Kuchisake, wife and mother
Murdered by a jealous lover
If she finds you in the dark
She's going to leave her ghastly mark.

A child wanders alone through a dark street.

CHILD
Hello?

The child sees a woman standing alone in the flickering light of a gas lamp

CHILD
Can you help me" I'm lost...

The woman hides her face. Turning her head slightly, she speaks

KUCHISAKE
Tell me... Do you find me pretty?

The child seems confused.

CHILD
Uh, sure, you're pretty I guess.

WOMAN
Thank you,

The woman uncovers her face, revealing a grizly wound opening her mouth from ear to ear.

KUCHISAKE
Do you find me pretty now!?

Kuchikase shows her smile,
Full of teeth, cut wide a mile.
Any child she can catch
Will get a toothy grin to match.

The child screams and flees. Kuchisake follows, wirlding a massive pair of scissors.

KUCHISAKE
I will make you pretty like me!

Fleeing in bling terror, the child dows not see our hero, Lee, wandering in the fog until he collides right into her.

LEE
Oof!

They both fall to the ground.

LEE
I'm sorry, I didn't see you there! This fog is crazy, right?

CHILD
She's after me!

Confused, Lee does not see the figure of the scarred woman emerging from the fog.

LEE
Who is?

KUCHISAKE

Tell me... do you think I'm pretty?

LEE
I have to stop you there.

The displeasure is obvious on the scarred woman's face, as she was expecting either a yer or a no. Lee, however, seemed not to notice.

LEE
Have you looked in a mirror recently? I think you need to seek medical attention

Once again Kuchisake pulled her hand away from her face, revealing the grizly wound.

KUCHISAKE
I will make you pretty like me!

LEE
Oh, I get it now.

Lee pauses, then grabbing the child by the hand, flees the angry ghost.

LEE

Run!

CHILD
She's going to kill us!

LEE
Shh! Let me think!

Even in deadly flight, Lee clearly kept her mind's wheels spinning.

LEE
"'Knowledge will be my weapon,' said the newt." What do we know?

She turned back towards Kuchisake, picking out details. Kuchisake showed murderous intent, which was unusual because there seemed to be no provocation. She displated repetitive behavior, always asking the same question before each attack. And strangest of all, she had that grisly wound on her face, her mouth split wide from ear to ear, and she seemed quite unaware it was even there. Could it be?

LEE
That's it!

CHILD
What's it? What are you doing?

The child stared wide-eyed as Lee stopped running, turned on a heel and marched right back towards the advancing terror.

LEE
This is a rabium phasmatis!

CHILD
Gesundheit

LEE
No, rabiem phasmatis! That's the technical name for this type of rage-ghost! Commonly called a revenant, this is what happens when an emotion outlives a person. That means she left her brains behind when she died!

At that moment the avenging specter caught up with the two of them, and took a firm grasp of Lee by her head. The ghost raised her rusty pair of scissors, readying to cut Lee's cheeks open.

LEE
Don't you think it's better to be smart than pretty?

The ghost froze, as if unsure what to do. A moment passed, the scissors began to shake in her hand.

KUCHIKASE
I... what?

The ghost stiffened, her arms went limp, the scissors dangling harmlessly by her side. Lee grinned a victorious grin.

KUCHISAKE
Better to be? Make you... like me!

LEE

I knew it! Score one for science!

Lee began to examine the ghost, beside herself with excitement at her new scientific study.

LEE

Wow, look at her! She even has feet! It's really rare to find a fully-formed free-floating apparition in the wild like this.

CHILD
What happened?

LEE
I told you, this type of ghost has no brains. It only knows how to do one thing, rage rage, kill kill, etc. etc. I just confused it by asking it to think about something new. She doesn't have the processing power for it, so she's all frozen up, unable to hurt anyone.

CHILD
Good, let's get out of here.

LEE
What's your hurry? We know how to control her now!

A look of mischevous delight began to overtake Lee's face.

LEE
Hehe! Those fatcat PhDs will have to take me seriously after this!

CHILD
What are you talking about?

LEE
I'm talking about academia, kid! Professorships, and field studies, and sweet sweet tenure! A rare specimin like this can make your whole career! Publishers won't take me seriously just because I'm only twelve. ...And technically I've never been inside a school. Well this will show them! This ghost is the first step in my becoming the greatest zoologist in the world!

By now the ghost had begun to stir, as if it's tiny processor of a brain had finally come to a comflusion and was ready to act on it.

GHOST
Murder... someone better.

LEE
Hey wait, where are you going?

KUCHIKASE
Make them pretty... like me...

LEE
No, you can't leave! I still want to study you! I'm going to get a fat research grant out of youuu!

And so the ghost receded back into the fog, and Lee after it, chasing another hopeless dream of zoology.

Kuchikase, vengeful wight
Stalks her victims in the night
She'll carve your mouth into a slit
Unless you get away with wit

 

toothy grin the field guide to magical animals joe wierenga vengeful ghosts fantastic beasts fantasy worlds motion comic animatied gif infinite canvas

~Read more stories from
The Field Guide to Magical Animals~

Copyright 2015 Joseph Wierenga All Rights Reserved

 

 

 

 

joe wierenga Get Field Guide news & Updates on Twitter!
lee See concept art and fanart on Tumblr!
maddy Interact with other fans on Facebook!
dragons Always stay up to date with RSS
unicorn Copyright Joseph Wierenga 2015 All Rights Reserved