[b]DAY 11: WA NYUDO – THE WICKED WILL BE BACK[/b]

In a small town lived a man so vile that everyone was afraid of him. He was selfish, greedy, violent and could easily hurt other living beings without feeling a single drop of guilt. The townsfolk tried to stay away from him as much as possible, but of course, confrontations still happened. The man acted like he owned the place, and in a sense, that was true, since the other people let him do whatever he wanted in fear of him punishing them severely. He had quite a sadistic side and was well known for it, so everyone was aware that if they happened to anger him, he would hurt them, in rare cases even lethally. His reign of terror lasted for a few years until one day, he mysteriously died. Most of the townsfolk assumed that he had been poisoned since there were no exterior injuries in his body. Or maybe he had suffered a heart failure. Whatever the reason was, the townsfolk could let out a sigh of relief and were overjoyed by his sudden passing. Peace could return to their town now that the vile man was gone and probably sent to hell.

They thought that this was the end of it, that they didn't have to see him ever again. But they were wrong. The people were right about the assumption that he was sent to hell, but he came back from there, in a more terrifying form.

The tranquil lives of the townsfolk lasted for a while. However, the wicked will always find their back, even from hell. One peaceful evening, the people heard a strange rumbling noise, coming from the nearby hills. Soon the source of this racket was revealed as a demonic being reached the streets of the town. It was a horrifying sight; the head of the wicked man that had previously plagued their lives was stuck in the middle of an ox-cart wheel, surrounded by fire. The creature's horrendous laughter echoed in the streets as it rolled through the town and the flames that caused it constant agony set fires in various places. Its purpose was to catch wicked people like it used to be during its mortal life and bring them to hell, but so great was its resentment towards the townsfolk that it had come back to avenge its unjust death. That day, it caused quite a lot of panic around the town, but eventually it rolled away.

Only to return the next day. As soon as the townsfolk heard the same rumbling, they hurried inside their homes as fast as they could – most of them, anyway. One unlucky man came face to face with the ferocious wheel demon and that was the last moment of his life. The familiar face grinned at him in a very unsettling way and the man could feel a horrible pain in his chest. Then his upper body got torn open, as if somebody had sliced it with a sword. His soul was violently ripped from his body and got stuck in the wheel, like the head of the vile man. Then the creature rolled away and the people were left with the horrific sight of the dead man lying on the street in a pool of his own blood.

Then the demon wasn't seen for a few days. Some people started to wonder, had it left them alone? But of course, the answer was no. It returned after a couple of more days and the townsfolk hid from it again, except for a woman who didn't manage to get home in time. She suffered the same fate like the one man before her; the creature took her soul from her body in a violent way, by tearing open her chest. Once it had the hold of her soul, it left the town again for a short while, but meant to make its return.

And it would repeat this over and over again. So great was the demon's hatred towards the townsfolk that it continued to snatch their souls and drag them to hell. It wanted them to suffer the same fate it had. Its presence alone was enough to curse the town and all the people in it, but it wanted to bring every single one of them to hell.

Even if it would take the rest of its cursed existence to do that.



[b]DAY 12: HARI ONAGO – BE CAREFUL IN THE DARK[/b]

Shuto was a stranger in these parts. He was a young traveler, wanting to visit all kinds of places from towns to shrines, from famous landmarks to shores of the sea. Often he didn't even plan where he was heading next, he just went where the road would take him. It was part of the fun for him and he greatly enjoyed this type of lifestyle. He didn't mind that frequently he only had his own company, but whenever he would make his way to the next town or village, he did appreciate the presence of other people. As an outgoing person, meeting these strangers was exciting for him, it was like their lives had intertwined, although just for a brief moment. Shuto had a lot of fond memories about people he probably wouldn't meet again and he would hold those remembrances close to his heart because from his point of view, they gave him a sense of belonging to this wonderful world.

His lone road had led him once again to an ordinary town, full of pleasant and hard-working people. Shuto enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere of the quiet settlement and after wandering in the streets for a while, he was delighted to notice that the main street offered quite a magnificent view to the sea. Maybe he would take a look at the beach at some point. It was his wanderlust that had gifted him with the desire to one day step on board a ship and sail to the distant lands where he could never be able to travel on foot. Seeing the blue waters of the sea awakened this sleeping dream and for a while he simply watched the calm waves. Eventually he managed to get himself going again and he resumed his tour around the town.

It was late in the evening when Shuto walked up the hill back to the settlement. He had decided to take a walk around the beach and collect some pretty and empty conch shells he could find. The darkness had arrived sooner than he had thought, or maybe he had just completely lost his track of time. Feeling content but tired, he marched forward, guided by the light of paper lanterns the townsfolk had lit in order to banish unwanted shadows. Shuto hoped to find an inn where he could rest for the night and continue his travel to next destination by the morning. He hoped that the golden sun would bless his journey tomorrow, just like it had done this day.

Since it was dark already, most people were inside their homes. Still, Shuto did see a couple of individuals, heading who knows where; other people's business didn't belong to him. But as he continued to stroll through the town, the amount of people he saw kept decreasing rapidly until he started to feel that he was completely alone. If only he could remember where he had seen the inn…

He continued to wander around the town that had gone eerily silent all of a sudden. He wasn't bothered by this, however, and just continued his task in finding the inn. He hadn't seen a single person for a while, but then a lone figure appeared in his view. As he walked closer, Shuto could tell that it was a young woman who looked quite ordinary – her hair was a little messy, though. She was standing close to a lantern and because of this light shining in her face, Shuto could tell that she was pretty attractive. She was looking at him, watching strangely intently at his every step. As he was getting closer, the woman gave him a bashful smile. And Shuto, of course, couldn't resist smiling back at her.

It happened too fast. Shuto could see just a blur of black hair when something sunk into his flesh, all around his body. They were hooks, small hooks attached to the hair. His immediate reaction was to back off, to get out of her reach, but he failed at this. Shuto tried to struggle against his captor, but the hooks were too deep in him already, he couldn't get away. Pain was surging all around his body as he moved, because there would always be hooks that were tearing him from the opposite direction. Little by little he started to lose the control of his own body as a strong force was pulling him apart.

The woman got closer, still wearing a smile on her face. She showed Shuto rows of sharp teeth, horrifying the poor trapped man for the last time before by using her hooks, she violently ripped him into pieces, making a horrific mess on the street as Shuto's body parts, organs and blood all splattered around. Then the woman began to devour those remains, eating leisurely. Disgusting munching sounds could be heard while she feasted on his body.

Eventually her hunger was satisfied and she slowly walked away from the bloody mess that still remained. Her stomach filled with the flesh of the young man, she would now disappear for a little while. But once she would feel hunger again, she would be back hunting young men, for they were a delicacy she couldn't have enough of.



[b]DAY 13: RAIJU – PUNISHMENT FROM HEAVEN[/b]

They were often sent to earth to punish mortals, these vicious beasts that dwelled in the sky. And quite often people didn't really understand why; how had they offended the gods in such a way that they had decided to command the beasts to wreak havoc? Not always was a culprit or even a scapegoat found whenever this would occur and the people who manage to survive the destruction are left with a feeling of hopelessness and meekness. However, sometimes it happens that people are actually waiting for the thunder beast to be unleashed upon the world, to smite a specific location. Because there are people in this world that deserve to get punished.

There was a manor that lay up in the mountain, but still it was located relatively near to a village, so people were frequently in contact with those that resided in that place. All the villagers knew that there was something very wrong with that manor, although no one had concrete evidence of this. From the outside, it appeared to be just a regular dwelling place for lord Hideyoshi and his family and servants. And just like his manor, from the outside the lord seemed to be appropriate, a noble man with good morals. To most who visited the manor, it truly gave an impression that it was an ordinary place. However, some people could experience various things that shook the surface image the manor maintained. A few people didn't even have to get past the foyer when they were met with a sensation that something ominous was in the air, like a poisonous cloud that lingered there, and everyone who would breathe it in were bestowed with dread. The gentle smiles of the residents were unnerving, like they knew that there was a dark secret hidden within. Those people who had ventured deeper into the manor have reported hearing strange noises, such as screaming, desperate pounding and as if heavy chains were moved around. Lord Hideyoshi would keep a calm and rather gracious demeanor, assuring that there was nothing strange going on and everything had an explanation.

Not many dared to infiltrate the manor to uncover its secrets. And those few who did were never seen again. People were convinced that ever since lord Hideyoshi took over, the place had become a nest of evil. It was still merely budding, waiting for a moment to spread beyond the manor's walls. The villagers were dreading that to happen, but couldn't do anything to prevent it.

They didn't have to. One night a minor storm swept through the region and with it, came the thunder. A devastating force only gods could wield struck Hideyoshi's manor and set it ablaze; all it took was a single lightning strike. It was a total destruction, resulting in many casualties. However, a handful of people made it out, and all they could do was to watch how the flames engulfed everything: their whole life, their home. Lots of screams were heard that night, and they would be heard echoing and haunting the place where the manor once stood, but was the source of them a dying evil or tragic end of unfortunate, innocent souls that had been trapped inside the manor, no one could tell. The people who watched the place burn saw a beast on the scene: a dog-like creature that snarled in an ugly manner at them and it had four hind legs and two tails. People could identify it as a thunder beast and all this destruction was its doing. It quickly disappeared from the sight of people and was never seen again.

When the fire died out the next morning, all that was left behind of the once grand manor was charred ruins. The villagers searched the debris in order to find something useful, but also they were looking for the bodies of those who didn't make it out alive; it would be best to lay their remains to rest with a proper ceremony. The lord Hideyoshi was among them. When they found his corpse, they were stunned. It was still in pretty good shape considering the nature of the fire; he only had minor burn marks on his body. Shouldn't he have to be burned to a crisp like everyone else? Dying from the fire wasn't his cause of death. Instead, there was a hole torn to his chest, like it was ripped by a ferocious beast, and his heart was missing. Something had infiltrated his ribcage and tore his heart out. It certainly was an odd way to die and the villagers were never able to solve the mystery behind it.

But the most important thing was that the evil was now banished. It was even more clear now that Hideyoshi had been secretly doing horrible things within his manor. The gods in heaven had decided to punish him for the sins he had committed and thus, sent the thunder beast to bring destruction. At least, this is what the villagers believed had happened. Everything had occurred in secrecy to them, so no one knew for sure just how severe Hideyoshi's crimes were. But they trusted in the judgment of the gods and that the lightning strike that destroyed the manor was guided by justice.



[b]DAY 14: AKA MANTO – RED PAPER[/b]

Toshiko and Suzume entered the school building with a key they had snatched from the janitor previously that day. The side door had opened with an eerie creak as they faced the darkness of the empty school; it was almost nighttime. But the girls pierced the darkness with their flashlights and looked around them. The familiar environment had turned into a strange one now that it had a dark veil and at the same time, it also seemed cold and haunting; it was like they had stepped into a completely different world. Suzume felt quite scared already and they had only just entered the old building.

“This is a bad idea”, Suzume whispered to her friend as if she was afraid that somebody could hear them.

“Bet is a bet, you know that”, Toshiko huffed and scanned her surroundings with her light. “We lost. I don't want a reputation as some wimp who can't hold their end of an agreement.”

“Yeah, but…” Suzume nervously glanced around. “There is something wrong with this place.”

“Of course, it's an old-ass building, it's only normal that ghost stories would begin to circle around”, Toshiko responded. “Don't be so scared, I'm pretty sure we won't encounter anything. Stories are just stories after all.”

“Fine…” Suzume surrendered to her friend.

They had to spend the entire night in the school, all because of a bet they ended up losing. Suzume wasn't feeling thrilled about it at all, but she knew that Toshiko was adamant. Well, at least she wasn't alone in this scary old building, and she was happy that the one she had by her side was Toshiko, the bravest person she knew. So maybe the night wouldn't turn out to be so bad – at least that's what she was trying to tell herself. Suzume and Toshiko began to wander around, not particularly looking for anything, but Toshiko wanted to see what the school would look like when it was empty and dark. There definitely was a sinister feeling to it, but Toshiko seemed to be utterly unaffected by it. Suzume, on the other hand, was getting more and more terrified the longer they stayed in the building.

Especially because it started to feel like that the school didn't want them there. It was just small things, though rather creepy ones, such as sudden fog appearing in the windows as if somebody had just breathed at them, the sound of footsteps that seemed to follow behind the girls but would suddenly fade whenever they would stop to listen and random bangs could be heard from the classrooms like if somebody was throwing things around – but Toshiko deemed this being just clanking coming from the pipes, the building was old after all. There were spots where Suzume could feel horribly cold all of a sudden and she could swear that she had seen glimpses of pale figures going around, but whenever she would bring this up to her friend, Toshiko would just brush it off as that the light of their flashlights were just playing tricks together with the shadows. But Suzume's mind was occupied by all the ghost stories she had heard that had something to do with the school and perhaps, she was more sensitive to otherworldly things than her friend.

At some point, something other than dreading ghosts started to trouble Suzume. She felt an urgent need to use the bathroom. She tried to prolong going there as long as she could, but of course, the need would only grow.

“Hey”, she said quietly to her friend. “I really need to use the bathroom.”

“There's one nearby”, Toshiko replied. “I'll come with you to the door, but won't get inside, okay?”

“Okay”, Suzume responded, being grateful that her friend would escort her there.

The closest bathroom was on the next floor. The girls headed towards the stairs that would lead there and as soon as they managed to go up, they could already see the door of the girls' bathroom. They walked to it, but Toshiko stopped when Suzume opened the door and said: “I'll wait here.”

Suzume nodded and went inside alone; her movements being really rushed because of the urgent need. That was the last time Toshiko saw her alive.

When Suzume was done with her business, she reached for toilet paper, only to see there was none. She could only ponder for a second what she should do in that situation, when she suddenly heard a quiet voice saying: “Do you want red paper? Or blue paper?”

She completely froze. The voice was strange, sounded like a man, and there was something about it that just terrified Suzume. She was taken over by fright, and didn't know what to do.

“Do you want red paper? Or blue paper?” the voice repeated again.

“R-red paper”, Suzume stuttered in a panicked state, just to say something and not make the owner of the strange voice angry.

The door to her stall opened. She was now facing a tall figure, dressed in a red cloak, only his bluish-white face was visible. Suzume only had a blink of an eye to register that the person had a knife in his hand when he had already struck the blade at her throat, slitting it. Blood came pouring out and any cries for help were turned into mere gurgling sounds. The man in red wasn't done yet. He began to stab her repeatedly and slash her body all over, the blood of the girl splattering everywhere and making a huge mess in the toilet stall. He didn't stop slicing her body until she was completely drenched in her own blood, making her red from head to toe. Her corpse was left to lie on the bathroom floor as the red figure vanished.

Some time later, Toshiko would make a gruesome discovery that would cause a series of nightmares haunting her sleep.



[b]DAY 15: NIKUSUI – ROAD TO AGONY[/b]

It was strange how nighttime could change the surroundings that usually were so familiar to you into something totally unrecognizable. Asahi knew these parts well after living here for over twenty years and he had trusted that he could make it back home even after nightfall. And yet, here he was, traveling along the mountain roads he couldn't identify. The darkness had painted the environment with a black ink that made everything so different in his eyes. It was like everything around him had shifted, the trees, the stones and small creeks, nothing was in their usual place. It made it so hard to navigate and even the road seemed to be against him; it just kept going on and on, no matter how long he walked, the road felt endless. It was like he had stepped inside some weird and dismal dream and he wasn't sure how to get out of it.

The only thing that helped him not to feel completely hopeless in that situation was his lantern. And minute by minute he was getting increasingly grateful that he had this light with him. It kept the utter blackness away from him now that even the moon wasn't shining that night. Though, it had its disadvantages as well; seeing things more clearly may sometimes be more of a curse rather than blessing. Asahi could see fast shadows scurrying around him, making their hideouts in trees, bushes and stones. They were watching him and he could almost hear them giggling. He was sure that they weren't the only eyes that were on him because of the light he was carrying, but he would rather take the risk of being seen by something unpleasant than try to navigate the mountain roads that just continued to shift, like performing a prank on him. He wasn't sure how to get out of this situation, but he just had to keep walking; after all, he wouldn't get anywhere by just sitting around.

The world around him had gotten eerily quiet, he noticed. The silence was almost hurting his ears, the only thing he could hear was his own footsteps. They sounded strangely foreign to him, like he wasn't the one making that sound. He started to become more and more sure that he was traveling through some world that wasn't his own – maybe some spirit was messing with him? Asahi was getting frightened, he wanted to desperately get away from this place, but the road was still leading him nowhere. But what else could he do?

A gasp escaped Asahi's mouth when suddenly a figure appeared at the radius of his light. He stopped, heart beating fast as he tried to distinguish the person who was standing just a short distance away from him. It was a young woman and in Asahi's eyes, she looked completely ordinary. Maybe she was lost in these weird roads as well? She wasn't carrying light, though, but maybe the darkness had surprised her.

“Oh, I'm so glad to meet somebody else!” the woman said, sounding genuinely happy that she had met Asahi. “I'm all alone and lost, you see, maybe a strong man like you could help me out?” She then flashed a charming smile at Asahi.

“Uh, sure”, Asahi responded. “I'm also happy to see that I'm not alone here. You can tag along if you want.”

“Thank you! Thank you so much!” She sounded sincere and started to walk towards Asahi. Not for a second did he suspect that something was wrong with this unknown woman.

As soon as the woman was right in front of Asahi, she quickly snuffed out his lantern. Before he could react to this, the woman attacked. She was really strong; Asahi couldn't get away from her powerful grasp. Then he could feel how something sharp pierced the skin of his neck; the woman had sunken her teeth into him. With a terrific force – it was something Asahi couldn't even have imagined – she started to suck the meat from his body. It was pure agony, his flesh was shifting under his skin, heading towards the woman's mouth. She continued to do this horrifying act until there was no more meat left in Asahi's body, all that was left behind were his skin and bones.

The woman disappeared into the darkness again.

Asahi never made it back home.