The Hino cemetery sank into darkness as night fell, the gravestones barely visible under the fading light of dusk. Cassian, Helen, and Sato stood near Nobuko's shattered grave, surrounded by an oppressive silence broken only by the creaking of dry branches moved by a freezing wind. Cassian checked his backpack, pulling out a vial of holy water and his blessed dagger, the metal gleaming under the flashlight Helen held. Sato, leaning on his cane, muttered Shinto prayers in Japanese, his trembling but determined voice attempting to seal the grave with a red cord he stretched over the broken slab.
"This should work," Sato said, adjusting the cord with clumsy hands. "If we complete the seal, her spirit will be trapped here. But we must hurry."
"Keep the pace," Cassian replied, sprinkling holy water in a circle around the grave. "We don't know how much time we have."
Helen, holding a gun loaded with blessed bullets, scanned the shadows between the trees.
"I feel something," she said, turning the flashlight. "The air is heavier. Do you think she's already here?"
"If not, she'll be here soon," Cassian answered, testing the edge of his dagger against his thumb. "Stay alert."
Before Sato could finish the third prayer, a piercing scream cut through the silence, echoing among the gravestones. Cassian spun around, dagger in hand, and saw Yumi running toward them from the edge of the cemetery, her face pale as death, her black hair messy and falling over her eyes. She tripped on a root and fell to her knees a few meters away, her hands trembling as she clutched the ground.
"Cassian!" she screamed, struggling to get up. "She followed me! That woman from my dream, she's here!"
Cassian ran to her, grabbing her by the shoulders to steady her.
"What are you doing here, Yumi? I left you in Shibuya."
"I don't know," she replied, gasping, tears streaming down her cheeks. "After you left, I felt something strange, like someone was watching me. I took a train to Hino without thinking—I had to find you. Then I saw her in the car, at the end, wearing that mask. I got off and ran, but she followed me here."
"Did you see her clearly?" Cassian asked, looking toward the mist starting to rise between the trees.
"No," Yumi said, trembling. "Just her figure, tall, with a long coat. But I knew it was her, the one from my dream. What's happening, Cassian?"
Helen approached, frowning as she pointed the flashlight at Yumi.
"Who is this, Cassian? We don't have time for civilians right now."
"It's Yumi," he explained, not taking his eyes off her. "I met her yesterday. I don't know why she's here, but it's no coincidence."
"We need to get her out of here," Helen said, lowering the flashlight. "If Kuchisake-onna followed her, she's in danger."
Before they could move, the mist thickened, and a tall figure emerged among the gravestones, walking with slow, deliberate steps. She wore a long black coat, her dark hair falling over her shoulders, and a white surgical mask covering the lower half of her face. In her right hand, enormous scissors gleamed under the flashlight, their blades stained with dried blood. She stopped ten meters away, tilting her head toward Yumi.
"Am I pretty?" she asked, her voice scraping like metal against stone, each word heavy with threat.
Yumi screamed, stumbling backward, but Cassian pushed her behind him, facing Kuchisake-onna.
"No," he replied, raising the dagger, his tone firm. "You're not."
The woman tilted her head, and with a slow movement, she removed the mask, letting it fall to the ground. Her mouth was slit ear to ear, her torn lips revealing sharp, twisted teeth, fresh blood dripping down her chin. She let out a low laugh, raising the scissors, and charged at them, the blades slicing through the air with a whistle.
Helen fired her gun, the blast echoing through the cemetery, but the blessed bullets passed through the mist, disappearing into the fog. Kuchisake-onna turned toward her, swinging a cut that grazed her arm, tearing a scream from Helen as she dropped the flashlight. Cassian jumped between them, blocking a second strike with his dagger, the metal clashing against the scissors with a screech that raised goosebumps on his skin.
"Sato, finish the seal!" Cassian shouted, shoving the woman back.
Sato, kneeling beside the grave, lifted the red cord, reciting faster.
"Kami-sama, trap this spirit, bind it to the earth," he murmured, but Kuchisake-onna heard him and turned toward him.
With a swift motion, she knocked him down with a blow, driving the scissors into his right shoulder. Sato screamed, collapsing onto the grave, the red cord slipping from his hands as blood stained the broken slab.
"No!" Helen exclaimed, running toward him, but the woman intercepted her, raising the scissors again.
Cassian attacked from the side, slashing the Kuchisake-onna's arm with his dagger. The blade cut through the coat's fabric, leaving a black gash that didn't bleed, but she retreated, turning toward him with a growl. Yumi, paralyzed near a gravestone, sobbed, her hands covering her mouth.
"I saw her in my dream!" she screamed, her voice breaking. "She was cutting my face, killing me! It's her, Cassian!"
"Stay back," he ordered, blocking another strike from the scissors, the impact vibrating through his arm.
Helen, recovering, examined the grave while Sato groaned on the ground. She found a broken amulet among the stones, a wooden disc engraved with Shinto symbols, and picked it up.
"Cassian, use this!" she shouted, throwing it to him.
He caught it mid-air, holding it in front of Kuchisake-onna. The woman froze, her dark eyes fixed on the amulet, and Cassian seized the moment to splash holy water from his vial, the liquid splattering her mutilated face. She shrieked, retreating, dropping the scissors as she covered her face with her arms.
"She's weakening!" Helen exclaimed, helping Sato to his feet.
But Kuchisake-onna let out a deep laugh, a sound that reverberated through the cemetery, and the ground trembled under their feet, the gravestones vibrating as if something were pushing them from below.
"He sent me," she whispered, her voice cutting through the air. "You can't stop me."
Cassian frowned, recalling the whisper in the Warrens' house, but he had no time to think. The woman picked up the scissors from the ground and ran toward Yumi, ignoring him. He lunged after her, tackling her just before the blades reached Yumi's throat, both falling among the gravestones. Kuchisake-onna writhed beneath him, clawing at his arm with black nails, but Cassian pressed the amulet against her chest, dousing her with more holy water.
"Helen, take Yumi to the village!" he shouted, struggling to keep her pinned.
"And you?" Helen asked, running toward Yumi.
"Sato and I will hold her," he replied, as the woman broke free and stood up.
Helen grabbed Yumi by the arm, dragging her toward the edge of the cemetery.
"Let's go, now," Helen said, as Yumi sobbed, looking back.
"Cassian, don't stay!" Yumi screamed, but Helen forced her to keep running.
Sato, leaning on a gravestone, raised his cane with his good hand.
"We need to seal her," he said, panting. "The cord, quickly."
Cassian searched for the red cord on the ground, but before he could reach it, Kuchisake-onna vanished into the mist, her laughter echoing as she disappeared. A trail of fresh blood marked the path north, toward Tokyo. Cassian stood, wiping the dagger on his pants.
"She's gone," Sato said, collapsing against the grave. "But she'll return."
"Not if we find her first," Cassian replied, helping him to his feet.
The cemetery fell silent again, the rusted scissors around the grave gleaming under the moonlight.