The Hearse

There was a young woman called K who lived with her parents and grandmother. The grandmother used to be a kind lady, but ever since she became bedridden a few years back her personality had changed completely, and she began to make constant complaints and snide remarks to K's mother who looked after her. Her grandmother would often say, "I know you are all hoping I die soon." Her family got fed up listening to these words that finally they began to really hope that the grandmother would die soon.

Gradually the family began to take less and less care of the grandmother, and the quality of food got worse, and as a result she became rapidly weaker as days went by. Now she couldn't move at all but became only a thing that breathed in the bed. It was obvious to anyone that she didn't have long to live.

Now K's room was on the second floor and one night when she was sleeping in there she heard a car horn suddenly blast outside. K tried to ignore it but a moment later it blasted again. The horn kept sounding that she finally gave up trying to sleep and angrily drew the curtain back to take a look outside, wondering who could be doing something so antisocial at this time of night.

What she saw made her shudder. There was a hearse parked in front of her house. She couldn't be sure whether it had people in it or not, and the engine didn't seem to be running. It was very still.

K got scared, ran back to bed and pulled the duvet over her head. She kept trembling but nothing more happened afterwards and it was very quiet throughout the rest of the night.

When the morning came K asked her parents whether they heard the car horn last night. They said no. It was hard to believe that the sound as loud as it was could go unnoticed, but they didn't look like they were lying, nor was there any reason that they should lie. She wondered then if the hearse came for her grandmother, which was the only possible explanation left. Her grandmother was, however, still "fine."

That night there was another visit from the hearse, and the night after that as well. K tried to ignore it at first but for some strange reason the horn didn't stop blasting unless K looked at the hearse from her bedroom window. Night after night the same thing happened that K was becoming very nervous from fear and dread.

On the seventh night since all this started, K's parents had to go out for the day. K wanted to go with them but someone had to stay in for the grandmother. Also because they knew that K had been mentally unstable they half forced her to stay at home and went out by themselves.

In an attempt to force fear out of her mind, K did things like watching comedy programmes on TV as much as possible. She was afraid to go near her grandmother's room and didn't even take lunch to her although it was her task to do so.

Her parents had said they would be home in the late afternoon but the night came and there was still no sign of them coming back. Soon it was past midnight, and the time when the hearse usually appeared was drawing closer and closer. But nothing was to be heard from her parents, not even one quick phone call.

Then she heard the familiar sound of the horn outside. K was downstairs at the time but she didn't dare to see it up close and went upstairs to see it from her bedroom as usual.

But what she saw from the window wasn't the usual scene.
From inside the hearse, which had normally parked still, some men in black suits got out, and they were now passing through the gate. K was totally freaked out.
Soon she heard the doorbell ring downstairs.

The doorbell kept ringing for a while, until it was replaced by light knockings that soon became louder and more urgent.
Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!!!
K felt she was going to die from sheer terror. A thought came into her head that maybe she had forgotten to lock the front door. The more she thought the more she became sure that she had forgotten to lock it.
K jumped up and ran downstairs at full speed.
But seconds before she could reach the front door, the phone at the bottom of the stairs started ringing.

The banging at the door still continued. K couldn't move; all she wanted to do was press her hands to her ears and scream. But instead she managed to grab the handset.
"Hello?Hello?Hello?"

"Hello. Is this Mr._'s number?"
It was a surprisingly soft voice of a man.

"This is the police. I want you to stay calm and listen. A while ago Mr and Mrs_ have met a tragic accident and passed away. I gather you are their daughter, aren't you? Hello? Hello....?"

K was too stunned to say or do anything. Strangely, the persistent banging had suddenly come to stop.
K started thinking; maybe the hearse had come to take her parents away? Not her grandmother?
Actually, was her grandmother OK?

It was then that K felt someone tap on her shoulder.
K turned around, and her grandmother, who was thought unable to move on her own, was standing right behind her.
And K's grandmother smiled to her and said,

"You are coming too."

Comments

Gen. Nuisance said…
This story sounds very familiar, I think I heard something like it when I was a kid. Still creeps me out!

Hearses are weird to see driving around, because you know someone is taking their very last taxi ride...
Adorably Dead said…
The ending was so scary. I love this one. Nice surprise ending too.
Anonymous said…
Oh!Me likey!!!!!!
Thank you all of you for your comments!!!

Mr.Welldone - no doubt there are some similar stories out there!

Adorably Dead - I love the ending too!

Sugar - good!:)
Anonymous said…
Saaaaaaayaaaaaaaa! *tackleglomps*

I love this story! It reminds me of another story I heard, and I don't know why:
Once there was a man named George. He had a horse named Harriet, who he loved very much. But soon George became ill and could no longer take care of Harriet. He gave Harriet away to a nice couple.
The next day, he went to a fortune teller's booth. She slowly stroked the palm of his hand, and murmured. "You will have death by a horse." Images of Harriet danced in George's mind. But he pushed the thought away.
Ever since then, George was incredibly fearful.
Two days later, Harriet died. "Good," George murmured, slumping into his recliner. "Now she can't kill me." The phone rung, and he picked it up. The family who had owned Harriet ased if he wanted to see her body, and he decided to go. Harriet had been cremated.
George slowly walked up to Harriet's skull. But, just as he did so, a cottonmouth slithered out of the skull and bit George's leg.
He died moments later.
Wow! *receives Catty's tackleglomp and falls to the ground"

Poor Harriet! She must have wanted to be with George even in death! I'm always interested to hear stories from you guys. Thanks very much!!!
Anonymous said…
...D:

that's sadder than it is creepy.
Anonymous - you are kind hearted, dear!
Unknown said…
Another Sunday post... and a great one at that. This, in my opinion is one of the best I've read. Very creepy. Thanks for sending me off and bringing me back the right way. You are the best, Ms. Saya.

Additionally, although I assume it's fake, it's good to see someone using the moniker of Mr. Welldone without being a completely pompous windbag. Well played, sir.
William - you don't mean to say Mr.Welldone is not who he claims to be? Like someone else is pretending to be Mr.Welldone??

What do you mean by sending you off and bringing you back? Forgive me for my lack of understanding of English! Whatever it is there's no need to thank me!! I'm glad you like this story. Thank you!!!:)
Anonymous said…
Yeah, 'bout 50000000 people.
I have to admit, the posers are scarier than any story or video existing.
Especially the Hannah Montana and Jonas Brothers ones.
*shudders*
Tani said…
I wonder how K went with them... Saya- san, is this a true story?
By the look of it I think this is a fictional story, Tani. But you never know!:)
Anonymous said…
aaaaah they are so scary but i can't stop reading them...
well whatever i didn't need to sleep anyways
buranko-san said…
I shit the Great Wall of China. I will now not be able to sleep.
Anonymous said…
Hi, this is Craig from Wisconsin. For a moment I thought this was going to be a Japanese variant of "Room For One More" from Alvin Schwartz's "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark." The story is also known as "The Dream Warning." But then it became something entirely different - I liked it!
Anonymous said…
Me, too. I started reading this, convinced that it was going to play out as it did in Alvin Schwartz's book, but then it changed completely. I like it.

Also, a variant of the story that Catty mentioned hearing is also in the same book (or one of the other books in the series), so maybe that's why it reminds her of this.
Kitsune said…
is..is it the hearse that kill the K's parents?

So, this is all is K's granma's plan! and the hearse driver is in love with K's granma to do such things!!
Anonymous said…
What if:
The hearse guys are hired by his grandmother to kill her whole family?
@Anon: maybe so! You never know!
IA said…
Hi Saya-san!

I've read this story somewhere.

Its creeps me out when K's grandma said "You're coming too."

I wonder if K is dead?

Love your blog!
@IA: if you read exactly the same story somewhere before, that means it was reposted there without my permission, because I translated the stroy from scratch.
@IA: forgot to say thank you for your comment, dear. I think most definitely K is dead.
Ruri said…
It sounds like the grandma died from neglect and took her family with her as revenge,