spr | The House in Which Nightmares Dwell 4.4

Midori felt strange. She felt as if she was slowly sinking to the bottom of the atmosphere.

It was gloomy inside the living room. Only one light lit Midori's front. A rod swayed from left to right like a metronome in front of a small light bulb. When the rod passed in front of the light, the lamplight was obstructed, so it seemed as if the light was flickering.

She was told that she would see light in the dark living room that she shared with Reiko. Because she was separated from Reiko's figure, it didn't enter Midori's vision of observing the light.

What she heard was only the faint systematic sounds that appeared to be from those machines and Naru's voice. She heard that the voice, which was unemotional from the start, went on to lose intonation. His figure wasn't in her vision. It was just a flat voice, that she sometimes heard with a slow and stupid tone, would generally go on to whisper meaningless things.

Midori sensed her mind gradually growing dim. What showed up in her mind at first were the various memories that came from beyond this house. When she recalled it, Midori's tiredness accumulated along with it. The many times the appliances had broken down, the many times of taking telephone calls, the many times she got riled up from the repair shop's words. It all felt like a wasted effort.

The fatigue so far burst out in one go and eventually even becomes a troublesome thing to think about. As if being sunken inside the water of weariness, Midori's consciousness wanted to begin relaxing.

Only a voice came down there.

... ... Statue... ...
... ... Hanuman... ...

It was the figure her deceased father had bought in Bali. The statue of the demigod monkey Hanuman.

... ... Hanuman shall move... ...
... ... Tonight.

Midori mindlessly took those sinking words sink. What came to mind, was what she saw one time, the richly coloured Balinese dance.

-- The demigod monkey dances.

"-- That will be all. Thank you for cooperating with me."

Suddenly, a clear voice rang as the light of the room was turned on.

Midori reflexively blinked her eyes. What her eyes picked up after getting finally used to the light, was Naru and Hanuman in his hands.

The instant her eyes blinked at a strong light, the thoughts that surfaced in her head up until then had vanished completely. However -- her eyes were drawn to Hanuman. Moreover, she felt like there was kind of meaning behind it.

"I'm sorry, but I will be borrowing this for tonight."

"Yes," Midori nodded absent-mindedly. When she turned her head, Reiko was also watching Hanuman with a similar puzzled expression.

"The second floor's room -- Hirota's room will be used for investigation tonight. I'm sorry, but please do not enter it."

"Understood." After saying that, Midori caught the attention of Naru's eyes. "-- Have you come to understand something?"

Turning towards the equipment all over the place, checking the consumer electronic goods, raising to the roof on top of that.

"Not yet, nothing that I can talk about."

"Is that so," Midori cast down her eyes with a somewhat discouraged feeling.

"It's enough if carry on as usual tonight. If something happens, there will certainly be someone in the base."

"Yes."

"The camera is also on, so it's fine if you face the camera and give a signal. It doesn't matter if it's a trivial, if anything curious happens, please let us know."

"Understood."

When Midori nodded, Reiko abruptly stood up.

"-- Mother?"

Reiko watched the glass door that continued beyond the dining room. A frightened expression arose.

"... ...Someone's there."

Midori looked at the glass door right away. The dining room was dark. The light had been turned off, so what could be seen beyond the glass was only blackness.

"Someone is watching us from there."

Naru approached the glass door. He gently opened it. Of course, there was no sight of anyone there.

"Lin. -- Did any sound enter the dining room's microphone? ... ... Yes, understood," he said, and turned towards Reiko.

"There is no one in this room."

"There was until just now."

"There are many people inside the house, they're loitering around here and there. If you're used to living with only two people, I think you're mindful of any indications of humans or sounds, but please endure it for a while."

"But, there really was someone there."

"Sound can unexpectedly often be transmitted through walls. Beyond the dining kitchen is the base. Our careless investigator might have been noisy. The high and low sounds will more than often escape. I think at night you may be more mindful of this, but that is the thing we do for the investigation."

"But... ..."

"Please calm down. Currently we're operating with three cameras and five microphones inside the house. If someone gets inside, it will certainly be picked up. It's not possible for the surveillance network of the equipment to fall out and someone to loiter inside the house."

"... ...Is that so."

Midori lightly patted the back of Reiko who nodded.

"It's not good to be that frightened."

"It's fine," Naru said. "It's fine to say whatever it may be. That's why we're here to investigate. Even if you think you're imagining it, please say it. We'll check it. In exchange, please trust that we're professionals. If something seems strange, we'll thoroughly investigate it. If it doesn't seem strange, we'll say so. At those times, I'd like you to trust those words."

Reiko nodded.

"I see -- I see. I understand."

For the first time in a while, Reiko returned to a calm facial expression. Midori gratefully watched Naru. The eyes facing her were cold, but she didn't think of them as unpleasant.

Back to Chapter 4.3 | Forward to Chapter 4.5

Note

Hanuman is a Hindu god and an ardent devotee of Rama. He is a central character in the Indian epic Ramayana and its various versions. The Ramayana is part of a tradition of storytelling in Indonesia, such as Wayang (Indonesian puppet theater) and Balinese dance.