Mystery Behind Jorogumo's Secrecy

CHAPTER 1: NEW CASE IS NOW OPEN

The taxi driver kept on saying sorry about the sudden malfunction of his taxi while this girl beside me also kept on saying it's okay. But I know deep inside she's already pissed. She's secretly gritting her teeth and forcing the muscle in her cheeks to form a deceiving smile but her facade can't escape my eye. By using psychological technique, you can easily tell the person's emotion under their mask.

After the taxi vanished from our line of sight, Rain heaved a loud sigh.

"What an unlucky day. Let's start walking fast Caleb before it rains. And the bus might left us too," she said. I just shrugged my shoulder and walks normally—not minding what she had said earlier.

"Wow. You still have the guts to be calm? Seriously?" She's also walking with the same speed as mine.

I guess I need to calm her.

"The clouds just started to form nimbus clouds five minutes ago. If we'll look at it, the amount of water it contains are too much. Thus, precipitation will occur probably 10 minutes from now. If we maintain our walking speed, which is 2 steps per second, we'll reach the bus station at the exact time before the rain finally falls," I uttered.

She nods with a tinge of amusement in her eyes.

Rain is my partner in this documentary project. We are tasked to travel to isolated villages and grab informations about the lives of people living there. I hate this kind of stuff 'cause this is boring. I'd rather lay in my bed and continue reading Agatha Christie's book and feel the coldness of the weather. But for the sake of the grade, I have no choice.

The rain started to pour as we found our seat in the bus, just like what I expected.

"This is a long ride. Do you have any snacks there?" Rain asked.

"Indeed, this will probably took too long. Normally, it will only took 4 hours. But since the road is slippery, the bus driver will probably run the bus in 50 kph speed. So this a 5-hour ride. We'll arrive there at 1:30 PM. And to answer your question, yes," I uttered and handed her the V-cut.

Of course, I researched about the place. That village is in the countryside.

She chuckled and accepted my V-cut.

"Okay Mr. Holmes," she said while chuckling.

~~~

And as what I expected, we arrived at 1:30 pm while the rain is heavily pouring. We stay in the hotel near the shore, this is utterly astounding.

We should be starting our documentary now but the rain hinders our way so we have no choice but to let the storm subsides.

Night has come, we were already done eating. I can't sleep, I feel like someone's staring at me. I feel like, number of eyes are around me— glaring, as I if I did something bad to them.

"Rain, I'm getting bored—"

“AHHHH!" she shouted. What happened? I rush through the kitchen where she's at. I saw her shocked face when I arrived. As if she saw creepy creatures— or she really does?!

I look at the window where she's looking, she's still shocked of what happened and can't recover about what she'd seen. I saw a li'l crack at the windowpane, scratches, and black pigments on it. Weird.

“I-I s-saw a l-lady—"

“You've witnessed a lady with an eight spider's limbs at her back, am I right?" I said.

She got amused.

“How did you know?"

“Look at the window," after saying such, she follow what I'd said. “As we observe, we can see a black pigments on it and bristles that are probably from spiders."

“Your evidence isn't good enough to jump in such conclusions," she contradicted.

“You're making me amaze, huh? Good for you."

“One more thing, black sheeps have also that kind of bristles, didn't they?" she added.

“Good observations. But let me ask you something. Can black sheeps climb building?" I asked.

She gets muted.

“So I therefore conclude that it is a spider."

“But how did you know that it was a lady with an eight spider's limbs?"

“Have you heard about Jorogumo?"

“Joro— what?"

“Jorogumo, according to the Japanese folklore. It is a magical 400-hundred-year old giant spider that can change its appearance into a beautiful woman, she seduces young handsome men, wraps them in her webs and eats them." I explained.

“D-does it exist?" she asked, scared.

“I don't know either. Wait— you saw her, right?"

She nods.

“What did you observe?" I asked, if Rain saw her, then maybe, it'll gives clues to arrange the puzzle pieces in my mind.

“Her appearance creeps me out— 'til now. Her hairdo is not different from a white lady, she's also wearing kimono— a formal garment in Japan," she uttered.

"Your descriptions are the same on how it really looks like. But we're now in the 21st century, it's utterly impossible."

"Wait— I'd witnessed bizarre stuff on her, I saw it when her hair was blown by the air. Her eyes were color green. Is it weird?"

G-green? Now, I understand.

“It is. Spider's eyes are red. How come it became green? Or maybe," I grin.

“She used night vision that explained why her eyes are green. She's just a normal human. A talented human when it comes to electronics and robotics," I said and smile, full of excitement. “Rain, new case is now open!".

To be continued...