Oh, just saying before you start, the chapter is really long compared to the others, so prepare to read for a while. :)

Chapter 8

Takuro exited the annex, highly doubting that Takeshi would search in unexplored area before knowing that there really was nothing left in known places. He climbed down the stairs and took a look at the remains of the closet for a second, remembering the chase before moving to his right, back in the huge room. He decided to get out of the basement, sure that the blonde boy would not be in that small room up there. Once he was back in the main house, he closed his eyes and held his breath, trying to hear steps or something sounding human. Since he heard absolutely nothing, he walked up to the wardrobes in the corridor and looked around. Seeing nothing, he got to the secret door they found earlier and poked his head in. Still nothing. He sighed, a bit annoyed. Takeshi really got far in that little amount of time he was alone. The red-haired boy exited the corridor, entering the main hall. He stopped for a moment in front of the door to think a bit. There was three places where it would be logical for Takeshi to go, the kitchen and the two bathrooms.

He heard a door open and close on his right, where the two bathrooms were. The red-haired teen got where the sound came from, the first door on the path, and tried to open it. The knob blocked, just like if it was locked. He frowned, did his friend really lock the door? Both of them knew the monster could kick doors down anyway. He tried a second time. It still blocked but the door opened in front of him. Looks like Takeshi realized it was him. Just as he stepped in, a huge hand shoved him on the side and the door closed. Before he could react, something grabbed him and threw him in a freezing liquid, surely water. He got pushed deeper in the water, quitting the surface. He couldn't breathe, he needed to breath, and he knew he wouldn't last long. He got his head out and tried to take a deep breath but a warm, red liquid got poured in his mouth, immediately getting in his throat. He opened his eyes in shock. He only had time to see the monster that he got pushed back in the water. He succeeded to get his head out again but the red salty liquid got poured again in his throat, making him cough. Just as he started to do so, the creature shoved him back in the water, not letting him a second to breathe.


Takeshi got out of the kitchen. The only thing he found so far was a bottle of vinegar.

I'm in a huge mansion with at least twenty rooms and the only thing I can find is vinegar?

He sighed but still kept it. Anything could be useful. He entered the main hall and looked at the wall where the door once stood. Would they ever get out of this place? Would the monster catch them? Just the thought made him shiver a bit.

Loud steps behind him made him turn. His blood turned cold when he saw the thing. It was a square-like form with legs and arms. Its eyes were entirely black except for a white dot in the center and they were looking straight at him. Even with this the most horrible thing was his teeth, they were tall, sharp and red on the edges. It was running toward him. It was dashing toward him. The blonde-teen ran the only way he could: forward. He panicked knowing the two bathrooms in front of him were both dead ends. It was catching up, he didn't have more than a couple of seconds to escape it. Maybe... Maybe it was weaker than the other one! He could go in a room and male sure it wouldn't enter. He hoped it was weaker; it was his only hope to escape. He darted in the first bathroom since it was the closer one and slammed the door behind him before leaning on it. His eyes widened in shock a he saw the first monster at the other side of the room, just next to him. It was facing the bath, where something kept moving in the water. It stopped and looked at him as the door almost opened because of the second creature. Takeshi knew he had to do something, maybe he could use the plate shard on... The plate shard! He forgot it in the room in the annex! He had to find another idea. The little wall next to him gave him one. He remembered that little trick Takuro taught him when they were younger. He couldn't stop using it at every opportunity he had before he fell and broke his wrist.

It was a bit risky since it's been a long time he didn't make it but it was surely worth trying. He leaped away from the door as the monster was about to grab him. The second one opened the door and came in. It gave a signal to the blonde boy that ran and jumped toward the wall. Once his feet were touching it, he jumped from the wall toward the exit. The second creature jumped and opened its mouth to bite him on the forearm. Takeshi let out a small scream of pain as flesh separated from the rest of his arm, staying between the thing's teeth. He pressed his arm against his chest, not caring about the blood soaking his shirt. He looked behind to see that the two monsters were following him. An idea sparked in his mind as he sprinted in the library. He ran to the end of the room and climbed on the shelves until he was on top of them. He stayed on top of it, waiting. The second monster rammed on the bookshelf he was on, just like the blonde teen was expecting. As the shelves began falling, Takeshi jumped on the one in front of him, the other and the last one. He jumped off, sprinted upstairs, entered in the first room in front of him and entered the closet, holding his breath and hoping he didn't leave a mark of blood that would show his location.

He heard the door open and close. There were several steps and loud breathing. His heart was pounding so hard that he wondered if it wasn't going to explode in his chest. He tried to see his arm but it was obviously too dark in the closet to see. He closed his eyes as he started to shiver. The creatures didn't get out of the room yet, they surely knew he was in there. He heard the door open and close again followed by a long silence. He opened his eyes. Seeing that the closet's doors were still closed, he sighed in relief and opened the doors to exit the piece of furniture, his shaking legs barely supporting him. He walked toward the door and opened it slowly, just to be sure the things weren't waiting for him outside. He silently closed the door behind him and climbed down the stairs. He would go back to the annex, he could always search again here after a while. He looked at his arm once he was in the main hall. He winced in disgust and pain when he saw it. The flesh was pulled off when it wasn't bitten off by the second monster. Plus, there was a lot of blood coming out of the injury. He couldn't help but take a look at his shirt that felt wet. There was a long and large trail of blood from the place where he put his arm a moment ago to the bottom of the shirt.

He stopped himself when he was about to open the door leading to the basement. He remembered that something was moving in the bath. He headed back in the bathroom and looked at the bath to see Takuro lying on the floor next to it with a puddle of blood coming out of his mouth. His whole face was covered in blood. His heart skipped a beat. Was he dead? No, Takuro could not die! The blonde boy rushed to his friend's side and put his hands on the red-haired's chest. He sighed in relief when he felt his friend's heartbeat.

Suddenly remembering that the monster could be nearby, he put Takuro's arm on his shoulder and supported his friend with his free arm, ignoring the pain coming from it. He exited the bathroom and got back in the basement. He ran as fast as he could in the annex and entered the dark room.


Takuro opened his eyes but saw nothing. It made him panic at first but he immediately calmed down seeing the lighter on the floor a bit farther in front of Hiroshi that was wrapping a part of his scarf around Takeshi's arm. The red-haired teen took a deep breath but started coughing blood halfway through it which caught the two other boys' (and probably Mika's) attention. He sat up as he realized it was pretty hard to breathe properly. The two other boys got to their friend's side.

"Are you okay?" Asked Hiroshi.

The red-haired boy only nodded as an answer, feeling sleepy. That's when the memories came back. He remembered entering the bathroom and that the monster shoved him in the freezing water, trying to drown him. Then, it let him go. At first, he thought he was dead but he realized he wasn't when he got his head out, finally breathing. He just had time to crawl out before he fainted.

"Takeshi..." The red-haired teen said weakly, "I'm sorry..."

The blonde boy made a small smile.

"It's alright," He replied, "I shouldn't have walked away too, I got you in trouble."

"It's not you, I just wasn't cautious." Admitted Takuro with a smirk.


It was noon if Takuro's watch was right. The gang had decided to split up in two groups. Takeshi and Hiroshi would search in the previous part of mansion while Mika and Takuro would look in the annex. They would meet back in the dark room when they were done. Takuro and Mika were upstairs, in a room with a fireplace and a long table. The room was a complete mess. The fireplace was half-destroyed and the table looked like it had been pushed violently on the wall. The red-haired boy approached the table, seeing a trail of blood on it. After looking at it for a second, he deduced that it was Hiroshi's blood since some wood shards were missing. He couldn't explain why, but he began to grow nervous, even more than he already was. He started playing with the lighter to try to calm down as he looked at Mika that was glaring at a hole in the ceiling. It was probably a room upstairs. He put a hand on her shoulder indicating he was ready to go. She nodded and followed him. When he walked next to the fireplace, he dropped the lighter in the pile of wood. He quickly got it back and walked out but he didn't see that a flame began to form and slowly grew bigger and hotter.

They climbed up the stairs and entered in the only room of the floor. It was large but also empty. There was a very small table and an empty bookshelf. The only interesting thing was a panel with three numbers on it. Since he knew that everything they could find was important and useful, he decided to write them down. He searched in his pockets but found nothing except the plate shard and the lighter. He searched in his pockets but found nothing except the plate shard and the lighter. He took out the plate shard and rolled up his sleeve. He cut his palm as Mika backed away, pure fear in her eyes. The red-haired put back the plate shard and picked some blood on his finger to write the numbers on his forearm.

290

He turned to Mika that was leaned on the wall, shivering. She then smiled widely, which scared Takuro. The girl in front of him wasn't Mika. Whatever she had turned to be now, the girl he knew was far.

Before he could react, she leaped on him and threw him on the floor. She grabbed his wrist and picked the blood coming out with her other hand before licking it. She entered her finger in the cut in order to get more. The red-haired boy groaned in pain as she pulled her finger back, licking the blood on it. He had to do something but he didn't want to hurt her. He managed to remove his other hand from under her knee and grabbed her wrists all in one hand. He sat up and stood, forcing her to move with him. Before she could try anything he tackled her on the wall, keeping her in this position until she would calm down. When she stopped moving and just looked at him right in the eyes with a begging expression asking to let her go, he felt a ball growing in his throat. She maybe wasn't the Mika he knew but he still loved her.

"I know you're somewhere in there, Mika." He said with a shaky voice. "Count on me, I'll find you!"

The girl stared at him with a sad look, like if she didn't get all what he said, but understood him. The red-haired boy released her and exited the room, not saying a word. He climbed down the two staircases silently and got in the corridor next to it. He walked to his right and opened the door. It was a small room with a table on the corner with three wooden dolls on it. One of them didn't have any eyes. Since they found nothing else in, they got out and headed for the left room. It was the same as the other one except that there was a rope tied to a chair and one of the three wooden dolls had a red eye instead of two white ones. Mika took the one with a red eye and searched a pocket to put it in but found none. Takuro couldn't help but giggle a bit. Even though she loved that outfit, she was always forgetting that she didn't have any pockets. He gently took the doll out of her hands and put it in his empty pocket.

"Here, I'll carry it." He said, kissing her on the forehead.

It's only when he exited the room that he remembered that it wasn't the real Mika. Well, at least, she didn't have a bad reaction. They walked back to the main hall in the annex and got in the last corridor they didn't search in. The first door was locked so they moved on to the next one. Two hands grabbed their legs and pulled them down, breaking the floor. They screamed in surprise as they fell in a room with a door and staircase. The red-haired teen pulled out the plate shard and stabbed the monster on the arm so it would let him go. Before he could pull it out of the arm, they were both thrown in a corner far from the staircase and the door.


Hiroshi and Takeshi entered the annex. They didn't find anything in the area they searched in. The only thing they took was the last plate shard. Hiroshi had three on him now.

Two screams they knew perfectly came to their ears. It was from the right corridor. The boys looked at each other for a split second before running toward the source of the cries. They ran toward the hole in the floor as the wood shards got back to their places, sealing the floor. They stared at it in panic as they heard Mika's screams of terror.

"Takeshi! The door!" Hiroshi shouted to his friend.

They had to kick it down before it would be too late.


Stuck in the corner, Takuro wrapped his arms around Mika, doing his best to protect her. They were both feeling their end was near but the red-haired boy hoped that the monster would start with him so that something would get the girl out.

The brunette's hands on his cheeks made him turn toward her. Before he had time to react, she kissed him. His eyes opened wide in surprise before she let go and pushed him away violently, her scary smile coming back with a giggle. He tried to take a hold of something. The only thing he was able to grab was her red scarf that got ripped off right away. She stood up and stayed right in front of the monster, still smiling. The creature took her arm between two of his huge fingers and pressed it until it broke with splashes of blood soaking the girl's clothes. Takuro screamed in despair as her skin turned purple and she began to grow up very fast. Her clothes got ripped off as her eyes became completely black. In a couple of second, she had become the same as the monster, the only thing that made the red-haired teen recognize her was her hair that had stayed the same. She slowly turned toward him as he stared in horror at the two creatures that were slowly approaching him. He couldn't help but stay in the corner, shivering and praying that it would not be painful.

"Takuro!" Hiroshi's voice shouted.

The red-haired boy looked at the staircase to see Takeshi and the gray-haired boy heading down the stairs. He noticed that the two monsters were looking at his friends. Now was his chance. He leaped out of the corner between the creatures and darted to the staircase. Before he could reach it, Mika grabbed him. He gasped as she bit his leg, making him scream. Since she had loosened her grip a little, he put all of his strength in his arms and violently pushed the hand away. He prepared himself to run as he landed on the floor. A sharp pain coming from his leg made him fall with a yelp. He tried to get up, but he didn't find the strength to move. It was pointless, even if he would manage to get up Mika would catch him and bite his head off or something else.

Takeshi and Hiroshi took out their plate shards and rushed to their friend. Takeshi picked up Takuro and leaped out of the way just before the creatures could get a hold of him. The group of three climbed up the stairs and ran throughout the huge empty room before getting back in the corridor. Hiroshi took the lead and ran in the hallway next to the staircase. He turned to the left and entered the room. Takeshi got in a corner with Takuro and crouched, covering the red-haired's mouth. Hiroshi turned off the lights with a switch next to the door and got in the second corner, next to a table. They heard the door open. Luckily for them, there was a storm outside so there wasn't a lot of light in the mansion. Like that, the hallway wasn't lit enough to light the room and show the creatures where they were. The breathing was heard even louder. The door closed, leaving nothing but the boys, crouched in their corners.

Even though he didn't want to admit it, Takuro was shivering, a lot. He couldn't stand being the dark. He would give everything he had just to see something. Happily for him, Hiroshi turned on the lights. He removed Takeshi's hand as the blonde teen helped him to get up.

They exited the room, Hiroshi still leading. At the edge of the large hallway, the gray-haired carefully looked in the staircase and the second corridor. Seeing nothing, he hurried with his friends in the dark room. They closed the door behind them before Takeshi put Takuro on the floor.

It was dark again, he couldn't stand it. He needed light. The red-haired teen took out the lighter and turned it on. He tried to sit up but the pain coming from his leg made him wince and moan in pain. Before he would drop the lighter, Takeshi took it as Hiroshi knelt next to his friend. The gray-haired teen dropped the plate shard and looked at the red-haired's leg. Takuro closed his eyes, not wishing to see how bad it was. He felt like someone rubbed his leg and then a burning sensation. He moaned and looked at the red scarf in his hand, not daring to look at his leg. When the pain stopped, he glared at Hiroshi that was wrapping his leg with a part of his exaggeratedly long scarf, Takeshi holding the leg since the gray haired could not move properly his right arm because of his crushed elbow.

After him and Hiroshi were done, Takeshi shot a glance at Takuro. He didn't seem to have too much pain happily. He noticed his friend was staring at something. He looked in the same direction to see a ripped red scarf in the red-haired teen's hand that looked just like Mika's one. He and Hiroshi didn't know where she was since they didn't ask yet.

"Takuro, do you know where is Mika?" The blonde boy asked.

The red-haired teen's look saddened as he squeezed the scarf.

"That thing with hair..." He said quietly, blinking away his tears "It was her..."

Not able to hold his feelings any longer, Takuro hid his face in his hands and began sobbing which shocked the two boys. Takuro never cried, he never had anything to cry for! This confirmed that Mika died in this horrible place. Hiroshi tried to comfort his friend but failed since he began crying too. Takeshi stayed a little farther, staring at the floor, not daring to look at his friends. Water filled his eyes as he bit his thumb, the pain calming him down a little. It wasn't possible. Mika could not die, it was impossible! She didn't deserve it! A salty liquid slowly fell from the blonde-haired's thumb. He removed it and looked at it to see drops of blood. He never bit something that hard before. He noticed he was shivering. Slowly, his surrounding got all blurry. He refused to admit it before because she was with Takuro but he liked her, more than in a friendly way. He was only realizing it now that she was gone. Takuro's voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

"It's all your fault!" He exclaimed, his voice trembling in anger. "You really had to say this stupid idea?"

"We all agreed to!" Interrupted Hiroshi, doing his best to avoid an argument.

"Stay out of this!" The red-haired teen said with a voice that told the gray-haired boy that it would be better for him to remain silent.

He turned back to Takeshi.

"We wanted something special, huh? Well, we got it! I guess it's not every day that we'll get in a life or death situation or lose someone! You know what? I bet you fucking knew this monster was in there and you decided to bring us to see our damn reactions! You're not better than that thing!"

He finished his last sentence with a fall of tears that he quickly hid in his hands, a bit ashamed of crying in front of the others.

"I didn't save her!" He exclaimed between two sobs. "I should've shoved her away or pull her back! I just fucking stared like an idiot!"

The two other boys only stared at him, surprised of the venom in his words against Takeshi and himself. Hiroshi turned toward the blonde boy that was silently crying. In situation like these, people always needed to put the blame on someone. Takeshi didn't really mind, normally but now the situation was much different. They had just lost a friend but it wasn't only this that worried him.

It also meant that they could surely lose someone else too.

It took me a lot of time to write this! Damn, Never thought it would be that long! Heh, sorry I guess!
I didn't feel like making Takuro a feeling-lacker dude when I first started this story so yeah, there you go, feeling time
I think that's all I have to say, so bye and see you in next chapter! (Can't wait to write it!)