To be frank, Kaoru was still disturbed from his night before. The indescribable feeling of terror was haunting him like a leech latched onto your skin. Indiscernible meaning, cryptic verses, and odd symbols added to the headache. Kaoru couldn’t shake off the helplessness he felt from being unable to decipher the dream. Having Mavros’ face loom over him with a weapon is frightening enough. Kaoru scarcely touched his breakfast of rice, fish, and miso soup.
Genma came in the room to collect the empty plates.
“Is the food not to your liking?” he asked gently.
“Oh no, it’s nothing of that sort. I have a lot on my mind. That’s all,” said Kaoru.
Gema gave a smile. “Aah. Is that so? You should come outside later. We have beautiful weather today albeit a little chilly.”
The sliding doors were shut leaving Kaoru alone in his room. He peered outside the windows to see a clear sky. The red maple stood beautifully under the sun.
Making his way down the empty hallway, Kaoru observed the lounge. The front desk was plain save for a small maneki neko. He walked out the front door to explore the ryokan in detail. Dried mugwort was hung on either side of the doorways. The ryokan sign had worn with age. A stone paved walkway circled the establishment. Following the walkway, Kaoru came across a patio. Not so far away behind some trimmed hedges was a toolshed. The heavy lock was fastened with a chain. Strange to see a locked door, thought Kaoru.
The patio had more maple trees grown. The circling stone fixtures raised from the ground acted as seats. Kaoru picked a spot furthest from where the tree was grown. He could see the room where he was staying in from this distance. The leaves abundantly fell on the ground covering it like a fiery mosaic. At this moment, Genma appeared with a towel around his neck and a tray in his hands.
“There’s nothing like a hot cup of tea after some heard work, Do you mind me sharing a seat beside you?” said Genma.
Kaoru smiled and gestures to the empty spot next to him. Genma placed the tray down with two cups and a teapot.
He poured a cup for Kaoru. “How do you like Hiraizumi so far? You folks are from the city am I correct?”
“We’re from Tokyo. My friends have already headed out to enjoy their vacation.”
Kaoru sipped his tea and tucked his arms tightly after placing down the tea cup. He shivered a bit under his black wool jacket. He noticed that Genma wore significantly less and didn’t tremble a single bit.
“It’s very quiet here,” noted Kaoru.
“Not much people live here locally anymore. It became a haven for tourists ages ago. The prefectural government and tourism board aided us in the transformation. Say, have your friends decided to visit one of our temples? Chuson-ji is worth a visit,” suggested Genma.
“I think it may be on their list of places,” answered Kaoru.
“If you are interested in hiking, I recommend that mountain over there.” Genma pointed to the black shape behind the mist in the distance.
“In the days of the old, the mountain was to be feared. No one dared to go up there to hunt or to gather firewood.”
“Why was that?” asked Kaoru.
“There lived a terrible demon of legend that ate humans. A rasetsu. The mountain was his stronghold. Of course this was just a story to keep children well behaved,” Genma laughed.
To his relief, Kaoru let out a sigh.
“It had been rumored that a small shrine was built deep in the mountains to horo the mountain god. Priests would trek up the mountain to perform rituals to pray for rain and bountiful harvests. I have never gone far enough to confirm myself. These old legs of mine can’t go very far anymore,” said Genma.
“If there was a mountain god to worship, then why do you hang mugwort outside your inn?” asked Kaoru.
“Aah! So you noticed,” said Genma now excited. “It is a very old tradition dating back further than the Edo period. Mugwort has been used to ward off evil and so we hang it on our doorways to protect ourselves. You won’t see a lot of places practicing it anymore. I’ll even bet not a lot of people even know about its origins.
Remember the rasetsu I talked about earlier? The people prayed to the heavens for divine intervention on the demon. As the story goes, a god did indeed descend to the mountain. The demon was defeated and the god became known as the mountain god. The demon now sealed had vowed to break free to take revenge on the people. Thus people started warding their houses in fear of the demon returning to plague them.
As you can see, the practice has lost its original meaning as no one associates the mountain with demons and gods. I only do it to continue the authenticity of an old ryokan as it makes for good storytelling.”
“Have you lived here all this time?”
“This ryokan is my father’s as it was his father’s. I intend to stay here until the end. It is my only home. My children have moved out to the cities.”
“Have you by any chance heard of something … called a sleeping rock?”
Genma faltered a bit. “No, as far as I know I’ve never heard such a thing.”
“Oh. Forget that I asked then.”
“Aah. I need to prep other things. I’ll leave you in this beautiful garden to think.” Genma took his leave.
The old man’s shoes scratched against the stone walkway. Slowly they disappeared back into the inn. The slight fragrance of grass wove into the cool air. Kaoru reached for the cigarettes in his breast pocket.
“I suggest that you don’t do that.”
Kyo sat to the left of Kaoru where Genma last sat. Kaoru let out a sigh of defeat and clasped his hands on his lap.
“What are you doing here? I don’t remember telling you where we were leaving for,” said Kaoru.
“I followed you guys just to make sure everyone is safe,” said Kyo.
“It’s really safe here. No one even recognizes us.”
“That’s good. I feel even more at peace here than in Tokyo. There’s something more purifying here. Yet … I still feel unease.”
“Is it these visions you told me about before?”
“Yes. I still get visions, little flashes of memory that I’m unsure of whether they happened or not. I can’t help, but feel they’re warning me about something.”
The familiar pit of despair stirred uncomfortably in Kaoru’s stomach.
Kyo continued. “I think something bad is being raised, but I don’t know what or how Mavros is related to this.”
Kaoru reluctantly recalled the dream he had the night before. Kyo took note of the minor shifts of expression on Kaoru’s face.
“Do you think you can tell me exactly what you saw?” asked Kaoru.
“I can’t exactly describe it, but I can show you,” said Kyo.
Kyo placed his index finger on kaoru’s forehead. Kaoru felt himself transported to a space beyond time. In an instant, the garden and maple trees burned away leaving a brightly lit American diner against the night backdrop. The giant bus was coming into view carried by legs that were not his own. Kaoru then realized that this was not him, but rather Kyo’s memory.
Kyo was reaching for the handle to climb up the stairs. He then heard a rustle in the bushes by the parking lot. At the very far end, a large black mist darker than the night itself was emerging. Kaoru could feel a tightening around his chest and a sickening sense of fear. He felt as if he had been dumped forcefully into arctic waters. The cloud came closer and closer. Before Kyo could run, it had already consumed him.
Fast forward into another memory, Kaoru felt himself being pushed into another space. Like a blender, he felt a whole rush of emotions. It was no wonder that Kyo could never quite explain how he made it to Japan alone. Kaoru then saw himself in a study with dimly lit candles. Though hazy, he could make out the piles of hardbound books strewn across a large table. Some were weathered, its yellow pages stained with unknown fluids. On another table were a menagerie of strange metal instruments, knives, and glass vessels. The walls were comprised of shelves full of apothecary ingredients, mostly glass jars with odd specimens marinating in liquids. A live toad was trapped in its little cage of glass.
On the third table was something large bound in a dirty cloth. Kaoru felt an urge to walk closer to the mysterious object. As soon as he put forth his first step, the heavy doors to the study opened. A cloaked figure stormed in. The heavy doors shut with a booming echo. Kaoru tried to take a peek under the hood, but saw nothing. The figure seemed to take no notice of Kaoru’s appearance in the study.
The cloaked figure approached the table withe the wrapped cloth. The sinking pit of despair in Kaoru’s stomach had returned.
“Tonight the deed will be done.”
Kaoru could see the eyes of malice as the figure removed the hood of the cloak. The man they had been fighting was standing in front of him. He knew very well what the cloth was hiding.
Kaoru cried out. “No! Stop it!”
The man they knew as Mavros held a silver dagger above the cloth. The bundle moved a bit. Kaoru ran forward to interrupt. He found himself passing through the table and past Mavros. The dagger dove deep into the cloth. Kaoru found no voice in his throat to scream. He watched as the blood began to soak through the cloth. The memory was now burning away at its edges. The study was disappearing in flames.
Kaoru felt the intense pain in his chest. He gripped his chest tightly gasping for air plummeting to the ground. Flashes of imagery were filling his eyes again. He saw himself in Die’s apartment strangling Die to the ground with red scaly hands. Very quickly the memory warped into Shinya’s face of terror looking at Kaoru. Shinya’s face then shifted into Toshiya looking at himself in a mirror. Kaoru felt himself swirl as he watched himself hurl blood to the bathroom floor.
The flames returned to engulf the bathroom and Toshiya’s body. Kaoru saw Mavros, now uncloaked, performing a show on a table. Inside a large glass jar, he first dropped the toad. It gave a loud croak before meeting with a red newt. The crimson animal scuttled up the slippery glass. A black snake with yellow rings across its body was placed inside along with a centipede and a scorpion. Mavros poured in a vial of blood before securing the top of the glass jar. The five creatures struggled furiously inside the clear confinement.
First the toad attacked the newt. The centipede crawled over the snake to get closer to the newt. Next the black scorpion put forth it stinger to administer the toad its lethal shot. Though unable to move freely, the coiling snake consumed the toad in one gulp. The angry pincers of the centipede pierced through the tough and scaly hide. Even the king of poisons was defeated.
Mavros was now emptying the contents of the glass jar which had now condensed to a puddle of blood and poison into a large bowl. He chanted in a strange language while adding more ingredients to it. Kaoru walked a little bit closer while still maintaining distance from Mavros. To his horror, he saw the pictures of him and the other four members of Dir en grey. Their photos had been inscribed with strange symbols and arranged with dried herbs and bones. Mavros, still chanting, now poured the thick contents of the bowl over the photos before lighting it on fire. He laughed manically as the fire burned.
“How do you like it now Kyo? I’m going to make a surprise for you and your friends.”
Mavros picked up the body in bound cloth and dumped it into a long box. The tattooed arm dangled out from being carelessly thrown. He shoved the arm forcefully into the box and fixed the lid on top. Kyo then appeared beside him.
“How dare you do this!” he screamed.
“Still got a lot of spunk in you even after death. No worries. Your band will end up just like you.”
With a quick wave of a hand, Kyo’s image was banished from the room.
The following images were now flashing before Kaoru’s eyes painfully like being pricked with needles. He watched himself land back in the dark alleyway of the club. His right hand drew a dagger and slit itself across Mari’s throat letting the warm blood splatter onto his face. Then Kaoru saw his hands covered with thick mesh gloves troweling through the dirt. Before leaving, he placed a potted plant on the windowsill. The scene then dissolved to a hand holding a small glass bottle. The bottle stopper was plucked open and tipped to the ground releasing a small red newt. It very quickly crawled through the blades of grass and disappeared into the darkness. Kaoru could hear a voice somewhere around him. He couldn’t tell if it was behind him or in front of him. The deed has been done. The deed has been done. The words then began to read itself aloud.
“Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
It was becoming clear to Kaoru. It was no failed experiment. Kyo had been dead from the very beginning. His visions were Mavros’ thoughts and actions and they all had succeeded in coming true. The question still remained. How does Kyo receive these so called visions? What was that last bit with Lazarus?
Kaoru’s eyelids fluttered open. The large maple tree had occupied his field of view. He found himself sprawled on the ground with maple leaves all over his jacket. Kyo was already gone. Kaoru patted the foliage off and stood up. His head was now a whirlwind of confusion. The vision chasing had drained him most of his body’s energy. Kaoru needed to tell everyone what he had just saw.
*****
BGM: Unraveling by Dir en grey
For those unfamiliar with Lazarus, it's one of the stories in the Bible. The verse used was John 11:44 where Jesus calls Lazarus from his grave. I used this reference for a particular reason because it will tie in with future events of the story. If you enjoyed this chapter, leave a vote and a comment!
