" Kento asked, watching the books swirl around Rowen. Sage hit him over the back of his head. "Ittai!"

"No, you dolt!" Sage said.

Cye ducked down as an ancient history book threatened to beat him.

This isn’t happening, Ryo tried to think as the pages and books swirled around, and a scream cried from every corner. Ryo backed away, frightened, a cold sweat pouring down him. A samurai armor that rested in a case suddenly creaked to life and punched through the case, though not making an audible sound through the whirlwind going on in the library. It headed straight for his friends.

"Sage! Rowen! Look out!" His friends whipped around soon enough to dodge out of the way, though Sage’s arm was grazed.

"Ahhh!" He cried and cradled his hand.

"Armor of Strata, Dao Inochi!" Rowen called. Sage echoed his cry with his own call to arms. Soon the two were engaged in a battle with the antique.

Another possessed book flew at him, and Ryo blocked it with his bare hands. Suddenly he saw her. A pale, ethereal figure floating just before him, her dark eyes sorrowful yet burning with anger. She was in a traditional kimono, fitting for one of her…age. Ryo felt his breath freeze within him. No, this isn’t real, but it is. Her delicate hands reached out, pulling a small dagger from her side. "Now, Kiochi, you are mine." She said vengefully.

"No! I’m not Kiochi! My name is Ryo!"

"You cannot escape me, Kiochi!" she cried and lunged at him.

"Ryo!" Kento screamed.

Suddenly the girl disappeared. All the books dropped to the floor along with the suit of armor. Each of the five boys gasped for breath, the warmth of the room returning and chasing away the cold. Sage and Rowen armored down to their civvies.

Ryo stood, shaking, staring at the spot where the ghost had been standing. He was starting to get really scared; the ghost was really out to get him, even though he wasn’t this Kiochi guy. He became aware that Cye was standing next to him. Cye rubbed his shoulder in a friendly manner.

Rowen shuffled through the books that lay on the floor. He held up a hardcover book that had a glossy cover with an old mansion on the front. The title was written in a type of font that made it ‘drip’ down the front, it read Ghosts and Huanted Mansions of Japan. He waded through the books, promising to himself that he would put them away later, this was much more important.

"Let’s go downstairs, this place gives me the creeps now." Kento suggested, shivering. The rest of the group agreed with him.

Once they were down in the living room, with all the lights on (it made them feel more comfortable and safe…), Rowen started reading the excerpt that he found on the Coji Mansion and her famous ghost.

" ‘The Coji Mansion has earned its reputation for ghosts over the centuries. This is mainly owed to the ghost that haunts the grounds around the mansion and the mansion itself. The ghost is a woman, barely older than fourteen, from the Edo Period. She was the daughter of a provincial lord that ruled the land that is now the bustling city of Toyama. Her name is Himura Kaoru, of the clan Himura.’" Rowen paused to get his breath and wet his mouth.

" ‘Her story is a tragic one, an almost fairy tale. Her betrothed, a man of a Samurai clan, was Kawashima Kiochi. Unfortunately, their marriage was never to be, Kiochi was in love with another woman. To be with his love he would have to end the betrothal somehow. Lord Shiga refused to break the intended marriage. Kiochi murdered Kaoru in the middle of the night, somehow not alerting the guards to his presence.’" Rowen stopped again, aware that the other four teenagers were leaning forward slightly, waiting for him to continue.

" ‘The day that she was buried a servant said that he saw the young woman walking down a corridor of the estate. The servant was dismissed as crazy until several young Samurai guards turned up missing and then found dead. A medium was brought into the house. Indeed there was a ghost haunting the site. ‘A young woman, with long black hair and black eyes filled with sorrow and hatred, her kimono is stained with spilled blood.’ The medium told Lord Shiga.’" Rowen stopped as the room became freezing. The other Ronins shivered, not only from the cold but also from what they knew were causing it.

Rowen took a deep breath and continued to read. " ‘The priests that came to exorcise her could not force Kaoru out of her home. After Lord Shiga passed away with no heir to the land and estate, no one dared enter the house at night or live there. Many brave men would go in at night to prove to themselves and to the people around them that she was just a legend. They never returned in the morning.’" The objects in the room started to shake. The shaking became more intense as Rowen continued to read. The other Ronins glanced nervously around the room.

" ‘Some 70 years after Lord Shiga’s death the estate was burned down. The cause for the fire is unknown though it is said that Lord Shiga himself returned from the grave to put his daughter to rest. Kaoru was never seen again except on days when the moon was full. She became nothing more than a legend after the estate was burned down. In the Meiji Period, the Coji clan bought the property against everyone’s good judgement. They built a house on the sprawling estate that has been added onto over the years.’" Rowen stopped. All five of the teenagers looked at the ceiling. There was a rushing sound from the pipes that were in the walls and then silence, all the objects in the room stopped shaking but the cold didn’t go away, it just intensified.

There were several explosions before the wall burst open, water spraying everywhere. The flying droplets froze in mid-air, landing on the floor as ice, giving the floor a red sheen. Ryo did a double take. That wasn’t water! That was blood! He raised his hands to protect his face from the ice projectiles. The others ducked behind their seats to avoid getting hit.

Ryo jumped back behind the couch, joining Cye and Kento. Their faces were pale and drawn tight. Rowen continued to read from the book, voice shaking as bad as his hands were.

" ‘When the Coji family moved into their new home the she-ghost left them alone, until a close friend of the family moved in with them. He was found dead in the morning.’" Rowen slammed the book shut. "Guys, I think we should get out of here."

"Oh, what made you think that?" Kento shot from where he was crouching behind the couch.

Rowen glared at him. "Let’s go!" Rowen sprinted from his cover to the foyer where his keys were, holding the book over his head. Sage, Cye and Kento ran after him, the hard drops pelting them mercilessly. Ryo followed them. The young ghost woman materialized behind him, shimmering in her ethereal state.

"I will have my revenge, Kiochi!" she screamed over the rushing sound. Ryo turned at the bloodcurdling sound, just to find a dagger suddenly scrape towards him. It grazed his forearm, and burned intensely.

"AHHHHHHH!!!!!!" he cried, and held his arm to stop the flow. Kento, who’d been last in line, ran back to get him and half dragged a very shaken Ryo to the door. The four ronins jumped in the car and tore away from the house like there was no tomorrow. For Ryo, he wasn’t sure if there would be.

"Uh, Ro, where are we going?" Sage asked, struggling to pull himself from the back of his seat the Gs were so strong.

"I dunno, but we aren’t staying home tonight, that’s all there is to it. No one’s gonna kill Ryo as long as I’m around."

"Is that why all this is happening?" Cye queried. "but, why Ryo?"

On a hunch, Sage grabbed the fallen book Rowen had earlier. He flipped to the page about the Coji mansion. Just as he expected, there was an old painting of Kiochi. The pallor drained from his snow-colored skin.

"Sage? You’re as white as…well, a ghost," Kento said suddenly. Sage showed him the picture; and Cye leaned over as well.

"What?" Ryo asked, not wanting to be left out. Sage leaned forward again and flashed the photo at Rowen, who inhaled sharply.

"R-ryo," he began. "You’re SURE that you’re a Sanada?"

"Of course I am!" Ryo answered. "Lemme-" suddenly he saw the picture and felt his tiger blue eyes go wide with horror. Staring back at him was almost an identical image of himself, only in a kimono.