Prologue

The girl from Minokamo was brought to the Kizawa Memorial Burn unit sometime before Christmas Eve. While examining the blackened and fused body, an American Consultant named Karen Freckie agreed it was closest thing to a skeleton that still drew breath.

After carefully stabilising the patient, the Doctor could do no more.

“Looks like we caught her just in time,” She said, sighing heavily. “Big money, no Whammies.”

Once medicine was piped using an I.V, the patient was hooked to a machine and left in the care of two nurses: Yuki and Tsukiyo

Days later, there appeared to be a flutter of movement, as a heart monitor beeped more rapidly. After a tense couple of minutes, nothing else stirred. Disappointed, Yuki disposed her gloves into a nearby bin.

"Any news from her family?" She asked.

"We got the word out," Tsukiyo said. "That's about it."

"It seems a shame to keep calling her: 'Hanako Yamada'."

"It'll keep, until we know her real name."

Yuki tilted her head. "Do you think she has an accent?"

"Now, how would I know?"

"She could have a warm chunky one like mine or a whiny one like yours."

"I don't have a whiny accent, ya...I just don't."

"It sounds like a Bee trapped in a whistle."

"Shut up." Tsukiyo said. "Anyway, if she could say anything, she'd be on her phone all day, and we'd never hear a word out of her. I believe that's called 'Irony'."

"Isn’t that something you do with laundry?"

"I'll launder you if ye keep this up."

The two women paused mid-argument, slowly turning to face the girl. A single eye was staring back, blinking from a sea of cooked meat. Tsukiyo made a call on a nearby wall phone.

"Hey..." Yuki said, coming to Hanako’s bedside. "Hey, welcome back. Can you hear me?" The girl stared at her. "Okay, first thing is don't panic. We're working on getting you freed up, but first, try to keep calm."

Tsukiyo pressed the receiver against her chest.

"I don't think she can hear you." She said.

"We have to remain positive. She might be able to read lips."

The other nurse shot her a look. "We shouldn't be wearing masks, then."

Minutes later, a group of white coats soon filled up both sides of the girl's bed.

"How long?" Freckie asked.

"Just now."  Yuki replied.

The Doctor gently stroked the girl's head.

"If you can understand me, blink once." Freckie said. The girl could only stare back. "Some kind of hearing problem, it's hard to tell if it occurred before or after the fire." 

The Doctor then wrote something down on her pad and held it up: Age?

The girl blinked twelve times. "I hope you know, I will not rest until you are better." Hanako closed her eye for a second. "You can lip read. That's a good start."

"Can she tell us anything?" Yuki asked.

Freckie shook her head

"I don't want to stress her only working muscle." She said. "We all want results, but patience is a must." Yuki nodded sadly. "Alright, carry on with Painkillers. Keep her entertained if you can. Don't make her feel alone.

"She won't." Tsukiyo said.

***

Over the course of a few days, both nurses entertained Hanako with several magazines, but it was ‘Reality’ shows that kept her distracted, with some proving more popular than others. Outside, rain sizzled on a nearby ledge, under a swaying Cherry Blossom.

“Check this out.” Yuki said,  one morning. “I thought I might read her some Y.A fantasy novels, so I got the latest ones.”

“That’s actually rather sweet.” 

Yuki lifted the books out of a bag.

“Here we are.” She said. “ ‘Shadow of the Blood Bone Crown’ ”

“Mmm-Hmm.”

“ ‘Crown of the Bone Blood Shadow’, ‘Shadow Blood: Crowns, Bones and Shadows’, ‘Shadow in the Bone of the Blood Crown , ‘Bones, Bones Bones Bones Bones and Blood…and Crowns.’ ”

“No Shadow?”

“I’m guessing it’s at night.”

“Amazing how anyone can tell them apart.”

The girl always felt better when her favourite nurses on shift. She did not know what they were discussing some of the time, but there was emptiness every time they left.

On other days, her only source of amusement was counting drops from a leaky tap. Drip. Drip. Drip.

Cleaners. Hanako thought  They keep using that strong bleach. Dinner smells like beef stew: Gravy, carrots, mash. 

The Dinner trolley was pushed on, rattling plates. It never stopped; no reason to.

When there was no television, Hanako would stare at the wall. Some days were worse than others; seemingly endless, unable to move except for a single eye, inside the stone-cold prison of time.

***

One afternoon, Yuki brought in a soft blue blanket decorated with bright stars.

Every day, Hanako swore those very same stars were twinkling back.

The girl closed her eye. She was obviously imagining it, because no one else seemed to notice. Nor did they take note of the gentle breeze lighting on her face. 

A breeze, which appeared to originate from the blanket itself.

It wasn’t until nighttime that Hanako suddenly felt a chill cut through her bones.

The ward carried a most unnatural feel, like she was breaking some kind of rule set by nocturnal Gods.

Before she could ponder it further, a stranger appeared out of nowhere.

Hanako never saw the 'Scruffy Man', for he was darker than pitch and his outline was in constant motion, as if made out of Bees. The stranger had no visible face, but wore a wide-brimmed hat over a white pencil-thin smile stretched from ear to ear.

Was this a dream? She could not tell. All it did was bring up a thin, icy dread, which intensified upon feeling something crawl up her body.

From what she could tell, it was small, furry and very much like a hand. Unable to think, Hanako soon got a look when it stared back with eight black eyes.

The girl hoped the Spider would lose interest, but it was soon joined by another, then a third, then more, until her body was heaving with dozens of them, all attached to many spindly legs.

Soon, insects from every inch of the surrounding area, skittered, chittered, scampered and scuttled with no end in sight.

An endless swarm knotted together as a cursed infestation of crawling pests, filling the floors and blackening the walls, until they washed over Hanako completely.

Helpless to resist, she felt herself being drowned in a sea of infinite bugs.