Chains - Chapter 1B

Will the melancholy I'm feeling ever stop with just the words "I'm here" coming from you? ~ Florence Joyce

xxxxxx

The moment I blinked, the vision that shocked me as soon as I raised my head had vanished... just like that. And did I really hear it right?

'Help me...' She said those words. Or rather hissed them, which sent chills down to my spine.

But at that moment, I remembered something from my past.

It was about 'him'.

He helped me a lot.

Or at least, it was something I could recall each time that particular memory would flash in my mind. It was something from my elementary days, though. But at the moment, it was the only good memory I could ever think of.

The ones that followed next soon turned my life around and made me live a really weird life.

I sighed upon thinking of that again.

Kamihikoki-san's letter was triggering more memories to appear in my mind. How could his letters do something like this to me?

Then there was that unsettling feeling I had about what happened at the bookstore and also just a while back. Something was weird, I knew it. So what was making me stop doing anything about it?

I looked at the window of my room and found that it was still closed. From there, I could see my reflection. But that alone was enough for me to be surprised upon seeing the reflection from there.

"Chains..." was the only word I could utter. But the chains weren't the one that surprised me when I faced the window.

Those eyes... that looked at me coldly. I was sure of it.

"Are you... the one that was dragging the chains at the bookstore?" Weird of me to ask this question to someone who I knew would never answer me properly.

Especially if that someone was actually a ghost unable to find peace and so they were bound to those chains that I could clearly see.

No response came from that ghost still looking at me coldly. She must be quite angry at me for not noticing her causing disturbance earlier at the bookstore. But I had my reasons for doing that, as well. I couldn't alert Shiro on anything related to paranormal.

I just remained staring at her until her coldly looking eyes turned sad and seemed to be pleading this time.

"What do you want from me?" I asked, despite my voice obviously shaking.

I didn't want to make it obvious. But hey, this was a ghost, okay? It was something I would never get used on seeing and looking at no matter what I did.

The ghost raised her chained right hand and from there, I saw that her palm had a hole on it. What could've caused it, I wonder? Instinctively, I looked at my own right palm and I was shocked at the sight of blood from the exact same spot that I saw the hole on that female ghost's palm.

Again, I looked at the ghost who was still eyeing me with that sad look. That was when I noticed the chains which bound her. The only chained parts of the ghost were her right hand and her left foot. And it was starting to be pulled by an unknown force.

It was always like that. And I knew what it meant.

As soon as I raised my head to face the ghost, she was just staring at me again. But this time, I knew what she wanted to tell me.

"You were placed there, weren't you? They placed you there... the one who killed you."

Once again, she just stared at me. But that alone was enough as an answer. There was no time to waste now that I was able to figure that out.

And it could only mean one thing.

The bookstore was in danger.

xxxxxx

I sighed in relief when I finally reached the bookstore by running. I didn't want to reach any more time and I knew that the time for the last train had already passed.

I kept panting with my hands placed on my knees and I tried my best to catch my breath. Not long after that, I saw someone came out of the bookstore's back gate.

One thing I could tell, it wasn't Shiro.

"Who are you?!" I ended up shouting before I could even realize it.

Of course, with that, it was enough to catch the stranger's attention. And I didn't like the look on his face after the surprised expression he initially showed.

I found myself running towards the back gate soon after and entered the store itself using the key I happened to bring with me. The glint from the stranger's knife caught my attention before I could lock the door completely.

I nearly screamed my heart out when there was a loud bang on the other side of the door. But I locked it completely so that I'd be able to make sure he won't enter here.

"What was that?"

I turned to the source of that voice and soon found Shiro approaching me with a confused expression his face.

"Natsuki?"

"I'll explain later. Right now, we have to close this so that the stranger outside won't be able to get in here."

"Are you saying someone's trying to break in here?"

I nodded and focused on securing the place. "I don't know his reason, but sure enough, he was up to no good."

"Well, that's already something obvious." After finally securing all possible spots where the stranger could enter forcibly, I faced Shiro. "Tell me something. Was there a history of murder or suicide in this place? You once said to me that it was formerly a house that a family of five once owned but decided to sell for some reason. Could deaths be one of those reasons?"

Though Shiro was obviously shocked at all that I've asked and said to him, it didn't take long. His expression soon turned serious before falling into deep thinking.

"They said that there was a murder that happened here 20 years ago. A woman in her 30s was killed here..."

xxxxxx

A little bit of hope was what we were all looking for.

At least, it was something I was able to know now that I've been hearing an incredible story from Shiro with regards to the possible identity of that ghost causing disturbance in this bookstore and had even went to my house just to seek help.

"They said that she was just living alone here ever since moving out from her parents' house. But at times, people could hear her talking to someone after returning home from work so they thought that she decided to finally have a roommate. They weren't sure about that, though. Then one night, she disappeared. No one knew where she had gone to. Until a week later, they found her body sealed in a chest box just beneath the basement of this house."

"Does the case remains unsolved until now? About who killed her?"

Shiro nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. That case had also reached its statute's limit, if we were to base it from the number of years since they found the body. No witnesses were found, either. No possible suspects were identified, as well." He paused for a while before facing me all of a sudden. "By the way, why are you asking me about that?"

"Does the dead woman's hand... had a hole on it? Particularly the palm of her left hand."

Of course, I was already expecting Shiro to be surprised with that. But from the look on his face, he looked unsure as to whether he would ask me something or not.

"Did that woman's ghost appeared to you, Natsuki?" he asked all of a sudden, which surprised me this time.

Did he know?

For some reason, I only chose to avoid his gaze and faced the locked door. Moments later, the pounding on the door began. Along with that, that chilling sensation at the back of my neck started again. When I turned around, I saw her again ー the ghost of that dead woman who was killed here.

At the same time, I saw the chains around her slowly starting to leave her, except for that around her left leg. Upon carefully looking at it, there were definitely chain marks on that part of her leg.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I could only whisper as I saw that.

"One more thing. When they found her body, there was definitely a hole on her right palm caused by a gunshot. The bullet passed through her palm and ended up hitting her chest. She died of strangulation when the gunshot wasn't enough to kill her, they said. Not to mention that the chain wrapped on her left leg was the one used to strangle her."

But the manner on how the woman died wasn't the thing that was bothering me. The moving chains on her leg at the moment... It was something I needed to find out.

However, if that pounding on the door kept on going, it would only be a matter of time before that man broke in here and try to kill us.

"Natsuki... You better get going. I don't think that woman will ever stop causing disturbance here if you don't find out what she wanted you to do," Shiro suggested moments later.

That one made me look at him. "But what about you? And that man outside?"

"I can handle him. I may not look like it, but I can handle guys trying to cause trouble like this. Besides, if he's this determined to break in here despite the impact-resistant glasses I specifically used for the store's windows, then he wanted something in here. You should find out what it was before he gets his hands on it."

Normally, it would be hard for me to believe Shiro like this. But the way he was looking at me at the moment only told me that he was serious. A lot of things must have happened since he left the town for him to become like this.

To be even more dependable than he ever was when I was a child.

I nodded and soon headed to the place where the chain binding that woman at the moment could possibly end.

The answer was there.

I just have to find it.

xxxxxx

I finally reached it.

After running for a short while, I finally found the end of the chain. And it was...

"Beyond that wall, huh?" I muttered as I tried to prepare myself to approach it.

But then, something made me frown a bit as soon as I got a closer look at that wall.

Why was it wooden?

Now that I realized it, that part seemed to be the only one which was made of wood. If that was so...

Wait... This all seemed to be a bit easy. But no doubt, the chain that the female ghost was bound to had ended there. Beyond that wooden wall.

The answer as to why she was still restless, besides the fact that the killer hadn't been found after all these years, was kept beyond that wall for 20 years.

I shook my head to shrug off the thoughts running in my head that only made me hesitant to do anything. I had to put an end to this commotion. That woman was hoping for the same thing, as well.

At least, I was able to figure that out.

Taking the axe that Shiro probably decided to keep there, I took a deep breath and gathered all my strength to break that wooden wall with the axe I was holding.