Horror stories (18+)

Eight feet tall *japanese urban legend* part 2

Our convoy started off, slowly at first. I don't think we had even traveled 20 kilometers before K-san warned us things were about to get hard... then she started to chant phrases that sounded Buddhist. And then I heard the laugh again: "Poppopo, Po, pop, Popopo ..." I clutched the charm to my chest and kept my head down, but couldn't resist a quick peek at the window; that was a mistake. I could see a white dress. It appeared stationary to the car's window, even though we had to be moving very fast at that point. The figure moved as if to lower its head to the window, and I gasped... and the man next to me told me to shut my eyes, which I did, and tightly.

Though no one else could see Hachishakusama, they all heard what happened next: the tapping. I don't know how, but the tapping started on every window in the van, all at the same time. I don't know how long it lasted but, over time, it faded. K-san had stopped chanting by that time as well, and eventually said that she felt we were now safe, so the cars all pulled over. My father and Grandpa thanked all the men who had assisted; as it turned out, all of them were related to me. Grandpa and K-san had hoped to confuse Hachishakusama by surrounding me with many people of the same bloodline. I had to stay overnight while Grandpa was gathering my kinsmen, and it was deemed safer to try to escape during the day than the night.

K-san asked me to show her the charm which I had forgotten I was still holding; it had turned almost entirely black. K-san commented "it should be alright now, but just in case..."; and with that she handed me a new charm to hold until I got home. I drove home with my father. During the drive, he told me that one of his friends when he was young had been taken by Hachishakusama. Grandpa and the neighbors delivered my bike back to me later.

In talking to my Grandpa over the phone, I've confirmed that it was not his voice I heard outside the room that night (which sent shivers down my spine again). Hachishakusama targets teens and children... so if the monster speaks with a familiar relative's voice, the victim would normally come to it willingly. I'd almost forgotten this all after ten years. Grandma called to tell me that one of the Jizo statues that had sealed Hachishakusama into the shrine looked as if it had been broken by someone; the statue that was broken lined up with the road leading to our home.

Two years ago my Grandpa died; sadly, I was not allowed to attend his funeral. I try to tell myself it was all superstition... but sometimes I still hear that voice call: "Popopo ..."