Recall Experiment

A strange presence behind her raised goosebumps all over Chiho's body. She suddenly turned around, only to see Hikaru standing there with a thin smile.

"What?" He said.

Chiho didn't reply and looked closely for any hair strands on the bedsheets. Then she looked under the bed.

"Haha get out of there you mole." Hikaru teased.

"You're the one who's got a giant mole on-" Chiho suddenly stopped. Why did she say that out loud? That used to be a comeback she had with Aimi. She was always conscious about a big food luck mole on her left upper lip.

She stared sharply at him. Hikaru shrugged his shoulders obliviously. She hates to admit it, but he looked stylish doing that.

"If you're done…" he said as he walked over to the bed and dropped down on his back. He put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, with a carefree smile.

She took one final look under his bed and then stood up with her arms placed on her sides.

"I'm going to check your whole house. You don't mind, do you?" She asked vehemently.

"No. Take your time." He said without a worry.

She stomped off angrily. She checked the other bedrooms, the drawers, the closets, the boxes under the bed stuffed with random items and even opened bags and clothing pockets. She looked through the bathroom, the bathroom bin, the medicine cabinet and scanned the pills for anything crazy. She even looked at the floor when she had time to search for hair strands and little bits of clues. She checked everywhere. From the kitchen to the living room. There was not a trace of anything.

She thought there was blood drained into a cup but smelt test it to find out it was tomato puree.

It seemed so obvious that there was nothing to be found but the ominous sensation she felt before, haunted her. It pushed her to uncover a mystery. She thought about how he called her a mole. It sounded like what Aimi used to say. Does that mean he got it from her?

That's insane. If he did kidnap her, that would be the last thing she would say in a fear factor scenario. However, it felt like Hikaru teased her because he knew about it. Yet, she couldn't imagine a context in which Aimi would have told him unless…

Unless he tortured her for information specifically about Chiho that only she would know so that he can toy with her. That morbid thought made her throat swell up. She could literally feel her unhinged mind about to snap off.

There's one more place she hasn't checked.

She walked upstairs and room to room until she found a manhole in the ceiling. This wasn't an attic that has enough room for a person to walk in. It was simply dead space in between the pitched roof and the ceiling of the house.

She got a chair and removed the hatch. She gulped as she remembered how scary the attic was in the Juon movie series. She might even see Aimi's corpse.

***

Hikaru yawned. He had walked with Chiho to test out the memory recall of his victim, Aimi. He was able to remember countless memories of walking Chiho to the train station before walking home. This was because he hardly talked to Chiho during the walk so those memories were of that context.

Basically, he could remember almost anything he put his mind to, but they took some getting used to. It was like tweaking an indoor antenna with metal rabbit ears. However, it was easier to trigger it with a stimulating source like Chiho. The memory quality was sharp and clear. Although it's best to be still to experience the five senses and the emotion attached to the memory.

He had tested the validity of the memory in the bedroom. Her reaction confirmed it. Earlier he had summoned a short tentacle and increased its power by pumping muscles into it, expanding its width. He felt it was strong enough to crush her skull and probably lift a car even higher compared to the last time he injured himself. He tried to kill her and then hid his tentacle arm when she turned around.

That was another test to see if Aimi would interfere. Nothing happened. She really was dead. There wasn't any resistance in getting her memories like when he fought against the parasite. Was it because she was already dead? Then why didn't the parasite just kill him?

Footsteps thumped on the doorsteps and the sound of keys clattered with each step.

'Father?'

Hikaru got up from the bed and walked down the stairs. A thump resounded as Chiho fell from the attic in a hurry. She ran down the stairs and pushed Hikaru to the side. Then she swung open the door.

***

The diener had walked back from the break room with keen steps as he thought about what sight to behold when he enters the morgue. Was it going to be a teary face amid crying or was the husband going to act tough with only blood-shot eyes to tell the tale? His footsteps sped up as he thought about that. Whatever it was, his sadistic tendencies were going to be fulfilled tonight.

'I love this job.' He thought. He wiped his smile off before opening the doors. His face sympathetic and waiting to be fed.

He saw Genkei bending over and holding onto his wife. The diener's eyes filled with tears as this was more than he could ever expect.

Genkei was undulating along his body, occasionally his neck would snap back and return.

'Hm?'

That's strange he thought. He walked a bit closer until he started to hear what sounded like crunching noises.

'Huh? It can't be right? No…'

The bobbing head froze as it had sensed him. It turned around slowly. His eyes dead and neck moving mechanically. He couldn't believe it. There was blood all over his mouth.