Ju-On

by Kei Oishi

  She remembered Mariko laughing as she told Rika that the pumps were Ferragamo shoes. She had dressed up in her best heels to go out with Rika that night.

  “Mariko …”

  Rika took several deep breaths, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the dark.

  Finally, a little bit at a time, she was able to see inside of the house. She squinted even harder.

  Footprints?

  Yes, she saw footprints. The floor had not been swept in such a long time that it was completely covered with a layer of dust. There was a trail of small footprints that looked like they belonged to a woman wearing stockings.

  “Mariko,” she called out, loudly this time. “Mariko! Where are you?! Mariko!”

  The footprints in the dust looked like they walked back and forth in the hallway several times before finally heading up the stairs.

  She knew she didn’t have time to hesitate. Without even taking off her shoes, Rika stepped into the house. She stood at the foot of the stairs. She felt an ominous atmosphere pressing down on her from above.

  Here.

  It’s here.

  Her heart beat hard in her chest, and she had trouble breathing. But, she knew she could not run away.

  Mariko . . . wait … I’m on my way.

  Clenching her teeth tightly, Rika started up the steep stairs.

  She knew exactly where to find Mariko. Strangely enough, Rika knew this before she arrived at the house.

  At the top of the stairs, there were two doors, side by side. Without even thinking, Rika headed to the far door. She grabbed the doorknob, her palm slick with sweat, and after a fleeting hesitation, she flung the door open.

  It was the Tokunaga master bedroom. The double bed, which lost its owners forever, sat just as it had been on that fateful day. But she could not see the blood stains that had been on the floor.

  Squinting again, she saw the stocking-clad footprints again. They went from the door, straight to the closet, and simply stopped.

  “Mariko!”

  Forcing her fright-frozen legs to move, Rika went and stood in front of the closet. Her arm trembling violently, Rika reached out to open the sliding door. There, on top of the stacked futon, lay the dainty bracelet that Mariko had worn on her right wrist that evening.

  “Aah, Mariko.”

  She had no time to hesitate. Rika jumped onto” the top shelf of the closet. She stood up, each breath coming like a grunt, and removed one of the ceiling panels.

  She stuck her head up into the attic and stared in the darkness. She called out again, “Mariko!”

  The air in the attic was cold, dry. It smelled faintly of dust and mold. Rika held her breath and squinted.

  Just then—

  She noticed something move in the darkness.

  Mariko …

  Rika swallowed her words before she could call out.

  It was not Mariko.

  Like a giant lizard stalking its prey, it crawled on all fours in the pitch-black attic, straight toward Rika. Its eyes shone brightly in the darkness, like those of a cat. Rika heard its voice.

 

  “Iyaaa!”

  Before it came into view, Rika jumped down from the closet.

  Frantically, she ran from the bedroom, calling out to her friend in her heart.

  Ym sorry, Mariko. Forgive me …

  She ran down the stairs.

  Forgive me, Mariko … please forgive me …

  Just as she was about to make a break for the front door, Rika noticed a woman who was not herself reflected in the wall mirror.

  Huh?

  She stopped, and, lips trembling, stood in front oi the mirror.

  There, in the mirror, it stood, with its lips trembling.

  It was surreal. Although it was definitely Rika standing in front of the mirror, it definitely was not Rika staring back out of it.

  Who? Who are you?

  The reflection in the mirror, it, had long hair like Rika, was skinny and pale, and was wearing white.

  Who am I? Who on earth am I?

  It was staring back out of the mirror, just as Rika was staring in. When Rika blinked, so did it.

  “Kayako …” muttered Rika, still staring at the woman in the mirror.

  No, Rika didn’t say a thing. The woman in the mirror said it.

  “From today, you are Kayako,” the woman in the mirror said, and smiled happily.

  Why… Why… ?

  Rika stood, dazed, in front of the mirror. Why… Why … Why … Why … ?

  She had no idea how long she had been there, but she heard footsteps making their way down the stairs. The woman reflected in the mirror, no, it was Rika, wheeled around.

  Coming.

  Someone’s coming down the stairs.

  Rika stared into the darkness encasing the staircase.

  She knew who was coming.

  A stoutly built man came out from the dark, around the bend in the staircase. The man, dressed in a polo shirt, was soaked with spattered blood. His face was shiny with his oily sweat, and his bloodshot eyes were filled with insanity.

  “Kayako … there you are,” said the man in a thick voice, looking down at Rika from the landing. “You know you can’t escape.”

  Rika’s breath caught in her throat and she slid backwards.

  Takeo … Takeo Saeki…

  Rika had never met the man. But, as soon as she saw this man, she knew exactly who he was.

  “You’ve given me a hard time … Are you ready for your punishment?”

  The man laughed, and Rika instinctively moved closer to the front door. She grabbed the doorknob and frantically turned it, but the door would not open. The door was not locked, she knew, but it just would not open.

  “Forget it, Kayako. There’s no way you can escape.” The man was at the bottom of the stairs now, standing in front of Rika. “Don’t worry, I won’t kill you right away. I’ll take care of you well before I kill you.”

  The man cracked the knuckles on his thick fingers, and his bloody, oily face distorted into a terrible grin.

  “No! No! Don’t come near me!”

  The man started toward Rika.

  Rika let out a scream and slammed her shoulder into the man. The man, taken unawares, lost his balance and fell hard on his buttocks in the hallway. Rika took advantage and ran toward the back of the house.

  “You bitch! I’ll kill you!”

  Rika, the man’s voice behind her, ran into the kitchen. She grabbed a bottle of soy sauce from the table and threw it at the man’s face as he came after her.

  Her aim was true, and the bottle hit the man right in the center of his balding forehead. The glass bottle broke, the black liquid inside splattering all over. Fresh blood flowed from his forehead.

  “Shit! I’m gonna kill you!” the man screamed like a beast as he burst into the kitchen.

  “No! Stay away!”

  The man caught up with Rika, even as she screamed and tried to run away. He grabbed her by her hair from behind and pulled her over backwards with all his might.

  Rika’s skinny body fell straight back. The back o{ her head slammed into the floor and she gave a groan. She tried hard to get back up, but the man still had hold of her hair, and she just couldn’t get up.

  “Stop it! Let me go!” she screamed.

  The man still had hold of Rika’s hair, and slammed her head into the floor, over and over again, until she passed out.

  The man finally let go oi her hair. Rika was vaguely aware that the man’s thick arm forced its way between her legs and felt herself being lifted into the air. Then, her body was falling, smashing into the floor with horrendous force. There was a tremendous thud, and the whole house shook.

  Rika lost her breath from the force of the fall. She had hit the ground back first, and now lay at the man’s feet, rolled up in a ball and writhing like a dying caterpillar.

  Stop… please… stop…

  Rika pleaded with the man inside her
mind.

  But the man was persistent in his attack. He stomped on Rika’s stomach as she writhed at his feet, like he was trying to stamp a hole right through her body. He stomped again and again. Her chest. Her lower abdomen. He kept stomping the girl, until her eyes rolled back in her head. She kept moaning and writhing on the floor.

  “You see, Kayako? You see what happens when you go against me?” the man asked as he pressed Rika’s face to the floor with the sole oi his foot. Rika groaned in unbelievable suffering, humiliation, terror, and hatred.

  Rika felt the hem oi her dress being hiked up. She knew her panties and stockings were pulled down and her legs were forced open. The man, stinking oi sweat and blood, crawled on top of her body. Then, she felt an indescribable pain pierce her lower abdomen.

  “Uggh.”

  Rika moaned in a low voice and arched her body. But there was nothing she could do. The man was squeezing her small breasts

  through the dress. He thrust into Rika’s body as if he was pushing all of his hatred into her.

  “Tell me, Kayako … who’s Toshio’s father … answer me … answer me … Kayako … answer me …” The man grunted out his words with each thrust. Over and over again.

  There was no pleasure here. All that existed here was hatred and humiliation.

  “Hey, whose kid is Toshio … Answer me, Kayako … whose kid … answer me … answer me … “

  She had no idea how much time had passed. Finally, the man’s body shuddered on top of Rika’s as he ejaculated. She felt this through her hazy consciousness.

  After he finished, the man withdrew from her body and pulled his pants back on. Still lying face up on the floor, Rika stared at the man through her teary eyes. She had trouble focusing her vision, and saw two of him.

  The man, standing now, looked down at Rika and said, “You bitch, rot in hell.” Leaving her there, he left the kitchen.

  There was no way she could forgive him.

  Rika forced herself to get up, even through the sharp pain that ran through her entire being. She coughed hard and vomited up phlegm mixed with blood. She wiped away her tears and spittle with her hands, which were scraped and bloodied. She dragged herself into the kitchen, her nose dripping blood along the way.

  “Damn it… I’ll kill him … I’ll kill him …”

  She opened the cabinet under the sink. There were several knives hanging on the knife rack on the inside of the cabinet door. Rika

  reached out and grabbed one of them, a long carving knife that was covered with a thin layer of rust. Wrapping her fingers tightly around the black handle, she forced herself to stand up on her wobbly legs, and went after the man in the hallway.

  The man did not notice Rika come up behind him. For an instant, Rika had a flash of deja vu.

  Deja vu?

  Yes. I have done this before. I have stabbed a man from behind just like this.

  Rika gripped the knife in both hands and stood behind the man, her hands held at hip height.

  Her vagina was burning from the man’s rape, and his semen slowly ran down her inner thigh.

  Rika brought her breathing under control. She slammed her body into the man from behind, sliding the knife into his back.

  The rusted yet sharp knife split open the man’s tightly bound muscles as it pierced him, and he arched his back.

  “Uuuugh…You.^You…”

  The knife that RikaHlad in her hands was now buried to the hilt in the man’s back. She was sure the tip must have pierced all the way through and was sticking out the other side of his body.

  The man took one or two steps with Rika on his back before stopping. His legs began to give out and he fell to his knees. Her hands still gripping the knife tightly, Rika fell on top of the man’s back, giving off a small cry. Her hands were slippery with the man’s flowing blood.

  “Kayako … you … “

  The man, still on his knees, turned his head and looked at Rika with a terrible look in his eyes.

  “Ughh …” the man gasped and, with Rika still on his back hanging on to the knife, forced himself to stand again by pulling himself up on the hallway wall. He staggered another two or three steps before stopping. He crumpled again. He lay on the floor, his body going into spasms as he moaned. Then he was still.

  Kneeling in the puddle of blood in the hallway, Rika stared at the mans corpse. She slowly looked at her hands. Her dainty, manicured fingers were sticky and smelled of blood.

  Her tears spilled over. They came and came and came. They mixed with the blood from her nose, and spilled off her chin onto the floor.

  “Toyoshima-kun,” she muttered unconsciously. “Toyoshima-kun …”

  In a fit of horrible sadness and despair, Rika recalled the man she used to love, Yuji Toyoshima. How much she loved him, how much she thought about him, how much time she spent dreaming about him … Then, suddenly, Rika had a thought—

  Toyoshima-kun never returned my love. Yes. That’s why I am so miserable now.

  Out of all human emotions, none is more primitive, and has a longer lasting effect on the body, than hatred. The immutable proof of this can be seen in the millennia-old hatred between the Israelis and Palestinians, between the Christian Serbians and the Muslim Albanians, between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes in Uganda, between the common people in medieval Japan toward the class of outcasts created by the government. Yes, like these people, so too did Rika Nishina hate.

  The history of the human race is the history of human hatred. Even love cannot erase such intense hatred. Yes. Mere love is powerless

  against hatred. And, as Rika now understood, sometimes hatred can even give unbelievable power to people.

  Toyoshima-kun never returned my love. That’s why I am so miserable now.

  Rika had never entertained such a thought before. But now, she needed the power of hatred … She could not stand not hating someone. Someone needed to be held responsible. Rika placed all of that responsibility on the man she used to love.

  Yes. It’s all Toyoshima-kun’s fault. Everything is his fault. He did not love me back …Ifhe had returned my love at that time, I would have never been placed in this situation …Ifhe had just told me that he loved me, I would not be so miserable now . . . But even though … even though I loved him that intensely … even though … even though I was prepared to do anything in the world for Toyoshima-kun .. . But now Toyoshima-kun is with another woman … I cant forgive him… cant forgive him … I just cant forgive him …

  Rika raised her face. She hated Yuji Toyoshima. She hated him enough to kill him. She hated him. She hated him so much she couldn’t stand it anymore.

  It’s all Toyoshima-kun’s fault. . . It’s all Toyoshima-kuns fault… It’s all Toyoshima-kuris fault ….

  Rika was living in such horrible misery, while Yuji Toyoshima was living the epitome of happiness. He was smiling, laughing, making love with another woman. There was no way she could forgive such unfairness.

  Rika decided to pay Yuji Toyoshima a visit. She decided to go to him, take all his happiness away, and take him for herself.

  She knew what she had to do. Rika knew this, just as clearly as if she had done it before.

  EPILOGUE

  Kayako

  It was the end of the same year that Takeo and I were married.

  Still newlyweds, we were staying for a few days at an old hotel on the lake in Hakone. Takeo didn’t say as much, but I think it was his way of making up for not being able to go on a honeymoon because of how busy he was at work.

  The hotel was a western-style structure tucked away in the winter forest. It was an old aristocratic mansion that had been remodeled into a hotel. A beautiful British-style garden spread out around the building, and we could see the lake just beyond, like a cold mirror.

  One day, I woke before dawn, and quietly slipped out of Takeo’s arm. I went to the window, still naked. It was very warm in the room, but the air was dry, so the windows never fogged over.

  I opened the curt
ain and looked outside. I was so taken aback by the beauty of the scenery before me that I swallowed my breath. I wondered if it was really a natural phenomenon.

  Almost as if the cold water in the lake had all turned hot overnight, a fog, like dry ice, covered the entire surface of the large lake, flowing low on the surface o{ the water.

  The fog kept coming up off the lake surface, and spilled over, like beer foam overflowing a glass, and made its way to the hotel

  where I was.

  The effect was like an illusion not of this world: it was so beautiful. I stood in front of the window, completely naked, almost forgetting to breathe, staring out at the pre-dawn lake.

  I thought of waking Takeo up to show him, but I didn’t. That’s because I wanted to keep this scene all for myself.

  While I was watching, the sky slowly turned light a little bit at a time. Finally, the sun peeked out from over the mountains that surrounded the lake, hazy in the fog.

  “Aah,” I sighed, enraptured. Almost as if bidden to, I opened the window. In an instant, unbelievably cold air rushed into the room and cooled my hot body. My body shivered, and I felt myself getting light in the head.

  “Aah,” I let out another ecstatic moan and closed my eyes. I thought about the new life that I was carrying in my body. I felt my cheeks turn up in an unconscious smile.

  Just a few days before, I was told by my doctor that I was pregnant. I had not told Takeo yet. I wanted to keep the good news for myself, shut away in my heart, for just a few more days.

  There in the colctatir, I took deep breaths. From the room behind me, I heard Takeo’s regular sleeping breaths. From the lake, I heard the chirps of the birds that were just waking up. At that time, I experienced a feeling oi immense happiness, something that I had never felt before in my entire life.

  Yes. That day, I was happy. I was more relaxed, more fulfilled than I had ever been. I was holding a ticket of hope to a time yet to come.

  Maybe, I thought, just maybe, I would get to stay this happy for the rest of my life, to make up for all the misery I had felt in

  the past.

  Maybe there really was a God, who distributes happiness evenly throughout the world … Maybe he was smiling on me now, I thought, looking out the window at the fog coming off the lake that winter morning.