Ashes and Agony

PROLOGUE

DO you believe in ghosts or demonic entities? This is the question almost everyone was asked. Some say they do while some say that there are no such things as ghosts or demons. Some of those who believe that those things exist is because they've actually seen one, while some believe merely because of the sake of believing or the people around them once encountered a ghost or any paranormal being.
Tezuka Kunimitsu didn't really believe the presence of ghosts or any supernatural beings before the age of thirteen. His grandfather, Tezuka Kunikazu once told him about the paranormal experience that happened to him when he was in his thirties, before the age of retirement. Tezuka Kunikazu was a police who worked for the Tokyo Police Deputy. During his very first cases, he and his team were sent to a shopping mall where a suicide case took place.
The incident happened at the car park of the mall and the whole area was cordoned to prevent further access as so not to interrupt the investigation.
Kunikazu, at that time was instructed to survey the area and search for any possible clue. He saw a woman in the process, approximately in her forties. She was frantically running around the area, and when she saw Kunikazu approaching she clutched his hand and asked, with tears all over her face: "Did you see my son?"
Kunikazu tried to calm her down and ask her to leave the area, but she wasn't getting any of it. Finally he managed to persuade her to leave by promising that he would find her son for her. When the woman nodded and agreed to cooperate at last, one of Kunikazu's co-workers asked: "Who are you talking to?"
"This woman, she's searching for her son. Her son must have gotten lost." Kunikazu told his colleague.
His colleague frowned, puzzled, staring at the empty space Kunikazu was gesturing at: "I don't see any woman."
"What? She was just right here-"Kunikazu turned, only to see the woman gone without a trace. It was like she disappeared into thin air. He looked around, pretty confused: "I swear she was right here."
"Are you okay, buddy?" His colleague asked, worried: "You're seeing things."
"How did the woman look like?" One of the investigators asked, showing Kunikazu a picture of the deceased who just committed suicide. "Did she look like this?"
The deceased woman in the photo looked just like the one Kunikazu talked to just now.
That was the incident Kunikazu could never forget even after retirement. He was the only one who saw and communicated with that spirit, and as much as all of it seemed unbelievable, that was what truly happened.
But all of it seemed unrealistic to Tezuka as he was a very skeptical person. He had always believed in whatever his grandfather said but he didn't really consider to believe this one.
That was until he turned thirteen, the very night before Halloween, just weeks after his thirteenth birthday. His father brought a portrait home that day, saying that he was keeping it temporarily for a friend before selling it. The moment the portrait entered their house, Tezuka could feel an overwhelming sense of constriction that he couldn't explain why.
The portrait was merely of a boy with a red hat, black shirt and dark blue pants. The boy was tilting his head, a wide, weird grin spread across his face, and what's even unsettling was that there was a knife in his hand.
The portrait looked normal enough but it was emitting an eerie atmosphere and would make Tezuka cringe each time he laid eyes on it. He told himself to stop thinking about it and try to ignore it until it was sold.
On the night before Halloween, his parents had to go to a function and he was left alone in the house. He stayed in his room and spent his time reading books he borrowed from the school library. After finishing the third book he started to feel thirsty and decided to head to the kitchen to pour a glass of water.
The portrait was left in the living room, and when Tezuka was about to take a turn into the kitchen, he noticed that something was terribly wrong with the portrait. The portrait was put beside the front door, facing the direction where Tezuka was standing. But the boy in the portrait was gone.
Tezuka froze at the sight, chills running down his spine. It couldn't be. He must be seeing things. The boy couldn't have gone. It was just a drawing. He shook his head and looked again, but the boy did not reappear. Without second thoughts, he turned to run back upstairs, barged into his room and locked the door. He reached for the phone his parents left for him to call them, his whole body shivering in fear while he was waiting for them to pick up.
After a few seconds, the whole house blacked out. Tezuka jumped and crawled into bed, pulling the covers over his head. His parents did not pick up, and he started to hear footsteps just outside his door. The footsteps were pacing outside the room, and whoever the footsteps belonged to was breathing heavily, loud, and hoarse breathing.
Tezuka ended the call and listened closely, trembling with fear, trying hard to suppress his panting as so not to give himself away. The door to his bedroom swung open and although he couldn't see it, he could feel the malicious presence in his room, slowly approaching him. Tezuka curled himself up, closing his eyes tight as he prayed.
When he thought he was doomed for good, he felt a weird sensation zapping out from his brain, and a brief flash of pain ran through his head. All of a sudden, the presence in his room, most probably the boy who 'escaped' from the portrait, was gone. Slowly, he pulled the covers down to check the room.
The room was empty and everything was the way it was. There was no trace of other beings, like whatever he heard and felt just now was his imagination. After moments of spacing out and pondering what just happened, he felt something wet touching his upper lip. He wiped his lip and was shocked to see blood. His nose was bleeding for no reason. Since that day, he started to believe the existence of the supernatural and what his grandfather once told him.
He told his parents what he experienced and luckily they believed him. The boy was already back in the portrait, but his father burnt it anyways. That eliminated the problem and Tezuka never felt anything weird happen around him anymore.
He thought that as long as he believes in their presence and show respect, nothing bad would happen ever again.
But what happened at the end of his fifteenth year proved what he thought wrong. And he could never forget whatever he experienced.