Beckoning

Tap…tap…tap…

A black void enveloped Kaede Shiraki as he looked down, staring at a mirror of someone who looked almost identical to him. However, the person wore clothes from another era.

Tap…tap…tap…

Kaede swiveled around, attempting to locate the source of the sound, but all he could see was darkness.

Tap…tap…tap…

“Who’s there?!” His voice echoed through the abyss.

He waited for an answer, but none came as the distant echoes of his words dissipated.

Unable to discern what was happening, he walked forward a bit until he felt gravity disappear. He fell onto another surface, which sounded like he had entered a shallow puddle, his feet splashing the invisible water. As he stood up, circles in the water rippled out away from his feet.

What the hell is going on?

A heavy whooshing sound emanated from behind him as he turned to see the shadowy manifestation of a figure.

The figure stood there silently, seemingly watching him.

Kaede was hesitant to approach, but mustered up the courage, taking a step forward before the sound of a loud bell chimed, startling him.

“You will die~”

~

“Kaede…!”

The young high schooler snapped back to reality. The faint sounds of cars passing and crickets chirping in the distance reverberated underneath the bright full moon.

These visions of voices saying I’ll die are becoming more frequent…Why do I keep having them? Kaede pondered while rubbing his temples.

He looked up towards his childhood friend, Kana, concern blended with curiosity written on her face.

“What’s going on with you?” She asked, with her hands on her hips.

Even if she’s the only one I can confide in, there’s no way I can tell her about what I just experienced…she’d call me crazy, or maybe even a bit deranged.

The young high school boy, nearing graduation, began recounting his earlier days. Kana was a sweet and innocent girl who was always cheerful in the face of darkness. She’s changed significantly, for better or worse; he wasn’t sure.

Under the dim yellow light of the nearby wooden lamppost that flickered occasionally, Kaede took in her now bleached hair, recalling that it was once long, smooth, and black. He’s caught himself on multiple occasions trying to adjust her short acrylic nails, which she takes extra care of, most likely spending a fortune on them each time, as well as several small earrings that make her unique, and her more than cheery and flirtatious persona. She took great pride in her appearance, attracting the attention of all boys and girls alike to her stunning beauty.

Some would say he’s lucky to have been childhood friends with a girl like her, but he preferred how she looked back then, and he didn’t see her that way.

Despite being vulnerable and at times clumsy, she was the opposite underneath. She’s adventurous and bold. That’s the reason why we’re sneaking out past government curfew to go to an abandoned hospital…

“Don’t tell me you’re chickening out on me. We’re nearly there.” She laughed, lightly punching her best friend’s arm. “Hopefully, we find some cool and creepy stuff.”

“I’ll still never understand this fascination with you visiting remote or abandoned areas.” Kaede sighed inwardly, following close behind her as they roamed the streets.

She hummed softly to herself before speaking briefly. “It’s the thrill of the hunt, duh. None of my friends dares to come out with me, except for you.”

“Yeah, well, I think I was more voluntold?” Kaede scratched his cheek.

The pair passed by a closed newspaper stand. Kaede stopped briefly after a certain article caught his eye.

“Government curfew in effect while the hunt for the Ibaraki Night Shade continues.”

He shook his head in disbelief as he walked away, still trailing behind Kana. If they stopped giving serial killers cool names, there would probably be fewer serial killers, or something…

After ten minutes of walking, they passed by some shrubbery, and their location came into plain view. Kaede felt his throat go dry as he viewed the abandoned building. It was a two-story wooden structure, although its walls seemed to be peeling away slowly due to erosion.

The surroundings, covered in dead trees and signs of long-abandoned remnants of activity, were reminiscent of a horror movie set. Kaede anticipated the cliche of lightning striking, thunder booming, and crows cawing upon approaching the area, but it never happened, to his slight disappointment.

His childhood friend was nearly jumping in joy, almost making him want to laugh at her for the irony of the situation.

“You know, you’re a lot braver than me, that’s for sure.” He chuckled.

“You would think getting beaten by your mom would’ve made you tougher, especially for a boy so tall.” She retorted, laughing as she made her statement.

If the boys at school knew how she really was behind closed doors, they’d be calling her a tomboy, rather than a gyaru. Well, nothing says she can’t be both.

“Well, I just hope we don’t get killed by a homeless man squatting here.” He silently admitted defeat, scratching his nape as he followed her past the rusted iron gate.

“C’mooon, it’ll be fine~” She looked back briefly and winked before skipping through the decrepit courtyard of the hospital.

Kaede’s usual dead and cold demeanor was often confused by others for being cool and calm, a perfect mask for him to conceal what he was really feeling. And what he was currently feeling was slowly rising anxiety. The dirty and rusted ambulance nearby didn’t help his nerves.

He sighed heavily as they approached the large double wooden doors leading inside. “We’re definitely going to get killed.”

“Shush, stop being a buzzkill.” Kana reprimanded and retrieved a flashlight from her jacket.

She opened the doors and flicked the flashlight on, enveloping the desecrated hall in faint white light. The two slowly entered, careful not to make any rash movements, as if they were ruin hunters, treading slowly not to activate death traps.

As they traversed deeper, broken glass crunched underneath the soles of their shoes. The quiet howls of wind gusts blowing through the halls sounded like harrowing spirits who died within the confines of the wooden and metal walls the two high schoolers just entered.

They passed by the receptionist area, where the counters and desks were littered with shredded moldy paper, smashed in computers from twenty years ago, rummaged filing cabinets, and mud everywhere.

This truly is the beginning of a horror film. If only I had a camera, I could turn this into a found footage film.

“This is so cool…” Kana commented, her mouth open in awe as they continued to explore, or rather, she, while Kaede followed behind her, hoping his friend would be the first point of contact if something went wrong.

“Yep…” Kaede’s courage faltered as he faintly agreed as the howls of the wind seemed to become louder the deeper they went.

Despite possessing a flashlight, I feel like I’m seeing things in the shadows…Kaede kept rubbing his eyes to adjust his vision, hoping something or someone wouldn’t jump out at him.

Another gust made Kaede shiver, as if a breeze from the Arctic had run through his body.

The two eventually reached the stairwell, but some of the steps were missing, or rather, shattered and full of mold, making them too fragile to ascend.

“Let’s go up there,” Kana suggested, without a care for the stairs’ condition.

“Are you crazy?” Kaede hissed.

She shook her head solemnly and held out the flashlight to him with a devious smirk on her face before climbing up onto the last remaining stable wooden beam.

He sighed and reluctantly followed in her footsteps. She held out her hand to help him up, and the two made it to the second floor safely. Dozens of yellowish brown hospital beds littered the filthy, partly tiled floor, along with bedpans, IV poles, and papers.

Walking towards the middle, Kaede looked out the slightly clouded windows, seeing the somewhat obstructed glow of distant street lights. On either end of the building was a hall veiled in darkness, causing the hairs on his arms to rise slowly.

With any luck, if a serial killer is hiding out here, hopefully it’s quick. Although knowing the movies, it won’t.

Kaede looked back towards where Kana stood, underneath the sign indicating the hall behind her led to the ICU. Turning around again, he saw that the sign for the opposite hall was missing. Some mildew outlined where it used to be.

Not wanting to lose sight of his only company, he moved to face his childhood friend once more, but felt a sharp pain in his throat and began choking.

He instinctively grasped his throat with both hands, finding bright red blood smeared all over as he began gargling, struggling for air. The high school boy turned to face Kana, observing a never-before-seen malicious grin creeping onto her lips.

As he began losing balance from the lack of oxygen, Kaede’s eyes started turning red, but he continued to observe the unnerving expression Kana had, scaring him deep to his core.

I’ve never seen something so wicked emanate from her. Are you telling me she was the killer all along? If so, why did she wait so long to kill me if the Ibaraki Night Shade has been around for a year?

Kaede collapsed to his knees, then slammed onto his side as his vision blurred, but he could still make out the expression his supposed childhood friend, now supposed serial killer, made as she bent down next to him, looming over like a lion watching its prey.

“You were my most precious kill. You’re so smart, yet you never knew I was a killer. That shows that my shell is denser than yours. My mask conceals my true nature than yours. That’s why you’re my final one. My cycle is finished.”

Without being able to make an indication of resistance, Kaede’s vision went black. His sensed dull as his consciousness slipped into a dark abyss.

This is it for me?

My life was cut short by the one person I thought I could trust the most. Just goes to show that trusting people is a fruitless endeavor. Has my life had any meaning? I was physically and mentally abused in a house that I could not call home, run by a mother who I know didn’t love me.

They say all good things come to an end, but there was not a single good thing about these eighteen years. I ruined relationships in pursuit of remaining the same. I was afraid of change, and thus, fearful of others. My shell was my defense, protecting me from anything.

It worked. I began feeling numb. I was feeling just a little bit happy that nothing negatively affected me, but that applied to the things that used to make me truly happy as well.

I read in the study to escape from the vicissitudes of the universe and immerse myself in worlds that could only exist in fiction.

I wish I could escape to one of those worlds right now…