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Himura Mansion Legend: Fact or fiction? |
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It was a cold stormy night in the far side of Tokyo, a quiet, strange neighborhood, slightly filled with fog and the sounds of bats ruling the night. It was Friday 13th in October. Superstitious children would try to scare others with their electric saws and dress up as ghosts and ghouls. This day, specifically, a young girl and a boy were double dared into going inside the old Himura mansion, and stay there camping until the next day and prove there are indeed no ghosts. The Himura mansion was indeed full of mysteries. People claim to have seen the silhouette of ayoung girls and a young woman close one of the windows, and upon closer inspection, they seemed to be hurt, devastated, and tortured. Every night, at exactly 2:45pm, they hear a woman scream words like, "Where is my daughter?" or, "I must see my daughter?" Or, "Where is my husband?". The screams have concerned many people, and those who have lived longest have claimed to have met the Himura woman and have known that she is a gentle woman, yet her son was thought to be a murderer. For that reason, some think that she died in grief, and her troubled soul still wanders the earth. Our heroes, Ami and Kiyo, accepted the dare and got ready for the nighttime adventure and in they went, hopeful to prove that those mysteries were simply myths and folklore and that the house was not haunted. In the house they went, all covered in cobwebs and dust. They looked around.
"Do you see anything?" Asked Ami, slightly afraid, holding Kiyo's hand.
"Nope, do you?" Said Kiyo, also looking around.
"No" said Ami, feeling more relaxed as she let go of Kiyo's hand.
"Where should we look first?" Asked Kiyo.
"I don't know, the rooms, maybe?"Replied Ami, looking for a folded piece of paper in her pocket. It was a good idea that they asked the landlord for the mansion's map; the place was so big, they could easily get lost.
"Look, this room right here." said Kiyo, pointing at the master bedroom at the second floor."That's where they claim they have seen Mrs. Himura with her daughter."
Then suddenly, a voice yelled " Please! Help me find my daughter!"
Ami and Kiyo looked at each other, Ami looked terrified, but Kiyo tried to calm her down.
"Don't worry, it's probably someone's idea of a joke." He said.
"I hope..." Replied Ami, trying to calm down.
"C'mon, let's search in the master bedroom, that's where people say that they have seen this woman." Said Kiyo, heading towards the corridor on the left, Ami alongside him. They saw a door that read " The bedroom of Mr. and Mrs. Himura. " In golden letters. Kiyo carefully opened the door and saw that it was deserted. There was a letter on the cream-colored bed, looking ruffled up as is someone had crushed it. Kiyo took it and read it aloud,
"Dear Edward,
I cannot live in these conditions any further. Mikotsu is acting very strange, and has even threatened our daughter of killing her if she does not leave his thong alone. Our daughter is living in fear. I am living in fear. To think that I am afraid of my own son! I am taking Yumi to live with me on the countryside, where the people are most humble, the air is clean, and where there is peace everyday. The neighbors are also complaining about Mikotsu's strange behavior. It is best if you stay with him. He always looked up to you and admired you as the great man I knew you to be. Always helping people and bringing smiles. I remember those times he told me he wanted to be a doctor like you, but that all ended ever since he got out of war. His condition had worsened since Miki, that's how he called her, had passed away. Now he finds no reason to live or to let others live. I saw a gun and a small katana in his room when I entered to give him his daily treatment for those bad injuries he got at the war. The way he looked at me... that look of hate in his eyes... Oh, I cannot bear it much longer. I wish to help him, but first, I must take our daughter to safety. I will come back to the house once our little Yumi has settled in. I am sorry to bid you farewell this way, but I hope you understand the situation we are going through.
Lot's of love
Lionelle Himura."
Both Kiyo and Ami seemed shocked when he finished reading the contents of the letter. They felt worried about what may have happened all those years and whether the family had indeed solved their grave problems.
"Now I understand." Said Ami, looking at the window where Lionelle would look out the window. " She must have been killed before she had the chance to save her daughter and help her son. Now we hear her voice filled with grief as she failed to help them. Her soul cannot live in peace."
"Yeah, but who killed her?" Asked Kiyo.
And before Ami could reply, she screamed of terror of something or someone behind Kiyo, and, when he turned around, he saw a woman's face in the wall mirror, even though there was nobody else in the room.
"I am afraid that my son has been my murderer." Said the woman.
"Lionelle?" Asked Kiyo.
"Yes, it is me, Lionelle Himura." Said Lionelle. The neighbors said she was a very beautiful woman, yet she looked terrible, the years were not kind with her.
"Why did he kill you?" asked Ami.
"Apparently I was in his way." said Lionelle. " He wanted the deed to the house, and I refused to give it to him. It belonged to his father. So he killed me after I brought my daughter to safety. I don't know what became of my husband after that, but I cannot rest in peace after I find his body and know where my daughter is."
"But it's been years." said Kiyo"How will we find your daughter if we don't know where she is of if she's still alive?"
" I left her in a small village on the countryside of Tokyo."she explained. "Where my humble mother would take care of her. We even had to change her name to Akira."
"Wait, that's my grandmother's name." Said Ami. "Akira Yoroiko. And
she had a locket with the symbol of a lion's head surrounded in sakura leaves."
"Then that means..."Started Kiyo.
"Mrs. Lionelle, you're my great-grandmother." said Ami.
"Oh, my goodness." Said Mrs. Lionelle. "Then is my daughter alive?"
"Yes, great-grandmother, she is alive." said Ami.
"Oh, that is wonderful!" Said Mrs. Lionelle delighted. "Now what is left is to find my husband's body, so we can be together, and to find my son, Mikotsu, to make sure he has not harmed anyone."
They wondered where her husband's body may lay and where her son may be. They agreed to go to his son's room to find clues of his whereabouts. As Lionelle guided them to his room, they took time to look around for anything suspicious. When they entered the room, they found a letter on the black bed. Ami picked it up, and read,
" Dear Mikotsu;
I still love you even though my sickness has gotten the best of me. I am sorry about the awful turn of events at the war. Who was to know that one of your enemies was none other that Chino, your best friend? You shouldn't feel like everyone hates you. You still have your mother and your father to look after you. You've also got your little sister. You must promise me that you will take care of them as they took care of you. Also, you must beware of Ryoku, the one who looks almost exactly as you. He loves your house, and he would do anything to obtain it, even kill the owners. I saw him entering your house the other night, and I heard a terrible scream. You must be careful, or else he might harm your family.
Take care now.
I will always love you,
Micki."
"So, maybe Mikotsu didn't kill you after all." Said Kiyo.
"No, I knew my son would never do that." Said Lionell. " But, then, where is he?"
"Mother?" Said a male's voice. they turned around and the ghost of a young man appeared behind them.
" Mikotsu!" said Lionelle, embracing her son. "What happened? Who did this to you?"
"It was him, mother." said Mikotsu." Ryoku. He was disguised as me after I left for Micki's funeral. I sent you a letter."
"What letter?" Said Lionelle" I never received your letter."
"Then he took it." when I came back, you were already dead and he had killed father. He also made my grave in the backyard and I found and hid your body before he could bury it. I saw father's letter saying that Yumi was OK. Ryoku killed me and hid my body to make me look like I was the one that murdered you. He is also looking for any descendant of Yumi to make sure that the Himura family line is erased from history."
Kiyo looked at Ami. He knew she was in danger.
" Is Ryoku still alive?" Asked Kiyo.
"No, but, like Mother and me, he is a ghost and he still haunts these walls" Mikotsu said. "The only way to stop him is to find my and mother's bodies and bury them outside. That way there is proof that I was not the murderer."
"So where is your body hidden?"Asked Ami.
Mikotsu looked below the bed. It was full of junk. Kiyo remove all the junk he could until he tried to toss a rope but it stuck.
"Pull it harder." said Mikotsu.
And he did, with all his might, and Ami pulled the rope as well, until they heard a creak. They moved the bed together and found out there was a trapdoor, and inside, where all the junk fell was Mikotsu's body.
"How will we carry it?" Said Kiyo, as he tried to lift it. "It's too heavy."
"It is enough that you know the truth." Said Lionelle. Only thing left now is that Akira know the complete truth. Only then will our souls be freed. You must go now, before 2:45 pm."
Ami looked for her cellphone and called her grandmother. After her grandmother answered, she asked her to come into the mansion and explained what had happened all those years. Akira decided to see for herself, and they waited for her in the living room. The door opened and an old and humble-looking woman came into the mansion. She was amazed to see the ghost of her long lost mother and her brother. They showed her her borther's corpse and the knife passed through his chest, and believed that it wasn't Mikotsu who had killed her parents, but have been killed by her brother's identical twin, Ryoku, who was now trapped in his own madness, thereby freeing Mikotsu and his mother, and freeing Akira of her life-long grief.
THE END.
 Nicooriia · Mon Aug 06, 2007 @ 11:12pm · 4 Comments |
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