“But it’s all boarded up.”
“This shrine is merely a front; the real shrine is underground. There are passageways underneath some of these houses. I suspect they were used by many of the ceremony masters to gain access to the shrine without being seen by the common people. My father’s notes indicated that these caves existed long before the village came into being and that its layout had been planned to accommodate what lies below.” She sobers. “And somewhere within those caves, I imagine, lies the hell’s gate.”
“Please tell me we don’t need to go there.” I don’t want to go anywhere with “hell” as part of the description if I can help it.
“We must if we are to find the shrine. How many of my notes have you read?”
“All that I could find. I read the diary, the odd parchments your father kept, and about the rituals.” I frown. “I didn’t know about the shrine being underground though, or about some of the other rituals mentioned in his research. Why isn’t Hiroshi Mikage’s house on the map you gave the Ghost Haunts crew? He’s the village priest after all. I thought your father would have concentrated on finding his house first.”
“I don’t know where it is either. It was never mentioned in my father’s accounts.”
“Is it possible that Hiroshi Mikage is the kannushi, Kagura? There isn’t much information about the head priest, and being the master of ceremonies and in charge of everything, he’s the most likely culprit.”
Kagura considers it. “That does make sense. The kannushi would have overseen all the village rituals, and that would have made him the most important man in Aitou.”
“And the ritual must be performed underground?”
“Yes. The place where the rituals first began is also the place where we must end it. You told me you found one of the passageways.”
“Yes, but parts of it were caved in. The path I took led from the Kunai residence into the house to the left of this one.”
Kagura nods. “The Kajiwara house, I think. My father’s account states that the Kajiwaras were heavily involved in the ceremonies and rituals here in Aitou. It would explain why their house would be one with underground access to the shrine.”
I groan. “Figures. Let’s get this over with then.”
“Let’s start here. I don’t know about you, but I would like to get rid of that ghost before we do anything else. I’ve been trying to track her for some time, but she’s been very clever—and stronger than many of the others.”
“Tell me about it. She’s the first one I met, and she welcomed me with moldy open arms.”
Ever cautious, we move through the rooms of the Uchiyama residence. I don’t know about the other ghost brides Kagura hunted, but it is clear that whatever glowing accounts the Oimikado girl had written about Yukiko Uchiyama in her diary, Uchiyama was also at the top of her class in the crazy department.
Although the other residences show signs of disrepair and disuse, this ghost bride has pulled out all the stops to let visitors know that a madwoman haunts here. Chairs had been thrown into mirrors, bits of wood still sticking out of the frames. Pottery is shattered on the floors, and some of the walls are riddled with deep fingernail scratches. The rest of the structure has been liberally splattered with rough kanji, using what I’m pretty sure is not red paint. Had I been her intended fiancé, I would have broken it off by now.
“‘Don’t drink the tea,’” Kagura translates, looking at one wall.
“That’s a little tamer than what I was expecting.”
“I don’t think you can choose what to write when you’re insane.”
I concede her point and move on to the next room, where we encounter more writings, ranging from “‘Beware the beautiful death’” to “‘The monsters are here.’” I stand before the first of these, frowning at their familiarity and trying to recall where I’ve heard these phrases before.
Kagura finally urges me on. There’s no sign of the ghost anywhere. “There’s no point in lingering around here,” Kagura says after we’ve looked through the rubble. “I don’t want to leave her behind, but we don’t have much choice for now. Let’s try the next house over, the one with the passageway.”
The temperature has dropped and my breath leaves my mouth in puffs as I jog to keep pace with Kagura. She’s already hurrying to the Kajiwara residence. Here, some parts of the walls are missing, allowing the winds to swoop inside and making me shiver all the more. Despite her bare shoulder, Kagura doesn’t seem to feel the cold.
Although the room has been open to the elements, the bridal doll is where we’d expected it to be—by the makeshift family altar and looking none the worse for wear.