Chapter 2: The Witch Doctor

The old man, not less than 70 years old with a frail weakening body, lay on the Tatami in his bedroom. Afraid and in shock, there was the slightest shake all over his body, as he stared into nothingness in a sort of trance. The townsfolk, of course, crowded his room. 

“Yūto-san”, they were saying, “Yūto-san, are you okay? What happened to you?”

But the man continued gazing into empty space. After about an hour of this, a witch doctor entered the room. 

The townsfolk had to go into the city to fetch Haguko’s own witch doctor. Usually, when someone from Haguko was ill, shaky, disoriented and was in a trance-like state, the witch doctor was called before a doctor. But Yūto’s case was convenient. It was quite obviously the witch doctor’s field of expertise. So they went to call for her as soon as they found the old man in the state that he was in. But she had been on an important call with a VIP client in the city, so they’d had to wait till she was done to get her to come back. 

“Sorry I’m late”, she said as she made her way, hurriedly towards Yūto, tying her long white hair behind her in a bun. She paused right in front of him, fixating on his empty glance. Then she bent down and touched his face gently with her long fingers. Yūto let out a gasp, like he was splashed with cold water on a freezing day.  

“Hmmm”, the witch doctor shook her head, “It’s powerful”

Everyone looked on in confusion.

“P-powerful? What is powerful? What is it?”

“Ssh! Be quiet.”

She closed her eyes and touched Yūto’s hair, his neck, his face, his arms, his stomach, and his legs. 

“Ohhhhhh I can see it.. I can see it.. I can see that a powerful fear has swallowed this man’s soul..”

“C-can you see what happened?”, someone from the crowd stuttered.

“No!”, she hissed, “I can’t see what happened. But I can see.. yes...”

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The woman gently rubbed her thumbs against the old man’s temples, “There is an endless mist in his head. Listen, there are two kinds of fear, fear of the unknown and fear of the known. When you are frightened by something that is known or expected, that leaves a clear image of it in your head. But.. when the fear comes from something that is unclear or unknown, it leaves a sort of mist. An endless mist that won’t clear.” 

The townsfolk looked on in shock.

“C-can you help him?”, another person stuttered from the crowd.

“I can’t make him forget what he saw. I can only give his mind some strength to carry on.”

The woman took out a small peony root from a glass jar in her bag, placed it on the old man’s head, and began chanting. As the chanting got intense the man jerked a few times, gasping and sighing, before finally going limp. 

“I put him to sleep for now”, said the witch doctor.

The townsfolk thanked and paid the woman for her troubles. As she exited the old man’s home, she saw that more than half the town had crowded the entrance, nervous and eager to hear news of his condition. 

The witch doctor turned to them, “Don’t worry. Yūto-san will be fine. My ritual managed to increase his mental fortitude.”, she paused, “But it won’t make him forget what he saw. His memory is foggy and it only comes to him in fragments, but its shock will remain. So I advise you, do not dare to venture into that mountain.”

She turned towards Yūto’s family, who stood beside the entrance, “I’m warning you, he will have occasional panic attacks. Do not try to stifle them. Sit with him through the day if you have to, and listen to what he says. No matter how nonsensical. Listen and take notes.”

“B-but why?”, they asked.

The witch doctor paused and took a deep breath. She pulled out a pocky stick from a packet in her bag and started eating it, “Because, as long as there’s danger in the mountains, our lives won’t go back to normal.”

Then she turned to face them, “Someone should confront this evil”

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