I clutched the parchment K-san had given me tightly in my hand. I kept my head down, but I peeked outside. I saw a white dress fluttering in the breeze. It was moving along with the van. It was Hachishakusama. She was outside the window, but she was keeping pace with us.
Then, suddenly she bent down and peered into the van.
"No!" I gasped.
The man beside me shouted, "CLOSE YOUR EYES!"
I immediately shut my eyes as hard as I could and tightened my grip on the piece of parchment. Then the tapping began.
Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap...
The voice became louder.
"Po... Po... Po... Po... Po... Po... Po..."
There was tapping on the windows all around us. All of the men in the van were startled and on edge, muttering nervously to themselves. They couldn't see Eight Feet Tall and they couldn't hear her voice, but they could hear her tapping on the windows. K-san started praying louder and louder until she was almost shouting. The tension inside the van was unbearable.
After a while the tapping stopped and the voice disappeared.
K-san looked back at us and said, "I think we're safe now."
All of the men around me breathed a sigh of relief. The van pulled over to the side of the road and the men got out. They transferred me into my dad's car. My mother held me close and tears were running down her cheeks.
Grandpa and my father bowed to the men and they went on their way. K-san came to the window and asked me to show her the piece of parchment she had given me. When I opened my hand, I saw that it had gone completely black.
"I think you will be OK now," she said. "But just to be sure, hold onto this for a while." She handed me a new piece of parchment.