Fatal Frame: Broken Lens - Book One of The Zero Shot Trilogy

Written by Scott D. McGraw

Fatal Frame fans, this one's for you! It's called "Fatal Frame: Broken Lens", and will be one in a new series of books I'll be writing and posting for your reading pleasure. So, make some coffee, turn out the lights and enjoy!




Introduction

Ghosts. Spirits. The supernatural. To most these things are nothing more than a bunch of folklore, campfire stories and the product of Hollywood magic made for the big screen. If anyone tried to seriously talk about them as though they were real, they'd be looked at oddly, or written off as a nut that's part of some quirky internet community.

Ghosts are real.

I know, I've seen them. And for the reasons I've mentioned, I've not made that fact very well known. I was born with, for the lack of a better term, a 'sixth sense', that has always allowed me to see, hear and feel things that many others cannot.

For years I'd grown up only peripherally aware of what my senses were capable of revealing to me, never quite fully understanding the realm just barely beyond the touch of the physical. I did my best to live as normal a life as I could, which wasn't always easy. It hadn't been very easy for my fiancee either.

I'd met Yuki Tachibana a few years ago while taking a Japanese language course at a community college in the Seattle area just as she was preparing to pursue a career in medicine. We'd met in the library, and for me it was love at first sight. She was smart, funny and had the most beautiful almond shaped eyes I'd ever seen, along with long silky black hair that hung just below her shoulders in a ponytail.

I remember going up to her nervously and bowing awkwardly while she was reading some boring looking book. I tried asking her in Japanese if it was interesting, only I'd gotten the word for 'interesting' mixed up with the one for 'calm', and ended up sounding pretty stupid. So much for impressing her.

She could tell though what I had been trying to ask, and had told me that I'd found a cute way to get her attention. My mistake had actually broken the ice and we ended up talking for a couple hours. In that time, I'd found out that she was planning to be a doctor and had only been in America for a couple years. She spoke English really well though, so I'd have guessed she'd been here for longer than that.

I then shared with her my plans to go on with my Japanese studies and had hoped to do some interpreting for Japanese businesses working within the American market in the near future. She thought that was a really great idea and I was blown away when she had eagerly offered to help me even though she had her own studies to contend with.

I couldn't believe my fortune right then. She was so incredibly sweet and kind. Or so I thought at the time. Only later on did I find out that she'd been as attracted to me as much as I had been to her, and her aid had been her way of showing interest. That was three years ago. We've been together ever since and will soon marry. But things hadn't always been so fun for us.

In fact, it was only a year ago today that we'd endured something together that has forever bonded us deeper than most could ever imagine. As I mentioned earlier, I'd been born with a 'sixth sense', and to my surprise so was she, though to a much lesser extent. In the first few weeks of our time together, this fact became known whenever we'd made physical contact and found that we were able to feel each others emotions and spirits more sharply and distinctly than I'd ever really thought possible.

It truly was a match made in heaven for us to find each other. It would also be absolute hell that we would have to go through to get where we are now because of what had happened to us back then on one dark and haunting night...


Chapter One

"Kyle?" Yuki called my name softly.

I looked over at her as I was pulled from my thoughts.

"Kyle, you okay?"

I smiled at my fiancee as we drove along a long country road just outside of Osaka, Japan, noting the look of concern in her gorgeous dark brown eyes as they stared back at me. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking about the interview coming up tomorrow with the Hasagawa Firm. I guess I'm still a bit nervous."

Yuki placed a gentle hand on mine as she drove with the other and squeezed it. "Don't worry about it. Mr. Hasagawa is a good businessman. He'll know hiring you is the right thing for his company. Besides, you've already made it through two interviews, right?"

I forced myself to relax a bit. "Yeah, you're right. It's just that this is the closest I've ever been to getting a really good job interpreting. If I can get this, then it means we can live here and you can go back to school in your homeland. I really want this for us."

Last month, I'd received a phone call from one of Mr. Hasagawa's secretaries stating that they were looking to hire several new native English speaking interpreters to travel extensively back and forth from Japan to America. I couldn't believe any of it, until they had paid for me and my fiancee to fly out to Osaka and meet with them for a personal interview.

They'd actually seemed very interested in me and were impressed with my resume. Considering how feeble I felt it was, this surprised me greatly. Maybe the picture I sent them won over some female executive with a taste for young American men.

I smiled to myself. Yeah, as if that were really the case. I wasn't bad looking or anything. I just didn't consider myself anything above average. Yuki seemed to think more highly of me though, as she was always telling me I had the most piercing blue eyes that she'd ever seen and a deep voice that melted her like butter.

"And it will happen, so just relax." She broke my train of thought. "You're really good with the language now and have some great references from back home. It's gonna happen Kyle, trust me." She reassured with passion.

Yuki had always been a great source of encouragement to me in times like this and I highly doubt that I would have made it this far if it weren't for her help and love. She was the best thing to have ever happened to me and I knew it. "You're right. You're right." I squeezed her hand back. "I love you so much, you know that?"

The gorgeous Japanese woman sitting beside me winked and flashed a brilliant smile. "I know. And you'd better keep telling me that everyday or I'll leave you for Ronnie."

"Yeah, right." I laughed. "Even if Azusa didn't have anything to say about it, I could never see you two together. He's too much of a clown."

I tried to form a mental image of my best friend with his arm around my girl and laughed even harder. He was a good guy and all, but definitely not Yuki's type. Not really anyone's type that I would imagine, but somehow, he still had managed to land a pretty Japanese girlfriend back home in Seattle.

He'd been taking Japanese along with me at the time when Yuki had introduced him to a girlfriend of hers who'd only been in the country for a few short months. I'd never seen Ronnie act like a bigger dork in my life. He did everything possible to win her heart and somehow managed to, as they've been a happy couple for months. When they'd heard Yuki and I were going to Osaka for this job interview they both tagged along thinking it a great time for us all to have some fun together.

"He's a clown, all right. But every now and then a trip to the circus is fun." She winked mischievously.

I didn't even put up a protest to the empty threat. "Be my guest, if that's what turns you on."

She slapped my hand. "You're so bad." After a pause she changed the subject. "I can't wait until we can get to the onsen. This will be fun. We should all go to a karaoke bar afterwards too. They're totally different here than in America, you know. Ours are way more fun."

"Yeah, I know. Sure, that's sounds good. As long as we don't let Azusa do too many numbers. Talk about sounding like a cat in heat. Oh my God." This of course prompted another slap on my hand from Yuki, only much harder.

"Hey, that's my best friend you're talking about there." She chided.

"Yeah, but you know it's true." I pressed.

She inclined her head in my direction, keeping both hands on the wheel as we sped along. "Yeah, I know. But just don't ever tell her that or she'll cry. She really wanted to be a teen idol when we were kids."

"Better make sure she never faces Simon Cowell on American Idol. I think he'd actually hit her." I laughed.

Despite her resolve to defend her childhood friend, she burst out laughing anyway. "All right, all right. Look, when we see them here in a bit, just promise you won't say anything to hurt her. She's really sensitive to things like that."

"I know. I won't." I promised. I then remembered the time Ronnie had thought he was being funny and had told Azusa that she'd sounded like a rooster when singing some Ayu-Chan song last time we all went out. Yuki ended up taking her home early that night after a lot of tears, leaving us alone with our beer.

He had to kiss a lot of butt to make things right after that. A week later though, and after a paycheck's worth of presents, he'd apparently earned her forgiveness as they were back together after that with no mention of it ever since.

We talked a bit more as we drove along about nothing in particular and soon came upon the onsen, or hot springs, where we were meeting both Ronnie and Azusa. They looked like they'd already been there for a while though, as they both came out to meet us with wet hair.

"Hey, you two. Couldn't wait for us, huh?" Yuki called out as they approached.

Azusa, a young woman of about twenty-two who wore her hair in a short style, averted her eyes from Yuki's, bowed slightly and answered her informally in Japanese. "Gomen ne, Yu-chan.", meaning 'sorry Yuki'.

"Iie." She replied, meaning, 'no big deal'.

"Anyway", Ronnie slapped me hard on the back, "tomorrow's the big day, O'Brien. You all geared up for it? I've heard that this Mr. Hasagawa's a real hard ass among hard asses. Better be ready."

"Yeah, thanks Ronnie." I sighed.

Azusa slapped him. "Baka! Tomadachi da ne?" Meaning, 'Idiot, isn't this your friend?'

Ronnie threw up his hands. "Hey man, I'm just playin'. Don't sweat it. I'm only sayin' that because I know the job's as good as yours. You've got serious skills when it comes to doing what you do, so it's practically a done deal. If you got this far, you're going all the way."

"Thanks." I managed a thin smile.

"Should have said that to begin with." Azusa spoke in broken English while elbowing him in the ribs.

"It's all good." I reassured. "Hey, let's get to those hot springs. We've been cramped in that little Corolla all day."

We all spent a couple hours relaxing and enjoying some drinks and conversation while unwinding. I could feel the hot waters literally melting away my anxiety about the interview tomorrow, and almost didn't want to leave when the women started to climb out.

"C'mon, guys. Can't sit in the hot water too long or you'll shrivel up like prunes." Yuki held her hand out my way. Since this particular onsen was for mixed sexes, I got to see Yuki dressed in her bikini, which I swear raised my temperature at least ten degrees hotter than the water we were sitting in.

Her body was nearly flawless with skin so silk smooth and legs longer than most other Japanese women had, that she could have easily made it as a model in my opinion. The rest of her was well proportioned and she looked sexier than hell as she stood with water running down her gorgeous frame. Even Ronnie had a bit of trouble keeping his eyes off of her, which hadn't gone unnoticed by Azusa who was quick to slap him.

Yuki then caught the look of arousal in my eye and bent down and whispered in my ear. "I'll wear it for you tonight when I come out of the shower. What you do to me after that is up to you." I tried so hard not to think about that right then as I had to stand up and go into a room full of men to change.

"I think I'll sit here for a couple minutes and talk with Ronnie. You girls go on ahead. We'll meet you in front." I said with some awkwardness.

Yuki looked down, smiled and me gave a naughty wink. "You're so bad."

Both the Japanese women left us and went to change. As soon as they had, Ronnie spoke up. "Man, your woman is evil."

"I know. Wait, you heard her?" I turned a bit red.

"Hell yes, I heard her. The whole damn onsen did. She's so evil, and you're so lucky." He laughed darkly.

I looked over at him as he smiled ruefully at me. "Dude, think about your own woman. She's pretty hot too, you know."

Ron was quick to agree. "Yeah, I know. She's hot. But she's not as sexy with it as-"

"All right, Ron." I cut him off. "I get it."

After a few more minutes we both felt it safe for us to get out of the water and go wash up. Twenty minutes later we met the women out front as promised and all decided to ride in Yuki's Corolla together to go find a karaoke bar that was a few miles away. Yuki and I sat up front and the other two in the back.

Things were starting to get pretty dark as we drove along the long country road, and since both Yuki and Azusa were from Hokkaido and didn't know too much about the area we were traveling in, none of us knew how far away this place actually was. We soon found ourselves moving farther away from the town and were seeing less and less houses along the way.

Ron suddenly hit the back of my seat. "Hey, O'Brien, you guys sure we're on the right road? Doesn't seem like there'd be any karaoke places out here."

I turned on the overhead light. "According to the map, we're going the right direction. There's only one major road heading north of the onsen, and we're on it."

"If you say so." Ronnie shrugged and leaned back.

We drove for another ten minutes or so before we were all beginning to think something was odd. "Hey Yuki, maybe we did take a wrong turn or something. Let's turn around and get back into town. We might have missed something."

Yuki nodded her agreement, pulled off the road and slowly turned us around. While she did so, I started to feel something unusual dance around my 'sixth sense', telling me there was something otherworldly happening nearby. All my life I'd felt these kinds of sensations, but usually only whenever I'd gone to a shrine, cemetery or some other similar place.

I'd never ever seen anything though, but had always felt the presences and personalities of those who'd passed on from one life into the other. I guess I could say I could feel spirits around me. I was feeling that now. In fact in a really concentrated form not far off to my left, just outside the passenger seat I was in. It felt unusually strong.

"Yuki?" I whispered.

She was already looking out where I was. "I know, I can feel it too. It must be really close. Can you see anything?"

I shook my head. "No. Doesn't matter. Let's just get back to town."

"What are you two talking about?" Azusa leaned forward. "What are we waiting for?"

Yuki smiled back at her. "It's nothing. We're on our way." She pulled the car off and I could feel the presence fade behind us as we moved away from it. Whatever it was, it was gone now, but every now and then I could see Yuki's eyes drift to the rear view mirror and she looked a little unsettled.

"Hey, it's gone." I whispered gently as I squeezed her knee.

She nodded silently in agreement, but I wasn't so sure of my promise. While I couldn't feel the presence in the concentrated way that I had before, I could still feel an overall uneasiness in the air.

After about twenty minutes of backtracking, we both noticed that something was still not right. Even the two in the back had started to look concerned. Ronnie then broke the awkward silence. "Shouldn't we be seeing some of those house lights by now? We didn't get on another side road or anything did we?"

Of course we hadn't, and I definitely knew that something strange was happening. Another ten minutes passed by as we all drove along the dark unlit road in silence. Yuki shook her head in confusion. "What the hell is going on? It only took us a half an hour to get from the onsen until the place where we turned around. It's going on forty minutes now, and there's no sign of those house lights, the onsen, or anything. There's no way we could have passed them."

Yuki pulled the car over and we pulled out the map again for reference. "There are absolutely no side roads shown here." She threw her hands up in frustration. "Besides, all we did is follow the road one way and then back the other. This makes no damn sense."

Both Yuki and I then started to feel that strong presence again, this time off to the right just outside the driver's side. We both looked out into the pitch black night for several seconds before a ghastly white face suddenly pressed itself up against Yuki's window, causing us all to jump with fright. A moment later it was gone.

Azusa was now hysterical and Yuki was shaking nearly as badly. Ron turned as white as a ghost and leaned away from the window with eyes wide. I felt my heart in my throat and barely forced myself to stay calm. "Drive." I called out dryly.

Yuki made no move as she clung to me. I looked over at her and shook her. "Drive!"

Her eyes snapped to mine as she slowly processed what I'd just said, then nodded awkwardly as she slipped the shifter into gear and pulled the car away quickly. We drove at a faster speed than normal and all without a word for what seemed like several minutes. Slowly, we all began to calm a bit as we came back to ourselves.

"What the hell was that, O'Brien?" Ronnie finally asked, still sounding shaken. "It looked like a-"

"Ghost?" Yuki finished for him. "I...think it might have been."

"Nani?" Azusa cried in Japanese, no longer bothering with the awkward English she practiced all the time, meaning, 'what?'

"It was a ghost. A spirit." Yuki mouthed in firm monotones. "I could feel it." She looked at me for confirmation.

I looked back at her with wide eyes, then slowly agreed. "I felt a powerful presence back there and it wasn't anything human, that's for sure."

"What the hell you sayin', man?" Ronnie grabbed my arm roughly. "You sayin' that thing was a ghost, for real? I always knew you could feel weird things that others can't, but a ghost? You sure?"

I shook my head and threw my hands up in supplication. "I don't know. Whatever it was though, it wasn't of this world, that's for sure."

My fiancee kept both her hands locked on the wheel and regulated her breathing. "Everybody just...stay calm. We all need to stay calm. Kyle, my mouth is really dry. Can you hand me my bottled water, please?"

I started to answer her and reach for the bottle just as I felt that supernatural coldness rapidly fill the air again. Suddenly Azusa screamed from behind, causing us all to both snap our eyes forward just in time to see another ghostly figure dart onto the road in front of us from the woods to our left. Yuki's eyes went wide as she slammed on the brakes and tried hard to avoid hitting whatever it was that had just run up before us.

In a heartbeat, we were off the road and going over the edge of an embankment where we crashed through bushes and began to tumble side over side. It all happened so fast and all I could hear was screaming, including my own, as we slid down a long ravine. When the car finally stopped moving I could hear nothing except my own heavy breathing. I could see nothing and had begun to feel a warm wetness run down the length of the crushed roof and pool against my face.

I tried to call out to see if everyone was okay, but instead felt blood pour from my mouth as I gurgled on the words. A moment later I felt a heaviness and coldness overtake me as I lost consciousness and sank into darkness.



Chapter Two

I woke several hours later to intense pain in my left shoulder and chest as I desperately struggled to catch my breath. I turned over onto my side and coughed repeatedly, feeling like I was going to die each time I did. When I finally began to stop, I just lay there and regulated my breathing to keep from going into another spastic fit. I then noticed that it was still dark and could see woods all around me.

As I gradually became more oriented, I gripped some soft grass in my hand and forced myself to sit up though my flesh strongly protested it. I looked around fearfully. We'd crashed and were at the bottom of a ravine. I sat still for several long minutes, fighting back the pain and I had no idea how much time had passed since we'd all had crashed. I looked at my watch and pressed the light button. It read 1:23 PM, the next day.

The next day? Why was it still dark? I questioned in confusion as I felt the cool night air rush past me. I put my hand up to my face and pulled away some grass that had been stuck there by blood.

Was this my blood, or...?

My heart then raced as Yuki's and the other's faces quickly formed in my mind.

I looked around the area and saw one of the wheels of the totaled Corolla raised above a bush and became very scared for what that might mean. I then wondered how I'd gotten out of the car. I remembered being in it when I'd first lost consciousness, but have absolutely no recollection of crawling out of it.

I must have though...unless Ronnie or one of the girls had pulled me out.

A bit of relief came over me as I entertained that thought. There was no way I could have gotten out of there myself with my injuries. So one of them, at least one of them, had to have made it too and tried to help me.

They then probably tried to go for help. But...

I then considered the hour and the strangely dark sky above me. Several hours had passed since we'd all crashed, and still I was alone. What little sliver of hope I'd felt only a moment before had just evaporated. I sat and thought hard, trying to focus my mind. I then glanced back over at the silent and still Corolla.

I had to get back to the car and see...see what there was to see. I had to know if...I pushed away the dark image of twisted and torn flesh that may be within and calmed myself. With agony, I moved my legs slowly and realized that they at least were okay. My left shoulder and arm however, were throbbing with pain and my chest burned like fire. Slowly, I came to my knees and then eventually stood up, though very weakly. I carefully made my way through the fairly thick foliage and stepped over broken glass until at last I had my hand resting on the underside of the car, which was now the top.

I felt sick as I lowered myself down and peered into what was left of the inside, through the now glassless back window. For several seconds I couldn't move as my eyes confirmed my worst fears. I had recognized Azusa's and Ron's bodies right away and suddenly had to fight back a wave of nausea. Their clothes were torn and covered with blood, as was most of the car's wrecked interior. I stared at the macabre scene for what felt like an eternity, feeling totally numb inside. I then spotted my backpack which had my cell phone in it, and slowly started to reach towards it.

It felt like someone else was making my body move as it mechanically crawled in and pried the pack free, then began to move back out. It then hit me like a lightning bolt that Yuki wasn't in the car. I began to breathe hard again as my mind raced and had to force myself to stay calm. I looked over by what was left of poor Azusa, avoiding the frozen look of terror etched on her now dead face. I was backing out of the car when another thought entered my mind. I slowly moved my hand over to Ronnie's body and began to feel his pockets.

His body was really cool to the touch and his clothes were sticky in places with congealed blood. Mechanically, I went through each of his pockets and pulled free his wallet and passport. I then backed the rest of the way out and leaned against the wreck to catch my breath and felt the wave of nausea return in full force.

I vomited for what seemed like an eon, and when I could finally stop, I just collapsed to the ground to fight back the pain and another round of coughing.

Yuki. Are you safe? Did you make it? If so, where are you? My mind raced. I was still too weak to do anything, much less go off looking for someone. How far had we come off the road? It seemed like we had raced down this ravine for an eternity before finally coming to a stop. And what the hell was that thing that jumped out at us? It definitely looked like a ghost or something, but that's insane. What in God's name was going on here? I closed my eyes and thought of Ronnie. Good ol', fun as hell, Ronnie.

Gone.

Lying dead in a car thousands of miles from his home in America. And Azusa. Poor Azusa. I felt myself beginning to tear up. Oh my God no, I can't loose it. Not here. Not now. My mind focused on my beloved Yuki. Where was she? Was she hurt, lying just a few feet away in the bushes? I forced myself to my feet.

"Yuki!" I cried out into the night as loud as I could before I started to cough up blood again. I pushed through the pain, and continued to cry. "Yuki! Yuki! Yuki!"

No response.

I began to really fear for her. Where was she? I had to go find her but needed help. I pulled free my cell phone, flipped it open and tried to call for emergency services and let them know what happened. I quickly dialed and waited.

Good. It was ringing.

A second later someone answered it and I quickly cut him off. "I need help. I have been in a terrible car accident."

"Calm down sir, and ...ell me yo....ame."

"What? You're breaking up!" I looked at the phone, but it still indicated full strength. What the hell? "Hey, can you hear me?"

"......sir?........are........." The voice began to go to static. Just when I was about to hang up and redial, I began to hear heavy breathing on the other side.

I suddenly felt the hairs on my neck begin to raise up as my 'sixth sense' teased me. "Hello? Is someone there?" The heavy breathing began to grow louder and heavier and then ended with an ear piercing scream that caused me to pull the phone from my ear. I stared at it in shock as it suddenly went dead.

I tried to redial several more times, but it would no longer even do that properly. With frustration and confusion, I thrust it into my pocket.

A sudden coldness came over me a moment later as I felt the presence of something draw near me. I quickly looked around from side to side and then spun around to see a young woman in a white kimono reaching for me. Where in the hell had she come from? I fell back on my butt and tried to move quickly away from her. I tried to speak, but found that my heart was pounding so hard I couldn't catch my breath to form the words. She silently knelt before me, continuing to look me square in the eyes and whispered something with a voice that sounded like a light wind.

"House Ogami."

That was all she said, as she reached for me and gently touched my chest. Her hand was like ice, and I felt a strange sensation fill me as my mind was quickly taken somewhere else. I was suddenly standing in an old Japanese style tatami room filled with candles and paper lamps all about me. The strange woman was there as well, kneeling in front of what looked like a naked man lying face down in a pool of blood. In her hands was a small Japanese style sword with the blade's tip resting against her abdomen.

I instantly recognized that she was about to perform 'seppuku', ritual suicide, and tried to move to stop her, but found that I was held fast and could only see, but do nothing. With a look of anguish and shame on her face, she quickly thrust the blade into her stomach deeply and gasped loudly with pain.

I called out to her and she slowly looked at me with a look of sorrow and pain as her hands fell away from the sword and dropped to her side. I saw a pool of blood begin to form around the blade, soak her white kimono and run onto the floor all around her. We then locked eyes for a moment longer before she fell over and did not move. Then once again, I felt a wave of darkness overtake me and pull me into unwanted sleep.

The next time when I woke I had felt very different. Gone was my pain in my shoulder and chest, as was the grassy wooded area I'd been in. I was now lying comfortably and pain free on a large cushion in a dimly lit room, somewhere I did not recognize. I sat up with a start, feeling somewhat disoriented. I blinked my eyes several times as they gradually adjusted to the flickering candlelight that barely illuminated my surroundings.

I slowly looked around the room and found that I was alone. But somewhere in the back of my senses I could feel strong spiritual forces all about me among the shadows. Where the hell was I now? And where was that woman? Had she brought me here? My mind raced to try and make sense of it all.

Something very strange and otherworldly was happening to me. Or maybe I was just hallucinating from loss of blood and other trauma I got in the car wreck. I inhaled deeply and found that I was indeed pain free. I slowly stood and tested all my limbs which now somehow felt perfectly fine.

Either I was dead or having a powerfully odd dream while passed out somewhere back in those woods. Either way, I had a hard time accepting what was happening to me. Everything felt real enough though. The smell of burning candles and old wood filled my nostrils sharply. I could feel the heat they gave off as I passed my hand over them, as well. I paused briefly and let my hand stay over one for a few seconds just to be sure. I felt pain begin to register and quickly pulled it away.

It was real. Somehow, I knew that it was.

I then noticed on a small table by my pack there was an old fashioned bellows style camera with the Chinese zodiac etched around the shutter and lens, which seemed oddly out of place. I didn't have time for this, as I suddenly thought of Yuki and quickly gathered up my belongings and made for the door, hoping to start finding some answers. As I rose however, I felt something in the back of my senses that gave me pause.

I slowly turned around and found myself staring once more at that camera lying there. It was an old one, maybe fifty or sixty years. For some reason I could feel an odd presence, or rather a power emanating from it that seemed to call to me. I can't explain it really. It's not like the other spiritual things I've ever felt. This was uniquely different.

For some reason, I gave in to my impulse and picked it up. The moment I touched it though, something strange and unexpected happened. Once again, I felt myself get caught up in another strange vision, much like the one I had when the ghostly woman had touched me.

I now found myself in a large darkened room, circular in nature, with torches in sconces lining the walls. The room had a musty underground feel to it, and I suddenly felt claustrophobic. An instant later I saw a man, a somewhat older Japanese man walking around the room, darting to and fro. He had the camera in his hands and was anxiously snapping shots of everything all around him. There was an unusual look of panic in his aging eyes that made me very uncomfortable for some reason.

Something was wrong.

Then suddenly I could see them. All around him there were insubstantial spirits trying to get at him. He moved too quickly for them though, and snapped pictures as fast as he could. But as the moments passed by, more and more of the terrifying and discordant spirits came at him and in greater number, moaning terrible sounds and speaking words that I could not make out.

Then suddenly I could no longer see him as he was entirely consumed by the host of ethereal beings. A moment later I heard him scream, which nearly caused me to faint. The spirits then faded from my sight leaving nothing behind, not even his body. Nothing that is, except for one thing.

His camera.

Then a moment later, I again saw spirits flying all about and could see the camera's flash going off frantically once more. As some of the spirits moved aside, I could see that once again the camera was being used to photograph them, but not by the man, as before, but instead by Yuki.

Yuki? What was she doing? My heart began to pound once again as I looked all about me to see what I could do to help her. I saw that we were not in the circular room as the man and I were in a moment ago, but somewhere else now. It looked to be a long candle lit hallway somewhere I did not recognize.

I tried called out to her, but as before, found that I had no voice. A moment later, the ghosts had her surrounded once more. I started to run to her, but as I did, felt another jolt of energy explode inside my head. When my vision returned to normal, I was back in the room I'd woken up in with the mysterious camera in hand, hearing nothing but my own labored breathing.

What the hell was that just now? I was really feeling like I was starting to lose my mind. I had to get out of here. Wherever 'here' was. Yuki looked to have been in serious trouble back there, that much I was sure of. I thought about putting the camera back where I'd found it, but something in the back of my mind told me I should keep it for now. Without further inspection of it, I turned and looked for the way out.

The door to my room was of traditional sliding design, made of wood and paper and slid open easily, revealing a darkened hallway beyond. I could see candlelight for a ways off down the hallway in both directions, but it was very faint and not much help to make out any specific features. The design was identical to the hall I'd just seen Yuki in, and now felt fairly certain that she was here somewhere near.

I then remembered that I had a small flashlight on my key ring and took it out. I turned it on and passed the faint light back and forth through the hall to better see my options for exploration.

Directly in front of me was another set of sliding doors that probably led into another tatami room, and to my left and right, the hall extended for several feet with flickering candles interspersed thinly throughout. So it seemed I had at least three options to start with. I stepped out into the hall and tried to think about the best direction to head.

As soon as I had though, the sliding door behind me flew shut, seemingly on its own which startled me greatly. I reached out to try and open it, but something, some force held it fast and prevented me from doing so. I could then hear a feminine cry coming from somewhere down the hall to the left and turned that way.

My eyes went wide with amazement as a ghostly image of a woman came floating down the passageway towards me. At first I thought it might be woman I'd seen earlier, but it wasn't. This was someone...something else. As she slowly drew near, I could feel the hairs on my neck bristle and a deep sense of fear and dread came up from within me. I could sense an insanity behind the apparition's lifeless eyes that frightened me terribly. She seemed to be chanting something about, "not her child".

I began to slowly back away from her, heading in the opposite direction down the hall, wondering what in the hell I should do. The ghostly woman wore a kimono similar to that other woman, but was of different design with a blue flower pattern. Most striking about this new ghost though, was that the lower right portion of her face appeared to have been ripped away by something blunt and streaks of blood freely poured from out of it, down the front of her and onto the floor.

I fought to keep myself calm and nearly panicked when I felt myself back up into a door at the end of the hall. The frightful apparition was still a few feet from me, so I quickly turned around and fumbled with the door handle, but found the thing locked. Now panic had begun to set in, as I realized she had me trapped with nowhere to go. I could literally feel my heart in my throat pound as she reached out for me, barely a foot away now. From somewhere beyond her I heard another female voice call out. It cried out for me to use the camera.

I thought I must have imagined it as my mind raced out of control, but the voice repeated itself, and with a tone of desperation to it. It clearly said to use the camera. How and why taking a picture of this dark spirit would help my situation was beyond my comprehension, but for some reason I felt myself lift it up before my eye, anyway.

I had just barely centered her in the reticle when she lunged for me. In that instant, I snapped a shot. The flash went off and I saw the spirit fly back as though hit by a train. A look of pain replaced the one of fury and hunger on her torn face, as she screamed an inhuman feral sound that made my knees buckle and threatened to empty my bladder into my pants.

Suddenly she was up again and coming at me faster, with the look of fury and hunger renewed. Her image filled the eye piece as I steadied myself and awkwardly advanced the film. Suddenly the reticle began to glow and pulse an angry red. I snapped another shot.

Again, the flash went off and I saw the ghostly figure fly back forcefully and writhe on the floor. This time, thankfully, she did not get up, but instead began to dematerialize and break apart. She cried out one last time in agony, "No! Not my child!", and then was gone.

Not my child?

I had no idea what she was trying to say, and frankly didn't care much at the time. I slumped down against the door and felt myself begin to shake violently. I pulled my arms and the camera to my chest and held it and myself tightly for several quiet minutes. When at last I could breathe normally again, I held the camera out and looked at it as if seeing it for the first time.

This was no ordinary camera, that was for damn sure. It was a ghost weapon of some sort. Suddenly, the vision of the man surrounded by the vengeful spirits made sense. He wasn't just photographing them, he was fighting them. He was fighting for his life, and he'd lost. I didn't know what else to think, other than I needed to protect this camera with my life, for my life, or I could very well end up like him.

I had to get out of here fast and find out what had happened to my fiancee. She too had been fighting off those wild spirits with this odd camera and I tried to not even consider that she might have ended up like the other had. I had to find out what was happening to us. I slowly stood back up and gathered my nerve to move forward with my strange new weapon in hand. I looked over the camera once more and noted the film window indicated shot number ten.

It then occurred to me that like a gun, my shots were limited to the amount of film I had. I had to be careful not to run out of it. I wasn't overly familiar with this kind of camera and had no idea how many shots I had left. I was sure of one thing; there was no photoshop nearby to restock my supply if I did run out.

I leaned back and felt my back scrape against the old iron handle on the door behind me and turned to face it. Now that I could see it better without being pursued, I could see that there was some sort of keyless locking mechanism in place.

I bent down and examined it carefully, noting its odd design. There seemed to be five small wheels arranged in an pattern like pips on a die, each with four colored arrows of red, blue, green and yellow. It was a puzzle lock of some sort. I could see that the wheels were in a scrambled position and that I would have to realign them so that each arrow in the outer wheels lined up with the same colored arrow on the inner if I wanted to unlock it.

This shouldn't be too hard.

Or so I thought. After about five minutes of rotating the outer wheels in various ways, I found that they would lock up and wouldn't move unless I pressed a reset button. I then decided to give up and check out the rest of the hallway. I had more important things to do besides playing with a lock. I turned around and slowly walked back to where I had first entered and tried the door again from where I was brought. As before, it was still held fast for some reason. In the back of my being, I could feel some otherworldly force present and knew it was somehow responsible.

No matter. I then faced the opposite sliding door and reached out for it and was relieved to see that it slid open easily under my touch. Cautiously, I peered inside with my flashlight, slowly panning the room. To my relief, the room was still with no signs of movement. It indeed was another tatami room similar to the one I'd woken up in, and was filled with several floor mats, a few small tables with unlit paper lamps and a couple chests of drawers in the far left corner. There was also large wooden wardrobe closet in the far right with its doors closed. The room was filled with dust and hadn't looked like it had been entered or used in years.

My intuition told me that something was to be found here, but I wasn't sure if that would be a good thing or not. Reluctantly, I stepped in the room and felt the crunch of the tatami mats beneath my weight. It was probably my heightened state of awareness that made me uneasy, but the sounds I made seemed to be excruciatingly loud. I was no ninja, that was for damn sure.

I panned my flashlight over the small tables, but saw nothing of relevance and decided to first inspect the chests of drawers to my left. I tried to make my way to them as quietly as I could, but despite my best efforts, the mats crunched loudly with each step. A noise I was certain would wake the dead, if they were not already so.

When I at last faced the drawers, I carefully went through them one by one. They all appeared to contain nothing more than faded kimonos and other old clothing, save for one which held a small diary or journal. I carefully opened it up and leafed through the entries. The writing was feminine, and the style that of a child it seemed. Some of the kanji were wrong, but the meaning was fairly clear.

The more I read, the more obvious it had become that the diary had belonged to a little girl, possibly a very young teenager. It went on and on about nothing in particular of interest. I was about to put it back when I flipped to the last entry on impulse and read it.

It read:

I don't know why mother is acting so weird again today. She won't even let me go out and play in the garden like I always do. I bet Ogami-sama had something to do with it. He's been acting really strange ever since his son and Shiori had died. He really scares me. Whenever I ask mother about him, she becomes afraid and won't answer me. She then shakes me hard, making me promise not to leave my room, anymore. I know I promised, but I just have to go to the garden. I love it there so much, and its the only place in this lonely house that I can truly feel free.

That was the last entry. She had written of a man called Ogami, the same name the ghostly woman in the white kimono had spoken to me that time. She also mentioned a son and a woman called Shiori who'd died. Were they the two I saw in my odd vision? I had no idea. I just tossed the diary in my pack in case I wanted to read it again later. I began to feel the sense of urgency return as I thought of Yuki, so I left the child's room and went back to the hallway.

This time I headed in the opposite direction I had before when I first came out of my room and soon found myself at a closed door just like the one at the opposite end of the hall. I reached for the handle and noticed that unlike that other door, there was no apparent locking mechanism present. I hesitated for only a moment and then turned the handle downward.

The door opened easily, although it creaked loudly causing me to wince somewhat. I found that I had been holding my breath for several seconds and when nothing appeared, I quickly exhaled and rubbed the top of my head. I then cautiously peered through the doorway with my flashlight into the darkened hall beyond and noted that it ran to the left and right and turned corners on both ends.

I panned my light to the left and looked down the darkened passage and just started to head in that direction when I suddenly heard a soft muffling noise to my right, further down the long hall. I quickly turned and aimed my light in that direction just as I saw a small figure dart around the corner.

Was that a child I just saw? It sure looked like it. It looked like a little girl wearing a kimono, but it moved so fast I couldn't tell if my perceptions were accurate. Whatever it was, it turned to the right and disappeared. Forgetting any sense of personal safety, I raced after it and called out. "Hey, wait up!" Without thinking, I realized that I had reverted back to speaking in English, so there was a good chance that even if he or she heard me, they wouldn't understand.

I rounded the corner sharply, having thrown caution to the wind and saw the small figure race down the long unlit hall and repeated myself in Japanese. "Chotto matte kudasai!" The figure slowed and then turned to face me, still several feet away. It was indeed a little girl of about twelve or thirteen. She regarded me silently with hollow eyes, as I too came slowly to a halt.

My 'sixth sense' then suddenly went into overdrive as I realized that this child was as insubstantial as the spirit I'd faced only minutes before had been. I found myself for a sudden loss of words as my mind raced and fumbled over itself as it tried to mentally digest what it was perceiving.

"The garden." She said softy in Japanese as she pointed down the hall away from me. She then turned and ran off beyond the range of my flashlight. I stood there for a moment longer in stunned silence before finally coming to my senses.

"The garden?" I repeated her words quietly to myself. Was that an invitation to follow her? I then recalled that a garden was mentioned in the diary I'd read only minutes before, and written about by a girl who seemed to be about the age of that ghost. Or at least appeared to be, anyway. Perhaps she knew something about Yuki and could help me in some way.

I quickly decided to go after her to find out one way or the other, so I made my way in the direction she'd gone and soon found myself at the edge of a long wooden staircase which descended to a lower floor. "Well, O'Brien, not much choice is there?" I mumbled to myself, as I worked up the nerve to follow. With the odd camera in one hand and my flashlight in the other, I took my first step down into the darkness below.



Chapter Three

"No...no...no..." Yuki Tachibana cried softly over and over to herself as she struggled to breath beneath the steering wheel which had her pinned hard against the crushed roof of her destroyed Corolla. In the hour that she and the three others with her had gone over the side of the road and tumbled down the long ravine into the dead of the night, she had begun to panic and go into shock.

Next to her she could hear the ragged breathing of someone, and their rough coughing. She thought that it might have been Kyle, but wasn't sure as it was completely dark and she could not move her arms to feel around. She'd heard nothing from the back seat the whole time and had felt a thick warm liquid she knew to be blood trickle down the crushed roof and pool around her head, neck and shoulders.

Azusa was dead, she knew, as was Ronnie. She couldn't see, but somehow she knew. It had to be Kyle who'd survived with her, but he'd refused to answer when she'd called his name over and over.

Everything had felt surreal to her, and a dark loneliness had crept over her that brought her to tears. "I don't...want to die.." She cried to herself, feeling completely numb all over. As the minutes passed by painfully slow, she had begun to feel herself slip away, but then felt as though something was pulling her body gently from the car and onto the soft grass.

She forced her eyes open to behold soft hands of white gently cradling her head in their lap. She looked directly into the hollow eyes of someone not really all there, and nearly jumped out of her skin. She struggled to sit up and the rescuer helped her do so. "Who are you?" Yuki mouthed in shaky tones, as she looked upon the strangely ethereal woman dressed in a white kimono.

The woman did not answer, but instead pointed toward the woods further away from the road far above. Yuki looked in the direction the woman had indicated, but when she looked back to question further, she was gone. Suddenly, she felt her mind go blank and without her consent, stood the rest of the way up and began to walk deeper into the woods, leaving the car, Azusa, Ron and Kyle all behind.

Silently and without looking back, Yuki Tachibana disappeared into the dark cool night, now in a trance-like state. Moments later, the woman in the white kimono reappeared and watched her depart toward House Ogami, the old estate buried deep within the woods.

A moment later she turned to hear a ragged voice call out from the car beside her. "Yuki...Yuki..." It cried softly. The spirit slowly bent down to see a handsome man, a foreigner, struggling for the breath of life as blood flowed from his mouth. After a moment of silent observation she slowly reached for him.



I remember as a child the weird looks I'd get from people whenever I'd talked about things felt, but unseen. There was always this awkwardness from most and sometimes even open ridicule. I learned early on in life that sometimes its best to just keep your mouth closed about some things. I knew that if I ever got out of this creepy mansion and found my way back to Yuki, this would be one story no one but us would ever know.

The stairs had descended straight down for several feet and emptied into another darkened hall. All along the walls there were candles in holders, but they remained unlit and the feel of the place quite forbidding. The walls themselves were unadorned and quite faded by time. It hadn't looked like anything living had traversed them in years. Ahead of me, I could feel a faint draft and slowly made my way in the direction I'd hoped the little ghost girl had gone. I needed some answers and prayed she could give me some.

The hall soon branched off in three directions, all equally dark and uninviting. I felt the draft coming from the right so I decided to head in that direction. I walked for a bit, passing closed doors and finally came to one that was partially open. It was different from the rest and quite a bit bigger.

I steadied myself and listened intently, but heard nothing beyond except a sound like trees swaying. I felt no unusual presences there, so I cautiously entered. All about me were old stone planters in a large ceilingless circular room which seemed to be something of an indoor garden. There were indeed trees here and there that swayed gently in the night breeze as a faint wind flowed all about. It had actually felt kind of pleasant. But despite the trees and plants, there was no real sense of life in any of it.

This should've been where the ghost girl had gone, but she was nowhere in sight. I then began to walk the perimeter of the round room, noting it to be roughly thirty feet or so from one end to the other. In the center was a large ornate stone fountain surrounded by wooden benches. The fountain itself wasn't working though and the basin around it was dry and filled with old leaves and other debris.

Along the outside diameter was a large spiral staircase that wound upward for quite a ways and appeared to connect to two more upper levels. In the past, I could see how this place would've been a quiet and serene place to relax and dream, but not now. Not ever again. The place was now in bad need of repair and in a complete state of neglect.

As I was considering these things and moving toward the center, I again began to feel an otherworldy presence nearby. It seemed to have come from somewhere near the fountain. I slowly headed towards it and scanned the area while holding onto my camera tightly. Nothing appeared, but I could definitely feel something present.

On impulse, I held it up and surveyed the fountain through the viewfinder. The reticle had begun to glow a soft blue when I swept over a certain portion of the stone basin. I took a few steps closer and lowered the lens toward the bottom of it as the blue glow in the viewfinder grew brighter.

I then lowered the camera and looked intently into the basin, but saw nothing except a few leaves and old soil littering the bottom. I brought the camera back up to my eye and again the reticle glowed a bright blue. I could feel something here, and the camera was reacting to it as well, so I decided to snap a picture and see what would happen.

The camera flashed and the blue ring in the viewfinder slowly faded. Unlike the full visions I'd had twice already where I'd been mentally taken to a place and shown something unfold, I now could see in my mind a detailed still image that burned like fire. The picture I saw was of the fountain's basin, only it was now filled with clear water, as well as something very disturbing and horrific.

It was that little girl that I had followed here being held fast by a large man as he roughly forced her head under the water. I suddenly felt sick as I realized what had happened to her and had to sit down, as the brutal image faded from my head.

I closed my eyes in disgust as I thought about the tragic end this poor child had suffered at the hands of that evil man, thinking how pathetic. She was just a child.

"Ogami-sama." Came a soft voice from in front of me that caused me to jump. I snapped my head up and the little ghost girl was suddenly standing before me, less than two feet away. I held my camera tightly and started to raise it up in defense, but stopped myself as she made no apparent move to attack or escape.

I was more ready for her this time and slowly lowered my camera. "Was it Ogami-sama who did this to you here?" I asked her slowly in Japanese.

She stared at me for several seconds with those hollow eyes of hers which made me feel uncomfortable. I then wondered if she could really understand or even hear me at all. After a long pause, she at last nodded once with a pained look etched upon her soft featured face. She wore her hair in a simple short style with bangs cut just above her eyebrows and was dressed in a plain kimono. She was also quite pretty.

"I'm very sorry..." I said to her gently, not knowing what else to do. She just continued to stare at me in silence however, so I decided to change the subject. "Can you tell me your name?"

Again, there was that unnerving silence as she neither moved nor changed her facial expression. I then decided to go first. "I'm sorry. It's rude to ask someone their name without first giving theirs, isn't it?" I slowly stood and introduced myself with a bow. "My name is Kyle O'Brien. I'm an American from Seattle." On impulse I then added, "And I think your hair and kimono are very pretty."

The little ghost girl's eyes narrowed a bit as though scrutinizing me, but then she too bowed as well, just ever so slightly. Her eyes then focused on the fountain and looked at it coldly. Taking a big chance on bringing it up, I asked her about the image I'd been shown by the camera.

"Who was he?" I asked slowly and softly.

She looked back at me and again her eyes narrowed. I don't think she liked me. "Was he lord of this house?" I guessed, pressing it a bit.

No response.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be asking you such things. It's just that I'm sort of confused as to why I'm here and what I should be doing. I didn't mean to upset you." I sighed faintly and spoke in quiet tones. "I get the feeling you don't like me."

She then suddenly looked very apprehensive and spun about, looking all around. "He's coming!"

"What? Who?" I suddenly felt a strong sense of fear creep over me.

"Quickly, run! Hide!" She cried, now looking more and more panicked with every passing second. I then felt a strong and cold presence drawing close to us from somewhere near the entrance to the garden from where I had come. I turned back to her and whispered with some fear in my voice. "Where? Where do I hide?" I was no expert on any of this yet, but I could sense that this dark presence approaching was much stronger than the one I had defeated in the hall with the camera earlier.

She'd looked like she was about to abandon me as she quickly flew past me towards the back of the garden, but instead turned and pointed towards the circular staircase that wound upward. I looked that way then back to where she'd been, but she was gone. I then quickly ducked behind the fountain and peered past it, towards where I had felt this new presence coming from.

I felt my neck hairs stick straight out as the powerful force slowly drew near to my position, and I was nearly overcome by the strong sense of dread it had projected. Somehow though, I'd held firm. Through the thin, leafless trees, I saw the ghostly apparition take shape and it had hardly resembled anything that might have once been a man. It had a body, a head, arms, legs and even wore the clothes of a man, but was nothing like one.

His face was elongated and distorted with blackened pits where the eyes should have been, and was carrying a long staff with what looked like a serpent wound about it. In the serpent's mouth I could make out what looked like or appeared to be a large gem in it. I had no idea as to the kind it might have been, as the whole apparition was devoid of color and appeared to be made up of gray and white wisps of smoke.

I then suddenly felt like I was going to pass out, as I had shifted my weight and caused a small piece of wood snap loudly beneath my foot. The frightful ghost paused, slowly turned it's head, looked right at me and stopped moving. It had heard me. I was near panic. I had to get out of there and fast.

In a move of complete boldness, I quickly stepped out from behind the fountain and centered the ghostly creature within the reticle of my camera and waited as it had begun to slowly pulse and glow red. From somewhere above me I heard the ghost girl's voice call out in panicked tones, "No! Run! Run!", but I was committed and snapped the shot anyway.

Nothing happened.

The creature, once a man called Ogami, had simply stared back at me through narrow pits of darkness.

I'd screwed up. And badly.



Chapter Four

Yuki Tachibana walked into the deep and dark woods, far away from where her friends and lover lay, driven by a force she was only peripherally aware of, and all in a dream-like state. In silence, she had placed one foot in front of the other until she at last came upon a large gate in disrepair and overgrown with foliage. She paused long enough to stare at it and had whispered aloud, "Myoujin torii."

Myojin torii were a complex style of wooden gates that were usually placed before shrines to mark the entrance to the spiritual world and mark the end of the physical in the Shinto religion. Why one had been here, she didn't understand. They were considered sacred, but this one was barely standing, clearly having been abandoned for years. It was very out of place, so deep in the overgrown woods that she now mechanically trudged through, but she paid it little thought, as her mind was clouded.

Without further delay, she continued her silent walk through an overgrown path and several minutes later stood before an ancient abandoned shrine in near complete ruin. For some reason, her mind now seemed less clouded and she felt less driven to move forward. As her senses slowly returned to normal, Reality began to set in and panic took over once more.

"What is this place? Where am I?" She cried aloud, as she now felt the cold night's breeze acutely and had begun to shiver. She held herself with crossed arms as she struggled to make out the shrine's dim features in the pale moon light.

Tears then poured down her face as she had begun to lose herself to fear. "Why have I come here? Who was that woman from before?" She asked herself these questions and feared what the answers might bring. That woman was not whole. She was not...alive.

She then thought of Kyle and her friends and fell to the ground in a sobbing heap. "Oh my God, what is happening to me?" She just sat there on the soft ground and wept in fear and despair. "Kyle, where are you? Where are you?" She repeated the words to herself over and over.

Then suddenly she snapped her head up and looked towards the broken shrine, thinking she'd heard something. She held her breath as she tried to make her eyes focus in the dim moonlight and bit at her lip nervously. Slowly, a figure had begun to move toward her silently and take shape. It was the woman from before. Yuki suddenly felt even more afraid and fell back on her butt, shaking violently. The ghostly woman stopped just short of her and slowly knelt, reaching toward her with one arm.

"Noooo!" Yuki wailed loudly and rolled on her side while covering her eyes.

The ghost woman lowered her arm slowly and looked at the sobbing woman with a touch of compassion and sorrow in her hollow eyes. Yuki's sobs then began to die down a bit and she risked uncovering her eyes. The strange spirit was still there, but had made no further move toward her. "Who are you? What do you want?" Yuki's voice cracked as she tried to speak clearly.

The woman in the white kimono sighed heavily and stared at the ground for a moment, before answering in a light whispery voice. "Please help us. Will you help us?"

Yuki Tachibana wiped tears from her dirty, blood stained face and stared at her for several moments then slowly spoke. "But my fiance needs me. He needs-"

The spirit raised a hand. "He will be all right for now. I have seen to him already. Again, will you help me?"

The scared woman struggled with what the other told her and wasn't sure if what she said was true, but nodded anyway. "What... do you need me to do?"

The strange spirit then answered in a cold monotone voice. "Come with me to House Ogami, and I'll show you."

Yuki said nothing for a long moment as she tried to digest the cryptic answer the spirit had just given her. "If I do, will you take me back to Kyle and help him too? He was hurt, oh so badly."

The ghost stared at her for several uncomfortable seconds, then nodded once. "Come with me to House Ogami." She repeated softly.

Yuki closed her eyes and calmed herself. "All right."

The spirit then stood and lowered a ghostly hand toward Yuki.

Yuki stared at the ethereal hand and hesitated. Reluctantly she placed her hand in the other's and felt a sensation similar to one of light static electricity, but was surprisingly not overpowered or repulsed by it. The ghost's grip was firm, despite not being completely solid and had easily helped the other woman to her feet.

"You are a... ghost, aren't you?" Yuki stated more than asked, still trembling and drawing the other's hollow eyes towards her.

The ethereal woman gave a faint smile which did little to put the other at ease, but said nothing. Yuki wasn't sure what the cryptic spirit wanted of her and was still far from certain that she was making the right choice. All she knew was that she was hopelessly lost, miles from home and all alone. She needed help to get back to Kyle O'Brien, the man she loved with all her heart and needed more than ever to feel his strong reassuring touch. If this creature would help her do that, then that was all that mattered.



"Oh crap!" I gasped, as the camera seemed to have had no apparent affect on the nightmarish Ogami. Again, I heard the little ghost girl call to me from somewhere above, telling me to run. This time I did not have to be told twice, as the dark spirit gave sudden chase. While not much of an athlete, I was still a fast runner and counted now on that fact now more than ever.

Pushing aside my dismay and fears, I turned and sprinted towards the spiral staircase several feet behind me, slapping aside the thin trees and climbing over whatever debris was in my way. In a handful of seconds I'd made it to the base of the stairwell and was taking three steps at a time. I could hear and feel Ogami behind me, but dared not look back. It felt like he had been mere inches from me every step of the way. If I had looked back, I'm sure that would've proven the case.

I raced hard up the steps as fast as my adrenaline rush had allowed me to, and then the worst thing possible had happened. I tripped, slamming hard onto my hands on the steps in front of me. I was a goner and knew it. I turned around and indeed found myself nearly nose to nose with the freakish apparition. I just laid there with eyes open wide, as he backed up a step and raised his ethereal staff above his head and prepared himself to slam it down upon me.

In less than a heartbeat though, I again lifted the camera to my eye and snapped a blind shot. God had been with me in that moment, as the flash went off with an intense white light that sent Ogami flying back and tumbling down several steps. I didn't have time to guess as to why the camera had affected him this time, I just thanked God that it had and hauled myself up the last few stairs. I ran towards the nearest closed door as fast as I could, and grabbed the handle.

It was locked. Damn, not again. I looked back towards the stairs and could see that Ogami was back up and on the move. Again, I sprinted forward looking for another escape.

"This way!" I heard just ahead of me, as the little ghost girl materialized once again and pointed toward another door.

I didn't hesitate for even a split second as I grabbed at the handle and barreled into the room beyond. I quickly slammed the door shut and backed away from it and nearly crapped myself when a second later the ghost girl passed through it as though it hadn't even existed. "This way", she repeated urgently as she flew past me, ignoring my startled looks. I quickly gave chase, totally willing to trust her at this point. I'd known right then that this was not the time for debate.

She then led me out of the room and down yet another hallway. "In here!" She suddenly cried as she passed through another closed door. I reached down to open it, but found it locked like most I'd tried. I held my flashlight on the handle and panicked when I saw another puzzle lock like the one I'd encountered earlier. I pounded on the door in desperation as I felt Ogami's presence not too far off and approaching fast.

A moment later, the four outer wheels began to spin of their own accord, one after the other, which I'd suspected my new friend had something to do with. There was a loud click and in a moment I was through the door and had it shut again. The little girl motioned me to the back of the small room which held several suits of samurai style armor from the Edo period of Japan's feudal days. She had me sit quietly behind them and remain motionless as she too stayed deathly still. It seemed that even the dead could fear each other.

From outside the room I heard nothing at first, but then after a moment the wheels on the puzzle lock outside began to turn one by one. I took slow quiet breaths and waited in the excruciatingly painful silence. A moment later the door had creaked inward and I'd held my camera at the ready. I looked over at the ghost girl beside me, and she didn't have to say a word. I felt Ogami's cold dark presence mere feet from our hiding spot and dared not even blink.

After an eternity of sitting still and barely breathing, I felt the presence begin to move a bit away from us, and a moment later the door closed and I heard the lock reset. I started to breath a bit more heavily, but the girl then shot me a sharp look telling me the danger had not entirely passed quite yet. I still felt Ogami out there somewhere, just not as close. A few moments later, the ghost girl closed her eyes and stood up.

I guessed it was now safe to do so and did the same.

"So that was Ogami-sama." I whispered through dry lips.

The young looking spirit nodded once with a blank look on her face.

"Thank you for helping me. I owe you my life. If I can repay you, I will."

She ignored my words of gratitude and began to float off through the armor in front of us. "Wait!" I whispered loudly. "Where are you going? Hey, I still don't know your name!"

She didn't slow for a moment, and instant later she passed through the door and once again I heard the puzzle lock's tumblers spin, followed by a loud click. I guess she was unlocking the door for me. When I opened it however, she was nowhere in sight. I found myself alone again and still without answers about anything. On top of that, I noticed the number in the camera's film window was dropping, and that I now only had seven shots left.



Chapter Five

Though I now had the means to leave the small armory, I found myself closing the door most of the way and sunk down to the floor to think a bit. So much had happened to me recently that my mind simply needed a break to try and digest it all. I quietly opened my backpack and pulled free my water bottle and took a few sips. I felt like I'd just run a marathon.

I then pulled free the ghost girl's diary and read through it once more to see if there was anything else I might learn from it to help me figure out who she was. I understood next to nothing of the ghost world, but it appeared that even they could be afraid of each other. The look on her ghostly face as Ogami drew close was that of my own: fear. She was deathly afraid of him, but still had taken the time to help me escape from him. I wonder why?

I had to help her if I could. I owed her one. Putting the thought aside, I spent several more minutes reading carefully through all the entries before the obvious slapped me in the face. I flipped to the inside cover itself and bold as brass, a name was written in it. 'Nagoya Kasumi'.

"Nagoya Kasumi." I whispered to myself. "Is that your name?" If I saw her again, as I hoped I would, I would have to ask her. I then closed the diary and replaced it in my pack. After a few more minutes of resting I slowly got up and exited the room.

I felt somewhat disoriented as I tried to get my bearings and looked back toward the way we'd come. I wasn't sure that I should go back that way or not. I could no longer feel Ogami's presence anywhere, but definitely did not want to take a chance running into him again. But for all I knew, he could be ahead of me somewhere as well, so I really had no basis to make any assumptions.

I wished that Kasumi, if that was really her, had not left me here to guess, but I couldn't really complain. She had helped me get away once and I was grateful for that, at least.

I then began to think about that encounter in more detail and found myself turning my camera over and over in my hands, inspecting it more closely. "Why didn't you work the first time?" I asked it aloud in confusion. Then I began to see why, as candlelight reflected back at me off the lens.

As I stared into it, I noticed a crack that ran across the middle from one end to the other. Somehow it had gotten damaged. Maybe when the other man lost his life to the spectral host of spirits it had become damaged then. Or perhaps when Yuki...I dared not finish the thought.

Regardless, it now seemed that my only defense was far less dependable than I'd realized. I remembered the first ghost I'd taken on with it and how lucky I'd been to have defeated her at all. With this new realization my heart sank and I felt the knot in my stomach tighten even more. As powerful as this camera might have once been, I could no longer count on it the way I thought I could. It seemed its exorcismal powers were now intermittent at best. I'd really have to be very careful how and when I attempted to use it from here on out.

Reluctantly, and with less confidence than I had before, I made the decision not to back track, but continue to explore the current floor I was on. I took note of the fact that there were several candles and lamps that burned and illuminated the hallway, unlike down in the lower levels. It almost seemed as though there might've been life other than my own up here. I could only hope so. I closed my eyes and tried to feel Yuki's presence I sometimes could when we were touching or were very close, but I felt nothing.

I put my flashlight back in my pocket and with apprehension walked along the old soft carpet that ran along the hardwood floor of the long hallway before finally to another set of doors, one to my immediate left and the other to my immediate right. Neither had visible locks on them, so I tossed a mental coin in my head and reached for the door on the left.

The door had creaked a bit, but opened without trouble and revealed a western style bedroom beyond it. There was a large wooden framed bed, chest of drawers, desk, a wardrobe and a few other typical things one would expect to find. I gazed over at the neatly made bed and was momentarily tempted to go lie down on it and take a nap, but the thought of waking up to Ogami standing over me with his snake staff killed that idea in an instant.

I then noticed a small black journal lying on the table next to the bed and slowly approached it while looking carefully about me just to be sure I was indeed alone. I felt nothing in the room, so I relaxed a bit. I picked the journal up and carefully examined it. This one was a fairly modern spiral type, written in regular ink, labeled 'Investigation of House Ogami'. Inside the cover a name was written, 'T. Watanabe'. I began to read through some of it...


26 October 1968
9:20 AM

This is the first entry to mark my investigation of reports that there may be another genuinely haunted estate in the Osaka area, known by locals as House Ogami. Rumor has it, according to urban legend, that nearly one hundred years ago, a brutal land owner and Shinto priest had gone insane and brutally murdered several of the house staff and other guests one day for no obvious reason.

Some of the murders were reported as being quite heinous and sickening in nature, and to this day no one in the region will set foot anywhere upon the land. Other reports from them also say that over the years there have been a few outsiders who've come to investigate the old property, only never to return.

Local authorities have been rather vague and anemic in their efforts to help me confirm this, but I suspect there is something to the claims as I've been met with evasive answers from them when asking questions, which of course has only fueled my interest to find out more.

Whether or not any of this has merit, or is simply the product of years of wild story telling that has played darkly upon the fears of the locals is yet to be seen. I have confirmed however that there were indeed a set of bizarre and unexplained murders reported by the local press all those years ago that had stunned and shocked the community for their depth of brutality.

I'll plan to head over there from Tokyo sometime next week and spend a few days at the old place and see what my own research turns up.

I quickly leafed through the pages that detailed his arrival and initial exploration of the estate until I got to the last few entries and quickly felt my pulse quicken as I read on...


4 November 1968
11:30 AM

What have I gotten myself into here? Now I'm starting to get a little more than worried. This morning when I had awoken, the sun had refused to come up, keeping the manor and woods all about me in a constant state of unnatural darkness. Even now, as I write this at 11:30 AM it is pitch black outside. I'm also beginning to feel that I'm definitely not alone.

I've never encountered anything to this degree of paranormal power in all my years. My only confidence now lies in the Camera Obscura, and I pray that it is enough.

4 November 1968
2:15 PM

There are ghosts everywhere all about me. What had started off as an absolutely uneventful tour of the house has completely taken a one hundred and eighty degree turn in the forty-eight hours or so that I've been here. So far, there seem to be two distinct types of spirit occupying the estate that I can identify.

One group, a passive and elusive type that actually seem unbothered by my presence, while the other, a malevolent and aggressive sort that strike out at me and seem most anxious about my being here. They have been quite erratic in their attempts to harm me and have a most irrational air about them.

Fortunately, they've as of yet proven no match for the Camera Obscura's exorcismal powers, much to my relief. More proof, as far as I'm concerned, that my wife's uncle, Dr. Kunihiko Asou, was more than onto something when he'd first blue printed this device. Blue prints I'm ever so grateful we'd found amongst his personal belongings when he had passed away.

That aside, I am still beginning to become more and more concerned. Everything has its limitations, and though I've yet to uncover them in the camera, I'm certain they must exist. I cannot afford to become too sure of myself.

4 November 1968
7:30 PM

Not more than twenty minutes ago I came face to face with another ghost. This one had looked to be that of a beautiful young woman of about twenty or so, wearing a simple white kimono. She had appeared before me quite unexpectedly on the stairwell coming up to the second floor. I'd quickly raised my camera, expecting her to vanish the instant I got her in frame, or attack me as others have, but to my complete surprise she simply stood there and allowed me to photograph her as though it were of no consequence.

As soon as the flash had gone off though, she'd recoiled in pain and fled from me. I didn't have the heart to take another shot or pursue her. She'd seemed different than the other mindless or crazed spirits wandering these old halls, and I really hope for the chance to see her again.

5 November 1968
3:40 AM

I've seen no sign of the white kimomo'd woman since earlier today and wonder if I shall again. There is something in the air that suggests more than simple paranormal activity. I'm beginning to feel as though there is an orchestrated and methodical force at work observing me and my every move. I cannot explain it, but I definitely feel as though I'm being tested in some way, much like a rat in a maze.

That was the last entry in the journal, written more than thirty-five years ago. I gazed down at the camera strapped about my neck and noted its given name, 'Camera Obscura', and thought it fitting. The name itself was an old term first used to describe the first non-film cameras built centuries ago, and meant 'dark room'. However, I suppose the term could also be understood to mean a camera that reveals the obscure, or hidden.

It seemed that this Watanabe guy had been a professional ghost hunter and researcher of some sort, looking for a story here at this place. He seemed to have had some 'sixth sense' abilities, as well.

The next thought to go through my head of course, was how did the camera end up in my room? Perhaps Yuki had placed it there. Or maybe the ghostly woman I believe to be this Shiori had. If so, why had she singled me out to give it to? Perhaps she had been able to feel my 'sixth sense' abilities somehow. That would make sense. But again, I thought of Watanabe. If he'd been overcome by the ghosts even with the camera, what chance then did I have? Or my Yuki, for that matter. I then decided to leave the room and move on.

I'd gotten maybe a few feet out into the hallway before my 'sixth sense' picked up on a shadowy presence somewhere just ahead of me. I tensed up as I thought Ogami might have returned. I moved forward a bit and peered down into a dark stairwell while pulling the camera up to my face and looking through the viewfinder. A few seconds later, a grotesque looking spirit that appeared to be nothing more than a skeleton draped in ethereal rags came floating into view and was silently heading in my direction.

"Come here, you bastard." I taunted with bravado, relieved it wasn't the twisted and evil creature I'd met earlier. It took notice of me and began to howl an unearthly sound as I lined it up easily within the reticle and waited patiently as the camera began to gather spiritual energy, praying it would not fail me. As it came dangerously close to my position, the capture circle went to red and I snapped a shot. The apparition however, showed no signs of being affected in the least, and an instant later it was upon me making it's deathly power known.

I felt the ghastly cold grip of it's lifeless hands claw at me with great speed, and each time one of them brushed through me it felt like I was being submerged in ice water which stole the breath from my lungs. Without my mind's consent, I dropped the camera from my numbing fingers as I fell to my knees with a thud. Fortunately, salvation came to me in another way and in the form of a certain little ghost girl.

Once again, she'd come to my aid and had somehow managed to distract the other getting it to chase her, giving me the precious few moments I'd needed to recover somewhat and raise the camera to my face and try again.

The little girl must have known my intentions and quickly pulled herself upward, leaving only the other to fill my viewfinder. No longer distracted, the skeletal ghost had spun around with a scream and lunged for me once more, but was met with a blinding flash that burned it to complete nothingness in an instant. I then noted for the first time that I could feel the fallen apparition's spiritual force being drawn into the camera itself, and that the camera's overall spiritual presence had become slightly stronger than before.

A moment later the small spirit was beside me looking at me as though I were a complete idiot for not running in the first place. Which in truth, if she'd called me one, I would have nodded in agreement. Instead, she pointed down the stairwell and shook her head. "You would not wish to go down there."

"Why? What's down there?" I asked, still trying to shake off the other ghost's icy attack.

Her eyes drifted back toward the way I'd come. "Go back to where you first saw me. I'll wait for you there." She then began to fade.

As she did so, I quickly called out to her. "Wait! Nagoya-chan, wait!" As she faded from me, I noticed her eyes had widened a bit as I had addressed her with that name. She paused briefly as though surprised, then completely disappeared from sight.



Chapter Six

Yuki Tachibana stood upon a small wooden bridge that crossed over a small hissing stream beside the ghostly woman as they looked upon the massive two century old mansion looming before them. She could feel more than the other's presence now as the decrepit old place pulsed with spiritual energies that seemingly threatened to reach out consume her.

"House Ogami." The spirit suddenly declared dispassionately. A moment later, she turned to face Yuki and bowed deeply before her. "With all my heart I ask that you help me by destroying the chains that bind me to this horrible existence."

The other woman was stunned into silence as she stared at the ghost's sudden request. For several long seconds neither spoke nor moved. "Who...are you?" Yuki finally asked in shaky tones.

The other slowly raised her head and made eye contact with her. "I am Shiori of House Ayukawa, eternally damned walker of this estate. I am not alive, nor am I truly dead. I simply am. I beg you, please help me to break this endless cycle, not just for me, but for all of us trapped here. We desperately need your help."

The young Japanese woman regarded the other for several more seconds before answering. "I'm Tachibana Yuki. What...what is it you're asking of me?"

Shiori slowly rose and looked toward the mansion. "Within those old walls lies an evil beyond comprehension that has kept me, and many others from entering the next world and finding eternal rest. The source of that evil is a dark spirit called Lord Tsumano Ogami. In life, he was lord of this estate and a powerful Shinto priest feared by many in the region. He had used his power to coerce my family into agreeing to an arranged marriage with his son, Noburo, an equally evil and ruthless man."

Shiori turned and placed two ethereal hands on the bridge's side railing and appeared to be reliving some dark memories. Yuki however kept silent and waited for the other to continue.

"I...could not agree to this." She continued in low and sad tones. "I could not, so I..." She let the words hang and appeared to be crying.

Yuki slowly forgot her own fears as she listened to the sad and lonely woman share her dark situation and found herself drawing close to her. She gently placed a hand on her ethereal shoulder, and again felt a sensation similar to that of static electricity. "It's okay, Ayukawa-san. I'll help you if I can. I don't know what I can do, but I'll try. That is only if you help me and my fiance in return."

The ghost in the white kimono felt the living warmth and life force of the other's hand as it gently laid upon her shoulder and longed to be like that once again, even for the briefest of moments. She looked up into Yuki's eyes and saw a genuine compassion reflected in them. She carefully placed a hand over Yuki's and smiled sadly. "Thank you. There is much I need to tell you, and..."

Shiori let the words hang and suddenly looked alarmed as her eyes darted back and forth. Yuki could immediately sense something was wrong and then felt another spiritual force suddenly drawing close to where they stood.

"What is it?" Yuki asked apprehensively.

Shiori stepped away from her and continued to look nervously about before finally turning back to her. "We must hurry and leave here. He's coming. He must have sensed your presence here and now approaches."

That was enough for Yuki to find her fears once again and felt her heart begin to pound. "Who? Who is coming?"

Shiori grabbed the other's hand and pulled her toward the old decrepit mansion. "There's no time now! We must leave."

Together, hand in hand, they ran to the front porch of the estate and Shiori quickly pushed the front door open and pulled the other through into a dimly lit foyer, then just as quickly, closed them inside.

"What is happening?" Yuki was near panic. "Ayukawa-san!"

The other spun around quickly and hesitated. "Listen carefully. I cannot stay with you for the moment. I have to go face him and give you time to hide."

The other's eyes went wide. "Hide? Where?"

The ghost in the white kimono held up a hand. "At the opposite side of this foyer lies a door to a long hallway. Go there now, and run until you come to its end. From there, take a left and you will come to another door. Open it and you will find a stairwell leading down into another hall. Again, run to the very end and you will find that it empties into a large round garden. Go there now and wait. If you see anyone other than me or a small girl, do not stop!"

"A small girl?" Yuki asked, feeling her heart beat faster and faster.

The other nodded. "Yes. If you see her, tell her you are a friend of mine and need to hide from the Master. Now go! Run and do not stop or go elsewhere! I will follow when I am able."

Yuki could now feel the cold and dark presence nearly upon them.

"Go!" Shiori commanded once again with desperation in her voice.

Yuki backed away from her and the door as the presence grew near, then fled in the direction that the other had instructed. At the other end of the foyer and behind some silk screen panels, a lone wooden door stood just as Shiori had promised. Without a moment's hesitation, she opened it and disappeared through it into darkness beyond.

A moment later, Shiori fled back out the way they'd come in and found herself face to face with the source of her despair and torture. On the old wooden bridge stood another spirit in the form of a young Japanese man with a feral look to his eyes, carrying a long staff. He was dressed in a kimono as well, which bore blood stains all around the front abdominal and lower back portions of it.

He regarded her with open hatred and disgust as he spat out his words. "Get out of my way, Shiori, unless you wish me to flog you until I tire of it."

Despite the very real, and often executed promise, the Ayukawa woman held her ground and refused to move. "You will likely do so anyway Noburo, so it makes no difference what I do."

The dark spirit lowered his gaze and clenched his fists in anger. "How dare you address me in such a familiar way? As I have commanded you, you will call me Lord Ogami!"

Shiori's own gaze fell a bit as she struggled to keep her composure. "I will call you whatever I wish, Noburo. Your eternal hold on me gives me that right."

The other responded by raising his staff and striking her across the face with it hard, forcing her to fall to her knees in pain. Indeed, she could feel pain. Though no longer a living being, she was still subject to all the realities those alive faced, if only among those of her own kind.

From Yuki's perspective, she was as insubstantial as the wind, but to another ghost, she was as solid and real as humanity appeared to itself. She could feel pain, and now felt it intensely, as she cradled her unnaturally bloodied mouth.

"Do not interfere with me, Shiori. I have no time for you today, as I hunt another. I can smell the blood of one who has not yet tasted death nearby. Where has this being of breath and blood gone?"

Shiori Ayukawa glared at him defiantly, forcing him to strike at her again with rage, this time smashing his staff into her back, forcing her to cry out in agony.

Noburo looked upon the pathetic creature before him and the real reason he too was forced to walk in eternal damnation, never finding the rest and power he felt he so deserved. All he could do was fill his eternity with torturing her and dealing with the occasional wandering fool who'd found themselves within his reach. "Again, my beloved I ask you, where has the one with the breath of life gone to? Do you dare to hide this person from me?"

Shiori cried silently to herself as she still lay face down upon the old wooden bridge and burned with rage. "Beloved? You call me this for what reason?"

Noburo Ogami smiled in the face of her indignation and slowly held his staff above her head once more. "Yes, I call you beloved. Why shouldn't I? My love for you is eternal and true. How many ways do I love you? Let me count them for you." He then began to slam her with his staff repeatedly while counting as she writhed in agony and begged for him to stop.

"Where is the one I seek?" He asked again in calm tones as he bent low and pulled her hair so that her face was within inches of his.

The other spirit's eyes dropped low.

Noburo shook his head in mock disappointment. "No matter. I'll find out myself. It's better this way. I do enjoy the hunt and really shouldn't cheat. But why do you hide this person from me, anyway?"

Shiori spat her words out, along with blood. "Because I hate you with every fiber of my being!"

Noburo laughed. "Ah, my beloved, that's what I love about you! You always keep me entertained. I suppose it would be pretty boring if I were able to completely break you. Keep fighting. I support you." He laughed more as she lay there glaring back at him. "But still, I sense there is more to it than what you say. Again, no matter."

Shiori closed her eyes and lay very still. "Everything is a game to you, isn't it Noburo?"

"Of course it is, my beloved! An eternal game without end, and all because of your own doing. How ironic is that?" He turned and walked away from her towards the mansion, then paused. "And try to remember what I told you about calling me anything other than 'Lord Ogami'. It really is such a discourtesy."

The broken woman watched with anger and frustration as the conceited and thoroughly corrupt man she'd been forced to marry disappeared within the estate. A few minutes later she rose with no apparent injuries or pain evident on her face. Unlike those living, there was no physical damage to really incur, only pain and the superficial appearance of wounds. Once free from the source of pain, her spiritual form returned to it's eternal state fairly quickly, only to await the next painful encounter.

Her abuse was certainly nothing new to her, as Noburo had regularly and repeatedly dominated her over and over during their whole time as they were now. But still, their intensity had never waned or ever became something tolerable. She prayed that somehow soon, it would all end.



The young Tachibana woman ran in the direction that Shiori had instructed as fast as she could, not noticing anything other than several closed sliding type doors to her left and right as well as lit candles that flickered as she passed them. She finally made it to the end of the long hall without incident and found that she could now go either to the left or the right. She started to head to the right, but then remembered she was to go left and turned around.

She followed the darkened portion of the hallway until she at last came upon another door and opened it. Before her was the stairwell leading down just as promised and she quickly began to descend. As she did so however, she suddenly began to feel another presence beside her and turned to see the horribly torn and bloody face of a woman come through the wall next to her.

In panic, she lost her balance and fell down the rest of the steps in a tumble. Unfortunately for her, she was wearing a short skirt and had ended up scraping her thinly nylon protected legs badly while also twisting her right ankle in the process.

As she sat herself up in pain, she could still hear the cries of madness coming from somewhere above her, and now saw a fully formed woman wearing a patterned kimono coming directly at her. It's voice grated through the air like fingernails on a chalkboard.

"My child! No! Not my child!"

The freakish apparition repeated this over and over hysterically, as it slowly drifted straight towards Yuki, which forced the hurt and bleeding woman to her feet and hobble away as best she could. No longer able to run, the young Japanese woman panted heavily and cried loudly as she pushed through the pain and moved as fast as she was able through the long hallway ahead and away from the frightening spirit pursuing her.

With every step, the long hall seemed to be getting longer, and the door at its end farther and farther away. Yuki could no longer even think straight, just simply moved forward and hoped for the best. When another spirit suddenly came through one of the walls just ahead of her, she didn't even scream, but just fell to the floor and sobbed, as it too came her way.



Chapter Seven

I slowly and quietly made my way back to the room where I'd first come onto the upper floor and peered cautiously through a small window which looked out upon the garden and could see nothing other than a few trees swaying gently in the wind. The garden appeared to be empty and I could not feel any presences there, so I soundlessly stepped out into the cool night air and carefully retraced my steps to the circular staircase which descended to the ground level.

I slowly began to descend, and despite my best efforts ended up making the stairs creak loudly with every step down. Fortunately nothing appeared, so I then began to walk the outside perimeter of the garden until I finally came upon the doorway which had initially led me here. I paused and looked back towards the center and ended up taking a few steps within so that I could see the now dry and lifeless fountain once more.

I felt a renewed wave of sorrow pull at my heart strings as I thought about Kasumi and what her last moments must have been like. They had to have been horrible. The thought of Ogami's hands around the small girl's neck as he forced her under the water sickened me and filled me with anger.

What could make a man do such things? I just couldn't imagine anything a child could do, much less anyone, to be forced to die in such a horrible way. I knew the world was filled with such evil, and saw it in some form everyday in the streets of wherever I'd gone. But this was just so malign and brutal. It seemed that there was quite a strong and tragic history to this place I'd yet to really discover. Why there were so many restless spirits here and how both Yuki and I were to fit in was all still a complete mystery to me.

My thoughts then turned to the ghost in the white kimono as I sadly headed back towards the exit. Who was she? What was it that she required of me? My head began to ache as I struggled with these basic questions. Other than a few words, Kasumi had thus far revealed nothing to give me any sense of direction. I'd hoped that when I'd met with her again some of that would've changed. I hastened my pace a bit as I thought on that, and just wanted to get to Yuki as soon as possible and be with her.

A minute later I was standing in the hallway where I'd first seen the ghost child appear, but saw no sign of her now. I nervously waited in the darkened hall, not even bothering to pull free and use my flashlight. I just wanted to be as inconspicuous as I could and see what would happen.

Suddenly and silently, she was next to me, staring at me through those colorless, semi-transparent eyes of hers. Despite having met her at least twice before, I still jumped at her sudden appearance and couldn't fully drive the fact out of my mind that this girl was dead.

"Nagoya Kasumi-chan?" I questioned quietly.

She continued to stare at me blankly for a moment, then nodded once.

"Please, help me understand what I'm supposed to do here." I asked in sincere tones. I think she could sense the desperation in my voice or see it in my eyes, as her placid features softened a little and a thin smile formed on her small face. Without a word, she floated past me and led me to the room I'd first awakened in.

I no longer felt the strange force which had prevented my re-entry the first time I'd tried to go back in, and I looked at her questioningly. With a small gesture from her, the sliding door opened silently on its own and she motioned with one arm for me to enter. I did so, and she followed after me. I turned to face her just as the door closed behind us. Again, I looked at her with imploring eyes.

"We will not be disturbed here." She stated matter-of-factly. How she was able to be so certain was beyond me, but I didn't question her. I watched as she slowly floated about the room with a oddly pained look upon her face for several moments before she finally she spoke again. "You will need to be very careful, not only of Ogami-sama, but also of his son, Noburo. Together they play a game with both you and the one you love, though each with different goals."

This sudden revelation brought me close to her, and I grabbed both of her shoulders while coming to my knees. In that instant, I felt a strong sensation similar to static electricity course through my hands which forced me to momentarily loose my train of thought. Kasumi quickly pulled away from me and looked at me through narrowed eyes. "Do not touch me! Ever!"

I stared at her with my mouth open in shock, then quickly apologized. "I'm very sorry. It's just that I became very excited when you'd mentioned my-"

"Betrothed?" She finished for me, softening a bit. "Fine. But remember from here on out, never to touch me. I don't like.." She clenched her fists and averted her eyes from me. "Never mind. Just don't do it again."

I nodded. "I understand. I promise I won't. Please, is my Yuki-"

"Alive?" Again, she cut me off, though not roughly like before. "She is. But she is not entirely safe."

"Where is she?" I demanded, growing more excited and fearful at the same time. "Is she nearby?"

The ghost girl nodded. "She is close, but that fact alone will not help you get to her. There are things you must do first."

What in the hell kind of game was being played here? What was that supposed to mean? I struggled to keep myself calm as the spirit stared at me with an emotionless look. "Go on."

"Both you and she are prisoners of the Ogami's, and I have been instructed by the son to tell you that if you both wish to ever leave alive, you must do as you are told."

"I don't understand."

"He knows of your 'shaeiki', and wishes to play a game with you." She stated sharply.

"My 'shaeiki'?" I turned the new word over in my mind and began to pull it apart. 'sha' meant 'to aim', 'ei', meant 'shadow' and lastly, 'ki' meant 'machine'. Loosely it meant 'the shadow machine that aims'. What did...I placed a hand over the Camera Obscura. Of course, she was referring to it.

"What does he want from us?" I breathed nervously.

The girl looked away from me and hesitated, as though struggling with something.

"Please, Nagoya-chan. If you know, tell me." I pleaded.

She slowly looked up into my eyes and then downward again. "All I can tell you is that he watches you and holds Yuki-san's life in his hands. If you wish to save her, you must do as he says."

"Have you seen her? Have you talked with her?"

Kasumi then began to turn away and suddenly blurted. "Forget about her! Run from here if you can! You have that thing, so might be able to get away when others have not. I don't know..."

"What?" I moved in front of her. "I can't do that! She's my-"

"It doesn't matter!" The now oddly emotional ghost cried. "He'll never give her back to you no matter what you do. He's a liar and-"

Just as she was really starting to talk to me, I felt an overpowering presence fill the air and saw several ghostly hands come up through the flooring and claw at Kasumi while pulling her downward as she screamed and thrashed in protest. As quickly as it had begun, it ended and she was gone.



"Oh my God! Please help me. Please..." Yuki Tachibana cried as she lay face down on the hard flooring of House Ogami's lower level, still hearing the grating cries of the deranged spirit behind her draw close.

"What god do you call upon for help?" She then heard a young voice question from in front of her. She looked up quickly to see the second spirit, strangely in the form of a young girl looking down on her with a blank look on her face. "There are no gods here in House Ogami. Only those the gods have abandoned to eternity."

Yuki shook her head and pulled her hands protectively over it in terror. A moment later the hallway became strangely silent. She then slowly removed her hands and peeked through tear filled eyes in the area about her. She was alone. She looked all about her, expecting something to grab at her from some unseen angle, but nothing presented itself.

Slowly, she calmed herself and stood painfully on her wounded ankle while running a hand over a torn pantyhose covered knee and felt it sting sharply in the open air.

She carefully braced herself against the wall and used it to help support herself as she made her way down the long dark hall. After several excruciating minutes she felt a cool breeze blow upon her as she approached an open doorway. A few seconds later she was through and found herself in a large ceilingless indoor garden that was circular in nature. From where she stood, she saw that in its center was an old fountain surrounded by benches and slowly made her way to them.

She quickly sat down, crossed her legs and began to massage her swollen ankle, wincing sharply under the pain, but glad to finally be off of it. As she sat there resting she then recalled Shiori's words about a little girl, and then wondered if that second ghost she'd just run into was that very person. She had no idea, but was thankful that neither she nor the other one had done anything to her.

"Why does it always have to be the legs?" She cried to herself in pain, thinking that whenever someone in the movies got hurt running from something, it was always a twisted ankle or something similar that kept them from moving fast and ended up getting caught. She sighed heavily, now finding that she felt extremely tired and wanted to do nothing more than lie down and sleep.

She nervously looked around, but felt nothing out of the ordinary and began to think about all that had happened. Of course, the first face to come to her tired mind was that of her beloved Kyle, but then she quickly thought of both Azusa and Ronnie and began to sob. She'd loved them both dearly and couldn't believe they were now gone. She'd grown up with Azusa and had known her since they'd first started kindergarten together. All her life she'd been a major part of it and would now never see her again.

She then found herself thinking about the time when they were both in first grade, and when she'd accidentally fallen face down into a mud puddle while running. She remembered how all the other kids had laughed at her, making her cry in humiliation. All of them had laughed, except Azusa who'd started yelling at them to shut up and tried to give Yuki her boxed lunch to cheer her up. Azusa had been so sweet that day and ended up becoming her best friend from that day forward.

In the years that followed, Yuki had several opportunities to repay Azusa's kindness by standing by her whenever she was in trouble. She once even took the punishment for her after school when she'd thrown an apple off the school roof and had hit a teacher's car by accident.

The teacher had come up and questioned the students to see who had been responsible, but before any of them could cast blame, Yuki had run up to him saying that she'd done it, and begged for forgiveness. She remembered how scared Azusa had been when the teacher had looked up to see them both standing there, and decided then what she would do.

Years of loyal friendship had seen them through several difficult times, not only as kids, but also as adults. Azusa was as close of a sister she'd ever had, and simply couldn't believe she'd been taken from her in such a horrific and senseless way. It just wasn't fair.

And Ronnie. As much of a clown as he was, he had also been a good friend and lover to her. Azusa had confided in her that she'd absolutely had fallen in love with him and that he was always doing stupid little things to show her how he much he loved her as well.

But as much as she loved and cared about them both, her heart longed for and hurt the most over the one she'd given her own heart to. She loved Kyle O'Brien more than she could put into words and desperately prayed that he too was not dead. He couldn't be. He just couldn't. She shook her head violently as she tried hard to push away the dark image of his dead body lying somewhere back in that ravine and tried to keep hope alive.

Whatever business Shiori Ayukawa had with her, she hoped it could be concluded quickly, and in turn, get help for him. With every passing second he could be one more breath away from death and she would lose him forever. Something else then entered her mind. The whole reason they'd run off the road to begin with was to avoid whatever it was that had manifested itself and come upon them. If Shiori were somehow responsible for that...

Yuki then found herself re-evaluating her desire to help the ghost woman, but somehow felt that she hadn't been involved in that event, directly anyway. But it was still far too soon for her to make any judgments on it. If Shiori had been the cause though, then things would be different. As it was, she would simply have to wait and find out more. She then wondered how long she would have to sit and wait before the spirit in the white kimono met up with her again.

She looked at her watch and was surprised to see that it was 8:30 in the morning. Her eyes went wide as she looked up into the dark sky with a full moon shining down upon her. Where the hell was the sun? It was daytime, but it was still as dark as night.

She considered that her watch might have been damaged in the wreck and dismissed it. There were already too much strange happenings going on to think about one more. Regardless of the time, she sat back and continued to gently massage her painful ankle as she waited.



From the shadows above where Yuki Tachibana sat, the dark spirit of Noburo Ogami watched in silence, thinking the other quite striking in her beauty. In life, Shiori had once been just as desirable in his eyes, but no more. He had nothing but hatred for the wretched spirit who'd become the center of his entire twisted and eternal existence upon Earth, and had no desires other than to punish her for her trespasses and shame.

That, and to hunt.

Like others of his kind, he'd come to despise the living, and now used his power to inflict pain and suffering upon them whenever it became possible.

What he saw sitting below, as beautiful as it was, and despite the torn clothing, bloodied and bruised limbs, was nothing more than prey in his eyes. His manhood had died when the blood had drained away from his body on his wedding night, many years ago.

He could easily have swept down and ravaged this weak creature of flesh and blood, right then and there, but that would be far too anticlimactic and boring in his dark feral eyes. He was Lord Ogami, no mere mindless wandering spirit like what his father had become, or those others who now roamed the estate like animals.

He would have her and destroy her in time, but for now wished to see what fun could be had. Shiori had seemed interested in this pathetic creature for some reason, so why not let things run their course and see what the other has in mind? With a smug smile playing across his thin lips, the last lord of House Ogami receded into the shadows and waited with eagerness.



Chapter Eight

Soon after Noburo Ogami's presence left from above the garden, Shiori Ayukawa entered and without hesitation, glided over to where the young wounded woman sat and took a place beside her. She observed the other's wounds with some concern. "It seems you've been injured further somehow."

Yuki still not quite comfortable with the other, merely nodded and continued to massage her ankle while never taking her eyes off her. "I think I've only twisted it. But still, it's quite painful. At least I'm alive, though."

Shiori regarded Yuki quietly and wasn't sure if there was something in her words other than a simple observation of her own affair or something cryptic concerning hers. Either way, the spirit merely nodded and watched her in silence for a few more moments. "It has been a long time since I've had to concern myself with such things, but I believe I might be able to find something for your wounds, such as a splint and wrap. I can look if you desire."

To Yuki, the woman sounded as natural and practical as anyone she'd ever heard and found it almost hard to believe that she was not a living and breathing being. But as the bright moonlight shone down into the old garden, it was clear that Shiori Ayukawa was exactly as she appeared to be. She was a being devoid of any color and semi-transparent with smoke-like wisps roiling gently about her body. Other than that, she seemed quite human.

The young Tachibana regarded her with a calm expression and kept her tones even. "I would appreciate that, however I first need to ask something of you and you have to be completely honest with me."

Shiori tilted her head to the side slightly in inquiry. "Certainly."

Yuki steadied herself and posed her question directly. "Did you have anything to do with the accident that caused me to be here and lose my dearest friend in the world, along with the man she loved? Did you have anything to do with my fiancé being hurt and possibly..." The young woman tried to stay unemotional through the questioning but found that she again began to tear up and shake.

The spirit looked at her for several long moments with her own eyes growing slightly moist and then found she could no longer meet the other woman's gaze and looked away. Several more moments passed before she answered. When she did, her words were subdued and full of emotion.

"I'm not directly responsible for that horrible loss, but I do take responsibility for being the cause of all that happens here. So I cannot honestly tell you that I am free from blame. I am truly very sorry for you being brought into this and for everything that has happened. I'd never have wished this upon anyone."

"I don't understand. What happened here?" Yuki stopped rubbing her ankle and gently uncrossed her legs, while wiping away her tears. The turmoil on the spirit's face was evident to her and she almost thought that she would not be answered until the other finally began to speak and tell her dark tale in full.

"I do not know how much time has passed in the world since these events actually happened, only that to me they are as fresh and painful now as they have ever been." She began. "I was the daughter of Kojiro Ayukawa, one of the last true samurai in Edo, before things began to change for our country."

"In my life time, the young Emperor Meiji ruled, and news that the way of the samurai was coming to an end had reached far. My father had once been a powerful and well respected man, but soon lost his position and power as many other samurai had, and was forced to comply with the new laws being passed."

Yuki made a mental note as the other slowly filled in her background and remembered the history regarding the time she spoke of was well over one hundred years past. It was 1868 when the Edo Period ended and the Tokugawa Shogunate had given way to the what had come to be known as the Meiji era. She decided not to interrupt her though, and listened intently.

"This, of course created a power shift and new opportunities for many." She continued. "For some it meant a new way to exploit and take advantage of others. A man named Tsumano Ogami had found such an opportunity. In the midst of all these changes going on throughout our land, he'd managed to make deals with certain local officials and somehow ended up retaining the majority of his wealth and power."

"The Ogami's were a powerful family of Shinto priests and somehow were able to use that fact to gain favor. I don't really know the specifics. Such issues are beyond my understanding. I only know that my father and other samurai were outraged and did not trust him. The details don't really matter, I suppose."

"As if things were not bad enough though, Lord Ogami's son...Noburo..." Yuki sensed a drop in the other's tone and sensed that this part of her story to be the most painful. "Lord Ogami's son, had taken a liking to me. Not really a liking, more of a desire for me, really. He would always draw close to me and make his advances, but I was not interested. I could feel that he was just as selfish and corrupt as his father was, and wanted to have nothing to do with him. I had even been bold enough to tell him to his face once."

"This only forced him to enlist his father's help." Shiori paused and drew in a long breath before continuing. "One day shortly after, Lord Ogami came to our home and openly threatened my father that he would see to it that our house would be branded as traitors to Emperor Meiji and had openly rejected his decrees, as some other samurai had done."

"This however, was a complete lie. My father, as proud as samurai as he was, had grudgingly accepted the change in the times, but had known the true heart of the man who had stood accusing him. He was then told the only way that such an accusation would not reach Edo would be if I were to take his son's hand in marriage."

Yuki's eyes fell to the ground and found herself feeling very sorry for her. Arranged marriages were always a hard thing, even in her own time. Many traditionalists still practiced this even today. But to be forced to marry someone you openly detested...

"They didn't even bother with an arranged meeting, but just simply demanded that I present myself to Noburo the following week, here at House Ogami for the public ceremony. We were openly shamed, but my father, a kind and good man, was as much a thinker as a warrior, and knew that if that things did not go as we were told, he would end up losing far more than his only daughter."

Shiori walked a few paces from Yuki and stood with her back to her. "I, however was not so generous and self-sacrificing. On my wedding night I took a sword with me to my room and...committed 'seppuku'."

Yuki gasped in shock and covered her mouth with a hand, as the other spoke in quiet tones. "I was not willing to live as that man's wife, knowing what it had cost my family. It was a shame that I could not bear. Or rather, chose not to bear. The thought of waking everyday to Noburo's cruel and conceited face pushed me over the edge, and in one final selfish act, thought to end it all."

"Only it didn't end, did it?" Yuki was now beside her placing a soft hand on her shoulder, no longer even taking notice of the odd sensations that she felt by doing so.

"No. Not hardly." Shiori whimpered, clearly emotional. "I had no idea what to expect in death, only that whatever it did bring would be far more tolerable to the only life I was allowed to live. I was wrong. So terribly wrong."

"What happened then?"

"What had happened was that before I'd done that, I'd decided that I'd wanted to make both Tsumano and Noburo suffer for the shame they'd brought upon me and my family, so on our first night together, I ran a sword through his back while he undressed, killing him instantly." The demure looking ghost suddenly sounded so cold and full of hatred that Yuki found herself drawing back from her in surprise.

"Judge me if you like. It matters little." The ghost turned to her and softened her tone. "I've had an eternity ever since to pay and repay for my choices back then. And I will keep on paying for them unless you can help me. But please, hear the rest of my story, then decide what it is you feel you must do.

Yuki sighed and nodded for her to continue.

"After Noburo lay dead at my feet, I then penned a final note to my father and took up the blade that still stuck within his back and ran it into my own stomach. In moments, I too was dead and then felt nothing. But soon my consciousness began to revive, and the darkness began to pass."

"I was astonished to see that I was in some dark circular room with Noburo there beside me, staring at me angrily with accusation and hatred in his eyes. I thought, 'how could this be?' I thought perhaps I'd not really killed him after all, and that he'd recovered, somehow saving me as well. But I was wrong..."

The ghost took on a painful look to her eye and continued in shaky tones.

"As the confusion passed, it became apparent to us both that Tsumano had somehow used his dark powers to call back our spirits and bind them to the estate for all time. Shortly after, Tsumano began to change and go insane, brutally murdering everyone on the estate before taking his own life and becoming the animal he is now. Noburo was beyond rage and anger for my betrayal and what had followed because of my actions. He found that the only thing to fuel his new existence was to make me suffer at all turns."

"Ever since that dark night, I have been hounded and abused by him horribly and consistently, just as the rest of the estate's restless spirits are by Tsumano, forcing them all to be driven as insane as he. This, Tachibana-san, is my own created hell. What I thought would bring me freedom had in reality only made me a slave. The gods have a cruel sense of humor, don't you think?"

Yuki remained silent as she tried to digest the other's twisted tale. "Something has changed though." She sensed. "There is something happening now that gives you hope for release. What is it?"

Shiori smiled faintly. "Yes, you are right."

Yuki then considered something. "Is it because of my special otherworldly perceptions that I may be able to do something for you?"

The spirit nodded and clasped her hands together. "Partly. Without them, you would not be able to help me at all. But more importantly, that gifting will allow you to use a powerful artifact that can actually repel and steal spiritual energy."

"An artifact?" The other questioned with a tilt to her head.

Shiori's smile broadened, pushing aside the dark memories. "Follow me."

The ghost then led the other out of the garden at a slow pace to allow for her injured leg and through another long hallway and up a different flight of stairs and finally to a tatami style room with a sliding door. Just as the young Tachibana woman reached for it, the door slid open of its own accord. Shiori led her into it and the door closed silently behind them.

The room was warmly lit with small candles and paper lamps. Several pillows and mats were also lying about, making the room actually feel quite comfortable. On a small table next to one of them lay an old folding style camera, which Shiori slowly pointed to. "Shaeiki."

Yuki looked at it then back to her, questioningly. "I don't understand."

The other moved towards it, but seemed apprehensive of its presence. "I know not of its origins, only that it can exorcise spiritual powers as though they were nothing. It had once belonged to a man who'd come here quite some time ago. He'd called it the Camera Obscura, and with it, I saw him use it to attack and actually absorb some of the dark powers that fill this mansion, causing several spirits to fall before he was finally overcome by their sheer number."

"Since that time, I have taken his strange machine and kept it hidden in hopes I could one day place it in the hands of one who could use it to destroy the evil that binds me here."

Yuki looked doubtful and wondered how such an old camera, even if it still worked properly, could possibly do such things. It was not an uncommon design overall, and looked to have been made back in the 1950's. The only unusual feature she noticed was that of a Chinese zodiac design that had been engraved all around the shutter. Reluctantly, she knelt before it and reached for it...


From somewhere not so far off in the mansion, Noburo Ogami sensed a powerful ripple in the spiritual flow around him and paused with great interest. "So, the power of the 'shaeiki' has been awakened once more. Is this what she has in mind? How interesting..."


Yuki suddenly felt herself being swept up in a powerful vision as her fingers rested on the cool metal casing of the Camera Obscura, and in it saw a man being pursued and surrounded by many ghosts. They tore and clawed at him relentlessly, but somehow the man did not fall. With a look of determination in his eye and expert movements, he danced around them and snapped shots with the flash exploding a momentary blinding light each time.

One by one, the maddened spirits fell all around him, some recoiling in pain, while others simply dissolved from view. For several long moments, he seemed to have the upper hand, as momentum flowed with him. Then suddenly there was another spirit present. One whose size and demeanor set it apart from the rest. It was the size of a large man, but it's features were horribly twisted, and it carried a staff that appeared to have a snake wrapped around its upper end with a large gem held within its mouth. It too came after the man, swinging wildly.

Little by little, the man lost ground and soon was unable to keep up with the spirit's movements, eventually falling to it. In an instant, the host of crazed ghosts were upon him, blocking him from Yuki's view. A moment later, another blinding flash exploded within her mind and sent it back to the dimly lit room where she still knelt before the camera. She pulled her hand from it as though it were alive and broke out in a cold sweat.

"I take it you have experienced something?" Shiori commented with interest. "It seems that it has reacted to you. This is good. It gives me hope."

Yuki looked up at her and shook her head. "What the hell is this thing?"

"It is a weapon against the dead. And now you are its owner." Her voice took on a desperate tone. "Take it, Yuki-san, and use it to break the curse of House Ogami, I beg you!"

Reluctantly, Yuki gently reached for the camera once more and removed it from the small table and stood up. "I can feel it's power. I don't know what to think about any of this. Wait...if that man I saw in my mind could not defeat the evil, what chance do I have? He at least looked like he knew what he was doing."

Shiori didn't miss a beat. "Yes, it is as you say. However, he was overcome by the multitude of spirits around him in combination with..."

"With what?" The other asked sharply.

"What did the 'shaeiki' show you, Tachibana-san?"

Yuki explained the vision in detail, including the odd staff wielding spirit who seemed to have had turned the situation around for the worse.

"That foul spirit is none other than Lord Tsumano Ogami, father of Noburo." She suddenly revealed. "He is now nothing more than a mindless creature, incapable of reason or thought. He merely exists on instinct alone and hunts the other weaker spirits trapped here, as I said earlier."

"It seemed that there was a dark price to pay for his interference with our souls and now shares our eternal fate, wandering the grounds as an animal. Beware of him, Tachibana-san. In many ways, he is even more dangerous than Noburo, who at the very least can still think and reason."

"I still don't see how I can do anything-"

"You must try!" Shiori pleaded, desperately. "Please, you must try. I...have nothing else. I have no other hope. I believe he is the key to both mine and Noburo's entrapment here. I'm not sure how, I just feel it. I myself have no way able to directly go against him, much less enlist Noburo's help. He hates his exile here as much as I, but he hates me even more, so I could never trust him to aid me."

"So you're saying you want me to take this...'shaeiki', as you call it and go destroy the spirit of Ogami Tsumano with it? And this will in turn give both you and Noburo release? Is that it?" Yuki's tone increased sharply while looking incredulous.

Shiori looked at her and lowered her eyes sadly. "I know I ask much of you. I have no right. But please, just rest for now and gather your strength and think on my words."

"While my fiancé lies in the woods alone, and near death?" Yuki's voice held it's edge.

The ghost in the white kimono nodded slowly. "You are both now a part of the Ogami curse. There is nothing I can do or you can do to change that. For whatever reason, you both have been brought into my nightmare, but you still have a chance to wake us all. By helping me, you will be helping..."

"Kyle O'Brien. My fiancé is Kyle O'Brien." Yuki supplied.

Shiori smiled faintly. "You will be helping O'Brien-san. But even if you go to him now, ultimately nothing has changed, and the opportunity to alter our futures may be lost forever."

Yuki remained silent as she tried to digest the reality of what the other was saying to her.

"Rest for now, Tachibana-san. Gather your strength for what lies ahead. And just know that I sincerely meant what I said about helping you in return. I will do everything I am able to make sure you lose no more of those you hold dear."

Yuki's thoughts turned to both Azusa and Ronnie and the tears began to flow once more. Shiori remained still, wishing she could truly do more for the young woman, but knew she could say or do nothing to truly ease the pain in the other woman's heart. A pain, she too felt added to her own. With a deep bow, she turned and left the saddened woman to her tears.



From another place on the Ogami estate, a dark and wild spirit, once a man called Tsumano Ogami, had also felt the strange power of the 'shaeiki' awaken once more, and quickly abandoned the poor spirit he'd been ravaging in favor of this new development. With purpose, he made for the dark mansion at its center, staff in hand.



Chapter Nine

In the room Yuki had been left in, the young woman found a basin full of cool, clear water, some clean towels and a pretty light blue kimono. She then noticed just how dirty and bloody she'd truly become, both from her recent fall down the stairwell, but also from the car wreck itself. She ran a hand through the back of her long black hair and felt it still sticky with blood. Blood from either Azusa or Ronnie. She pushed back another wave of emotion that threatened once more to unravel her and pulled her hand away without looking at it.

She inspected the water, new clothes and easily gave herself over to the temptation to be clean. She pulled free her soft leather boots, peeled away her ruined pantyhose and casually tossed them aside. She then fully undressed and began to wash herself vigorously all over, while continuing to think of Kyle and their nightmarish situation.

When several minutes had passed, and felt that she'd been able to wash as best as she possibly could, she dried herself off and dressed with the provided kimono, finding that it fit reasonably well and was very comfortable. She then wondered if it had belonged to Shiori herself, as they were about the same build.

Though it certainly was not a good fashion statement, she slipped her ankle boots back on and tested her weight. Though she still hurt, the pain was tolerable as long as she moved carefully and slowly. She then felt very tired, exhausted in fact. She'd not had sleep since the last night she and Kyle had spent together and looked upon the small futon and pillows scattered about with interest. Once again, temptation had its way with her and she gently lay down and quickly fell asleep, having decided to trust in the spirit's words for now.



From somewhere above where Yuki Tachibana lay, the eyes of Noburo Ogami had watched in silence as the young woman cleaned herself, all the while feeling something stir deep within him he'd not felt since he was alive. He continued now to watch the slow and methodical rise and fall of her supple chest and pulled himself away, admonishing himself for such useless and trivial feelings. The last time he'd felt them burn within him, the blade of a sword had accompanied them.

No, he would not let himself desire this fragile creature and would take great pleasure in seeing her destroyed in time. She would provide a momentary distraction from the endless cycle of torment that he endured eternally, and then she'd be gone. Then things would go on as they'd always had.

His eyes drifted then to the camera lying by her side as though it were a forgotten toy. If she had it and could use it, it only made things more interesting. Why not let her play with it? It made no difference. It hadn't for the man called Watanabe who'd foolishly come to the estate more than three decades ago.

His father, or what was left of him had seen to that, which brought him to another thought. If he'd felt the 'shaeiki's' reawakening, then certainly he had too, and would be coming.

The young lord pulled himself away completely, allowing the pretty woman to have her precious few moments of rest and sought out his father's presence elsewhere.



Hours later, Yuki Tachibana sat up with a start, feeling as though something had touched her, and for a few moments was disoriented as she looked about her strange surroundings, struggling to remember where she was. Slowly it came back to her.

"So it wasn't a dream." She whispered sadly to herself.

"Everything is a dream." Came a small voice from somewhere in the room. Yuki spun herself around, looking all about.

"Who's there?" She asked nervously.

A moment later, a small hand came through the floor and reached for her. Yuki rolled away quickly as the hand pulled itself back into the floor only to appear again right next to her. Again, the woman rolled out of the way and began to panic as the hand disappeared once more. She then spotted the camera and remembered what Shiori had said about it.

She quickly dove for it and was within a finger's breadth of having it when the small hand shot through the flooring for the third time, grabbed her wrist and held it fast. Yuki screamed in terror as she pulled back, only to drag the aggressive spirit all the way through the floor and bring her just over her as she lay there on her back with her almond shaped eyes wide open.

"You're not very fast are you?" The small ghost observed. Then to Yuki's surprise, she let her go. A deathly pale girl of about twelve sat back on the floor with legs tucked under her kimono and stared at her sharply through hollow eyes.

Yuki was stunned for a moment, but then found her voice again. "You're the one Shiori told me about."

"Maybe." The other stated in monotones. "It depends on what she said. You know, you'll really have to be a lot faster if you wish to help her. I'm not nearly as fast as most here are."

"Is that so?" Yuki commented, unsure of what to say to the strange spirit. "What is your name?"

The little ghost folded her hands in her lap and bowed slightly. "Nagoya Kasumi. What's yours?"

Yuki bowed as well. "Tachibana Yuki. I'm happy to meet you."

"Are you?" The other smiled thinly.

Yuki's eyes drifted over to the camera once more, suddenly not so sure that this strange girl was the friend that she'd hoped she was. As if the other knew what she was thinking, she too looked back at the Camera Obscura lying behind her. She slowly picked it up and held it close to her chest with a teasing look coming to her small face as she faced the frightened woman.

Yuki felt the blood drain from her face, but was relieved when after a tense moment the small ghost gently set it before her and slid it over her way. "You'd better learn how to use this if you are going to help Ayukawa-san. You will help her, won't you?" Kasumi suddenly questioned with a tilt to her small bobbed head.

The Tachibana woman nodded. "I'll try."

"I don't think you can do anything." The spirit narrowed her eyes while dropping her smile and stared hard at the other. "But if you are willing to try, then I will try to help as well. I will do anything to help her. To help us all."

Yuki then recalled her frightening encounter with the other ghost that had caused her to fall. "That was also you I saw earlier with the other ghost, wasn't it?"

Kasumi's expression didn't change. "Don't concern yourself with the other one. I...took her... somewhere else."

Yuki thought she observed a small change in the spirit's demeanor and sensed a touch of sadness from her, but a moment later it was gone. Reaching forward, she picked up the camera and turned it over in her hands several times, trying to get a feel for it. She slowly brought it up to her eye and stared at the tatami mats through the viewfinder, then slowly brought it up to where Kasumi sat quietly, as an odd blue ring began to glow brightly around her.

"Would you mind not doing that?" She heard her say with an edge to her voice.

"Sorry." Yuki apologized, as she quickly lowered the camera. "I just wanted to get a feel for this thing."

The other smiled again, that same thin smile from before. "Don't worry. You'll get your chance. For now, take it and go."

"Where?" The Tachibana woman asked with a curious look on her face.

"Anywhere you like and are able to." Kasumi answered cryptically.

"Anywhere?" The other questioned apprehensively.

The little ghost nodded. "Anywhere." She then stood and began to recede back into the matted floor and was gone.

"Well, just where is it I'm supposed to go or do now?" She questioned herself aloud as she sat all alone. When no answer came she got up and carefully slid the thin door open and looked around the dimly lit hallway with a nervous gaze. She had no idea what it was the odd ghost child had really been trying to say or where Shiori had gone to. It seemed completely strange to her that she was now being encouraged to explore the old mansion on her own with no obvious goal in mind.

Having no other real sense of where she should go or what she should do, she began to walk the unexplored part of the hall to her right and found that it ended several feet down at a solid looking door. Most peculiar about this door was the odd puzzle style lock that suddenly had her curious.

"What an odd lock." Yuki mumbled to herself as she knelt before it an studied its multicolored wheels. "Are you to keep people away, or keep something hidden within?"

The puzzle lock, of course had no answer for her. Being something of a problem solver and having enjoyed puzzles as a child, she quickly set to work on it, suddenly very interested to see what was beyond for reasons she could not identify. For several long frustrating minutes, she spun the dials in various ways, and soon caught on that once she'd made seven moves total, the lock would reset itself, forcing her to start all over.

"Seven turns..." She confirmed aloud as she became familiar with the mechanism. She then reordered her thoughts and began to calculate in her mind the necessary order in which to rotate each dial, so that on the seventh turn, all four outer dials would synchronize with the inner dial's color pattern.

After several errors and mental missteps, she smiled to herself and spun them with confidence. On the seventh turn, she heard a loud click as the inner mechanism successfully disengaged itself. She then placed a hand on the door's handle and pushed down gently.

The door opened easily as she carefully pushed it outward, and was greeted by stale air filled with dust, forcing her to sneeze a few times. It was then clear to her that this room, more than any other in the mansion perhaps, had not seen use in many, many years.

Within, she saw a long series of ancient Buddha and Chinese style statues all along the walls to her left and right. The room itself was completely dark and stretched back for several meters, ending with a small raised altar. It appeared that she'd found the family shrine. More out of curiosity than anything else, she stepped inside and walked in a ways.

Silently, the door slid shut behind her, but she seemed to not have noticed as candles all along the walls and on the shrine suddenly flared to life, filling the air with a sulfur-like smell and flickering light. Momentarily startled, she froze in place and held the Camera Obscura tightly with both hands. When nothing appeared, she inclined her head and noticed several old carvings and statues that filled the room, staring back at her with lifeless stone eyes. Most she recognized, but there were a few she did not.

As she neared the back of the room, she could make out the features of the altar more distinctly. On it, in the center among the now brightly lit candles lay an old mask carved of what looked like ivory or bone. Its features were in the form of an 'oni', or demon, which made her extremely uneasy. She quickly turned from it, not wanting to have anything to do with it, and looked around the rest of the room's other carvings and statues.

Not really seeing anything of interest or benefit, she started to head back to the front of the room to leave, but as she did so she began to hear a low pitched whisper speaking in an old dialect she didn't quite understand coming from behind her. She quickly spun around and faced the alter, but saw nothing.

The whisper however continued to become louder and seemed to be coming from where the demonic looking mask lay, covered in dust. She looked at it apprehensively and quickly took a step back with fear. She could now feel a distinct presence coming from it and felt the Camera Obscura tingle oddly within her hands.

On impulse she raised it to her eye, looked through its small viewfinder, and was not surprised to see the eerily glowing ring of blue within, pulse brightly as it centered itself around the small mask, just as it had on Kasumi. It seemed the camera had some sort of tracking system for concentrated spiritual energy.

Yuki found herself slowly taking a few small steps forward to get it in better view, then snapped a shot. The flash popped brightly, momentarily filling the room with a bright white glow. She felt the image of the mask burn into her head and then started to feel a bit woozy.

Suddenly she was somewhere else, a large circular room of some kind. In the center, and standing over a large slab of stone was a man dressed in black robes wearing that demonic mask. He carried with him a large staff with a snake wound about it that held a fist sized jewel within its mouth and moved back and forth frantically while chanting something in words Yuki did not understand.

Upon the stone he stood over were two bodies, one of a man she did not recognize, but the other she did immediately. It was Shiori Ayukawa. They both lay there unmoving as the man in the demon mask continued to chant and move about wildly. Without warning, a brilliant flash of red lightning struck the stone and burned both the bodies to complete ash.

Yuki recoiled and quickly shielded her eyes from the bright burning glow. When she was able to look back, she was once again alone in the small shrine looking upon the demonic mask still lying silently upon the alter. Feeling more unnerved than ever, she fled the room and breathed heavily as she tried to catch her breath in the hallway.

"What the hell was that about?" She mouthed to herself in the thinnest of whispers, but then recalled the part of Shiori's story that she'd described when she'd awakened from death as a spirit. For some reason, the mask must have shown her something about that. Deciding to leave the mask alone, she then considered what to do and where to go to next, all the while feeling her sense of frustration grow.

Somewhere outside of this estate lay her fiancé, wounded and needing help, while she was forced to walk the mansion's creepy halls with nothing more than a camera. Granted, it was no ordinary camera, but still...

Shiori needed her help, but she needed to come back to her and explain some things. She had no idea what to do on her own, and felt lost. She then wondered if something had changed while she'd slept.

Why had that ghost child named Kasumi come to her suddenly with such a strange and cryptic message? Shiori had been rather direct about things, and this new development didn't seem to fit quite right. Yuki then began to feel like there was some kind of game being played with her and possibly even Shiori herself. Something was definitely not right.

She then considered her options. If something bad had happened to the pleading spirit, there was nothing she could do about it. The smaller ghost, Kasumi had seemed sincere in wishing to help her as well, as cryptic as she'd been. She then no longer felt as sure of her initial choice to aid them first, before Kyle. Granted, even if she could do something for him, it still wouldn't change their overall situation. That is, if Shiori's words were truthful.

Deep down within her, she felt they were. But still, nothing would matter to her if Kyle were to bleed to death in the meantime. She then decided she had to go to him to be sure.

With that new focus and determination, she began to retrace her steps through the mansion as quietly and quickly as she could. She found her way back down through the halls to the staircase that led down to the lower level and would take her back into the garden area.

Before taking those steps down though, she hesitated. She looked to either side of the staircase, halfway expecting to see a deranged ghost coming through one of them as one had the last time she'd descended down, but saw or felt nothing.

She quickly made it to the garden's entrance without incident and stepped inside without pause. She crossed the center and passed the bench where she had sat waiting for Shiori earlier just as something triggered her 'sixth sense', causing her to stop in mid-stride and look about.

Her eyes settled on the fountain next to her and felt the Camera Obscura once again tingle oddly within her hands, as it had when she'd been near the demon mask. She raised it and centered the glowing blue circle on the fountain's basin and snapped another shot.

As before, she was caught up in a strange vision and now found herself in the exact same place, only now the garden was filled with warm sunlight and smelled of life and Summer. Sitting on the bench, reading a book was a little girl with a short haircut and dressed in a bright flowery kimono. It was Kasumi Nagoya. If it weren't for the fact that she was fully aware that this was a supernaturally induced vision, she could have mistaken it for reality.

Yuki felt the gentle Summer breeze blow warmly against her cheek, ruffle her clothes and could even smell the freshly watered exotic flowers and plants that adorned the garden everywhere. The place had a gentle air about it, and the look of contentment upon Kasumi's face confirmed that this place had once been a favorite of the child's.

A moment later however, that air of tranquillity was shattered in an instant as a man came bursting forth into the garden, followed by a beautiful woman wearing a blue patterned kimono. The man, though now dressed differently, carried the long serpentine staff Yuki instantly recognized from the other vision. They were arguing about something.

Suddenly, the man struck the woman across the face with it, violently, knocking her to the ground hard. In an instant, Kasumi was up screaming at the man to stop hurting her mother. He responded by grabbing her by the hair and pulled her forcefully over to the fountain's edge.

To Yuki's dismay, the man forced Kasumi's head under the waters and held it there firmly as she kicked and struggled frantically. Yuki tried to scream, but found that she had no voice and could not move. For several long agonizing seconds, she watched with horror as the child's movements became weaker and slower while her mother struggled to rise and stop him.

"No! My child! Not my child!" She cried. A moment later Kasumi stopped moving altogether and went limp in the man's hands. He then dropped her roughly and left her face down in the pool of water as the woman screamed hysterically, while backing away from him. The man with the staff then turned upon her again, forcing her to run out of the garden as he gave sudden chase.

Over and over, Yuki could hear the other's screams, "No! Not my child! Not my Kasumi!", even as the two had left her behind. The screams seemed to lose none of their intensity, even as the garden grew dark and dilapidated once again all about her. It had seemed so real, she thought as her mind began to clear. Again the scream, "Not my child! Not my Kasumi!", pierced her ears sharply.

Suddenly realizing that she was no longer in the vision and was hearing this for real, she turned just in time to see a vengeful spirit reaching for her. Yuki somehow managed to pull back just in time as an ethereal hand clawed past her, chilling the air considerably as it did.

She recognized the ghost to be the same as the one she'd encountered on the stairs earlier and found that it had come for her once again. Not counting on Kasumi returning and helping her as before, she steadied herself and nervously raised her camera.

As expected, the camera's reticle burned a bright blue as the maddened ghost filled it and came toward her with swinging arms and wild eyes. Yuki held her breath as the woman with the badly torn face came at her and quickly snapped a picture. Again, the flash went off, and the spirit flew back in agony and clutched its ruined face with ghostly fingers.

Yuki kept her centered in the camera's view finder the whole time and quickly advanced the film to the next frame. The blue circle then began to pulse wildly and suddenly went to a bright red.

Again, she snapped a shot. This time, the spirit began to break apart and screamed wildly as she fought to keep her ghostly form. A few seconds later she seemed to have recovered a bit and quickly fled through the outer wall, leaving the Tachibana woman behind and alone once more.

With relief, Yuki lowered the camera while closing her eyes and desperately tried to not wet herself. A moment later, she popped her eyes open again, took a deep breath and continued her way out of the garden, mentally digesting the new bit of information about the Camera Obscura's ability to build up to a more powerful shot if she kept a spirit in frame for a few moments longer after it went red before firing one off.



The frantic and deranged spirit of Taeko Nagoya screamed and wandered aimlessly through the darkened halls of House Ogami, barely aware of her condition and filled with a sense of overpowering dread as she continued her haunted and panic stricken calls. A moment later though, the small spirit of her drowned daughter, Kasumi was before her, placing calming hands about her. "I'm here, mother. It's okay, I'm safe."

The frenzied spirit continued to scream and call out, but gradually calmed under the smaller one's reassuring touch. Kasumi held the barely cognizant spirit tightly and let a small tear roll down her ethereal face. Lord Ogami had stolen so much from them and she burned with hatred every time she had to witness her mindless mother roam the estate, always in such turmoil.

Whether it had been the shock of having to witness her death at the hands of the elder lord, or if she had somehow been infected with his dark madness, she could not tell. It no longer mattered, though. There was nothing she could do for her, much less herself.

Kasumi had no idea either, what the younger lord had in mind for the poor woman who now wandered the mansion all alone and desperately wished she could go to her aid, but knew she could not. The young lord's words and commands had been harsh and direct. If she were to do anything other than what he told her to, he would punish her terribly and force her to watch as he beat her mother endlessly.

She did not know whom she hated more, the cold and calculating Noburo Ogami or the mindless monster that his father Tsumano had become. Both were disgusting and foul beyond measure in her mind. She decided that she hated them both equally and gently squeezed the now calmer and gently weeping spirit of the woman who'd once given her birth. Silently, another tear rolled down the young girl's face and fell to the floor at their feet.



Almost all at once, several ghosts in various horrific and twisted forms converged upon Yuki as she walked along one of House Ogami's long halls that eventually ran to the front of the lifeless home. She didn't have time to even be scared or even think. She simply reacted by raising the camera and snapped as many shots off as she could manage, advancing the film each frame with haste, and not bothering for the reticle to go red.

She moved in a frenzy, narrowly avoiding disfigured ghostly limbs as they struck out at her, sending them back each time in pain as the Camera Obscura performed it's exorcismal duties without fail. She could feel the camera's power was significantly less as she used it in this manner, but simply did not have the luxury of waiting for it to build its power levels up to execute a powerful single shot if given time.

Miraculously, one by one, the small hoard began to diminish in number and then was gone. How many shots had she fired off? It had all happened so fast, she could not tell. On impulse, as she stood there breathing heavily with sweat pouring down her beautiful face, she glanced at the film window, noting the number to be dropping and now only had 14 shots left. A new, frightening thought then entered her mind as she realized that once her film ran out, the camera would be useless. Not wanting to let the revelation panic her, she nervously glanced about the candle lit hall and continued on her way.



"I did as you commanded, Lord Ogami." Kasumi spoke in dry monotones with her eyes cast down.

The other spirit smiled that wicked smile of his and clenched his staff in his hands as they both watched a third spirit feast upon something unseen to them both. "Good. You're such an obedient girl. No doubt you honor your mother."

Kasumi felt anger burn from within her small form, but said nothing. Noburo Ogami's sarcasm and small insults had long kept her from responding to him. She and the other misfortunate souls bound to the estate, especially Shiori, had suffered routine beatings from the cold and brutal spirit lord, and did what she could to avoid them whenever possible. The first step to ensure that was to keep her mouth closed in times like these.

"Pathetic, isn't he?" He suddenly spoke in sad tones as he drew her eyes over toward the dark spirit devouring what appeared to be another ghost much smaller that itself. "To think, he was once my father and a great man of intellect and power. Now, he's as
mindless as an animal."

Kasumi said nothing as they continued to watch the macabre scene. The weaker spirit then finally broke apart and faded, making the bigger one glow strongly with power.

"And so the cycle continues." Noburo sighed. "It's a pity that soon that poor soul will awaken once more somewhere else on these grounds, only to be hunted once again. Ah, well. There are those who hunt and those who are hunted. Do you not agree, my little Nagoya-chan?"

The small spirit stayed silent and lowered her gaze to the ground.

"Of course you do. Of course you do." He laughed darkly.



Chapter Ten

A pair of disembodied spirits wandered aimlessly through the dark woods that surrounded the Ogami estate, guided more by instinct than any real sense of cognition or direction. Together as one, they fled from the horrific presence that pursued them endlessly, hand in hand, aware of each other but little else.

They could not speak and could not remember where they had come from or where they were now, only that they were being hunted like wild animals by something far more wild than themselves. They both felt only fear and desperately held on to each other as they tried to evade the relentless snake-head staff wielding monster that seemed to find them at every turn.

Several times one of them fell, only to be ravaged by the chaotic spirit and suffer great agony as it tore through their very beings and burned at their souls, only to rise moments later somewhere else and be forced to relive the experience over and over again. Somehow, each time they'd managed to reunite and run together, but it had always ended the same, with one falling and the other unable to do anything but watch, paralyzed with fear.

It wasn't until several endless hours later that the creature suddenly stopped in its ravaging of the smaller female spirit and looked away towards something unseen off in the distance. Without any apparent reason, it seemed to have lost interest in them both and moved away from them toward whatever it was that had now caught its attention.

For whatever reason it was, they did not know or care. All that mattered is that they were now both free from their stalker for the moment and fell into each others arms. The smaller female spirit held onto the other larger male's body and wept loudly as she shook violently.

The male spirit kept silent as he gently stroked the short black hair of the woman he knew he'd once loved in life, but whose name he now could not remember. All he could recall as that he once had lived in a place far away and that together with this one, had traveled with two others that he felt a strong connection to. One, another man as fair skinned as he, and the other, a woman as strikingly beautiful as the one he held now.

Perhaps the man had been his brother or a friend, or they, sisters. He simply did not know. He didn't know anything anymore and slowly felt his ability to think and act rationally begin to seep from him. He then wondered if it was the same for her. He believed it was. Determined to hold onto at least one small part of his humanity, he silently pledged to himself to protect the crying woman in his arms from that monster for all eternity if need be.

He would protect...suddenly for a brief moment his mind cleared before quickly becoming clouded again. In that small moment though, her name came to him and he forced himself to remember it. He would protect this woman, he declared vehemently in silence again. He would protect her.

He would protect his precious Azusa.



Yuki Tachibana carefully retraced her steps back to the foyer area of the mansion and found herself at the front door. As she reached for it, she turned and surveyed the room about her in silence one final time. She felt bad about not staying, but honestly had no idea what she should be doing or could be doing to help the desperate Shiori Ayukawa.

Something had happened to the emotional ghost, she knew, but had no idea what. Right now the only thing that mattered to her was getting to Kyle, and she hoped and prayed that she would be able to find him alive.

It then dawned on her that she had only been aware of her surroundings from the time of the ruined shrine forward, where she first spoke with the tormented spirit. Prior to that, she'd been in a trance-like state moving by some unseen guide. A guide she was now without.

It didn't matter though. She would try. She and Kyle had always shared a special bond that their heightened spiritual awareness had granted them from the very beginning, and hoped now to extend that gift beyond mere physical touch and let it serve as a guide rope back to him.

It wasn't entirely beyond hope. Over the years, they had become more in tune with each other and could often sense the other's approach or presence nearby. Now, more than ever, she would struggle to feel him wherever he might be and go to him. Once she got back to the dilapidated shrine she would begin to reach out to him in earnest. For now, she simply prayed with all her heart to God, and asked him to be with her as she slipped into the cool night breeze and left the old mansion behind.



From a small window above the front courtyard, Noburo Ogami watched Yuki Tachibana flee from his home with a small smile on his sharp featured face. Once she was beyond his sight, he quietly moved away from the window and faced a severely beaten and bleeding Shiori, whom he'd intercepted and detained shortly after she'd left the young and beautiful woman.

"It seems your would-be rescuer has taken flight into the night like a starved owl. A pity. I was looking forward to seeing how all this might have turned out. Now she'll just be destroyed by the wandering souls that overrun our home." He paused and bent low with a wide grin. "And if not by them, then my father will surely find her."

Shiori spat blood onto the floor and forced herself to meet him eye to eye. "Only because of the game you play with her, Noburo. But she will not fall as easily as you think!" She forced a smile through painful lips.

"Why? Because she has the 'shaeiki'?" He saw her eyes widen. "It will hardly be enough to make a difference."

The wounded spirit felt her heart sink into despair. "You knew of it?"

Noburo laughed hysterically. "Did I know of it? Of course I knew of it, my stupid bride. You think me some unobservant, unthinking animal like my father? I remember it well from when I first saw that fool, what was his name...Watanabe? Yes, I believe that was it. I remember when I'd first seen him use it when he came here all those years ago."

"I was actually quite impressed with him and it for a while, which is why I had allowed him to move about the estate freely for so long. He was quite entertaining, but in the end it hardly made a difference now did it?"

Shiori kept silent and let her eyes fall from his to the ground.

"I also remember how smart you thought you were by trying to hide it from me. You've always managed to find ways to keep me amused, even back then. But now, it will be for this woman as it was for him, and things will go on as they always have."

"Is that how you really want it?" Shiori asked with a sigh.

"How I want it?" He raised his voice sharply and stopped laughing. "You pathetic creature, I wanted none of this! This is all your own doing and you know that damn well! You are the reason we share this mockery of an existence! Do you forget this?"

The woman began to shake, but still managed to find her voice. "I know! I know all too well! But how could either of us have known what your father would do in the hours after our passing?"

He slapped her hard across the face and got her blood on his palm. "Our passing? You mean my murder and your suicide! All by your hand!"

Shiori took the slap in stride, no longer able to feel his blows anyway. "True enough, Noburo! But still, it is your father's dark magic that holds us all here! If he were somehow destroyed, perhaps then-"

"Perhaps we could all find our release?" He cut her off, as he wiped her blood onto his kimono which faded only a moment later. "Do you not think I've realized this ages ago? Do you seriously think me so slow? You tell me nothing I have not already considered and dismissed long ago."

"Even with my mind still intact and his lost, he is still overwhelmingly more powerful than I. Than either of us! Do not forget that it is only because he holds the smallest fragment of his mind left and remembers me as his son in some way, that he has not ravaged me and made me as mad as he. And it is because of me that he has left both you and the Nagoya child alone as well! And only because I prefer-"

"Prefer someone to converse with?" She cut him off in turn, using both her hands to support herself up on the floor.

He nodded. "Even if it is the one who betrayed me on our wedding night."

"And the girl?" The other spirit questioned.

He calmed and his dark smile returned. "Because she provides me with leverage over you. I know you care about that wretched child, so I use that to my advantage."

"You are truly evil and well deserving of our fate." Shiori slowly came to her knees and stared hard at him. Just as he drew his hand back to strike her once more, she added to her words. "But you have still overlooked one thing."

He hesitated and regarded her torn and beaten body, but did not miss the look of strength in her eyes. Slowly, he lowered his hand, more out of curiosity than anything else. "And what might that be, my beloved?"

"The 'shaeiki'." She said without pause. "The thing Watanabe-san had called the Camera Obscura."

Noburo sighed. "Perhaps you truly are going mad after all this time. I told you-"

"Listen to me in full and you will understand." She kept her gaze steady and her words strong.

Again Noburo Ogami sighed. "Very well. Explain it to me."

Shiori rose weakly and faced him fully as her eyes bore into his. "Do you remember when Watanabe first came here with the 'shaeiki'? Do you remember how well he was able to exorcise the maddened spirits that surround us?"

"Of course. As I said, it was all very entertaining, but hardly enough to do any real damage-"

"And what about when you watched the Tachibana woman use it only a short time ago?" She pressed.

He folded his arms before him, indicating his patience was running out. "Of course. Get to the point."

Shiori smiled smugly and walked a few paces away as her pseudo wounds began to heal. When she faced him again, her face had become as radiant and unscathed as it had ever been, and completely without the slightest blemish or sign of injury to be seen. "Think, Noburo, think."

"When Watanabe-san had first demonstrated the 'shaeiki's' power, it took him several attempts to fell any one of the weaker spirits that still roam the estate. This Yuki Tachibana nearly destroyed one of the more powerful with only two."

Noburo's mind quickly replayed the encounter Yuki had with Kasumi's crazed mother in the garden. Though she'd been oblivious to their presence, they'd watched it in full, hidden far above. "What are you getting at?"

The now fully healed Ayukawa ghost smiled to herself for just once having turned the tables and gaining an edge over the former lord of House Ogami, even if it was for but a brief moment. "The 'shaeiki's' power is in direct relation to the one who wields it, Noburo. Watanabe fell to House Ogami's curse because he lacked any real power himself. But this Yuki Tachibana..."

Noburo's arms dropped to his sides as his gaze shifted to the side, clearly deep in thought. "She did seem to radiate more power than I recall Watanabe ever having. But still." He shook his head. "Her spiritual powers, though stronger than his they may be, are still no match for Lord Tsumano Ogami. Surely, even you know this."

Shiori nodded in concession. "Perhaps you are right. But when I found her, she was not alone. There was one with her, whose spiritual powers far surpass her own. She goes to him now, I believe. If he still lives, that is. I could only bring her here, as he was injured, and I was desperate to elude both you and your father. If he-"

"If he yet lives, you think he may have the necessary power to defeat my father?" He started to laugh.

"Why not?" Shiori countered with a cold tone that stopped his outward display of humor dead in its tracks. "I was there, and it was his spirit that first led me to them. He is strong, Noburo. Go and see for yourself. Go and see for yourself if there is truly no chance that this man, if not the woman, could actually bring an end to this curse for us once and for all."

"You truly feel that these pitiful living souls could actually break the dark spell that binds us here?" He questioned her seriously, sensing a strength in her words that even he could not dismiss so easily.

"Go to him, Noburo." Shiori insisted. "Otherwise, we'll never know."



Yuki had felt the other presence stalking her from almost the beginning, watching her every move. Several times she'd had the Camera Obscura poised and aimed in the direction of where she felt the presence emanating from as she walked without slowing through the dark woods, guided only by bright moonlight. Several times, the blue ring would flare to life within the camera's viewfinder, only to fade and disappear moments later as the presence skillfully eluded its range.

For more than an hour she walked away from the old home and had no difficulty finding her way back to the ruined shrine whatsoever, as it lay upon an obvious trail that ran straight back to the mansion. "Well, that part wasn't so hard." She sighed nervously to herself. "But the real test is yet to come."

Somewhere out there lay her beloved husband to be. And somehow she knew he was alive. Of that she was certain, and did nothing to try and consider otherwise. She would find him, she decided. It was just a matter of time. She then closed her eyes and began to clear her mind of all random thoughts while regulating her breathing to a slow even rate. She then began to concentrate and slowly pictured his face.

His bold features with blue eyes and blond hair soon came vividly into focus in all his Irish glory, and Yuki found herself smiling in spite of their dark situation. She thought about the way he talked, about the way he held her close...about the way he'd make love to her. She tried to remember how she felt when she was intimate and close with him. When it felt like he was almost there with her, she opened her eyes and began to slowly move about, inhaling deeply the cool night air.

She caught just the faintest of ripples in her spirit that were familiar to her, and felt her body begin to warm just ever so slightly as she faced out toward a certain part of the woods before her. Having nothing else to trust or go on, she silently began to walk in that direction, hoping and praying it was more than simply her own desire and imagination.

She walked on for several more minutes through the thick trees, stepping over small plants and rocks, finding her movement much more difficult than it had been on the even trail, and was glad for her earlier choice to hold onto her boots when she'd changed clothes back in the mansion.

Without warning, the spirit of a man with no lower body suddenly crawled out from behind a tree and cried out an eerie hair raising howl, as he began a slow crawl toward her. Yuki stared in disgust as the poor soul looked as though some animal had devoured his bottom half, leaving nothing but part of a bloody spinal cord and torn flesh dangling from behind him as he scraped along the forest floor.

She felt more sorrow and pity than any real sense of fear, but still did not hesitate. The Camera Obscura was up before her and soon had the poor depraved spirit in focus as the reticle pulsed bright blue. She held her ground for a moment longer as it came closer, oblivious to what would happen next. As soon as the blue circle changed to red she snapped the shot.

The mutilated spirit simply vaporized without a trace.

"Sorry about that." She found herself a bit saddened as she thought about the wretched existence that thing must have to had endured all this time, and then felt her ankle begin to throb a bit more acutely. It seemed the change in terrain had begun to get to her, but she didn't hesitate to press on.

Somewhere out there she still felt that dark presence stalking her just beyond her vision, and wanted to keep moving. At first, she thought the sudden appearance of the crawling spirit might have been responsible for her nagging feeling, but it had not. She'd only stumbled upon that lesser ghost just by mere coincidence. The one beyond her reach felt much stronger and dangerous, although no closer to her even now.

From somewhere not so far off, she heard a faint cry being carried on the light wind all about her, but continued to see nothing in the moonlit woods except trees, bushes and shadows, any of which could easily conceal any number of deranged spirits waiting for her to pass by.

She walked on a bit more nervously, expecting any number of ghostly hands to suddenly reach for her, taking little solace in the Camera Obscura which she held protectively to her chest. The minutes slipped by slowly as she struggled to keep her mind clear enough to feel Kyle's presence which was continually growing stronger. But still, she had no idea just how far away he really was.

Soon, the woods began to thin and Yuki found herself entering a tall grassy area. Because of the increased openness, she was able to see things more clearly in the moonlight that shown brightly around her. To her right, the ground began to take a sharp change in elevation and eventually became a large embankment.

She then knew she was getting close to where they had first gone off the road, and had entered the widest part of the ravine. Somewhere above her that lonely road waited, but for now it would only serve as a guide. Yuki felt her heart quicken as she picked up her pace and pressed forward, feeling Kyle's spirit growing stronger with each step.

Minutes later she saw her wrecked Corolla laying upside down, partially covered with brush and it's wheels in the air. She began to run and stopped just short of the wrecked vehicle, freezing with fear.

On the ground, laying only a few meters from the car was Kyle, face down with blood stains on the grass beside him. He wasn't dead, she knew, as she felt his life-force strongly, but he looked terrible and near death. His breathing was ragged and heavy.

In less than a heartbeat she was beside him, crying his name softly.

"Kyle. Kyle, it's me, Yuki." She sobbed. "Please wake up."

Though he began to cough wildly as she touched him gently, he showed no signs of being conscious. She carefully wiped away some of the excess blood from his mouth with the hem of her kimono, trying to clear his airway as much as possible. Sadly, she realized that his condition was beyond her ability to do anything for.

He needed to be in a hospital. The sudden thought that he'd been lying here the whole time she'd been away made her break down and cry bitterly. While she'd listened to Shiori's problems, he'd been laying here all alone in pain. When she'd bathed and changed her clothes...when she'd taken a nap, he'd been lying here all alone. Suddenly, tears the size of sunflower seeds poured from her almond shaped eyes and soaked his face.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She repeated over and over through choked tones.

She held him for several more seconds, praying desperately for something to happen. When it did, it wasn't the answer she'd been asking for. Feeling like they were no longer alone, she looked up to see a silent figure several feet away staring at her quietly. A shiver, colder than anything she'd ever felt before ran through her whole body.

It was Tsumano Ogami. Or rather the creature he'd become. Yuki made no move as it stood there and watched her for several long pulse pounding moments. In that time, she knew they both she and Kyle were going to die. She closed her eyes and felt her mind begin to go numb. Suddenly, she heard a small voice cry out to her in accusing tones.

"You said you would try."

Her eyes blinked open and looked to her left. Beside her suddenly was the ghost child with desperation in her eyes.

"Nagoya-chan!" Yuki choked on her name.

"You said you would try." She repeated urgently. "Now is your chance!"

Yuki looked back to over where the grotesque spirit of Lord Ogami stood with snake-staff in hand, and began to shake. "I cann-"

"Then you're a liar!" The small spirit narrowed her eyes.

"I'm afraid!" Yuki countered sharply.

Kasumi lowered her head. "You don't know what fear is. But you will, when you become part of the curse." Without a further word, Kasumi Nagoya faded from her, leaving them alone once more.

An instant later, Tsumano Ogami charged at her.



Noburo Ogami knew the Tachibana woman was in trouble and moved through the woods as fast as he could to get to where she was. Somewhere ahead of him, his father also pursued her. He felt his presence stalking her, observing her as a cat would a mouse, and would suddenly strike without warning if not deterred.

Feeling somewhat of a fool for having been persuaded by Shiori's words so easily, he chided himself silently. But still, if there were any real possibility that something could be done to end the Ogami curse once and for all, he'd be an even bigger fool to ignore it.

He moved quickly through the woods, not slowed in the least by the uneven terrain or trees which he merely passed through, and made a straight line for where he felt his father's wild spirit. In truth, even if he did arrive a bit too late to protect Yuki, it would matter little.

The one he was truly concerned about was the other, the man Shiori had referred to as Kyle O'Brien. If he were the more powerful of the two, then his life had to be protected more than hers. It would be ideal for them both to live though, as he could use their sadly misguided emotions of love against each other to ensure their obedience to him.

Noburo thought it strange that any man, much less a 'gaijin', a foreigner, could possibly possess any kind of power worthy of defeating the dark magic his father had unleashed upon them, and felt ambivalent towards it all. On one hand, the chance to seize his freedom could not be ignored. On the other, to have it given to him by another man's efforts stabbed at his pride greatly. To enlist his help would to be to admit defeat and his own powerlessness to deal with his situation.

Damn Shiori to the deepest pits of hell! He silently cursed with a dark feral look on his face. Somehow, he would have to find a way to deny her the release she also sought. How, he did not know, as they were intricately intertwined in the heart of their own prison. Damn her for constantly being the source of his anguish and torment.

Though he could hurt her terribly in his fits of anger and sadistic pleasure, in the end it was he that continued to suffer moment after moment for all eternity. For as much as she could be broken down 'physically' before him, her iron will was something he'd never managed to break, no matter how intense the pain and agony he'd forced her to endure. At times, she'd even seemed placid and content, despite her situation. This angered him intensely all the more.

It wasn't fair that he had to constantly feel the failure of his position, the failure of his marriage, and the failure of his manhood mock him at every turn, as though he were truly some powerful lord with any real power.

The world that he'd lived in was gone. Times had changed, though in what specific ways he did not know. He was sure the Ogami name was nothing more than a brief side note in the local historical records, if it was even recorded at all. No one knew of what had become of them, he was certain. Hardly the legacy he'd envisioned as a young man watching his father's stature rise in the face of the new Meiji era. It was supposed to have been a time of new opportunity and growth for the Ogami clan.

Instead, all had been lost, and all because of one stupid woman's rebellion. How he hated Shiori Ayukawa. Mere words could not even begin to describe the pure animosity he'd developed towards her over the endless passage of years that never once brought a day's worth of sunlight to shine, if even for but a moment, upon his dark world.

Like Shiori and the rest, he too was an insubstantial creature of shadows. He was neither dead nor alive, but somewhere in between, cursed to walk as a shade of his former self, with no end to anything. That is, unless his hopes in his wife's words were not misplaced. And if it turned out that these two were nothing more than a misjudged pair on Shiori's part, then she would suffer greatly for leading him to act as such.

With determination, he pushed the unproductive thoughts from his mind and pressed on through the woods as fast as he was able to, hoping not to arrive too late to ever know.



Yuki Tachibana heard herself scream as the horrific apparition raised its rotting arms with staff in hand and let out an inhuman cry while bearing down on her. He'd come after her so fast, it was all she could do to have the presence of mind to roll to the side and barely escape the jeweled snake head as it crashed though where she'd been only a split second before.

Not bothering to look back, she ran as fast as her burning ankle would allow her to and felt her mind beginning to come undone. She was going to die, here in these woods, caught somewhere between her homeland and the netherworld. She felt like someone else was making her body move and that her mind was going to explode at any moment.

On and on she ran, as the loud sounds of her own labored breathing filled her ears, when suddenly the image of Kyle lying there all alone burst into her fragmented mind. An instant later she tripped hard over a fallen tree branch and tumbled to the ground. She screamed once more, thinking the vicious Tsumano about to finish her off, but saw or felt no one beside her. She sat there stunned for several seconds in the silence, breathing heavily and wondering what was going on.

For some reason the dark creature had not given chase as expected. Her eyes then went wide with realization that this could only have meant that the evil spirit had changed targets. Again, the image of her beloved Kyle burned through her mind and she cried out in fear. Instinctively, she moved her hand towards the camera that had been hanging to her side from the long neck strap, but it was gone. She then remembered taking it off and setting it beside him while she'd held him in her arms.

Suddenly coming back to her senses and getting a handle on her fear, she jumped up and ran back in the direction from where she'd come with all her heart and strength. Moments later, she entered the clearing once more to find that the foul Tsumano Ogami was still there, tearing into the body of someone lying on the ground as they writhed in pain. It wasn't Kyle as she'd feared, but another.

It was Kasumi.

Yuki stared in shock as the larger spirit tore into her small body repeatedly with animal-like claws that caused her to scream in agony each time. Kasumi had given herself to protect Kyle while she'd run off, and now faced the overwhelming monster all by herself. If she had time to feel guilt, she would have. Her eyes drifted back to Kyle, as he still was breathing, although roughly, and saw the Camera Obscura exactly where she'd left it.

Kasumi's cry shattered the night air once more and Yuki ran. Not away as before, but toward Kyle. Toward the camera. In an instant, she took possession of it once more and brought it up to her eye, centered the blue circle on the twisted apparition before her and waited for what seemed an eternity as she held her finger over the shutter release, just long enough for the camera to reach it's full power. Finally the reticle burned a bright red and she snapped the shot.

The dark spirit's own inhuman scream suddenly filled the air loudly as he arched his back in pain while dropping the bloodied and torn spirit of Kasumi Nagoya to the ground in a heap. With white smoke pouring off from where he'd taken the exorcismal shot in full, he turned toward Yuki and charged at her with tremendous speed. The scared woman took a step back and quickly advanced the film another frame, but wasn't fast enough to take another shot.

With a wild swing, Tsumano Ogami struck out at her with his staff, knocking both her
and the Camera Obscura across the clearing to the hard ground. An instant later she felt his clawed hands close around her neck and felt her vision begin to darken.

Her last thought was one of utter despair and sorrow for failing to do a damn thing to help anyone. A moment later, all went black. Next to them, the Camera Obscura lay in the dirt among the rocks, silently watching the macabre scene through its now broken lens.



Chapter Eleven

I stared with disbelief at the spot where Kasumi had stood only moments before being pulled into the ground by several ghostly limbs and was at a complete loss as to what to do. What the hell had just happened to her? What did she mean about Lord Ogami wanting to play some sort of game? This was no game! I began to boil over with anger and started to pace back and forth nervously, as I tried to think about my next move.

Kasumi had seemed frantic about my just forgetting everything and just getting out of here. There was no way in hell I was going to turn my back on the woman I loved, no matter what the cost. And right now I'd even lay it down to help Kasumi if I could figure out where in blazes she'd just been dragged off to.

"All right, Ogami!" I shouted in protest and defiance, breaking the eerie silence that filled the mansion. "If you want me to play your game, here I am! I'm in, so why don't you come face me man to man and we'll settle this!"

I clenched my fists in anticipation. Moments later, I could feel a presence growing nearby and waited. Silently, another spirit came floating through the sliding door and found myself face to face with a young Japanese man with dark eyes, carrying a long thin staff. I didn't even bother to raise the camera. "I take it you are this 'son', Nagoya-chan referred to?"

The other regarded me coldly and bowed slightly. "I am Lord Noburo Ogami, master of this estate."

"I wish I could say that I'm pleased to meet you, but I'm not. And I'm pretty angry right now, so you'd better give me some good answers. First, where the hell is my Yuki? What have you done with her?"

"We are going to play a game, as the child had first told you." He stated with a wicked smile, ignoring my question. "So you would do well to be quiet and listen if you ever wish to see her again."

"Yuki or Nagoya Kasumi?" I feigned confidence.

"Both." He replied with a devious look to his eyes.

I calmed myself a bit and placed one hand over the Camera Obscura. "Go on. I'm listening, for now."

The other raised his ghostly staff my way, which wasn't entirely unlike his father's. "Do not think to even threaten me with your toy. I'm well aware of it's power and do not fear it. Know that, Kyle O'Brien."

I then began to really get nervous and slowly lowered my hand. "You know my name?"

"Tachibana-san told it to me." The dark spirit lied. "She is a very beautiful woman indeed, isn't she?"

"What do you want from us, Ogami?" I asked quietly.

"Lord Ogami." The other corrected smugly.

"What do you want, Lord Ogami?"

"From you, only your cooperation and assistance."

"Go on."

"I want you to use your 'shaeiki' and destroy two wandering spirits for me." The other stated cryptically. "I sense you have within you a power far greater than that of the woman and wish you to use it to vanquish them from this estate. Can you do that for me?"

"If it means Yuki being returned to me unharmed."

"It does." He confirmed.

I nodded my acceptance of his terms, not really having any other choice.

"Good." He smiled broadly. "The first spirit I want you to destroy is that of none other than my own father, Lord Tsumano Ogami. It is his dark power that binds me here to this estate and I wish to be free of it."

I swallowed hard as I pictured the elder lord with his twisted features and powerful staff. I'd barely escaped him the first time, and wasn't sure I could do so again. Especially now, knowing the camera's lens was damaged and unreliable. But for my Yuki, I would try. I would do anything. "Fine. And the other?"

"The second will be the much easier of the two, so fear not." He laughed derisively. "With my father destroyed, she'll be no match for you." Noburo placed his staff before him with both hands resting on its top.

She? My thoughts went suddenly to Kasumi and I began to fear for her even more. "You don't mean for me to hurt the child, do you?" I questioned with dread.

His eyes took on a momentary look of confusion, then slowly shook his head. "Nagoya
Kasumi? No, not at all. No harm will come to her if you do as I say."

"Then who?"

"Why none other than my own beloved wife, Ayukawa Shiori." He smiled broadly when he saw the look of amazement on my face and began to laugh. "If you can do that, then you have my word that your precious Tachibana-san will be returned to you unharmed. But fail, and...well, I'll just leave that unpleasant thought to your darkest imaginations."

I had no problem with fighting the elder lord of the estate, other than a simple healthy dose of fear, and assuming of course I could actually harm him this time around. I wasn't so sure about this other spirit, Shiori Ayukawa, though. My encounter with her had left me with the impression that she was as much a victim here as anyone, and was undeserving of what he now asked me to do.

But for the moment I played my hand with a straight face, feeling like I really had no say in the matter if I wished to have this story come to a happy ending for us. With apprehension I nodded my consent.

"Fine with me, Ogami. But again, only for Yuki's sake. If you can guarantee that no harm will come to either Yuki or the child, then I will do as you say, or die trying."

"Humph." He snorted. "I make no guarantees, O'Brien-san. But I have no real interest in either the woman or the child, so I have no reason to harm them unless you give me one. So keep that in mind. Now that we have an understanding, go now from this room and to the right. There you will find a door with a special lock."

"I know the one." I remarked, recalling the strangely locked door from my first encounter with the crazed female spirit.

"Good. You will find that it is now unlocked and that you may now enter."

"What am I to do there?"

He waved his hands and brushed my question aside. "Go and see for yourself. It is there that this business must be concluded." Without further word, he simply faded from view, and once again I found myself alone.



Noburo Ogami floated silently through the mansion's lonely halls, invisible to the human eye and paused before the very door he had just instructed the other man to take. With a wave of his hand, he caused the multicolored tumblers to move, seemingly of their own accord until a faint click popped from somewhere within the mechanism.

He then thought of the young 'gaijin' one more time and briefly felt a twinge of jealousy sting from somewhere within him. To be alive, what an invaluable treasure, he thought. To feel, to touch, to... He pushed hard against the pointless thoughts he'd once entertained when alive, full of breath and blood, as his mind drifted to the sexually intoxicating Yuki Tachibana.

He no longer denied to himself the woman's beauty and the sexual power she radiated. It reminded him of the time he'd pursued Shiori, before her blatant refusal to even speak with him, thus forcing him to have her family compelled to comply with his wishes. If she'd only been more placating back then, more accepting of her station and just been the submissive, demure wife he'd demanded, none of this would ever have happened.

He'd never even had the chance to bed her even once before he'd felt the cold blade run through him. So much anticipation and hope, all denied and destroyed in one single act of self righteousness. He had nothing but resentment for the foolish ghost now, equally as robbed of her womanhood as he was his manhood.

But Yuki, on the other hand, burned with warmth and was very much alive. He'd noted these things when only hours before he'd come upon his father, as he was about to finish her off in that clearing, and felt her life force hanging delicately by a thread. If he'd not intervened, she'd be as cold and lifeless as he and the rest under House Ogami's curse were.

His interference however, had come at a price. For reasons the deranged and animal-like Tsumano Ogami could not comprehend, his son had interfered with his kill. Like two lions, they'd fought, as nothing but pure instinct within the elder lord had taken over and pushed any remaining sense of reason from him.

Staff against staff, they'd engaged in a dangerous battle, which Noburo soon found himself on the defensive and quickly losing ground, just as he'd always suspected if he were ever to face him. Fortunately during that time Shiori, who'd been only moments behind him in their silent flight through the woods, had come upon them and watched with a smug smile on her face.

"Pray, I do not fall here and now for this, Shiori!" He'd called to her as he'd labored to keep his enraged father at bay. "For if I do fall here and now, my power will be added to his own, and then nothing will be able to save us!"

Those words had sobered the beautiful spirit as she quickly realized the truth of it and quickly moved to the side of the fallen, but still breathing Yuki.

"Forget the woman! She's no longer of any use to us now! It is the other that we must save! Take him and get back to the mansion!" Noburo had raged in between strikes and parries.

"I cannot!" Shiori had screamed back. "She deserves better than this!"

"Pathetic woman!" Noburo had tried to argue with her, but quickly felt his father's reward for his distraction as the snake headed staff crashed hard onto his left shoulder and knocked him to his knees.

All had seemed like it was going to end once and for all in those heated and frantic moments, and likely would have if not for the small bloodied form of Kasumi Nagoya rising from the ground, covered in blood and in horrific pain. The little spirit seemed to have recovered somewhat though from the elder lord's brutal attack only minutes before and crawled toward Shiori and the unconscious woman.

"I'll take her back, Shiori-sama." The visibly torn and hurt spirit had stated in calm, determined tones. "I'll make sure she gets back safe."

When Shiori had hesitated, Noburo was quick to interject. "Let the stupid child do as she pleases! You must get the other to the safety of the manor now or all will be lost! What we have started here cannot be stopped!"

Reluctantly it seemed, Shiori had agreed and moved away from the fallen woman, but not before carefully picking up the camera lying beside her. She then moved next to the wounded man and hesitated. A moment later, she called out. "I cannot move him by myself. He is too wounded!"

Noburo had scowled in irritation as he desperately fought to keep from being completely overwhelmed by his father's attacks and felt his mind race. The one thing Noburo considered to have left from his former life not torn from him was his mind, and now felt the challenge to find the solution to the terrible puzzle before him.

Power-wise, he was no match for his father, as he'd always known, but when it came to the power of the mind, he had the overwhelming edge. Somehow, he would have to find a way to change the rules of the encounter before time ran out and he fell.

In the end though, he'd managed to find his solution and survived the encounter, even saving Yuki in the process and carrying her back to the mansion, where she now waited below with Shiori in its lowest level. The young Lord Ogami quickly passed through the now unlocked door and into the family shrine in silence, mentally replaying his last encounter with his father in full and silently congratulating himself for out thinking the other and proving, at least to himself, that his mind more than anything else was his true strength and weapon against the insanity that surrounded him.

In that time, the battle had continued to go against Noburo, with Tsumano coming dangerously closer to overpowering him with every crazed attack. But the odds had been evened when he'd reconsidered ignoring Kasumi Nagoya's efforts to aid the fallen Yuki and ordered her to stop and instead aid him in his battle against his father. Of course, the young lord knew it was a cowardly act, but that hardly mattered in the face of his ultimate survival.

At first, the small defiant spirit had pretended not to hear his command, but reluctantly came to do as he'd ordered when he'd outlined what it would mean specifically for her and her mother, Taeko, if he should fall. And that if he'd managed to somehow overcome his father without her aid, then he himself would take serious action against them both for her stubborn refusal to help. Simply hearing what it would mean for her eternally traumatized and insane mother, whom she still desperately loved, was all the coercion she'd needed.

Just as the morally bankrupt ghost had expected, the sudden appearance of the smaller spirit had provided the necessary distraction to unbalance the elder lord's attacks, all to Noburo's delight. Kasumi, although still not fully recovered from the rabid spirit's previous assault, threw herself willingly into the duel and although expertly knocked aside many times, finally succeeded in giving the younger Ogami the opening he'd needed. With all the rage and strength he could muster, he cracked his staff down upon Tsumano's head, temporarily taking the dark priest down.

Noburo knew though, such an opportunity would never come again, so he quickly abandoned his assault on the dazed ghost and began his silent flight back to the mansion. The thought then occurred to him that the woman could still be of use to ensure the 'gaijin's' obedience, so he quickly turned and helped the younger ghost pick up the still unconscious Yuki Tachibana and quickly ushered her back to House Ogami.

He left both Shiori, the man named Kyle O'Brien and his father behind, counting on the belief that when the dark priest recovered, he'd be too enraged and focused to pay any heed or notice to either his wife or the injured man.

It was a gamble, he knew. But if there was one thing Noburo had learned from years of observing his father hunt, is that he never gave up on his prey and had only a one track mind when it came to such things. As long as Shiori did nothing to interfere with him, he'd ignore her and anyone else for the time being.

And he'd been right. As expected, he'd soon felt the other's presence not far behind him and slowly gaining ground. Arriving at the mansion only minutes before his father, he quickly assisted Kasumi to bring Yuki to the family alter room and down to where she now lay beside Shiori, then quickly fled to lead his crazed father away from them.

Since their arrival, he'd spent his time avoiding his father's pursuit by flying all over the estate's grounds. No longer burdened and slowed down, he found that he was actually faster than his father, and had managed to stay beyond his reach until this time and keep him distracted for the most part. Sometime during that plight, when he'd eluded Tsumano, he'd returned to the ravine and found Shiori obediently sitting by the injured man's side with a look of uncertainty on her face.

"I fear, I may have underestimated his injuries more than I'd first thought. He bleeds from the inside and it comes out his mouth and onto the ground." Shiori had informed darkly. "This all may have really all been for nothing."

Noburo had felt anger and frustration pulse within him, but again vowed he would not be defeated so easily. Not now. Not after all that had been done. "There is one thing I may yet be able to do for him."

Shiori had given him a puzzled look.

"You forget, my beloved." He'd stated intensely through gritted teeth. "We were once a family of Shinto priests before our house fell into this nightmare. My father is not the only one capable of using powers arcane. Behold..."

The female spirit's eyes went wide as Noburo had begun to chant something she did not understand and saw his staff begin to glow a light blue. A moment later, he'd touched it to Kyle's chest, and his coughing and bleeding immediately began to subside, though was still far from being completely gone. Noburo then fell to his knees and shook involuntarily.

"You brought healing to him? How was this-"

"It matters not, and is beyond your feeble mind to comprehend." He'd cut her off with a wave. "Just know that for me to accomplish this task, my own spiritual powers become drained greatly for a time. I dare not do more for him here, as it would incapacitate me and leave you both defenseless. I must go now, and keep my father distracted. I leave the rest to you. Watch over him until he regains consciousness and then bring him to House Ogami. I will tend to him in greater detail there."

With a look of amazement and a twinge of admiration, the other ghost had bowed deeply. "As you wish, Noburo."

The other had turned to leave as he barely managed to prop himself up with his staff and spoke once more. "Say nothing to him! Reveal nothing of why he has been made to play this game, Shiori. He will have questions, and I will be the one to answer them. Is that understood?"

Reluctantly, it had seemed to him, she'd agreed. Perhaps Shiori could prove trustworthy just this one time. Noburo smiled to himself as he passed through the shrine and down through a hidden passageway in the back with Kyle O'Brien only moment behind. A pity Shiori had no future beyond this final encounter with the young man, though. Noburo laughed heartily to himself, but soon became serious once more as he felt his father's presence draw near. "So it begins. So it ends." He mumbled to himself in hushed tones.



From a deep underground cellar, far below the room Noburo had just entered, Shiori Ayukawa knelt beside an unconscious Yuki, gently stroking her long black hair as she breathed in a gentle even rhythm, oblivious to her surroundings. The ethereal spirit looked upon her with sad eyes, her mind dwelling upon a time only a matter of hours ago when she'd labored to bring the still injured, but very much alive Kyle O'Brien to the terrible place that she called home.

She now regretted conceding to Noburo's demand that she stay silent and not be direct with the 'gaijin' as she had been with the woman he loved, but saw no point in wasting energy in a pointless debate. Her mind then drifted even farther and recalled when the young man had first recovered a bit back in the ravine shortly after receiving Noburo's healing powers and how she'd opted to stay hidden from him for a time while protectively holding onto the 'shaeiki'.

For several long minutes the ghost had watched the pained and distraught man struggle to get up and eventually search the odd horseless carriage that lay wrecked and upside down only a few feet from where she'd first laid him down many hours ago. The look of pain and remorse had been evident to her as he'd slowly crawled back out of it and vomited.

She didn't bother to keep herself from shedding silent tears, then and now, as she thought about the other couple who'd not survived, and whose bodies still lay within that twisted wreckage. She then heard him begin to frantically call out Yuki's name into the dark woods and desperately wanted to tell him that she was alive and could lead him to her. However, she wished to give him a few moments alone to sort himself out a bit before making her presence known, and had then at that time absently looked at the camera within her hands.

Shock had registered on her face immediately when she'd then noticed the large crack running across the lens and found herself fighting back a sudden wave of panic. If the 'shaeiki' had been truly broken then everything had changed and nothing they did now mattered at all. Fortunately in the short time since the young man had taken possession of it, it seemed to still work properly, if not reliably.

Shiori then remembered hearing Kyle speak into a small object in his hand and say something about needing help and having been in a terrible car accident. What such a thing was, she had no idea, but knew there would be no help coming from the world he knew. With a deep breath, she'd used that as her cue and silently approached him from behind.

He of course was startled terribly by her sudden appearance and struggled to move away from her. She had to let him know somehow that she was not there to harm him and decided upon another form of communication other than conversation. Calling upon her own spiritual powers as a ghost, she laid her hand upon his chest and overwhelmed him with a short vision of her and Noburo's demise, leaving him unconscious once more.

Through her own labored efforts, the beautiful spirit had carried the sleeping man back to House Ogami as Noburo had commanded, and laid him in the very same tatami room she'd first brought Yuki to earlier. She'd then placed the 'shaeiki' beside him on a small table, gathered up Yuki's dirty clothes and let him rest. Shortly thereafter, Noburo had returned and stood over the young man, taking measure of him.

Shiori had silently come to his side. "Noburo, there is one more thing you must know, before you do anything."

The other had turned and regarded her with a blank look on his sharp featured face. "And that is?"

"The 'shaeiki' was damaged when your father and Tachibana-san fought earlier. It may be of no use now." She'd stated matter-of-factly, her voice devoid of emotion.

The look of fear had been evident on his face. "What?"

"See?" She'd pointed toward the Camera Obscura laying on the small table beside them and Noburo bent low and saw the crack running across its lens in the dim candle light.

For a long moment, neither had spoken. Then at last Noburo rose and sighed. "It does not matter. What is done is done. We cannot turn back now. Whether or not the 'shaeiki's' power has fled is yet to be seen. We will proceed as planned, and see what unfolds."

He'd then raised his staff over the sleeping man and again begun to chant the odd words as before. This time, however, he'd recited them longer and more forcefully, bringing his staff to a powerful pulsing blue and then suddenly struck Kyle with it. The blue energy poured from his staff like water and covered Kyle's entire body, then quickly faded.

"When he awakens, he will be...fully...recovered..." Noburo's words had begun to slur and his eyes went blank as he fell to the ground hard, struggling to maintain his ghostly form. The healing chant truly must have had taken its toll on the young lord and despite his efforts found that he had no strength and slowly faded from her view.

Shiori stared at the spot where Noburo had been and found it odd that very same staff he'd used time and time again to abuse her with was capable of bringing restoration and healing as well. Hearing Kyle's breathing become more even and quiet, she gently placed a hand over his head and smiled.

"Please survive, O'Brien-san. Tachibana-san loves you very much. This I know. Survive for her, more than any of us. And please forgive me someday for ever involving you in this mess in the first place." The gentle spirit had then placed the damaged Camera Obscura by him on a small table, praying that it would still function.

Suddenly, her thoughts were pulled to the present as she heard Noburo call out to her from somewhere close by.

"He comes." He said unemotionally as he now stood beside them while gazing absently at the unconscious woman. "So she still lives. Interesting."

Shiori made no move and stayed silent.

"Why, my beloved, you look so sad." The young lord feigned sympathy. "I'd have thought you'd be rejoicing, knowing our freedom may finally be at hand. Don't tell me you actually feel any sort of guilt for using another life for your own gain? If you were that sort of woman, neither of us would be here now, would we?"

The pretty ghost just ignored him.

"Cat got your tongue?" Noburo pushed with a mocking chuckle.

Shiori looked up at him then with moist eyes and then back to the sleeping woman with visible strangulation marks on her neck. "You are truly heartless, Noburo. I pity you."

Under any other circumstance the young lord of House Ogami would have responded by back handing her across the face or striking her with his staff for such an insolent remark. But this time he merely laughed at her sense of despair.

"Be happy at least that this creature of breath and blood yet lives, my dear. If it were not for me, she would be as we are now. I've saved her life, as only a man of honor, such as myself would do."

"Only because she serves as your insurance that the 'gaijin' will do as you say." The other stated flatly in rebuttal.

Noburo chuckled once more. "The reasons do not matter, my beloved. But let us stop this pointless bickering and act as a civilized husband and wife should. After all, we have house guests, and we wouldn’t want to appear as poor hosts now would we? I mean, what would the other elites in our social circle think if such a thing were to get around?"

The other ghost looked up at him once more and shook her head amazement at his unusual display of humor. "Never mind." She regarded him in full, and continued speaking. "You seem to have recovered from your 'supreme sacrifice'."

"You worried about me? How sweet." He folded his arms. "I'm touched."

"Go away, Noburo." Shiori told him, no longer wishing to play games with him.

The other bowed deeply with a wide grin on his face. "As you wish, my beloved. As you wish. Soon we can put all these trials behind us and start over and do things right."

The young lord laughed loudly outwardly, but inside was gloating with excitation that if all went as he hoped, he would finally be free of the curse and see Shiori destroyed before him. There was no possible way the trusting spirit would think that this Kyle O'Brien would raise the 'shaeiki' against her. But if he loved his Yuki as much as he believed, he would do just that if it meant saving her. Noburo knew the lengths a man could go to, to posses that which he desired, and expected the 'gaijin' to do no less to protect what was his.

It's a pity that the young fool would be denied his prize however, as Noburo had absolutely no intention of keeping his word, fully intending to kill the beautiful Yuki in one final act to demonstrate his authority over his situation. This Kyle O'Brien would be nothing more than a tool to accomplish his goals. And if the young man failed to dispose of his father, Tsumano, nothing else would matter, anyway.

It was Noburo's final gambit, and one he no longer held any doubts or reservations for making. He'd made this decision as he'd fought his father hours before, realizing it was pointless to continue as they'd always had, and that resolution one way or the other was the only goal.

If things went as he'd desired, all things were possible. And if not, then he would become as his father, unknowing and uncaring. He would sacrifice his mind to keep from existing another pained moment as he was now. Fear of becoming that which frightened him the most no longer held sway over him. It was now all or nothing, and he would accept whatever fate dealt him in the next few minutes or hours.



Chapter Twelve

Moments after the ghost of Noburo Ogami had left me, I found myself at the door with the odd puzzle lock and didn't hesitate to go in as I threw it open wide. I knew that somehow not all would not be as he said it would be. Even without Kasumi's frantic last words echoing in my head, I knew this bastard was a liar and not to be trusted. But there was nothing I could do except move forward.

As I entered the room beyond, I was quickly overwhelmed by a mix of spiritual energies flowing all about me. I saw nothing, but could feel them acutely. Most overwhelming and powerful was the sudden sensation of a spirit I knew all too well. A presence that shown like a lighthouse to a ship lost at sea. It was Yuki. I felt her all about me, as though she were very near.

Over the years, both she and I had been able to develop the ability to feel each other in this manner, and she felt as strong and alive as ever. This reassured me and gave me confidence that Noburo had at least been honest on this one point. But still, I had to be careful. I also felt the presence of that thing called Tsumano, equally as close. Yuki may be alive, but how long she stayed that way with that monster nearby was in question. In addition to those two, I also felt many other spiritual energies in flux and carefully examined the room about me.

It was a family altar room, not at all uncommon in eastern Asian cultures, including the Japanese. To the sides were several Buddha statues and several carvings on the walls, with their shadows bouncing on the walls in the bright candle light. The place was a virtual nexus of spiritual energies, and even the camera had begun to notice them, as it now tingled oddly within my hands.

At the end of the long rectangular room lay a creepy looking mask on an altar in the shape of a demon. I slowly approached it with the Camera Obscura poised and ready to shoot anything that suddenly appeared. Nothing did however, as I came to within a few feet of it. Looking all around me, and seeing nothing else in the room of obvious use, I faced the mask again and raised the camera to my eye.

As expected, the reticle burned brightly around it. I was about to snap a shot of it when I considered my low stock of film and hesitated. I couldn't afford to spend what little I had left without risking coming up short in what was sure to be my final encounter with Tsumano Ogami.

Instead, I boldly reached for the mask and picked it up...

As had happened to me on other occasions, I now found myself caught up in a strange vision and witnessing events that had taken place long ago in the past. Before me, a man in dark priest robes stood above the bodies of Shiori and Noburo and was wearing the mask I now held in my hands.

He seemed to be chanting something and then suddenly raised his staff. Red lightning flashed all around me, forcing me to cover my eyes. When I could look again, the bodies were gone, with only a small pile of black ash where they'd been lying.

It then felt as though the vision were about to end, but did not. Instead, I saw the man, Tsumano tear the mask from his face and look all around with a wild look to his burning eyes. They had the look of complete insanity within them. He suddenly howled like an animal and dropped the mask, now clutching that serpent head staff with both hands.

I watched in horror, as I pieced together that it was somehow him who'd caused all the unnatural events that had followed from the days of Shiori's and Noburo's deaths until now.

I then felt something happen and looked upon the altar once more to find that the pair had returned and were lying still. Suddenly, Noburo stirred and sat up with a look of confusion upon his face. He examined himself and raised his arms before him in shock. A moment later, Shiori also began to stir and gradually sat up as well. Wicked laughter then filled the chamber, drawing looks from them both and me as well.

Tsumano, now looked different, more like the creature he'd become today. He began to approach them, then suddenly froze in mid stride. Slowly, his twisted face turned my way and I could feel his stare...

Then the vision ended and I found myself once again in the altar room holding the mask in silence. As I was placing it back, I felt the room grow cold and knew that I was no longer alone. I turned around and found myself face to face with the wicked and deranged Tsumano.

His tattered and torn priest robes swayed gently in the faint breeze that flowed around us from somewhere, and carried the smell of decayed flesh and sulfur. I felt like vomiting but instead took a step back and gripped the Camera Obscura tightly.

This was it. Either I would die here in this strange place or I would find a way to destroy this creature once and for all and end the nightmare for everyone. I hadn't one more second to think before he moved for me.



"The end has come." Noburo stated tensely with eyes closed.

The other spirit nodded slowly as she stood and left the sleeping Yuki to move beside him. "He will find a way."

The young lord smiled and sighed. "Not much choice is there? Our future is in his hands now."

"Do you now regret getting involved?" She asked softly.

He turned to face her and was about to say something condescending, but felt the words suddenly hang in his throat. Shiori now looked as she had the first time he'd ever seen her and wore a gentle look of concern on her face. She was radiantly beautiful, and he now felt the reawakened feelings of his manhood stir once more.

She no longer looked like the savage betrayer and murderer that she'd become on their wedding night, but seemed more like the woman he'd first laid eyes upon in the village that had initially fueled his desire for her.

Shiori's eyes narrowed. "Why do you look at me so, Noburo?"

Her words snapped him out of his reverie and once again the woman who'd run a sword through his back stood before him.

"I regret nothing. This is how it must be. I'm glad for the opportunity to finally be rid of you once and for all. Existing as we have been is no longer bearable. Whether O'Brien-san prevails over my father ultimately does not matter. Either way, our futures are now forever changed."

Shiori nodded. "You're right. But I'm daring to believe in him. He will win, I'm certain."

Noburo Ogami smiled and nodded, thinking that if she were right, her jubilee would only last for but a moment. If Tsumano didn't destroy her, then O'Brien would. "Of course, you are right, my beloved. I too will then believe in him. In fact, I will go lend him aid."

The other ghost agreed. "Good. It is for us all that he does what he does. Go to him and distract your father. Give O'Brien the time he needs."

With a curt nod, Noburo faded from her sight and she and the Tachibana woman were alone once more.



If Tsumano had been hurt or damaged in any way since our last encounter it was not obvious as he moved all about me with ferocious speed. Several times, he'd darted past, nearly raking me with a clawed hand or smashing me with that staff of his, but somehow had missed every time. I got the feeling he was playing with me as a cat would with a mouse. He apparently did not fear me or the Camera Obscura, which did nothing to boost my confidence.

Several times he'd slow and allow me to get him in frame. But as if on instinct, knew when to dart to the side just as the reticle pulsed red, forcing me to abandon the shot. With my limited stock of film, I knew I couldn't afford to just blindly shoot and hope for the best. Not with him. I had to make every shot count, and pray desperately that even that would be enough.

He'd seemed to realize this as well and now taunted me, trying to get me to waste film. He was a sly and dangerous opponent. Then from out of nowhere, Noburo had appeared and I felt that I'd been set up by the devious man all along and led into a deadly trap.

In defiant anger I raised the camera his way but he paid me no heed and instead struck out at his father with his own staff. So, he'd come to help me it seemed. Good. I could use all the help I could get.

It became clear that the other spirit's role was to distract so I could get a clean shot. I quickly raised the camera and centered it on the elder Ogami and waited.

"Why do you hesitate, O'Brien?" Noburo called angrily, as he locked staves with the other, giving me a clear shot of Tsumano's back. Just then, the reticle burned red. I was about to fire, but then noticed the intensity of the ring began to pulse and resonate, as though building up in power. Yes, that was exactly what it was doing! I could feel the Camera Obscura pulsing angrily within my hands as though I were holding back a mad dog by a thin leash.

"O'Brien!" The other spirit roared, dropping the 'san' honorific.

"Take this, you freak." I dared to say under my breath as I snapped the shot.

To my profound shock and disappointment however, nothing happened. Once again, the camera had failed to operate as it should. I stood there stunned with a perfect shot completely wasted. Tsumano seemed to suddenly understand the failed tactic and spun Noburo before him, placing him in between us.

"O'Brien, you fool! What are you doing?" The other cried in panic.

"It didn't work!" I cried back.

"Try again! What other choice is there you idiot?"

With a nod, I raised the camera once more and centered them both in frame. As before, the reticle began to charge in power. I'd only managed to get it halfway to where I'd gotten it before when the elder Ogami threw his son aside and lunged for me. Without monologue, I snapped the shot.

This time I felt the camera's exorcismal energies explode and tear into Tsumano at near point blank range. The deranged spirit flew back as though hit by a freight train and smashed into the altar as he tumbled to the ground.

He was back up in an instant however, and coming my way again. "Keep distracting him!" I yelled, as I fumbled to advance the film. Oh my God, only three shots left. I began to feel numb. If I couldn't do this in the next three tries, it was over. All over.



Far below where Kyle O'Brien and the Ogami's fought, Yuki sat up with a start, having the most intense headache of her life. An instant later she covered her mouth with a hand and fought back a sudden wave of nausea. Shiori was beside her a second later, kneeling and wearing a look of concern.

"Tachibana-san, are you all right?" She asked softly.

The injured woman's head looked past her and all around as if trying to get her bearings. "Ayukawa-san?"

The other nodded.

Yuki's eyes seemed glossed over as things slowly came to her, and then they went wide. "Where are we? Am I dead?"

Shiori smiled and shook her head. "No, Tachibana-san, you are not dead. We are in a secret ceremony room deep below House Ogami."

The other slowly digested the new information. "Why are we here? What is happening? Where are Nagoya-chan and..." Yuki shuddered as she recalled her final moments of consciousness in the ravine as Tsumano had closed his clawed hands around her neck.

Shiori took her hand in her own and gently squeezed it. "The child is fine, as are we for the moment."

"Kyle!" She panicked. "What about-"

"He lives." She stated loudly. "Not only lives, but now fights for us all. He has taken up the task that you were unable to complete."

"What!" Yuki began to scramble to get out of bed, but the spirit held her fast. "Let me go, Ayukawa-san! He's too hurt to do anything. You saw him! You know!"

Shiori still held her firm. "Listen to me, Tachibana-san. O'Brien-san is no longer injured and in good health. He has been healed and has taken up the 'shaeiki' to save you, to save us all."

"Healed? How?"

The kind spirit shook her head. "By my husband's magic. Even I do not understand it. Together they fight Tsumano as we speak." She could see that her words severely frightened the other woman, and squeezed her hand tightly once more. "Trust in him, Tachibana-san. Believe in him, as I do. O'Brien-san has a power that is strong, and with the 'shaeiki' and my husband helping, they will defeat this nightmare once and for all."

Slowly, Yuki nodded and steadied herself. Shiori was right. Kyle was strong. If anyone had a chance of destroying that unearthly creature with spiritual powers, it would be him. "You're right, Ayukawa-san. I know you are. But still, I'm afraid, so very afraid."

Shiori pulled Yuki's head into her chest and held her tightly, completely understanding the other's pain. "I know. I'm afraid as well, but it will be all right. It will all end well, you'll see."



"This isn't going well, Noburo!" I yelled frantically, no longer bothering with honorifics myself, as I repeatedly attempted to get the elder Ogami in frame. "You must keep him still long enough for me to build up to a powerful shot, otherwise it won't be enough!"

The younger ghost cast a mocking look my way. "Say something worthy of my response, O'Brien!"

I ignored him as I kept the camera trained on Tsumano. Suddenly the reticle pulsed red, but I held my ground. The ring of fire grew in intensity and soon hit the limit of its power. One problem: both spirits were still in frame. I had to make a decision.

"Sorry Noburo, this is going to hurt like a son of a bitch."

"What are you babbling about now?" He spat as he locked staves with his father and twisted about. An instant later he got his answer as the Camera Obscura unleashed the most powerful exorcismal shot it had ever done and tore through both ghosts with searing pain that left neither of them completely whole.

Noburo had only taken about a quarter of the camera's power, but still ended up losing an arm and part of his abdomen, as he was blown across the room and slammed into the wall. Tsumano, however, had not fared nearly as well, and no longer had a lower body at all.

Whether in pain or pure rage, he filled the air with an ear splitting shriek that was utterly deafening. But even still, the elder lord of House Ogami did not fall, and spun about wildly in the air, looking for the source of his torture.

An instant later he found me and spread his mouth open wide, revealing several long jagged teeth. With arms wide, he cast aside his broken staff and charged me. The camera never left him though, as I quickly advanced the film. The reticle continued to burn bright red without diminishing. Again, I fired and nailed him at point blank range. What was left of him flew back and burned into ash as it hit the wall above where Noburo lay.

Suddenly, the room was deathly silent. Had I done it? Had I really destroyed the inhuman Tsumano Ogami? I was too stunned to really know. I simply stared at the black ash that now decorated the front wall of the Ogami House shrine and breathed raggedly.

A moment later Noburo struggled to rise with a look of pure awe on his face. He too, seemed too stunned to speak, and simply stared at me as he covered the hole in his side with his one remaining hand. He too, then looked at the ash covered wall and began to slowly shake his head.

"Unbelievable." He gasped. "I'd never truly dared to hope anything was possible, and yet, you have done the impossible."

I lowered the camera and looked blankly at him. "Guess it's hard to keep a good Kodak down."

The other shook his head. "I don't know what your words mean, but my wife has been right all along it seems. You have surprised me, O'Brien-san, and leave me for a loss of words."

"What happens now?" I questioned dumbly. "Is it truly over?"

Noburo finally came to himself. "No, not quite yet. Remember the second part of our bargain?"

"About killing your wife?" I asked. "I've given that some thought and have changed my mind. She's your problem, not mine. Go see a marriage counselor or something."

"O'Brien!" He faced me and tried to look menacing.

I raised the camera his way and he stopped in midstride. "Care to find out what one more shot could do to you? You recently told me that you did not fear me or this thing, but I bet you've reconsidered, haven't you?"

The look on his face mirrored the fire of the Camera Obscura, as he remained silent.

"Why act so pissed off, Noburo? Consider how things are now and be happy with that."

The only remaining lord of House Ogami stared bitterly at the other for several more seconds, but soon the words sunk into him and he resigned his position on it. "You are right, of course. I suppose I should be in your debt."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Don't worry about it. I did it for Yuki, anyway. So again, what happens now?"

The spirit considered the question. "I am uncertain of that myself. I'm assuming the dark magic will begin to undo itself and the curse lose its hold on the estate."

"Then there might not be much time left. Quickly, take me to Tachibana-san."

The other conceded. "I suppose I can do that much for you. Take up the mask and don it."

"The mask?" I questioned, as I looked around the wrecked room and spotted it lying among some of the other things that had been knocked off the table when Noburo'd slammed into it. I went over to it and carefully picked it up, but hesitated to wear it.

"Do not fear any treachery, O'Brien-san. You will not be harmed." He stated calmly.

Reluctantly, I placed the demon mask over my face and stared out through the eye holes. The room seemed to be bathed in an eerie green light, and as I looked around I then noticed the outline of a doorway in the front of the room not visible to the human eye.

I slowly made my way over and stood before it as Noburo observed me in silence. I ran my hand over it and found that it passed right through as though it weren't solid. With a final act of boldness on my part I stepped through.



From far below, both Shiori and Yuki turned as one to the sound of footsteps coming down the long stone spiral staircase and waited apprehensively. A moment later, Kyle O'Brien stepped into view and Yuki was in his arms in an instant. She could say nothing, but simply cried loudly as she held him tight. Kyle returned her embrace and stroked her long black hair gently.

A moment later, Noburo joined them with a scowl on his face and cast a disdainful look Shiori's way. "My father is no more."

"Your arm!" She cried and ran to him, unexpectedly.

He recoiled from her touch. "Concern, Shiori? Do not mock-"

She cut him off and held him tightly, entirely to his shock.

Suddenly, the long dead feeling of desire for the woman who'd betrayed him stirred to life in the smallest of ways, and he wasn't sure what to think. "You are an enigma to me, Shiori. Why do now act as though-"

"I don't know. Just be silent." She told him in odd tones.

For several long moments they all stood together, each caught up in their private thoughts, when finally Yuki spoke up. "I don't understand. If the curse has truly been lifted, then-"

"Then why are Ayukawa-san and I still here?" Noburo finished for her. "I have no idea. My father is no longer here, I can feel that much. Beyond that, I have no idea what is going on."

"Let us return to the mansion and see if anything else has happened." Shiori suggested.

They all consented and soon gathered in the garden area.

"What time is it, Kyle?" Yuki suddenly asked, as they all gazed up and into the dark sky.

The young man glanced at his watch nervously. "I've got 1:32 PM."

Yuki sighed. "Then I guess our watches are not broken. I've got the same. What does this all mean?"

As they all stopped to consider the question, two figures entered the garden from the other side and silently approached them. Yuki's eyes went wide with shock. It was Kasumi and another she recognized as the ghost that had first chased her down the stairs. Kyle recognized her as well. She was the first spirit he'd fought in the hallway and found his hand instinctively moving toward the camera, but the calm look on Kasumi's face brought him up short.

With a deep bow, Kasumi faced them. "This is my mother, Nagoya Taeko."

Although the spirit looked far from sane, there was a calmness in her face that was no longer wounded and made her seem very child-like. Kasumi held her hand, and the other clung to her closely.

"She isn't quite herself, but she cries no more." Again, Kasumi bowed deeply and silently led the other away from them.

Kyle looked confused and cast a look Noburo's way.

The young lord of House Ogami shrugged. "I don't understand either, O'Brien-san. But it does seem that some things are beginning to change within the mansion. To what extent they will, I'm uncertain."

Suddenly, a small ray of light broke through the thick darkness and began to grow, gently bathing them all in gold. It was the sun, come once more to shine over House Ogami.

Shiori stepped away from Noburo and moved directly into it, her face lighting up brightly. "Noburo, I can feel it's warmth! I can actually feel it!"

Slowly, the other moved to her side and he too began to feel the sunlight warm his body. "Yes, I too can feel it. Could it truly be that this is all ending for us?"

A moment later, the sunlight had fully asserted itself and completely driven the unnatural darkness away, leaving the four of them basking in the warmth of it all.

Both Yuki and Kyle moved in close to the two spirits, expecting them to fade away at any moment. Yuki quickly grabbed the other woman's hand. "I'm so happy for you both. I don't know what any of it truly means, but I am happy."

Shiori smiled and wiped away a tear from her eye. Several more moments passed, however, and still the two spirits remained.

"Something is still not quite right." Noburo said at length. "Although the curse has been lifted, it seems we are still tied to this place somehow."

"How can that be?" Kyle asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine. There are no rules when it comes to events like these. One would only naturally assume that with the curse broken, our ties here would be as well. It seems we have been mistaken."

"What will you two do now if that proves to be the case?"

Again, Noburo shrugged.

Yuki exhaled sharply. "Maybe it won't be so bad under these new conditions. Now that this place is no longer filled with your father's madness you can both start something new and fresh."

"New and fresh?" Shiori questioned.

"Yeah, why not?" Kyle asked.

Neither spirit knew how to respond and remained silent.

"At any rate we need to..." Yuki started to state matter-of-factly, but then reality sunk in and she choked on her words.

Kyle knew what she was thinking. "Get back and take care of our friends." He finished quietly, as he drew her in close.

With a nod, Noburo stated, "Very well. But first rest. Once more I am this estate's master, and you are my guests. Allow me to show you hospitality."

Shiori regarded him with an odd look, but said nothing. Instead, she bowed deeply before them. "Yes, let us do this much. You both have suffered so much and have given us far more that we even yet realize."

The two nodded their agreement, but then suddenly felt waves of hunger overtake them.

"That sound's fine, but I don't suppose there's any food here." Kyle realized. "We've not eaten for more than two days."

Both spirits cast their looks down to the ground.

"It seems we can't even offer you comfort after all." Shiori considered. "Our apologies."

Suddenly, they were all startled to the sound of Kyle's cell phone cutting through the garden.

"What is that?" Shiori asked.

Kyle fumbled through his pockets. "I'll explain in a bit." He quickly flipped the phone open and answered. It was emergency services. Apparently they had been attempting to re-establish contact with him since his initial call the other night before it had been dropped. He explained in detail what had happened concerning the wreck, but left out anything having to do with the estate and such. After several moments, he hung up and faced them all.

"They're sending help for us and will meet us at the crash site." He supplied.

"Then it is time you left us, O'Brien-san. I will escort you both back to the horseless carriage you first came in."

"As will I." Shiori added.

Kyle nodded his appreciation. "Then I guess we'd all better get going."

Together, the four of them left the mansion and walked in silence through the bright, sun filled forest toward the ravine that had claimed both Azusa's and Ronnie's lives. No one felt like speaking, but instead just took in their surroundings as if for the first time. They soon found themselves at the car wreckage and beheld it with solemn looks. As if for effect, the sky began to darken a bit, and became slightly overcast to match the somber mood they all now felt.

Shiori broke the uncomfortable silence. "I know it is no consolation in the face of what you have lost, but thank you for all that you've been able to do for us. Because of you, our future has changed, and I believe it is up to us to forge for ourselves from this point forward. We owe all this to you both."

Even Noburo, as wicked as his heart had been, could not deny his wife's words. "She speaks truthfully. I have no idea what lies ahead for either of us. We have much to discuss and decide upon. But these are private matters that do not concern you. Even so, you both have my gratitude. And should you both wish to return here for any reason, we would welcome you."

It seemed strange to hear him speak as though they were all long time friends departing, but no one said anything further on it.

"Typical weather. You finally get just a little bit of sun and then it goes and hides itself once more." Kyle said to lighten the mood. "Well, I guess this is it. The police should be here soon, and Yuki and I will have to come up with one hell of a story to satisfy them. You'd both better go."

Noburo nodded. "As you wish." The spirit's eyes drifted to the Camera Obscura that the other still held loosely in his hand. "And what of that?"

The other held it up before them all. "I'm not sure. Guess I'll keep it for now and decide later. I'd hate to think I'd ever need it again, but I guess you never can tell."

"I'd rather you just toss it over a cliff, but we'll discuss it later." Yuki clung to him.

"Well then. It's time we took our leave of you. Farewell, O'Brien-san. You have my respect." The young lord declared.

Shiori and Yuki embraced and then the two spirits of House Ogami bowed deeply, then turned and began their return walk to the mansion.

"Think we'll ever really see them again?" Yuki asked suddenly.

"I don't know. Right now, I just want to get as far away from here as we can." The young man held her close as the first sounds of an ambulance's siren could be heard up on the highway above them. "Who knows what the future holds."

"Who knows, indeed." Yuki echoed as she watched the pair fade from view.



Epilogue

As the gray overcast clouds filled the land, House Ogami, again became dark and silent. Once again, there were no living presence’s anywhere within, though it remained full of a different sort of life. During that time, Shiori and Noburo had come to a mutual decision to respect each other's place there and not follow in the path either had previously walked.

Noburo, though far from a redeemed spirit, had gained a grudging respect for his wife that no longer allowed him to abuse her or the others as he once had, and agreed that he would grant her freedom to move about the estate without fear intimidation.

Slowly, over the next few days, several of the spirits, once maddened by Tsumano's curse, came to themselves and wandered passively and without their former aggressive natures. Kasumi was often observed playing with her mother, almost a child herself, and constantly wearing a smile.

Together, they'd both finally found peace, and Kasumi doted on her mother endlessly as the roles of parent and child had been reversed. Perhaps over time, the elder Nagoya would fully recover her mind and once again become the woman she once was, but nothing was certain.

One night, a pair of spirits not known to either of them suddenly appeared, looking quite confused and helpless. One, a young Japanese woman, and the other, an American man who'd introduced themselves as Azusa and Ron, pleaded for help. Shiori regarded them with a sad smile, but quickly invited them in and promised to explain things as best as she could.

Noburo watched in silence, resting his newly formed hand on the railing, whole once more, as the three conversed and remained in the dark hall above them, content to stay out of their pointless discussion. Suddenly his eyes looked away and felt something oddly familiar and dark touch the back of his consciousness...



Within the abandoned family shrine, amidst the broken altar, was a staff with a snake's head on one end, holding a giant gem in its fanged mouth. The same staff once broken in two by the Camera Obscura, now lay whole. Suddenly, a clawed hand took it up and silently faded into the shadows...




Here ends Book I of the Zero Shot Trilogy. Book II is now available, as well.

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Please be sure to give be feedback so I'll know how to improve in the future. Thanks for reading!

Regards,
Scott