I don't know if any of their constitutions are true or not but it is true that there is something very fierce behind those doors. I then thought to myself that, the thing that grabbed my hand might have been someone's soul devoured by something.
**********************************************
It seemed very foolish to me as well, how can a soul that was already said to be devoured, grip another persons hand. I never believed in ghosts myself. Not to mention I have always been alone almost my entire life. I was 9 years old when the news of mother's accident was reported. My relatives had a hard time deciding in what to do with me, they didn't know who my father was either, "Lets just send her to the Orphanage....". And that was when my aunt whom I had never met entered. She wasn't my mother's blood-sister but a sworn one. I had once heard from mother that, she had a friend in her school days and during their last days there(school), they had sworn to each other to come to one-another's aid when needed. And she also seemed to be the person who had help my mother, during her delivery. Back then I had thought that she was a nice person as mother had lamented, but after going through my adoption procedure, she took me to her home. She threw herself to the sofa, and glared at me. She said, "...Man, back then I had told her to abort the baby, but she still insisted on keeping it, an idiot, toiling herself to death for a fatherless-child."
Her words were very harsh to me of course. In the school too, I was subjected to this kind of awkward position and questions, and now with mom gone and under this aunt's care... I don't know anymore, may be it would have been better if I was abor... " Well now it can't be helped, the oath of the sisterhood can't be ignored. Kid see, I am a very busy person. So to fulfil my promise to your mother, I will be taking your responsibility and provide you with all the necessities: shelter, education, clothes and etc., etc. but after reaching adulthood you have to prove your worth to me.", she said. I think those were the words that I was waiting for, it brought hope to me. May be I can become independent, and not make others worry.
**********************************************
The priest's apprentice came back after he had left us to take our breaths, and handed us some pieces of paper, probably talismans. He then told, " The other seven doors contain a very powerful demonic presence and the doors are a little damaged as well, so the power to contain the demons has also decreased, usually tourists are forbidden to go that side, but for your special permission from the committee you can visit the other seven doors....any questions, I guess no, so lets go! There isn't much time left as well, so please take your pictures some other time...".
Hearing this my brother put the camera inside his bag pack. The little apprentice was very fast, in spite of his thin stature, we were unable to keep up with his pace. Like that we visited the rest seven within an hour, I was too exhausted even to move another step, but it was four-thirty already and we had to leave the Shrine grounds at five o'clock sharp. We both hurried back to the General Hall and took our luggage and the little monk locked the doors after we were out. We were to stay in the living quarters situated about 4 miles away from the Shrine, it was the nearest quarter to the Shrine, no builder was allowed to build any settlement in 3 miles of range of the Shrine. There was a news on the TV that a builder had a constructing site about 1.5 miles away from the Shrine and fifty worker were working on that project; among the fifty, ten got mentally ill the rest went missing. It was reported that there was no sign of wild, human-eating animals in the forest surrounding the Shrine. The project was closed and no one tried to do another projects there. Overall, it was a strange place indeed.