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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/googlyeyes93 on 2024-09-10 22:26:59+00:00.
After the run in with Kuchisaka-onna, I took things a lot more seriously. If I was out at night, I tried sticking to more populated areas and be home before midnight. Even then, I made a weekly visit to the nearby shrine and tried to do offerings to cover my ass when possible. It worked for a couple of months, too. Though I did make it a point to look into some of the more common yokai just on the off chance I ran into any.
Turns out that even the most well-lit, public places can be dangerous when it comes to spirits. No matter how safe you’re trying to be, one of the most terrifying things about yokai is that they simply do not give a flying fuck about where they show up.
It was around October maybe, I had gone out for a nice dinner with Hikaru, the girl I’d been seeing since my last encounter. It was nice, walked through one of the parks at sunset, spending some nice time together. She was teaching me Japanese, so I was able to finally understand and conversate a little, but nothing beyond ordering at the restaurant usually. Either way, I was really falling for this girl, spending most of my time off base with her when I could.
Maybe around eleven I walked her back home, a little kiss goodnight then it was off to the train station to get back to base. Sounds easy enough, and I was in a pretty good mood after a nice date night, relaxing and having a couple of drinks.
The subway was a lot more empty than I expected, with the train platform totally empty by the time I got there. Ten minutes on the screen until mine got there, so I took a seat on one of the benches to wait. Pretty sure I started drifting off, the silence and flickering lights of the train station lulling me to sleep.
Scraping sounds made me jump back up with a start thinking my train had finally made it. Looking up at the screen though, there were still five minutes left on the arrival counter. The scraping was still going though, like something dragging along the rocks lining the tracks below. I got up to see, wondering if maybe someone fell onto the tracks while I was asleep and I didn’t notice. It wouldn’t be the first time someone had tried killing themselves with one of the trains out here. Hopefully that wasn’t the case and it was just a drunken accident or something.
I approached the edge of the platform, cautiously standing back before leaning forward to see the source.
The scraping sound grew louder, like it was trying to rush along the ground much faster than before, geting close. I didn’t even see anything over the edge before a hand came up over the edge, grasping the concrete platform before another joined it. The fingers were bloody, scarlet shining bright against the pale white skin. A mess of dark, black hair followed slowly behind, pulling itself up from the tracks toward me.
Look, I may have been kind of stupid during my last run-ins, but I watched The Rig and The Grudge to know that pale girls with messy long hair are a fucking problem. Needless to say, I started stepping back fast, desperately trying to get away. The scraping sound got louder as she heaved herself onto the platform, long fingernails clawing at the clean cement, making terrible sounds. It looked at me, dark black eyes from pupil to edge, mouth wide in a silent scream. When she was fully on the platform I could see the source of the dragging noise.
Her body ended around her abdomen, jagged bones sticking out of still bloody insides. As she crawled forward on her elbows and hands, the protruding bones scraped the concrete below, making the awful scraping noise and leaving a bloody trail. God, as it grew louder it sounded like nails on a chalkboard mixing with a train running off the rails. My head was pounding, getting dizzy just listening to it.
I finally got my body to move, running toward the other end of the platform and the small guard station at the top of the stairs there. I had seen an older guy when I came through, though he didn’t look like he was in the mood to help, hopefully he would make exceptions when it comes to yokai.
Despite being somewhat in shape, I am the opposite of fast. So blowing out of the platform I hit speeds previously unknown to man. I could still hear the scraping behind me as I flew by, desperately hoping to at least reach the stairs that MIGHT slow her down.
Yeah, nope.
I did the classic mistake when up against weird shit, and I looked behind me after hearing the sound of scraping metal join the ruckus. This bitch was on my damn heels, a huge scythe held in one hand now, but walking along on her hands faster than a goddamn circus performer. I might have been propelled further by the adrenaline, especially because her face was more clear now, frozen in a disfigured scream of shock, anguish, and tormented pain that I’ll never get out of my mind. As she got closer, she switched to hopping along on one arm, raising the scythe to cut me down to her size.
Maybe it was the offering I had done a couple days before, but I think something was looking out for me as I finally reached the steps. Bracing myself for the inevitable trip and fall, I launched myself toward them, trying to clear the first few. It worked, miraculously, and her swing with the scythe went under my feet as I landed three steps up, grasping the rail. Even with my newfound luck I had to keep running, legs and lungs both burning by now as I rushed further up the steps.
It finally happened. I knew my luck wouldn’t last for long, but barely two further up the stairs and I tripped, smashing my face on the edge of one of the concrete steps. It dazed me, hardcore, and I could barely get my vision back as I struggled back up, blood now gushing from my nose. All I could smell was blood, but the persistent sound of the yokai was gaining on me.
I could hear the scraping turn to tapping behind me, getting louder as she pulled herself up the steps behind me. The jagged bones would drag up, before flopping onto the next step, gushing blood from the exposed insides on her abdomen every time it was pushed in. The sound alone made me want to throw up, but the trail of bright red viscera behind her was something else to see. The train tracks behind her were glowing in the fluorescent lights above, looking more like the fires of hell with every second.
There was no getting back up, my head entirely fucked and barely able to realize which way was up. All I could do was clamber back on hands and knees, pushing myself further up the stairs as she crawled behind.
For a moment we made eye contact, making me stop in my tracks as something burned into my mind. It wasn’t my memory, but I saw it like I was living it.
A bunch of girls, just kids, pointing and laughing at me, telling me that my parents didn’t even want me, so why should they? I was never going to contribute to society anyway, especially not since I was already one of the kids forgotten to the system.
It’s pointless anyway, all this school I’ve been going through, only to get scolded by the teacher for being stupid while the other kids just laughed at me. They were right. I should contribute to the people around me in the way that would serve them all best.
My vision flashed away, now standing right in front of the same platform we were at, looking at the speeding train heading my way fast. One light was on the front, warm and welcoming as I started walking closer to the edge. The conductor blew the train horn, though I’m not sure if he saw me. It would be too late if he did, because I stepped off right before the train came barreling into the station. I could feel the force of the train and wind as it knocked me back onto the train platform. As my vision faded, I looked back to where the train was stopped now, doors open and people pouring out on their daily commute. On the floor, looking up at all the people who would be better off without me, my vision faded as my last view was the jagged remains of my spine jutting from where my waist should be.
The train came screeching into the station, bringing me back from the terrible vision being forced through to me. More than fear, I was in despair now, tears stinging my eyes and broken nose as they trailed down. She was gone, no trail of blood or scraping sound in sight other than the train grinding against tracks, slowing to a halt.
I ran even faster than I had running away from her, diving right through the train doors and past a crowd waiting to exit as soon as they opened. Can’t say I blame them for giving out a littlke scream and fleeing, because I probably looked like a murder victim running from hell right then. Cowering in the seat of the train car, I kept an eye on everything around me, waiting for her inevitable reappearance to take me just like she was taken. There was one other person sitting in the car, a younger guy dressed in casual clothes, wearing a baseball cap. He would side eye me occasionally, though I wasn’t paying him any mind. Despite everything though, all I could feel for her was sadness. She scared the shit out of me, sure, but from the research I had done on onryo, she’s a lost spirit.
Even after running into the Slit Mouth Woman before, the Teke Teke is still one of the most terrifying encounters I’ve had. When I finally left the station, I caught a glimpse of what I think helped me get out alive.
The guy in the baseball cap left the station …
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