Here is the long, untitled story that Jabronisaur wrote and originally posted at 4th Station on JPM. His first chapter was posted on April 8th, 2005, and the last chapter (#14) was posted on May 12, 2005. Very fast work. The response to the story was great (we all read it and commented!). It was suggested we read them late at night, which definitely helped keep the mood since it's a scary story. In his descriptions of the girls' thoughts and actions, you can see the thoughtful, gentle man he is, for only someone so kind could share feelings like that. And in the plot, you can see how he loves action/adventure games and freaky things that make your heart pound, the air dripping with tension. =) Though I believe no spellchecker was involved (too impatiently excited to post? ;P), it never detracted from the enjoyment of the story. The guy knew how to create suspense...
Re-reading these chapters today has been such a pleasure (a scary one), and after the first chapter, such memories of those times flooded me that it was almost like everything was normal again and we were dreaming and imagining up stories in our little corner of the internet. Special thanks to resop and Zaxx, who both provided me with download links for the 4th Station archive.
Everything under this solid line, including the 13 posts after this one, was written by Jab.
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I was really enjoying those stories on the Gotouki site. Please keep the stories of the GoMakiMythos comming. I especially liked how the attempt to make them read like typical myths and legends. Well done.
As for me I opted for something with a more contemporary feel. I, of course, had take some liscence with the personality traits, but I hope you like it.
Please enjoy...
Drip...drip...drip. Annoying droplets of rain pelted against the face of Fujimoto Miki, and after a few blinks she came into conciousness. She attempted to sit up, but her body struggled against her will and at last all she could manage was a sort of sideways lean. She scanned the area around her. Through the dark foggy haze she could see lumpy object scattered about. She could tell it was raining and it was dark, "Probably night.", and that she was suddenly in great pain. Her mind fought out of a swirly haze and she began to focus on her situation. Miki's vision cleared and she could see that she was sitting in pile of mud in the rain and that surrounding her where, not the lumpy objects of before, but the "Bodies!" of her friends and fellow members of the popular singing group Morning Musume. Ignoring the stabbing pains in her limbs, she rushed to the other girls to help them. She worked to lift the girls out of the thick, moist mud and try to revive them. In time, the remaining members of the group were either sitting up and confused, or lying face-up with another girl watching over her. Yoshizawa Hitomi, one of the first of the other members to awaken, was standing up and looking around. She saw something a few yards away from them and strolled off.
"Where ya going, Yossi?" cried Ogawa Makoto, after her. She too had just risen and her nervousness could be heard in gravely voice. Yossi turned slowly.
"I see something over there. I'll be right back. I just wanna check it out." and with that, Hitomi, one of the senior members, began walking away. The rest of the girls had huddled together to keep warm in the now chilling rain. Apart from what Hitomi had seen, they couldn't make anything else out of their surroundings.
"What happened?" Tanaka Reina, one the newer additions to the group asked timidly. This question of course had been on everyone's mind since they woke up. They all thought back to moments before they lost conciousness.
"The accident!" It was Takahashi Ai, who answered suddenly. "I remember the bus and the horn blarring and then everything got crazy..." she trailed off. The others nodded, they too now remembering the last minutes before the crash that landed them here.
Yossi had reached what was the remains of the bus on which they had traveled. She peered back over her shoulder and could barely make out in the darkness the shapes of the others. Returning her attention to the bus, she could see it was laying on its side. A huge gaping whole had been torn along the middle of the side to the rear.
"This must be where we were thrown out..." she thought grimly to herself. She like the others was remebering the accident. On their way to a special taping in the country, the bus had crashed. "But why?" she wondered. Hitomi couldn't remeber what had caused the bus to spill over, so determined to find out, she climbed up the wheel base and pulled herself up to stand on the upturned side of the vehicle. It was a particurly grizzy sight. All the paint had been scraped off the side of the bus. All the windows were smashed in and even traces of blood where evident. Steeling up her courage, the sporty Yossi began to lower herself in the dark hole ripped in the side of the bus.
"We shouldn't just sit out here." Konno Asami began. She was a younger, member of the group but had been with them now for some time, along with Takahashi Ai, Ogawa Makoto and Niigaki Risa. They had joined Morning Musume at the same time, as was typical.They were the 5th Generation. Hitomi had come in earlier with three other girls, who where no longer in the group, and Miki had come in with the 6th Generation along with Reina Tanaka, Kamei Eri and Michishigi Sayumi. "We're going to get sick. And Yaguchi-san still hasn't woken up." she motioned down and they all looked at the small blond with her head nestled in Konno's lap. She was Yaguchi Mari, now oldest member and leader of the group. She was very short, but very sprited and generally well recieved by the other girls. But as Konno stated, she was still unconcious. Miki looked up into the night sky and peered at the remarkably bright full moon. Despite its glow, it was still hard to see around them. "Perhaps..." she thought. "Maybe its the rain." She walked away from where the others were resting and looked out into the shadowy evening. She was looking for anything to help them. If they came by bus, she reasoned, then there must be a road, roads have emergency telephones on them and houses along them and other people traveling on them. It was then that she got a frightful ache in her stomache. Not a pain from the accident, but a creepy feeling as though something was very wrong. After a short pause she continued her search.
Yaguchi Mari sat back into the cushy red bus seat. She glanced idly out the window, watching gloomy gray clouds pass over the afternoon sun. She usually enjoyed these bus trips to the country. It gave the group a chance get out of that building for a while, even if she did get a little car-sick. This trip however had left her somewhat moody. She had caught herself looking around the bus for certain members to talk to and joke with, but then quickly remebered they had already left Morning Musume, "graduated" as they called it. There was no Nacci or Kaorin or even Maki left now, all the girls she had joined with and who were there before her and helped her were all gone. Now she was the leader, the last of the old members left to guide the new ones. It left her feeling very depressed. In a this group of some ten girls, she never felt more alone. "When would I graduate?" Mari wondered to herself. Maki who had joined after her had even manage to graduate before her. She was left behind, like so much old baggage. She looked over at Yossi who was fooling around and making jokes with Makoto and trying to make Miki laugh. "Would she take over after I finally graduate." Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted.
"Hi! Here I brought you one." the kind, soothing soft voice of Konno called out to Mari, distracting her from her Self absorbed musings. She looked up into the warm beaming face of the 5th gen member. Konno or "Konkon" as everyone liked to call her, sat down next to her leader and handed her a bento box, before tearing into her own. "These trips to the country are pretty crazy." she started. " Should be a lot of fun. But I hear were going way out there this time. Some really remote place." finished Kono as he began picking at her food. Mari smiled and opened her lunch. Konkon was young, but in many ways very wise. She also had a lot of empathy for the other girls and could always tell when someone was down and needed a friend. Mari thought she must have looked absolutely misearable. She felt bad about that. She was the new leader and had to set an example for the others. It was up to her to stop feeling sorry for herself and help bring this group together. Smiling back at her friend she finally spoke.
"Yea. I remember this one time we did the Hello Project News from this cow pasture. Hehe. Poor Rika..." Just then the loud blaring horn from the bus ended Mari's sentence. The driver let out a curse and the bus swerved sharply. The girls were flung across the bus, screeming as it eventually spun out of control. Mari was launched against the opposite side. She heard a sickening crack and then everything went dark.
The first thing Yaguchi saw upon waking up was Konno's warm beaming face smiling conceredly down on her.
"Oh! At last! We were so worried." the young member spoke softly. Mari tried to sit up, but a hammer like throbing in her head dropped her back in to Konkon's soft lap. The leader was aware that is was raining and that she was no longer on the bus. Deeply worried, Kono looked up at the others. "This is serious, she may have a concusion or something! We need to find a doctor!" she stated firmly.
"We need to find a phone." Sayumi replied. Michishigi Sayumi was one of the younger and more shy members, but now she was figiting in place and at times rambling on about their situation.
"We need to find anything." added Nigaki Risa. "We can't just sit out here all night." Risa like Sayumi was overly nervous. Konno brushed gently at Mari's hair. The elder Musume tried to talk but felt to weak to say anything and she just lay there suffering through the pounding ache in her skull. Makoto stared off in the direction Yossi went and stepped a few paces in that direction before speaking.
"I'm going to check on Yossi." she stated flatly and walked off before anyone could voice anything. But they, like her, were become concered. She had be gone several minutes and no one objected to someone checking up on her. Everyone liked Yossi. She was fun and friendly and very easy going. You never had a bad time being with Hitomi.
Leting her eyes adjust to the darkness, Yossi prowled along the inside of the bus. The soft glow of the full moon illiuminated some of the area, but left much of it covered in long, impenetrable shadows. Broken glass crackled under each of her slow cautious steps. Although she always presented herself as a tough, boyish figure this time she felt very uneasy and skittish. Using the seat backs for support, she edged her way forward, towards the front of the bus. She glanced sideways investigating the seats on both sides. They were ripped off the floor and thrown about the bus, those closest to the hole where crushed into the seats on the other side. Looking at the state of things, Yossi determined that nothing short of a miracle could have helped them survive this. She eventually reached the driver's seat. She covered her mouth as she gasped at the sight. The dashboard the smashed in and covered in blood, not a single dial or indicator was unbroken. The steering wheel was bent back and resembles a warped pretzel. Yossi tried not to scream when she saw the driver. He was twisted up worse than the steering wheel. His body bent in several different directions at once. He was soaked with blood and his gaunt terror filled face shone white in the moon. His eyes where stuck open in abject horror. Using all her courage, Hitomi bent down to close his eyes. A hand reached up and gripped tightly on her wrist. She would have yelled if she could but her voice was lost. The broken face of the driver turned to her and a deep strained voice called out from his mouth.
"The girl....could....nt.....stop.....she ran....out....in.....where..." the voice trailed off. His hand release the relieved singer, and his body collapsed with a heap into the corner. Finding her strength at last, Hitomi jumped up and ran towards the hole. Stepping on some broken seats, she climbed back out on the side of the bus before jumping down and running back to the others. Her run was cut short, however, as she hurtled into something and fell the ground. Sweating and freaked, Yossi looked up to see what she ran into, determined to run the opposite direction if she didn't like what she saw. But to her surrprise, curled up on the ground was Makoto. The wind knocked clean out of her lungs, she lay motionless in the rain and mud. Her friend picked her up and hugged her close, swaying and calling her name. To her relief, Ogawa came around quickly and hugged her back.
"I was getting worried so I came to look for you." the fifth gen member spoke, between breaths. After a brief moment she continued. "Did you find anything?" she asked trying finally to get to her feet. Yossi didn't say anything, but got up holding tightly to her friend's hand, as they walked back to the others. Makoto, while surprised by the affection, notheless, enjoyed every moment of the walk back.
Miki made her way from the muddy grass where everyone was resting, to step down onto a thicker muddier patch which she determined was the road. In the moonlight she could see vaugely, wide tire tracks. "Probably from the bus." she deduced to herself. Walking across, she quickly found the other side: a step up into muddy grass like she just left. Fujimoto felt it was best to follow the road for a bit. She had walked a while trying to follow the tire tracks in the mud and rain. She also looked across the road on either side for any sign of help: a telephone, a gas station, anything. But she spotted nothing in the inky blackness. She half joked with herself about being hit by car while walking in the middle of the road. "I survive a bus crash only to be killed by car while looking for help." She stopped dead in her tracks. She peered keenly down each end of the road and waited. The soft "plaping" of the rain was all she heard. A chilling fear swept over her. It had been nearly twenty minutes since she could rember waking up. And the sun was hardly past noon when the bus crashed. They had been uncouncious for hours, and not one person has come to check on them. Not a single car or bike or cop or even a jogger had come this way. "Where the hell are we? Why are there no people around?" Panic started casting over her. She glanced over the road one more time and determinined ther was nothing on it. No buildings, no phones, no people, nothing. They were miles from civilazation and completely alone. She ran back to the others as quickly as she could.
As she got nearer to the others, she could hear them talking, their voices sounded like angry birds. By the time she rejoined them, Hitomi and Makoto had returned.
"The bus is totalled. I don't think we could get it running...even if we could get back in its tires." Yossi explaned. They all turned towards Miki as they heard her sloshing back. They looked at her expectantly. She shrugged and sat down close to Eri.
"There's nothing along this road. I mean nothing." Fujimoto spoke, feeling better now that she was back with the group again.
"Well if we stay by the bus, someone will see it and help us." Saymi put somewhat desperately. Miki turned away.
"We might have to take shelter in the bus." Reina added. She felt anything was better than sitting out in the pouring rain. Hitomi shook her head and Makoto noticed her face had gone pale. Risa jumped up, much to everyone's surprise. She stormed around in a circle.
"This is so totally crazy." They all watched her, stunned. "I mean...how did we even crash. What hit us anyways." she continued while circling around frantically. Yossi though about what the driver said and got to her feet.
"The driver said something about a girl." she began. "I think she walked out in the road and he..." she stopped talking and ran back towards the bus. "Oh my god....I hope..." was all they heard. Makoto quickly followed along with Reina. The three girls reached the bus and followed Yossi as she traced the bus to the road and looked around for any sign of a girl.
Niigaki Risa had done one too many revolutions for Miki's liking and she told her so.
"Would you sit down already! Sheesh." the ex-soloist wasn't sure why, but watching the young singer pace around had really gotten on her last nerve. Risa had had enough of this situation and let Fujimoto know it.
"Screw you!" she declared and ran into the darkness. Horrified, Konno called after her.
"Wait! Don't go out ther alone!" She called. She wanted to get up and go after her, but she had Mari still in her lap, who had lapsed into unconciousness again. "Don't get lost!" she finished. Miki pouted next to Eri who seemed unsure what was going on. "Ai. Would you..." Konkon had bearly finished her sentence when Takhashi Ai nodded and followed after the younger memeber.
Hitomi and the others had searched around for a while and found nothing, no girl, no body, no blood, not a thing.
"Maybe he was drunk." Makoto spoke, breaking the silence with a feeble attempt at humor. No one laughed. They continued looking in earnest when Reina shouted.
"Hey! Whats that." The other two quickly joined her and peered out into the black night. Off in the far distance, was a faint shimering light. They watched it intently, nervously, fearfully; their hearts pounding in their ears. It moved gracfully through the pitch black darkness. The more they stared at it the more it seemed to walk. It almost looked like a person moving about and not so much a light. After a few moments it vanished. The three girls remained rooted in that spot for sometime before the feeling came back in their joints and limbs. They walked slowly and quietly back to the others, not daring to speak. By the time they reached the little camp, Takahashi had come running back, face flushed and full of panic.
"You guys....had better see this..."was all she managed to say before turning back to face where she had come from.
"Where's Risa?" Konno asked with a slight creak to her voice. Ai said nothing and continued to stare into the night.
"I guess we should check this out." Eri spoke. She knew Ai wasn't the panicky type, and felt it must be pretty serious for her to act this way.
"I can't go. I can't move Mari." Konno stated.
It was agreed that Miki and Sayumi would wait with Konno and Mari. Meanwhile, Yossi would follow Takashi along with Makoto, Reina, and Eri. Ai had led the group in the direction Risa ran. They trudged through the muddy grass for sometime before passing into woods. Thin spindly trees stuck up in their way as they marched together. No birds or rustling gave hint of any animals living in these woods. They passed through thickets and brambles and such before the woods gave way to a huge clearing. Takahashi had stopped while the others inspected their legs for thorns and bugs. When they returned their attention to her they saw that she was staring blanking onward. Following her view their eyes rested on a shocking scene. Sitting before them was and old style mansion, much like those seen on their samurai dramas. This building had a high almost six foot tall wall, and just beyond could be seen the sweeping tile roof typical of mideval japanese archatechture. They had arrived just few yards away from the large wooden gate built into the wall. The gate was slightly ajar. Eri swallowed hard.
"You don't mean she's gone in there do you." Kamei asked reluctantly. Takahashi nodded slowly, almost mechanicaly. She seemed kind of distant.
"We're goin' in after 'er?" Reina dared asked. Yossi gripped her shoulder.
"We gotta." As bravely as she could, she approached the gate. Eri and Reina were millimeters behind her followed by a spaced out Takahashi. Hitomi peeked through the gate.