Ritual: In The Case of Mana and Reiki, Horror/Suspense Story. Options

[Sa-Chan]

Okay, guys...I'm gonna attempt to write a new type of story for me. A horror story. If any of you have played the games Fatal Frame, Fatal Frame 2, or Siren. I partly got the idea from them.

Oh, and since I've never been to Japan, blah O_o...Don't blame me if I get some of the culture wrong or areas (ways forests, towns, and such should look), but please, give this a chance.

Overview: A small town in the rural country-side of Japan holds a secret. A ritual held every one hundred and fifty years, that take two friends, and turn them against eachother. Lost in this town, two friends, Mana and Reiki, must find a way to destroy the ritual, or die...either by eachother's hands, or by their own. But first, they must escape the spirits of those who have partaken in the ceremony before them. How can two friends escape the dead? How can they destroy their destiny? ...Can friendship overcome such enigmatic circumstances?




Day One:

Part One


It was morning, nearly ten, or so she assumed. Not that you could tell though; the forest canopy channeled out nearly all light leaving the forest in shadows. The few rays of lights that did manage to enter through the gaps of trees only caused the already strangely chilling place to look even more eerie. It wasn't winter, but this place...was cold, and the flowers...no, everything but the trees, were dead.

She sighed softly, and closed her eyes as she continued to walk. The urge to just fall to the ground, and sit was beginning to overpower her. In her opinion, this really sucked. Mana hated walking; in fact, she hated anything strenuous, or over-exerting. She was to sickly for physical activites. This was literally killing her. She could feel her lungs closing off already.

She found herself entering a rigorous coughing fit. She dropped to the ground, on her hands and knees. She dug her nails, her fingers, deep into the cold dirt. Once she could breath without gasping for air, she opened her eyes. Where was Reiki? Fear betook her. Where was he!? She looked around rapidly. Had he abandoned her?

She struggled to her knees. Looking around still for her best friend. Gah! She should have known this would happen! He always walked on without her. What a bad best friend. This vacation to Japan was really turning out to suck. Had she known Reiki's car would breakdown in the middle of no-where, country-side Japan leaving them to walk through this weird, hell-hole forest, she would have opted for them to go to somewhere back in the States.

"Hey, are you alright!?" a voice called from behind her.

She darted around, panicking, reaching for anything to defend herself with. The only thing she could find...a dead tree branch that was snapped in half at the middle. The boy before her, nearing nineteen, three years older than herself, laughed. She sighed softly and dropped her flawed "weapon", it was only Reiki.

She stared at him as he laughed, his shoulders shaking with enthusiasm; his short, slightly spiked, black hair had taken on a more shiny look from his sweat; his brown-green eyes, held the laughter he was openly conveying, making fun of her; he was tall, and lanky, more sculpt than muscled, and his skin held a somewhat bronzy-tan. He wore blue jeans, which were worn, and torn at the knees, a red shirt, and the same sneakers he'd worn for the last two years...and it was quite evident that he'd worn them the last two years, from the staining, and rips that were on them.

Reiki was her exact opposite. Not just because he was male, but because he always had a smile on his face. Her hair was a soft, honey-suckle blonde, with red streaks, and her eyes were blue with flecks of green and purple. She was pale as a ghost, due in part to her bad health. She was tall for a girl, reaching 5'8", and sickly thin. She wore a baggy pair of black, parachute pants that were hemmed in red, a red shirt with her favorite band's name on it, and a pair of black, converse low-tops.

"Were you planning on throwing the stick at me, and running away? Because, Mana, if that's the case...don't try doing that when you're actually in danger." Reiki said, his voice deep, and husky.

"Oh, shut up!" She said, her voice small, and girlish.

"You don't look like you're fit to make me shut up...actually, Mana, you don't look well at all...is the walking to much for you?" Reiki began, and then realizing she would never admit it, walked over to her, and picked her up, kicking and screaming.

Her persistent pleas for him to let her down went on only for a short time, because in all honesty, she knew she couldn't have walked much longer, anyways. The day passed uneventfully, as they found themselves cursing in confusion. The whole forest looked exactly alike. They were completely lost, and to add to that...they had left their cell phones in the car.

Reiki finally stopped, beginning to tire out, and sat Mana on a rock near a river that ran through the whole forest. She watched as he looked in all directions, in a vain attempt to find north from south. If only they could see the sky, the sun, or the stars. She had a feeling it had begun to turn dark by now, but it was hard to tell in the forest. She laid back, and stared at the thick, canopy of the forest.

"We're really f**king lost, Mana..." she heard Reiki grumble, "You know, this is your fault...I told you that we should have gone left instead of right...we might have broken down in a town had we done as I said. In fact, you were the one who suggested we go to Japan...I would have been fine going to Las Vegas or something..."

She bolted into a sitting position, her eyes wide. She stood up, and looked across to the otherside of the river. She then turned around and stared at Reiki, and then behind him. Mana was sure she had heard something. A scream. A little girl. Screaming in fear, in pain...or...was it in...contempt? No matter. She had heard something, but it hadn't been in an exact direction, it had sounded like it was...everywhere. Was that even possible?

"R-Reiki...did you hear that?" she asked him, still looking around.

"Hear what, Mana?" Reiki looked at her, blinking, his eyes showing severe confusion, "Are you okay...? Are you feverish again?"

"No! Dammit! I'm not feverish! Didn't you hear her, Reiki!?" Mana ran up to him now, and stared into his eyes, she grabbed at his shirt, and pulled at it, "Please...please tell me you heard that!?"

Reiki solemnly shook his head. Mana looked away from him. The scream. There it was again. She ran, in the direction she hoped it was coming from, though she wasn't sure at all. She heard Reiki behind her, screaming her name. She knew he would easily be able to catch up with her soon, so she couldn't stop. The girl, whoever she was, she had to find her, and help her. Hell, maybe the girl could help them.

Still, as she ran, there was no sign of the girl, but the screaming persisted, growing louder...louder still. Grief, contempt, pain. The scream was driving Mana out of her mind, and not being able to find, to help the girl made it ten times worse. She stopped suddenly, at a clearing, no...it was an exit to the forest, she looked down at her feet. A...trail? She looked up now. A small town?

No, this wasn't a town...this was a village. An old village. It looked abandoned. In fact, it looked like something out of an old storybook. It was an extremely small village. In the very center, stood a large shrine, surrounded by six, small houses; three on each side. Maybe this wasn't even a village at all? She was extremely confused. The village, or town, or whatever it was, was surrounded by forest on all sides.

She fell to the ground as Reiki ran straight into her, landing on top of her. Reiki sat up quickly, and she did the same. Mana looked from him, to the village. She could tell his eyes were trained completely on the village. So, this startled him as well.

"What kind of place...do you think this is?" Reiki whispered, his eyes wide with awe.

"I don't know...but something's wrong here...something's very wrong here..." She replied, and for just a moment, just a flash of a moment, she could hear the same voice as she heard before. She could hear the little girl, laughing in glee.

-To Be Continued (If Liked)