Little does anyone know about the famous "Lost Village" or the evil that lies beneath its surface. Everyone who has lived there has either ended up dead or insane...or maybe both! Some things are meant to be hidden or silenced forever, due to the gr...
As Yae and Sae came closer to the tunnel's exit, their father stood right behind them. With the eyes of a careful watcher, Ryokan could not let anything go wrong this time. He was the one who convinced everyone in the village to trust him, after all. If a single villager started losing his faith in his own leader, then what was the point?
The path was getting more narrow and raindrops started falling on their heads, from the grey sky. If anyone could sense that evil was approaching, maybe he'd be able to do something about it. But, there are no heroes in real life, not in a place like this, not under these certain circumstances.
"We're almost there", Ryokan said and kept moving.
The girls were holding hands as they arrived at the end of the tunnel. The heavy rain was out of control, but there were they: The "Twin Houses". This is where the girls had to stay for at least 4 weeks, before being all ready for their ceremony. The "Twin Houses" (aka prison before death- that's the name I gave them) is the place where the twins will go through the cleansing process. Isolated from the rest of the village, both Yae and Sae will have to pray for their sins and ask for forgivness, through day and night- that's exactly what cleansing process means.
"Here we are girls", Ryokan pointed at the building and the twins just looked at each other.
They went closer to the entrance. The sky was dark and there was no light, even though it was 13.00 p.m. They got into the house, roamed around and lit up a few candles just so they could see.
The building was old and, despite the fact, that it smelled really bad, the girls had to stay in it. It's like death was residing in there and anticipated for its next victim. There were spider webs in every corner of the house and the windows seemed to be blocked. The bedrooms were upstairs, next to the rusty bathroom. One bed in each room and a dusty carpet under them. Could people even in live in here?
"I'll have to leave in any minute, girls", Ryokan said as he watched the girls exploring the house's corridors.
The twins didn't say a word- besides, why would they? They were terrified but it didn't really matter to anyone. All they had to do, for now, was to clean the mess and take a long nap. Sleeping doesn't make the pain or the shock go away, but at least, it pauses them. Oh, how they needed a resting shoulder right now. A savior to come and rescue them...
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Back in the Kurosawa house, Seijiro woke up. He took a long, hot bath and had some steamed rice that Sae prepared. As he put the bowl away, Ryozo interrupted him.
"You have to read this", Ryozo sounded shocked and handed him the red diary.
"What is that?", Seijiro tried to understand as he looked at his friend
"It's the answer to your questions of last night", Ryozo walked away and let Seijiro to process what was written in there.
He needed to take a walk in the garden, even though it was dark and rainy. The weather didn't really matter, in contrast to the frighten he felt in those pages. The raindrops were hitting the blossom trees and the garden was surrounded by a freaky vibe.
Seijiro read:
"My dear diary, I'm writting these pages with the hope that one day, someone will have the chance to read what we went through. I'm living in a village called "All God's Village". It might seem normal, but it's not like every other village I've known. I wanna get those things out of my chest, in an attempt to ease my thoughts- if they can be eased. There's a ritual- a dark ritual- which takes place every 10 years in here. Due to the fact that the village has an unlimited pair of twins, the second-born twin of a chosen family has to kill the older one. Killing your own sibling -huh...how normal does this sound? The reason behind this ceremony is because the whole Minakami village is built on a dark pit - the so-called hellish abyss. It is important for the ceremony to meet with success- otherwise, it is said that we'll get vanished. I'm scared. We're next. Sae and I have be chosen to complete a previously-failed ritual of our friends Itsuki and Mutsuki. They were the ones who had to went through that torture. Itsuki was the younger twin and that's why he had to kill Mutsuki by strangling him. However, things didn't turn out well. Not many exact details are known yet, but it is said that the minute Itsuki squeezed his brother's neck, Mutsuki wouldn't die! The priests who've been watching the ceremony, had to interfere and kill Mutsuki themselves. Maybe their strong, twin bond or their dear love for each other made it impossible to complete the ritual- who knows?"
Seijiro took a deep breath. He looked around and searched for his friend. After walking outside, he noticed that Ryozo was on his knees, on the ground, looking at the sky.
"I knew about a ceremony that was happening in this place, but I never thought that things could be so...cruel", Seijiro was standing behind Ryozo as he whispered.
"Itsuki didn't give me much information either. He just told me that he needed my help because he and his brother failed in a ritual. Seijiro, I swear, I didn't know what was going on", Ryozo sounded tired.
They were both standing in the middle of the pouring rain. An overwhelming feeling has conquered their bodies and they were physically and mentally exhausted.
"Shall we leave this place as soon as possible?", Seijiro suggested a solution
"We can't and I don't want to. I came all this way here because I wanted to help my friend. He told me to help Yae and Sae and that's what i'm gonna do. You can leave if you want", Ryozo wasn't mad- he was just desperate because he was thinking of a rescue plan.
"No, I totally get it. Look, I might be here for a complete different reason, but I wanna help too. Where's your friend Itsuki at the moment?", Seijiro tried to lead his friend back home where it was warm.
They were soaking wet, as they were sitting around the bamboo table. A pot of hot tea was in the middle and they tried to calm themselves down. Everything was gonna be okay. They had each other. Ryozo and Seijiro worked together for over 7 years. They visited many places, explored many traditions throughout the villages of Japan and shared some unforgettable memories. Someone would say that they were like brothers.
"I haven't heared from Itsuki yet. I tried to search him through the crowd yesterday, in the garden, but I couldn't spot him. I was thinking of visiting him today, in his house", Ryozo said as he took a sip of his tea.
"I was thinking of searching through some local documents about this ceremony. There's a store-house I can visit. We might be able to find a solution and more details about it", Seijiro was ,indeed, willing to help.
"This sounds great. Right before sunset we'll come back and we have to act normal in front of Ryokan.", both Ryozo and Seijiro made a strong handshake and split up.
The Kurosawa household was empty. Everyone were missing.
Oh, wait, what's that inside the kitchen?... It seems like a crimson butterfly. Poor, little thing.
