By T. Mizuki October 26, 2023

Then, a creak from the upstairs landing. Not a floorboard settling—a footstep . Soft, deliberate. Followed by a second. Then a third.

So Kaori went alone. Armed with a flashlight, her grandmother’s brass compass (for “spiritual orientation,” as Granny claimed), and a cheap voice recorder from the 100-yen shop, she slipped through the rusted iron gate at dusk.

Silence.