Chapter Four: Siren Face and Song:

Setsuko sent the girls to the market to help take their minds off of the dead cats. She sent a neighbor with them to keep watch. Ayame stayed by her sister the whole time. She looked up at her sister. Aiko tried her best to keep a brave face. She couldn’t show her fear, not around her little sister. The last thing she needed was to have Ayame worried out of her mind about some silly little ghost story. Suddenly, she felt a little squeeze on her hand. Aiko slowly looked down and saw Ayame staring at her. She seemed to be trembling all over. The older sister put on a tough girl act.

“What is it?” she asked annoyed. Ayame squeezed her hand tightly.

“Do you think Shinji’s going to kill us?” she asked in fear. Aiko forced herself to keep acting tough. She snorted a bit.

“Don’t be ridiculous!” she said. “It’s just a dumb ghost story!” The little girl didn’t look convince. She still trembled. Aiko looked ahead of her again. She wished that she could believe her own words as well. This “dumb little ghost story” was getting to her as well.

The girls and the neighbor made it into town. That scene only seemed to make things worse. People were staring at the girls. Mostly at Aiko rather. They began whispering about her. The people got a good view of the older girl.

“She looks just like Shinji’s finacee, Emiko!” they whispered.

“Why, yes she does!”

“Have you heard what happened at the Kudo farm?”

“Yeah, all of those cats!”

“Do you think it’s the curse?”

“It’s been forty years, hasn’t it?”

“Yes, I guess so.”

“It has!”

“Think it will come for Kudo’s granddaughter?”

“Who knows?” The people looked on at Aiko and Ayame. The older girl tried not to pay them any mind. “Do I really look like Shinji’s dead girlfriend?” she thought. Aiko shook her head hard. “No, that can’t be!” she thought. “Why do I even believe in that stupid ghost story?”

“Something wrong?” a voice asked her. Aiko looked up in a quick rush. The neighbor stared at her slightly concerned. The older shook her head quickly.

“N-Nothing, Ise-san!” she blurted out. She didn’t fool him one bit with the trembling.

“It’s okay, darling,” he said. “The legend of Shinji isn’t true. It’s just a story. There is probably some reason for all of those cats on your grandparents’ yard that isn’t known yet.” Aiko and Ayame both looked at him uneasily.

“Do you mean it?” Ayame asked. Ise-san paused a little bit before speaking. In truth, he had his own doubts and worries about this afternoon’s events. He too believed that Shinji has come back to wreck havoc on the villagers again. Yet, he couldn’t voice this and scare the girls. So, the middle-aged man nodded some.

“Of course!” he said at last. “What does your grandmother have on the list for you to get?”

“Oh!” Aiko spoke up as she reached into the pocket of her white shorts. “Ginger, cabbage, rice, soba noodles…”

“Soba noodles, yuck!” Ayame cut in. Her sister looked down at her slightly annoyed.

“Ayame-chan, please!” she hissed. The older girl turned back to the list.

“Mushrooms, fu, and tofu,” she finished up. Ise-san nodded.

“Okay,” he said. “Let’s get to it!”

“Right!” the girls agreed. And so, the shopping began. It started out simple. The trio managed to find out they needed in a matter of minutes. But then, the curse rose up again. As Ise-san was making the purchases for the food, Ayame froze when she thought that she heard something. She looked around for a moment. It sounded like a cross between white noise and a high-pitched whistle for dogs. The little girl became confused. “Huh?” she thought. “What is that and where is it coming from?” Suddenly, the little felt into a heavy and deep trance. Ayame began walking away from her sister and the neighbor. Her body seemed like a puppet on strings. She began walking all the way through outdoor market, through the back tents, across the stone bridge, down the twisted groves, and towards the woods. She seemed to have fallen under the siren song of Koga Shinji. It would only take a while for Aiko and Ise-san to look up and notice that the little girl had disappeared into the legend. The terror into the night and the next morning had just begun.