Toshiya peered into the hole that Kaoru dug through. An ancient skull was peeking through the dirt. The rest of the yellow bones were still underground.
“My word. Someone chucked the entire skeleton in here,” said Toshiya disgusted.
“We gotta dig the whole damn thing out,” said Kaoru.
He abandoned his shovel and pulled the skull from the dirt. Toshiya also began digging with his hands. The cold dirt was hard and chunky with pebbles. Luckily the bones were buried together making it easy to recover. The lost bones were now tossed in a pile on the stone pavement. Kaoru sloshed the alcohol over the remains. He lit a match and dropped it into the pyre.
The image of the girl appeared again except her face was contorted with anguish. The match was swatted away before reaching the bones. Frustrated, Kaoru lit another one and the flame was blown out by the wind. The spirit refused to rest as she continued to disrupt the lighting ceremony. When her hands contacted the final lighting stick, a handful of salt scattered from Kaoru’s hands. She let out an earsplitting shriek before bursting into flames. Her howling voice echoed and disappeared forever. The weight upon Kaoru and Toshiya’s chest was lifted as they watched the bones burn. The previously ominous air inside the house was gone. However, their short lived triumph was interrupted by Die’s scream.
Kaoru and Toshiya looked through the broken window to see Shinya holding a knife with blood on it. When Shinya turned to face his fellow band men, they were shocked to see a pair of bleeding eyes looking back at them. The same eyes were then locked on Die, who grasped his bleeding left arm cornered in the room.
“Why isn’t it working? The girl’s spirit is gone!” exclaimed Toshiya.
“Something else is still here and it’s controlling Shinya,” surmised Kaoru. “We gotta restrain him first.”
The tall bassist was first to enter the house with a quick stride. Shinya turned to face Toshiya with the knife. Die took the opportunity to grab Shinya by the hand. The kitchen blade was firmly rooted in his hands as if it was a part of his body. Shinya let out a growl in an attempt to cut Die. Toshiya grabbed Shinya’s other arm. The tug-o-war between the three resulted in a tumble to the ground.
With the kitchen blade still in hand, Shinya approached the fallen duo.
“Shinya, can you hear me?” asked Die. “Whatever it is that you see is not real. This is Die talking to you!”
Toshiya looked at Die. His left arm was bleeding profusely leaving streaks of blood all over the floor. The color on his face was depleted leaving behind pale skin. Shinya’s eyes remain fixated on Die like a predator.
“Die is there something on you that’s triggering him?” Shinya only seems to focus on you,” remarked Toshiya.
“I-I don’t know,” stammered Die.
Toshiya looked around for helpful items. He saw the overturned table that had trapped Die previously. Die also looked at the table. Together they gave each other a nod.
Pacing back and forth outside, Kaoru was distressed. The bones were already burned and the spirit had left the house. Yet something was still attached to Shinya causing the anomalies. Kaoru dug through the dirt again. Maybe something was missed. His fingernails trapped soil as he raked through it. He could hear Toshiya and Die confronting Shinya. Kaoru desperately sifted through the soil. There was absolutely nothing. He pounded the ground in exasperation. What the hell is still missing? He sifted through his own memories. Shinya mentioned his hallucinations and bad dreams. We all thought it was the spirit that caused it because the bones cursed the house. Shinya now acts out of his control like he’s under a spell. A spell? Wait a second, what if someone placed a curse on him? Like a ritual. Damn it! I don’t have time to do research!
Growling lowly, Shinya charged at Die. Toshiya and Die readied the table in their hands and used it like a shield. It was bulky, but withstood against Shinya’s knife attacks. They both rammed the table at Shinya with all their might. The knife fell to the floor and was kicked away. Shinya was pinned to the ground with a table and two men.
“I’m sorry, Shinya,” said Toshiya.
Shinya’s eyes were crusty with dried blood, but his nose was now spurting with fresh blood. He retaliated strongly against the pressure even as more blood continued to flow. Die winced at the pain of his own arm. His lips were turning white like his face.
“Damn it, where is Kaoru,” Die muttered weakly.
In the garden, Kaoru was ready to rush in and knock Shinya unconscious. He gripped the shovel tightly until his knuckles turned white. A voice then called out.
“Kaoru, no!”
Kaoru loosened his grip and looked for the voice. Kyo was standing right beside him.
“Where were you all this time!” said a flustered Kaoru.
“He waved his shovel instinctively through Kyo’s body, shattering the image. Damn it. Iron repels spirits too. Kyo’s image quickly came back.
“I couldn’t enter the house because the other spirit kept me out.”
“Do you know what’s controlling Shinya? He’s going berserk.”
Kyo’s image was now flickering and growing translucent by the moment.
“Wait, don’t go!”
“The potted plant,” said Kyo before he disappeared again.
Kaoru eyed the dead plant by the windowsill. He grabbed the clay pot and smashed it to the ground. The pottery shards flew and hit the walls of the apartment complex.
Sure enough, there was a small curious cloth bag beneath the roots of the plant. Inside was some hair, bits of small bones, dried herbs, and a menagerie of unidentifiable objects to the inexperienced eye. Kaoru lit the remaining match and burned the small bag. The contents smoked and emitted an unpleasant smell, something akin to choking incense and decaying things. The house was quiet inside. He rushed inside to see. Kaoru had briefly forgotten about the other Dir en grey members. He saw that Shinya was still pinned to the ground by Die and Toshiya.
“It’s ok guys! He should be fine now,” said Kaoru.
They removed the table and propped Shinya against the sofa. His long strawberry blonde hair was a mess. Shinya’s bloodshot eyes blinked open.
“Die, I’m so sorry! I-I couldn’t control myself as I watched myself cut you!” said Shinya.
Die gave a weak smile and then dropped to the ground.
“Die!” all three of them cried out.
“Shit! He’s bled too much. Call an ambulance!” said Toshiya.
Toshiya ripped off the sleeves of his shirt using the glass shards on the floor. He tightly bandaged Die’s arm and cradled his head on his lap.
“C’mon Die. Don’t leave us, man,” Toshiya repeated.
Wailing sirens and flashing lights surrounded the apartment complex. Die was wheeled off on a stretcher. Shinya admitted to the police for his violent outlash before setting off for the hospital. Kaoru and Toshiya stayed behind to give their full accounts, omitting some of the ghostly details.
“So you’re telling me that you suspected a ghost had been haunting this place leading you to discover the remains of a skeleton?”
“That’s right, Officer,” said Kaoru.
“It doesn’t surprise me to hear that,” said the officer.
“Why do you say?”
“The previous tenants of this apartment complex had also reported a haunting some weeks ago before they moved out.”
Kaoru wanted to proceed with more questions, but a sudden pain above the abdomen pierced him.
“Kaoru? What’s wrong?” asked Toshiya.
Kaoru had ignored it all this time, but the shooting pain was now more than just a bruise. He touched the bottom right area above the stomach and screwed his face in agony.
“I think you should take him to the hospital for a scan,” suggested the officer. “You are dismissed.”
Toshiya slowly walked Kaoru to an available ambulance.
“You’re lucky you only got that,” said Kaoru pointing at Toshiya’s bloodied nose.
Toshiya wrinkled his face and gave a crooked smile. Guiding the way, Kaoru hobbled on to the vehicle.
*****
“It appears that your lower rib has been fractured from impact. At most one month, nothing too serious,” said the doctor as he pointed to the X-ray.
The pain rhythmically pricked his sides as Kaoru breathed. With a psychotic sorcerer after the band, now wasn’t a good time to be bedridden.
“Toshiya, let’s check out the other guys,” said Kaoru.
The two paced themselves to a private hospital room. Die was lying on the bed with an IV drip attached to his arm. The injured arm was properly bandaged and the wound on his cheek was taped with a patch. Shinya sat by the bedside also with an IV drip. The dark circles under his eyes were more apparent under the bright light.
They greeted each other with slight nods. Toshiya drew up a chair for Kaoru to sit in. Even the slightest movement hurt his ribs. Toshiya stood with crossed arms.
“The police came and took our statements. I told them everything. Almost everything. Thanks to Die, the charges were dropped,” said Shinya.
“You weren’t being yourself, Shin-chan,” said Die quietly.
“It was ... weird. The urge to stop was strong, but my body wouldn’t respond,” said Shinya.
“It was a hex bag,” said Kaoru. “Witches like to use them for cursing, healing, or protecting. It was buried in the potted plant.”
“The potted plant? Come to think of it, the pot was left behind by the gardeners that came about a week ago.”
“Those were some shady gardeners that you employed.”
“The police said they are looking into it as well as analyzing the identity of the bones.”
A nurse entered the room to check on Die’s blood transfer. The blood bag was nearly empty. She waited and prepared a second bag. Die’s pale face had a bit of pink restored.
“Never underestimate an angry Shinya,” smirked Die.
“Look what he did to me,” said Toshiya pointing to his face.
A purple bruise had formed on the cheek and the lower lip.
“You’re also partially responsible for this,” said Kaoru pointing at his ribs.
“I’ll treat you guys to dinner next time,” promised Shinya.
“Why did you keep attacking me?” asked Die. “I’m the victim of your abuse.”
“It’s that darn tattoo of yours,” said Shinya.
Die looked at the scaly black and red tattoo on his right hand.
“This?”
“You know how much I hate snakes. Even though I knew it was you, all I saw was a giant snake looking back at me.”
“I’m sorry my interests offend you,” Die smiled slyly.
“The stuff that happened today,” began Kaoru. “Was not only meant to kill Shinya, but all of us. That hex bag will eventually kill Shinya if it hadn’t been burned, but that ghost we were dealing with was meant for us.”
Silence enveloped the room.
“This guy had a trap laid out for all of us,” said Toshiya. “He knew we were going to Shinya’s apartment. How did you know the hex bag was in the plant?”
“Kyo told me,” stated Kaoru.
“You saw Kyo?” the rest responded.
Kaoru explained the course of events.
“How come I never see him?” complained Toshiya. “All of you guys got a look.”
“You think he can hear us?” said Die.
“Maybe,” said Kaoru.
Hoping that their blonde vocalist would appear, they were all silent. However there was no answer.
*****
BGM: Toguro by Dir en grey
I was not kind to my characters in the last two chapters. Do you think they can pull though their future trials? Leave your thoughts on it. If you enjoyed reading this chapter, leave a comment below.
