It's the 2nd hour of the next day, but I never got a second of sleep. Adrian never left. He stopped smiling long ago, his face dropped and wore a blank expression, almost a sad one. The story I'm about to tell you is not of my own writings, but a tale from Japan that has recently spread among the folk there, I believe they refer to it as Banchou Sarayashiki, which I believe means "broken dish" I forgot to mention, I am also skilled in a small number of Asian languages.
A high-ranking subject of Japan's current shogun who they called Harima Aoyama had fallen for a servant girl who was known as Okiku. He made many romantic advances on her but Okiku had rejected him every single time. Aoyama lost patience and figured out a way to force Okiku to marry him. Okiku was in charge of dishwashing, some of the dishes she dealt with were luxurious and very delicate, so Ayoama decided to steal or possibly even break one and blame Okiku. The punishment for losing such a delicate dish would have been execution, typically beheading. He proposed that he would pardon her if she had become his lover. For the final time she rejected him, so he threw her down a well. Okiku came back as a vengeful spirit known as an onryo and tormented Aoyama every night. She would count from 1 to 10 as if counting the plates. She would only ever get to 9, after that, she let out a deafening shriek. It was not only Aoyama who would hear as it was so loud, but it was directed towards him. She shrieked with such agony over not being able to find the 10th dish. Apparently, she was finally put to rest when she was counting, and someone yelled "10!", easing her as she was relieved someone had finally found the 10th fish.
I've always found such fascination with the supernatural and paranormal, spirits and onryos in particular have always amazed me. To my relief, Okiku is not in my closet, however, Adrian still is. I'm once again frozen in my chair, I just heard 2 distant screeches. Not of Okiku though, I heard them coming from outside not too far from my home. Anyway, I find the tale of Okiku interesting not only because of the supernatural and paranormal elements, but because of the ideas of truth and oppressive people in power, but mainly truth. Can I confess something to you? I've told a few lies before, but that's okay because you have to. Is it true though? Is it okay because everyone does it? Even if it's against the will of God, can we truly be held accountable for basic human instincts that we all fall prey to at some point? I'm unsure of the integrity or wisdom of my thoughts, but I can be sure that if the church had heard what I just said, I'd be on my way to visit hell very soon. I truly do believe I will go to hell, I have gone against the will of God, and all these stories are different ways of me explaining the conflicts between the decisions we make in relation to God's will. Do we do bad with lies or good with truth? Can we do good with lies or bad with truth? Regardless of the philosophies anyone may hold, I believe I have made a mistake, for Claudia has returned, peering at me from right above Adrian's head. They're just…standing there! They just won't stop staring at me…please, go away…go away…go away…