Hikone-shi,
Shiga

When we returned to the base, Naomasa and Ayako seemed to be sitting at a table while reading a few papers. They looked serious. Especially Naomasa-kun.

"We're back," I greeted them while putting the tools I was carrying. I then sat at the computer desk to checking the camera that had been installed.

"Oh, welcome back. How about the investigation," Ayako asked, staring at us.

"There are lots of interconnected rooms. We don't even know what is waiting for us in the next room. This house is like a maze," Yui sighed, "Oh, we found a diary in a room that looked like a library," she put the book which we found on the table.

Ayako took it, "The secrets of living younger?" she took a breath, "No matter how many centuries passed, this kind of methods is always popular. I wonder if there's really a secret to living younger?" Ayako chuckled.

"You need to live healthier," Yui sat in a chair beside Ayako, "What about Ayako-chan and Naomasa-kun? Find something?"

Ayako sighed, "There's something strange about this house,"

"Of course. The house itself is strange," Yui replied, "You see, Kiyoharu-kun said this house just like Winchester House. Because there is so many rooms and their never-ending renovation until the owner passed away,"

"Oh, the famous haunted house. The rumors said that the owner of the house is crazy right?" Ayako took a sip of her tea, "Talking to the dead, trapped spirits inside her house, and she will die when the renovation stopped. Some said she just want to spend the money. She is rich after all, "

"Heh...so it's only making up stories?" I asked, still focusing on the computer.

Ayako sighed, "Nah, people want a reasonable explanation, right? Who will believe you when you tell them you want to trap a spirit inside your house and the spirits are the one tell you about the design of your house? No matter what is like a joke, right?"

"You're right, " I said, "What you found with Naomasa then?"

"The town people telling us scary stories. They heard the stories from their ancestors, " Ayako looked at Naomasa, "About the Hanasaki family. Right, Naomasa-kun?"

"Yui, is this woman you saw when you first entered the house?" Naomasa shows a piece of newspaper that looks old.

Yui looked at the piece of the newspaper and saw a photo of a woman sitting in a chair, "No. Is not her. The woman is much younger, I think the same age as me and she has beautiful brown hair. Who is she?" Yui asked.

"Yui is right," I said, "The woman I saw was a young woman. I think she is too young to be Hanasaki Keizo's wife,"

"This woman on the article is Hanasaki Miyabi. The wife of Hanazaki Keizo the master of this house. She died mysteriously and her body also mysteriously disappeared. Until now the body hasn't been found," Naomasa explained.

SLAM !!

We gasped at the sound of the door being pushed when Sakuya and Rui entered. We then let out a sigh of relief.

"We are back," Rui said "Somehow we couldn't stop. We continued to follow all the doors when we thought we were on the 3rd floor and happened to be on the 1st floor, " Rui took a bottle of orange juice.

"What about the outside investigations?" Sakuya also took a bottle of orange juice and walked over to me who was watching the monitor screen.

"You see, the wife of this house died mysteriously, then the next day, when they were going to do a funeral, the body disappeared," Ayako recounted, "Then the rumor said that the wife was a witch,"

"Witches?" Rui looked at Ayako.

"Since this house was built, there have been a lot of strange events happening. The workers who work in this house, all of them are not from this region," Naomasa said while reading the paperwork, "They are workers who are taken from other regions. An employment agency, who brought them,"

"However, none of the workers or the servants or the maids who lived in this house ever left the house," Ayako said, "The front gate was always closed and guarded for 24 hours,"

"That's very suspicious," I said, "Did they hide something or there are suspicions activities inside the house?"

"But, the master, Hanazaki Keizo and his wife Hanazaki Miyabi, always going out for shopping. They also donate to schools, temples, and various charity event," Naomasa said, "They even become the sponsor of summer festivals every year," Naomasa looked at the papers in front of him.

"The strangest thing is, the servants, the maids, and the workers in this house, always change every month. They always come by train, then walked to the house. So do those who leave," Ayako said, "Only then are they seen by the town people's,"

"What's strange about that?" I said, "Maybe they are just short hired workers,"

"That could be. But, there is a strange story," Ayako looked at me, "Whether it's a rumor or not. At that time, one young man attracted to one of the maids he saw as she passed through the town. As usual every month the servants will be replaced with new maids. However, when the maids from the previous month left the house and passed the city, the young man didn't find the maid he liked,"

"Maybe because she was still hired?" I draw conclusions, "Maybe the Hanazaki couple likes her because she is a hard worker,"

"It could be," Ayako nodded, "Out of curiosity, the young man always waited every time the maids changed. Because of his habits, he began to realize something. The number of people who entered and left the house was not always the same. If indeed some people stayed there to work, shouldn't the number of new servants decrease?"

"You're right," Rui nodded his head.

"The young man then began to count," Ayako said, "Between the number of people who entered and left. He then found that the servants and the maids who entered the house each month were 30 people, but only 27 people when they left the house. Sometimes only 25 people. He did calculations for 5 years. If the calculation is right, the servants and the maids who stay inside the house are around 180 people, "

"180 people?" I shocked.

"But, even after 5 years, the servants and the maids keep coming in the same amount," Ayako shook her head.

"That's why there are so many rooms?" I mumbled.

"We still don't know. Did you all find anything strange?" Naomasa asked.

I took a deep breath, "Yui and I saw something in the small theatre room as we traced the 3rd floor. A group of girls. Maybe around 20 people. They stood on the stage, covered in blood from their heads,"

"A group of small children?" Naomasa looked confused, "What does it mean. You two see a lot of things that don't seem to be related to the Hanazaki family,"

"Yui, you don't usually see a vision like this, right? Usually, you see something through psychometry or through post-cognition," Sakuya looked at Yui with a worried expression.

Yui smiled and nodded, "Yes. But, I'm fine, don't worry,"

"Hei, how you can tell the difference between your own thoughts or imagination and your visions?" Ayako asked.

"According to the book Shibasaki-sensei read before, overall, most visions of any kind have a particular difference, Sensei noticed the brain isn't treating them like imagination. They don't have a feel like a memory would, it's more like seeing it for the first time." Naomasa explained.

"This means that imagination is born of your thoughts, your memory," Sakuya said, "For example, you watch a ghost movie with a ghost using white clothes and long hair. It will be recorded in your memory. Then, if you hear about ghosts, you will immediately think that ghost dressed in white and have long hair. Although not all ghosts are like that,"

"That's right," Rui muttered, "It's recorded in our memory,"

Naomasa nodded, "Vision shows something that is not in your imagination or memories. Something that suddenly appears for the first time,"

"That means, if what we have seen is a vision, does mean that this house really haunted?" I asked, "There is a group of children died here?"

We all fell silent. Thought for a moment. What really happened at this house?

"Let's do a seance," Naomasa suddenly suggested.

"Eh??!" We were surprised.

"Yui and Kiyoharu saw the same vision. That means there really is something in this house," Naomasa looked at us, "I know we should doing an investigation first, but the vision saw there a spirit here,"

"We don't even know who we're calling? Who will do it?" Rui asked, "I can do it, but not tonight, this is not a good day for me,"

"What about Ayako and Kiyoharu?" Naomasa looked at me and Ayako.

"Let me do it," Ayako said, "I think it's a good day for me,"

"Alright. Let's do a seance tonight, " I took a small breath, "We can request another room from Nakagawa-san,"

I can't let this uneasy feeling. Ayako will allow the spirit to possess her. The woman spirit, I feel something from her. This house was built by Hanazaki Keizo and no other family member has ever lived in this house other than them. Who's she?

***

That night we did a seance in one of the rooms on the 2nd floor. Everyone was there, including Nakagawa-san.

There are several ways to contact spirits. Seance is one of them. Physical mediums will often use a seance to communicate with the dead. During a seance, a group of people gathers together in a circle to invite the presence of a spirit.

The session should only be done under the guidance of a trained psychic. Because Ayako is a psychic medium, spirits could enter through her body. I will the one who leads this séance. Because my spiritual strength is strong, talking to spirits is easy. Even though I often cast out evil spirits.

Unlike Rui, Ayako won't remember anything during the seance or as long as the spirit enters her body. Even so, seance also requires strong spiritual energy. Some mediums could faint afterward.

My expertise is the ceremony of purification from evil spirits. Either drive away evil spirits from the human body or drive away evil spirits that inhabit a certain place. If it's a talisman to drive away evil spirits, I can give it after seeing the place directly.

There is only one small candle when seance. We also set a camera to record events in that room. Ayako sat at the round table with me and Rui. She closed her eyes while reciting a mantras.

The room was quiet. There is no sound, no winds, even the air feels heavy. Sakuya and Yui stood behind the camera. Paying attention to us. Naomasa and Nakagawa stood beside the door.

Suddenly a cold wind enters the room. The candle flame starts to move. Ayako body gasped. Of course, we were surprised.

I looked at Ayako carefully, "Who are you?" I started the conversation.

Ayako just fell silent. She looked down, her eyes still closed, but her hands seemed to fall limp on both sides. She was possessed.

"Are...you...live here...before?" I asked.

We just silently watched Ayako. Why doesn't she answer? She was clearly in a trance condition.

"Did you live here before?" I asked again.

Finally, Ayako nodded her head. We all stunned and looked tense.

I took a breath, "Who are you?"

"I once...worked here," Ayako's voice was very weak. As if there is no power in it. Weak and helpless.

"You are a servant?" I asked.

"A maid," she said.

"How did you die?" I asked.

"They...killed me," Ayako suddenly cried.

We were surprised to hear that and everyone looked at each other. Except for me and Rui who focused on Ayako. Rui and I can't lose focus of connection with the spirit that possesses Ayako. This is very good because the spirit seems still calm. Usually, when it reaches a certain point, the spirit will begin to fight back.

"Who... killed you?" I asked slowly.

Suddenly the candle flame moved violently like there was a strong wind that hit it. My body trembles. The cold temperatures shocked my body. Isn't good.

"I don't want to die !!" Ayako's voice suddenly rises.

"Who killed you?" I asked again.

"I don't want to die!" Ayako screaming, "I...don't...what to die!!"

The room shaking, like an earthquake, there is a rapping sound. Scary rapping sound. I heard Nakagawa's scream.

"Kiyoharu, this seems to be the limit," Rui said, warned me with his serious expression, "Ayako...can be in danger if we hold this spirit for much longer,"

Ayako then gasped. She lifted her face slowly and glared at me, her eyes wide open. Her face was white pale. There are dark circles under her eyes.

"Kiyoharu!" Rui warned me again, "We must stop here,"

"I...want to go home!" Ayako's voice trembled. She crying.

I looked at Ayako and took a piece of white paper with a talisman, "This is the time for you," I took a deep breath, close my eyes while reciting a mantra and the white paper turned into fire.

When she saw the fire, Ayako then fell to the floor. The rapping sound and the cold temperatures still wrapped in the room. However, the chant began to change the atmosphere. The air in the room feels lighter, we start to breathe normally because the tension is gone, and the rapping sound stopped. When the candle blows off, Naomasa turned on the room lights. We closed our eyes because of the light. We Still trying to adjust the brightness.

I raised Ayako's body, leaned on my shoulder, and tried to wake her slowly, "Ayako, are you okay?"

Slowly, Ayako opened her eyes, "I...did we manage to call the spirit?" Ayako's voice still sounded weak.

"Yes," I nodded, "We managed to summon the spirit. You can rest now. Rui and Yui, please help Ayako, " Rui and Yui nodded and then helps Ayako out of the room.

We followed Noamasa and Nakagawa-san. I looked at Nakagawa-san who looked shocked. Naomasa tried to calm her down when we all returned to the base.

The maid died here?
She wants to go home, what that means? When she died here, don't usually the family will take her home?
What does she mean she doesn't want to die?
Why is she locked up here?
Why don't I feel the evil aura from the spirit in this house?
What's this bad feeling?
I'm really confused.

When I got out of the room, I stopped for a moment. My eyes widened.
A woman. Sit in front of the fireplace on the 2nd floor. Women with blue nightgowns.
She sat in front of the fireplace with her long brown hair covered her face.

The woman spirit again? Why is she there?
Everyone passed her. I took a deep breath, trying to ignore her, but when I passed her. She said something. With a cold voice.

"Leave! Get out of my house!"