The Revenge of the Teke Teke

Prologue

It’s just like any other January in a middle-class neighborhood in the suburbs of Tokyo Japan. Ayame opened their cable television to a western news channel in the US.

Two Asian women, aged 63 and 84, were stabbed in broad daylight on a crowded San Francisco street on Tuesday. The victims were kicked in their faces before the suspect fled. According to police, a 55-year-old man was detained and charged with the attacks that sent both ladies to the hospital with serious injuries.

"The international news on the TV is horrible," Ayame's mom stated, turning off the television and reminding her to get ready for the seijinshiki ceremony the next day. It's worth noting that Japanese celebrate turning 20 with seijinshiki, or coming-of-age ceremonies on the second Monday in January. Young men and women dress in suits and kimonos to attend events held throughout the country.

Ayame frowned since she thinks lowly of herself and doesn’t want to deal with visitors. Her face was seen by her father, who was about to leave for work. “What makes my baby sad?” he asked.

“She is no longer a baby but a young lady,” the mother interrupted. “Leave for work as soon as possible since you could be late.”

The father, Daichi-san, drank his tea and waved them goodbye. As he exited the gate, he met their new neighbors who just moved to the newly built house next to theirs, he called Ayame. He bowed his head and greeted them. He invited them to come to his daughter's coming of age ritual but they declined.

The new neighbors have just moved in. The neighborhood is excited to geyceecdcb6dcydcydgnxdc7vrdc6rdhdcdxvdcxt to know these newcdcjdbf6rv cd6drvtc omers since the house that they are moving into is the only western house in the area. It really stood out among the rustic traditional Japanese houses around.

Ayame’s father, Daichi-san assumed that the new neighbors were just shy and had no clue of the ethnocentrism that the neighbors have. One of the two teenagers, named John, spat at Ayami and ran towards their house. Instead of asking for an apology, the neighbor’s mother stared at Ayame with disgust and asked her other child to just go back home. Ayame’s mother, despite seeing this affront to their daughter’s honor, apologized, wiping her daughter’s face.

The couple just left and said nothing.

Act 1: The New Bully Neighbors

Ayame's mother made udon noodles and nigiri sushi for their new neighbors from America and requested her to bring it to them. Ayame was hesitant at first but finally consented since her mother was insistent.

When she got to the main entrance of their neighbor’s house, she knocked and placed the food on a small table at the entryway. Mrs. Smith saw her and asked what she was doing there. She looked at Ayame which is now barefeet after removing her shoes as a sign of courtesy to the household. “Why are you taking off your shoes?”. She looked at Ayame from head to toe. “People here are very disgusting and unhygienic.” she whispered to herself. But Ayame heard it nonetheless.

It is customary in Japan to remove shoes when entering a house since wearing one inside is a breach of manners.

Ayame decided to pretend that she did not hear or understand what the new neighbor just said. She took the udon noodles and presented them to the lady with curly hair. “Uhm... my mother asked me to give this to you,” she uttered.

John appeared and shoved the dish, which landed on Ayame's chest. Because the noodles were hot, Ayame screamed in pain. Paul, his brother, came and laughed at Ayame. The mother joined in the laughter.

When Ayame returned home, she was in tears. When her mother inquired about what had occurred, she said, "It’s nothing," she wiped her tears. “I just accidentally threw the food on myself.” She retreated to her room to treat her burns. Ayame’s mother looked into the neighbors house and saw the mother and the two sons laughing mockingly.

Despite her suspicion, Ayame’s mother went to the new neighbors and brought them food herself. She also invited them to the seijinshiki ceremony as they won’t have any other visitors. Mrs. Smith just took the food and closed the door.

Ayame’s mother bowed down and just shrugged her shoulders and went back home.

The children looked at the sushi and laughed at it. “This is raw fish,” remarked John.

"Even dogs wouldn't eat it," Paul said, sticking his tongue out in disdain.

The hot udon noodles accidentally spilled into John's chest. He cried in anguish. Mrs. Smith promptly removed the noodles, claiming that their neighbors were to blame for the incident.

John was enraged and plotted revenge.

Act 2: Coming of Age Ceremony

Every year in January, young men and women who have reached the age of hatachi, or maturity, meet in public halls, and other locations around the country to commemorate their passage into adulthood. In Japan, the age of maturity is 20. This is the age at which children can legally enter society as adults. To celebrate this milestone, many local governments and public groups hold seijinshiki, or coming-of-age rituals but because of the pandemic, the people were encouraged to celebrate at their homes.

“I heard you relocated to this area for work. As he lifted the tea, Ayame’s father, Daichi-san mentioned, "This epidemic has affected a lot of jobs, but let us toss for my only daughter, Ayame."

He and the guest were sitting on a zabuton pillow circling a small table called chabudai. Mr. Smith whispered to his wife, “I am not comfortable sitting on this pillow.” His wife answered, “Just do it for your sons, they want to come here.”

Daichi-san heard the conversation and said “I am pleased that your young sons want to make friends with my daughter.”

Then the fusuma wall was unlocked by sliding it open and Ayume was escorted to the area by her mother. She was wearing a brightly designed long-sleeved kimono with fur stoles around her waist.

Her father's eyes gleamed with delight, while the visitors gave her a disgusted expression.

“She is here, at last,” remarked John who has been restless since they have waited for more than an hour.

Ayume’s mother apologized. “I spent countless hours fixing my hair and kimono when I celebrated my seijinshiki '' She also noticed that the food she prepared has not been consumed.

She went to the Irori to heat the food while her husband took some Sashimi and Yakitori and offered it to the Kamidana which is a small Shinto shrine in the next room.

While Ayame’s parents were away, the two teenage bullies started to execute their plan.

“It took us more than an hour to wait for you to fix your hair and make up but you still look ugly,” Paul insulted Ayame. He took the natto from the table and poured it inside Ayame’s kimono. Natto is a fermented soybean that has a strong smell like that of a mouldy cheese.

Ayame did not bother to shout or cry since she didn't want her father to engage in a fight. She silently cleaned her kimono while her visitors were laughing.

It was John's turn to carry out his plan. He took some sticks from the Yakitori and targeted the eyes of Ayame but the latter’s mother came and saved her. Her mother’s hand was pierced by the stick and the blood dripped.

The visitors stood up and rushed back home.

Act 3: A Stressful Neighborhood

Ayame’s family and their neighbors never talked to each other again. Her mother decided not to tell her father what really happened. Ayame was cleaning the house when she saw a gift in their enggawa. An enggawa is an outer corridor that wraps a japanese house. She felt that it was for her birthday and she curiously opened it. She shrieked in terror as a swarm of insects emerged from the box. Her mother approached her and spotted the insect-infested box. They could also hear laughter coming from their neighbor's closed window.

From the window Ayame and her mother could see Mr. and Mrs. Smith alongside John and Paul. This validates their suspicion that the parents themselves approve of the bullying being perpetrated by their sons.

That night a strange sound was heard by the Smiths. “What is that sound?” Paul inquired. “It is like the sound of fingernails scratching to the floor.”

The sound was a continuous rhythm that sounded like “teke-teke-teke-teke...” much like how it would sound when a man-sized cockroach was running on the floor.

“Maybe our neighbors are playing pranks against us,” John answered. He went to the window and extended his head out. He scanned the surroundings but did not see anything.

When he closed the window, the sound “teke-teke” came back.

He was scared to reopen the window since the noise had become unbearable.

Their father heard it and was very much annoyed. He took his baseball bat and opened the window. Mr. Smith did not find anything except some traces of what seemed to be blood on the ground. He went outside to check it but dismissed it as a liquified red dye.

As he entered the house he saw their curtains drenched with the same red liquid. He inspected the windows and realized that it was blood so he went outside directly to their neighbor’s house.

“Whatever you are doing to my family, stop it now.” Mr. Smith was fuming mad while clenching his baseball bat.

Daichi-san went outside the house and asked “I’m sorry. What did we do?”

Mr. Smith swiftly hit him in the face with the bat, Daichi-san has a small and frail physique. He was bleeding profusely on the head as he fell down on the ground.

“Serves you right fucker!” Mr. Smith cursed the half conscious old man.

Ayame’s mother went out and saw what happened. She immediately positioned her body to stop Mr. Smith from hitting her husband again. This enraged Mr. Smith, and promptly punched her in the nose as well. She fell down hard and fell on top of Daichi-san.

Mrs. Smith went out to see what’s happening. She walked to Ayame’s mother and grabbed her by the collar. “Move out of your house if you don’t want any more beating.” Mrs. Smith slapped her on the cheeks.

The two teenagers grabbed stones and threw them at Daichi-san.

Ayame heard the commotion and checked outside to see both her parents bloodied and half conscious. The Smiths have left already at that point.

Act 4: The Revenge of the Teke Teke

After tending to her own and her husband’s wounds, Ayame’s mother left their house and did not return for more than an hour. Ayame went to her father’s room and saw that he was already sleeping. Ayame went out and looked for her mother despite the harsh winter.

Meanwhile, John and Paul were playing Xbox at their house while their parents were eating hamburgers in the living room. It was almost ten o’clock and they had no plans of sleeping yet.

Mrs. Smith heard the annoying sound again.

“Teke-teke-teke-teke-teke” is a slow rhythmic seemingly scratching the floor.

She tried to ignore it. Her husband was again enraged that the neighbor beat up and all still have the gall to annoy them again. He swears this time he will burn their house down.

Her kids were not able to hear the sound because the volume of the game was maxed out.

Mrs. Smith was taking a big bite of the hamburger when she was taken aback by a reflection in their refrigerator. There is a shadow of a woman with very long hair and long fingernails. She was crawling eerily on the floor in an unusual manner. Her movements were fast and when she turned it was abrupt and jagged.

Mrs. Smith was on the point of screaming, her eyes were wide, unable to process what she was seeing. She gasped when she realized that the girl only had the upper half of her body. The lower half from the torso below is not there.

She spat out the portion of the hamburger from her mouth and pointed to the reflection but it quickly disappeared. Her husband frowned at her, stood up and decided to take a hot shower.

Mrs. Smith stood up and discovered that one of the handrail on top of the window had been destroyed. She called her sons but they were busy playing. She went to the bathroom to tell her husband but she was shocked by what she found.

Blood splashed through the curtain inside the bathroom. She slowly opened the curtain and saw her spouse in the bathtub swimming in his own blood. She sensed the presence of someone down at her back before she could even scream. Her eyes drifted to the right as she fought not to turn her back out of dread. She then turned around and was horrified at what she saw. It was the lady who was half-bodied and her eyes were all black.. Her long, straight hair was saturated with blood at the ends and hid her missing stomach.

The creature was looking at her like a lion cornering it’s prey. It moved with intent using it’s nails clawing on the floor. It is grinning now knowing that Mrs. Smith is now cornered.

Mrs. Smith tried to run but the lady was quick to stop her by pulling her hair. She fell down crying and when she raised her head she saw a disfigured hand holding a sickle. Blood splattered to the floor as the half of Mrs. Smith’s body rolled to the floor.

John and Paul played until dawn not knowing what happened to their parents. For some reason, they were not hurt by the Teke teke. But the hurt that they experienced when they discovered the tragic death of their parents haunted them all their life.

Teke teke is the ghost of a young woman, or schoolgirl, who fell on a railway line and was cut in half by an oncoming train. Now an onryō, or a vengeful spirit, she travels on either her hands or elbows, dragging her upper torso, making a scratching, or teke-teke sound. If she comes upon someone late at night and they aren't quick enough, she will cut them in half at the torso, imitating her own deformity.

Epilogue

As the ambulance took the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, out of their house, The inspectors questioned John and Paul, but they were too shocked to say anything. They also questioned Daichi-san if they heard or saw anything but he didn't know anything as well. The case was sensational because the police mentioned that the lower half of the body of Mrs. Smith was missing.

Ayame's mother was seen brushing her daughter’s hair. Ayame asked her mother “Is it okay to use my new legs now, kaasan?” while her blood drips on the floor.

-The End-