The House in Which Nightmares Dwell 15.6

[touchturnfly]

6

Everyone was sitting in the living room out of exhaustion. As the inquiry dragged on, the sun was rising considerably.

"I didn't do anything at all and it's already the end?" Ayako said.

She was sitting down on the carpet and stretched out her legs. Mai was sitting on the floor as well and smiled, 'Now, now'.

"We still have to take down the equipment and tidy up inside the house."

"Bo-ring."

"Isn't it just like usual that you didn’t do anything?"

Mai laughed and tapped Ayako's shoulder. Ayako glared at Mai with a dangerous look.

"... ... Why you."

"Yes, Ayako-san. Let's tidy up, okay?"

"Mai-chan, don't worry about it. I'll do it."

Mai smiled at Midori's words.

"It's alright. Ayako may look like this, but she takes good care of me and is kind, she'll do it gladly. -- Right, Ayako."

"Mai, remember that."

After she said that with a low voice, Ayako stood up.

"-- Well, let's put people to work."

"... ... Shh ... ..."

The one who said that was Naru. He was leaning against the doorway of the living room, which had been left open, and was looking at the corridor. He lightly pointed out with his fingertip for everyone to become quiet.

"... ... What's wrong?"

Without answering Mai, who looked up at him, Naru remained there and turned his eyes into the direction of the entranceway. Somehow, everyone including Hirota was peeking from the door to the entranceway.

As a record of last night's terrible incident, the door was full of cuts and the glass of the dormer in the door's side had been broken.

Everyone gazed in suspicion towards the entranceway. No one said anything, so that faint noise reached all of their ears.

It was a small and light noise. Hirota sensed it was the sound of a child's footsteps. It sounded like a small child of light bodyweight was running around.

The footsteps halted in front of the door. Then, the doorbell rang. If someone was pressing on the button next to the door, then their figure should definitely have been seen through the broken glass of the dormer. But no one could be seen over there.

Hirota was about to get up, but Naru stopped him. The doorbell rang two, three times.

"... ... Hey... ..."

Naru silenced Hirota, who whispered, with his gaze, and looked towards the entranceway again. After the doorbell stopped ringing, some time passed and the sound of a key being turned in a keyhole was heard.

The door opened. Bright sunlight flooded in. There was the sound of the door closing, and the faint darkness returned once again inside the entranceway. A girl stood on the concrete floor.

-- She was a small-framed girl. Hirota recognized her face. A small-sized facial contour, a somewhat impertinent jawline, and a mischievous expression in her eyes.

He had seen her in what he would call unpleasant photographs. Including those in which she had cruelly died. One half of her face looked like she was sleeping, and the other half had collapsed and lost all contour of a human being.

"-- I'm home."

Looking like she was still full of life, the girl peeked inside the house. It seemed like she didn't see Hirota and the others who were right before her eyes.

"Mother, I've returned."

No one, including Hirota, opened their mouths. Everyone watched over the girl who anxiously dropped her luggage in the entranceway.

"... ... Mother, aren't you here?" She said.

The paper bag probably contained souvenirs for her family members. What she left behind just now was discovered in that very place. One savings box, one package of tea and a set of teacups of various sizes.

"... ... Mother?"

The girl made an expression as if she was a child who lost her way. From his place Hirota could also perceive that she could burst into tears soon.

"Hey, where are you... ...?"

Hirota understood that this was a vision of the past. Even so he didn't give in without praying.

-- Don't come in.

Get out of the house. You cannot come back to this house. Leave the house and never come back again.

However, the somewhat frightened girl who stood petrified on the concrete floor, was taking off her shoes. Her feet with white socks were put on the floorboards of the corridor.

The girl stepped forward towards the nightmare.

-- Turn back.

However, the girl timidly walked down the corridor. She went towards the inner side of the corridor without noticing Hirota and the others who were watching over her. Soon, she entered the shadow of the wall and disappeared out of sight.

"Mother... ...? Grandpa."

Hirota closed his eyes. If possible, he didn't want to hear her screams.

The sound of footsteps that went towards the inner side of the corridor, soon stopped. Even though he was reluctant, his attentively listening ears didn't hear the girl's screams. What he heard instead was a quiet voice.

"This was the girl's nightmare... ..."

When he looked to the side, he saw the profile of an unconcerned Naru with his eyes cast down.

"... ... For the girl, more than the fact that she herself had died, it was twice as hard to forget that the people who welcome her in the house she returned to weren't there... ..."

Hirota nodded. Then he returned his gaze to the entranceway. The paper bag which was left alone at the bottom, faded a little by little and vanished before the eyes of Hirota who watched over it without saying a word.

---

Back to Chapter 15.5 | Forward to Epilogue

Comments

Hello

[(Anonymous)]

I read the manga till the end and the other seri that was about a girl and her mother with a strange new hause that they had bought.but it was like the story is not over.is there more than these in the novel?
And thank you for your translatin!it is a great job!

Re: Hello

[touchturnfly]

No, there is no more novel material available. But the author wrote some short stories, and the majority has been translated: click here if you're interested.