I turn around to find Haruka looking at me with wary concern. Like she expects me to start shouting about aliens and lizard people and isn’t sure she could outrun me. Why doesn’t she remember what happened? She was standing right there. The girl ran right past her.
Everywhere I look the room is back to normal. Not a seam out of place. It’s almost like I hallucinated the whole thing. If I did, where is Satomi? Maybe I truly have gone nuts and she’s around here somewhere safe and sound, but something tells me things aren’t going to be that simple.
I sweep my gaze around the room one more time. There has to be something I missed. There is no way everything could just vanish like that. I almost give up and resign myself to a life of madness when I spot it. A piece of blackened cardboard jammed into the viewing window of the door.
The birthday card.
I rush over and reef it from the window, trying my best to ignore Haruka’s worried insistence that I calm down. The cartoon girl in her kimono looks up at me with a knowing smile. The card feels chalky and unnatural in my fingers. I could have sworn I’d left this thing in my bag. I definitely didn’t leave it crammed in some window. With shaky hands I pry the card open.
The picture inside fills me with dread. Seven young girls smiling happily at a birthday party. It’s the same as always except for two small changes. Grimy and smeared across Satomi’s face is a large red X. The grotty red ink still looks fresh. Scribbled above her face in the same dark ink are three messy words that make me choke.
‘See you soon.’
Chapter 20
I jolt up in bed, sweat dripping down my forehead, making my hair stick to my skin and partially cover my eyes. Images of fire, of falling, of being pushed, of being thrown through a window, of cruel and pointless death plagued my dreams and no matter what I did nothing ever changed, someone always died. Everywhere I turned was the girl in the fox mask, cruel red eyes blazing through the holes in the mask, waiting for me. And always the victim would turn to me and whisper the same words before they died.
‘It’s after you. The kitsune is coming for you.’
Even now I can feel those malevolent red eyes regarding me from their place in the darkness. Mocking me. Wanting me to be one of those it makes suffer. The kitsune. The fox. I shiver, resisting the urge to look at the closet. Every time something happened a fox has always been there. I’m haunted by them. Everywhere I turn, there’s a fox waiting for me. A kitsune waiting for me.
No one else ever seems to see them. Haruka was standing right there when the fox-girl killed Satomi, and still she claims nothing happened. Satomi didn’t show up for music club, and aside from a furious Sakura no one else seemed to find it odd. Haruka just kept looking at me like I wasn’t right in the head. Even when Sakura called Satomi’s phone and got no answer.
Every time I try to explain it to her, she just tells me to calm down and wait until tomorrow before declaring an emergency. She’s so sure that Satomi is going to rock up to school and my whole hallucinatory fit will be over. She’s so sure that I’ve gone and flipped my lid. I almost wish that were the case. No one ever believes me about anything. I haven’t seen Misa since before I entered that room and Matt…
Matt!
I push myself out of bed and stagger forward, searching for my phone. Using it as a light, I find up the hastily scrawled note Matt shoved in my hand in the few seconds I saw of him before Haruka dragged me off to juku. Grasping my hand around the ragged strip of paper with messy numbers scribbled across it, I punch in Matt’s number and dial.
After the first ring, a tired sounding voice answers, yawning, “Moshi, moshi.”
“Matt, you believe me, don’t you?” I blurt out in English, not even bothering with Japanese.
“Rin, do you have any idea what time it is?” he continues, switching to English while giving another dramatic yawn. There’s something fake sounding about it.
“Um, no.” I dart my gaze around the room and it lands on the neon lights of Haruka’s bedside table’s alarm clock. 2:13.
Feeling very sheepish, my cheeks burn as embarrassment washes over me. In my excitement, I failed to consider the time at all. Haruka stirs in her bed but doesn’t wake up. I didn’t even think of keeping my voice down either. “Sorry,” I mumble, trying to lower my voice. “I’ll just let you go.”
“No,” he says, suddenly sounding a lot more awake. “What is so important that you had to call at two in the morning?”
“Do you know what happened to Satomi?”
“Yes and no.”
“Huh?” I can’t form a single coherent response to that.
“I know what the manga says happened, but what I remember happening doesn’t make sense.” The weariness in his voice doesn’t sound forced anymore. “The manga shows one thing and my memory shows another. I was watching when it happened. I can almost remember seeing the glass break and Satomi fall, but when I try to focus on it all I remember is nothing happening until you came to the window.”
“That doesn’t make sense. Why am I the only one that remembers what happened?”
“Wait, you remember? Tell me exactly what happened from your perspective.”
I give Matt a quick rundown of everything that happened in that room. The shouting I heard, the girl in the fox mask, Satomi dying, Haruka forgetting about it even though she was right there, everything. The more I talk the more it feels like I imagined the whole thing. Maybe when I get to school tomorrow, Satomi will be fine and I can forget the whole thing.
Matt stays quiet for a long time before saying, “Hang on.”
The phone falls silent. All I can hear coming from his side is the soft shuffling of pages being turned. When he picks up the phone again there’s cautious excitement in his voice. “Found it. You say you heard shouting before you entered the room? And you never spoke to Satomi about your nightmares?”
“No, they never came up.” It still bugs me that Matt always seems to know everything about me.
“Well, the manga shows you dragging Satomi to that room where you tell her about some dreams you’ve been having. Satomi tells you she’d had the same dreams. That’s wh—“
“She what?” I cut in, suddenly very frightened of what he has to say.
“Satomi tells you that she’s been having similar dreams. Red eyes in the closet. That’s when you start acting very out of character. You start saying some really cruel things and the two of you start fighting. Things escalate quickly, ending with her getting pushed through the window. I’d hoped to get to her in time to warn her, but it all happened too fast.”
“You think I’m the one who killed Satomi?” I raise my voice more than intended and Haruka shifts in her bed looking like she might wake up any second.
“What? No, sorry,” he says. “I told you earlier that I’d noticed inconsistencies in the manga. I think whoever is doing this made themself look like you in order to get to Satomi. I think that’s who the girl in the fox mask was.”
“What does that mean?” I make sure to keep my voice low. I dart a glance over at Haruka and find her still sound asleep. Boy, she must be a seriously heavy sleeper.
“I think we might be dealing with a shapeshifter.” His words are blunt.
“You can’t be serious.” I try to sound more skeptical than I really feel. “That’s impos—”
“Says the girl with a house spirit stalking her,” he interjects.
“Fine. How do we go about finding this shapeshifter?” It can’t be any more ridiculous than what I’ve dealt with so far.
“I’ve got some ideas that need looking into. I’ll see you tomorrow and we’ll discuss what to do then.”
He hangs up before I can say another word and I have to wonder what I’ve gotten myself into. I’m teaming with a boy armed with a fortune telling manga showing pictures of my imaginary ghost friend to take on a sinister evil twin with an obsession with foxes. My life is a frigging cartoon.
* * *
Any hopes that I
imagined the whole thing yesterday, are slowly vanishing. As soon as we got off the bus Haruka dragged me up to the music room because Sakura called an emergency session that consisted mostly of her yelling and glaring at people. Apparently she received a message from Satomi last night informing her that she was dropping out of the music club. Apparently.
Haruka just ignored me when I pointed out how convenient it all was, saying it didn’t prove anything, that Satomi would turn up eventually. So while she and Miki attempted to calm the furious Sakura down, I ducked out in search of Matt. At least he hasn’t written me off as crazy. Not yet anyway.
I slip into the classroom and almost scream when I find his seat empty. He better not have disappeared on me again. He’s starting to give me serious abandonment issues. If he vanishes again for another two days I will murder him.
“Morning,” a tired sounding voice calls from behind me nearly giving me a heart attack.
“Will you quit doing that?” I glare at him as he slides into his seat. How does he always manage to sneak up on me? Is he doing it on purpose?
“Doing what?” Matt yawns before taking a swig from the jumbo-size cup of coffee he smuggled in under his jacket. “Sorry, I’ve been up since two doing research.”
“Sorry about that. So, did you find anything?”
“Yeah.” He takes another long sip from his cup before continuing. “I think we’re dealing with a kitsune.”
A shudder runs through me as I remember the terrifying nightmares I had last night. ‘The kitsune is coming for you.’ I try to brush off the chills creeping up my spine. “But what’s to be scared of about a fox?”
“A fox demon actually. That’s why we keep seeing foxes everywhere. Kitsune are very dangerous tricksters. They can shape-shift into anyone they like, and cast powerful illusions that are almost indistinguishable from reality. That would explain why no one seems to remember what happened to Satomi. Or Yuki.” Matt falls silent for a few seconds before looking up at me. “They also have the power to manifest themselves in people’s dreams.”
“Why would a fox demon have a grudge against us?” I say, remembering the nightmares that have plagued me since I came to Japan.
“Kitsune are incredibly vengeful creatures that are known to lash out over broken promises or imagined slights.”
“Oh great, so I managed to piss off a vengeance demon.”
He shakes his head, a look of seriousness washing over his features. “I think whatever happened at your seventh birthday might have accidently summoned one.”
“Okay, then how do we stop it?”
“That’s the problem. We’d have to find it first. I haven’t found anything particularly useful on that account. Most of the stories involve exposing the fox when its tail pops out. Usually by getting it drunk.”
“So, what, do we try and get everyone drunk?”
“What’s this about getting somebody drunk?” Miki pops up beside me, looking curiously between me and Matt. “Are we having a party or something?”
Great, this is exactly the kind of thing I need getting back to Grandfather. That I’m planning on holding a kegger at some point. I glance around to see Haruka glaring at us from behind Miki. She looks like she’s trying to make Matt’s head explode with her mind. I gather she still hasn’t gotten over her dislike of him. Probably blames him for my recent craziness.
“What? No. I was just talking about…” What can I possibly say that won’t get me in more trouble should the wrong person hear it? “About wanting to spend more time with my friends, but I can’t because I’m not allowed to go anywhere.”
Miki tilts her head and looks at me like she’s trying to process the logic behind my flimsy excuse. A full five seconds pass before she breaks out in a disturbingly wide grin. “Oooh! I just had the best idea ever. We should have a sleepover. That way Rin-san can spend time with us without having to go out. Sorry, Matt-san, girls only.”
Miki bounces away happily, dragging Haruka over to her desk to plan, like the entire matter is already settled. Matt just shrugs at this development and sips his coffee. One second we’re talking about a deadly supernatural force, the next I’m being shanghaied into a slumber party. What the hell just happened?
Chapter 21
“I’m so excited about this.” Miki bounces up and down on Haruka’s bed as she watches Haruka unfold another futon beside my already made one, taking up most of the remaining floor space of this small bedroom. “It’s been ages since we’ve had a sleepover like this.”
All through school some small part of me kept hoping that Satomi would suddenly walk in. At least if she came to school I wouldn’t have to worry about killer fox demons or mysterious manga, I could just quietly lament the loss of my sanity and move on with my life. But she wasn’t there. Everyone assumed she’d taken another sick day without telling anyone. In fact, no one seemed to care that she was missing. It’s like she ceased to exist to them. Not a good sign.
“Yeah.” Haruka pushes herself to her feet, brushing her hands down her jeans, and smiles a forced smile. “It’ll be fun.”
“Come on, let’s go to dinner.” Haruka offers a hand to me, clearly still pissed that I’m catching whatever madness Matt has, but trying her best to get past it and fall in with Miki’s eternal bubbliness. I decide to put my problems out of mind, and accept her help getting up. Who knows, maybe tonight will actually be fun.
“Meshi meshi meshi, hara peko peko, meshi meshi meshi,” Miki skips ahead of us, singing to herself.
“Gomenne, Rin-chan. I am sorry for my behaviour towards Matt-San. I know I have no right in choosing your friends.” I glance aside and see Haruka smiling to herself as she watches Miki skip down the stairs. She seems to have shaken off her bad mood entirely.
“Don’t worry about it.” There’s nothing I can do about my supernatural woes this weekend, so I’ll try ignoring all that for now and just enjoy tonight. “Let’s go eat.”
As if to undermine my resolve, I catch sight of Misa watching us from the doorway of a nearby room with a look of dread on her tiny face. What’s up with her? Whatever, if Haruka can put my growing insanity out of mind for the night, then so can I.
At the bottom of the stairs, Miki stops her skipping and darts her head about like she’s never seen the place before. “Excuse me, Haru-chan, Rin-chan, I need to use the bathroom. Go on ahead of me.”
Haruka nods and Miki goes skipping off down the hallway in search of the bathroom. I swear I can hear her singing “Toire toire toire, doko ni aru?” to herself as she does. ‘Toilet toilet toilet, where are you?’ It’s like she’s five.
Haruka leads me into the dining room and we take our places at the table without a word. It’s like every other family meal I’ve shared since I got here, awkward uncomfortable silence with Grandmother fidgeting and muttering to herself and Grandfather looking stern and authoritative. Haruka’s father hasn’t even shown up this time.
Five minutes later, Miki slides into her seat with a low ‘sumimasen’ and suddenly everyone is acting friendly and normal. It’s like a switch has been thrown as soon as their houseguest entered the room. Grandmother calmly talks to Miki about cooking and school with no sign of the raving loon who threw ash at me just last week. Even Grandfather seems to be close to smiling as he watches his favourite granddaughter’s best friend help herself to a third serving of tofu. Is it just me that they all hate? Is that what this is?
When dinner is finally over, I bow my head and get up from the table, glad to be free of this happy family scene that Miki’s somehow provoked. It’s all so wholesome it’s sickening. Why does everyone act like I’m some curse brought down upon the family, but the second a guest comes over it’s all normalcy and smiling? I don’t get it.
I start moving towards Grandfather’s room for our nightly routine. Dinner, followed by being force-fed medication—that frankly I think doesn’t do jack—under the watchful gaze of Grandfather before crawling upstairs to sleep on the floor. Like an ani
mal in a zoo. The worst part is, I think I’m starting to get used to it.
As I pass the front door, I hear a gentle rapping against the glass. I can’t see past the cardboard draped across the cracks in the door, and having never learnt my lesson about being curious, I open it to find Misa standing outside. “What are you doing out there?”
“I was tricked. Someone moved the ash on the door and now I can’t get back in.” Misa looks shaken as she points at the strip of black powder across the doorway.
“Why don’t you just pull your door-smash act like usual?” I’m sure if she really tries she can finish off this door. Pretty sure Grandfather is still trying to figure out how to blame me for it anyway, may as well make it total destruction.
“I can’t enter someone else’s house without leaving my old one.”
What? Is she a vampire now or something? “Whatever. Stay out there then. Maybe I’ll get some peace and quiet for a change.”
I shut the door and start walking away when I hear her shout. “You need me in there. I need to protect you!”
I almost turn back to find out what she’s on about when Haruka walks out of the dining room. “Who was at the door?”
“No one. Thought I heard a cat or something.” I see Grandfather standing in the doorway to his study looking sternly at me, so I decide Misa can wait. “I’ll be up soon.”
Haruka gives me a quizzical look before nodding her head and heading upstairs. May as well get this over with. By the time I get to the room, Grandfather is already in his usual spot, bottle of pills at the ready. No water this time for some reason. He watches me with interest as I take my place in front of him.
“You need to take your medicine.” He holds the small off-white pill out to me and waits.
I reach out for it.
“You need to take your medicine.” He holds out the pill and I feel a lump in my throat.
I nod and try to swallow the lump before reaching for the tablet.