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V10 Story II – Part 06

The next morning, the gray clouds from the night before had given way to a clear, blue sky. The houses, once shrouded in shadow, basked in the radiant glow of daylight.

Yuina’s residence blended into the typical townscape, a single-family home with an adjacent garage. The small garage bore several scratches where the car had grazed it. As Yuina described, the ground was covered in asphalt. The large crack clearly suggested a lack of space.

Stepping outside, we found ourselves facing the entrance. Chipped roof tiles and rain-stained walls.

“This was my grandparents’ house,” Yuina said as she gazed at the shabby exterior. “My mother moved here when she got married, but after my grandparents passed away, my father left, and my mother also went somewhere. Now, I manage it as best as I can, just as I was told. I’m not doing a very good job at it, though.” She smiled timidly.

We pushed open the door. Inside, a pervasive coldness hung in the damp air, laden with the odor of mold. The warped corridor featured raised boards and visible gaps, while the walls bore signs of wear.

Concerned, Yusuke asked, “This place seems cold in the winter and hot in the summer. Is this house really a good place to stay in?”

“Probably not. There’s really nothing good about this place. But on the bright side, it doesn’t leak much when it rains.”

“That’s hardly a bright side at that point,” Mayuzumi remarked coldly.

Yuina led us to her bedroom. Upon opening the door, I couldn’t help but furrow my brows. The room was furnished only with an old dresser and a hard bed, nothing more. The closet and storage room were sealed with dried-up duct tape.

Sensing our curiosity, Yuina smiled awkwardly. “S-Sorry. I know it’s a mess, but I have no way to clean it up.”

“Excuse me, but why is this area sealed with tape?”

“Well, my mother told me not to use any room other than this one. I’m not allowed to use things freely, and I’m absolutely not allowed to open the closet or storage room,” Yuina explained softly.

Her smile made me seethe. I grabbed her shoulder, and she jumped.

“Um, did I offend you in any way? I’m sorry, I’m really sorry.”

“Yuina-san, do you realize that you’re being abused?”

“What? A-Abused?” She cocked her head curiously.

I ground my teeth, frustrated at the unjust situation she was thrust in.

“Who cares about any of that?” Mayuzumi interrupted. “Odagiri-kun, take a look at this.”

She extended a finger, sharp nails touching the dirty tape.

“There’s dirt on it.”

She gestured with her hand, and Yusuke approached the storage room. Gripping the handle, he pulled it toward him. The duct tape had already peeled off; it only looked like it was sealed. The door swung open without resistance.

Thud.

A heavy darkness enveloped the interior, and the musty air, reminiscent of a grave, crept up from the floor. A narrow staircase stretched downward into the depths of the darkness. Inhaling the stagnant air, I furrowed my brows.

The cold air was mixed with the unmistakable scent of dirt.

“…Dirt?” I muttered.

Yuina bolted away, stumbling into the darkness. She descended the stairs with practiced motion, not once missing her footing.

“Yuina-san! Wait, please!”

We hastily followed her down the stairs. The absence of dust at the center suggested frequent use. As we descended, the room’s light grew distant.

We couldn’t quicken our pace in the limited visibility, but the darkness surprisingly did not stretch long. At the bottom of the stairs was a room bathed in light.

Initially a storage area, it resembled a basement, illuminated by incandescent bulbs. The floor was covered in a blue tarp, like it was some abandoned renovation project.

Part of the tarp had torn, revealing extruded floorboards and the frames beneath. The bare ground was visible through the gaps. There was no concrete reinforcement, likely because it was an old structure. And there were clear signs of digging.

“Wait… That’s it!” Yuina suddenly cried, kneeling down on the frame.

She touched the dirt, her fingertips fumbling around as if she had gone blind.

“I-I remember now! Grandpa made this underground storage room as a hobby a long time ago. It’s gotten old and dangerous, so we needed to renovate it. But my dad used the money for the construction on the garage instead. W-We just left this place as is.”

Yuina scanned the surroundings. She scratched her head, as if trying to remember something.

“But my mom planned to continue the work, so…”

Yuina tilted her head, and the expression vanished from her face. She crawled and reached for the tarp, feeling through the tear. She grabbed something from the darkness. A rusty shovel handle fit into her small palm.

“So…” Yuina muttered blankly as she stood up.

She then jumped down to the ground, swinging the shovel blade into the dirt, and began digging furiously. A mechanical and eerie sound invaded our ears.

Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch.

It was the same rhythm from the previous night. She dug into the dirt with relentless madness.

We watched in disbelief. Her wound reopened, staining the bandage on her palm crimson. But she didn’t stop. She kept digging as if not feeling any pain at all.

We couldn’t utter a single word. Yuina wielded the shovel with a demonic expression, desperately trying to unearth something.

Crunch.

Abruptly, the shovel froze, and she stared vacantly at the bottom of the hole.

Mayuzumi’s words echoed in my mind. What could be buried in the dirt? I inched closer, a sinking feeling in my gut. Yuina remained still as she stared intently into the hole. Falling in next to her, I gazed into the pit, and my eyes widened.

“…What?”

A white mass of flesh was stuffed at the bottom.

The soft chunk resembled dough just after fermentation, its smooth surface showing no signs of decay. Nestled neatly in the hole, the grotesque sight made my hair bristle.

This couldn’t be a natural occurrence. The corpse’s flesh was unlike any living creature’s. I recognized the strange, dirt-covered mass. It reminded me of the white child.

A chill ran down my spine. This wasn’t any known creature’s carcass. It resembled the fox’s creations. And the fox himself was already confined in a cage.

Crunch.

Yuina resumed her actions, swinging the shovel like someone possessed. Devoid of expression, she mechanically scooped up dirt, clinically burying the chunk of flesh, hiding it swiftly.

Meticulously, she covered the flesh with dirt, as if correcting some sort of mistake. Finally, she smoothed the soil, and the mass of flesh vanished entirely from sight. The shovel slipped from Yuina’s hands.

Clang. Thud.

She sank to the ground, her vacant eyes swimming about. Then, regaining her senses, she glanced around. She sprang to her feet and climbed back up the frame. Her terrified gaze fixed on the level ground.

“Wh-What did I do?”

“This is what was bothering me,” Mayuzumi said. “You consulted a psychic before, and things got worse afterward. I’ve heard of something similar happening in the past. That psychic was Mayuzumi Asato, a boy wearing a fox mask, correct?”

I swallowed hard at the unexpected revelation, feeling a pang in my chest. Memories of a past incident flooded back.

It was the tale of a mermaid. I threw a man, who had summoned a mermaid out of guilt, back into the sea. Before the paranormal activity occurred, a self-proclaimed psychic had made contact with him.

Back in the summer, the fox proposed unreasonable deals to all sorts of people.

Mayuzumi gazed at Yuina.

Yuina slowly lifted her head. “I-I forgot his name,” she said, trembling. “But yes, I remember. He was wearing a fox mask. He was handsome, but his mask and eyes were terrifying.”

“Just as I thought. It’s the same as Makihara-kun’s case. The timing also matches. You’ve been hearing sounds of digging even before consulting the psychic, but after the consultation, you started hearing sounds of burying too.”

“A friend referred me to a psychic. But it only got worse. It went from just the sound of digging to even the sound of burying.”

I thought back to our conversation with Yuina. Before the consultation, she only heard the sound of digging. However, after that, she started hearing the sound of burying as well. And now, she kept alternating between digging something up and burying it.

“The fox once played a game with the dead.”

Yuina hugged herself tightly, fingers burying into her coat. She shook violently.

Mayuzumi wore a distasteful smile. Then, she posed a ruthless question.

“Who did you wish to bring back to life?”

The fox listened to wishes and fulfilled them, but never in the desired form.

Yuina stared blankly into the air. Her wide-open eyes, dark and emotionless, were dreadfully empty.

“I…”

Then, Yuina opened her mouth. Like a broken doll, she began to speak.

Her loud voice echoed in the darkness.