Takeshita Demons (15 page)

Ittan momen are long bits of cloth that can come to life in the
night. They love to tangle around your body and might even
try to suffocate you, so keep an eye on your curtains.

Is the person sitting next to you really who you think they
are? Noppera-bo are experts at pretending to be other people,
and they love to cause trouble. Just when you least expect it
their features can disappear, melting away to leave their face
as empty as a blank page.

During the day you might mistake this yokai for a normal
person, but be warned. At night, while its body is sleeping,
its head can detach and fly around hunting for delicious
things to eat (like children and puppy dogs).

With the torso of a woman and the body of a snake, this
fearsome yokai has wicked claws and a long forked tongue.
She's strong enough to crush a tree in the coils of her massive
tail.

If you're ever staring up at the sky and spot an enormous
head in the clouds, watch out! Spotting an o-kubi usually means something awful is just around the corner...

Did it happen by mistake? Or did someone do it on purpose?
Whatever the reason, if some part of your house was built
upside-down, your entire house is doomed to be haunted.

Tall, pale and icily beautiful, this yokai is a spirit of the
snow. She leaves no footprints, preferring to float above the
ground, and she can disappear in a puff of cold mist.

This mischievous yokai haunts houses and usually appears
in the shape of a child. If your house is haunted by a zashikiwarashi, count yourself lucky, but don't forget to take good
care of it. If your house ghost ever chooses to leave you,
your luck will quickly end.

Turn the page for an exclusive preview
of the first chapter of

TAKESHTTA DEMONS II

another demon adventure
for Miku and Cait.

CHAPTER ONE

"Cait, are you still there?" I could hear breathing on the
other end of the phone, but Cait's voice had disappeared,
cut off halfway through a sentence. "Hello?"

It was dark outside, late on the night before School
Camp, and I had a bad feeling in my gut that was cutting
like knives. I was supposed to be packing shirts and
shoes and lucky charms to take to camp, but I hadn't
even opened my case.

The phone crackled. "Sorry," Cait whispered.
"I had to go quiet. I'm s'posed to be in bed. Dad'll freak
if he finds me up this late."

So she was still there. Still OK. Relief prickled down
my arms.

"What's up?" she asked. "Why are you calling so
late?"

I swallowed. "It's about camp," I began. "I've got
this feeling..."

Cait didn't hesitate. "I know," she said. "Me too."

I grinned despite the churning in my belly. Of course Cait would understand. She'd been with me
through everything, helping me break into our school
and rescue my brother, making friends with a halfdragon water-woman, even standing up to Mrs Okuda
after she'd become a child-eating nukekubi demon.
Since the night we'd met the demons, Cait and I had
been virtually inseparable. Unlike Mrs Okuda and her
head.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking," Cait continued.
"About camp. I think we're going to need a few extra
things...."

I listened, on the edge of my bed.

"But it's hard to know," she said. "I think I'll take
two, then I can wear one at dinner or whatever, and
have the other if Mr Lloyd makes us go hiking. Are you
taking two? Or maybe we should go for three?"

"What? What are you talking about?"

The phone went silent. "Jeans," Cait said. "What are
you talking about?"

"Demons." I hissed the word into the phone, as if
a demon might be listening outside my door right that
very second. "At camp."

The phone stayed silent.

"Cait?" What was going on over there? Maybe she
wasn't safe after all...