In the Dark of the Night

WARNING= If you had trouble with the previous chapters, then this one is not for you. As the other chapters hint at, there will more blood, gore and death.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!


Entry 41
Written by Kohaku, Buddhist monk, on behest of the Kuwabara family
May15 Tuesday.

I pray to Buddha for Amanda-san's soul and for the sanity of her daughters. As bad as everything has been with the others being murdered by kuro youkai within twenty-four hours; today has been worse. The death of Amanda-san was worse because her daughters saw it happen. With the deaths beforehand, the girls only saw the aftermath; they did not see the attacks at the moment of death. However with their mother, they were only twenty feet away when she was brutally killed.

Please excuse me for using my native Japanese. I sometimes forget to write the English translations, especially when tired. I shall try to remember that is most likely that English readers will be the most likely to read this. By kuro youkai I meant dark apparitions, or what westerners call evil ghosts.

I find myself in the same situation as poor Amanda-san was in yesterday. I find it difficult to write of the events. Despite my reluctance I will continue to write. It is vital that we record the events do we can warn any future visitors of the evil here.

It was several hours after Akira-san's death when we rested outside the tunnels. After days of being trapped inside the house, we can finally walk under the open sky. That was only a metaphor since we were and still are actually under the canopy of dense trees. From our resting spot, we could see the manor. I was shocked to see the difference of its appearance since my arrival only two months ago. Physically speaking, it is the same. The aura of it though, that has changed for the worse. When I arrived with Akira-san on the first day of spring, I could see that this was a troubled house with ghostly disturbances. There were a horde of minor apparitions, not all were evil. Dark clouds only recently loomed over the house; the spirits associated with it were more powerful than the benevolent spirits that were her before them.

This ... this Jyaki ... this evil energy is far different, far more powerful than that first hateful horde that caused the family to call for help. This shadow radiates with such evil that it chills one's soul. It is obvious to me now that the haunting of the Bogy House has occurred in three stages. In the beginning , there were the benign ghosts. Even if they were not the friendliest of spirits, such as the small one that would tie knots in the girls' hair, they were not evil, merely tricksters. This first level lasted most of the history of the family, judging by the Irate Monk, most likely generations.

The second level, which started shortly after Amanda-san became pregnant with her son, brought the hateful ghosts who were more powerful than the ones that preceded them. These apparitions were the ones that tossed the family across the room, and bit off Yoshiko's hand. The most powerful apparitions of these were the one that manifested we first tried to escape and the spirits that sealed up the house.

However, make no mistake, they pale next to the beings of the third level of the haunting of this doomed house, the ghouls, forsaken skins and that bloodmote cloud that killed Father MacGavin. I am convinced that that explosion in the catacombs, just the other morning, in the hours before the sun arose, heralded the most evil of the apparitions and hauntings. The fiends that killed Shoda, MacGavin , Akira and now Amanda were ... are in a much stronger class than all the apparitions prior to them. I cannot get rid of the feeling that there is something stronger out there, something that is ... what is the English word ... marshaling these horrors, ordering them to kill us. It is connected to the violation of the crypt of the okasan ... mother ... of Amanda-san. If I could only figure the puzzle out!

I will now explain the fate of the noble woman, Kuwabara Amanda. As we rested just outside the tunnel, we took in the sight of the woodlands and the house in the distance. The girls shrank back at the sight of the house, attempting to find refuge in the woods. Normally, humans find solace in a house and danger in the woodlands.

Even though we were out of the house, we were not yet safe. The death of Akira-san in the tunnels proved that. We eventually turned around to walk away. When I first arrived I noticed that this was a large estate, but I failed to realize just how large it was as I rode in a taxi cab to the front doors. Unfortunately, the crypt was near the back of the house, therefore the tunnel led further behind it. The yards were nicely kept, but if we wanted to use the driveway to the front gate that was to the south, we would have to pass by the haunted house. Adam had difficulty getting poor Yoshiko out that way. Now that there are even stronger forces at work, I think it's best to avoid that area. Amanda-san said that on the west side there was a lake. To the east was a stone wall that's eleven feet tall, that has several secret doors. On the opposite side of the wall there's a highway. The northern side was marked by a stream that stretched from the lake lake on the western side all the way to the east where it flows under a bridge for the highway.

Amanda-san began to lead us to the best choice, the northeastern corner, where the wall ends at the stream. There is a hidden door about eighty feet from the the wall's end. If for some reason we cannot use it, then we could slide around the wall at the stream. Although it was daytime, the dense treetops meant that we had to walk in shades of gray, The wind rustles the branches, causing the shadows to shape-shift. The normal varieties of bird songs were absent. Even the crickets that normally found in the woodlands kept their silence. Or perhaps they left; I could not find any traces of either birds or insects. It was as if all life, except for plants who cannot move, were keeping their distance from the Bogy House.

After walking for a time, it seemed as if our hearing became hypersensitive. Even Amanda-san and I would jump at the smallest sound of the wind moving through the leaves. I grew nervous once I realized that the wind had stopped but the sound continued. After all, many of the mortal, the still-living, creatures have left, unable to stand the evil that has begun to claim the region. Shizuru was the one to point out that there was a pattern to the sounds, as if there was something that was scuttling through the fallen leaves.

We moved on, heading northeast when we came across blood on the trail in front of us. We thought of turning around and finding another path but the sound of something moving in the fallen leaves convinced us to move forward. As we went down the path, we came across some carcasses of some poor creatures. They were so badly mangled that I could not tell what they were initially. It was only finding a hind limb and part of a head that makes me think that they may have been either dogs or wolves. The gruesome find was mangled with bits of the flank was still hanging on and the paw was missing from the leg. The head was missing the lower jaw, left eye and left ear. It was obvious that the poor beasts were torn to pieces. I could not suppress the thought that this may resemble the slaughter field of ghouls. I prayed to Buddha, hoping that the creatures were not victims of ghouls. However with all the other undead beings that have arrived in the past two days, anything that killed them would be horrible.

Jun and Shizuru continued to look through the books they took from Adam-san's library. Jun browsed the Libris Mortis, desperately wanting to find out what could cause the slaughter. Any corporal undead of intermediate power could be it. I noticed that Amanda-san was rubbing her swollen belly again. She has developed that nervous habit after we were trapped inside the house. But something is different. I noticed that her breath is more labored. It would be easy to assume that is because of our attempts to escape and to stress. However both too much physical activity and stress can cause a woman to go into early labor. At that point, if we stop, we will be killed. I give a silent prayer to help calm her and her unborn child.

The sounds followed us for some time, increasing in small increments. We never heard any panting or growls, only the rustling of the leaf litter. Jun found an entry on corpse rats. The undead vermin is said that to be larger than the living relatives, a perfect size to move on the woodland floor. Shizuru feared that these corpse rats or even bone rats would be the fiends to kill kill her mother.

What was ultimately responsible was equally horrifying.

Now I am the one to get ahead of myself. I shall go back and tell the final moments of Amanda-san.

The sounds increased even more. Misao was the first to panic and began to run. We followed her. I would like to say that it was only to catch her and not have her get separated. Truth is that all of us panicked and started to run only seconds after the toddler. Amanda-san picked up Misao while Jun was able to keep up. When Shizuru tripped, I grabbed her arm and threw her over my shoulder.

We were not prepared for what did attack us. I heard more of that fiendish rustling; only it seemed not to come from just one side or the other. I stopped everyone and set Shizuru down. Amanda-san had Misao go to her sisters as it became apperant that we were surrounded.

I felt the evil before we saw anything. It was coming closer on every side. I knew that I had to break that circle if we were to escape. I had a difficult decision to make. I was - am - the only holy man left to protect Amanda-san and her children. It was obvious that when I attack the fiends, the others would swarm in. We were surrounded and I could not attack on all sides.

I could raise a barrier against evil, but I was aware that it would not hold out for long against evil this strong. I already prepared to fight with all my abilities, even if it meant my death. Resigned, I gave some ofuda to everyone left, telling them to hold onto them. Then I quickly placed six sticks around the ladies and hung ofuda on them in hopes it would help some if I should die. Then I threw some different ofuda out into the shadows and raised a larger barrier that not only surrounded myself but also the secondary barrier around the ladies.

The thrown ofuda ignited the surrounding area in mystical flames. Not one tree or bush burned; instead it incinerated any evil that was caught in it. This caused the theatening creatures to attack in one massive swarm. It was neither corpse rats nor bone rats that rushed out.

It was a horde of dismembered hands.

There were hands of humans and paws of animals. There were even some clawed feet of birds and lizards. It suddenly became clear to me. The animals did not leave, but were killed.

I heard Shizuru whisper with a shaky voice "With the luck we've been having, I guess that they're not as friendly as Thing on the Addams Family". Jun screamed "You had to say something, you moron!", when as one entity, twenty of the severed limbs rushed forward.

My outer shield flared as it obliterated one gruesome hand after another. After a few minutes, there was a ring of dust and charred ground where the first wave of attack met the shield. As the lights from the flares died down, I could see that only took out a portion of the undead, animated hands. there was more surrounding us. I was taken by surprise when the ladies screamed as a dozen hands dropped out the treetops above us. Thank Buddha that my Buddhist shield wasn't a wall but a sphere. These bubbles of holy power will prevent the evil from taking us from above or below.

Wave after wave came at us, wearing down the outer shield. After what seemed to be hours but was most likely only one half an hour, the sheer numbers of the mass broke through the first shield. One paw jumped, its claws intent at tearing my throat out, it was turned away by an ofuda, only for another limb, this time a human hand, to replace it. It came so fast that I was not able to stop it. I went down on one knee, clawing at the horror that was choking me. More of the limbs attacked me, trying to hold me down. I could see that a large number of the limbs were attacking the second shield surrounding the girls. I tried to get up to help but more of the severed hands held me down.

A flash of light told me that the second shield was about to fail. I managed to stand up, despite all the hands. Suddenly, every hand around me scurried away. I started to run towards Amanda-san and her daughters but I noticed no matter how fast I ran, I was staying in the same place! Then a force hit me, slamming me into a tree. My feet were several inches above the ground and I stayed there, not falling to the ground. I could not move a muscle to free myself.

The thought of 'She's angry' came to my mind. Even now I do not know why I thought that, but I trust my instinct. I am now certain that who or whatever is responsible for the third wave of hauntings is or once was a female.

I was still pinned to that tree, inches above the ground, when the second barrier failed. Amanda-san screamed along with her daughters. They each held on tightly to the ofuda I gave them. From my position I could see something moving behind them. I frantically tried to free myself, but it was useless. Whatever was denying me movement was not the same as the vile creatures attacking us. No, what was holding me was far more evil than we faced so far. I suspect that the evil that pinned me was whatever awoke the previous night, the same thing that is sending these undead to kill us.

I tried to call out a warning but along with my limbs, my mouth was frozen as well. I could only watch in horror as vines, twisted with foul energies, snaked up behind the ladies and try to hit at their hands. Jun swiped at a vine with the ofuda, when the ofuda touched the vine, it withered away. At first it looked as if they would be able to hold off the evil for a time, but then Amanda-san screamed as she went down to her knees. From her panting and holding her belly, I believe she was having early labor contractions. She was not able to concentrate and a hand was able slap her arm, knocking the ofuda out of her grasp. Jun rushed forward to hit the crawling horror with her ofuda.

Jun's cry of "MOTHER!" made me renew my efforts in attempting to break free as a vine quickly wrapped around Amanda-san's left arm dragging her away from her daughters. Jun started to run to her mother's side when a disembodied voice spoke.

"Run to your mother and your sisters will die. Stay with your sisters and your mother will die. Choose what to do child, in the end you will all die." It was low feminine voice that caused me to feel as if all hope was draining. My instinct said that was the same female creature I sensed was holding me suspended against the tree.

"Stay with your sisters, Jun! Protect your sisters!" Amanda-san screamed as the hands rushed towards her.

Jun looked back at her sisters and saw that they no longer held onto ofuda and the vines were wrapped around them. Picking up her mother's fallen ofuda, Jun rushed to free her sisters. All the while we could hear Amanda-san screaming for the hands to get off of her. As soon as Jun rescued Misao and Shizuru, they turned to look at their mother.

I continued to struggle but could not free myself from the grip of a great evil. I wanted to yell for the children not to watch. I prayed to Buddha that something would block their line of sight but it went unanswered. We were helpless as some of the hands pinned Amanda-san down. there were some on each arm and leg and some had handfuls of hair. Others ripped her clothes, revealing her belly.

A tear ran down my cheek as the children screamed for their mother. I wanted to look away but could not. Hot tears now filled my eyes as I saw the first claw dug into her flesh. She tried to flail around and get away but the horrors held on with their monstrous strength. More claws began to dig into her flesh. Blood spurted forth as the abdominal wall was torn through. The forest was filled with her screams and her daughters cries.

Soon a different kind of cry filled the air. The first cry of a newborn.

Despair filled me as the light in Amanda-san's eyes died out. The hands continued to drag the infant out of the corpse of his mother. Soon the bawling infant was completely out and the hands began to grab hold of each limb. Great Buddha, they intended to tear the baby's limbs off. Suddenly ghost balls shot through the forest, coming in our direction.

They hit the hands that were in a circle around the girls. Then a eire howling started up. As I looked to the left I saw what looked to be ghosts of a wolf pack running into the clearing. These ghostly wolves were semi-corporal, and started to snap at the crawling horrors. The orbs took form, revealing themselves as the Irate Monk, Abigail and some I've not seem before. Abigail ran to the hands that still held onto the baby. She transformed into a ghost ball as she neared her target. I was temporarily blinded by a flare of spectral energy. As my sight returned I saw that there was no sign of Abigail or the hands that were trying to maim the baby.

Suddenly the foul energy that held me prisoner vanished. I promptly fell to the ground. I crawled to stand on my knees, being held immobile by that energy seem to weaken my limbs. I was surprised to see that all the hands were gone and the vines had withered away. I heard the ghostly monk mutter "May God rest her soul." over Amanda-san's corpse. I looked over to see the ghosts of wolves stand protectively over the infant. Standing, I took off one of robes to wrap the baby in.

"Is Kazumaru going to be okay, Kohaku-san?" Jun asked quietly from my side.

"Kazumaru? Is that what your... mother ... wanted to name your brother?" I asked in a hushed voice. Kazuo is a Japanese name for first born. Obviously, it's a reference that he is the first born son, while -maru is a traditional ending to a boy's name, that is sometimes dropped when they get older. After checking on the few scratches on the newborn, I nod my to Jun. Since I was holding Kazumaru, I asked Jun to carry Misao as we walked away. As of now we are resting near the wall that Amanda-san said bordered her father's land. I have no idea where the hidden doors are or how to open them if I did find one. That means we will have to follow the wall until it ends at the stream. From the rock I am currently sitting as I write, I can glimpse through the trees some the rough-hewn rocks they used to build the wall. As we rest more of the good- aliigned ghosts keep appearing. The ghostly wolf pack has not left our side. It's more like they haven't left little Kazumaru's side. Still though, I've not seen the child ghost, Abigail, since she saved Kazumaru. There's the Irate Monk, I will ask him.

I took a few minutes to talk to the Monk and found out why Abigail is not here. To destroy the clawing hands that were attacking the baby, she used all of her spectral energies, destroying them and herself as well. She was a ghost, not living being, there will no afterlife for her, she was already had it. There is nothing left of her.

Silence filled Genkai's temple, no one spoke. Botan and Keiko cried silently. Yusuke broke the hush when he whispered, "I .. I used to joke around, saying his ma must have ran away because of his looks. It would make him so angry and I thought it was because I called him ugly. But she was killed. ... if I only known..."

"I remember hearing that once. He ... annoyed me, so one day I said that he was so ugly that his mother must have cut her own belly to get him out." Hiei's voice cut trough the air, startling nearly everyone. "It angered him. The only time I saw him like that was after his match in the finals of the Dark Tournament. Kurama you remember the two months we were training him and we fought savagely against each other. It was not a training session for Kuwabara, he wanted to gut me. Now that I know why, I don't blame him."

"Hmmm," Kurama paused while trying to turn the page. "Odd, it seems that the pages are stuck to together." For a few minutes he tried to pry the pages free of each other until he felt some wetness on his fingers. "What the ..." Startled he brought his hand up to look at the blood that coated his palm.

"Kurama! Are you okay?" Botan rushed to his side to see if he needed healing.

Yusuke rushed to his friend's side. "what happened? That's too much blood for a papercut!"

"I'm not wounded at all. So then where did this blood come from?" Kurama looked at his friends before he gazed at the journal. His gasp and widened eyes caused the others to look.

There sitting on the floor, was the journal where Kurama dropped it. From the closed pages, about a third near the end, blood seeped out.

Kurama picked the book up and opened to the pages before where the blood seemed leak out. As he thought, it was the last page that was read. This time the next page would turn. As he turned the page startled screams filled the room.

For once the page turned a fountain of blood shot from from the page, causing Kurama to drop the book once again.

This time it stayed open. The fountain stopped and there was copious amount of blood on the book and pooling around it. Everyone stared in horror as the blood seemed to disappear as if the page absorbed it all. After a few minutes of staring at the now clear page, Kurama finally picked the book back up, attempting to read the passage. "If that was anything like the minor incidences they encountered in the journal, then I have to admire their ability to control their nerves. " Taking a deep breath, he went on. "This next entry in nearly unreadable. It looks like a child's handwriting but is smeared. I assume it it tears, judging by the one line that seems to say 'I miss my mom.' The next page is legible but is only a few words."

May 15, Jun

I d 't lik ting in this thin only doin for momma an nice ghosts sa 's imp ant.

I mis my mom nd I wan er bac

Th ate Monk old me be car ul or mma may an s cries and get tra d here, like Sh nd Fat Ma vin. The hosts
show his mo g.


THE WALL

STAY AWAY FROM THE WALL


May 15, Kohaku
five hours after last entry

I am currently sitting on the highway that runs besides the brick wall borders the Bogy House. We finally made out of that horror. A few of us made out but so many died. First Shino, then MacGavin, Akira, Amanda and now ...

Now Jun is gone as well. I blame myself for the loss of the girl. I should have stayed awake, I should have fought the exhaustion more.

I woke up to a scream. I saw that Shizuru was cradling Kazumaru and Misao was next to her. When I asked where Jun was, I was told she went to 'go potty' but she also took this journal with her. I rushed in the direction I heard the scream which was near the border wall .. or so I thought.

As I neared the wall, I could see another wall a few feet behind it. The first wall I saw was only barely taller than a westerner, somewhere between six to seven feet tall and made out of strange pale stone. The wall behind it was much taller, was made of natural looking rock and stone and it stretched as far as I could see. The shorter wall was about twice as long as it was tall. I could not find Jun anywhere, but I found the journal. It was laying on the ground and it looked as if it was thrown. I searched through it. After my last entry, Jun's writing is badly blurred. But on the next page, there are only a few lines warning about the wall.

But which wall? What danger does it possess? I could not sense anything, I readied a spell to look, but I heard Shizuru yelling about something coming. I ran to get the children. I lost Jun, I dare not loose another child. We kept a distance from the brick wall but followed it until we saw the stream and could slip around it.

We now sit resting on the highway Wait... I see headlights! They're heading this way!
`
`
`

It is four hours later, late night and we are finally away from the house.

I was right it was a car, not just any car but a police car. Officer Wilde has told me that after Shoda and Adam brought Yoshiko to the hospital, the police came to investigate a possible child abuse case. None of the police actually believed the story of a haunted house until they arrived and the gates attacked them. Since then, the police has been circling the house in hopes we could escape. When I asked were Shoda and Adam were, I was told they are resting at the hospital since Yoshiko hasn't released yet. I have to remind myself that it has only been three days since we were first trapped inside. Once we reached the hospital, I had the sad task of telling them the fates of those who died in those ... or in Jun's case, disappeared.

For Adam, he lost his only daughter and his first granddaughter.

For Shoda, he lost a father, a wife and a daughter.


I still shudder at the last sight of the Bogy House. As we drove on down the highway, we past by the front gates. I saw several priests, rabbis even a group of druids. I did not pay attention as Officer Wilde said something about a group of various religious leaders were trying to banish the evil. They won't succeed that way. I have been inside, I have felt the evil wash over me as it held me immobile. Such little trinkets will not work. I did not listen to what else Officer Wilde said. I was taking my last look at the most evil place I have ever encountered.

I saw the house loom in the background through the wrought-iron gates. I could see the truth of the tale of the gates attacking the first officers to arrive.

It has only been three days that we were trapped inside the house.

Three days since those first officers arrived.

But there, on the gates, tangled around bars or with bars going straight though them, were the skeletons of men that still wore the uniforms of police officers.

Skeletons stripped of all flesh.


~TBC~








Author's Note=
"... Most likely only one half an hour," = I know that it would be better grammar to say 'most likely only half an hour'. However that was Kohaku's speech pattern. I wanted to show that English is only a second language for Kohaku, not his native tongue.

Here's a tidbit about my original idea for Abigail, the ghost of a little girl. At first she was going to be a devious evil ghost, pretending to be good but then reveal she's evil. After writing her intro I changed my mind and had her as the vulnerable child. I got the idea for an evil child ghost from a song from the 80-90's heavy metal genre. King Diamond would have their albums in a story format, each song being a chapter. The song that first inspired my little ghost was the song 'Abigail'. It was about a hateful ghost that possessed the pregnant wife of Jonathan. Abigail died falling down some stairs, later on when Jonathan and his wife lived there, Abigail's ghostly malevolence wanted to kill the mother and take the unborn child as it's new form.

After writing the early chapters I decided that my own Abigail will have a different course. I thought that people will more affected for the poor ghost of a child that never became evil but still had some the child-like innocence but capable of inhuman rage.
If I wrote as well as I hoped then this chapter will shock and upset many people on several people.