Heads or trails...

The Japanese occupation during the World War II had left lasting effects on most of the countries they landed on; even way after the war has ended.
In fact, you will be surprised to learn that there are still remnants of the occupation found in some of the places where some of the killings took place, haunting and lingering among the living.

I have heard of so many stories revolving around the hauntings and sightings of the Japanese past, existing in the present day. It is like they never left, even centuries after the end of the war, reminding the generation today of the terrifying incidents of the war.

The short story I am about to share is from a third party (a friend of a friend), who experienced a bizarre and disturbing incident during his stay in a hotel in a remote place in China.

He was traveling with his wife to this part of China, for sightseeing and relaxation and they booked a hotel. There was not much of a choice anyway, as the place here is rather isolated and they were not fussy with their place of accommodation as their primary purpose is to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the place, and the amount of time they spend in the room is secondary to their tour.
Furthermore the room they checked into was quite good, and therefore they left their luggages and started their tour of the place.

At night, they went back to the hotel which had two beds, and feeling tired, they just slept together on one of the beds.

In the middle of the night, the husband was slightly stirred by some movement at the side of the bed where he also heard some sounds.
He moved over to the side of the bed to take a look, and to his amazement (not to mention shock), he saw a rather transparent and grayish face looking back at him.
He then jolted up with a shock as he saw that it was a head (only!) of a Japanese soldier, with blood on his eyes and face.

He rubbed his eyes, and realized that it was still there!
He was unable to move although he tried with all his might to wake up his wife, but he just simply could not move nor speak!
The head just remained there, and it seemed like forever it was fixated in the air.

When he could finally move, the head sort of disappeared into thin air.
He turned and noticed his wife, looking scared and shaken, and apparently, she had seen the head too!

They were both badly shaken by that sighting and quickly turned on all the lights in the room.
Needless to say, they were unable to get back to sleep that night.

The next day, they went to the reception to relate the incident and to request for a change of room.
The guy manning the desk did not seem surprised when they told him the story, and apologized that the hotel was already fully booked and they were unable to change their room.
The guy also further revealed that it was due to the full occupation of the hotel that they opened up their restricted floor for guests, and that the room which they were occupying at that time was located on that floor.
It seems that the floor was closed due to some supernatural reasons, and that there have been reported sightings of Japanese soldiers.

Hearing this, the couple was freaked out, but the guy told them that these spirits are only appearing because they feel that their space has been intruded.
Also, the hotel has provided two beds in the room as one of the bed is reserved for the spirits and that the couple only need to sleep in the other bed to avoid any disturbance.
The reason why they saw the head the night before was probably because they picked the wrong bed, and that bed was the one which belonged to the spirit.

The couple had no choice, but to stay on for the second night although they were still fearful of the incident repeating again.
They tried to avoid staying in the room as much as possible and spent most of the day in the town, and only going back to the room for sleep (which they would prefer to skip if they had a choice, but the town was just quiet as well at night).

That night, they hopped to the other bed to sleep and cuddled up to each other tightly, not daring to look at any direction. They stayed awake for a while before finally falling asleep due to exhaustion.
When they opened up their eyes, it was already the morning and they were relieved and thankful that they survived that night without any disturbance.

They continued to stay for another night, to finish up their itinerary, and was relieved to finally check out.
They thanked the receptionist for his help, but he shrugged, telling them that is was a normal phenomenon and that usually the hotel will not choose to open up the rooms on that floor to avoid extra requests and complaints.
He also told them that the hotel was built on a site which had reported killings of soldiers during the Japanese occupation and that the hotel was occasionally haunted by the sightings of Japanese soldiers.

Nevertheless, the couple was glad to be finally leaving the place and going home.
I would too, if I were them, but I am still amazed they could continue staying there after the sighting that night!
I would probably book the next flight out, or if not, I would choose to stay in the lobby! :-P