Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai (Obon 100 candles event)

[mermalaide]

A classroom sits empty and dark in the old building that used to house the original school building. Since the new building was built, it wasn't used much, save maybe to house old desks, school supplies and building material. Students generally come back only when they have need of something or the space it self, and the last few years, it's sat alone, so naturally, there are rumors. The classroom has lit candles everywhere, and the light and shadow play against the walls, creating an eerie display. The desks have all been stacked and moved to one side, as have the chairs. It's dusty, yet, the blackboard is clean with fresh writing on it.

Take a candle.

Offer a story to the spirits and blow out the candle.

When the last story is cast, a spirit will surely appear.

For now, the light is somewhat bright as each candle burns. The air is warm and heavy in the room. Candles of every make and size line the walls as you have noticed. Who put all of these here? How long have they even been here? 

This is..
Concerning.

Won't you take a candle in honor of Obon?

[mermalaide]

1. 'Cereal' Killer-


When I lived in a little mountain town in Arizona, I used to walk a few blocks to get groceries. A lot of times I would get up early early so that I would beat the heat of the summer and I would take a backpack to carry all of my goods home. It was already pretty hot and I was trying to make good time so that I could get back and my milk wouldn't spoil. I usually did this once a week.



This particular week I was walking to my groceries, and I ran into a particular man. It wasn't even 10:00 and it was scorching. I was sweating in jeans and a t-shirt. The man wore a woolen overcoat and hat. He looked so seasonally out of place. As he got closer, I noticed his eyes. He seemed cold and checked out. If anything he made my skin crawl looking at him and I was no longer bothered by the heat, feeling cold all over. Clearly, there was something wrong with this guy.



Call it a good sense for people but, Something told me not to break eye contact with this man. Not to let myself lose sight of him. We did not break eye contact as we crossed paths, it was bad enough where I almost tripped on the sidewalk because I turned to watch him. Something felt malicious. He walked down the street finally breaking eye contact with me and going straight down the road. I had stopped in front of a church, and across the street was an outpatient therapy. "Hey! Are you okay? That dude was a creep!" It was one of the patients smoking outside. There was a whole group of them and they had seen what happened. " I'm fine! Kind of weirded out though!" It actually kind of gave me the shakes but I waved to them and went on my way to pick up groceries.



It actually took me a while to steady my nerves when I was shopping, and oddly enough a police officer followed me home when I went walking back to my apartment. I had a full backpack, a jug of milk, and something to do the laundry with. The police officer never offered me a ride but slowly followed me down the street. It was more annoying than anything really.



Sometime after that though there was an incident in the newspaper. A man had been arrested as a serial murderer. Some Animal Control Officers went to a house for a smell complaint, which was common in our area. We had a lot of hunters and sometimes they wouldn't dispose of deer carcass very well. They thought it was a typical incident but were surprised by the fact that there were decomposing body parts in a U-Haul in the front yard. Looking in the freezer there were women's body parts, specifically from a few barflies that had gone missing in our town. They did give a little bit of a description of him and I'm fairly certain it was the same person that I encountered on my grocery trip. Right before he been caught.