"Hachisakusama"

Chapter 2- Encounter with Hachishakusama

The next morning, I woke up, I had the strangest dream, a vivid dream about an unusually tall woman. The sounds lingered in my head, "Po, po, po, po......" Until my aunt called me down for breakfast, I felt sick in my stomach for some reason, at the table, I poked at my eggs and rice, I didn't feel like eating.

It seemed that my Aunt sensed something was wrong, she asked if I was alright, I told her how I heard strange noises last night. "Was there a person outside? A tall woman wearing a white hat?" My Aunt and uncle bombarded me with questions. I didn't understand why they felt so anxious. Until what my Aunt said next, shook me. "Akane, you've encountered Hachishakusama.."

Hachishakusama? Like the urban legend? I didn't know much about it but I vividly remember scary stories my mom told me as a kid, Hachishakusama.....Hachishakusama......was real..?

After breakfast, my Aunt sat me down, my uncle sat next to her, and my grandma rocked in her chair, sighing. "The person you saw yesterday, she wasn't a woman.. or a human." My aunt said as we painted on yellow paper strips with red Japanese writing. My throat tightened as she continued.

"There was an urban legend that has been going around for centuries now, it's about a demonic creature that takes form as a woman, who can turn beautiful, or into an old hag, and she usually goes for children ages around 3-17... It says that when she likes you or sees you, she will constantly haunt you until the person goes insane, and when you're finally possessed, she manipulates them into...Killing themselves." I swallowed a big lump in my throat, I wasn't ready for this. We put the yellow paper strips around my room walls, and a container of salt on the corner.  The air grew heavy with tension as the ritual unfolded. My aunt explained that, after the ritual, the victim must relocate abroad for complete safety, but she cannot guarantee my safety.