Crows of Kyoto: Part 4

The children looked at the note with confusion.

“We have to show this to Mama and Auntie,” said Makoto.

They took the note and the feather outside to where their parents were talking to the police.  The children tried to get their attention, but it was no use.  The children were about to give up when they heard someone yelling from the front gates.

“No! They’re dead! How did this happen?”

A police officer was standing next to a pile of dead bodies.  Some officers were on the other side looking at them as well.  Everyone ran over to see what was going on.

“What happened here?” said the detective that was questioning Makoto and Misha’s parents.

“They’re dead captain Kusumo sir,” said a female officer on the other side of the gate.

“They crossed the Torii and then dropped dead!” said the hysterical officer who had caused the commotion.

“Nonsense,” said Kusumo, “officer Kai, call an ambulance, quick!”  He said to the female officer standing outside of the gate, then tuned to the male officer who was shivering next to the entrance.  “Get a hold of yourself!” shouted Kusumo, and slapped the officer in the face.  This seemed to have the opposite effect as intended and sent the officer into further hysterics.  “Somebody get him out of here!” he shouted and several officers crossed the gateway and grabbed the shivering officer.  They picked him up and dragged him over to the entrance kicking and screaming all the way.  The hysterical officer let out a loud scream as the two officers carrying him stepped over the entrance.  Then all went silent.  All three of the officers who exited the estate dropped dead.  Madness spread throughout the house.  Many people attempted to exit through side gates and by scaling the walls, but the results were the same.  The bodies piled up at the doorways until Captain Kusumo stationed the remaining officers at the doorways to block people from leaving.

Then they came.  They drifted in like a dark cloud.  The sound of their flapping and cawing filled the air as they landed on the house and yard covering it like a thick black blanket.  They attacked everyone who was outside pecking and scratching them.

“Get them in the house!” yelled Kusumo, and the officers helped direct the panicking people inside.  Misha, Makoto, and their parents quickly ran inside.  Kusumo placed an officer at each door and ordered the officers on the outside not to come in.  What happened next horrified everyone.  The crows gathered around the dead bodies at the gates and begin pecking their eyes out, just like what happened to Grandmother during the night.  Makoto screamed in horror.  No one could believe what was happening.  Momo held Makoto and covered her eyes. The parents quickly led the children to Makoto’s room.

“She’s going to kill us all!” cried Makoto, “Yamada Sensei won’t stop until we are all dead!”

“Yamada Sensei?  Why would your English tutor try to kill us Makoto?” asked Momo.

“I don’t know why, but she is!  Misha show them the letter!” said Makoto.

Misha put his hand in his pocket to draw out the letter but it wasn’t there.  “I dropped it outside,” he said, “but it says that she will kill us all in two nights and one day, and that the crows will peck out our eyes to get to our souls!”

“Enough Misha!” yelled Dominique, “We have all been through enough that you don’t have to make up stories about Makoto’s English tutor!”

“But it’s true!” cried Makoto, “Yamada Sensei is evil and she..”

“Makoto!” scolded her Father, “you kids stay here while the adults figure out what’s going on.  I’ll tell your uncle Ichiro to bring Nana and Yuuki in here to stay safe.”

Dominique stayed with the children as Makoto’s parents went to find Ichiro.  It wasn’t long before there was a knock on the door.  Ichiro arrived with Nana and Yuuki, who looked scratched and pecked, but otherwise in good condition.

“Dominique,” said Ichiro, “Captain Kusumo would like to ask you a few more questions.  We can leave the children I asked a servant to look after them for a while.”

“Mama don’t go,” begged Misha as he held onto her hand.

“I’ll only be going for a little while, here you can watch this cartoon while I’m gone,” she said and popped a dvd into the t.v. set.  The children watched the show for a while but soon became bored.  Misha stared out the window at the crows perched ominously on the storage shed.

“What’s in there?” he asked.

The other children gathered around the window as well.

“That’s the storage shed, nothing is in there but some old junk,” said Nana.

“It’s not junk! They are ancient Hayashi family artifacts,” protested Makoto, “Grandfather showed them to me last year and …”

“Whatever, no one cares,” interrupted Nana, “what we really want to know is why your English tutor hates you so much she wants to kill our entire family!”

“It’s not my fault she is just evil!” replied Makoto.

“Maybe if we feed you to the crows they will all go away!” shouted Nana.

Nana grabbed Makoto’s hair and started pulling her to the door.  Makoto screamed and hit Nana’s hand away.  Nana grabbed Makoto by the color of her dress and pulled hard bringing Makoto to the ground with a loud thud.  This caught the attention of the servant just outside the door who ordered them to keep it down.  Misha helped Makoto up and stepped in between the two girls.

“It’s true,” said Misha, “this woman is evil she wants to kill everyone, and we don’t know why, but I have a feeling we can get some answers if we look in that shed.”

“Why?” asked Yuuki.

“Because of the way the crows act around it,” replied Misha, “look closely at their behavior.”

The children observed the bird’s behavior closely, and notice that most of them avoided walking or landing anywhere near the door of the shed.

“There are protective charms on the door!” announced Makoto, “You’re right Misha there is something in there!”

“Even if there is something in there, there is no way to get to it!  When the crows came Yuuki and I barely escaped with our lives!” added Nana.

Yuuki wiped away a few tears.  His face was scratched in several places while his hands and arms were hastily wrapped in bandages.  Nana didn’t look too much better.  Her hair was still a mess and she had several large tears in her dress.

“If we are dead either way we might as well try something,” said Misha, “I’m a pretty fast runner and I think I can make it there if I could somehow get to that exit.”  Misha pointed to a part of the house with a door right across from the door to the shed.  It was the closest one to the shed.

“But how will we even get to the door?” asked Nana, “There are officers at every door and we have someone guarding us right now.  It’s impossible!”

“Nana,” said Misha, “after today I no longer believe in impossible.”