Part 51: Blood Drive, Part 1
At last, we're going to look at Book of Shadows' final and only relevant chapter: Blood Drive. This chapter takes place a couple weeks after the first game's true ending.
Music: Unrest

Housewife 1: And you know what my kid told me? He said that incident was connected with an underground website that's gotten real popular at his school.
Housewife 2: Oh, I think I heard about that on the news a while back! Profiles being used for bullying, and to find dates... Is that kind of stuff still going on?!

Naomi moves out of sight.

Housewife 2: I wonder if my kid goes on any websites like that. Maybe I should talk to him about it.



I'd been here for over an hour now. Standing, staring...wondering whether to push that button...

I must have looked really suspicious. Especially since I'd been here yesterday, and the day before too. And each time, I wound up just going home. But today would be different. That's what I told myself. Today I'd actually push that intercom button. I was ready to face my demons.



Yuu: Hey! You two can't just run off like that!
Once again, Naomi ducks out of sight.

Aya: Ahahaha!
Yuu: All right! Line up! Make sure you've got your shoes on tight. There we go. Hey, straighten that hat.
Kei: Eheheh!
Yuu: Very good. I think we're ready now. Take my hands, please. Now, you think you two can behave at the market? Kei, Aya?
Kei: Uh-huh!
Aya: You bet!
Yuu: That's what I like to hear.

They were the reason I'd come. They were the ones I wanted to see. I had no idea what I'd say to them. But I knew for sure that Seiko existed, so I had to say something.

Maybe I'd show them this cell phone picture...and tell them, hey, this is your sister. And ask if they remembered anything about her. It would be okay. I just needed to explain myself. They'd understand. They had to! I'd made up my mind. Now was the perfect chance. I stepped out from my hiding place...

...but barely made out a single word before I felt someone grab my arm from behind, holding me back.

Music: None



Our class rep, Shinozaki, was shaking her head at me. She was determined to stop me from confronting Seiko's family. My vision was starting to blur.

Music: A Friend's House

I couldn't hold back my tears any longer. I squatted on the ground and looked up at the class rep, who was staring back at me with equally glassy eyes.

Only those of us who returned from Heavenly Host Elementary School alive. Only Shinozaki... Satoshi...Kishinuma...and Yuka. As for those who lost their lives there... Seiko...Suzumoto...Morishige...and Ms. Shishido...we came back to find that their very existence was wiped clean from this world entirely.


I was walking home, defeated and dejected, with the class rep at my side when she suddenly addressed me. It sounded like she wanted to tell me something.




But she was kind of an expert when it came to ghosts and the occult and such, so...I trusted her. I wanted to know where she was going with this.








She had my full attention now. I swallowed hard, as if I were taking it all in.


I was haunted by my memories of Heavenly Host, and this would entail visiting the source of it all, where the danger would be far greater. Yet somehow...

It was right around 4:30 in the afternoon. The day was already cooling into night, and the sun would surely be setting shortly after we arrived at our destination. But...neither of us really cared. I just wanted to be there, as soon as humanly possible. If there were even the slightest chance of finding answers, I'd welcome it. The two of us went right to the station and hopped on the very next train we could find out to the countryside, grasping at straws for all we were worth.
Video: Blood Drive
Music: Shangri-La -Ballad ver.-

But if I'd done that, I'd have had to explain to Mom where I was going...and I sincerely doubt she would've been amenable to the idea. I could've always just gone anyway, of course... but then I'd be directly disobeying my mother and undoubtedly making her worry sick about me.

Much like us, they were simply staring down at the ground and riding in silence, lost in their own thoughts. These last couple weeks had been brutal. All five of us who survived were feeling it. We were more exhausted than we'd ever been in our entire lives.
But no matter how crazy people said we were...no matter how much our souls ached from the memories... we could never forget Seiko and the others.

And the scariest, saddest thing I could imagine was the passage of time...because eventually, I knew I'd have trouble remembering what they looked like.


...Why was she bringing this up? I just looked down at my knees, trying unsuccessfully to fight back the tears that were welling up in my eyes yet again.





The blog's final entry was the one detailing the Sachiko Ever After ritual. But we already knew that. There were no updates after it because...
Music: Omen


The class rep nodded and looked into my eyes.





I was literally on the edge of my seat, leaning in close and hanging on her every word. She flashed me a smile.



It wasn't much to go on, but it was easily the best news I'd heard in two weeks. And it made me feel a lot better about this impromptu trip. Even just this one vague clue improved our chances of finding something at the Shinozaki estate significantly. At least now, we knew what to look for...
Video: Blood Drive ends here.
Music: None




Music: Relief (A)

There was only one main road, and due to the mountainside setting of this picturesque village, it maintained a gradual upward slope the whole way.











And the darker it got, the more noticeable the sound of the uneven terrain became. There was something unsettling about the idea of two schoolgirls in uniform walking through a strange, largely deserted village at the cusp of twilight...

She was pointing at one of the isolated farmhouses directly in front of us.

Music: None




Sound Effect: Thump


Sound Effect: Thump Thump Thump



This time she was pointing to a slightly more inviting-looking residence nearby, sporting a blue roof.


Older Lady: Yeees?


I could see the figure of a middle-aged woman through the frosted glass door. I wasn't sure if she was actually going to open it for us, given that we were strangers and she was, by all appearances, a woman alone in an isolated house.


Older Lady: Oh, my! What cute little visitors. And coming all this way with the sun going down, no less!
Thank goodness! She seemed like a perfectly normal, perfectly kind old woman. I took my place next to the class rep and bowed my head in respect.
Older Lady: So where is it you're trying to go, then?

Older Lady: Let's see...
Music: Has Been Seen



Older Lady: ...



Older Lady: Get out! Go on! Get out of here!

The woman slams the door.
Music: None



Music: Dread







She seemed like such a kind old woman, too, when she first answered the door. But now she just felt menacing. The sudden change was almost staggering.


We walked for quite a while after that. The fields and trees were becoming more plentiful, while houses were becoming a much rarer sight. The road's incline had gotten a lot steeper, too. We were literally climbing a mountain now, and the likelihood of finding the house we sought (or any house at all) seemed to be lessening with every step.


We pushed ourselves against the guard rail and waited for the car approaching from behind to pass by before we continued our trek.

The mini pickup pulled alongside us, and an older gentleman stuck his head out the window. He seemed like a sociable sort.

Older Man: Shin'zaki? Ahhh, yeah, the ol' Shin'zaki estate. It's up that-a-way! Deep in th' mountains.

Older Man: Yepp!


Older Man: Dunno what business y' got in a place like that, but hop in if y' want. I'll take y' up.
The class rep and I looked one another square in the eyes. He seemed a little shady, but it was getting pretty late, and as they say, beggars can't be choosers. We wouldn't get another opportunity like this.
