Chapter 4

Kelly looked at the old and mottled sign that had been there for an unknown number of years. It was made of stone and all the writings on it were completely faded now.

"That looks scary." Kelly said.

"Ah, don't be scared. I'll fight the ghosts if they come." Aria said while patting her chest.

"Still…" Kelly was not fully convinced.

"Come on!" Aria said as she dragged her fried.

The followed the sign and saw an trail that went a little to the top of the hill. But for two energetic kids, this path was nothing and they quickly reached its end. There they finally found the place they were looking for.

"There it is! Look I told you it won't be scary." Aria said while pointing at the old shrine.

The shrine in question was just a few rocks that were piled up on top of each other and kept on a flat altar. There were some ceremonial ribbons hanging from its sides, but they were too weathered now to stay full intact.

There were weeds growing through the cracks of the paved ground and it was obvious the shrine had been abandoned for a long time now.

"Hmm… it's not scary, but it's not fun either. It just looks like junk." Kelly said.

"Hey! Grandpa Lu said to be respectful to the shrine and its deity." Aria replied dutifully.

But just as she said this, they could hear some sounds coming from the distance.

"Kelly!…. Aria!"

Hearing this Kelly's eyes went wide.

"Oh no, they are calling for us, we need to go back!" Kelly said urgently.

"Yes yes, just give me a second." Aria said before she walked to the shrine.

"What are you doing?" Kelly questioned.

"Grandpa Lu once said that it's disrespectful to leave a shrine without giving an offering." Aria said as she placed a little candy on the altar.

She then nodded her head and turned back.

"Let's head back now." Aria said to her fried.

"Okay! I wonder if they have pudding too…" Kelly spoke as the two girls disappeared in the distance.

A few minutes after they were gone though, the sound of wind blowing could be heard.

~Sigh~

A sigh echoed across the wind as a pair of eyes opened up in the crevice that was formed by the stacked pile of stones.

"Who… why did I wake up?…" A string of questions were heard coming from the crevice.

The pair of eyes were strange as well. The sclera was white while the pupils were just pitch black holes. These eyes started at the little candy before a sound was heard again.

"an offering?…"

~shua~

In the next moment, a mass of darkness came out of the crevice and swirled around the shrine before forming into a dark figure, the features of which could not be seen. The figure had a human like shape and extended its hand towards the altar.

It took the candy in its hand before turning around and looking towards the base of the hill.

Its eyes were peered into the space and passed through the obstacles as if they didn't even exist before coming to settle on a little girl that looked to be five years old.

"A human managed to wake me up? How?" The figure muttered before fading away into thin air.