At first, it was just a feeling that she heard some noise in her room. But then, she would catch a glimpse of something moving in the corner of her eye that would vanish when she looked directly at it. It also started to feel like she could hear multiple footsteps echoing in her room. While she was taking a bath, she thought she heard her name being called from the room, but of course, no one was there. The paranormal activity gradually worsened. Lately, when she was sleeping at night, her body would suddenly become paralyzed, and she would feel like something was right beside her, talking to her. All the while, her ears would ring, and her head would feel dizzy. She was afraid she might see something and kept her eyes closed. When she woke up in the morning, she would forget what was said, but she had become afraid to sleep at night.
Wakana sighed again. Why did she do something so stupid? She should have refused outright. If this continued, she felt like she might see something definitive one day. She had thought about staying at someone else’s place, but she didn’t have many friends. She also didn’t have a boyfriend. She suddenly looked up to see Mizuno staring intently at her. A small squeak of a voice almost escaped her.
“Higuchi-san, you have dark circles under your eyes.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
“You really do seem unwell lately. I’ve been wanting to say this for a while: please tell me if there’s anything I can do.”
“Thanks. But it’s really nothing.”
“But the New Year holidays are coming up soon. We won’t see each other for a while.”
“Mizuno-kun, you just wander around in my neighborhood anyway…”
When she said that, Mizuno closed his eyes tightly.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m trying my best to figure out what your problem is. I have a good sixth sense, or intuition, I guess.”
Wakana stared at him in exasperation. The man who had been rejected by countless women was now muttering to himself, arms crossed. To be honest, she was starting to think Mizuno, as a human, was better than the paranormal phenomena. Maybe that’s why she almost found herself confessing to him.
“…Mizuno-kun, do you believe in ghosts?”
Mizuno’s eyes snapped open.
“Ghosts? Hmm, in college, my friends and I went to haunted spots, and some pretty crazy things happened, so I do believe in them. I’ve even taken some crazy photos. Wait, is that what you’re worried about, Higuchi-san?”
Wakana fell silent. Mizuno moved closer to her, his large eyes sparkling.
“Higuchi-san… I’m an expert on that kind of stuff.”
“Is your family a temple?”
“No, but I have experience and a track record.”
“Sorry, forget I said anything.”
“I’m serious. I want to help you, Higuchi-san… Please, use me…”
His intense tone and close proximity made her feel uncomfortable, so Wakana returned to her desk alone. Why did I even think of consulting Mizuno? she thought, rubbing hand cream into her hands. Her eyes fell on the small Christmas tree in the corner of the office, and she immediately looked away. It was Christmas Eve tomorrow, but she couldn’t even spend it relaxing in her own room. It was just awful.
* * *
Wakaba returned home from work and sighed as she sank into the hot bath. She was exhausted. It wasn’t just Mizuno’s fault; the end-of-year rush was making her head spin, leaving her feeling completely drained. But maybe it was a good thing—she’d be able to fall asleep instantly. Besides, nothing had happened so far today. Maybe even ghosts stay quiet around Christmas. With a mind muddled by fatigue, she thought about this as she got out of the tub to wash her hair. She sat on the stool, put shampoo in her hand, and lathered it into her hair.
The moment she closed her eyes to avoid getting shampoo in them, something tapped against her shoulder. It felt like five fingers touching her bare skin, as if someone were speaking to her from behind. Her body froze, and her breath caught. No, that wasn’t right. It was something that had fallen over—a bath brush, maybe. In the darkness, Wakaba tried to rationalize it. It just felt like a hand…
At that very moment, a raspy voice, inexplicably, sounded in her head: “It’s Santa, so it’s okay.” She had no idea why those words appeared. Confused and speechless, Wakaba, completely naked, bolted out of the bathroom. She ran straight to her bedroom. As she ran, she felt like she passed by multiple “someones” in the empty hallway. But she was in a state of panic and could only think of escaping into her room.
Once inside, she pulled the blanket all the way over her head. Her body was still wet, and the shampoo hadn’t been rinsed out, but she couldn’t do anything about it. She couldn’t leave here. But this room wasn’t safe either. She lay there, trembling, huddled under the blanket. Why was this happening? It had never been so direct before. Then, she heard a whisper from outside the covers. Her throat tightened even more. Something was muttering right next to her blanket.
She felt the blanket being tugged. Pluck. It was as if someone was trying to climb in with her. Wakaba let out a silent scream and yanked the blanket back. It was pulled again, and again. Pluck, pluck. She was terrified, terrified. Someone help. She squeezed her eyes shut, afraid of seeing something in the gap of the blankets. She felt like her name was called again. Low voices, high voices—there were so many of them. They were all around her.
In the morning, Wakaba cautiously emerged from the covers and rinsed her now stiff hair in the kitchen sink. She frantically threw her clothes out of a drawer and got dressed. Her hands were shaking so much she couldn’t properly put on her clothes. All the while, she kept the TV on at a loud volume and tried not to look around the room. But she still felt like something was in the corner of the room. She felt like something was watching her from behind, or from below. She fled her apartment. She couldn’t stand being in there any longer.
She ran to her office, but her condition was, of course, terrible. The lack of sleep and everything else combined made her feel nauseous. She somehow managed to get through the morning, holding back her nausea, and finally stood up to take her break. However, she suddenly felt dizzy, and her body went limp. Just then, a solid object caught her, supporting her weight. It was firm and smelled nice.
“Higuchi-san, are you alright?”
She looked up at a face looking down at her. Wakaba was startled. She righted herself and took a step back from him.
“Ah, I’m fine, sorry.”
“No, you’re not fine. You look terrible. Let me take you to the break room.”
“I really am fine,” she insisted, but her coworkers, who had been watching, also told her to go, and Mizuno half-dragged her to the break room. She sat on the sofa and drank the warm tea he brought her.
“The head of the department said you can go home for the day after you rest for a little while.”
“Oh… but I have work to do, so I’ll go back.”
That was true, but more than anything, she didn’t want to go back to that room alone. Mizuno crouched down to meet her gaze. He was always so carefree, but now he was looking at her with a serious expression.
“Higuchi-san, I’m genuinely worried about you. Could you at least tell me what’s wrong?”
His voice was slightly deeper than usual. Wakaba hesitated. The tea Mizuno had bought for her was slowly warming her hands. Maybe her mind was weakening, too. She found herself thinking that between a paranormal phenomenon and a stalker,
maybe a stalker wasn’t so bad after all.
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