Antique Shop?BEAR? - Chapter 6
Chapter 6 – Whispering Earrings
Late in the night, the sound of her smartphone dropping off the bed awakened her. She reached out to retrieve her phone, but her body failed to produce any movement.
Eh… sleep paralysis…?
She tried desperately to mobilize her body but was unable to do so.
Shulushulu… shulushulu…
… Even at such a time… Again comes the sound…
Only her eyes could move, hence she looked ahead and was confronted by the sight of a short, slender woman sitting upright. Her face was recognizable to her. She was a beauty in her early fifties that Rei had seen once before; the woman her father had an affair with. Next to the woman stood her mother. Rei was so frightened that she nearly squealed, but was unable to utter a word since her mouth was immobile.
Her mother seemed to be in a state of rage, her face crimson with fury, unlike anything she had ever witnessed before. She glared at the woman from behind, eyebrows arched, mouth agape, and body writhing with wrath. The woman composedly rose and strode toward Rei’s bed. It was then that the sound of shrieking resurfaced. The woman’s face was radiant with a smile as she approached. Her wrinkles cannot be disguised, but her makeup was flawless and she was clad in a slim black dress. Her hair was short and beautifully dyed brown.
Ah…!
A small diamond earring glistened in the woman’s ear. The diamond was shaped in the form of a rose and appeared to be identical to the one Rei was sporting.
It looks precisely… like the earrings I bought…
The woman walked right up to the bed and at the exact moment when she was about to make contact with the bed, her mother wrapped a plastic cord around the woman’s neck. In a split second, the woman was knocked backward with barely a second to resist. Her mother had a good physique, so this skinny woman was no match for her even if she struggled. The woman hit the back of her head with such force that she lost consciousness and momentarily ceased her movement. When she opened her eyes, her expression was one of dismay, and her eyes widened as if to see what was happening, while her black eyes darted from side to side. Her mother got on top of the woman and tightened the plastic cord around her neck.
Ka-ha!
Flap, flap, flap.
Ka-ha!
Flap, flap, flap.
The woman flailed desperately in resistance, but she was utterly incapable of facing her mother’s physique. Her skin began to turn reddish-black as it started to congeal from the tightened neck up. Her eyes, nose, mouth, and… face overflowed with juice. As her mother tightened her neck with all her strength, the plastic cord cut her neck and blood spurted out. The woman thrashed around for a while, but abruptly became motionless and threw her arms and legs to the floor, and succumbed limply. With a “hmph,” her mother released the plastic cord and in a fit of rage kicked the woman, bellowing all over her body. It was so severe that Rei forgot to shut her eyes, but once she regained her senses, she did so. She was beyond horrified, her teeth clicking together in fear that her mother would glimpse her. After that, there were continuous screams and thuds for a while, and ultimately came the sound of something crushing and blood splattering on the floor. Even after the noise subsided, she refused to open her eyes for fear of witnessing a tragic scene.
How much time had passed was uncertain, but upon opening her eyes, she found nothing but her room as it had always been. At that point, she finally managed to move her body and turn over on the bed.
… A hallucination…?
She hoped that what she had witnessed earlier was simply a hallucination caused by sleep paralysis. Despite the low temperature, she was drenched in sweat, and tears welled up in her eyes one after another. If what she had experienced earlier was the price of her father’s infidelity that had plagued Rei and her mother for all these years, it was the worst outcome of this issue.
Afterward, having spent the rest of the morning unable to sleep, the morning sun was shining into the room, leading to a resigned effort to sleep and an early rise. Today was an early shift. Tomorrow and the following day were her days off, therefore Rei resolved to visit her parents’ house for the first time in a while, and sent a message to her mother, “How are you? I’ll come home tomorrow”.
Leaving the house at six o’clock, slightly earlier than usual, she walked along the river, taking a longer route. Never before had she taken the time to look door to door along the street, and so she strolled along watching the stores that were still unopened. She paused before the antique shop, and as she proceeded across the stone pavement, the brown shutters were still down. Rei touched her earrings.
Come to think of it, it all began after I bought these earrings… Weird noises that started to appear and disappear…
Then Rei nearly screamed.
This is no hallucination… These are the earrings that the cheating partner was wearing, which is why I can hear it…!