Chapter 5 – The woman in jet-black hair

Year 985 – Heian-Kyō (Japan).

Today I returned to suffer those hallucinations. It is true that I started earning my reputation as a writer telling scary stories about those masked beings and that’s why my literature books and my poems spread throughout the empire.

At first I thought my curiosity became obsession; but I’m not mad, nor am I a liar as many claim.

Today while returning home, I have noticed that they really followed me. I passed by a woman’s side and I swear she looked at me, although I could not see her because of the long black hair that covered her face. I knew she was a woman of unimaginable beauty. She watching me carefully and meticulously, and by the time I wanted to perceive it, that familiar feeling came back again.

I felt as if they were grabbing me by the shoulders, a voice whispered in my ear that I should go on, that I should not be afraid, that everything would be all right…

Luckily I was able to react on time thanks to a carriage that got me out of the trance, but by the time I realized I had half of my body submerged in the river.

It’s the third time in a few weeks that I’ve been about to lose my life. I begin to believe that really all the stories told by my ancestors were true. I’m sure those damned ones are looking for me and that the river woman is one of those Shinigami, who are stalking me in the shadows.

I do not know what they will want from me, but it would be better if I walk with my eyes wide open.