The three walked serendipitously as they strolled to the train station. This small group was led by Kariya Yamanote and Yoshi Benkyo, followed closely by Azuma Hayashi. Kariya was a tall, fairly burly young man who was far more adept at athletics than at study, his best friend Yoshi, inversely, was proficient at study but was reasonably bad at most sports save for Archery and Kendo (Japanese Fencing). Azuma, meanwhile, was as many young women her age, fairly capricious and romantic; however she did have excellent wit and was good at study. In fact, she tended to be bit shy until she got to know someone, and she would not have attempted such an adventure if she was not accompanied by good friends. Speaking of which, the three planned a trip to Yokohama to stay at an old mansion that was now a hotel. They were upperclassman in high school and during their short break they wanted to do something new and fun.

     They arrived at the train station. It was very busy with many people bustling about here and there among the gates. They bought their tickets to the shinkansen (bullet train) romantic express and proceeded to the standing area. While they waited for the train Azuma noticed woman dressed in a maid’s uniform a few persons behind her. She had a penetrating glare that seemed to piece her soul. Azuma began to sweat, she felt a severe pressure coming from behind her; it was as the whole world was pressing down upon her. Kariya and Yoshi didn’t seem to feel it as they were talking like nothing was wrong.

      The train pulled in and they boarded. Azuma sat down; she began to feel the pressure again. She looked behind her; there was the maid again too. This was too weird. Azuma looked up at Yoshi and Kariya, who still didn’t seem to feel anything. She was very disturbed. In about two hours, they arrived at Yokohama Station. The company left the train. Azuma felt as though she could breathe again, at last, she thought, she could relax; she was mistaken. After some shopping and a meal, the trio decided to visit their lodgings. It was an old mansion in the western (European) style. Built in the early twentieth-century during the beginning of the westernization of Japan it reflected the ambiance of a British manor. Azuma was impressed. She paced slowly, almost with a gait towards the grandiose housing. She stopped. She felt an odd feeling again, through different feeling than last time; it was worse. It no longer felt as though it was pressing upon her, it felt as though it was crushing her. Kariya knocked on the large vaulted door, a butler answered. He was a regally dressed butler, he had a jet black suit and the signature butler necktie, in addition, he a monocle over his right eye. Behind him were a bevy of maids to greet the three guests, they were in the traditional black and white maid uniform, lace, frills and all. In presence of all this European culture one might forget they were in Japan. Then Azuma noticed something; the maid from the train was there. Shocked, Azuma shivered as they were escorted to their room by one of the other maids.

     After they unpacked, they decided to explore the mansion. Azuma was beginning to be at ease, maybe it was just her imagination, after all. In the large hallway, past the foyer, Yoshi noticed a plaque. It read that on the site this mansion was built, there was an inn at which many government officials stayed. The building was then abandoned and sat vacant for over a hundred years, it was later demolished and the current mansion was built. “Interesting isn’t it?” said a voice from behind Yoshi. It was the butler. Yoshi was surprised, he didn’t see the butler around him and now he was right behind him. Kariya, meanwhile, was checking out the maids. He looked up at the vaulted ceiling. It was big. It reminded him of a bit of a chateau. 

     After a while they went back to their rooms. A waitress came to bring them tea. However, this woman was strange. Yoshi and Azuma seemed to be the only ones to notice; to Kariya a woman was a woman. First of all she was wearing a yukata. This type of garb would not be out of place at most Japanese hotels, however in this mansion all the faculty was dressed in traditional European serving uniforms, so something such as a yukata was highly out of place. The second and most troubling anomaly was observed as she left. Across her back was a long laceration that appeared to still be bleeding. Upon further investigation, they would have discovered that the fabric on her back that from a distance appeared a burnt red was actually an age-old oxidized crimson that blossomed from the still bleeding wound. Alarmed, they called after her, but there was no response. Yoshi tried to reach her, but she had seemed to have disappeared. This left the tea she had brought them. The three peered into its murky depths. It peered back. They decided against drinking it. They then decided they better find more adequate lodgings for the night and left the room. The foyer door was locked. The building was oddly empty and dark. Only some twilight from a skylight and a few iridescent gas lamps lit it’s entirety, giving it a ghastly blue lighting with yellow tinted edges. They decided to spilt up and look for alternate exits, they would reconvene at the foyer at 0:00 hours after synchronized their watches. Yoshi wandered the halls unpretentiously; there were slightly audible moaning sounds in the background. It was quite disconcerting. He had checked every door so far and they all locked. He was beginning to think that – He was suddenly slammed against the wall with great force. He slowly looked up. A maid was glaring at him; she was pinning to the wall with only one hand. She withdrew a handgun from her skirt and pressed it his head. Sweat began to mist the inside of his glasses. The maid drew her countenance close to his; it was quite beautiful. Her breath had the scent of fermented ambrosia. “My master would like to have a word with you, sir.” she said in pleasant tones that were somehow frightening. She escorted him forcibly to an embellished door. It appeared to open of its own accord.

     Behind the door were Kariya and Azuma with similar maids “accompanying” them. In front of him was an imposing man in inverness, “Welcome to my domain!” he said in imposing tone.  “I suppose you are wondering what is going on here”, he continued “As you may be aware, this mansion replaced an inn that was a hundred years old. That inn was our home. One hundred years had allowed our spirits to rest comfortably in its walls. But it was destroyed. So we assume this guise to take revenge on the living. And so, you must be erased.” upon saying this, he drew a magnificent blade. In the distance a bell tower chimed midnight. Oh crap, I’ve got to do something, Yoshi thought. He looked around the room and made a mad dash for the decorative swords on the wall. He garbed the tachi and drew its long blade. “I was quite warrior in my day!” the man in inverness laughed. Kariya broke free of his maid’s grip and grabbed the short sword; Azuma tried to get the gun from her maid captor and was failing. Yoshi charged at the hotel headmaster, and attacked with a skillful head strike. The blade came one millimeter from the headmaster’s skull before he appeared behind Yoshi and grazed him on the back. Yoshi swung around the headmaster, and cut straight through his abdomen, spaying blood all over the red lining of his inverness. Not to miss this crucial chance, Kariya decapitated the headmaster, and Azuma finally wrestled the gun from the maid and shot the headmaster though the heart. The headmaster was utterly defeated. His newly mutilated body fell to the floor in a heap, forming a large pool of blood.

     “Heheheheh…” a voice chuckled ominously in the background. “You will never truly kill me, for you are but a moral man. However, you are the first to ever defeat me, so I will honour your victory by allowing to you live this place alive.”

      The three woke up in the train station. Dazed and confused they went home. Later Yoshi found a scar on his back.

END//.