Crows of Kyoto: Part 5

CAWHA CAW Ha ha ha!  CaHa ha ha ha!

“What’s that?” asked Momo.

“It sounds like the crows are laughing,” said Dominique.

“That’s impossible! Crows can’t laugh,” scoffed Ichiro.

CAWHA HA HA HA  CAWHA HA HA HA!

“It sounds an awful lot like laughing to me!” cried Momo.

“Calm down Momo, now is not the time.” said her husband.

“When is the time then Yoshiro?  When we are all dead, will that be the time?” retorted Momo, “something strange is going on here!  Can you give an explanation for what you just saw?”

“I can,” interjected Captain Kusumo, who entered the room with two other officers.

“Please enlighten us.” snarked Ichiro.

“Well it’s pretty obvious these birds are all trained.  Someone has taught them to attack and crows are known to be able to mimic human speech perfectly.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  All we have to do is find their master and have him call them off,” said Kusumo.

“What about the dead people at the Torii!?” exclaimed Momo, “How do you explain that?”

“It’s simple really there must be a poisonous gas around the perimeter of the estate and if you are exposed too many times you die,” explained Kusumo.

“So we are looking for a psycho with enough access to the house to plant poisonous gas all around the perimeter, that just so happens to train birds to laugh and kill on their off time.  This should be easy,” said Ichiro sarcastically.

“I know it’s a tough job, but that’s why I’m asking for everyone’s help.  Do you know of anyone who would want to do harm to the Hayashi family?” asked Kusumo.

“It’s not just the Hayashi family, the entire Sato family is here too,” said Yoshiro.

CAWHA HA HA HA HA HA HA

Makoto and Nana knew the house the best, so they worked out a plan on how to get to the door without being seen, but they still had the problem of the servant at the door.

“We can wait until nightfall and then we can sneak out the window,” suggested Makoto.

“No, the crows will get us before we reach the shed!” said Nana.

“She’s right, we have to get there as fast as possible,” said Misha.  He paced the room for a while thinking. “I have been thinking this for a while now,” he said with a grim look on his face, “One of us will have to stay here, in case our parents come to check on us.  Yuuki, It has to be you.”

“No, I’m scared to stay by myself!” whimpered Yuuki.

“It will be worse for you running through the crows,” explained Misha, “you won’t be able to make it to the shed Yuuki.”

“But what if Yamada Sensei comes for me?” cried Yuuki.

“You’ll be safe here Yuuki,” said Nana and she stroked his head.  For as much as she tormented him she really did care about him.  She looked at Misha for reassurance and he nodded his head.

“Now what should we do about the servant at the door?” asked Makoto.

“Well I’ve think I have a way to get away,” said Misha, “we will tell the servant that our parents called us and told us they want to see us.  The she will bring us there and we will get scolded for lying, and they will send us back to the room.  Then when we are far enough away from our parents I suggest we race back to the room.  The servant will not be able to keep up because she is wearing traditional clothing.  Yuuki you make sure she sees you at all times and go straight for this room.  Make sure she sees you enter and shut the door.  She will assume that we all went inside, but really we will be hiding in a different room.”

“That’s brilliant Misha!” exclaimed Makoto.

“But what if our parents come in the room when we are gone?” asked Nana.

“We will put pillows under the covers and Yuuki will tell them that we are sleeping” answered Makoto.

“Alright let’s do it!”

The children knocked on the door and told the servant their parents wanted to see them.  She took them to the room where they were being questioned.  Their parents scolded them for lying to the servant and ordered them back to the room at once.  On the way back the three older children started the race and Yuuki followed behind leading the servant back to the room.  The servant yelled after them to stop and the three in front quickly turned a corner and hid in an empty room.  Meanwhile Yuuki and the maid past them and headed towards Makoto’s room.  Yuuki Slammed the door shut and laughed.  The servant cursed under her breath and went back to keeping watch over the room.

“It worked!” whispered Makoto.

“Yeah now all we have to do is sneak all the way over to that door and get out without anyone noticing or stopping us,” hissed Nana.

Makoto balled up her fist in anger.

“Shhh, someone’s coming,” whispered Misha.

A dark figure wandered past the door of the room they were hiding in.  The children held their breath.  Misha felt his head swim as it slowly shuffled past the door.  After a while Makoto stuck her head out of the room and looked around.  The coast was clear and the children headed out on their predetermined path.  They carefully slipped past rooms full of guests and servants, as well as police guards stationed at various doors and exits.  They got to the door next to the shed and saw that it was locked with a padlock  and chain but otherwise unguarded.  They looked outside at the shed through a round window next to the door.  There were dozens of crows surrounding the small shed.

CAW HA HA HA HA HA!  HA HA HA!

Makoto shivered.

“They’re laughing at us,” said Nana, “there just out there waiting for us to die so they can peck out our eyes!”  Nana began weeping uncontrollably.  “I can’t go out there!,” she cried, “I won’t!”

“Nana you have to.” said Makoto.

“Says who?  We don’t even know what’s in that shed! This is crazy!  I staying here!” demanded Nana.

“It’s okay Nana you can just stay here and keep watch,” said Makoto, “we’ll be back soon.”

“No, it isn’t safe,” said Misha, “she can’t stay here.”

“Why not Misha?  You can see she’s in no shape to be running!” said Makoto.

“I have this feeling, this isn’t time to explain we have to leave now,” said Misha.

“But how will we get out?  The door is chained shut!” said Makoto.

“I think there’s enough slack that we can squeeze through if we hold our breath,” said Misha, “I’ll go out first then I will help pull you through.”

Misha opened the door as wide as the chain would allow and held his breath.  With some difficulty he was able to squeeze through the door.  He was outside the door but now he was staring down a whole murder of crows.  Misha slowly let out his breath as Makoto wiggled her way out of the door.  Misha put his finger to his lips as Makoto slowly moved away from the door. Finally Nanna emerged from the door.  Her eyes were red from crying and her body shook like a leaf.  Of the three of them she was the skinniest and fit easily through the small opening.  Misha looked in her eyes reassuringly and put his finger to his lips.  He stretched out his hand  to help her through, but then she let out a loud squeal.

“EEEEE! something’s got my hand!” she screamed.

Misha grabbed her other hand and pulled hard.  Sure enough clasped tightly around Nana’s other hand were pale slender fingers.  All of the crows in the yard were shocked by the scream.  They all cawed loudly flew up into the trees.  Misha held onto Nana tightly and dug his feet into the ground.  The hand gripped tightly, dug it’s sharp fingernails into Nana’s wrist and pulled her towards the door.  Makoto rushed over and grabbed a hold of Nana.  They all pulled as hard as they could.  Nana screamed as her hand was ripped away leaving deep gashes in her hand where the nails ripped her skin.  They backed away from the door.  The person inside pushed and pulled at the door violently trying to open it, but the door held strong.  Misha and the others collapsed on the ground.  Nana held her bleeding hand tenderly against her chest as tears rolled down her cheeks.  Suddenly the the thrashing at the door stopped.  All was silent for a while and then the door slowly creaked open as far as it could go.  Against her better judgement Makoto looked through the cracked door.  She saw Yamada Sensei peering out at them with a devilish grin on her face.

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.”

Crows of Kyoto: Part 3

Misha opened his eyes.  They were red and puffy from crying.  His mother was sitting on the bed next to him.

“Caw!” said Misha.

He started.  That’s not what he meant to say.  He cleared his throat and attempted to talk again.

“CAW! CAW! CAW!” he shouted.  

“What’s was wrong with me?” he thought.  His mother stared at him unaffected.  He held his hands over his mouth.  He could feel something coming up from his stomach.  Was he getting sick?  Misha closed his mouth tight, but it was no use.  A fountain of black feathers poured out of Misha’s mouth.  He tried to cover his mouth with his hands to stop the flow, but he couldn’t.  The Feathers just kept coming.  They spilled out over the bedspread and onto the floor.

“What’s wrong Misha?” asked his mother in Russian, “What’s wrong with Misha?” She put her face in her hands and started to cry.  

Misha shook his head, he wanted to answer but he kept vomiting feathers. Then just as suddenly as the feathers started, they stopped.  Misha coughed out the last feather that was lodged in his throat and said in a raspy voice, “Mama, don’t cry I’m fine.” Misha’s mother looked up but when she did Misha saw that her face had turned into a face of a crow.  Misha screamed and woke up in a cold sweat.

Misha looked around it was already dark.  How long had he been asleep?  Dominique was asleep, sitting on a chair with her head and arms on Misha’s bed.  Misha couldn’t see her face, and he was afraid of what he would see.  He lay still for a few minutes and finally got up the courage to tap his mother on the shoulder.  He touched her shoulder and she woke immediately with a start.  She smiled at him.  A warm loving smile only a mother can give.  Misha’s fears were relieved as she gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“We were so worried about you Misha.  You passed out when you came into Grandfather’s room,  It must have been so hard on you to come here for another funeral.”

“Mama, who was that pale lady with the long black hair?”

“Who are you talking about darling?”

“She grabbed me from behind right before I passed out.”

“No one grabbed you sweetie you just fell.  We were all so worried!  Now go to sleep Misha you need your rest, tomorrow is Grandfather’s funeral.”

Misha lay back and closed his eyes, but sleep wouldn’t come to him.  So many things were running through his head.  Why were the crows coming after his soul?  Was he going to die soon?  He wished he could ask his mother but she would just say it was his imagination, or a dream he had.  Finally sleep fell upon him although he didn’t know it.  He just remembered waking up alone in his room to the sound of a knock on his door.  Misha answered and a servant came in with breakfast and a black suit for him to wear.  Misha finished getting ready quickly and was headed out to the main entrance to meet his family there, when he heard a blood curdling scream.  It came from the front gate!  Everyone ran to see what was going on.  Misha ran into Makoto on the way out.  Their rooms were right across the hall from each other.

“What’s going on?” asked Misha.

“I don’t know but it seems bad,” replied Makoto.

Makoto reached out her hand and grabbed Misha’s.  “So we don’t get separated,” she said.  Guests and servants were all converging in one point, and more and more screams came from the front gates.  The hallway was crowded and congested.  It was hard for the two of them to get anywhere.

“Come on,” said Makoto, “ I know a shortcut.

Makoto turned left and raced down a clear hallway with Misha close behind.  They exited the house though a side door and ran along the wooden path to the door to the front yard.  The two of them could already hear the noise growing into a wild confusion.  Makoto took a deep breath and opened the door.  They could see the main gates from where they stood.  There were people gathered in a semicircle around them crying a wailing, because strung up on the gates was their grandmother.  Her mouth hung open as if stuck in an eternal scream.  She was covered in blood and scratch marks, but worst of all it looked like her eyes had been pecked out by birds.  The children looked on in horror as more and more people discovered the body.  Everyone was so shocked they didn’t know what to do so they just stood there.  Finally, Makoto’s father came out of the house followed by Momo and Dominique.  Makoto’s dad cut their grandmother down from the gates, and Momo yelled out, “Someone call the police.”  Dominique took off her shawl and placed it over Grandmother’s face to cover the gore.  She crossed herself and said a prayer.  Makoto couldn’t watch anymore and ran for the back garden.  Misha followed after her.  When they got there they saw Nana and Yuuki were already there feeding the koi fish.  Makoto barely took notice of them as she collapsed in tears on the grass.  Misha sat next to her too shocked to cry.

“I’m sorry, It’s all my fault,” said Misha.

“What how is it your fault?” asked Makoto wiping the tears from her eyes.

“The crows, that pale woman with the long black hair, they killed Grandmother!  They took her soul, and I couldn’t stop them!”

“What are you talking about!? Have you gone Mad?” asked Nana.  She and Yuuki abandoned the fish and came closer to find out what was going on.  

“Why are you saying Grandmother is Dead?” asked Yuuki.

“Because she is dead!” yelled Makoto, “why do you think everyone is crying?”

“God Makoto,” snapped Nana, “You don’t have to be so mean, he was just asking a question.”

“You’re one to talk Nana, you torture him all day long!” retorted Makoto.

“Well you are an ugly…”

“Stop it,” interrupted Misha, “this in no time to argue.  We have to find a way to stop that woman from killing someone else!”

“What woman,” asked Makoto.

“When Grandfather died I saw a crow sitting on him.  I screamed and tried to run toward it to scare it off, but I was stopped by a pale woman, who was tall and thin with long black hair that fell like drapes on either side of her face,” said Misha.

“That sounds like my English tutor, Yamada Sensei,” said Makoto, “I have a picture of her on my phone.”

Misha helped Makoto up and the children raced to Makoto’s room.  She scrolled through her pictures and brought a picture of Yamada Sensei on her phone.  Yamada was in the background gathering papers as Makoto smiled in the foreground.  Misha looked at the picture with alarm.

“That’s the woman I saw!” he exclaimed.

“Yeah right,” scoffed Nana, “you two are just trying to trick us, well I’m not going to fall for it.  Everyone knows you just passed out when you saw Grandfather.  No one grabbed you like you said.  Come on Yuuki, we should go back in the garden where Papa told us to wait.”  With that Nana grabbed Yuuki by the arm and left.

“Makoto, it’s true!  You have to believe me!” begged Misha, “why would I make up stories at a time like this?  I’m afraid Makoto and I don’t know what to do to.  I need you to believe me.”

Makoto looked into his eyes and she could tell he wasn’t lying.  “I don’t know if what you say is real but, something about what happened with Yamada Sensei yesterday morning creeped me out.  She wanted to see my mother, then disappeared before she got to the door? But even if it is Yamada Sensei, how do we stop her and is she really going to kill someone else?”

“I don’t think she’s done.  When she held me I saw an anger in her eyes, furry, she was like a monster.”

“If she does wants to kill someone else how do we stop her?  Maybe we should tell our parents.”

“They’ll never believe us without proof.”

“The letter she sent with my mother!  Maybe there’s something there!”

By this time the house was not only filled with mortified friends and family the police had also arrived and were questioning everyone about the events of the previous night.  The front gates had been sealed off as a crime scene and no one was allowed in or out of the house.  The children snuck past the adults, which was surprisingly easy and entered the room where Grandfather’s gifts and cards were stored until they could be put out for the viewing.  The room was thick with the sweet smell of lilies and roses.  Bouquets filled every inch of the room and there were so many that some had to be stacked on top of each other.  Makoto and Misha looked at the pile in dismay.

“How will we ever find the card in all this?” asked Makoto.

“We have to try at least it’s the only clue we’ve got!  Do you remember what it looks like?” replied Misha.

“I never saw it, but I know what Sensei’s handwriting looks like.”

“It will probably be somewhere near the flowers we brought.”

The two of them searched through the bouquets until they found the one they brought.  It was covered in white lilies, roses and chrysanthemums.  There were a number of cards under it.  They all looked pretty much the same, so Misha collected the stack and they looked for Yamada’s handwriting.  After going through them all they still hadn’t found the right card.  Makoto decided to look at more cards, and soon she and Misha had collected all off the cards they could find into a large pile.  Makoto looked through them carefully.  The stack began to dwindle and they still hadn’t found anything yet, but then Makoto picked up a card wedged between the wall and a table, and it was addressed “to the Sato and Hayashi Families.”  Makoto recognized the writing right away.  

“I found it!” she said.

“Let’s see what’s inside.”

Makoto pulled out a note and a black feather.  She handed the feather to Misha, who took it reluctantly, and read the note aloud.

“The full moon is rising on the house of Sato and Hayashi,

They will come for your souls as I kill your sons and daughters,

They will take them away when they receive their orders.

Coming in through the windows will be their way,

All will be done in two nights and one day

Mark my words as they are said,

For what hope have the living against the dead?”