Winter
Chapter 9

Seeing Haru left Miyuki temporarily unable to move.

Haru made no hesitation before rushing to his wife. “Miyuki-chan,” he exclaimed before surprisingly embracing her tightly. Haru pulled away from Miyuki to look her over. “You’re not hurt, are you?”

“No,” replied a wide-eyed Miyuki.

“I can’t believe I found you.” Haru embraced his wife again. “I’m sorry for what I did to you,” he sobbed. “I don’t know what came over me.”

“It’s okay,” said Miyuki, her voice trembling.

When Haru released his wife, his injuries became visible.

“What happened to you?” asked Miyuki. “Are you okay?”

“That woman,” exclaimed Haru. “She did this to me.” Haru then began searching the house. “Have you searched for any weapons? We need to replace something to defend ourselves with. Anything sharp or heavy, anything.”

“You’ve met her too?” asked Miyuki.

“Yes, she’s crazy. Why does she want to kill us? What did we ever do to her?”

As Haru continued to look for weapons, Miyuki pulled out the pain pills she had tried to give him earlier that day. But after a short time she put them back in her pocket.

“Why is she doing this?” asked Haru.

“Because she’s angry,” replied Miyuki.

“Angry about what?”

“She didn’t do it,” explained Miyuki.

“Do what?” asked Haru.

“Those things the villagers accused her of. They thought she was a witch, but she wasn’t. She was just a lonely woman who wanted to feel loved.”

“What are you talking about?”

Miyuki showed Haru Natsuko’s journal. “It’s all in here,” she said. “Bad things started to happen in the village and they thought it was Natsuko, but it wasn’t. They sentenced her to die. And now she wants to punish us because of it.”

“I don’t care about any of that,” said Haru. “She wants to kill us. That’s all I care about. Who cares what the reason is?”

Haru was growing increasingly frustrated as there was nothing he could use as a weapon to be found. “There’s nothing here we can use,” he exclaimed. “There’s a bad storm outside. I don’t know if we should make a run for it or not. If that woman replaces us here then we won’t have a choice but to fight her.”

“She wants to punish everyone,” said Miyuki. “And it’s all our fault.”

“What are you going on about?” asked Haru.

“We shouldn’t fight her. She’s not evil.”

“What?” asked Haru. “She’s the most evil thing I’ve ever seen.”

“We need to replace a way to fix this,” said Miyuki. “If we can correct the mistake from the past, maybe it will appease her anger. And she can rest in peace.”

“You watch too many movies,” said Haru. “We have only two options. We either fight or we run away. And since we don’t have anything that can kill her, we’ll run away. It won’t be easy with that storm out there, but if we keep moving and don’t stop, then we’ll have a chance of getting out of this alive. What do you say?”

Reluctantly Miyuki nodded in agreement with her husband.

The two rushed out of the house to replace a most peculiar sight. The snow that had been falling so swiftly was now paused in mid-air.

“She has to be close,” said Haru. “No time to waste.”

The two hurried out of the village and into the forest.

It was mere moments after the pair had disappeared into the forest when Natsuko appeared in the village. With a wave of her hand, the snow suspended in mid-air began to gently fall. A grin was covering her face when Natsuko looked toward the forest.

“Maybe we can replace something from her past out here,” said Miyuki. “She used to meet her lover in the forest. They might have left something behind that can help us.”

“You’re still going on about that?” asked Haru.

“We can’t just keep running.”

“Of course we can,” replied Haru.

The two eventually stopped in a clearing.

“This doesn’t feel right,” said Haru.

“What’s wrong?” asked Miyuki.

“Look at this,” said Natsuko, who was nowhere to be found. “The happy couple has been reunited. Has your kind really become this forgiving? You were running for your life and you were trying so desperately to catch your prey. Yet now you stand side-by-side, ready to take on whatever challenge comes your way.”

“We want to help you,” shouted Miyuki.

“Be quiet, Miyuki,” said Haru.

“You, help me?” asked Natsuko. “You must be joking.”

“You’re not a bad person,” said Miyuki. “What those people did to you was wrong. We want to right those wrongs. Tell us, how do we do that?”

“You can’t change what’s already happened,” said Natsuko. “It’s too late.”

A thick fog began rolling in, making it impossible to see anything.

“Get behind me, Miyuki,” said Haru.

Miyuki got behind Haru and the two watched as fog began collecting in one particular spot. From the fog emerged Natsuko.

“You don’t have to do this,” said Miyuki.

“Yes, I do,” replied Natsuko.

Cold air began circulating around Natsuko’s right hand. The cold air soon took on the form of a frighteningly beautiful sword made completely out of ice.

“Choose which one of you dies first,” said Natsuko.

Haru pulled out his knife and took to a readied stance.

Natsuko took a swing at Haru but he was able to dodge the attack. The pain from his injuries intensified with the sudden movement.

“Why are you trying to protect her?” asked Natsuko. “Don’t you want her dead? And you,” she said to Miyuki, “why are you hiding behind him? Aren’t you afraid of him? He wants to kill you even more than I do.”

The swings Natsuko was taking with her sword showed just how inept she was with a weapon. She was far less confident attacking her prey with a physical object as opposed to using the elements as her weapon of choice.

“What are you waiting for?” asked Haru.

“Shut up!” shouted Natsuko, whose next swing succeeded in slashing Haru across the stomach. Haru screamed in pain, prompting Natsuko to begin laughing hysterically. “Not so confident now, are you?”

Miyuki holding Haru up was the only thing keeping him from falling to the ground.

“I don’t want to finish you just yet,” said Natsuko. “I want you to suffer a slow, painful death, like the one I had to endure. Feel the life drain out of your body while the cold embrace of winter ferries you off to Hell.”

“Tell me what you want us to do,” said Miyuki. “How can we fix this?”

“You can’t fix this,” replied Natsuko. “I already told you. The only thing I want you two to do is die. I want you to pay for your wicked desires.”

After taking some time to fully appreciate what she had done to Haru, Natsuko made the couple a horrific offer.

“I don’t have to kill both of you,” said Natsuko.

“What are you saying?” asked Haru.

“I’ve chosen to show the mercy that your kind is so lacking,” replied Natsuko. “Choose which one of you dies and I’ll let the other escape with their life.”

“Take me,” said Haru.

“No,” exclaimed Miyuki. “You can’t.”

“It’s my fault we’re in this mess in the first place,” said Haru. “If it wasn’t for me, we’d be home safe right now. Let her take my life as punishment for what I’ve done.”

“How noble,” said Natsuko.

“Why should either of us have to die?” asked Miyuki.

“Because that’s what I want,” exclaimed Natsuko.

“Please, Miyuki-chan, there’s no other way,” said Haru.

“There has to be another way,” Miyuki told Natsuko.

“If you don’t choose, then I’ll choose for you,” said Natsuko.

“Please, give us time to decide,” said Miyuki.

“Why should I?”

“If we can’t decide which one of us should die, then you can have us both.”

“If you think that if I agree to this that you’ll be able to escape, then you’re wrong,” said Natsuko. “Wherever my snow covers the ground, I have dominion. You could be miles away from me and I would still catch you in the blink of an eye.”

“We know that,” said Miyuki. “So we have no way to escape. You have nothing to lose. We just need time to decide.”

“Chasing you two has been rather enjoyable,” said Natsuko. “What have I got to lose by playing one last round? Very well. I’ll give you more time, but not much. Make your decision. Because the next time our paths cross, someone is going to die.”

And with that, a heavy fog consumed Natsuko, and when it had dissipated, she had vanished from sight.

“We have to go,” said Miyuki, urging Haru onward.

“Why didn’t you leave me to die?” asked Haru. “After what I did to you.”

“Because you’re my husband,” said Miyuki.

Haru was clearly taken aback by what had just been said. Despite the horrible thing he had done to Miyuki, she was still going to stand by his side until the end.

“Now, let’s go,” said Miyuki.