Editing Ghost Hunt:Volume 5 Chapter 5 (section)

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Opening the door, there was a hall inside. There was a flight of stairs extending upwards across the scene of the wide room. There were three doors connected to the hall. There was neither furniture nor carpet nor anything else inside.

While looking around the hall, once more, I grasped my torch and started running.

… It’s exactly here, I’m sure it isn’t wrong.

“—Masako!”

“Mai!”

Although I heard their restraining voices, my legs did not stop. I ran up to the second floor, rapidly passing through the corridor towards the room at the end. I opened the door.

“Masako!”

Passing through the small room, I opened the door. The tiles vaguely reflected the torch light darkly. I rushed straight into the bathroom. The floor was slippery; I stumbled towards the inside wall. I slipped and fell towards the bed; I grasped the bed’s side. I could feel the ice-cold sensation of wet tile with my hand. I shone the torch towards the wall.

“Masako!!”

“… Mai.”

I heard Masako’s weak voice. I shone the torch towards the source of the voice; I saw Masako’s figure crouching by the wall.

Aah, that’s great. That’s really great…!

I ran to Masako’s side and squatted down.

“That’s great. Are you alright?”

Masako nodded.

“You came really fast.”

Saying that, Masako frowned.

“Are you injured?”

“… Ai?”

Masako reached out and touched my face. A glance showed her fingertip to be dark black.

… What?

I couldn’t help wiping my own face. I realized my own hand was also completely blood red. It was like a red colored tar-like fluid.

… Why?

Just as that thought passed through my head, I recalled the incident in which I had grasped that bed just now. I had touched it. I felt the sensation of the moist tile…

I couldn’t help shining the torch into the surrounding darkness. The torchlight illuminated the bed behind me.

The white bed reflected light as though it was drenched. It was a reddish black liquid.

Masako cried out. The bed was a sea of blood. The red liquid flowed in a river, dripped on the floor, and formed a huge puddle of blood.

… Just now I slipped and fell.

Thinking carefully about it, for this second floor room that had been sealed for a very long time, it was clearly impossible for there to be water and the like.

I looked at the sole of my shoe. It, too, was stained bright red by some blood red liquid.

With trembling hands I shone the torch onto the bed. The bed was stained with blood splatter which oozed puddle after puddle of viscous blood.

… Why? Why is there so much blood?

In this tightly sealed building, in this room where people couldn’t possibly enter, why?

There was only one answer.

Just when I was about to scream, suddenly there came a weak tapping sound from somewhere. On alert, I shone the torch towards the source of the sound.

The source of the sound was a bathtub. The white bathtub was inscribed with numerous red squares written with blood. I could see the blood-red surface of the liquid filling the bathtub.

I suddenly felt a wave of nausea. My body trembled.

… That much… blood.

Masako’s hand grasped my arm tightly. My hand held Masako’s tightly.

‘Tap’, came another sound. The surface of the liquid shimmered. Creating a wave of ripples, the surface of the water started vibrating. The blood-red fluid sparkled. A human head appeared above the fluid. That person slowly floated up. The forehead appeared; the eyes looked all around; that pair of eyes paused on us. Then he slowly stood up.

The upper body of the man who had been soaking quietly in the blood appeared. He was a gaunt man. He held on to the edge of the bathtub and stood up. He looked at us, a cold smile appearing on his lips. His face, shoulders and hands were all stained completely red. Drenched completely in extremely sticky, viscous, blood, he looked like a bronze stature painted with a frightening color.

“… Urado!”

I screamed. The man smiled. Even his mouth was filled with blood; it looked like he had just vomited blood. I released Masako’s arm and put both my hands together, folding up my fingers to form the Acalanatha seal.  

That blood is… that is…

I chanted while my mind was in a complete haze. The missing people. Those people’s…

I released my fingers to gather up the sword seal. My fingers slashed through the air. Horizontally, then towards the ground.

“Rin (臨), Pyō (兵), Tō (闘), Sha (者), Kai (皆), Jin (陣), Retsu (列), Zai (在), Zen (前).”

The man who was getting up suddenly fell back. With an intense sound, bubbles rose, shattering the surface of the water; the spray reached even where I was.

I pulled up Masako’s hand. I stood up, and shot a glance at the bathtub. Just as I was about to sprint away from this place, suddenly somebody grabbed my arm from behind.

The well-muscled male hand grabbed both my hands from behind. It clearly felt like a wall behind me. Clearly there couldn’t be anyone behind me. The torch fell to the floor, its light extinguished. In the instant when the light disappeared, I saw the living, male hands which grabbed both Masako and I. Two hands extending from the wall.

As though to break my arm, I was grabbed forcefully. I was in so much pain I couldn’t make a sound. Even despite twisting my body, my hands could only feel the ice cold sensation of the tiles.

Once more, a ‘tap’ sounded. Even if I opened my eyes wide, there was only darkness in front of me. From somewhere came the splashing sound of a person rising from the bathtub. The intense sound of blood splatter.

That was Urado. The Bloody Vlad. – “Son of the Devil”.

The force that grabbed my hands increased, so much so I couldn’t catch my breath. Thud, came the sound of a foot stepping on the tiles. Thud, thud. It gradually approached me in the darkness. 

Just at that time, the bathroom was filled with light.

The strong beam of light from the torch shone across the room. In front of me, I saw Urado, completely blood red.

“No!!”

Don’t come closer! Don’t come closer!!

“Save me!!”

Bou-san picked up his gold colored holy prop. Even faster than this, Lin-san whistled once.

At the same time as the high, sharp sound, something white flew over. Snow white, a something that gave off a weak glow. It carved a sharp arc and hurtled towards Urado, slamming into him. Just at that moment, Urado’s expression twisted, then suddenly vanished. Following that, the sensation of the hands grabbing my arms also disappeared.

I pulled Masako and dashed out, towards the presence of the light. Running towards where everyone was.