In a hospital during a power outage, Dr. Tetsuichiro Kuzumi recalls past events. In a Flashback (narrative), he is shown moving with his wife Yoriko from the city of Tokyo to a house in Kyushu, in order to help cure her tuberculosis. They are accompanied by her elder brother Kenichi. On the way there, their driver sees a black cat cross the road, and nearly crashes the car over a railing and into the sea. They arrive at the centuries-old mansion, where Yoriko is apprehensive at the sight of a cat, a group of crows, and a bloodstained wall. She also sees an eerie old woman who disappears before the others can see her.