24. Don't lose hope, Hanako!

Hanako stormed out of the cottage, nearly crashing into a stall door. Confused, she was surprised to find herself in the middle of a public bathroom.

Turning around, she noticed how the cottage was now a solid wall with red, black and white mosaics. Needless to say, it took her a moment to absorb the sudden shift in location.

What is going on? 

After clearing her head, Hanako moved toward the dimly lit sink area. She placed the helmet to the side, relieved to see her young face staring back. Whatever curse had befallen her was now lifted, although whether it still meant immortality, she could not say.

Hanako pushed out from the turnstile exit, but the shield wouldn’t fit through. No matter how many times she tried, over, under and between the bars, the shield was not going to budge.

Defeated, she left the shield behind and exited out into the main entrance.

***

Everything was all too familiar, but at the same time, nothing felt right, like a well-known song played out of tune.

Hanako had arrived in a version of the London Underground.

Dull lights flickered in the half-gloom, while thick brown syrup seeped through the chipped walls. Over her head, exposed wiring hung like bunting from the broken ceiling.

The sign of the station read: 'Nemain'.

Finding her way around proved more difficult than she had imagined. The majority of the station was sign-posted in English, which made her feel even more hopelessly lost.

The emptiness was beginning to creep in. It didn't help that every wall was shiny with ropes of chocolate brown. The girl had never felt so claustrophobic.

On her way to the nearest platform, Hanako caught a glimpse of someone moving around on the other end. Despite the intense darkness, she saw the outline of a muscular figure, scampering around in the mouth of a tunnel.

Hanako was not sure how, but the Headless-Nameless was now within yards of its prey. Backing away from the platform, Hanako found the entrance of a service tunnel lined with pipes.

The girl felt her way around in complete darkness, each hand plastered against the cold breeze blocks. It appeared to be going well, until she dropped off the ledge where a staircase would have been.

A pain lit up in both kneecaps, forcing her to creep back toward the shadows.

 In the minutes that followed, there was a nervous air of expectation. Had she made too much noise? Nothing happened. Shaking her head, she cursed herself for overreacting.

Seemingly out of danger, Hanako froze when the Headless-Nameless leapt down from above. She felt her body become still as the creature turned in her direction. Could it see her? How could it? It had no head! She was sitting in the blackest reaches of the shadows, all it had to do was take a few steps and it was game over.

Hanako held a hand over her mouth and waited. She could still see the creature's taut muscles bunched with every movement.

For a fleeting moment, she missed being a swirling cloud; at least the creature would have nothing to take. She screwed up her face and tried to blot out any more grim thoughts.

After what felt like minutes, she watched it lumber off into the distance, banging doors and continuing its search.

Hanako pushed out a breath. Counting to six hundred, she left the hiding place and used the oily light to feel around in pitch darkness. Creeping through a network of rooms, she found some doors blocked off, while others opened automatically before slamming shut.

Sometimes the girl would catch sight of shadow people, darting from corners, before disappearing back into black amorphous blobs. Hanako grimaced and followed the light coming from the end of a hallway.

The area turned out to be a changing room lined with broken lockers. Hidden in darkness, she almost fell down a small flight of stairs leading to an emergency exit. Hanako tried lifting the bar, but was disheartened to find it stuck solid.

To her left, she passed the curtain of plastic strips into a small room. It was full of laundry bags and little else. 

A dead end.

Great. She thought.

Hanako looked up at the ceiling light. It started to shake as if something heavy was approaching.

Oh. No. 

The Headless-Nameless bound into the room and stopped. It scanned around, taking in every inch, hoping to find a trace of life, but there was nothing. Frustrated by the silence, it started punching lockers and lifting laundry carts on the way out.

Once everything was clear, Hanako peeked out from a laundry basket. Lucky for her, the hiding place was an unseen corner of the room.

Once again, she counted six hundred and exited the room.

Leaving through the barred doors, Hanako came to a junction with an escalator on the left and a tunnel on the right.

Standing at the entrance of the tunnel, Hanako could see a rusted scissor gate pulled halfway across the mid-section. Checking both ways, she quietly approached the barrier and tried to move it, but it would not budge. She tried it again. No joy. It was stuck solid.

Hanako turned around to see a shadow moving about. Panicking, she used all her strength to squeeze through, but there was no way she was going to fit through. Seeing no other choice, she took off her armour, until she was down to the ragged bandages.

Drawn to the noise, the Headless-Nameless paused at the mouth of the tunnel. Hanako could see the creature stalking in her direction, like a panther moving in for the kill.

The girl sped up, trying to squeeze through the gap, which took some doing. By now, the monster was on a sprint and gaining ground. Hanako could feel the cold wash of sweat drench the back of her neck.

In a last-ditch attempt, she squeezed through, just in time for the creature to shove an arm into the gap mere inches from her face. Frustrated at being denied, it could only rattle the gate in anger. Still buzzing with fear, Hanako gathered her bags and bolted off toward the stairs.

Shorn of armour, she hurried toward the nearest platform.

***

From the bottom of the stairs, Hanako could see how the other exit was boarded up with thick planks of wood. 

No No!

Crossing the bridge, the feeling was one of despair.

On the other side, she pulled the boards with all her might, but everything was nailed down. Even with her Rat-Nail dagger, there was no way to pry the heavy wood off.

It was hopeless. Feeling defeated, Hanako slumped down onto a bench.

What now?

Every day, Hanako would ask that very same question in the Hospital. She survived, so what? What good was survival when she couldn't enjoy it? What is living when you're just some eyeball, staring out of a prison of burnt flesh? How is that a life?

I'm tired of hope. Hope is exhausting. Waiting for the good things to come along.

At least giving up meant she would always see Izumi again.

No. Her friend would be upset.  

"Promise me you’ll never give up!” Izumi had said. “Never give up or I’ll know!"

Sorry Izumi I tried. I really did. 

A bang. A crash. A rattle.

Hanako suddenly straightened up with a jolt.

She could feel a tremor, causing thin slithers of dust rain down upon her. She hoped it was a train, but quickly dismissed it. No train shook the world enough to produce hairline cracks on the walls. The vibrations felt almost like a stomp:

Thud-Thud-Thud-Thud!

Apprehension encased her in a cold feeling of dread when a signal light fell onto the tracks. Survival instincts began to kick in, and she decided to brave a look inside the tunnel.

Something big was moving at speed and coming her way.

I have to get out of here.