hehehe... another chapter! Enjoy!



Hitomi couldn’t sleep that night.

She tossed and turned many times in her bed. She didn’t know whether she was just the one experiencing this kind of fear. And it started right after they left their school.

………..
“So, when will we play again? I guess, we will use the computer room again right?” Maki looked directly at Hitomi. Hitomi scowled at her because Risa was with them.

“Ehh? Why? Is someone scared to play alone?” The two sisters tried to suppress their laugh but let it go when Rika answered Risa.

“I guess they were referring to Hitomi.” Risa smiled evilly at her sempai. Hitomi just lowered her head in shame.

“Interesting… I guess I’ll have a new gossip to post in the forum.”

“Don’t ever do that!” Hitomi screamed in exasperation. Maki immediately covered her mouth for they were still in their school’s vicinity. Hitomi tried to calm down but was shocked to see someone standing behind the wall of the principal’s office. She thought that it was their principal Iida but, when she tried to look closely, she saw a hooded figure instead; the same one in the game. Maki noticed Hitomi’s blank look and shook her friend’s shoulder.

“Hey, what happened to you?”

“No.. nothing… My eyes are just tired.” Hitomi looked back at the place where she last saw the figure but it wasn’t there anymore. She decided to ignore it.

“So, let’s try to continue it tomorrow night. Are you coming again, Rika?” Risa asked.

“Sure. Count me in!”

………………
Rika couldn’t sleep that night.

She let her lights open because she felt like someone was watching her in the dark. And it started right after they finished playing the game.

“Hey, did you turn off the main switch?” Maki asked her sister. Miki nodded before exiting the room. She made a final check before locking it. They walked silently towards the stairs with little illumination from the emergency lights. Hitomi and Rika were following the three from behind.

“Did you enjoy the game?”

“Yes, it sure is scary. I’m lucky to be one of the first people who played it before it will be released in the market.” Rika replied. She was holding on the railing of the stairs so she will not fall down. They were already going down to the 2nd floor when she accidentally looked up. Rika saw a dark figure leaning its head on the 4th floor; the floor where the computer room was. She tried to be calm and counted her friends. Hitomi was walking beside her. Maki and Miki were walking hand in hand in front and Risa was walking beside them. Konno was playing in her house so she didn’t count. All of them were present, but who was that dark figure in the 4th floor? When she looked up again, she saw that the shadow was already in the 3rd floor. She looked in front and decided to remain quiet for she knew that Hitomi didn’t like getting scared.

……………
Risa couldn’t sleep that night.

She stood up and opened her computer. She also opened the lights in her room. She’s the one who’s teasing Hitomi earlier, but she’s the one being scared right now. And it all started when she was walking back to her house.

“So, let’s all meet here tomorrow night at 9.” Hitomi finalized. All of them nodded in agreement. Maki and Miki waved goodbye to them and took the street on the left side of the school.

“So, where’s your house Rika?” Hitomi asked. Rika pointed straight ahead.

“I’m living near the amusement park.”

“Really?! My house is on that way also. I guess we could walk together. How about you Gaki-san?”

“I’ll take this road. Take care!” Risa started walking alone on the street at the right side of their school. The lights from the lamp posts were flickering at the same time. She was beginning to get scared. To add in her nervousness, she can hear someone walking behind her. She didn’t want to look back but her curiosity got the best of her. She looked back slowly and saw a hooded figure walking at a distance. It looks like the hooded woman on the game. She walked faster but she can still hear footsteps following her, and its getting closer to her. She decided to run as fast as she could. She went inside a convenient store and looked at her pursuer. She didn’t see anyone in the vicinity.

………….
Miki couldn’t sleep that night.

She got her pillows and knocked on her sister’s room.

“Hi! Can I sleep here?” Miki entered even before her sister gave her an answer. There were many books, witchcraft books to be exact, on top of her sister’s bed.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m researching about that Eri-Hime. I know grandma used to tell us something about her. I’m looking whether it was written in one of these black books.”

“I remember grandma used to tell us creepy stories about that girl. She said that Eri-Hime drinks the blood of young women in order to preserve her beauty.” Maki looked worriedly at her sister. Miki smiled. “I didn’t talk about it earlier because Hitomi might faint out of fear.”

Miki opened a book. It contained some Latin words. Maki closed it and looked at her sister’s eyes seriously.

“Did you feel something in school?” Miki looked at her sister.

“Don’t tell me you felt something too? What did you see?”

“The hooded woman!” Both of them said at the same time.

“Where did you see her?” Maki asked first.

“When we were walking on the school grounds, I looked up at the computer room and saw that figure looking at us.”

“Yeah, me too. And when we were walking down the street, I feel like someone’s following us.” Miki looked at her and nodded. Tomorrow, they will share what they experienced to the others.

…………….
The sun was shining brightly the next day but it’s not enough to enlighten the worried faces of the four students. They trembled even more when they were being asked in the principal’s office.

“Ohayou gozaimasu, principal Iida.” The four includes Hitomi, Miki, Maki and Risa. Seeing the four of them at the same time, they have a hunch that they were caught.

“Ohayou.” That was their principal’s short reply. Hitomi and Maki sat on the left side of the principal while Miki and Risa, on the right side. “I’ve called the four of you because something happened last night.” Kaori eyed them sternly. Hitomi’s knees were shaking uncontrollably. She was glad that there was a table in front of her which was blocking the principal’s view of their lower abdomen. Miki and Maki sent messages through their eyes. Miki knew that Maki wanted her not to talk because the truth might slip out of her mouth.

“What happened last night?” Maki calmly asked. She held her best friend’s hand and squeezed it a little to stop the other from shaking. Hitomi let out a silent sigh and tried to composed herself.

“Before I answer that, I want to ask where you were last night. Let’s start with you, Ms. Yoshizawa. Hitomi looked at her friends worriedly. Maki pressed her hand harder. She tried her best to sound calm.

“I was playing a game with my friend.”

“Playing where and with whom?”

“In her house. Rika Ishikawa of Mizushima Gakuen called me yesterday to try out a new game.” Hitomi told half truths and half lies. She relaxed a little after their principal’s gaze left her.

“What about you, Ms. Fujimoto?” Miki stiffened. She looked at her sister. Maki understood it and helped her.

“Ano, Miki was in her room playing Counter-Strike. There’s a competition next month so she’s practicing her shooting skills. I, on the other hand was reading my ‘books’ and I joined my sister in playing CS, afterwards.” Kaori tried to intimidate Maki with her stare but the other didn’t seem to be affected at all. She let her gaze pass through Miki and stopped at Risa.

“How, about you then?” It was the three’s turn to get nervous. Asking Risa that question might lead to their doom. They might get expelled from this school.

“Last night, I went to the supermarket with my parents then we went home at around 8. We passed through the school and I was wondering..” Risa looked at their principal weirdly. “why were the lights from the computer room was open?” Iida’s eyes grew wide. The three had every right to be afraid at this time. They wanted to stop Risa from saying anymore information. Miki pinched Risa’s hand secretly. Risa just removed her hand and continued her story.

“I went behind my parents to have a good look. And I saw a shadow of a man walking inside. I thought that maybe it’s just the janitor or the security guard doing some late night check so, I ran after my parents. When we got home, I opened my computer and played against Fujimoto-san. I really like to beat her into pieces when it comes to Counter-Strike.” She grinned at Miki. The principal seemed pretty convinced and leaned back on her chair.

“Now that you’ve mentioned it, I had a report earlier about people going inside that room at night to play. But that’s not the reason why I called you.” Kaori clasped her hands together and supported her chin. “I know that Ms. Michishige, Tanaka and Takahashi were on-line gamers like the four of you. Ms. Niigaki, if I remember it correctly, Ms. Takahashi was your best friend right?”

“Hai.”

“And I saw that girl from Mizushima with your group yesterday right, Ms. Yoshizawa?”

“Hai.”

“And then Ms. Konno joined you a little later, right, Ms. Goto?” Maki nodded. The four of them looked at each other. They didn’t know why their principal was asking these questions.

“So, if something happened to her, it’s obvious that the policemen would ask the persons who got in contact with her in the entire day, right, Ms. Fujimoto?”

“What are you implying by that? Did something happen to her?” Miki and her principal engaged in a staring fight. No one dared to blink even for a second. Finally, after a couple of seconds without saying anything, Kaori sighed and leaned back on her chair again.

“Ms. Konno was found dead, hanging from their ceiling this morning.” The principal watch her students’ eyes grew wide in disbelief.

“No way! She can’t be dead; we were just talking with her last night!” Miki blurted. The principal was surprised at what Miki last said. Maki made up an excuse in the nick of time to save her sister from the principal’s further questioning.

“We were talking with her last night on the phone to ask some cheats about Counter Strike. It’s around 11 if I’m not mistaken. She then said goodbye to us because, she said she heard some noise downstairs.” Hitomi wanted to laugh at her best friend’s acting. The principal seemed pretty convinced on her made up story.

“Is that so? The police did say that it was around 11 in the evening when she died. If they asked for a witness, would you help them solve this mystery?”

“We’re willing to help our poor friend find justice.” Maki said. They were ready to get out of their room but the principal was not yet finished with them.

“It’s really odd, four killings in just 48 hours. And it involves students who are gamers. Do you think someone on-line who has a grudge against them were the ones doing this?”

“I don’t think so. The only ones who were bickering on-line were Miki and Risa; no one else. And Konno-san was too busy in her studies to join our game forum and she’s only playing games rarely ever since she stepped into high school life” answered Maki. Kaori nodded and looked at her watch.

“I need to discuss something with the vice-principal. You can go back to your rooms now.”

“Thank you ma’am!”

………….
The four of them took their lunch outside the school. They went to a restaurant to discuss things. The fifth member arrived just in time.

“Gomen, am I late? What happened?” Rika asked as soon as she saw the four of them in a table. Hitomi moved aside to let her sit down.

“Konno was killed last night.” Risa said in a flat tone. Rika’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Hontou? Maji de? How?”

“It’s really weird. Remember what Konno said about the way she died? That the hooded woman got her by a sickle-like weapon on her throat and left her hanging on the ceiling.” Maki explained. The three other’s who were with her in the office got what she wanted to say.

“What is it? I don’t understand what you’re saying.” Rika asked and looked at her seatmate. Hitomi explained to her what happened.

“We were sent to the principal’s office earlier. We thought that we got caught already but it turns out that she just wanted to know where we were last night because, as what Risa said, Konno was killed. She then told us that,” Hitomi paused for a while and looked at Rika’s eyes seriously “Konno was left hanging in their ceiling.”

The five became silent. It was Rika who first spoke up.

“Have you seen the way they died? I mean, Konno and the others.” The four shook their heads. “I have a friend who can hack into the police department’s database of corpses. I guess I can ask him to copy some files and pictures. Kindly give me their full names, their birthday and the date of their deaths.” Maki got a tissue paper in front of her. Miki lent her pen to her sister and started writing down the needed information. She knew what Rika was thinking right now.

“I’ll search about that hooded woman on the internet, and sis, keep reading your books, we might find an answer there.” Miki suggested. They needed to solve the mystery surrounding the game.

“Hey guys, I don’t mean to scare you but… did you feel anything creepy last night? Or did you see anything?” The four looked at Hitomi bizarrely. Maki gave the pen back to Miki and gave the tissue to Rika. She then turned to face her best friend.

“Why? Did you see something?” Hitomi would like to hit her friend right now but Maki’s voice seemed serious this time. She nodded in response.

“Me too, Miki and I saw something back in the school.” Maki responded. Rika patted Hitomi’s shoulder and smiled at her.

“I saw it too when we were walking down the stairs. I decided to remain quiet because you might fall off the stairs out of fear.” The four looked at Risa. “How about you then?” Risa just nodded in agreement.

“You know what, I have an assumption.” Miki paused. Her theory was bugging her ever since they stepped out of the principal’s office. “What if Principal Iida’s correct? What if someone in the forum will be killing us one by one?

“I think not. There’s too much coincidence for that theory to happen. That person may kill his or her victims in random order. But why was that person only attacking those who played the game? My theory’s that the game’s probably cursed.” Maki looked at Hitomi with a wide grin.

“Cursed like my DVD of ‘The Ring’? Seriously, Yocchan, get a grip.” Hitomi didn’t mind her best friend and continued to say something.

“Anyway, as a precaution, let’s stop playing that game for a while.”

………………..
“Kindly remind me again… Why the heck are we doing this?! I told you before not to play it as a precaution right?” Hitomi’s efforts were left unnoticed. The four decided to play the dreaded game again. “What if this time we’ll get caught? They know that people were using the room after school hours… The security this time might be strict.”

“Do you see any guards roaming nearby? Stop being so nervous…” Risa whispered. The group was already in the 2nd floor of the building. They stooped really low when they pass through the windows. They double checked first whether the hidden camera was working on the 4th floor. When they saw that it’s safe, they proceeded to go to the computer room.

Miki wore gloves before touching the knob of the door. She tried to open the door by inserting a thin but durable prepaid card on the space between the door post and the door. She pushed it further and a little twisting and turning, the door opened.

“You’re like a professional burglar.” Risa commented. Miki stuck out her tongue before entering the room. They decided not to open the lights, and to use the computers which were far from the windows. They saved their games in a protected folder, hidden from anyone who uses the computer during the day.

“Are you sure it’s safe? We could get in a big trouble this time.” Hitomi warned them but it seems that the others were not as concerned as herself. She reluctantly followed them inside the room and closed the door silently. She went to the same computer that she used last night. The room was filled with tension as they start the game again.

The group was able to find the body of Konno’s character in the hidden dungeon inside the library. They saw how Konno’s own chosen weapon was used against her. Beside her character was a body of a girl hanging upside down on her ankle. Based from the ‘Yankee’ type of clothing she’s wearing, they assumed that it’s Reina’s character and the deformed body on the bed was Ai’s. They left the room and went upstairs.

“You know, there’s a little thing that I’ve noticed in the game.” Risa suddenly said. The others looked at her for a second and refocused their attention on the game. Risa continued. “Why is it that every mirror in this palace is broken? Look, that’s the 14th one I’ve seen ever since we started this game last night.” Risa pointed towards the mirror at the end of the hall they were in.

“Yeah, you’re right. Wow, you’re quite an observer… I didn’t know that you have a brain! I thought that you were all mouth than brains.” Miki commented. Risa looked at her angrily and fought back.

“Are you picking a fight with me?” Risa pressed a button and her character hit Miki’s character with her weapon. Miki tried to fight back.

“Stop that! We need to stay alive in this game. Reserve those strikes to our friendly zombies.” Hitomi scolded. She rotated her joystick and looked around the palace hall. She saw something outside the window.

“Hey, is that a shrine?”