Dark Confrontation
                                by Ken Arromdee

    It began just a couple of months past the start of our senior year in
high school.  Like me and the other girls always did at lunchtime, we had
gathered together on one side of the room and were chatting about whatever
struck our fancy.  There was me, Gisei Fumiko; Akashatsu Kei, who was a little
taller than me and had slightly shorter hair; and Kamizawa Tomie, who in the
few months she had been here had become perhaps the most popular girl in our
class--at least among the boys.  Her long black hair, her figure, and her face
were perfection, except for one tiny mole beneath her left eye.

    I didn't know at the time what was going to happen to us in the next
couple of weeks; there was no way anyone could have known.

    It was on that Thursday that we noticed the long-haired girl sitting near
the window.  She had to have belonged there, and I vaguely recalled seeing her
before, but I just couldn't remember exactly when she had become part of our
class.  Anyway, it obviously hadn't been long--she still had the wrong uniform
on.  Ours was blue and white, but except for some collar stripes and a bow,
hers was dark navy blue, absorbing enough light that it was nearly black.  I
wondered just what school she had transferred from.

    She was alone; either she wasn't all that interested in gossip, or nobody
could stand talking to her.  Maybe both, because there was certainly something
creepy about what she was doing.  She had finished her lunch and had both her
elbows on the disk, while in both hands she cupped some kind of trinket.
Maybe it was a keychain or a coin, but whatever it was, it wasn't something
that normal people stare at.  And then she mumbled something.

    I glanced at the girl for a moment, and she looked back with an intense
though brief stare, far more than a glance.  And then as if satisfied that I
wasn't in the way of something she returned to staring into and mumbling at
the little trinket.

    I gestured to the others and asked, "What do you think about her?"

    "About who?" answered Kei.  "The girl who's praying to the gods of broken
jewelry?"

    "You've got it!" I said.  "I don't know who she is or what she's trying to
do.  Except save money on uniforms."

    "There's something weird about her," said Tomie.  She pondered the girl
and then came to a conclusion.  "But I don't see why we can't make friends
with her.  Surely there's nothing she can do to hurt us."

    "You mean have some fun with her?" asked Kei.

    "No", replied Tomie.  "I mean really be friends."

    We were tempted to say that we had more taste than that--at least I was.
But Tomie was right, of course.  I had been aware of the girl for less time
than it takes to watch a music video.  I knew nothing about her.  She could be
a good cook, a good source of homework hints--she could be anything.

    I got up and walked over to the girl, while the others followed.  As I
approached, I could hear what she was mumbling, but the words made no sense.
It sounded like 'echo echo' something.  It wasn't English and it certainly
wasn't Japanese.

    "Hello," I said, "I haven't seen you around here before.  I'm Fumiko".

    As I approached her desk, the girl clasped her right hand over the coin
and pocketed it.  "I'm Kuroi Misa" she said, and waited for my reply.

    "Um, what was that you were doing?  It sounded like you were casting a
spell or something."

    I hadn't quite expected her answer, which was a nonchalant reply of "That's
right.  I was casting a spell."

    "That's..."  I struggled for a word.  "Interesting.  Does it do anything?"

    "Nothing complicated" she answered.  "Though you may be interested in
knowing, the rain's going to slow down when we get out of school.  Fifteen
minutes later, it's going to stop."  She spoke the words with utter certainty,
and I almost believed she could predict the future--but only for a moment.
There was no way this girl was going to shake me up just by sitting there and
claiming to tell fortunes.

    "That's lame" I replied.  "You're right near the window.  You could have
just looked outside to guess that.  Come on over here, you can meet the rest
of us if you can be a little less freaky."  I motioned to the others.  "This
is Kei, and this is Tomie."  All three of us bowed to her a bit.

    "So tell us all about yourself.  Who's your favorite singing group?"
asked Kei.

    "And what's your blood type?" asked Tomie.

    "So what kind of boys do you like?" I added.  "Do you have a boyfriend?"
That was always important information to know.

    "Hold on, hold on" said Misa.  "I like the Twins but I don't listen to that
much music.  My blood type is A.  And I've had bad luck with boyfriends."

    "You get dumped a lot?" asked Kei.

    "No.  They die a lot."  I wondered if she was some kind of mutant Goth.

    "Well, I don't plan on dying too many times", said Tomie.

    "I'm serious", said Misa.  "Magic can be a dangerous thing."

    "So don't do it, then!" said Kei.

    "I don't have any choice," said Misa.  "I can use it or not use it, but
things around me that happen... happen."

    "Well, maybe you can tell us about magic in the future," said Kei.  "In the
meantime, we're going to meet after school at Tomie's place to figure out the
homework from English class.  I can guarantee you there's nothing supernatural
in it, even if sensei does remind me of an oni.  Do you want to come with us?"

    "Sure!" answered Misa, and she did smile, though to me the smile seemed
just slightly forced.  I couldn't help feel that she was really thinking about
something else.

    The schoolbell chose that moment to ring, forcing us to return to our
seats and get back to work.  I leaned over to her and whispered that we'd be
waiting outside.

                                *   *   *   *   *

    By the time we got out of school for the day, there was still a bit of
rain, but it was dying out.  Misa's guess was proving true, for what it was
worth.  We were waiting under a stand of maples, avoiding the last drizzle.
I was starting to get hungry and thinking of recipes.  Tomie was watching
the boys.  And Kei was running out of patience, because Misa was nowhere to be
seen.

    "Wait here, people, I'm going to get her" said Kei.

    "Maybe she's late?" I replied.

    "I don't think any of the clubs are still going now.  She can't be late."

    "We've seen what she's like already" I said.  "The girl probably goes for
black cats and eyes of newt.  Who knows what she could be doing in there?"

    "Well, there's one way to find out" said Kei, and she disappeared into the
school building.  Whatever Misa was doing in there, she was soon interrupted,
as Kei returned to us a few minutes later with her in tow, dragged by the
wrist a bit roughly.

    "Look who I found!" exclaimed Kei.

    "Was she doing evil things with toads?" asked Tomie.

    Kei shook her head.  "No toads.  But I'll tell you what she was doing.
She was walking around mumbling something while holding out a knife.  A big
knife, it was over a foot long and sharp, and it looked like it could really
hurt someone.  She carries the thing under her skirt; no wonder they say that
juvenile delinquents wear long skirts."

    I don't think I could have gotten away with dragging an explanation out
of Misa.  Tomie, on the other hand, was good at things like that.  All it took
was for her to look Misa straight in the eye and ask "Is that true?"

    Misa blinked hard.  And began to explain.  "I do have a knife," she
said, "but it's not what you think.  I could tell that there's something
strange going on in the school, and I needed to cast a spell to help me find
out what it is.  The knife is just part of that."

    "Something strange is certainly going on at the school" said Kei, while
looking directly at Misa's face.

    Misa said "Then I'll..." and hesitated.  Either humbled or faking it well,
she changed her tune.  "You're right," she said.  "I shouldn't get anyone else
involved in this, and I need to stop the magic.  Can you ever forgive me, Kei?"

    Faking it well, I decided.  But Kei seemed to have taken it at face value.
"Oh, sure" she answered, shrugging it off.

    "Fumiko?" asked Tomie.

    "Yes?" I answered my friend.

    "You don't really think that that knife's a problem, do you?"

    I thought that it meant Misa could be dangerous, but now I wasn't sure.
Maybe everything was my imagination, after all.  Misa had told us why she had
the knife and it may have been a little freaky, but it had nothing to do with
sticking the knife into another human being.  There wasn't any real reason to
doubt her aside from watching too many mad slasher movies.  And I hadn't even
seen _Freddy versus Jason_.

                                *   *   *   *   *

    Gradually getting our uniforms damp from the last minutes of the storm
and from the occasional gust of wind that briefly turned wet trees into
showerheads, we walked through the back streets of Tokyo, led by Tomie.
Finally we turned a corner to find ourselves in an open field, and for the
first time that afternoon we saw the sun, peeking through a thin gap in the
clouds.  In the middle of the field itself was a large, expensive-looking,
two-story house.

    Tomie led us across the lawn, right to the front door.  We never did know
much about who Tomie was and where she was from, but I certainly hadn't
imagined she lived in a place like this.  It must have cost a hundred million
yen.

    "Is this really your house?" wondered Kei.  "It's an awfully big place.
Is your family rich?"

    "It's not really mine.  Have I told you the story yet?"

    She hadn't, unless I was absent from class that day.  "Go ahead, Tomie" I
said.  "Tell us.  Misa hasn't heard it anyway."

    Tomie began to tell us the tale, in a low whisper that rivalled anything
one would hear at midnight around a campfire.  "This mansion was once full of
death for girls like us.  It wasn't long ago that neighbors would tell stories
about all the beautiful teenage girls at the Hinada Mansion."

    Kei giggled.  "Where you were one of ten girls trying to make it with one
guy?"

    "No!  You've got the wrong name, it's 'Hinada'.  That was their name.  An
old man and a woman.  They lived there with a servant, and they took in girls
that were in trouble.  They were old and they didn't have any family aside from
themselves, and they needed companionship.  Over and over again they took in
someone like you or me, and over and over again that girl showed up dead a
few months later."

    I shuddered a little.  Tomie wasn't telling a campfire story.  At that
point I completely believed she meant everything she was saying.  It's not
every day you go to do homework in a place where a lot of girls your age died.
Kei seemed to shiver slightly, and Misa was listening with apparent
fascination.

    "W-- what about the police?" I asked.

    "They were good friends with the police.  Nobody ever investigated.  I
could have died then...  you see they were nuts.  The woman killed herself,
just a few months after I got here.  And the old man and the servant...  They
finally snapped, and they killed each other.  I was the last of those girls,
and I would have been the last of their victims if I had just gotten back a
little earlier.  Sometimes I still imagine I can hear them walking around...."

    "No way!" exclaimed Kei.

    "Yes way" replied Tomie. 

    "Are you scared, Kei?" I asked.  "Do you want to go home?"

    "No way.  There's a difference between believing enough to be scared and
believing enough to really believe it."

    "Hey, Misa," I said as we reached the front door and Tomie unlocked it,
"you're into witchcraft, aren't you?  Do you think this place is haunted?"

    "Oh, I'll let you figure that out" she said enigmatically.  "But it's not
unheard of."

    "It's not haunted" said Tomie.  "It's only... sad."

    I knew there wasn't really any such thing as ghosts, but I listened
carefully for creaks and looked for spiderwebs anyway.  One can never be too
sure.  But in fact the house was well-lit and pretty well maintained
considering that Tomie was the only one living there.  Still, I couldn't
shake the feeling that we were trapped in a deserted mansion, cut off from
all human contact....

    Until the Inuyasha theme song exploded from my purse, and I pulled out my
cellphone, turned the ringer off, and told Mom where I was and how long I'd
be staying, anyway.

    That day we girls did a lot of studying, often loud and almost always
with an even louder stereo.  And everyone wanted to know more about Misa, who
would occasionally seem on the verge of telling us some story, but never
followed up on it.  Needless to say, nothing spookier than a pizza delivery
happened.  Nothing that I could see or hear, anyway.

                                *   *   *   *   *

    Despite her lack of eagerness to tell us much about herself, Misa seemed
well on the way to becoming a part of our little group.  We did lots of things
and went to a lot of places together, we told each other the latest stories
about what was happening all around the school, and it seemed that everyone
had forgotten that when Misa first met us she was speaking words of power in
some ancient dialect.

    A few weeks later, Tomie passed me a note.  We all knew the right way to
pass notes in class--make sure that sensei isn't watching, don't call attention
to yourself, things like that.  But the biggest was one that generations of
high school students before had never been able to do--don't use paper.  I lay
the cell phone beside my textbook at just the right angle, discreetly pressed
the button that let me read Tomie's message, and in the corner of my eye
scrolled the words:

    "Something is wrong.  I caught Misa in the library stalking me.  We'd
better get together after school again.  --Tomie"

    I glanced across the room at Tomie and she nodded to me.
    
    At that point I began thinking over what we'd done with Misa these past
few weeks.  Everything seemed normal, yeah, but... there were these moments
that just wouldn't quite add up.  We still didn't know much of her past.  She
carried a knife, and the story that she only needed it for magic was more than
suspicious.  Strange things happened around her--we once heard loud moaning
noises from a room and when we went to investigate there was nothing there but
empty space and Misa, chanting one of her bizarre incantations when we weren't
supposed to hear it.  And at times her face would slip into a mask-like
expression, when one of us would doubt the existence of ghosts or think that
the dead's place was only in tombs and history books. 

    I'm not a very spiritual girl but it occurred to me then: Maybe she wasn't
playing with spells.  Maybe the spells were real... and she was playing with
us instead.  
    
    I looked away from Tomie and back to my notebook.  I also tried to stop
scaring myself, but the harder you try to not think of something, the easier it
comes to mind.  I imagined all sorts of things that Tomie might tell me, but
I knew they were just imagination.  She might tell me that Misa was causing
trouble, but she probably wasn't going to say she was a monster bent on
dragging us down to the depths of Hell.

    Maybe it was nothing important, anyway.  Tomie could be imagining something
too.

    With that thought in my head, I only bit my fingernails a few times during
the rest of the day.  Finally, class let out.  Tomie was one of the first girls
to leave the room, and she waited right outside the building.  I left right
after her and stopped to talk to her.  She waved over Kei, and finally, Misa.
Misa must have been expecting to be there; I'm sure Tomie had given her some
kind of innocent message about meeting after school without explaining why.

    "So what's this all about?" I asked.

    "It's simple... too simple," replied Tomie.  "Yesterday, Misa was in the
school library, looking up old records about me.  It's a really good thing I
was going out with Shibito Akira.  He knew I'd be worried when something like
this happened, so he watched her.  It took him hours--Misa was at it right up
to closing time."

    I was a little relieved.  That could be nothing.  Even if it was something,
there were so many things it could be that had nothing to do with witches and
warlocks.

    Meanwhile Misa was looking at Tomie suspiciously.  In another time and
another place, she might have gotten away with that, but Tomie, sharp as ever,
caught her.

    "Something to say about that, Misa?" asked Tomie.

    "No, not really," replied Misa.  "Yes, I was looking you up.  I'm not going
to lie about that.  I was..."

    "You suspected me of killing the other girls at the mansion, didn't you?"
asked Tomie.

    Misa, not the least bit contrite, readily admitted it.  "Yes, I did.  From
what happened, anyone would suspect you."

    "Anyone?!" exclaimed Kei.  "I didn't suspect that."

    And I added "I didn't, either!"  I needed to help my friends--to protect
Tomie when her integrity was being attacked like this.

    "So what did you find?" asked Tomie.  "Could I have killed them?"

    "No, you couldn't," said Misa.

    "Could you say that a little louder?  We didn't hear you."

    "No, you couldn't!  I admit it.  You couldn't possibly have killed the
girls.  You only got there a few months ago.  People were dying at the Hinada
mansion for years.  And I saw the police report.  The old people and their
servant died by their own hands.  There's nothing unexplained about it."  Misa
barely hid a sneer on her face as she realized that Tomie had caught her
trying to ruin her reputation.

    "I'm glad you said that loudly," said Tomie.  "I didn't know we get
police reports in the school library.  Just how far did you go to dig up all
this dirt about me, Misa?"

    "That's all I did" replied Misa.  "Is this what we're gathered here to
talk about?"

    "I think that's it" said Tomie.  "I just wanted to get all that out in the
open.  It's not every day one of us accuses the other one of murder.  I'll
see you guys later."  And with that, Tomie walked off.  I couldn't really blame
her.

    Kei and I traded glances.  I decided at that moment that Misa could no
longer be our friend, and I was sure Kei wouldn't disagree.  Misa just watched
and mumbled to herself, clutching her keychain as Tomie walked out of sight
and we two silently decided Misa's fate.  

    Suddenly, unexpectedly, she bowed to us.  "I didn't mean to cause any
trouble" she said.  "Will you ever forgive me?"

    And perhaps as unexpectedly, I wasn't so sure we wanted to lose a friend
over one little incident after all.  I even wondered if I had imagined the
sneer I thought I saw on Misa's face.  I thought about it, and finally said "Of
course.  It's all so silly."

    Kei added "Let's all forget about this, okay?  Let's go and do something
fun.  We could go to the movies."

    "I'd love to," said Misa, "but there are things I have to do.  How about
tomorrow?  That way Tomie can come with us, to show that there's no hard
feelings."

    "How about the matinee at the mall this weekend?" volunteered Kei.
"Fumiko, you can pick the movie.  Tell us by mail.  But pick something scary."

    "Sure, I'm free then," said Misa.  "And that's fine with me, though I don't
think Tomie's too happy with 'scary'."

                                *   *   *   *   *

    We ended up seeing Mr. Vampire.  The movie was a little scary, a little
funny, and a little of a lot of other things.

    Which was fitting, because so was what happened to us.

    I got to the theater a little while before the start of the movie, bought
my ticket, and entered.  Kei was already standing inside waiting for us, with
Tomie standing next to her, looking into a hand-held mirror and combing her
hair.

    At my approach, Kei said "Hi," and Tomie looked up and waved to me.  "Hello
Fumi-chan" she said.  "Let's go!"

    "We've got to wait for Misa" I answered.

    "Wait for Misa?  Oh.  You told her to come here?  That'll be fun.  What
are we going to do to her?"

    "What are you talking about, Tomie?  It's not starting for another ten
minutes.  She's not late, there's nothing to blame her for."

    I don't think I had ever seen Tomie seem as out of her element as when she
stood there with her mouth open.  I thought over what I said, but I had no
idea what made her react as if she had learned the school had burned down.
"Tomie?" I asked.  "Are you okay?  Earth to Tomie."

    "It's..." replied Tomie as she regained her composure.  "I just thought
that after yesterday we were through with her.  I was very surprised when you
said she's coming."

    "I thought you liked her," said Kei.

    "I was trying to be nice to her," said Tomie.

    I noticed Misa on the line outside the theater about to get her ticket.
"Tomie, she's coming," I said.

    "I was trying to be *nice* to her," said Tomie.  "Nice to a girl who
carries a knife, and stalks people, and chants all that religious cult stuff,
and..."

    Misa approached us and said "Hello everybody."

    Kei and I shrugged.  "I think Tomie's upset at you, Misa," said Kei.

    "You're damn right I'm upset with you!" said Tomie.  "You're worthless.
What kind of girl carries around a knife?  And dresses without any fashion
sense?  And stalks me while trying to get cozy with my boyfriend at the same
time?  And then you have the nerve to come up here like nothing happened.
All because I took pity on a girl who didn't deserve it..."

    Misa let Tomie's torrent of rage flow around her.  She didn't insult Tomie
back.  She didn't slap her.  With extraordinary calmness and sincerity, all
she did was whisper another of her incantations.  I began to wonder how
clueless she could be to think she could really do anything to Tomie with a
couple of strange words.  "Eko Eko Azarak," she chanted.  "Eko Eko Zomelak.
Eko Eko Cerunnos.  Eko Eko Aradia...."

    If those words had any real power like I had half wondered the day before,
Tomie didn't seem to notice at all.  "Oh, oh, what's the little witch girl
going to do, strike me down with lightning?  Turn me into a toad?  Stab me with
that knife she has under her skirt?"

    Misa stopped her chant, and gave the obvious answer.  "See a movie?"

    "Yeah" said Kei.  "Tomie, chill out.  I don't know what's gotten into you.
So she looked up your records, big deal.  I want to see this movie."

    At that point, Tomie stopped, for the second time that afternoon.  She
didn't gape again, but suddenly it seemed as if everything she had done that
day was very calculated...  and she had miscalculated.  There was an inhuman
fury in her brown eyes as she focused on Kei, then me, and finally at Misa,
who Tomie stared at as if Misa's head blocked something invisible.  "Of
course", said Tomie, her childish outburst from a moment ago as distant a
memory as last month's fashions.  "It's real.  I should have known."

    "Tomie?" asked Kei.  "What's real?  What are you talking about?  I can't
understand you."

    Tomie spoke in a low voice.  "She's a witch," she said.  "Kuroi Misa is a
witch.  I don't know how old she really is, or what else she's hiding from
you, but I can tell you one thing, Misa's dangerous.  It doesn't seem like it
now, but some day you'll look back on now and wonder how you could possibly
not have known that something about your friend just wasn't right.  If you
live that long."

    "You're not very convincing" said Kei.

    "It's funny, Tomie," I said as I glanced up at the clock hung near the
concession stand.  2 PM--the movie was going to start soon.  "You don't look
like you've been turned into a toad."

    I walked away, into the theater.  Kei and Misa followed.  Tomie began to
turn towards the exit, but finally ran to meet us as we entered.  And we
watched the movie in silence, which if you knew us you'd know is more unusual
than it sounds.

                                *   *   *   *   *

    Were we just scaring ourselves?  Tomie thought Misa was a witch, a thought
strong enough that it could break apart our friendship with her and Misa.  I
had flirted with the idea myself.  Misa was strange.  She did strange things
and said strange words.  But it's a long way from being the kind of witch who
plays with pointy things and "predicts" the future to being the kind of witch
who speaks a word and makes the earth tremble.  I hadn't really seen anything
unexplained at all.

    But Tomie had broken out into a childish outburst at the mere thought of
Misa.  And when Misa arrived, Tomie had taken one look at her eyes, and at
that moment Tomie no longer was the confident, self-assured girl I thought I
knew; at that moment, Tomie had seen something completely beyond her
experience.

    I didn't know what Tomie saw, but I had to find out what it was.

    Five minutes after we left the movie theater and went our separate ways,
I stopped at a bench, sat down, took out my phone, and called Tomie.

    Three rings later, she answered.  "Hello?"

    "It's me, Fumiko.  Tomie, we need to talk.  About Kuroi Misa...."

    "I hate her" she replied.  "And you should too."

    "Tomie, a few days ago I had this idea myself that she could be a real
witch.  I need to know what's going on.  You must know something about her that
Kei and I don't.  I could tell."

    "Maybe I do.  Would you like to know what it is?"

    "Of course I do, Tomie.  I've been getting creeped out lately.  I need to
talk to someone about it."

    "Then meet me at my place.  You know where it is.  I'll tell you all
about it there."

    I said "Sure I'll...--"

    And then there was a click, and all that was left was silence.  She was
more abrupt than I had ever known her to be, but at this point I didn't care.
I was sure that whatever mysteries were going on here, the answer would come
from Tomie.  All I had to do was step into her parlor and ask; against
whatever forces of evil Misa represented, Tomie was my only salvation.

    I put away the phone, got up, and began to walk.  First slowly, but then
faster.  Soon the oversized house loomed in front of me.  I rushed to the door.
Tomie opened it, gave me a smile and a hug, and she let me inside.

                                *   *   *   *   *

    She led me to the elaborately furnished living room, which I'd passed
through during my last visit, and motioned with a hand.  "Sit down" she said.
Refusing to sit herself, she paced the floor over and over as she started to
explain.

    "Fumi-chan, you know what Misa is, don't you?"

    I knew the answer, of course.  "A witch?"  But that was only the beginning.
I needed to ask her what she knew about Misa that nobody else did.  I wanted
to know what made Tomie so sure.

    "Yes, a witch," said Tomie.  "A strange person, with strange powers, who
likes nothing better but to poke a stick in the anthill and watch the ants
scatter.  I barely got away from her, you know.  Barely got away!"  I could
feel her frustration in her voice.  It was so overpowering.  All I could do
was listen, and I never did bring myself to ask what I was going to ask.

    "I know her magic is real, because she cast a spell on me.  There's no
turning people into toads for her; it's all a lot more subtle than that.  I
never did want to be friends with her, you know.  But she did something,
something with the powers that she called on, and before I knew it I was there
welcoming her to our little group.  I hate her, I could never stop hating
her inside no matter what words of kindness I was forced to speak, and the
only way we can be safe is if we get rid of her before...."

    "Brrrng brrr brr BBRRRNG brng-brrrng!"

    The sound of my phone ringing was a big jolt, considering how wrapped up
I was in what Tomie was saying.  I shook my head for a moment to clear my
thoughts and realized that though Tomie seemed to be making sense, something
about her words wasn't quite right.  I couldn't put a finger on it.

    "BRR brr brr... brng brng bbrrrr br brng!"

    I flipped open my phone's pressed the button and raised the phone to my
jaw.  "Hello?" I said.

    "Hi.  It's Misa.  We've got to talk.  It's about Tomie."

    Misa never had sounded anything like what I imagine a witch would sound
like.  Hearing her voice, worried, anxious, perhaps even frightened, just like
the rest of us, brought up doubts.

    "Fumi-chan?  It's me, Misa.  Don't hang up, please.  I need to talk to you
about Tomie."

    But if she was a witch, if she was breaking up our group, badmouthing Tomie
is just what she would do.  And she might feel innocent, but how could I even
trust what I felt?  Wouldn't everybody's best chance be to stay away from her?

    "Are you at home?  I'd like to..."

    "No!  Stay away!" I yelled into the phone.  "I don't know what you're
going to do to us!"

    "That's right," said Tomie.  "Misa can't come here.  She's a threat to
both of us.  But I think maybe we should let her.  She doesn't have any power
over us now that we know what she is.  What do you think, Fumi-chan?"

    I tried to answer Tomie but I couldn't.  I needed advice, I couldn't
figure out the right thing on my own...  "Tomie!  Please, tell me what I
should do."

    Tomie grabbed the phone from my hand.  "I'm at my house" she barked into
it.   "Come here, if you dare."  And then Tomie hung the phone up for me.

    "W--what are we going to do?" I asked.

    "Wait for her.  But be careful, because I think you're finally going to
see that knife in use."

    "But we can't take her on ourselves!  We have to call the police."

    "Police are nothing against a witch.  She'll mumble something, and they'll
let her, and maybe they will be toads after all.  Or just splatters of blood
and bits of uniform.  Only those who know of her powers have a chance."

    "No!  Tomie, what if she isn't a witch?  What if it's all wrong?"

    "Why then I'm sure you'll be able to protect us from her," said Tomie, the
glint of malice in her eyes.

    "I will not!  I'm going to get away from here!"  I didn't know what had
gotten into Tomie.   And I didn't like it one bit.  Almost anything Tomie said
about Misa could be true about her too, I suddenly realized.  I'd only known
Tomie a few months.  We knew nothing about her background.  And if Tomie talked
about Misa using spells to make mush out of our brains, couldn't she herself
be doing the same?  She wanted me to kill Misa...   She hinted at, didn't yet
say it, but she wanted me to kill Misa.  I was just a pawn in some scheme
between two ancient enemies.  That had to be it.  Neither of them really cared
about us girls....

    "It's the only way to save us!" yelled Tomie.

    I stood up.  Tomie lunged for my wrist.  I pushed her aside and raced for
the door to the outside.  I reached for the knob and started to open it, just
a crack.

    "I wouldn't leave if I were you, Fumi-chan," said Tomie.  "Misa's out there,
and she's coming to get me.  I want you to stay here until we're safe."

    Out there, yes.  I couldn't go out there, not yet.  Maybe there was
some place I could hide in this mansion, until Misa and Tomie fought it out
and I could escape in the confusion.

    I turned around and headed for the stairs.  I could swear there was a
smirk on Tomie's face as I passed her.  She made no move to stop me.  I looked
up the stairs, down the stairs, and past the stairs, then headed off in a
random direction.  There must have been fifty rooms in that old house.  I could
go somewhere, lock the door, and wait it out until the monsters were fighting,
then escape through the window.

    I entered a random room and closed and locked the door.  Then I pushed
aside an elaborately-decorated, but dust-covered, four poster bed and hid
behind it, as if the bed could protect me from what I feared was coming.

                                *   *   *   *   *

    I heard Tomie walk past the room several times.  Each time she yelled,
ordering me to leave, but I ignored her.  She never tried to open the door,
and I cowered there while the sun set and the light started to fade from the
room's only window.

    Then there was a knock on the door.  No--not from the door.  From the
window.  It must be Misa, I thought.

    "Get away!" I yelled.  "Get away!"

    "Fumi-chan!" yelled someone from outside, "I saw someone in there.  Is that
you?"

    That wasn't Misa's voice.  I peeked up behind the bed and then stood up--
I knew that voice.  Kei was standing out there.  Letting out a sigh of relief,
I opened the window and let her climb in.  "Kei..." I said.  "We've got to do
something."

    "Fumi-chan, it's all right" she said.

    Those words are seldom a good sign.  And as she said them, another girl
appeared by the window, a dark angel with an aloof expression on her face.
The one I feared.  Misa.

    I backed away, but hit the bed with my legs and stumbled to the ground.

    "Kei, I told you" said Misa.

    "Look, Fumi-chan," explained Kei.  "Misa's not going to hurt you."

    "She's a witch!"  I screamed back at Kei.

    "Not a witch, a wizard," said Misa, and she began a low chant.  "Eko Eko
Azarak, Eko Eko Zomelak...."

    Kei must have seen the terror in my eyes.  "Misa," she said, "you said
the spell might be too strong to break.  You're only going to scare her.  Let
me handle it."  She looked at me, and on her face was concern.  And not the
concern of a witch's puppet.  At least I didn't think so.  "Will you please
listen?" said Kei.  "There isn't a lot of time."

    "All right" I said.  Kei was okay, I didn't think she was under a spell,
but Misa had still probably tricked her somehow.  I needed to pretend to
listen, while waiting for the chance to escape.

    "I really am a wizard," said Misa.  "I've been fighting the supernatural
for years now.  The first time, I didn't even know about my powers.  I was at
a party... I had gone out to buy some beer, and when I came back everybody was
dead."

    I looked at the window.  But Kei was in my way, and I knew she'd stop me
if I try to scramble for safety.

    Misa continued her tale.  "An evil witch named Kirie was after me, because
I had the greatest magic potential of any living person.  She wanted to take
over my body and use that power all for herself.  I had a very hard time
believing any of it was real, but I had to.  I had to learn, I had to win and
destroy Kirie."  Her voice got a little softer, less like a teacher's.  "It
must be a little like that for you.  Frightened...  being attacked by forces
you find it hard to even understand...."

    "I know I can't trust either you or Tomie!" I retorted.  "You and I are
nothing alike!"

    "Listen to me!  Fumi-chan, whatever you're feeling, that's how Tomie works.
She's not human--I don't know what she is, but she thrives on misery.  A new
girl appears that nobody's heard of.  She's always got long black hair and a
mole under her left eye.  She starts out innocent and helpful, but soon
becomes stuck-up and bitchy.  Men find her the most beautiful thing they've
ever seen, and all people fall over to satisfy her needs.  Eventually they
become violent.  Some obey her every wishes and will even kill when she
commands it.  Some just go insane.  Some turn on her, but it doesn't matter.
It's been happening for at least a century."

    "A century?  How old are you, anyway?"

    "I'm 18, Fumi-chan.  I'm just a girl like you."

    "B-- but you and she must have been fighting forever!"

    "No, we haven't.  I didn't even meet her until I first came here.  I knew
there was something going on, but I didn't know what.  I usually don't even
bother hiding my magic.  But when I found out it was Tomie who was the monster,
I decided to lay low.  And it worked, for a while.  To her, my magic was just
a quirk that she could use to make you string me up a lamppost or burn me at
the stake.  She never dreamed I had any real power--until I cast that
protection spell at the movie theater and it let you see her petty speech for
what it really was.  And then she saw me for what I really was, too."

    I heard Tomie's footsteps again for the tenth time in at least an hour.
This time, she didn't yell, and this time, she stopped at the door.  There was
a clicking sound and, still holding the key to what was after all a room in
her own house, she threw the door open and stood there in all her glory.  Misa
turned towards her and I seized the moment to leap to my feet and run for the
open window.

    From behind me, Tomie's voice told me, "Stop, Fumi-chan.  You have to."
But at the first syllable of Tomie's voice, I had already halted.  What harm
could it do to listen to what she had to say?  I stopped, spun on my feet, and
faced her.  "That's Misa," said Tomie, pointing to her target.  "The wizard.
She even admits it.  Yes--I heard it all from outside.  All her lies--the
wizard Kuroi Misa, my eternal enemy, whose very name means 'Black Mass'.  Kill
her, Fumi-chan.  Release me from my suffering at her hands."

    In my mind Tomie's mostly imagined pain took on cosmic proportions.  I
looked between the two girls.  Tomie was my enemy, but that didn't make Misa
my friend....

    "And you, Kei," she said to my other friend.  "You've been with her for
the past hour.  She's playing with you.  You have to get free!"  Kei reached
into her pocket and through the skirt's fabric I saw the hand motion of her
clutching some object.

    Tomie seemed to have noticed it too.  "Kei!  Whatever that is, you've got
to throw that away!  The magic in it is reaching for your heart, perverting
it...."

    As Tomie cajoled Kei, Misa reached down and pulled up her skirt for a
second to reveal her knife--a sort of dagger, really, which she grasped in her
right hand, pointing it up and away.  "Eko Eko Azarak" she began to chant.
"Eko Eko Zomelak, Eko Eko Cerunnos, Eko Eko Aradia...."

    Tomie grabbed a pillowcase and shook out the pillow.  She closed with Misa
while trying to pull the pillowcase over Misa's head.  Misa managed to dodge,
but didn't continue with the spell, whatever it was.

    Misa had previously struck me as something of a bookworm.  She seemed quite
physically fit now, though, as she expertly kicked Tomie in the stomach without
taking a breath.   Quickly she chanted the rest of her sentence, and a wave of
force struck out at Tomie, slamming her against one of the bedposts.

    It was true.  Misa was a wizard.  I was suddenly gripped with fear as
I realized the forces that people were playing with here.  And Misa was going
to annihilate Tomie.  I couldn't allow that.  I stepped forwards and tried to
loop my arm around Misa's neck.

    Instead I found Kei blocking my arm with hers.  "Fumi-chan, try to
remember!  We're your friends, not whatever Tomie is!"  Her hand was closed
into a fist, from which hung the trinket I saw when I had first met Misa.  I
pushed Kei's arm away and she moved it back but opened her fist to show me the
object.  I saw a small glass ball, attached to a greyish metal ring with
something illegible engraved on its surface.  It hung from a foot long chain
of a similar metal.  As I looked at it my head began to swim, then clear.  I
had been under Tomie's influence.  It was obvious now.

    Tomie stepped on Misa's foot and then during the distraction kicked at
Misa's kneecap.  Kei and I watched as they fought.  Kei said "We've got to
stop Tomie!  I'm going to count, Fumi-chan.  One, two, three."

    Kei said "One" and it registered on my mind that I had to get ready.

    Tomie shoved Misa into the wall.  Misa swung her knife back in a wide arc,
but missed Tomie.

    "Two..."

    Misa dodged a punch from Tomie.

    "Three!"  We charged Tomie and she fell back onto the floor along with us.
She hit the floor hard, thudding against it through the carpet.  Kei and I
struggled to hold her down; I knew that there had to be something Misa could
do to stop Tomie if only Tomie was helpless for a moment.

    Staring at her knife, Misa began another chant.  "Eko Eko Azarak.  Eko Eko
Zomelak...."  She said the words, a string of guttural syllables, and then
kneeled down.

    I held Tomie down as Misa tore open Tomie's blouse, and plunged her knife
through Tomie's chest, and into her heart.  Gouts of red blood welled out and
their stench filled the room as Tomie took three sputtering breaths and then
lay still.  At the gruesome sight I had to wonder if Kei and I had helped the
right side after all.

    "M-- Misa" I stammered, "i-- is there anything you want me to d-- do?"

    "No" she said.  "Just get back and let me finish this."

    I was eager to get a bit of distance from the scene and readily backed
away to let Misa do her work.  We looked away, but I couldn't resist taking
the occasional peek and then immediately regretting it.  Misa sliced her way
into Tomie's chest with that knife and finally withdrew a bloody lump that I
recognized from science class as a human heart.  I corrected my thoughts.  No,
not a *human* heart.  Not really.

    "Wait!" said Kei.  "I hear something.  Footsteps."

    I strained to hear them, but my own pounding heart, very alive in my
chest, drowned out any faint noises that might have been audible in the
building.

    "Tomie!" yelled a male voice.  "It's me, Akira!  Are you in here?  You
said you needed protection!"

    That was about the worst thing that could have happened.  I tried to close
the door, but Tomie's body was in the way.  As I struggled to push the corpse
away, Akira came running down the hall, saw us, and screamed.  The only worse
time to come would have been when Tomie was still alive.

    "No!  What have they done to you, Tomie?" he cried.  We were covered in
blood spatters and Misa was leaning over his girlfriend's body, holding a knife
in one hand and her bloodied heart in the other.

    I didn't think his reaction was going to be good.

    It wasn't, but what he did do none of us could have anticipated.

    Akira screamed "You took Tomie away from me!  Give her back!"  He clenched
his fist and punched at Misa's face.  Misa reached up to protect herself and he
hit her arms instead, knocking the heart out of her hands.

    Then he picked it up, still sobbing "Tomie!" and fled.

    I watched dumbfounded.  Kei had the presence of mind to chase him,
apparently thinking that if that heart was important to him, it must be
important to get back.  I got up and chased after them both.

    Akira opened a door and ran through, slamming it in our faces.  There was
a click.  Kei reached for the handle.  It wouldn't turn.

    "The key!" I said.  I hurried back to the gore-filled room and picked up
Tomie's key where it had fallen during the battle.  I took it back to the
locked room and plunged it into the hole beneath the handle.  The door opened
easily...  onto an empty room.  Gusts of cold nighttime air blew out of the
window that Akira had used to make his escape.

                                *   *   *   *   *

    I walked back to the room where Misa and the body of her enemy lay.  But
as I entered I stumbled.  The pounding of my heart, the sharp scent of Tomie's
pooling blood, the sight of my former friend torn apart like a piece of
garbage, all made me dizzy and nauseous, and I knew I couldn't stay.

    "We stay here" said Misa.

    "I don't want t-to" I said uncertainly.  I couldn't stand another moment
of this scene.  And I still wasn't quite sure whose best interests Misa had in
mind.

    "Please listen to what I'm going to tell you" said Misa.

    I sat down on top of the bed, which was still clean because most of the
blood was on the floor.  Kei sat against the wall just outside the door.  I
wanted nothing more than to get away from this place and have a nice long,
and hopefully dreamless, sleep, but I listened anyway--I listened as if my life
depended on it.

    "I told you," she explained, "that sometimes Tomie's victims take it out on
her.  But it doesn't matter.  She has the ability to regenerate.  If you kill
her, she gets up in a few days.  If you kill her and chop up the body into
pieces...."

    "W-what does that do?" asked Kei.

    "Time passes, and they start to regenerate.  And in a few more days, they
get up too.  Each of them."

    "The heart!" I realized.

    "Yes, the heart," said Misa.  "The spell that let me destroy her for good
required her heart.  But if someone took that heart--or a finger--or a pool
of blood--she's going to be back."

    "Then it's all over anyway.  I need to get away from here--I'm going
home!" I said.  "Mom and Dad are going to be worried.

    "It's only 6:00," said Misa.  "And you really don't want to have her blood
on you.  We need to wait here."

    "But why?!" I demanded.

    "We need to wait here until I can cast that spell."

    "Oh," I said.

                                *   *   *   *   *

    I think I did faint several times.  It hardly mattered.  None of us felt
like chatting, and I think even Misa could barely tolerate the situation.
An hour later Misa stabbed Tomie right through the hole where her heart had
been, twisted the knife, and reached in with her right hand to pull out an
inch-wide glob of tissue, newly grown.  It could have been a rat's heart,
perhaps.  I could swear it twitched in her hand.

    Misa held up her dagger and chanted something, beginning with the words
that by now were becoming almost familiar.  "Eko Eko Azarak, Eko Eko Zomelak,
Eko Eko Cerunnos. Eko Eko Aradia."  The spell continued in a low tone until
Misa whispered its final word and stabbed the point of the dagger right into
the twitching organ.

    Tomie's body disintegrated into ash, leaving an empty, torn, blouse and
skirt lying in front of us.  The pool of blood quivered, then turned grey,
contracted, and finally vanished, leaving only a smoky haze.  I looked down
at my clothes and nothing stained them other than a few drops of mustard from
lunch.

    "We should all go home now," said Misa.  "At least you two should.  I've
got some more work to do."

    Misa stood up and walked away.  There was a bit of a heaviness in her
steps, and thinking over the things she must have seen and the troubles she
must have gone through for the past few years I felt ashamed that I had
fallen for Tomie's trickery.  I had nearly destroyed the one person who brought
a little hope to one very frightening corner of the world.

    Kei and I walked each other as far home as we could, then hugged each
other and parted.

    I went to bed early.  Of course I couldn't explain to my parents what had
shaken me up.

    And the next Monday, the rumor mill was in full gear.  Everyone wondered
where Tomie, who was missing without having even called in sick, could possibly
be.  Since Kei and I had hung around her a lot, and Akira was also missing,
we were peppered with questions (somehow nobody asked Misa anything).  I never
answered, but I knew that somewhere in Tokyo a boy had hidden a human heart
away from all comers, and without quite realizing what he was doing, was
watching it grow long hair and a mole.  And then, soon afterwards, it would
reject him.

    Someday Tomie would be back.