Chapter 5:

Revenant;Revelation

AfterLife;Entropy


How does one come to terms with such a horrific reality, what would become of us? What does it even mean to be "cursed"? This was something we were all about to find out, whether we wanted to or not. However there was still some of us that weren't fully convinced yet, or probably even knew.

We kept pursuit towards Yamada's house while keeping pace with each other. We were pretty out of shape so we were all relatively slow, Satomi on the other hand seemed to be the only one in shape.

All around us were strange and peculiar entities mixed in with normal people. Somehow the entities seemed more distorted than earlier, their body types looked irregular compared to us. Everyone did their best to keep their eyes averted from the distorted entities, however it didn't help that we were completely surrounded by them.

Satomi shouted at me in response to my previous declaration, "Shin what the actual hell do you mean by that!? Is that what are those things are!?"

Kazuya interrupted before I was able to reply, "Yeah it's just as he said! All those things around us are part of it, we are CURSED!"

Satomi added on to what she said before, "No I'm asking what do you mean by cursed!? What kind of curse is on us!?"

I replied back to her, "To make a long story short, it seems as though we can see 'ghosts', but not the ones you see on TV or YouToob."

Kyoko shouted, "GHOSTS!? Those people are GHOSTS!?"

Kazuya replied, "Whatever they are, we need to figure out what we can do to stop it!"

I commented on Kazuya's statement, "Also they don't seem to be angry towards us either; we haven't been attacked by any of them yet."

Kyoko stated to me saying, "Damn, I don't want to be haunted by ghosts! What did I do to deserve this!?"

We didn't say anything back to her, she said the same thing Kazuya told me yesterday, "I didn't even want to do the whole séance! I just wanted to go home and play my games!"

Kazuya replied back to her saying, "Keep yourself together Kyoko, we going to stop this as soon as possible so please believe in us!"

Kyoko nodded, "Okay then.."

"Damn it Yamada, you just had to look at the ghost didn't you?" Kazuya blamed.

Satomi objected to that, "It wasn't just Yamada, you also broke the rules by asking it a question!"

Kazuya defended himself, "What!? Don't act like your innocent, you also broke the rules too!"

They all began blaming each other for this whole situation, deep down I knew I was solely responsible for this. The only person at fault was me, I kept my silence and helplessly heard them continue their futile squabble. It wasn't long before someone pointed the finger at me.

Satomi then looked at me and said, "I hope you know a way to end this Shin, this all happened because of you!"

I felt more guilt and conviction after hearing this, I knew this was all my fault so that's why I need to fix this! If not for my sake, then for theirs!

I then apologized to them saying, "Guys I know I can't undo my mistake of involving you all, but can you at least trust me to try and make things right?"

They all kept silent at this, I wasn't sure if I still had their trust or not. We ran in abject silence towards Yamada's home. I needed to make things right, but for now I just need them all to be on board, even if they don't trust me.

Soon we turn onto Yamada's block, we were almost there. Satomi then said unto me, "I trust you Shin, I'm sorry for blaming you like that. We all had a part in it after all..."

I felt a small wave of relief wash over me, however I didn't say anything back. Then I heard Kazuya chime in, "I-I do too Shin, we're best friends after all."

Then Kyoko spoke up too, "I trust you too, please just help us."

I looked back at everyone and smiled, "I will do everything I can guys, just please believe in me."

Before long, we finally arrived at our destination and stood before Yamada's house. Yamada's neighbor seemed to be having a party next door, there was loud music and kids playing in the front yard. All the adults were drinking and having a good time, however in the midst of the party there were some 'extras' idling around and watching the others in the party.

Yamada mostly lived alone due to his parents having jobs that required lots of traveling. His next door neighbors usually checked up on him for his parents so it's not like he could just do whatever he wanted.

We all ignored the party and walked straight up to Yamada's front door, Satomi stepped up and shamelessly banged really loudly to get his attention.

*Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang*

"Yamada! I know you're in there, open up right now!" Satomi shouted.

No one answered, Satomi got annoyed and banged again.

*Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang*

"Yamada! Open the damn door already!" Satomi demanded.

After a few moments, the door knob clicked and unlocked. Soon it creaked open and there stood our friend, however something seemed really off.

We all perceived something was wrong with him, Satomi then shifted her tone and softly spoke to him saying, "Yamada!? A-Are you okay..?"

Yamada eyes were red and puffy, they even had dark rings around them. He looked super out of it and tired. He then replied to Satomi saying, "Yeah, I'm fine.. I just haven't ate... or slept yet. I keep seeing things... I don't know what's reality and what's not anymore..."

Satomi hesitated to speak further, then I spoke up, "Dude get ahold of yourself! What's going on...?"

Yamada stayed silent for a moment, then he said with tears flowing from his eyes, "I-I don't know! They're like demons... monsters... I don't know! They're everywhere, I'm losing my mind! I can't even describe what they are, they've been watching and whispering to me ever since yesterday. I don't know what to do! AAAHHHH please someone help me!"

He then fell to his knees and began to weep bitterly, everyone dropped down with him and tried comforting him, Satomi held him in her arms, "It's okay.. We're here now, you're not alone anymore..."

Satomi then signaled us with her eyes to leave them alone for a bit, we all got up and walked away towards the edge of the sidewalk. I look back at Yamada and feel crushing remorse in my heart, "What in the hell could make someone like Yamada break like that in just ONE DAY!?"

Kazuya placed his hand on my shoulders, "Shin we really need to talk..."

I nodded in pure guilt and shame, "Yeah okay..."

Kyoko spoke up to us saying, "Guys what happened to Yamada...?"

Kazuya and I began to think for a bit, it seems as though we can see some things that the others can't. I'm not sure if it's all just an illusion or something else entirely.

After a few moments of thinking, Kazuya responded back to her saying, "It looks like he can see worse things than us, and not only that but they also interact with him? It's kind of like what happened earlier at the park?"

We both nodded, I replied saying, "Yeah when you saw the kid crying on the swings but no one else could see?"

He nodded back, "Yep, it seems like some of us can see things the others can't, Yamada must really have a severe case of it."

I respond back, "Well he was the first one to see the revenant, he even mocked it a bit. It would only make sense that he would get it harder than anyone else."

Kyoko then commented on her own, "Guys... is that going to happen to us..?"

We both looked at her and felt really uneasy, I then replied to her saying, "We don't know yet, everything's still fresh and we aren't even sure what we're seeing is real."

Kazuya then pointed out towards the 'things' next door and said, "Well we can safely assume that those things are 'real' since we can all see them. No one else seems to see them other than us, and Yamada seems to see the intense ones. The real question is are WE going to see the bad ones too?"

Kyoko shifted her eyes away from everyone, I added on saying, "I guess all we can do for now is keep up with each other and speak up if things start getting worse I guess? How does that sound?"

They both nodded simultaneously, Kazuya then replies, "Alright I'm cool with that, how about you Kyoko?"

Kyoko agrees, "Yeah okay!"

We all then start looking towards the neighbors next door, I ponder to myself, "They have no idea what's happening around them... Ignorance is bliss I guess." 

I watch the neighbors in envy as they enjoy themselves, Satomi is still comforting the broken Yamada. Soon I see a group of little kids playing with a ball near the sidewalk, I say aloud, "That's dangerous as hell, they better be careful."

Kazuya responds, "What are the adults doing, is someone watching them?"

I shout out to the kids, "Hey be careful over there! Don't get close to the street!"

They all completely ignore me and continue their little game. One of the little kids then throws the ball to another friend and miss it. The ball then casually rolls onto the street, all the kids start looking at the ball. 

I take a deep sigh after seeing this, "Damn it I'll go get it before someone gets ran over."

Kyoko shouts out to me, "Be careful Shin!"

I walk up towards the street and look both ways, only two vehicles could be seen and were relatively close. I decided to wait till they've passed, then my attention got caught by something strange.

I felt a rush of vigor and adrenaline as I watched one little girl dash away from the others going after the ball, I shout towards the girl in a panic, "HEY KID WAIT!"

Without a moments hesitation I run right after the girl, my mind goes blank and my instincts kicked in. It felt like everything around me slowed down, my whole focus was on the little girl.

I heard a loud shriek behind me, "SHIN!"

Seconds felt like minutes but soon I was right behind the girl, I reached out my hand with all my force to grab her. However something didn't feel right...

The little girl then slowly turned her head back towards me, then in one instant I learned what true fear was...

The girl had black sludge where eyes should've been and the sludge poured down her cheeks. Her mouth was slit from ear to ear giving off a grimacing smile, and her pale skin was cracked and flaky. 

Her 'eyes' locked with mine and in that very instant I saw her mouth the words that would change my life forever.

"See I told you I'll see you on the Other Side hehe..."

She had then dissolved herself into vapor leaving me in a state of shock and horror. 

That's also when I realized truck headlights blinding me from the side.