[Reyoki]

"Beaches are lovely, but if you've seen one you've seen them all. Sand, water, and shells if you're lucky. Thanks for indulging me, though," she said while looking out over the lake. She gazed out over the lake and munched on some of her fries. When she was finished with them, she tossed the cardboard container into a nearby trash bin and sat back down. "I suppose I'll tell you about that incident, then."

"It happened a little over forty years ago when my mom was in junior high. You see, this town has always had this ghost story involving black candles and a mirror. Supposedly, if you stand in front of a mirror while holding an unlit black candle and say 'unveil your mysteries' to your reflection, the candle will light on its own and you'll be haunted by an evil spirit until either you go insane or die."

She drank a bit more of what was left of her soda before continuing. "Now, apparently, this story has been around since the town was founded. Up until the incident, people had thought it was just some story to get kids to stay out of trouble. I can't see how it would do that, though.

"Well, someone tried the ritual. It was a freshman from the college. It was part of his fraternity hazing, apparently. Anyways, he went missing for a few days afterwards. When his roommate got back from a trip the following week, they found his body- well, what was left of it -in the dorm room."

She finished the rest of her sandwich and tossed out the wrapper before continuing, making a face as she did. "From the newspaper reports, the scene must have been pretty awful. There was blood and organs splattered across the room, and the lit candle had scorched part of the carpet. The entire dorm had to be demolished because of the awful smell... and because of the weird things that kept happening in the six months after the incident.

"Some of the other students living in the dorm swore to seeing the guy who had died wandering the halls. Others fell violently ill and had to be admitted to the hospital. A few more started seeing things and were either sent away or committed suicide. Eventually, the entire building was condemned.

"They were going to try building another dorm there a few years ago, but there were all these accidents. Workers falling into holes, machinery disappearing, stuff like that. Then, at one point, the entire structure just caved in on itself. The entire area was declared a no-build zone after that. They said the ground there was just too unstable.

"It was something about sinkholes and underground caves. I don't believe it, though. If we had a sinkhole problem around here, the lake would dry up and half the town would be caved in by now. No, I think there's something else going on that we can't see. It's hard not to after all that's happened, especially if you read as much manga as I do." She chuckled a bit at that and finally turned her gaze from the lake back to her companion.

"But anyways, that's what happened. I'm sorry if I bored you with our town's wild ghost story." She finished off her soda, poured the ice in the grass, and threw away the cup. "Is there anything else you'd like to know?