Shi No Ko

Her giggled echoed through the halls “No, please” he was running as fast as possible “Someone, anyone” he panted and ran to a dead end. “No” he cried but it was too late. He could feel her hot breath. She held up a knife and stabbed him violently in the throat. His blood splashed onto her face and she loved it. She began to stab him with more force, she couldn’t help herself, she loved the way her knife sawed into his tissue and veins. It was only when his head came off did she stop. She reveled in the sight, blood was everywhere. She aimed her knife toward his heart and stabbed him in the middle of his chest. His breast bone shattered on impact. She dug through the mess of blood, bone, and muscle and finally came to what she was looking for. His heart was still warm. She held it up to show the others, who were waiting patiently for her signal. She bit in and hungrily ate. The others, recognizing that it was time to eat, began to rip into the man’s remains. Intestines were torn out and eaten like spaghetti, limbs ripped from their sockets. the head was bashed open and smashed his brain into makeshift paint. They gathered around the wall and painted the wall in red and pink.

Emily and Micah walked hand in hand along the trail. “isn’t this beautiful?” Emily sighed “I’m so glad we did this”. For their 5th anniversary, they decided on a trip to Fujikawaguchiko, Japan. It was spring and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. They spent all of yesterday at the local spring festival and decided to take a hike through the famous Aokigahara forest. Emily, being the adventurous one of the couple, suggested they stray from the trail. “I don’t know” started Micah “We don’t know the land very well; we could get lost”. Emily laughed “we’ll be fine, it’ll be fun” after a bit of debate, Emily had won. They picked a direction at random and headed off the trail. After some time, they’d predictably gotten lost. “um…” Emily hesitated before pointing west “maybe that way?” it was getting dark and they had no idea how to get back to the trail. As the sun sank lower in the sky, they came to an old, abandon building. You could barely see it, vines as thick as rope snaked up the side. It looked almost part of the forest itself. “let’s just spend the night here” Micah said “we’ll just go back to the hotel tomorrow”.

Emily cringed as the heavy door squealed as it opened. The two story building was once a beautiful home but was now a mess. Trash was scattered around along with broken bits of furniture, beer bottles and shattered glass. On top of that a thick layer of dust covered everything. “Looks like we found where the kids throw their parties” joked Emily. A loud Thump from upstairs startled them both. “what the hell was that?” Emily sounded panicked. “Probably just rodents, squirrels or something” responded Micah, though he sounded unsure. Emily took their bags and placed them in the corner by the door. Micah studied his surroundings. They were standing in a grand foyer big enough for someone to live in, directly in front of him was a staircase that led to the second floor, on either side it looked like a dining room on the left and a drawing room on the right. “Maybe we could look upstairs and find some beds?” suggested Micah. Emily made a face in disgust “won’t they be dirty? I mean, we don’t know who or what has been here.” Micah had already ventured up to the second level, “I’ll take a look anyway” he called down.

Emily sighed and began exploring the dining room. A beautiful bay window with its walls completely shattered seemed to be the only noteworthy thing in this room. Something shiny had caught Emily’s eye. What is that? She thought as she stepped closer to the object. A mirror? She picked it up. It was beautiful, the most beautiful mirror Emily had ever seen. it was delicately crafted, silver roses sculpted around the reflective glass. Emily started at her reflection. But she noticed something behind her. What is that? She quickly turned around to find nothing I’m just being silly she laughed at herself at her sudden irrational fear. She turned back around to the mirror and almost dropped it. Her reflection was now replaced with the image of a little girl. She had long white blonde hair covering her eyes, her mouth was twisted into a sick grin. A whimper escaped Emily as the girl in the mirror moved. Her mouth opened and blood, an endless waterfall of blood spilled out of her mouth. The girl slowly pushed her hair back revealing her left eye. Emily gasped and dropped the mirror, and then everything went black.

She laughed at her new prey. They were both asleep, passed out from fear and shock. She kept them tied up on the cold attic floor. She studied the couple, a man and a woman. The woman had long black hair tied in a braid down her back, the girl was instantly jealous. I’ll kill her slowly she thought. The man began to stir, struggling weakly against his restraints. “where…who?” confusion clouded his words. As the cloud lifted he jolted to full consciousness. “who the hell are you” he demanded “what do you want?” she snickered to herself and called the others. Children crowded around the couple and joined hands. They began to chant in such a creepy way, it sent chills down Micah’s back. As the children danced around him, he got a good look at all of the children. He saw one with both eyes missing, one who’s neck was wrapped in a thick blood soaked gauze, one with thick rope like scars covering her arms, legs, and face. Their sinister chant grew louder and louder. Micah began to feel dizzy, his vision grew darker until there was nothing.

Micah stepped foggily out of the mist. His head was pounding and his breathing was rapid. Where am I? He realized he was in the house. But something was different. It looked newer, cleaner. With furniture? He looked and he saw children gathered in the grand foyer in front of the stair case. There was a girl in front, a beautiful little girl with hair as black as night and uncannily bright blue eyes. Wait Micah stared at her harder. That’s the girl! The girl that trapped us here! She stood with a frightened expression on her face, and Micah saw what she was staring at. Large men in white coats came pouring through the doors. Some were empty handed; some were caring large boxes of medical looking equipment. They piled in the house and made their way upstairs, not once acknowledging the existence of the kids. The scene changed and what Micah saw shook him to the core. Micah saw the attic; it was converted to a mini hospital. Kids were strapped to beds, most were crying although some were struggling against their restraints. A small group of two or three scientists surrounded each child, taking down notes without a hint of remorse or guilt for what they were doing. In the corner, a child was being cut into. A large cleaver was used to chop off his head, blood gushed from the wound and the scientist did nothing but take more notes and haphazardly reattach the head to the child with lazy stitching. They threw a white sheet over the body and moved on.
“no” a little girl cried. Micah turned and saw the raven haired girl. She was being dragged into a sectioned off room by an especially cruel looking scientist. She struggled and thrashed but she was no match for the man. He grabbed her by the throat and literally threw her in the room. He drew the curtain back so he could have some privacy, and Micah heard the tell-tale unzip of his pants. The girl’s cries got louder until she was screaming in pain. Micah covered his ears, desperate to block out her fearful shrieks. The scene changed yet again. This time Micah was staring down onto the surrounding land around the manor. He could see the scientist throwing countless sheet-wrapped bodies into one giant hole. The hole was filled with snow, gravel and dirt and the scientist disappeared. Micah ran up to the attic to find the little girl, her once beautiful black hair was now nearly white from fear, shock, and stress. She lay trembling on the floor, completely naked, and Micah could see that her once beautiful blue eye was completely gouged out. Blood dripped from the wound, and Micah could see that she was close to bleeding out. Her skin had a slight blue hue to it. He watched as a tear rolled down her cheek, she shuddered and took one last shaky breath; and then she was still.

Micah was suddenly jolted back to consciousness. The children surrounded him and his wife. He just witnessed what happened here. He locked eyes with the little girl and asked “what’s your name?” she flinched at the question, as if she has no answer to it. With a rough grunt she responded “Kuyō Mizuko”. For a moment, just a moment, there was a flicker of pure and unimaginable sadness in her eye. Then it was gone, replaced by a look of malicious hatred. Her mouth twisted into a sinister grin and she started laughing uncontrollably. “I can’t wait to add you to our collection” she growled. “what are you taking about?” a white hot fear spread down Micah’s throat and settled in his stomach. Kids cleared the way and Micah immediately regretted asking for clarification. On the far end of the attic stood a wall of bodies. Men and women, some with missing heads, were thrown around the room. The floorboards were soaked with blood and Micah could see that some bodies were starting to decompose. Green and blue bits of flesh hung off shriveled up faces. Most had their chests ripped open and intestines spilled out around them. The back wall was painted with blood and brains. Crude drawings of cats and flowers. He looked back at the kids and they already started to surround him and his wife. Mizuko held up a sharp knife. “good night” she said before she quickly brought the knife down on to his open eye. Bright red flooded his vision. And for the last time everything went black. The last thing he ever heard was the bright laughing of the children as they pulled out his guts. He and Emily were never seen again.