When Mina woke up, a pure white ceiling came into view. The smell of disinfectant was terribly pungent. This was probably an emergency hospital.

  "...I was asleep..."

  Mina muttered to herself.

  The moment she tried to sit up, the "black ring" wrapped around her neck released a faint stinging pain.

  "Ugh!"

  This pain reminded her—this wasn't a dream! The color drained from Mina's face. She immediately walked to the sink near the entrance of the hospital room.

  Mina's face reflected in the mirror was terrible.

  Gauze was plastered here and there across her face due to minor cuts. Her bright brown hair—while her bangs were intact, her prized long hair was miserably singed and frizzled.

  Mina's large eyes and beautiful oval face were also covered with white gauze and tape. Her eyebrows and eyelashes had disappeared too, and would need to be drawn in with an eyebrow pencil and mascara.

  And above all, the black ring remained firmly around her neck.

  "The worst..."

  Mina hung her head in dejection. Then she collapsed face-first onto the sink and cried.

  "Oh, Mom... Dad... what should I do!"

  Hearing her crying, Nurse Sudo and Doctor Maekawa rushed into the room. Maekawa roughly wiped away her tears, laid her down on the bed, and checked her physical condition with practiced hands.

  Eventually, after looking at the readings from several types of medical equipment, Dr. Maekawa muttered as if to himself:

  "It seems there are no particular abnormalities."

  When Maekawa said this, Mina's face showed shock and she shouted:

  "No abnormalities?! Look at this neck... I was attacked by an old man who wrapped some strange rope-like monster around it!"

  "A monster? No, isn't this a tattoo?"

  A tattoo? Mina looked at Maekawa with an expression of disbelief.

  "I'm 14 years old... as if I would get a tattoo!"

  "But even if you tell me it's a monster..."

  "But it's true... please examine it properly!"

  Told this, Maekawa sighed in exasperation and reluctantly began the examination. However, the conclusion he reached was the same as before.

  "Don't mess with adults. This is definitely a tattoo."

  Maekawa stood up while shaking his head.

  "A detective is coming soon, so tell them honestly what happened yesterday. Whatever you do, don't tell weird stories like just now."

  Maekawa glared at Mina sharply, then turned his back and left the room. Mina was utterly disappointed in this doctor who was so hopelessly impossible to communicate with.

  ◆

  After a while, two detectives entered the hospital room. One was a kind-looking old man. The other was a young man who glinted like a razor blade.

  When Mina realized detectives had arrived, her mood became heavy. Sensing this, the old man smiled warmly at her.

  "Well, young lady... was it Mina-chan? Hello."

  However, Mina turned away and didn't respond.

  The old detective shrugged and smirked.

  "Seems we're not welcome."

  He said this while pulling over a round stool next to the bed and sitting down.

  "Sorry to bother you right after you've woken up... but the longer time passes, the farther the culprit escapes. I'd like to hear your story for a bit."

  Mina stiffened at the detective's words.

  "My name is Sasaki... and this young one here is Higuchi. We're in charge of this case."

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  "So... what do you want to ask me?"

  Sasaki nodded with a smile.

  "That night there was terrible rain. Lightning is common in such bad weather, but that night, lightning struck your house specifically 25 times. I've never heard of such a case."

  This detective seemed to find the lightning strikes strange. But if she told them about the mysterious old man, would they believe her... Mina had her doubts.

  "Lightning struck many times... and when I came to, I was lying in the mud. Something like electricity flowed through my body... I was so shocked I couldn't even breathe."

  Sasaki nodded repeatedly.

  "So... did you see anything strange?"

  "Anything strange?..."

  Then the young detective Higuchi butted in from the side.

  "He's asking if you saw any suspicious figures. Your parents' bodies had stab wounds from a blade. Someone approached the two of them weakened by the lightning... and stabbed them with a knife. Do you have any idea who?"

  Hearing that her parents had been stabbed, Mina's complexion changed instantly.

  Detective Sasaki pushed Higuchi's chest with his palm.

  "Hey, you shut up!"

  Scolded by Sasaki, Higuchi sullenly glared at Mina. Then Sasaki looked at Mina's face with a gentle smile.

  "Sorry, Mina-chan. Young detectives are hot-blooded. They have to be, or they couldn't do this job..."

  But Mina's face had turned pale and she was trembling.

  "Stab wounds on Dad and Mom's bodies? That's a lie, right?!"

  Mina's eyes bulged as she glared at Higuchi's face. Then she raised her voice sharply, like a stab.

  "Who on earth would use a knife!"

  In that instant, her expression crumbled visibly, and tears overflowed from her tightly closed eyelids. Then it welled up like a seizure, and she cried out as if spraying from her open mouth.

  Mina remembered the group in black cloaks. Had they finished off her parents who were still alive?

  Anger and sorrow welled up in Mina's chest.

  "Waaahhh...!"

  Seeing this, Sasaki made a troubled face.

  She cried so loudly that Nurse Sudo rushed into the room from next door.

  "Mina-chan! What's wrong?"

  Mina clung to Sudo without even opening her eyes. Then, crying in her chest, she shouted loudly:

  "They stabbed them?! Ahhh!"

  Mina thrashed about in Sudo's chest.

  "Calm down... calm down, Mina-chan!"

  Sudo hugged Mina while gently rubbing her back. Then she glared sharply at the two detectives.

  "Please leave now! This girl just regained consciousness!"

  Sasaki stood up while bowing his head to Sudo.

  "We've caused you great inconvenience. We'll take our leave for today. From now on, I'll come alone..."

  "Really... what kind of interrogation is this for a child who just lost her parents? Are you out of your mind?"

  Hearing this, Higuchi's face reddened and his eyes bulged, but the old detective beside him stomped hard on Higuchi's leather shoes, so Higuchi grimaced and groaned.

  "Well then, nurse... we'll be going now..."

  Just as Sasaki was about to leave, he noticed the black ring around Mina's neck.

  "Nurse... what's that black ring around her neck?"

  "Oh... well, the doctor said it must be a tattoo."

  Sasaki frowned.

  "...Do you really think this girl looks like the kind of kid who would get a tattoo?"

  "N-no, she doesn't seem like that but..."

  Sudo hesitated slightly, but looked at Sasaki and opened her mouth.

  "Detective... please wait outside for a bit. I'll come to you as soon as this girl calms down."

  ◆

  Sasaki sent the young detective home first and sat alone on a long bench waiting for Sudo. After a while, Sudo came out of the hospital room and bowed before Sasaki.

  "Sorry to keep you waiting."

  Sasaki stood up and bowed his head.

  "No, no, this was our fault to begin with. How is she?"

  Sasaki said this and stared intently at Sudo's face.

  "Mina-chan fell asleep. Having lost both parents... I think she's quite shocked."

  Sasaki nodded.

  "Sorry for all the rudeness. So... what did she say?"

  Sudo began speaking while watching Sasaki's expression.

  "Well, you see... when Mina-chan was struck by lightning, she said she saw a group wearing black coats."

  "A group in black?"

  Sudo nodded.

  "Maybe five or six people? Among them was someone like a leader... she said that person was an old man. That's who wrapped the black ring around her."

  "She said it was wrapped around her?"

  Sudo nodded.

  "At that time, she said the black ring flew at her like a snake. But Dr. Maekawa didn't believe her at all... well, it's like an occult story... you wouldn't believe it either, would you, detective?"

  Detective Sasaki smiled.

  "Does Sudo-san believe it then?"

  Sudo smirked slightly.

  "Detective, hospitals have quite a lot of them, you know?"

  "A lot of what?"

  "Ghosts."

  "Dead patients appearing as ghosts?"

  "Not just patients—even doctors come to work after they've died."

  Sasaki scratched the back of his head.

  "That's absurd."

  Sudo laughed. "Hahaha."

  "See, you don't believe it, right? Dr. Maekawa wouldn't listen to Mina-chan's story either. That's why she clammed up."

  "I see..."

  "Detective, you might not believe this when I say it but... that black collar... sometimes it twitches."

  "It moves?"

  "You know those creatures that exist, right?... like the ones that stick to trees and camouflage themselves... I find it creepy."

  Sasaki made a difficult face for a moment, then quickly returned to a softer expression. He smiled at Sudo.

  "Nurse, could you tell the doctor to examine this black ring thoroughly? Maybe it's some kind of dye... or the culprit did something to her."

  When Sasaki said this, Sudo nodded slightly.

  Sasaki left the hospital immediately after. Outside, the sun had completely set and streetlights illuminated the surroundings. Car lights zoomed past on the main street in front.

  Sasaki got in his car and immediately started the engine. He rolled down the power window smoothly and leaned his right elbow on it. Then he took out a pack of cigarettes, shook one out, and lit it.

  He inhaled the smoke deeply into his lungs and exhaled it toward the car ceiling.

  Sasaki furrowed his brow as he pondered about the old man in the black coat.

  "That black ring is alive? What on earth is it?"

  No matter how much he thought about it... there were too many inexplicable events. Many things that couldn't be explained without occult reasons.

  "I can say with certainty... that girl has seen the culprit's face..."

  Sasaki put the car in gear to start driving. He stepped on the accelerator, but the car didn't move. Only the revving sound of the engine repeated again and again.

  "Hm? What's wrong?"

  Just as Sasaki was about to get out of the car to check, the front of the car lifted up significantly.

  "Ahhh! What?! What's happening!"

  With creaking sounds, the car kept rising higher and higher. And then the front of the car pointed straight up toward the sky!

  "Ahhh! Who's doing this!"

  Sasaki tried to open the car door, but the body had deformed and wouldn't open. Then from beyond the windshield, he could see mysterious tentacles writhing.

  "Ahhh!"

  In the nighttime parking lot, Sasaki's screams echoed.