Master Series: Episode One "The Lock"

Introduction: This is episode one of what has come to be called "Master Series," a group of short stories that has been posted at a Japanese occult site randomly over a long period of time. Each episode is independent but in all of them always the same characters appear; the narrator, and his friend whom the narrator calls "My Master." 

Episode One "The Lock": My master in the Way of Occult at the time lived in a cheap, run-down apartment. The door lock was of an ancient type and he didn't always care to use it. One morning he woke up to find a strange man sitting by his pillow (note: many Japanese people sleep on the mattress on the floor ) who said "good morning" to him. When Master returned his greeting, the man started talking about his religious organization and how it would be wonderful for Master to join it. What Master did then was simply to get up and leave, with the stranger still inside the room. Master doesn't know the meaning of "crime prevention." The first time he invited me to his room it was of course left unlocked, both before and during my stay. We drank ourselves to sleep. During the night I woke up, feeling a ringing in my ears. Then I saw a figure sitting by Master's mattress, bending over him as if tyring to see my master's face. My immediate thought was that it was a burglar, and I was thrown into a panic, but my whole body tensed up and I couldn't utter a word. I decided, for the time being, to pretend I was still asleep, and opened my eyes very slightly. After a while the figure tottered to his feet and slowly moved towards the door. Go! There's nothing for you to take! I kept praying in my heart. The man opened the door, and before leaving, turned his head towards me for a brief moment. In the semi-darkness I saw a keloid-like scar on his right cheek. When the man left I shook my master awake. "Please, you must lock the door!" I was half crying as I said it. But my master was unmoved. "That was scary! But it wouldn't have helped much even if I had locked it." "What are you talking about? Are you out of your mind? Are you saying you were awake?" Master kept smirking as I raved. "You saw his face at the end."He said. When I nodded, he pointed at my eyes and said something that froze my blood. "The glasses." Now I understood everything. I had very bad eyesight and couldn't virtually see anything without glasses. Even Master's face, which was right in front of me, looked terribly blurred. "It was the first time you saw it without glasses, right?" I hadn't known before that beings such as the one I saw was beyond the laws of science. The being was a "passer-by" after all. Since then I had stayed over at my master's a couple of times but it never appeared to us again.

Comments

Unknown said…
Oh wow... Ms. Saya, I can't begin to tell you how much I've missed you and your stories! Thank you so much for returning to us. How have you been? Anything new to report! Are you back now, or will it be another few months? Either way, it's good to "see" you again.
Anonymous said…
seconded, I hope there'll be a lot more posts from you! I love reading these.
Thanks for your comments dear!!!
I hope to update regularly again - but possibly at the slow rate of once a week.
But I do like posting stories and I want to make effort.
Anonymous said…
Thank you, Saya, for the new story! I hope you're well, and I hope you find the time to post more stories! They are so great!

Best wishes and good night, Doc S.
Thank you Doc Sanchez. I'm always glad to hear from my readers. Thanks!!
美B said…
I love you! ^___^b Welcome back! This story gave me goosebumps. ;___;
Thank you 美B dear. It's nice to see old faces again, really.
Anonymous said…
hello saya, I'm soooooooo happy you are back!!! I always enjoy your stories :) hope you're fine
Hello debbie, dear. It's very nice to see you again too! I'm fine. I hope you are good too and I am glad you like my stories, as always!!:D
Lukky said…
Welcome back.

I'm a new face (or rather, not a face at all), I only wandered in here after you left on your hiatus. It's neat to see you updating again.
Welcome, Lukky!
Always nice to hear from my readers. Thanks!!
Anonymous said…
OMG!Ahahahahahahahaha!You're back!Its great 2 see you updating again!!!!! XD
Sugar - thank you dear. It's great to see you too.:)
Catty said…
I dun get it...
Milk Tea said…
I can't believe I've just found this site...
I'm reading around and so far... I love it.
Great job Saya! I look forward to more of these.
Welcome Milk Tea! Thank you for leaving a message!!:D

@Catty - it was a ghost, dear!