In The Clutches Of The Vengeful Spirit (Text Only)
A horrific discovery
We're in an almost empty room with various scraps, clutters and broken furniture.
The room is dimly lit by an old light-bulb at the ceiling which flickers from time to time.
If it wasn't for the moonlight which shines into the room through its broken windows, it wouldn't be possible to see anything at all.
There's one functional furniture in the room - a table - that stands close to the door, which is the area's only exit.
On top of it, there's an old and small radio that is switched off.
At the far end of the room, the silhouette of a person sitting on a chair, with the head bent down, can be seen.
If we come closer, we can see that the person is bound to the chair with their hands tied behind the chair's back, and their legs tied to the chair's legs!
The light-bulb flickers again, and the light shines on the victim, who turns out to be a young female, somewhere in her early twenties.
She's wearing a celadon green blouse, a blue ribbon hair bow tie, purple shorts and red sneakers.
Her only restraints consist of duct tape that ties her hands, torso, and ankles to the chair.
The lower part of the head is wrapped in an unknown number of layers of duct tape, covering the victim's mouth.
The victim is unconscious.
But slowly, she regains her consciousness.
She opens her eyes slowly.
When she feels that she can't open her mouth, hindered by the layers of duct tape, she starts to panic.
Mizuki Kuba
Mmmmpppphhhh!!!!
The victim realises now in horror that she's a captive.
Unable to shout for help!
Her mind is filled with many thoughts.
Mizuki Kuba
<What happened...?>
Mizuki Kuba
<How did I come here?>
Mizuki Kuba
<Did I fall on my head?>
Mizuki Kuba
<No, I know I haven't...>
Mizuki Kuba
<I came to that abandoned house to look for...>
The victim stops thinking and widens her eyes.
Mizuki Kuba
<Was I attacked from behind?>
Mizuki Kuba
<That must be it.>
Mizuki Kuba
<I was quite sure that the house was abandoned!>
The victim's name is Kuba Mizuki, a foreign exchange student from Okinawa currently studying in Easthaven together with her friends Hata Aimi, a fellow Okinawan, and Courtney Carr.
They've been investigating a series of strange murders that baffle the police.
So far, the three young women have managed to uncover clues that could lead them to identify the killer.
But the police dismissed the trio's findings as "insignificant".
The police even told them to stop with their investigation!
Having a strong sense of responsibility towards the murder victims, and wanting to prevent future murders, the trio continued to look for clues.
In the end, Mizuki found out that the clues were leading to an abandoned house outside the northern part of Easthaven.
Since she was the closest to the house, she has sent her friends a text message, telling them to meet her there.
Aimi Hata
<Alright, Mizuki-chan.>
Aimi Hata
<Both Courtney-chan and I will meet you there.>
Aimi Hata
<Do NOT enter the house on your own!>
Aimi Hata
<I have a bad feeling about this...>
Those were Aimi's last text messages to Mizuki.
But Mizuki didn't heed the warning.
Mizuki had gone around the house and couldn't find any other life than an owl hooting from a nearby tree.
She really believed that she was alone.
Thanks to the fact that it was in the middle of summer, the night wasn't very cold.
Suddenly, Mizuki discovered flickering light coming from a room on the house's upper floor!
Mizuki Kuba
Wasn't the house supposed to be abandoned?
Mizuki Kuba
How come there is flickering light coming from that room?
Mizuki really wanted to wait for Aimi and Courtney.
But in the end, her curiosity was too much to ignore.
Mizuki Kuba
I better go inside.
Mizuki Kuba
I'm really alone out here...
Mizuki Kuba
The front door may be locked, though.
She went to the front door, pressed down the door handle and pushed hard.
The door opened with a loud creak.
Mizuki turned on her torch and went inside.
She noticed that the house hadn't been occupied for a long time as she glanced around.
There was dust everywhere and much of the furniture had been broken by time.
Mizuki Kuba
I'll let Aimi and Courtney scour the ground floor later.
Mizuki Kuba
But now, that room with the flickering light!
Her torch shone on a broken stairway that was still usable.
She took several cautious steps while ascending the stairway, making sure she wouldn't fall down.
At the end of the stairway, Mizuki was in a small corridor leading to different rooms.
The flickering light came from a room on the right side of the corridor.
She began walking towards the flickering light.
Her chest was filled with tension that was building up.
What would she find in the room?
Mizuki felt pain in the neck.
But before she could do anything, her vision blurred, and she felt the world was spinning around her.
The young woman fell forward, and hit the corridor floor with a thud.
Before Mizuki completely lost her consciousness, she could hear the sound of an echoing voice belonging to a young woman.
A horrific reveal
The bound and gagged Mizuki now remembers what had occurred before she was assaulted.
Mizuki tries to struggle against her bonds.
Mizuki Kuba
Mmmrrrrppphhh!!!!
She tries everything she can think of.
She tries to press her arms against the duct tape binding them together with her torso, and the chair.
Mizuki tries to stretch and turn her wrists.
She tries to extend her knees, working hard against the duct tape binding her ankles to the chair's legs.
But so far, nothing really happens, and Mizuki has to pause for a moment.
Mizuki Kuba
<It's no use!>
Mizuki Kuba
<If only I can move the chair...>
Suddenly, the radio on the table turns on automatically.
Mizuki Kuba
<Did that radio just turn on by itself?>
Mizuki can hear static voices coming from the radio.
Mizuki Kuba
<What is going on?>
Mizuki Kuba
<Are you there?>
Mizuki tries to utter words through her gag.
She tried to call Aimi and Courtney, because she thought that they had entered the house.
But so far, Mizuki could only make unintelligible sounds.
Suddenly, the radio switches from having static noises to the voice of a young woman.
Could the speaker be the victim's assailant?
???
You are so beautiful...
Mizuki is now really frightened.
Mizuki Kuba
Hmrrhmhm hrrmm mm!
???
I would have asked you to stop struggling because it's useless.
???
But you're so darn cute when you do that.
Mizuki is now very confused.
She remembers that the voice had told her that she's beautiful.
But now, the voice is also saying that the victim looks cute when she struggles against her bonds!
Mizuki Kuba
<What is this?!>
Mizuki Kuba
<Is this some kind of prank?>
The victim tries to look around in the dark.
She can only see the table with the turned-on radio on top, by the door.
Mizuki Kuba
<I can't see any cameras in front of me.>
Mizuki tries one more time to struggle against all of her bonds simultaneously.
Mizuki Kuba
Crrrmm rrrnnn!
She takes another break after her failed attempt to get free.
Her eyes begin to fill with tears as she begins to feel despair.
The victim's assailant seems to notice her reaction.
???
You're feeling it, don't you?
???
The feeling of hopelessness.
???
The feeling that you're abandoned and that no one will ever find you here.
???
You're probably thinking of your friends Aimi and Courtney at this moment.
Mizuki freezes in horror when she hears the names of her friends.
Mizuki Kuba
<How does she know about them?>
Mizuki Kuba
<Have we been watched during our investigation all this time?!>
She had believed that she and her friends had been one step before the killer.
Now it turns out it's the complete opposite!
???
You may think they're coming to this house and will rescue you.
???
My dear beautiful friend...
???
I've already dealt with them!
Mizuki immediately starts crying and sobs behind her gag.
Mizuki Kuba
<Aimi, Courtney...>
Mizuki Kuba
<I'm sorry...>
Mizuki Kuba
<I'm so, so, sorry!>
Mizuki Kuba
<This is all my fault!>
Mizuki Kuba
<If I had known that we were being watched, I wouldn't...>
Mizuki Kuba
<Now you're all dead because of me!>
The radio is still turned on, but is now silent.
It seems the speaker is a bit confused by her victim's weeping.
???
You're not crying for yourself.
???
...Think I've killed them?
Mizuki Kuba
<What is she babbling about?>
Mizuki Kuba
<Of course she has killed them!>
Mizuki Kuba
<Why would the attacker state otherwise?>
The radio turns immediately off.
Suddenly, clouds of black smoke begin to appear in front of the table with the radio.
When the smoke clears, the victim is looking at a ghostly apparition of a woman.
The woman, who looks like she could be in her twenties, has long black hair, a pale face with a scar across her left cheek, and eyes black as night.
The eyes have purple pupils, glowing in the dark, which makes the woman look frightening.
If it weren't for those black, ominous eyes and the pale face with the scar, the woman would have been an attractive person.
Mizuki's eyes widen in fear.
The woman, who is wearing a long white dress, quickly hurries to her bound victim, and covers the part of the duct tape covering Mizuki's mouth with her right hand.
The bound victim feels the coldness of the woman's hand through her gag.
Mizuki Kuba
<What the heck?!>
???
I just want you to calm down.
Mizuki tries to shout at the woman in anger, but the gag still muffles her voice.
Mizuki Kuba
Mhr hhm hmmck mm mrr hhnnck mrr rrm, mmr mrnhmr!
???
Did you just call me a monster, "Mizuki-chan"?
Mizuki Kuba
<Yep, we've definitely been watched by this...>
She finally realises that the woman isn't human at all.
Mizuki Kuba
<We've been dealing with a ghost this WHOLE time?>
The woman removes her hand from the duct tape at the lower part of Mizuki's head.
The ghost is silent for a while, staring at her victim.
But she doesn't look at Mizuki with a devilish grin, mocking its victim.
Instead, Mizuki can see that the ghost looks at her tenderly, like an older sister watching her beloved younger sister.
???
Mizuki, your friends are fine.
???
At least for now until I change my mind.
???
I've sent them a text message, asking them not to come here yet.
Mizuki continues to cry, but this time it's tears of joy.
The pale woman continues to observe her victim with increased interest.
???
I sense you have many questions.
Mizuki doesn't know what to think anymore.
She's in this seemingly abandoned house during the night, bound and gagged in a room with a flickering light, together with the suspected killer who turns out to be a ghost.
Can Mizuki's night get even stranger than this?
A horrific truth and epilogue
Although Mizuki has discovered that her assailant is a ghost, she refuses to believe it.
Mizuki Kuba
<It can't be true.>
Mizuki Kuba
<I must be imagining things!>
Mizuki Kuba
<I must have hit my head t--->
???
Do you begin to doubt your own senses, "Mizuki-chan"?
???
Didn't I tell you a while ago that I'm a ghost?
Mizuki Kuba
Mmrrh mmhrrkk mm mhmm!
Mizuki Kuba
Mrh rrhmm mm mrhrhh!
???
I can call you whatever I want.
???
I can do whatever I want to you, and you can't do anything about it.
???
Remember, you're in my clutches, Mizuki.
???
I can take your life if I want to!
???
So be a good little girl and listen now to your "oneesan"!
Mizuki Kuba
Mrrrhh-mmmh!!!
Mizuki's feelings change from despair into anger.
She really hates her assailant for mocking her and her culture.
Mizuki Kuba
<Who the heck do you think you are?!>
Mizuki Kuba
<You aren't my older sister.>
Mizuki Kuba
<We aren't even close!>
The ghost somehow correctly guesses what Mizuki is thinking.
???
We're closer than you think!
The ghost levitates slowly backwards above the floor.
???
Does this make you believe now, Mizuki-chan?
???
Can a normal human do this?
Mizuki Kuba
M mrrhh mmmrh mm!
???
Stop. The heck. What?!
The ghost quickly disappears and reappears on Mizuki's right side in clouds of smoke.
She immediately takes a grip on the victim's neck from behind with her left hand!
???
Do you need any other proof that I'm NOT alive?
???
Still believe that it's a prank?
Mizuki Kuba
<...C-c-c-o-o-ld-d-d....!>
Seeing that her captive probably begins to get the picture, the ghost releases her grip.
Mizuki pants while the ghost levitates back to in front of her.
Mizuki is confused by the ghost's sudden statement.
???
I'm sure you really want to understand what's going on.
???
Let me tell you this: THEY deserved it.
Mizuki Kuba
<The murder victims?>
???
They killed me, in this house, at that particular spot you're sitting on right now, five years ago!
???
You know how I got my scar, Mizuki?
The ghost points with her left index finger at the scar that runs across her left cheek.
???
I'm close to my goal, and now you three brats are getting in my way!
Mizuki feels satisfaction for the first time during her captivity.
It's the satisfaction of being able to help the would-be murder victims get away from the ghost.
Mizuki Kuba
Mmphh-Mmphh-Mmphh.
???
Oh, you're happy now because you almost ruined my plans?
???
You think you're being funny, are you?
The ghost levitates around Mizuki again.
This time, the ghost leans on the captive and the back of the chair.
Her arms embraces Mizuki from behind.
The ghost bends her head to her right, which touches the woman's left temple.
Mizuki's whole body feels cold because of the embrace.
Mizuki Kuba
Mmhh-mhrhh-mmrrhh...
Mizuki Kuba
<N-n-n-o-o-ttt a-gg-ga-in...!!!>
The female phantom then begins to whisper in Mizuki's left ear.
???
I. Like. You. Dear sister!
???
Aaannd I think we'll take a break there, thank you!
The scene begins to freeze in time and space, and the silhouette of a dark figure appears in the room.
???
Greetings, dear Reader.
???
I'm NintyRaccoon, the author of this short horror story.
NintyRaccoon
You must be wondering why I've decided to stop my story here and speak directly to you instead.
NintyRaccoon
It's because this short story is...
NintyRaccoon
Let's just say it's a small experiment of mine.
NintyRaccoon
Allow me to tell you a little bit about myself and why my story is presented as it is.
NintyRaccoon
Let's start with a rhetorical question:
NintyRaccoon
Imagine that you go into a store to buy a book or a movie; or that you log on to MangaToon to find a thrilling story.
NintyRaccoon
You discover a cover or a scene with a bound (and often) gagged damsel, what is your very first thought?
NintyRaccoon
Some of you would shout "bondage!" because the damsel is bound.
NintyRaccoon
In my case, I'd say it depends on what kind of book or movie you're after, especially when I try to use words correctly according to their core definitions as presented in dictionaries.
NintyRaccoon
So, if I'm looking at a superhero comic book, and its cover shows me a bound and gagged damsel in distress, I wouldn't start shouting "bondage" unless I knew the illustrator deliberately wanted to include eroticism.
NintyRaccoon
Instead, I'd ask myself the following questions:
NintyRaccoon
1. Who is the damsel?
NintyRaccoon
2. Why is she in peril?
NintyRaccoon
3. How did she get into that situation?
NintyRaccoon
4. Does she manage to rescue herself, or does someone come to her aid?
NintyRaccoon
5. How does the story end?
NintyRaccoon
While my story "In the clutches of the vengeful spirit" could probably be perceived as a mature, erotic horror story because of the "bondage", I'll tell you in advance that that's not the case.
NintyRaccoon
By reading my story, you've gotten the answer to questions 1-3.
NintyRaccoon
Only questions 4-5 lack answers because I didn't continue with the story.
NintyRaccoon
Were I to continue with it, you would have discovered that Mizuki did get away thanks to her friends.
While the author speaks, Mizuki and the ghost unfrozen from their last scene of the story.
Mizuki starts to untie herself without problems!
The ghost wants to help out with the duct tape wrapped around the lower part of Mizuki's head, but the young woman stops her.
NintyRaccoon
I joined the MangaToon community during the summer of 2022.
NintyRaccoon
One of my first manhua that I read was the battle royale story "Survivor of the 100 Days" by the author MCS.
NintyRaccoon
It got my attention thanks to its cover, showing the female lead in danger, at the mercy of another female character.
NintyRaccoon
Again, I asked myself the five questions I've stated earlier, and read through the whole story consisting of 121 episodes.
NintyRaccoon
I must say that my time with "Survivor of the 100 Days" was well spent.
NintyRaccoon
If it wasn't for the cover with the female lead in distress, I would never have discovered this thrilling story.
NintyRaccoon
So what is my goal with MangaToon?
NintyRaccoon
Ever since I grew up watching TV shows and movies, and reading books with damsel in distress scenes, I've been fascinated by them as a storytelling technique.
NintyRaccoon
Since I've discovered the concept of chat fiction thanks to MangaToon, I'd like to create similar stories with thrilling scenes that would make the readers ask the five questions.
NintyRaccoon
Of course, I'd try to make those perilous scenes as family-friendly as possible, as if I were writing scenes for classic cartoons like "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" or "Batman: The Animated Series."
NintyRaccoon
But there was one important problem that could get in my way...
NintyRaccoon
What if my content couldn't get pass MangaToon's reviewing process because my stories could be misinterpreted as mature, erotic stories?
NintyRaccoon
I've tried to send a mail to MangaToon's support on August 1st, 2022, to ask them about my concern.
NintyRaccoon
But they never replied to me.
NintyRaccoon
I've tried to reach them at their Twitter account.
NintyRaccoon
No result either.
NintyRaccoon
So what could I actually do?
NintyRaccoon
Suddenly, I got an idea on September 29:
NintyRaccoon
MangaToon has this writing contest "#Horror Warning Horror Topic Contribution Wanted" which would end on October 3, 2022.
NintyRaccoon
Since my current contribution, the horror story "One mysterious call", wouldn't be able to reach ten chapters before the contest ends, I had to create a new story where I put my focus on a damsel in distress scene.
NintyRaccoon
And so, my story "In the clutches of the vengeful spirit" was born, being this small experiment of mine.
The ghost and Mizuki stand far behind the author, pointing and giggling.
NintyRaccoon
In "In the clutches of the vengeful spirit," we see Kuba Mizuki - the female lead from my other chat story "One Mysterious Call" - again plays as the main character.
NintyRaccoon
As I've said before, this short story only focuses on Mizuki's capture, experience, and discovery of the killer's identity, which is only a small part of a bigger story.
NintyRaccoon
If all of my three chapters could pass the reviewing process, then it means that my content could be suitable for a broader audience.
NintyRaccoon
If there's popular demand or if this story gets past the reviewing process, I'll consider letting this scene be a part of "One mysterious call".
The ghost and Mizuki look at each other with excitement as they hear the author suggest that their scene could be included in a bigger story.
NintyRaccoon
I'll later make a second copy of this story, but this time I'll include drawings made by me.
NintyRaccoon
I'm convinced they can get past the reviewing process, but I need to be sure.
The ghost and Mizuki approach the author from behind.
???
What did you think of my performance?
The author turns around to face his actors.
Mizuki Kuba
I think it was pretty convincing, G!
NintyRaccoon
I agree with you, Mizuki.
NintyRaccoon
I think you nailed it.
NintyRaccoon
I just hope the reader thinks so too.
???
I hope you thought I was scary enough for this horror story.
???
As the boss said, this story wasn't meant to be erotic.
???
Instead, it was meant to build up the tension in the story.
Mizuki Kuba
Although we normally wouldn't ask our readers to do things for us, this time is an exception.
Mizuki Kuba
If you believe in NintyRaccoon's storytelling technique, consider to give "In the clutches of the vengeful spirit" a like!
Mizuki Kuba
Follow NintyRaccoon if you don't want to miss other thrilling stories!
???
If you read the story through the MangaToon website, I really recommend you to read the story through the MangaToon app.
Mizuki Kuba
Only by using the app can you support the author with likes, votes, or comments.
Mizuki Kuba
Because of server problems, there are times when the story can't be read on the website.
Mizuki Kuba
So NintyRaccoon...
Mizuki Kuba
Was there anything else we missed?
NintyRaccoon
No, I don't think so.
NintyRaccoon
That's pretty much it.
NintyRaccoon
Thank you so much, dear Reader, for taking your time to read the story and for listening to my message to you.
???
Make sure to give the story a like or a vote!
???
I want to play as the villain again!
NintyRaccoon
Alright, alright, that's enough, G.
NintyRaccoon
Thanks again and good bye.
The ghost, Mizuki, and the author disappear in clouds of smoke.
The scene unfreezes, and the room's old light-bulb starts again to flicker.
The owl outside the house can be heard hooting again.
The moonlight shines on the empty chair with strips of duct tape on the floor.
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