Kowabana 6 by Tara A Devlin

Author:Tara A Devlin [Devlin, Tara A]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Orochi Press
Published: 2019-12-05T20:00:00+00:00

Black Shadow in the Boarding House Skylight

* * *

During the summer of my first year at university, I went camping with the other music club members on the shore of Lake Kawaguchi. Two other universities joined us, and there were so many people that we had four to a room. Another university was using the building for seminars and training, and the students called it “Building 13.” It also had a music hall, which is why we all went there.

It was a four-day camp, and during the day we practised our instruments and vocals. On the final night, we all ate a huge dinner together, and then those who had the time gathered in small groups in the music hall. Nobody lived nearby, so it was okay for us to play our instruments late into the night. We played until 9 p.m., and then we all chatted together. Everyone decided we’d each tell a scary story. Kinda like the hyaku monogatari game.

I wanted to leave, but the others I shared a room with were staying, and I was too scared to go back by myself, so I stayed too.

There must have been 15 or 16 people there. Several people took their turn before me, and it was time for the person opposite me to tell their story. Most of the stories weren’t very scary, and they were just the usual ghost stories or urban legends. Some of them were even jokes, so overall, the atmosphere wasn’t very frightening.

When the fourth person started telling their story, I noticed something out the corner of my eye. I thought that maybe the light was dying, so I looked up and saw a skylight in the middle of the roof. In addition to the ceiling lights, candles decorated the walls, so the room itself was bright all over. But the skylight, which didn’t seem particularly special during the day, seemed strange now. Looking closer, I saw a dark shadow was half hidden behind the window lattice. It bothered me that I couldn’t see it very well. The skylight was surrounded by ceiling lights, and yet, I couldn’t see the dark figure. Finding it strange, I stared at it, and then the shape suddenly moved and started crawling.

It looked like an animal or a large bug trying to get in. Surprised, I pointed to the roof.

“The skylight’s open!”

The people on either side of me looked up, laughed, and then patted me on the shoulder.

“Oh man, you’re good. Don’t scare us like that.”

‘Huh?’ I thought, and when I looked up again, the skylight was closed. Maybe the bug slipped through a crack, but then again, it was way too big to be a bug. Then the shadow disappeared.

“Sorry. Guess I was just seeing things.” I laughed and apologised.

But after that, the room seemed to grow dim. All the lights were on and working fine. I thought that maybe my eyes were just tired, so I sat there and said nothing. When the fourth person was done with their story, the black shadow from before suddenly slipped in between them and their neighbour.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.