Chapter 8 [Elementary Days (pt.5)]

//Previously: It wasn't until Mama Enatsu informed them that they finally used the sleeping bags. But was it for sleeping? ...no//

"Hey...is anybody still awake?"

There were all kinds of replies, confirming Sachie's suspicions.

"Then...should we do something?"

"Like what?"

"Hmmm, how about truth or dare?"

"But that's so classic!"

"Well, do you have anything better in mind, stupid?"

"I am not stupid! Why do you even keep calling me that?"

"Because I have no idea what else to say."

"You have so much options though! There's Mayumi-chan, Mayumi, beautiful princess-"

"PFFFT-BWAHAHAHA! P-princess HAHAHAHAHA!"

"Shut up!"

Mayumi threw a pillow at the laughing Kazuo.

"HEY! How dare you!"

The victim threw back the pillow, only to realize it hit an innocent bystander.

"...Kazuo SugawaraaaaaAAAAAAAAAA!"

"AH! Wait, I'm sorry! Have mercy Sweet Sachi-oof!"

"Hah! Serves you right gran-gyah! Why did you hit me, chibi?!?"

"Stop. Calling. Me. CHIBIIIIIIIIIII!!!"

Kazuo and Mayumi begged for mercy as they tried to counterattack the one-sided massacre.

"AHH! Hah! You missed-huh?"

The three turned to the direction of bloodlust. It was Emiko, who was watching with thrill until she faced a hit on her face.

"E-Emiko!"

'Ah fruck! I messed up real bad! Wait, isn't it Kazuo's fault? He was the one who hit her after all! Am I going to be fi-'

SMACK

"Ah! That hurts!!!"

Mayumi realized that while she was questioning her life choices, the same, admirable goddess threw the fluffy object at her.

"Emiko?"

"What? Shocked? Too bad for you, but I have 27 years of experience with pillow fights, so expect no mercy."

Seeing a smirk on her face, the rest sighed with relief. They ignored the '27 years of experience' but shivered from the 'no mercy.' Before they even knew it, the four attacked each other with courage, like brave warriors. While fighting with joy, Mayumi heard very familiar footsteps.

"Ah! My mom's coming! Sleep!"

Without any thought, the kids did as ordered. As expected, the door opened widely only to show 4 children sleeping so peacefully. The door then closed slowly, leaving the children trying not to giggle.

"Phew! That was close!"

"Yeah, we should sleep now."

Sachie received strange stares in the awkward silence.

"...are you serious?"

"Um, yeah? Why?"

"We're obviously not done!"

"We're not?"

"No, of course not! We have one more thing left to do."

"What is it?"

"Obviously not! We need horror stories!"

"Horror stories?"

|Warning: Mentions of paranormal activities, disturbing story/history, etc. Please skip this chapter if you don't feel comfortable with such ideas.|

"Isn't that also a classic in sleepovers, Mayumi? Like, I don't know, truth or dares?"

"This is different, truth or dares can be done everywhere across the globe but horror stories? It's exactly reserved for sleepovers, nowhere else allowed!"

"Aren't you just saying that so we do what you want?"

"N-no!"

Sachie could easily see through that lie.

'I could tell the truth but...Mayumi doesn't have much friends despite being an extrovert. Can't blame her, it's just that the rest of school is too basic and only few can follow her "extra-ness." If they knew of her love for horror, she would be ostracized. It's pretty weird that a 1st grader knows so much scary stories but...that's just Mayumi. Though, I didn't think she would be so open about it to Kazuo.'

After giving one more look to the pleading friend, Sachie sighed with a nod.

"Fine, as long as the others are okay with it too."

"YAY! Emiko, Kazuo, you're fine with it too, right? Pleaseeeeee?"

"*giggle* Of course, Mayumi."

"Nice! How about you, Kazuo?"

"Um, I think I'll pass."

"Bruh, what are you, a wimp? Aren't you supposed to be a boy?"

"I'm not a wimp!"

"Sure..."

"I'm really not!"

"We know that, Kazuo. Don't worry. If you really were a wimp, you wouldn't even be hanging out with us!"

"True, like, you don't see much boys around me and Mayumi here."

"Tch, he's still a scaredy cat."

Emiko gave Mayumi a strong glare.

"Well, people these days tend not to like horror stories. There are such things called preferences, you know? Plus, it's normal for humans to not like something or be scared. So, we shouldn't be calling each others such names."

"*cough* Mayumi."

"HEY, DO YOU WANT A FIGH-"

"Back to Kazuo, do you perhaps want to go to the bathroom? We'll bring you back once we're done."

"Okay, sounds fine to me."

Then the brave boy walked to the bathroom and closed the door.

"Good! Let me think, oh boy, there's way too much to tell! Oh, how about the one of Hachishakusama? That's perfect, right, Sachie?"

"Hachishakusama as in...NO! THAT IS AN ABSOLUTE NO-"

Before she could speak any further, her mouth was covered tightly by a hand.

"Alright then, let's begin! Hachishakusama is said to be an evil entity about 8-feet-tall!"

"8-feet?!? That's crazy tall!"

"Yeah, and guess what? She's said to kidnap children, and nobody knows what happens after!"

"...sorry to ruin the mood but Mayumi, that's just cliché."

"Of course, I know that, but keep on listening! So back to what I was saying, that yurei (Japanese ghost) announces her arrival through making a small sound. Po po po. As she gets closer, it naturally gets louder too. Apparently, a young boy met Hachishakusama during stay at his grandparents' house."

Emiko gulped from the strange tension.

"While he was just minding his own business, the little boy heard a sound quite distant. Po po po. He squinted his eyes, trying to make way to find the cause of the voice, when he saw a tall figure. It seemed to be wearing a long, white dress and sunhat. He managed to find out despite the masculine voice, the owner was indeed, a female. Or was it?"

'Trans? Crossdresser? Is it a them? Did they slay?' Emiko thought.

"Suddenly, the fog slightly lifted and the sun streamed quite through. There, he saw the figure. It had no eyes."

'Isn't that Slenderman?' Sachie questioned (with the prior information of other such creepypasta).

"The boy, frightened to the core, ran as fast as he could to his grandparents! There, he explained of everything that happened! Word by word, the elders paled in color as they heard much longer. Though very hesitant, they decided to call for a witch."

"A WITCH?!? WHY?!? AREN'T THERE EXORCISTS OR MONKS FOR A REASON?!?"

"Eh, dunno. Wait, Kazuo? I thought you said you'll be in the bathroom?"

"I changed my mind, continue."

Mayumi just rolled her eyes but gave a content smile.

"Continuing, the three were told that the entity was Hachishakusama, meaning 8-feet-tall. Hachishakusama is said to be just an evil being but another story claims that she has been harassed by young children for her height. Eventually, the harassment went too far that she died, forming a vengeful spirit."

"That's actually really sad."

"True, but you never know. A cousin of mine told me that the said yurei was actually a serial killer as a human who couldn't move on. Now, after they heard the backstory, the witch gave a set of ritual for the little boy. He would have to stay in a dark room, no windows, and place 4 bowls of salt, each at their respective corners. He would only need to stay in there, just for a day, but no matter what must he ever open the door. They were also given some talisman to put over the locked door."

"That's creepy as hell! But again, why did they search for a WITCH?!?"

"Shut the hell up Kazupoop! I'm trying to tell a story here!!! An urban legend, in fact? Back to the ritual-"

"THERE'S MORE?!?"

"Okay, can somebody just tape up that boy's mouth please?"

A hand quickly placed duct tape over Kazuo's mouth.

"Thank you, so the witch continued, 'The entity will attempt to lure you out of the room, but do NOT open the door. She will even try to enter with force but will fail for sure. You will understand this once the salt becomes black, because that is the reason for blocking the force out. Once the sun arise, you will have to leave this place forever. And never, ever, EVER come back.' Then with that, the ritual was set in place."

"MMH HM MH HMHM MH!"

"Dang, that duct tape must be REALLY strong! So the boy was locked inside the room, and he was incredibly bored, only with a candle as his light source. Suddenly, he heard a voice coming outside the door. It seemed to be that of the chains locking the door tight. Quietly, but for sure, he heard his grandfather's voice. 'Sweetie, everything's alright now! You may come out! It's all over!' The boy was relieved, thinking he was telling the truth. But as he got closer to the door, he felt this huge instinct through his guts to NOT open the door. Especially with the witch's reminder, he backed away."

"MMH HM HM HM MH HMM!"

"'Sweetie? What are you doing? Open the door please? Come on, open the door! ...I SAID OPEN THE DOOR YOU ********! OPEN IT UP! PO PO PO PO PO PO PO PO PO PO PO!' The boy shuddered from the overwhelming voice. He began to cry from the traumatizing sound. After an hour or two, it stopped. The boy refused to get out of his cradling-posture until another hour came up. Then, a small creak was heard. He was scared, what if it's the monster? Thankfully, it was his grandparents instead, opening the door with the keys in hand. They quickly picked him up to send their grandchild off to a different country, where he'll be safe. Along the way to the car, the little boy saw the blackened rice and through the windows, a tall figure in a long, white dress. With a sunhat. And a feature he didn't notice before. A big, black smile."

KABOOM

"AHHHHHH!!!"

The little children huddled together from the sudden sound.

"Pfft! That scared me so badly! Didn't think I'll ever get shocked from a horror story."

"Yeah, but that's a charm of Mayumi's! She's an amazing storyteller!"

"Aww, thank you!"

"MHH HM HM MH MHHH!"

"Hahaha! Now that we're done with the story, we should take that tape off of Kazuo."

The moment the girls did as ordered, Kazuo screamed very loudly!

"AHHHHHHHH!"

"Sheesh, why are you screaming, crybaby?"

"N-n-n-no!"

"Then what is it?"

"B-b-behind the closet!"

"Huh?"

As they turned to the said location, the girls were met with a slightly, open door. Through that creak, the lightning suddenly flashed. Even for a second, they knew what they saw. A sort of sunhat and a white dress.

"Po po po."

The kids knew exactly what to do right after that.

"GYAAAAA! IT'S COMING!!!"

"I DON'T WANNA DIE!!!"

"WE'RE ALL GONNA DIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!"

They rushed downstairs when Mayumi in front was met with an obstacle blocking her way.

FLASH

"AHHHHHHHH!"

"Woah there, why are you girls still up so late?"

"E-Enatsu-san/Kaa-san!"

Mama Enatsu was flabbergasted seeing the once peaceful children be sobbing with tears and snots.

"The-the-the door was-wahhhh!"

"She, she's still awake! She's here! Wahhhh!"

"The figure, 8-feet-tall, po po WAHHHHHHHH!!!"

"Shhhh, calm down, it's okay, I'm here. Now deep breaths, shhh."

Using the power of mothers, the tearful bunches finally stopped their waterfalls.

"Now, are you all ready to tell me what happened?"

"So, Mayumi was telling us a scary story, it was Hachishakusama!"

"Mayumi? Oh...young lady, you shouldn't scare your friends that much!"

"It's not me/her!"

"Okay, my bad. Please continue."

"So then, Kazuo told us to look at Mayumi's closet and there, the door was slightly open and we-we saw *hic hic*!"

"Saw?"

"...we saw her, Hachishakusama! And now she's going to eat ussssss."

"Hey, girls, maybe you saw something wrong?"

"NO! IT WAS HER SUNHAT AND LONG, WHITE DRESS!"

"Okay, let's go upstairs to make sure first."

"Huh, no! Kaa-san! You can't die!!!"

"I'm not going to die, plus, Mama Enatsu here is stronger than you think."

Despite the girls' attempt to stop her, the confident woman walked upstairs to Mayumi's room. She turned on the light and began turning to the closet. The trio covered their eyes in horror until they heard,

"Oh, this is my kimono! Mayumi, why do you even have this?"

The strong mother showed a beautiful, white kimono.

"You must have confused this with, um, Hachiwaksay?"

"It's Hachishakusama. So all this was just fake, phew! Hahah-wait, where's Kazuo?!?"

Of course, even after regaining the peaceful hope, Mayumi just had to break it.

"Kazuo? No, please, no!"

"Kazuooooooooooo!"

"Please, speak to usssssss, there's no way you dieeeedddddddddd!!!"

"WHAT?!?"

"AHHHH!"

"Why are you screaming?"

"K-Kazuoooooooo!"

"You're not deaddddddd!"

"We thought you were taken by Hachishakusamaaaaaaa!!!"

"Chill out, I was just at the bathroom when you all began screaming and stuff. Pfft, you look so dumb!"

"Rude. Wait, bathroom?"

"Er, yeah. You all told me to go to the bathroom alone since I'm 'scared' of horror stories, and I AM NOT just so you know."

"Huh? But didn't you come back later?"

"What are you all talking about? I didn't step a single foot outside the door until you three called me while crying. Guess that I'm just that special to you all, huh?"

Contrary to Kazuo's expectations, there was no such comeback. Instead, the three girls were terrified on such information.

'If that person wasn't Kazuo...'

'Then who was he?'

And just like that, the girls fainted, not having any more energy to wail and sob.

Bonus points!:

-Did you notice anything sus BEFORE the warning?

-Did you notice that Mama Enatsu OPENED the closet door?

-If the white kimono was mistaken for the white dress, where did the sunhat come from?

-Who put duct tape over "Kazuo?"

-Yes, I'm a horror fan. I also enjoy traumatizing my friends with scary stories and giving them nightmares! What about you?

-What's YOUR favorite scary legend/story (if you have one)?