Part 52: Blood Drive, Part 2

Music: Dread



Heh. Truck's s'posed t' be a three-seater, but it's kinda crowded. Sorry 'bout that.
That's quite all right. We're very grateful.
If we'd kept on walking, it would've been nighttime before we knew it.
Well, I sure ain't got a lot o' business up at the ol' Shin'zaki estate on th' mountain these days. Why are you two lookin' t' go up there, anyhow?
Well... I'm not really sure how to put it. Let's just say there's some information we're trying to find.
Information?
About a nurse who used to live there a long time ago. A woman named Yoshie Shinozaki.



But nobody goes near it anymore. Dunno what kinda shape it'll be in.

Naomi & Ayumi: ...



With four tires on four different elevations at any given point in time, the whole truck was being rocked to its core.



Oww!
Are you okay?!
Yeah, I'm fine. Just glad I'm wearing my seatbelt!
...This is...quite the road, isn't it, mister?



Ahh...!

The old man's driving was starting to frighten me. I could see Ayumi's head bouncing up and down, and it honestly felt like we were in a runaway vehicle.

Umm... mister? Aren't you going a little...fast...?

Music: None

Sound Effect: Horn



Ahhh...!

Sound Effect: Screech



Background Sound: Engine

*pant* *pant* *pant* *pant*
*pant* *sigh*

My heart was beating a mile a minute. That was a person on the road, wasn't it? The class rep and I had both gone pale. We looked over at the old man.



What?!
Believe me. Y' hit a person 'r an animal on the road, it makes a bigger noise 'n that.
...

This old man seemed to have gone a little weird now as well. And much like the old woman in town, he started off so kind and helpful...



Who as that...in the road...?
Dunno.



Naomi & Ayumi: ...

Background Sound: None



I'll be waitin' here for y'. You just come back when you're done. I can't rightly leave two li'l girls out 'ere by 'emselves, after all.
Thank you for your consideration.



... That was scary.
There was definitely something strange about him. But he did say he'll wait for us, so I think he's a good person where it counts.
Yeah... I guess you're right.

The sun was setting rapidly and evening was in full stride. And at the top of this uncompromisingly steep road sat Yoshie Shinozaki's home and clinic.



...We finally made it...

Music: Terror



There's...nothing here.

This had to be the place. The site of the Shinozaki estate. But there was no house here anymore. The building was torn down. It was just an empty lot.

And after...we came all this way, too...
Wait, hold up. Look over there. Is that...a barn?



You're right! I wonder why this was spared, if the estate wasn't... ...?



Is this...possible?
Yeah, it's kind of giving me the creeps...

Despite our misgivings, we'd gone far outside our comfort zone to get here, so we set about searching this mysterious barn for any answers.



We're put into control for a bit here. We can't leave the barn, we can only investigate the objects lying around it.



It's a large drum that seems to have once been used for burning waste products.

Nothing but soot and ash inside. I wonder what was burned in here...
I don't know. Looks like plain old ash to me, but it could've been anything.



It's a hemp sack that's filled to the brim with some kind of grain -- probably feed for farm animals.

Guess they had chickens or something here.
Yeah...



It's an old, worn-out blanket that someone seems to have left here.

Somebody from the outside must have sought shelter in here at some point.
Oh, yeah, maybe. I guess just getting out of the wind isn't always enough. And...brr...it is starting to get kind of cold in here, with the sun down.
Yeah...



There's a mess of old cardboard boxes here, along with a rusted toolbox and any number of other odds and ends. There doesn't seem to be anything particularly useful in, on or among any of them, however.

Hey, look. This box has 'Shinozaki 1' written on it.
You're right! I guess that means this really was Yoshie Shinozaki's house at some point.



*sigh* I don't see a single thing in here that sheds any light on Yoshie or Sachiko Shinozaki at all.
It's full-on night outside, too. And we've kept that poor old man waiting long enough.

It seemed like a waste to leave here empty-handed, but we'd done all we could. For today, at least, it was time to start heading home.

Can't believe all that's left is a barn...
Yeah...

Music: None

Background Sound: Crickets



Sounds like a plan.

It felt like the sun had been setting forever, but now it was nowhere in sight. The wooded mountains all around us were cloaked in a veil of darkness. There weren't any lights to help guide our path, either, so we really couldn't see where we were going.

Man it's dark. Was this the way we came?
We need to find our way back to the road. I think that's it, though, since I remember just walking straight toward the barn. Ah, class rep! Look!



It's the old man's truck!
Yeah, it has to be. Thank goodness! I didn't much like the idea of getting stranded in the woods.

There was something oddly fulfilling about getting out and actually doing something. Success or no, it felt so much more fruitful than moping about at home. I didn't care if this was a fool's errand. As long as I just kept looking, day after day, I felt like I could move on. It wasn't hope...it was purpose. Seiko taught me that.

Sorry to keep you waiting! ...Huh?

Background Sound: Engine



Hmm? Wait, where's the old man?
Maybe we were gone too long for him. I mean, it is cold, but maybe he had to...you know...

She began scratching her head and blushing a bit, clearly embarrassed at the suggestion.

Oh...yeah, maybe. Well, he left the engine running, so he should be back soon. Let's just wait for him.
It's so...chilly out here, though. My stomach's freezing. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if we waited inside the truck, right?
That's true. Okay, then, class reps first!

Sound Effect: Door



No good. It's locked.
Well, that sucks! Guess we don't have much choice. Let's just wait out here.



8:17. About the right time for cold night air, really.
The old man's not coming back, is he? So what do we do...?
...

It was so dark we couldn't even see the road. And climbing all the way back down would require far more of a hike than we were prepared for.

Start walking anyway
Think of something else



That's true, but it's not like we can just stand around forever.
I guess you're right. Okay. I feel bad leaving the old man behind, but let's just write him a note and start heading back.
Sure. I have my notebook with me. I'll thank him and let him know we went on ahead.
Okay. If we put it under his windshield wiper, he'll probably see it when he comes back.

Background Sound: None



There were no street lights, so our visibility was pretty much nonexistent. It was extremely treacherous. If we weren't careful, we could've easily found ourselves stepping off the road in a section with no guard rails and sliding down the mountainside. It didn't help that the road itself kept winding back and forth, causing us to lose all sense of direction and wonder if we were going in circles.

*pant* *pant* ...Class rep, you okay?



No, it won't. What do you want to do? Should we go back?
To the truck, you mean? But we've already been walking for a half-hour. What if we go back and he's not even there anymore?
That's true. Guess our best bet really is just to persevere. ...Hmm?



Hey, look. It's another car! I can see its lights!
Wow, so someone else came all the way up here too? Lucky for us! I hope they'll be willing to give us a ride...
Let's go check it out!

Background Sound: Engine



Isn't this...the old man's truck?!
How... How is that possible?! It's just one road, and we were heading downhill the whole time! But...that's the note I left. This really is his truck! God, what's going on?!

I felt like we'd been tricked by a fox spirit or something. And I was fairly confident there weren't any forks in the road at all the entire time we were walking, so I honestly couldn't explain what happened.




I'm sure we just made a wrong turn somewhere. We were going back and forth so much, it's easy to see how we could've gotten turned around. So we just have to pay closer attention this time, and make sure we don't take any side roads by mistake.
...Okay.

Background Sound: None



I wondered how long we'd actually spent up here on the mountain. I could've checked the time, of course...but I was afraid to. We didn't speak at all, but the sound of the class rep's strained breathing gave me comfort. Just knowing she was here made me feel a lot more at ease.



She looked at me with a concerned expression on her face and broke the uncomfortable silence of the lonely, dark walkway with her question.

Hmm? Yeah. Thanks. After today, though, I don't think I'm going to want to go for a walk again for a good long while. Fingers crossed we're almost there!
Y-Yeah...



Feels like we've been walking about as long as we did before, huh?
*sigh* I swear, if we see that truck again...
Come on, don't even joke about that! You're going to freak me out!



...No...
How is this even possible?!

Background Sound: Engine



There's something not right about this mountain.
And my cell phone's showing out of area. We can't even call for help!
Where did the old man get off to, anyway? How can he still not be back?!
And he just...left the engine running.

The only sound either of us could hear in this dense, dark forest was that of the truck's engine idling away.



I guess our only choice is... Nakashima, what do you think about returning to that barn? I mean, it's got light, at least...
Why the barn?
Well...if we can't get back down the mountain tonight, we should at least take shelter and rest until morning, don't you think? It just seems safer than staying here.
So we're going to...spend the night...?

If we choose to "think of something else" at either of the previous choices, they quickly come to this same conclusion.



I agreed with her that this was the only real course of action that made sense, but...

Safer than...staying here?
Yeah. I just get a bad feeling from this road... or from this whole mountain, really. It's like there's some kind of...presence. And our best bet for dealing with it is to go someplace well-lit and...get out of the elements.
You feel a presence? Is it something...we should be afraid of?
I don't know. I'm not even sure if it's a person or...something else. And it could be one presence, or many. All I can really say is that...we're being watched.
Okay. Then let's hurry up and get back to that barn.

Video: Mountain
This video covers the remainder of the update.



However...

Background Sound: Crickets



This is weird. It's...really weird. It's like the road leading to it just up and vanished! Does this mean we're...?!
Wait! Don't wander off!
Ah, sorry! Come on, let's try retracing our steps. We'll just turn around and go back the way we came.
*pant* *pant* ...Sounds good to me.





*pant* *pant* *pant* We are going the right way, aren't we? Shouldn't we be seeing the road soon?
...
Where are we...?

Music: Discomfort



What?!

Yes, we were definitely lost. There were literally nothing but coniferous trees as far as the eye could see, in every direction. Dark, looming trees. Their tall, thin forms were casting a web of shadows all along the mountainside, obscuring our vision of anything at all outside our immediate surroundings.



Yeah, but it won't work. It uses GPS.
Oh, it does?
Why can't this stupid thing get any location data? God, what good is it if it craps out on me when I need it the most?!



...!
Did you just...hear a voice?
I couldn't make out what it was saying, but yeah, that sounded like...a person. Maybe it was just the wind in the trees, though...
*shudder* *shiver*



...Mm... That's...true... *gulp* If we...got lost in the mountains...we... They say you...should never head toward low ground.
I didn't know that.
The best course of action is probably just to stay in place and wait for daybreak, but...it's cold, and we have no tent... Maybe if we huddle together...?
That's fine. But I'm good to walk at least a little longer, so how about we keep at it for a bit? If we get near enough to the road, we might see the truck.
...Okay.





But there's no way we could be walking in circles, is there?
...

Everything looked the same up here, no matter where we went. We both began to wonder if we were making any progress at all.

Sound Effect



Wh-Wh...What is it?
Over there! I heard...something...
Huh? Where? Where was it?

Sound Effect



*pant* *pant* ...God, what next?!
What...was that?

Sound Effect



...!





The rough terrain was killing our legs and our stamina had been worn down to the bone.

I can't...move anymore.

The class rep plopped herself down onto a bed of dry leaves on the ground. And just as she did...



Hmm?
Ah...!

Beyond the silhouette of the many conifers at the edge of our vision, a faint light could be seen.

...We're saved!
*sigh* Thank you, Nakashima. Thank you for noticing that.
No problem. Let's go!



As it happens, the barn we'd been looking for all this time was the source of the light. Those naked light bulbs shone like beacons in the night sky.

Thank God... Oh, it's the barn! I thought it was going to be the old man's truck.
Yeah, me too. But this is even better. The barn is what we were looking for, after all.
But, I...don't remember leaving the lights on when we left, do you?
We...should have shut them off, yeah. But it's certainly possible we didn't.
Well, if we're the ones who left them on, then we just saved our own asses, so I guess I should thank goodness for small favors.

All we had to do was push through some undergrowth as tall as we were, and then we'd be there. Seems we'd somehow circled around to the back of the lot.



Sure. Man, just having light makes all the difference in the world, doesn't it?

My phone's clock was showing just past 10:40. I started thinking about home, and about how much my mom must be worrying by now. Feeling a bit saddened, I hesitated at the barn door, when all of a sudden...

Background Sound: None

Music: None

Aaaahh! ...Hhhhhaahhh...

...the class rep let out a nearly voiceless cry of absolute shock. She was staring into the darkness just past the building and shuddering in terror.



Nakashima... Look... Right next to...the barn...
Huh? ...!!

What I saw there was something that couldn't be. Something far beyond my imagination and comprehension alike.