Chapter II
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Ren swept the blow-dryer over the books laid out on the table. Sighing, he laid it down and sat down on the floor.
"Aagh!"
Ren shot up again, trying to ignore the sogginess spreading over the back of his pants. Karin walked into the room, weaving around one of the many fans all over the room. She looked at Ren, as though she was expecting something.
"Fine." Said Ren.
"Huh?" Karin asked.
Ren sighed, braced himself, and said, "I'll help you redo the house."
Karin looked shocked, then an expression of ecstacy spread over her face. "Really? You mean it?"
Ren nodded painfully. "Mm-hmm"
"Wheeeee!" Squealed Karin as she leapt forward and glomped her brother.
"Mmph!" Ren snorted. "Doesn't mean...want...to touch."
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
"Okay." Ren said. "Lets not jump into huge renovations so early. We have to start out small; cleaning the house."
Karin nodded. "Fair enough. So where do we start?"
Ren thought for a moment. "Lets get the messiest room out of the way first; the attic."
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Ren stared around his room. Okay. He thought. Locate the weakest link, separate it from the herd, and take it out.
Ten minutes later...
Ren glanced in between the two books in his hands. Chessman's Bible and the Chess Guide for Absolute Nimrods. Jeez, this is hard.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Ren jumped about a foot in the air. Karin! He dashed out the door, skidding on the damp wooden floor. Recovering, he tore up to the ladder leading up to the attic. "Karin?" Suddenly he heard rapid footsteps from above, and a yell of shock. He stared up and his eyes widened as Karin came crashing down from above, knocking him down. Karin quickly got up and stared down at her unconscious brother, before dashing to the kitchen and grabbing a bottle off of the counter. Running back to Ren, she waved the bottle under his nose.
"HWAAAAAAAAARGH!" Ren let out a howl of agony and shot up, holding his nose. Karin stared.
"Uh, Ren, wasn't that reaction overdone? I mean, it was just salt."
Ren turned to her. "That's the thing. That wasn't salt. It was garlic powder."
Karin stared skeptically at the bottle, before sniffing it and drawing back with disgust. "Yuck, you're right. At least it worked."
Ren got to his feet slowly. "Karin, what happened up there? You screamed like the dead was walking."
Karin shuddered. "There was something up there! It moved!"
Ren rolled his eyes. "Okay, then lets go up and take care of it.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Ren stared around the attic, taking in dusty old books and moth-eaten suits. Suddenly something grabbed his hand. "YAAAAH!"
"Sorry."
Ren shook his head. "Just look around the attic for a little while. If you see something, give a yell." With that, the two young vampires separated and began searching the attic. Ren shifted through a pile of old CDs. Halo. I wonder if it still works. He stopped and pocketed it.
Click.
Ren jumped at the sound, whirling to face it. Thanks to his vampire blood, he could see movement in the dark. Squinting, he saw a small, furry shape hunched on top of a box of old, dusty books. "Karin, it was just a mouse."
Karin hurried over. "I see him." she said.
Ren grinned, revealing formidable incisors. "And I got him!" He yelled, hurtling forward. The mouse, however, saw him about 1/6 of a second before the vampire grabbed him, and dove out of the way, sending Ren crashing through the box and sprawling on the floor. "Ow."
Karin lunged at the mouse, missed, and skidded on the floor, scrabbling wildly for the rodent, who dashed into a hole in the wall. Karin crashed into the wall, showering dust everywhere. Ren had gotten to his feet by this time, and helped Karin up. "We'll never get him now." He said.
"Yeah, but we can't just leave this thing up here." Said Karin. "Think about what it'll do to the aesthetic sense of this place."
Ren nodded. "I'll be right back."
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
"Steadyyyyyyyy..." Ren said as he carefully placed an olive on a mouse trap, and quickly pulled his hand away. "Done. All right, lets get back to work."
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Late that night, Karin lay in bed, trying to sleep. For about the third time, she got up and paced around her room, then got back in bed.
SNAP!
Karin sat up quickly at the sudden sound. Then as she realized what it was, she smiled and slept peacefully.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
The next morning Karin ran up to the attic. Dreading what she was about see, she slowly walked up to the mousetrap, and her jaw dropped.
"REN!"
About five seconds later, Ren tore up the stairs. "What? What? Who died?"
Karin pointed. "No one did! Look!"
Ren stared. "Whoa."
The mousetrap had snapped. However there was no corpse, no blood, nothing. Nothing, that is, except a small red object on the ground. Ren picked it up and bit it. "I don't believe it. It's the pit. He snapped the trap, ate the olive and left the pit to mock us."
"How do you now it's a he?" Karin asked, frowning at him.
Ren rolled his eyes. "Okay; it." He walked downstairs again, Karin close behind him. Walking into the kitchen, he tossed the pit in the garbage. Karin stepped beside him. "So should I make pancakes or something?" She asked.
"That all depends on if they have discovered an antidote." Ren joked.
Karin rolled her eyes. "Har, har." She walked to the cabinet and pulled out a box of Lucky Charms. "You want anything?" She asked.
"No thanks. I have a date tonight. About time too; I'm starving."
Karin shrugged as she got a bowl. "Suit yourself." she said as she pored the cereal into the bowl. Suddenly there was a muffled thump and Karin let out a shriek. The mouse had been hiding in the box of cereal and had dumped into the bowl. Karin turned beet red and seemed ready to either pass out or have a blood attack. Ren, on the other hand, dove forward, nearly knocking the table over. The mouse, however, was quicker. Spraying lucky charms into Ren's face, the rodent dashed off the table, Ren and Karin close behind. With a roar of rage, Ren dove at the mouse. The mouse turned sharply and dashed into a hole in the wall, sending Ren smashing into the wall. As his world spun, the young vampire heard a rattling noise. Glancing up, he saw a priceless vase on a shelf above him quiver, and then topple off. Ren's vampire reflexes saved him. He reached up and grabbed the vase seconds before it clonked him over the head. Ren got up and slowly placed the vase on the shelf as Karin ran up to him.
"Obviously, we have underestimated our foe. We have to kick it up a notch." He turned to his sister with a wry smile. "Get the Gouda."
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
"Karin, this is ridiculous!" Ren snapped.
"Is not! And besides, you agreed to redo the house, and some appliances are in need of replacement." Karin retorted.
"Replacement by a 100,000 yen Jacuzzi tub?!?" Ren asked as the two vampires struggled to pull the heavy appliance up the stairs.
"Oh, come on, Ren! Just think about how happy Mom and Dad will be!"
Ren snorted. "I must have missed something, I don't remember bankruptcy being grounds for a complement!" As he neared the top of the stairs, he stared at a jar on the banister, and his eyes widened. The mouse was standing behind the jar, distorting its face. Ren screamed, startling the mouse, and it slid down the banister next to Karin. She screamed and dropped the tub. Ren did not have time to drop the tub and was pulled backwards into the tub. Meanwhile, the tub slid backwards, and bashed into Karin, sending her into the tub as well, and the two went shooting through the closed door with a crash and into the pond, where, fortunately, the tub floated them like a boat. Karin turned to the shell-shocked Ren. "Look on the bright side. We were going to replace that door anyway."
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
(A/N: Like it? R and R!)