Outside it was utterly still, and to Kumi’s mind way too much so. She began to feel uneasy. Room No. 1, to which she’d been assigned, was on the top floor of the main building. It had a great view, but Room No. 2, next door, which belonged to Eiko had a far better view of the sea. Frankly, though, she’d have been more comfortable in a room on the ground floor, where she thought perhaps there’d have been more reassuring noise.
To city dwellers, complete silence was as disturbing to their sleep as a construction site. In Tokyo, there was always some kind of din, even in the middle of the night.
Kumi was reminded of blotting paper. The thick layer of snow that shrouded everything outside had that effect. She was sure that it was maliciously absorbing all the sounds. She couldn’t even hear the wind any more. What a horrid night!
But then she did hear something. A strange noise, very faint, but surprisingly close by. It seemed to be coming from above the ceiling. It was like nails scratching a rough surface—not a pleasant sound. Kumi’s body stiffened and she strained to listen. But that was it. The noise had stopped.
What could it have been? She quickly turned and fumbled for the watch on the bedside table. It was a classic ladies’ watch with a tiny face so it was difficult to make out the dial, but it appeared to be after 1 a.m.
Suddenly the noise was back. It made her think of a crab struggling to get out of an earthenware pot. She instinctively braced herself. It was above her. There was something there on the other side of the ceiling!
The next sound was far louder. Kumi’s heart leapt into her throat and she almost screamed. But no, it was coming from outside. She couldn’t guess what was really making the noise, but… She pictured a giant crab stuck to the wall of the building. Step by step it was making its way up towards her upper-floor window. Now she was finding it hard not to scream.
The sound came again. Two hard objects scraping against each other… over and over. It appeared to be getting closer. Help me, help me, she mumbled over and over to herself.
Gradually, her whole body was overcome with acute terror. It felt as if an unseen hand was around her throat, suffocating her, and she began to silently pray.
Please, no! I don’t know what you are but please go away! If you’re climbing up the wall, please turn around, and go back down. Go to someone else’s window!
Suddenly there was a metallic sound. Just once, like a small bell… But no, not a bell at all. It was the window. Something was on the glass.
Almost against her will, Kumi’s head spun around to look in the direction of the window. And it was now that she finally let out a scream, so loud that she surprised even herself. So loud that her voice filled the room, bouncing off the walls and ceiling and back to her own ears. Her hands and feet turned to jelly. When was it that she had started crying? She hadn’t even noticed.
How could it be? This was supposed to be the top floor. There was no kind of balcony or overhang of any kind under the window. It was a completely flat wall like a vertical rock face. And yet, through the gap in the curtains, she saw a face peering into the room.
That face… It was no normal human face. The crazy eyes—wide, staring eyes that didn’t blink. The skin charred to a deep bluish-black. The tip of the nose white with frostbite, the scraggly moustache and beard beneath. The cheeks were scarred—were they burn scars? Despite all of this, there was a faint smile of amusement on his lips. This face, bathed in the icy moonlight, stared at Kumi like some kind of crazed sleepwalker as she wept in terror.
Kumi’s hair began to stand on end. The moment seemed so long that she felt as if she were going to faint, but it was in reality only a few seconds. Before she knew it, the face had disappeared.
But it didn’t matter that it was gone, Kumi now summoned all her strength and let out a new, more piercing shriek. She immediately heard a man’s voice roar in the distance. It was coming from somewhere beyond the window, but Kumi couldn’t tell where for sure. It felt as if the whole house was shuddering with the sound. Kumi broke off screaming for a moment to listen. The roar had only lasted a few seconds at the most, but it echoed in her ears still.
As soon as all was quiet again, Kumi resumed her screaming. She had no idea what she was doing or why exactly she was doing it. It just felt that if she continued to scream, somehow she would be rescued from the terror of being alone.
Right away there was a loud banging at her door, and she heard a shrill female voice.
“Ms Aikura! Ms Aikura! What’s the matter? Open up! Are you okay?”
Kumi immediately stopped screaming. Sluggishly, she sat up in bed and, blinking several times, managed to drag herself up and over to the door. She unlocked it to reveal Eiko standing there in a robe.
“What’s going on?” Eiko asked.
“There was a… There was a man looking in my window.”
“Looking in? This is the top floor!”
“Yes, I know. But he was there, looking in.”
Eiko marched into the room and walked determinedly over to the offending window. Taking hold of the gaping curtains, she briskly pulled them apart, then made to open up the casement windows beyond.
In order to protect against the cold, there were double windows throughout the building. Each window layer had to be unlocked separately, which was a bit of a chore. Eventually, chilled air poured in and caused the curtains to sway.
Eiko leant out and looked up and down, left and right, then pulled her head back in.
“There’s nothing there. Look for yourself,” she said.
Kumi was already back in her bed. Her body began to tremble, but not from the cold. Eiko closed the window again.
“I really saw him.”
“What did he look like? Did you see his face?”
“It was a man. He had a totally creepy face. It wasn’t normal at all. He had crazy eyes. His skin was really dark, and he had what looked like bruises and burn scars all over his cheeks. He had a beard too—”
At that moment there was such a loud clattering noise that they both jumped. Kumi froze. If Eiko hadn’t been right there in front of her, she was sure to have started screaming again.
“Daddy’s coming to see what’s going on.”
Kumi realized that the noise was Kozaburo lowering the drawbridge from the tower.
“You must have been dreaming,” said Eiko, looking faintly amused.
“No way! I definitely saw him. Someone was there.”
“Look, this is the top floor. The middle-floor windows don’t even have an overhang, and there are no footprints in the snow. Look for yourself!”
“I saw him!”
“And there’s no one in this house with burn scars on their face. Nobody who looks frightening. I think you had a nightmare. There’s no other explanation. They say if you sleep in a different bed from your usual one, you often don’t get a good night’s sleep.”
“That’s not what happened. I can tell the difference between a dream and real life! And that was real.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes! I heard a noise too. Didn’t you hear it?”
“What noise?”
“A kind of scraping sound.”
“Nope.”
“Then did you hear him yell?”
“I heard you screaming plenty.”
“Not me. A man’s voice. It sounded like a roar.”
“What’s going on?”
Eiko turned to see her father standing in the open doorway. Over his pyjamas he was wearing his usual jacket and trousers, with the addition of a sweater under the jacket. It was cold out on the drawbridge.