Winter - Chapter 14

Miyuki slammed the journal shut. "IT can't read any more," said Miyuki. "It was all lies. Everything she told me. She wasn't a victim at all. She deserved what happened to her. She's a monster now because she was a monster then." "Miyuki-chan," said Haru, who had discovered something under Natsuko's pillow. Haru displayed it in the light from his cell phone to reveal it was the book Natsuko had used to learn of the dark master and of the spells with which she would use to terrorize her village. "This is the book that turned her into what she is," said Miyuki.

She opened the book to the first page and was presented with Natsuko's name written in blood. "This is all too much to handle," said Haru. "Do you still have my cigarettes? I need to calm myself down." "This isn't the time for that." "Please, it might be the last time I get to smoke one." A crackling sound began filling the cave. When Miyuki and Haru turned their lights to the sound, they found ice had begun forming on the walls. "We need to leave," said Miyuki. When the two exited the cave they found Natsuko waiting for them. "I see you found my hiding spot," said Natsuko.

"Did you find anything interesting to read while you were in there?" "You lied to me," said Miyuki. "IT suppose I did," replied Natsuko. "The journal I found in your home, why did you write it?" "In hopes that one of those fools would sneak into my house and find it. Then maybe they would have cast their suspicions on someone else. But no one ever did. They thought that by entering the house of a witch they would be cursed. That's why they boarded it up after they murdered me.

The only one naive enough to believe the stories in that book was you." "So, Kaito?" "He was just some man from the village that wouldn't give me a second look," said Natsuko. "It's too bad. I would have let him lay with me." "So you were executed before getting the chance to punish your village for the way they treated you," said Miyuki. "Is this your way of making up for that failure?" "Oh, I didn't fail," replied Natsuko. 500 years ago... It had taken only hours for Natsuko to succumb to the elements.

She had stopped struggling to free herself from the tree, knowing that death was inevitable. A gentle snow began to fall upon the peaceful scene. But the serene environment would take a dramatic turn for the worst very quickly. The sky grew dark and a powerful wind turned a gentle snowfall into a hellish blizzard. A lifeless Natsuko opened her eyes. What once were brown, Natsuko's eyes were now a dark shade of blue. Her skin faded to a light blue and her hair lost its color, becoming a white as pristine as snow.