8 ft. Tall

The van

I went downstairs and was surprised to see my father and mother sitting in the kitchen. Grandpa came in and said, "Hurry up! We've got to get going."

We went to the front door and there was a large black van waiting in the driveway. Several men from the village were standing around it, pointing at me and whispering, "That's the boy."

The van was a 9-seater and they put me in the middle, surrounded by eight men. K-san was in the drivers seat.

The man on my left, looked down at me and said, "You've got yourself in quite a spot of trouble. I know you're probably worried. Just keep your head down and your eyes shut. We can't see it, but you can. Don't open your eyes until we've got you safely out of here."

Grandpa drove in front and my dad's car was following behind. When everyone was ready, our little convoy started moving. We were going fairly slow... around 20km/h or maybe less. After a while, K-san said, "This is where it gets hard," and started muttering a prayer under her breath.

That was when I heard the voice.

"Po... Po... Po... Po... Po... Po... Po..."

I clutched the parchment K-san had given me tightly in my hand. I kept my head down, but I peeked outside. I saw a white dress fluttering in the breeze. It was moving along with the van. It was Hachishakusama. She was outside the window, but she was keeping pace with us.

Then, suddenly she bent down and peered into the van.

"No!" I gasped.

The man beside me shouted, "CLOSE YOUR EYES!"

I immediately shut my eyes as hard as I could and tightened my grip on the piece of parchment. Then the tapping began.

Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap...

The voice became louder.

"Po... Po... Po... Po... Po... Po... Po..."