Reek, page 20
“What? What is it?” Anno said, his voice breaking.
“When did you notice it?” This can't be!
“What is i-”
“When did you notice it, dammit!” We're screwed.
“The first night on the island.”
His words almost drove him to his knees. He had been a fool, walking right into the trap like a mouse hungry for cheese. “Jin,” Anno said, real worry on his face. “What is it? It looks like a brand or sign.”
He took a deep breath, trying to find the words to say. “It is a brand, yes. A mark of the Ancients. Something I've only seen in crappy old books, heard about from other people in my world.”
“A-ancients? What does that mean?”
The forest seemed huge, trees closing in, able to crush them at any moment. He couldn't believe what he had to say; what he was looking at. “You could call them demons or anything similar but what they really are, are creatures. Horrible, smart monsters from the early Middle Ages. That symbol on your skin means you have been marked for sacrifice. You are a walking dead man.”
“Dead man? No, no, you're joking. Please tell me you are joking,” he said, stepping back rapidly as though he could escape from Jin's words.
“Anno, breathe,” he said, placing a hand on his arm; body shivering underneath his touch.
“I don't wanna die, I don't!”
“If we can get off this island you'll be safe, I promise.” A rough approximation of the truth, but true nonetheless.
“If we can get off? There are ghosts everywhere, throw a fucking rock and you'll hit one!”
“You're going to have to trust me. We need to get Mai and whoever else and get to the water.”
“The current is too strong!”
He was right, but they were out of options and out of time. “It's better than staying in the center of the island, trust me. Whatever evil is here, it's located right in the middle of that building.”
“Then why are we going there now? Let's stay away, let's-”
He wouldn't let him finish the sentence. Wouldn't let that option out into the world. “No. I'm going to get Mai and I can't do it without your help. I can't carry her all the way and if you come others may leave too.” Anno turned his head, as though he just remembered something. “What? What is it?”
“Yui,” he said, looking as scared as Jin felt. “She has the same mark on the back of her neck. That Ancient thing.”
His mouth opened but it was a while before a response came out. “You're sure?”
Anno nodded. Jin wanted to punch himself in the gut. His brave front and nonchalant attitude in the face of death had cost the group dearly and now his bill was due. Jin pulled off his shirt.
“What are you doing?” Anno said, watching as he pulled off his pants as well.
“Check me, check my back, back of my legs. Everywhere I can't see.” He turned around, showing the rear of him. In the quiet of the island, Anno sighed. The heaviest sound Jin had ever heard.
“You,” he said, “...shit, you have one too.”
Three years of rage. Months of stealing and fucking. Hours upon hours of drinking and walking the tightrope of life; middle fingers extended at his future, all of it landed in his lap with a knowing grin. Jin fell to his knees, twigs and stones relishing the chance to stab. “It's here,” Anno said, a finger circling the skin in the middle of his back.
“Of course,” Jin said, wanting to laugh. Wanting many things at that moment. “No mirrors. That's why. There's no way Yui or I would ever have been able to see. We probably all have brands on us.” He fingered at his shirt, debating the point of putting it back on. Debating on whether to move or just flop to the ground. Wait for the inevitable.
“But,” Anno said, his voice a small, hopeful squeak, “you said we'd be safe if we can get off the island or safer by the water?”
“We'd be safer in Japan, Egypt or anywhere but fucking here.” He was close to screaming; black anger bubbling its way up his throat. Anno walked in front of him.
“I want to live, Jin. I really do.” He seemed bigger somehow, more solid. “Never thought about it, never needed to I guess, but I really, really want to live. Mai too, Yui, even Kojima. I want to get out of here and save everyone, I've never been so sure of a thing in my life. I want to save all of us.” Jin looked at him, unable to see much of his face aside from the deep cuts in his cheeks. “I didn't believe in ghosts until I came here but now I do.”
Welcome to the party, take a seat, he felt like saying.
Anno handed him his clothes. “I also believe in you. None of us will survive without you, I'm sure of this too.” Mai, crying, bloodied and terrified, begging him. He had seen it, the Gift had shown him. “Help us, please, Jin. I'm begging you.”
It wasn't over. There was still more to come, the final act. He still could win this, there was a way. Getting to the water was a start, a plain line of sight everywhere they looked. Bring some salt, Anno said there was still some left. Jin stood up, sliding into his pants. He looked at the cameraman, “It's going to be...” What was the word? Dangerous? Life-threatening? Hazardous?
“I know,” Anno said, helping him to it. He was brave, and a better person than Jin had first thought. If they got out he would be sure to take the time to know him better. With the Gift they stood a chance, that much was on their side. He had walked into the trap, but there was no rule book. Anything goes. They were up against an Ancient. The monstrous creature behind the man in white.
Just another Tuesday, he thought. Clothes on, Jin nodded.
“Let's go save the day.”
11:49:00:16
Mai opened the double doors, cold wind following her in. For a moment she stood, unsure if she was still dreaming. Clicking her heels three times would be of no use in a place riddled with darkness.
The foyer was in a state of disarray. Bags and other things the team had brought were strewn across the floor, torn open. Left for dead. Video Village was a wreck, the sight of it made her shiver. Monitors were smashed, dangling in the air, held on by frayed cables. The wooden bench had been upended with the remains of the laptops scattered on top. Everywhere she looked, everything she saw made her scared. Her feet crunched, she raised a leg; salt. The foyer looked as though a light shower of hail had opened up inside, salt granules were everywhere.
“Anyone here, hello?”
The place was a tomb. To the right, she had laughed with Anno and Okada, going over footage replete with funny faces and bad takes. Ahead, they had all eaten together, talking about their hometowns, Kojima mentioning which famous actresses were nightmares to work with. For a place she had loathed, a place one could never fully relax in, it was a haven compared to now. All the lanterns had been smashed, the only light coming from the flickering monitors and the lantern in her hand. The hallways were vacant, including the one leading to her room.
Don't go down there, she told herself. Why would they all be in there, playing a game? Boo! Gotcha, ha ha! She felt that while Kojima was bad even he would not stoop that low to get some footage.
You think so, Sis? I know you were occupied at the time but the man didn't so much as lift a finger to save you during the attack. Now that, was good footage.
The edges of her vision were fuzzy and dark. Exhaustion was the least of her worries. “Gotta focus. Take it easy and focus.” Juice. She had a full bottle of juice in her bag in the bedroom; the memory coming to her. It would be warm but the energy kick was just the thing she needed. As if in agreement her throat ached, parched and desperate. There was blood on the floor, just outside her door. Her blood. Her feet passed the stain, tracking up the now familiar puff of dust. The mark seemed dull, barely red at all, like it had been there for years. Mai tried to count off the days since landing on the island and gave up as she reached her door. “Like I have any clue.”
The room was as she had left it, save for one thing. The bed had been moved. The frame rested against a far wall, twisted and defeated. The mattress was shredded, pieces of it laying about. Her bag was nowhere to be seen. She could not recall if she had left it here or if Jin had taken it, but was certain it had not been in the hut with her when she woke. Her throat continued to ache, demanding a solution. The other bags. There had to be something to drink in one of them, had to be. As she turned, a muffled noise came from the other side of the wall causing her to jump.
The locked room.
Mai replayed the noise in her mind. It sounded as though something had fallen and hit the wall, sliding down to the floor. That initial thump, followed by a light rasping. Hand on the door frame, she peered around the corner into the hallway. There was no light, a thick darkness that refused to reveal itself; her own lantern barely taking care of the small area surrounding her. The door was ahead, she could make out the doorknob. Mai stepped out into the hallway, her left foot hovering off the ground. That noise.
What if someone is in trouble? Mai thought. Jin, maybe? She moved, the door coming closer to her. Close enough to reach out and open.
Or another ghost, waiting for my big Sis to put her hand on the doorknob, finish what the other one started.
She touched her cheek, coming away with blood on her fingers. The bandage would need to be changed. The ache was no longer there, replaced by an urge to find a mirror and see what she looked like. See the damage; the woman she had become.
The mirror. Jin had used a mirror on the ghost. The thing had seen itself and screamed. It did the same thing back in the room with the camera lens. “They can't stand to see what they've become,” she said, feeling the truth in the words. A thrill went through her as she turned back to the bloodstain on the floor. The mirror shard was still there, resting against the edge of the wall and the floor.
Jin, you smart bastard. You figured it out before all of us. She picked it up, the dulled edges feeling good in the palm of her hand. Don't. Don't do it.
But she did.
Mai brought the lantern up, angling the shard in such a way as to catch a reflection. Devastated eyes looked out from the glass. Her hair was clumped, her skin ashen. She felt tears starting to build, willing them to stop. Straining herself to hold it together. She did not know who she was looking at. This poor creature, this shadow of a woman couldn't be her. A lifetime of looking in the mirror at a familiar face. Same chin, same forehead. Gone now. New Mai. Cheekless, bald patch Mai. The bandage was immense, almost coming up to the eye. It was clotted with dark stains, various shades of red. Gingerly at first, then with a maddening need to see how much worse things could be she tore the bandage off; the tape and fabric dropping to the floor.
Don't look. I don't need to l-
Mai opened her eyes; the popped blood vessels making it seem as though her pupils were drifting in a sea of red. She stared at her cheek, taking in the new state of her face. Her body hit the floor, butt jarring from the phone in her back pocket. The lantern smashed, electronic safety and comfort blinking out, never to return. Moonlight, the smallest beams of which penetrated the foyer through the windows now her only guide. Tears flowed freely, the battle lost; a soft sting from the salt as they dripped onto the wound.
She could see her jaw. She could see some of her teeth, little flaps of skin dangling. The image would forever stay with her, the raw damage. Mai stayed like that, unable to think. Stayed for some time.
Another thud came from within the room. Close to the door. Without deliberation, she was at the doorknob, reaching, twisting. All she could see was the naked wound, her face. Her new shame, something to add to the list. The door opened, the wood creaking, the hinges squealing out in protest. If it was locked before, it wasn't now. Open for business.
A few inches of the room could be seen. Some shreds of cloth on the floor. The small view gave little, a black hole, inviting. There was a draft, a light tickle on her eyelashes. Inviting. The shard was still in her hand.
“Jin? You in there?”
She didn't know what to expect, part of her didn't care. Whether or not Jin and the rest were inside didn't matter; the choice was to enter or not. She was too tired to wander the hallways, knew she would not stand a chance walking around outside. It was either this hallway, or that room. Mai teetered slightly, color draining from her face.
I could really use that juice right now.
She put her hand out, pushing on the warped wood of the door. It swung on its hinges, black opening up.
Something was moving inside. With the shard in hand, Mai crawled. The room that was locked but now open. Only one choice, one direction. Mai took it, and it took her.
11:54:26:12
“Holy shit, what happened here?”
They were standing in the foyer, an alien place. Something had been let loose against their little base of operations; violated and demolished every shred of what they had built together. The message was clear, designed to hurt.
Mai had not been in her hut. There were no signs of a struggle, his jacket was gone but that didn't assuage Jin's fears. He felt responsible for her; a continuing revelation for him.
“Okada, Mr. Kojima?”
“They're not here, yelling won't help. We have to search this place, find Mai and anyone else along the way.” He added that last part for Anno, his own emotions conflicted. They had made their choice, hiding under Kojima's wings. He had warned them and it had fallen on deaf ears. If they were branded it was their own damn fault, yet, it was also his. If he had taken notice sooner, applied himself, he could have changed things. He was as complicit as the rest, and it hurt.
“Look,” Anno gestured at the wreckage, “this is horrible, just horrible. All our work, the things we've seen.”
“We'll be seeing a lot worse, that's what I'm worried about.” Anno didn't seem to hear him, attention focused on the chaos, didn't see what made Jin's skin feel as though it would freeze and crack over his bones. The salt lines. They were ruined in a way no accidental scuffing could create. “Not good,” he said, the emotion needing to come out. No one would notice messed up salt over the destruction of the foyer, the loss of the footage. “Think you can salvage any of this, see if the cameras picked up something?”
“This mess? I dunno,” Anno said, words saying one thing but tone saying another as he picked up a chunk of laptop.
Scooping a handful of granules Jin took a breath, readying himself. He already had an idea, the footage would do little more than back it up. The brand. The attacks. The man in white. Jin heard Anno hitting something, the noise reverberating in his ears. Let it fall away. Focus. Plant yourself into the ground. Live for this sensation. He reached out with the Gift, hoping it was his to call after so many sudden flare-ups.
Sound stopped, like his ears had been turned off. Sensation too; his body a hollow shell. Then-
Liquid. No horizon, nothing to clutch, the endless state, a prison for some.
He dropped into water; engulfed in a black mass with silver bubbles floating past. Beyond freezing, a cold that stabbed itself into the nerves, down to his core. He couldn't see the waves above.
I must be deep, he thought.
There was a sense of pressure around him, skin and muscles tight against his frame. He sensed, his awareness reaching out with open fingers. Something responded, a tingle cascading its way back along his consciousness. There. An image started to float towards him, an emotion attached, dangling off to the side.
So far, so good.
It hung shy of his perception, dodging attempts to grasp it.
That's weird.
The Gift was home, the safest place he had ever known. Hours, sometimes days he had dived, letting it take him to unimaginable places. Jin reached out, willing himself to know the image. It swayed, ducking away.
That's never happened before.
The emotion seemed easier to get, it was larger than the image, at least double the size, hanging off like a climber dangling from a mountain, swaying in the storm. A great puff of colors, swarming with energy; a vague jellyfish of clumps and swirls. Jin swam towards it, thrusting his body at the cloud.
What is it? What's wrong?
Almost there, the emotion closer than ever. Something was different, like returning home to find a beloved object out of place. Closer the puff came, closer. Confident, he reached out. This, was home. Safe.
Gotcha. He met with the emotion; briefest of contact.
A face exploded out at him, monstrous and unlike anything he had ever seen.
Jin screamed, his body locked in absolute horror. The face of evil; a demon, barreling towards him. It was long and thick, like an alligator but all askew, infested with clusters of small faces that begged for their misery to end. Jin cried out at horrid, knowing eyes–gazing into him, seeing all–a mouth opening to reveal huge daggers; teeth jagged and twisted, chunks of bloody flesh wedged between each tooth. He panicked, lost in fear. The head swam at him, almost upon its prey. It had planned this, he knew it. Those eyes told him, that mouth smirked at him. It had set up the salt as a trap, knowing he would use the Gift. Drawing him deeper into the liquid than ever before. He had been too proud, too stupid. Again. This time it would cost. This, is how he would die.
It roared, the water creating a suction into its mouth. He wept, scared and desperate.
The world shook. The liquid rippled, as though someone had shaken the ocean itself. The creature stopped, just for a second, shocked. Muffled and low, Jin heard someone calling his name.
His name.
That's right, my name. My dive. My Gift.
The beast blinked, focus returning. Teeth reached out, centimeters from his essence.
Less than a second.
The smallest of moments to decide, to plan. Jin made his choice, throwing everything he had into it.
He drowned.
11:57:48:18
Yui didn't want to be any closer to Kojima. Not one foot, not a toe more. The man was muttering; had been since they got back.
“Nyeh, nyeh. Timetimetime. Takestime. Knowstime. Timematters. Nyeh, nyeh,” he would say, which creeped her out to no end.
