The Disappearence of ほり

Remembering the Forgotten

The Disappearence of ほりSongfic 0-1

Remembering the Forgotten
(Ryouko Asakura no Shinjitsu)

Horie became uneasy with each step. The air of the abandoned Jackson mansion was too heavy for her to handle. Not the scent, but the aura. Yes, the smell of mold and the rarely occupied dump near by was pretty bad. But something else at the mansion made her feel like she was NOT supposed to be there. And having a friend accompany her only made things worse.

"Um...Horie..." Rei tried desperately to not trip over anything. All of the rubble and glass shards on the carpet made the ground almost impossible to walk on. "What exactly...is it we're looking for?" She managed to get past the patch of carpet heavily decorated in glass without hurting herself.

"The basement. Oh, you have your cellphone, right?" Horie stopped and began to look around.

"Um...yeah...it's only at 20% though. Why, do you need it?" Rei pulled it out, handing it to Horie. "And I thought you had your own."

"I do, but it's dead. And anyways, you," Horie pointed at the phone. "Be ready to dial an emergency number. I can't say exactly what will happen when we find what we're looking for. The roof could cave in, I may trip and break a bone or get seriously injured, or something else. Old houses--especially mansions--are extremely unstable, and It's hard to say what could happen." Rei gulped rather loudly, beginning to feel just as uncomfortable as Horie.

"But...I thought you said that we're looking for the basement. You make it sound like we're looking for a specific item."

"We are."

"God, you're confusing!! Are we looking for the basement or an item?!" Horie quickly covered Rei's mouth, as if to attempt to prevent her from talking.

"BITCH SHUT THE FUCK UP. Talk quietly." She took her hand off of Rei's mouth. Then, Rei continued, but instead whispering.

"Then answer my question!"

"We're looking for...an old scythe. It should be plated in gold, with crimson red fabric hanging off of the back end. Also, two silver bells. Like...you know, those extremely annoying cat bells, should be attached to some string or rope hanging off the back oend as well."

"You make it sound like oyashiro's ritual hoe." Rei giggled a little.

"It's actually almost the same. It was used in sacred ceremonies to either tear the sacrifice's stomach open and pull out the entrails, or to cut up a body on judgement day." Horie moved a large boulder out of the way of a door, grunting as she did so. "Help me out here."
she got Rei to help her move the boulder. "Thanks. Now...what was I saying? OH, right. There have been other uses for it, but some of them weren't mentioned in the books I read." Rei had a slightly horrified and confused look on her face.

"Um...what kind of books have you been reading...?"

"Just culture books. You won't believe some of the shit that shows up in them...ugh."

"They're THAT bad?"

"They had to cut up a body into eight pieces. Shins, thighs, the chest, the head, and the arms. Yes, it's THAT bad." Horie walked over to the door her and Rei had uncovered, and jiggled the handle. It surprisingly opened, but there was nothing in there except a few books, a record player with it's records, and a pin-up girl poster. It looked like a bedroom, but it was poorly maintained. There was also a futon on the ground, but there was mold growing near the bottom. It must have been a servant's room. The cement walls and flooring and the lack of comfortableness made it seem like that anyway. Rei then called from outside of the room.

"Oh, hey, is this it? I think it is. Horie, I think I found the basement door!" Horie got over to where Rei was, still trying to avoid the rubble. She studied the door closely. It was mainly green with silver lining and the face of a lion in the middle. Then noticing there was a lock on the knob, she sighed.

"It's probably locked. And it looks more like the door to a study anyway."

"Try the handle!! Maybe it's open." Rei sounded excited. The thought of exploring and discovering things gave her a thrill.

"Alright, fine, fine." As expected, it was locked. But the door wasn't exactly closed. With a gentle push, the door creaked open. The room was too dark to see anything. Flicking on the flashlight, Horie looked for a candle or lantern of some sort. Then, a light switch caught her eye. "Hey...Rei..."

"Yeah?"

"Do you think this still works?"

"Probably not. But hey, it's worth a shot." she shrugged, giving the go ahead. A click echoed through the room. And, to their amazement, it worked.

The lightbulb popped and crackled a few times, but it still worked. "I'm very concerned about that lightbulb."

A pale beige color covered the walls, with a few paintings here and there. Almost everything was covered with a sheet. A luxurious, old looking desk sat at the back of the room. It was the only thing uncovered, so naturally, Horie would investigate that shit.

Behind the desk was a chair with velvety green fabric, with the frame made of oak wood. Rei ran over to the chair, touching it. "Would anyone mind if I sat on it?" She looked absolutely giddy with excitement.

"Do you have a chair fetish or something?"

"No! I just want to sit on the chair...it looks so...comfortable..." Rei's eyes were practically sparkling.

"Fine..." It creaked loudly, sounding louder than it should have. "Holy shit." Horie had a look of pure amazement on her face.

"What? What is it?" Rei jumped out of the chair, scared as to what Horie saw. "DID I SET SOMETHING OFF?"

"No."

"THEN WHAT IS IT?"

"I'm just amazed that the chair didn't break. I mean, for how old it is..." Horie crossed her arms, looking up. "Hmm...about 30 years without anyone sitting in the chair, I'm impressed that it's actually still standing, let alone you sitting in it." She sighed, looking at the chair. "It'd probably break if anyone sat in it again. Anyway, let's look around."

Horie opened the top left drawer of the desk, filing through whatever was there. Meanwhile, Rei was exploring the room looking for anything useful. "These are some really nice paintings. I wonder who painted them?" She studied the painting in front of her. What she saw was woman who looked to be about 25 years old, with blonde hair and brown eyes. She looked kind of annoyed in the picture, like there was some brat in front of her who wouldn't shut up. You know, the whiny 4 year old sister kind. "Hey Horie, do you have any idea who this is?" Horie looked up at the painting Rei was pointing at.

"I might be wrong, but I think that was the Lord's wife. Her name was Alexandria Genevieve the Second, if I'm not mistaken." Horie began to file through the drawers again. "I've read about her. She was supposedly really nasty. She didn't show any interest or care for those beneath her, and she treated almost everyone like dirt. I think she did it because of her position. Being the lady of the mansion, she thought she could get anything she wanted with a snap of her fingers."

"Bitch." Rei walked away from the painting. She began to look at others.

"Yeah, i'd say so. Ooh~ I found something!" Horie brought up a thick, dusty old book. It looked like a journal, or a diary of some sort. The cover of the book was made of leather, with a small buckle seal. "Do you think it has any value?"

"Well, If it's in a 30 year old mansion where a whole bunch of famous, royal, rich people used to live, then I'd think so. I may be wrong, though. Open it." Rei eagerly waited for Horie to start reading. "Hurry up!!"

"Give me a damn minute!" Horie undid the buckle seal and dusted the book off. Flipping it open, her eyes ghosted over the pages. Rei looked irritated.

"Are you even reading it? No one reads that fast. Actually take a minute to see what the book says."

"Who are you, my english teacher? I'm seeing exactly how much is written in here." Horie reached the last page, and sighed.

"What...what is it?"

"There isn't that much written in here. I don't think it's even worth reading. I'm not even kidding, there was about...two pages worth written in there. It's junk." she tossed the book onto the desk for Rei to read.

"Well, whatever is written in here is still valuable info, right? If we're looking for something, any clue is valuable." Rei picked it up, scanning the cover. She began to read the book, looking excited doing so.

"I guess so. I was just expecting something...bigger than that. You know? It's like getting a huge christmas present...but it's actually 70 percent bubble wrap." Rei smirked a little, looking Horie dead in the eyes.

"Bubble wrap is pretty freaking awesome though. Don't even lie, I know that stuff is just as good as bacon to you." Horie laughed, scratching her head.

"You got me, I guess." Then, Rei began to look confused. "What's up?"

"Who's...the Incomplete?" Horie's expression turned dark. An uncomfortable silence spread across the room. "...Horie...?"

"Where did you read that."

"Why do yo-"

"WHERE DID YOU READ THAT?!" Horie's voice echoed throughout the mansion. Rei was surprised and scared at the same time, like a puppy that had been scolded.

"Th-the journal..."

"Read it out loud. Now."

"Okay...'November 14th, 1983. The Marquis family has been causing trouble again. They're constant meddling and need-to-know-everything attitude has irritated me to this day. And now...sending a spy to find out what was happening at the meeting? This is the last straw. The Incomplete have proven themselves useful to our family time and time again...i wonder if they can move the Marquis family out of the picture. Probably. I believe it's time to sign a contract...that way the Marquis family will never cause trouble again...'"

Horie stood in silence for a while, looking down at the ground. In a dead serious but slightly panicky manner, she looked up at Rei. "Rei...we need to leave here. Now. As fast as humanly possible."

( Begin Song - Ryouko Asakura no Shinjitsu - http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=X2LDq9r8Nw4)

Horie grabbed Rei's hand and rushed out of the room.

"H-Horie!!! What's going on...?!" She didn't answer Rei. She just ran.

"Hurry...don't look back!!" Rei understood how serious the situation was, though she didn't understand what for. But if Horie is telling her to run, it's important.

Even after they were out of the mansion, Horie insisted on running further. "Horie...how long until we can... stop running...?"

"Until the mansion is out of sight."

(End Song)