Suddenly (#thegrudgecontest)

Ju-On: The Grudge

The house creaks again, the sudden disturbance not startling Minato in the slightest. For three weeks the walls and floors has been talking to the family, trying to share the secrets and memories it holds deep within. The house is just as chatty as Baba, grandmother to the three children living in the house. Baba refuses to step foot in the new home, the old hag insisting that an evil resides here and vows the Ju-On won't rest until it's taken them all. Baba constantly reprimands Minato's mother, Haha, for settling here rather than pushing Pa to get a house without a curse. Every time Baba comes into town the family is expected to entertain her in some posh restaurant. However, this time Minato is stuck at home studying for his finals in the morning. Not that he minds missing dinner. Baba's never been Minato's favorite relative.

Pa's grandfather clock chimes seven. As if on queue, Minato's stomach growls, hungry for some sort of sustenance. The hallway is dark, the only light coming in is from the window in Minato's room. Minato hastily flips the switch at the top of the stairwell but he is left in blackness. After a few more failed attempts he resigns himself to descending into the gloomy haze, unaided. A shiver washes over Minato once he enters the kitchen. Again he tries the light switch with no avail.

Out of the corner of his eye, Minato sees a shadow lurking in the hallway. He holds his breath as he stumbles backwards, not daring to make any sound that might alert the intruder. He bursts through the backdoor, the bright daylight fading to dusk. The ground of the garden is coated in a heavy fog and the barren trees of the forest loom high above. The shishi odoshi provides as an outdoor metronome and with every clack it makes Minato's hairs stand further on end. He rings the police as he rushes towards the koi pond, using the shishi odoshi at the edge of the water as a guide.

Minato turns towards the pond and his pulse quickens. All the koi are floating, dead, in murky, sludge like pond water. The air falls silent. Minato looks over at the shishi odoshi which is perfectly balanced, water droplets suspended just at its lip. It's as if the world has frozen in time. A pale girl starts to rise up out of the pond, with locks that cascade around her like the branches of a willow and each strand as black as Akuma's soul. The phone tumbles from Minato's hand and lands hard against the gravel underfoot. Ju-On smiles, her grin wicked and her eyes hungry for blood. Her strands of hair reach out of the water and latch onto Minato's legs, dragging him into the koi pond. Minato lets out a weak cry for help just as his head submerges below the dark water. The shishi odoshi resumes its rhythm, day falling into night without another sound.