I am staying with an exchange family in Japan. Something very wrong is happening here ? Part 4

Part 3
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Father Nomura stands with his back to me.
I?m in the main area of the house, backpack on, ready to run. The entire Nomura family surrounds me, suffocating me. The only one doing anything is Saeko, who?s fiddling with something in the kitchen. The sisters, however, watch me. Father Nomura turns to face me, then speaks. He sounds calm. Once he is finished, Ren translates.
?He is unhappy you went into grandfather?s room,? she calmly states, ?grandfather is very sick, and should not have been disturbed?.
?Tell him I?m sorry?, I stammer, ?I-I didn?t mean to go in, I just ? I got scared because of your grandmother?s footprints. She came into my room and-?
Father Nomura starts to speak again. Ren hasn?t translated what I said, does he understand me?
?He tells me that you have to behave now?, Ren explains, ?he says he will not punish you this time, but you must behave. As for grandmother, I am sorry you are scared. She is old and sick?.
?I?m ? I couldn?t be sorrier?, I plead, ?tell Father Nomura it won?t happen again?.
He nods, then leaves the room onto the walkway. The door shuts loudly behind him. Hina then does the same, moving as soon as Father Nomura had left our sight. I turn to Ren.
?You must eat?, she smiles, ?it is okay. Mother made you food to make you happy?.
My attention turns to Saeko. Sure enough, she had made a lot of food.
She places the final plate on the table, and invites me to sit. I had offended the family once; I won?t do it again. I don?t want to be punished.
But after this, I?m leaving. I don?t trust this family.
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I wipe my plate down, and the first chance I get, move towards the exit. Nobody saw me leave. I am quickly pacing along the path heading into the village. I don?t know my next move; maybe try and find the man who was ?selling? me something, try to determine what he was actually saying. I reach the village. I know roughly where the man?s house is. Suddenly, my legs feel weak. I stumble, but keep my balance, just.
What is going on?
My steps get wider, my legs harder to control with every step. I fall down to one knee, but can?t even feel the ground beneath it.
?H-help?, I stutter, ?help me?.
I look to the villagers around me. They are all staring at me in shock, but they are not helping. In fact, many are moving away. Hushed conversations and distant whispers surround me, as I fall to the ground and black out.
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?You are sick, please eat?.
My eyes open. I am back in my bedroom, back in the house.
Saeko kneels beside my bed, holding a small plate of food; still piping hot, steam rising.
?Wh- what happened??, I ask. I?m dazed, confused.
?You have fell?, Saeko says, ?please, eat, and rest?.
My mind is in a haze. I can?t think straight. I eat some of the food as Seako places it against my lips. I?m not sure why I do it, but it tastes so good. And I?m so hungry.
As my eyes shut, my cloudy vision becoming blurrier by the second, I notice something. Over Saeko?s shoulder, my door is slightly open. Peering through the gap, a tall, elderly woman looms above, smiling as she watches me eat.
-
I wake to the sound of my stomach churning.
Hunger owns me. I need to eat.
It?s dark, but I get out of bed and slide my door open before heading to the kitchen. The cold night air on my skin doesn?t faze me, I only want food. To my surprise, there is a meal on the kitchen table. I stride over to it, then devour it. It?s delicious, but I?m still hungry as I head back to my bedroom.
I sit upright on my bed and eat away at the bits of skin dangling from my fingertips.
-
I wake once more. It?s still night.
Only now, I?m myself again. I think back to earlier; had I really gone into the kitchen and eaten all that food? Why was it even there in the middle of the night? Was that a dream? I look down to my fingers; blood and loose skin cloak them, my fingernails almost completely gone. My fingers bitten so much that blood now stains my mattress. What is happening to me? I have to get out of here.
I get out of bed. I can't see my bag or phone, but I don?t care. I slide open my door. The hallway is empty, so I make my move. I quickly make it to the door connecting the two areas of the house, and go through it with ease. Soon, I find myself in the main area. I hurriedly move towards the front door, almost breaking into a run. Once outside, I do run. I am almost at the village. I can?t see the path in the darkness. My bare feet are cut with every stride, colliding with the thorns and branches below. I should have reached the village by now, right? The house behind me is no longer in sight. Where?s the village?
Light. I see light ahead, I?m almost there. It must feel further in the dark. I am relieved I have made it ?
It?s the house.
I?m looking at the house. But, how? It?s a straight path, I haven?t made any turns off of it either. I turn to run the other way. The cold air hurts my lungs. I continue to run.
Again. I reach the house once more. What is happening here? What is happening to me?
I stray from the path and run into the surrounding trees. I need to get away from here. I must be turning around in the dark, accidently taking the same path back to-
The house. I see it again, through the trees ahead of me. This doesn?t make sense. How am I back here?
I can?t seem to escape this place, so I grab a sturdy branch to use as a weapon, and carefully move towards it.
-
The main area is empty. I scan for my bag, but see nothing. I walk across the wooden floor, and open the door onto the walkway. Also empty. Crossing the walkway, I am struck by the cold night air. I open the door to the corridor ahead. Darkness. Either side of me, all doors are slid shut. The house appears undisturbed from when I left it, as if everyone is still asleep. Strangely, as I tread down the corridor, careful not to make a sound, the air gets colder. With every step, I feel a chill crawl across my skin. As I reach my room, I slide open the door and peer in. I see only my bloodstained mattress and the small table. I?m still missing my bags, my shoes, my phone. Without more clothing, I?d freeze outside. I peer down at my feet, battered from my escape attempt earlier, and knew that if I wanted any chance of escaping here, I?d need my things. Most importantly, I need my phone to call for help. They?re somewhere here, but I can?t wake anybody up.
One by one, I slide the doors of their rooms open.
Hina lies asleep in a room decorated with a weird symbol I don't recognise; a circular symbol with a horn-like figure in its centre. A small shrine stands in the corner of her room; the same one from the main area. The moonlight that shines through her window makes it easy to quickly recognise that my bag isn?t here.
Ren lies asleep in a simpler room. She turns as I peer in, but doesn?t wake. Her table holds books, a lot of them. I make out a small shrine in the corner of her room, but no bag.
Her parents? room. My hand is trembling as I slide open their door and peer in. Similar to Hina?s room, it?s decorated in that symbol. Multiple shrines are laid out against the back wall, each with a candle in its centre. The parents are asleep on a mattress that lies in the middle of the room. Father Nomura grunts in his sleep, and turns towards his sleeping wife, but doesn?t awaken. This room is much larger than the two daughters?. There is no bag here, and I slowly slide the door shut.
There?s only one room left.
I open the door, and walk down the staircase; the candles remain lit along it. This room is the coldest of them all. As I reach the two doors, I opt again to go through the left one. I?m going to grab a candle and quickly scan the grandfather?s room. He was unable to make a sound last time, so even if I wake him I feel I won?t get caught. I move towards the door, and slide it open with a creak.
The smell hits me as soon as the door opens. It is putrid; a combination of rotting fruit and ****. I turn away and hold back a gag. Taking a deep breath, I turn back to the room. It?s completely dark. I get low with my candle, illuminating only my surroundings a few feet ahead. I slowly crawl into the room. The smell is rancid, only getting worse the further I delve. I?m holding the candle ahead, when I see a strap to my left. Holy ****, my bag. I carefully reach across to grab it, and soon realise my phone rests comfortably on its top. I just need my shoes, then I can get out of here.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
What is that sound? I need to hurry. I can?t hear any breathing; only hear a drip. Maybe I just quickly turn on my phone light and find my shoes. I don?t think the grandfather is in here.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
I?m going to do it. I?m going to quickly turn it on, then back off again. Just so I can establish where I am, where my shoes are. If my bag and phone are here, my shoes should be. I just - I need to hurry. And it?s too quiet for someone to be sleeping in here. My heartbeat almost in harmony with the drip.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
**** it.
I flick my phone?s light on. I look up. I wish I hadn?t.
Thin chains hang from the ceiling. At the end of each chain is a large hook. Above me, the hooks hold up a body, a man. They puncture his calves and the upper, fatty bits of his arms. There is one larger hook that wraps around his spine, pulling it partially out of his back. He is naked, his head droops lifelessly. Carved into his chest, the symbol I had seen in Hina and the parents? room. I see no blood, it?s almost as if it?s been cleaned up, or drained. My eyes turn to the dripping sound.
From his nose and mouth, saliva, or something, slowly drips. But his face. As I look up at him, hanging lifeless above me, I recognise this man.
It?s the man who had pulled me aside and shouted at me in the village.


Source.