Don't Turn Around

As it did at such an hour, darkness had taken hold of the city.

Aika had just wrapped up another session at cram school. But she had stayed longer than usual on this day going over notes with classmates. On the walk home, she decided it would be a good idea to call her mother and tell her that she would be home late.

“Mom, why won’t you pick up?” asked Aika as she received nothing more than numerous rings from her home phone. “You’re so lazy.” The ringing then came to a sudden halt as Aika lost reception on her cell phone.

Lifting her phone into the air, Aika tried in vain to regain a signal. “Stupid phone. Just when I need you the most, you go out on me.”

On Aika’s walks home, there was usually some amount of activity going on. But being out much later than usual, there was nary another soul to be found. The stores she always passed by were closed and with their lights turned off, it created more than enough places for someone to hide away from human eyes.

Unable to shake the feeling that someone was watching her, Aika timidly looked behind her. There was just enough illumination from a nearby streetlight to expose someone lurking in the shadows. The figure was making no movement whatsoever. All the shadowy stranger did was stare at Aika. This prompted Aika to quicken her pace.

Though she could hear only her own footsteps, Aika was sure that whoever it was who was watching her was now following her.

Aika ran as fast as she could and didn’t stop until her body had completely run out of energy. It took nearly every ounce of courage she had within her but Aika eventually looked back to see if her pursuer was still behind her. To her relief, she found there was no one to be found. As she was catching her breath, Aika caught a glimpse of herself in a traffic mirror. Standing behind Aika in the reflection was Shizuko.

Having just been running for her life and now seeing someone whom she thought to be dead standing right behind her proved too much for Aika to handle. She lost consciousness and collapsed on the street.

Aika didn’t wake until the next morning. She had been found by a good Samaritan and taken to a nearby hospital. She was questioned by police after waking and in the afternoon she was paid a visit by Hana.

Rather than starting the visit off by asking how Aika was doing, Hana wanted to know how the visit from the detectives went. “They didn’t send those two idiots again, did they?” she asked. “As if they weren’t already suspicious enough.”

“No,” replied Aika. “They sent a couple of female detectives. They think this was a case of stalking. They think whoever it was who found me probably scared the stalker away before he could do anything.”

“That’s good. But I’m sure those stooges will find out about this. Then they’ll start up again with all their questions.”

“Uh, Hana-chan,” said Aika, who looked hesitant to continue.

“What is it?”

“Um, don’t think I’m crazy, but before I passed out, I thought I saw Shizuko.”

“Not you too,” said Hana, who looked more than a bit upset with another tale of the girl coming back from the grave. “Look, I don’t know what to tell you, but you did not see Shizuko. Maybe you’re overstressed, I don’t know, but Shizuko is dead.”

“Maybe Sayuri was right,” added Aika.

“Am I the only sane one here? Shizuko’s dead, Nami killed herself, you were so scared that you hallucinated, and Sayuri is completely out of her mind. She’s put this idea into your head that Shizuko is trying to get revenge. Don’t you think that if there really was a ghost, I would have seen her, too? I was there when Shizuko died. So why hasn’t this so called ghost of yours made herself known to me, huh, can you explain that?”

“But I saw her.”

“Stop it!” exclaimed Hana. “Just stop it. If you don’t stop claiming that you can see dead people, then I won’t be your friend. I won’t have any trouble finding new friends who don’t claim to see dead people. Understand?”

“Sorry,” said Aika.

“Whatever you do, don’t tell Sayuri about what you saw,” said Hana. “It’ll only make her think about doing something stupid.”

Aika felt good enough to go back to school the next day. Only Hana knew of what had happened to her, and under her strict order, it would stay that way.

As she sat at her desk and waited for class to begin, one of Aika’s classmates asked her a question she had been hoping not to hear. “Hey, Aika, where were you yesterday?” asked the girl. “Were you sick or something?”

Turning to Hana, Aika was given a cold stare. “I came down with a fever,” replied Aika. “So I decided to stay home.”

“Well, don’t give me what you had. I don’t want to get sick.”

When Sayuri arrived, she immediately went to Aika. “Aika-chan,” she said, coming at her friend from behind. Hearing a voice so close to her startled Aika badly. “Sorry about that. Are you free to talk? I have something I want to tell you.”

Hana came over to break up the conversation. “Hey, Aika-chan, come with me,” she said. “I have something I want to show you.”

Never one to disobey Hana, Aika complied with her request. “Sorry, Sayuri-chan,” she said. “I’m a little busy right now. Maybe we'll talk later.”

Going only as far as the hallway, Hana told Aika what was on her mind. “I don’t think we should be friends with Sayuri any more,” she said. “She’s just not the same person she used to be. We shouldn’t have any more contact with her.”

Aika was able to look through the doorway at Sayuri. She was seated at her desk and looked like she didn’t have a friend in the world. “But Sayuri’s our friend.”

“No, she used to be our friend. Understand?”

“Um, yeah,” replied Aika. She then took another peek at Sayuri, and when she did, she found Shizuko standing behind her. Aika’s eyes began to bulge.

“Don’t feel too bad for her,” said Hana, who was oblivious to Aika’s horror. “She’ll find new friends. As for us, I think we should start hanging out with some of the girls on the swim team. I hear lots of their fathers own businesses.”

Shizuko reached her hand slowly toward Sayuri’s shoulder.

“Sayuri-chan,” exclaimed Aika, capturing not only Sayuri’s attention but the attention of everyone in the classroom as well as in the hall.

As if she had never been there, Shizuko was nowhere to be found.

“What’s wrong with you?” asked Hana, pulling Aika away from the door so that Sayuri could no longer see her. She then forcefully led her to an unpopulated area of the hallway. “Why did you do that? Do you still want to be friends with her, is that it? You would choose her over me? After all that I’ve done for you? It’s because of me that we’re still free. Don’t you ever forget that. Do you understand me?”

“But . . .”

“No more discussing this,” said Hana. “Don’t you see that she’s a bad influence? She’s putting all these ideas in your head. Look at yourself. You look like you’re crazy. She’s got you thinking you’re seeing ghosts. I don’t care if I have to start watching you like a hawk. I’m going to make sure you stay away from that damn girl.”

When school was over, Hana led Aika out by the arm. Sayuri caught up with them as they were making their way through the front gate.

“Aika-chan,” exclaimed Sayuri, rushing to her. “Wait.”

“Aika doesn’t have anything to say to you,” said Hana.

“But I need to talk to her. It’s important.”

“Leave us alone!” shouted Hana. “Can’t you tell that we don’t want to be friends with you anymore! Why can’t you leave us alone, you freak! Go tell your crazy stories to someone who gives a damn! Thanks to what you’ve been telling Aika, now she’s just as crazy as you are! Now I have to look after her like she’s a child. You think I like having to do that? I hate it! So just stay the hell away from us!” And with that, Hana angrily led Aika off the school grounds. As the two were leaving, Aika looked back at Sayuri. The look on her face made her look as if she desperately wanted Sayuri’s help.

When Hana and Aika made it downtown, Hana let go of her friend and turned her back on her. “Look, about what I said back there,” said Hana, “I didn’t mean it. I was just mad. I didn’t mean to say those things about you.”

“It’s okay,” replied Aika.

“The truth is, I don’t think of you as a burden at all. You’re my closest friend. I never felt this way about Nami and I never felt this way about Sayuri, either. I need you, Aika-chan. If anything were to happen to you, then how would I explain to the police. Two of their prime suspects dying, how guilty would that make me look?”

Hana’s false sentiment had fallen upon deaf ears as Aika’s full attention had been captured by something else. Through a nearby store window, she could see Shizuko watching her. In the blink of an eye, Shizuko had gone from being behind the store window to being directly behind Hana. In the blink of another, Shizuko was gone.

“What’s wrong with you now?” asked Hana. “Were you listening to me? Did you even hear a word I said?”

“Where is she?” whispered Aika.

“What are you talking about?”

Before Hana knew it, Shizuko was standing directly behind Aika. “You,” whispered Hana, her eyes bulging and her heart pounding like mad.

“Hey, Aika-chan,” said Shizuko. “Don’t turn around.” And with that, she placed her hand on Aika’s shoulder. When Aika began her turn, she realized she had backed into the road. By then, it was far too late for her to get out of the way of the speeding truck barreling toward her.