Ghost Stories:Shiryo Village *Editing*

Chapter 8

“My fellow villagers of Shiryo Village. I ask for your forgiveness for being unable to complete the ceremony in the past. I ask for forgiveness from my family for bringing dishonor to our name. But today, I will restore honor to my family name and give the villagers what they have always wanted. Freedom from this curse. The Ceremony of Unity will finally be complete tonight on the one thousandth blood moon “.

I felt myself pale at the quick speech. That is Lara's voice, the mix of sweet and gentle with hatred and strain. I have to risk it all now or else Nina will be in great danger. Something inside of me wanted to make sure that Nina is safe and my heart aches at the thought of her going along with this whole ceremony. I need her. I need her to be safe.

The ghosts can see me as I sprint down the pathway. Yet, none of them make an attempt to stop me. They are all too busy looking towards the cavern, waiting for the rapture. They probably figured that by the time I reach the ceremonial room, it will be too late and the ceremony with already be complete and they. They are probably right.

It didn’t take me long to get back in front of those large wooden doors that separate me from the falsely royal palace behind them. Taking in a deep breath, I yanked opened the wooden doors and glared darkly at the temple that was a couple of miles away from me. This was it, I ran down the stone steps of the entry way and then ran down the cavern grounds, heading straight to the temple.

Just a little bit farther. Wait for me Nina. Wait for me.

Suddenly, a spear blocked my path and I looked up at one of the masked soldiers standing before me. He lifts his spear and points straight at me, signaling that my death has come and he will be the one to sentence me to it.

"Damn it... ", I muttered under my breath. I have no time to deal with this guy. No time at all. Nina needs me.

I took a step back and ran towards one of the houses, urgently pulling the door open only to be face to face with another masked ghost. I retraced my steps and ran towards another house, pulling the door open. Luckily this one is ghost free. I didn’t hesitate and dashed up the stairs while thinking of an escape plan at the same time.

The pounding of feet from the masked ghosts behind didn’t escape my ears, their groans of pain and anger sounded through the deserted house and was getting closer and closer with each passing moment. I made a mad dash towards the window and opened it with a quick push before climbing out and getting onto the roof. From there, I began to jump from roof to roof, doing whatever I could to dodge these ghosts.

"Ah! ",I shouted out of surprise as I jumped back after seeing a spear break through the space in front of me. Then a masked ghost arose from the roof and stood before, his weapon ready to strike. I looked behind me to see two more masked ghosts with their spears, positioned to kill me with a single stab.

I would be the unlucky bastard that had to get stuck with three masked ghosts. Just my freaking luck.

Looking around for a way out, I saw a long piece of string connecting from this house to the next from the corner of my eye. I quickly ran to my right side and snapped the string off of the support that it was connected on and swung off. My body cut against still winds and the string beginning to go weak from such weight.

I let go once I was close to the ground and kept running towards the temple, my heart pounding in my chest and breath becoming ragged. My feet were beginning to ache for running so much, but I need to save Nina before it was too late.

Suddenly my feet felt lighter than air, I thought that I had been running so much that the pain had just subsided, but then I noticed that my feet were no longer on the ground. Strong winds began to below towards me, sending my hair and clothes flapping all over the place. I crossed my arms in front of my face to try and stop the wind from blowing the dust into my eyes.