As the group sprinted up the stairs entirely, they would all see that there wasn't much to see. The onryo had indeed vanished the moment that Makiko had sprinted for it, via making itself invisible or vanishing to another location, or any other sort of trick available to a purely spiritual being. But, indeed, the air was 'thick with corruption' so to speak. The mere presence of something like an onryo could warp its very surroundings in subtle ways. The spiritual corruption inherent in something driven so entirely by vengeance was palpable. The grudge of an onryo was very dangerous to the unprepared.

Even now, Makiko could see a black stain on the ceiling, dripping with black water. The building's owner seemed unlikely to leave something that grotesque in the open, so Makiko doubted that it was anything natural. There were others, one on the wall, further down the hallway. With this oppressive atmosphere, it was no surprise many residents of the apartment had fled.

"We're sticking together," Makiko said, glancing back over her shoulder, "You'd have to be a fool to split up if you're dealing with something like this. As long as we stay together, there's no way an onryo can really be much harm."

It was the case, really. The vengeful spirits were most dangerous when someone was isolated and left to easy influence. That was what gave Makiko so much confidence in this scenario.

"It might take a while," Makiko continued, reaching for an ajar door, "But we'll search every room, together, to fi-"

As she pushed it open, she was immediately greeted with the sight of the onryo.

Only... there was something strange about this scenario.

The girl in the room was unquestionably a spirit, that much Makiko could tell, though her being was in a more physical state at the moment.

[url=http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=677380]That trailing black hair, the pale skin... the appearance of the girl held many of the physical trappings of an onryo[/url]. But she was small, and her hair had been cleared out of her eyes.

And yet she was sitting at the end of the room, hugging her legs and glaring at Makiko, rather then anything one might expect of such a vengeful spirit.

"... What are you doing here?" the girl finally asked. Though her voice was soft, her tone was one of irritation. The fact that she actually decided to speak seemed decidedly out of character for something like an onryo. "Go away..."

Makiko stared blankly. What was going on here? Before she could respond, however, the girl's eyes widened as she looked up.

The black stains had converged just above the group. The material of the ceiling warped, as if dozens of twisting arms had spread out beneath it.. and all at once, arms made of black liquid burst from the ceiling to lash out at the group.