It had been several days since the girl had entered that "haunted" okia. And, she was growing more and more paranoid. Seeing more than usual. They'd said it held "a grudge". Basically, when someone died in the grip of a powerful rage, their souls would haunt the house and the grudge would take any life that passed by it. When she saw the ghastly white little boy and woman in that house, she'd thought it was her Schizophrenia acting up again. And, Paranoid Schizophrenia was a mental illness she was constantly battling. So, it didn't surprise her when people found her ridiculous or dismissed it completely.

Ayako had gone in with a friend, and, left with her friend, who'd claimed she didn't seem a thing. So, perhaps it WAS the disorder kicking in with a new found paranoia. But, the girl couldn't shake off the feeling that it was something else. Something darker. Maybe the grudge DID exist. Maybe it'd come for her because she'd intruded upon the property. But, in that case, shouldn't Fumi be haunted or something, too...? Why was it only her...? Today, she was locked up in her bedroom. On her computer. Searching. Trying to find any clues she could. Her heart wretched at the lack of answers. Too much of it was pointing to her Schizophrenia acting up. No way she was going back to that damn institution!

Finally, with an exasperated sigh, she gave up, leaning back in the chair that sat in front of her desk. The teen's brown eyes fell to the floor, then, her gaze slid to her window. Black curtains, like always. She had a room fit for a nerd. Wall scrolls from various animes and posters littered her walls, while video games and mangas, animes covered the floor. Standing, Ayako sifted her way through the mess and made it to her bedroom's window. She pulled aside the curtain and peeked out. One glance revealed that same woman standing outside of her small balcony, staring at her with wide, blood shot eyes. Her irises were a deep, pure black, and her hair was the same. A long, tangled mess of unmanaged tresses. The girl screeched, and fell back almost immediately, closing her eyes tight and moving her hands to hold her head.

Of course, the creature was gone the second the female dared to open her eyes. What had she just seen!? Why again!? She was growing quite tired of these beings revealing themselves to her. They were...terrifying. Pure white. The woman made weird, groaning noises and crawled in a way that resembled someone she'd seen in a movie about possessions before. As if half of her joints weren't there. She dragged herself along, and her eyes bore into the girl every time. Meanwhile, the boy hissed and made cat-like noises, and the inside of his mouth was black. The little boy, whom she'd come to know as Toshio, usually brought on the revealing of the older thing.

These sights tortured her young, disoriented mind. Was it really just Schizophrenia? It all just seemed to real... With her body broken into a light sweat, the teen pushed herself back to her feet. A shaky stand. As quickly as she could manage, Ayako yanked her curtain closed again, swallowing. It was a hard task through the lump that invaded her throat, but, she managed. Her head fell against the wall, brown, flowing locks hiding her face and falling loosely over her slender shoulders. That tan flesh was bathed in the pale light of her desk lamp and laptop light, while the rest of the small room was shrouded in the darkness. It scared her. No overhead lights for the evenings, just a lamp. The girl hadn't even straightened up before she heard the familiar croaking noise. Her eyes shot open, and, they drilled into the carpet of her bedroom floor. her teeth clenched to her lower lip, and her fist tightened beside her head on the wall, and, her tall, thin frame trembled. Her breaths became fast and shallow, and mentally, the teen reminded herself that it was just her Schizophrenia. However, when she felt hands pressing to her back, a shrill scream passed her lips. Ayako's head whipped around, hair landing in her face as she was forced face to face with the thing that was haunting her. The woman pressed closer, nails digging into the girl's jacket and stomach, breaking the skin. Her blood shot eyes were inches away, and, face before the Schizophrenic's, she made that groaning noise, ignoring the shrieks of the female in her grasp.

It didn't take a lot of effort for the Grudge to drag the girl into the opened closet doors. She was feather light, tall, nearly anorexic in stature. However, the girl struggled, thin hands latching onto what ever she could just to hang on. Her hands gripped her blankets on her bed as she was so helplessly dragged across the matress, but, the second her fingers curled onto her headboard, the tugging stopped, and she fell back onto her bed, still screaming. The white figure was gone, now, and her heart was racing, loudly thudding against her chest. In a few moments, her father burst through her bedroom door, and spotted his daughter curled up onto her bed, gripping the blankets and pillows and sobbing. Those gasps in between the cries were painful for him to hear, and, his downturned gaze revealed that disappointed look. His child was hallucinating again. She hadn't taken her medicine. Those were the thoughts that crossed his mind, while the girl on her bed could only struggle.

"D-doza..." She whimpered, looking up to him with a tear-streaked face he couldn't refuse. The man sighed and waltzed to her bed, dropping down to a sit beside her small body and gently rubbing her back. She blurbed out clumsily the story of what had happened, and, he could only nod in fake understanding. His words in returns were soft whispers, while his fingers combed through his daughters silky locks.

"Do we need to get you back to the hospital...?"

"N-No! Y-you're not listening to me! I-it really happened! W-why don't you believe me!?" The girl sobbed and screamed, sitting upright and beating on him with bony fists that did no damage. He sighed, and his hands grabbed her thin wrists, leaving her helplessly writhing in his firm grip. Finally, she stopped, and her head dropped, leaving her silently crying. His heart ached. The man would take her up to the ward first thing in the morning. Get her medications. Try to fix up her mind. A little, at least. A few minutes passed, and he let go, embracing her and kissing the too of the girl's head before leaving her bedroom. He didn't bother to turn off any of the light she always left on. He'd do it when she fell into slumber's grasp.

When he was gone, Ayako curled up under her blankets, and hid from the darkness. Her eyes shut her out of the outside world, and she was left with the broken thoughts of her shattered mind. She could feel more tears burning at her eyes as her hands ran along her sides, pushing past her jacket. The tips of her slender digits met the marks the demonic being had left, and, she licked the wetness from them. She'd actually bled. It WASN'T just a hallucination! If she could prove it, well, maybe her father would realize she WASN'T crazy right now. Her shreds of sanity that remained were functioning, and screaming at her to leave. However, she had nowhere to go.

That wouldn't be a problem. Not tonight. The pale figure was back, standing in her closet. Just waiting for it's prey. In slow steps, it approached the teen's bed, and stood over the girl cloaked by her blankets. A couple more minutes passed, and the girl finally poked her head out. Taking a deep breath of the cool air in her bedroom eased her mind. But, when her eyes cracked open, she saw the figure above her and screamed again. That was the last noise she'd ever make.

When her father burst into her room for the second time that night, he found his little girl dead on her bed. It looked like her heart had given out, or she'd been strangled. Her face was pale, and her lips were nearly blue. Her eyes were wide and bloody. He gasped, and put a hand to his mouth to stifle a startled cry. Desperately, his large hands slowly moved to grip her shoulders, and he attempted to shake her awake. However, it was clear within just a couple of short moments that the girl was not to exit this sleep. All he could do was call out her name and beg for her to wake. Unsuccessful, he felt the tears burn at his eyes.

"It finally got her... Damn that woman!"

Ayako's mother had a history of mental illness in her family that her father hadn't heard about until the pair was married with their daughter on the way. He'd assumed her heart had gotten overworked by the mental disorder, and that it had just given out. The poor thing. But, when he saw an unfamiliar rope of black, tangled hair around her slim throat, his eyes widened. What the Hell was THAT!? It was tight. The man had to work to slide his thick finger's underneath it. When he got them in, he tugged, and, the hair broke. He cautiously brought the hair to his face and inspected it with narrowed ebony eyes. Then, he heard it, too. That groaning noise. He turned his head slowly to face the being behind him.

The man's eyes caught only the smallest glimpse of the woman before he felt her hands on either side of his face. Violently, she jerked her hands and his neck made a sickening crack. Mother and son now stood over his dead body, gazes shifting between the family. Broken. Like theirs had been. She looked almost sorrowful with her blank gaze. The boy looked up to the woman, and, the black cat that had strutted in let out a loud meow. Their heads turned to face it, and, before long, the things were gone.

It was a couple days later when the police found the family dead in their apartment. They could only click their tongues. All signs pointed to asphyxiation by gas leak. How it had leaked, though, was unrevealed. So, they were left to ponder. Some of the detectives asked around. Class mates revealed that the girl had a sort of history of insanity, but, nothing else was learned that pointed to the deaths. Left clueless, the investigation grew cold. It was happening more and more. But, lack of evidence made further inspection useless. Hopes dashed, police gave up. However, this was only the beginning for the exorcists.