Chapter 10

Two months passed and Kohana was getting along very well with Takuma. She had new clothes, good food to eat, and a room of her own with a comfortable bed. The shelter that Takuma had brought Kohana to was in fact his family's house. It was used for vacation, business, and entertainment purposes when Takuma's parents were still alive. Since then it has remained abandoned and hasn't been visited by anyone. There were originally two routes leading to and from the house until Takuma had added the hidden tunnel through the mountain. One was the way you could take from the train stop while the other led to a small village where one could buy supplies and food. The house was more of a small castle or mansion. The square footage of each floor was around the same area as a football field, it had four floors, a basement, a cellar, and a tower-like room jutting out from the East side of the top floor.

The bottom floor consists of the two kitchens, a ballroom, a formal dining room, and a visiting room. Takuma and Kohana rarely use the extra kitchen since it's just the two of them and the others rooms are only entered when they are playing hide-and-go-seek. The second and third floors consist of 8 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 2 drawing rooms, a playroom, an antique room, and an office on each floor. The top floor is not visited often except to pick a book or two from the vast collection displayed in the giant library. In fact, it seems to be the only room that can be entered. All the other areas, including the tower section, have been sealed off since before Takuma and Kohana arrived. Takuma has tried multiple times to unlock the doors and break the seals to no avail. Apparently, whoever locked those rooms did not want just anyone waltzing in, vampire or human.

Kohana's room is sandwiched between the playroom and a bathroom on the third floor. Across the hall and down two doors is Takuma's room. There is a drawing room and an office on either side of his. Currently, Kohana was finishing a 100-piece puzzle of an arctic fox. She sat back to admire the picture. Feeling a little hungry, she stood up and headed down the two flights of stairs that lead to the main floor. Once in the kitchen, Kohana began to search the cabinets for her favorite snack, cinnamon graham crackers. Where is it? I couldn't have gone through them that fast. Unable to find any crackers, she started back up the stairs to ask Takuma if he could buy some more. When she approached Takuma's office door, Kohana called out to announce her arrival.

"Takuma, could you get me more graham crackers? The cinnamon kind? Please."

"Sure Kohana," Takuma answered a little distractedly with his back to her. He was trying to close tabs on his computer. Kohana looked on curiously but was too far away from the desk to see anything more than a picture of a house on the screen. Takuma spun around on his chair with a sheepish smile on his face to finish answering the girl.

"You went through all that we had already? You really like those don't you? I'll have to go into the city to buy them you know? I'll be gone for over four hours because of the long train ride. Are you sure you want to be alone for that long?"

Kohana nodded eagerly, "It will give me more time to find a good hiding spot. You always find me too easily." She put on a faux pouting face. Takuma chuckled lightly at the look. He grabbed his coat, even though he didn't need it, and started down the stairs with Kohana close behind.

"Don't leave the house while I'm gone please and don't eat anything that you could choke on. Also, try not to run when going up or down the stairs." Kohana nodded at each rule as Takuma rambled off the list. He goes through this every single time he leaves, no matter how long he's gone. When they reached the front door Takuma paused to give Kohana a hug goodbye before taking off. Kohana waved as Takuma strode off down the path leading toward the train stop. She locked the door behind her and headed back upstairs. I want to check something. The house on Takuma's screen looked familiar almost but I can't remember from where.

Back in Takuma's office, Kohana sat staring at his computer screen in confusion. Takuma had been researching reports on missing children. One of the reports stated that a woman had perished in a house fire and her husband and daughter were nowhere to be found. That's my house. She was looking at a picture of a two-story house on fire. I remember it looking like that when it went up in flames. Why would Takuma be reading about this? While contemplating this, Kohana caught sight of the time. Shoot; I've wasted a whole hour! I still have to find a hiding place that he will not think to look. Kohana took off in search of the perfect hiding place.

An hour and a half passes and Kohana still could not find the perfect hiding place. She had searched high and low but did not come across a nook or cranny that Takuma wouldn't look in. Reaching the top level of the house, Kohana was struck with a brilliant idea. She ran into the library to double check if it would work; it would. Each massive bookshelf in the library was bordered by maroon-colored curtains which reached all the way to the floor. If she were to draw them all closed then hide behind one of them, it would take a long time before Takuma finally found her. Kohana smiled widely as she got to work. She closed the curtains of the biggest bookcase last. She picked that one to hide behind. Jumping with excitement, Kohana giggled as she settled herself behind the thick drapes.

Ten minutes later and Kohana was getting bored and stiff in the back. What time is it? Shouldn't he be home soon? It's stuffy in here. The 8-year-old slumped against the bookshelf to relax her back. When her hand rested on some books, a mechanical voice sounded out – Species identification confirmed. Access granted. Then the whole section of books from the floor up to the third shelf gave out. Kohana yelped in surprise as she fell backward. The shelves snapped back up into place and Kohana was plunged into darkness. The girl squeaked in fear then again in surprise as soft lights flooded the area.

Takuma sat quietly with his groceries as the train rumbled onward. He sighed impatiently at the slow speed of his transportation. He would have run to and fro but decided to reserve his energy for something important. Takuma always worried when he left Kohana alone for any period of time. His grandfather's men could find his hideaway at any given moment. Takuma had noticed that their activity had increased within the last month. Since he did not want to put Kohana in danger by taking her out of house with him, Takuma usually left her at home and had installed a full house security system which were linked to the alarms to his mobile phone. Speaking of which, the phone in Takuma's pocket began vibrating. One of the house alarms had been set off! Takuma cursed loudly as the train rolled to a stop at the second to the last station. He didn't have time to wait for the train; he had to get home now! Takuma zipped off the train and headed toward the house at top vampire speed.

Kohana did not even bother trying to get back out through the bookcase. It had a thick metal backing. She had landed in a carpeted tunnel which kept going along a level path. Seeing no harm in exploring the secret passageway, Kohana started down it. The tunnel seemed to wrap around the whole fourth floor. She assumed that the wooden-paneled walls to her left were the back walls of the locked rooms that even Takuma could not open. Every couple feet or so Kohana would come across an eye-sized peek hole next to an outline of a door with a keyhole. She peeked through a couple of them but couldn't see anything of interest in the dark, dusty rooms. Then, as Kohana peered through the last hole, she found something very intriguing. She had no idea what was in the room but there were large and small objects covered with pure white sheets. Kohana tried to pry the door free but it wouldn't budge without its key. She stepped back and glared at the door with frustration. I really want to get into that room. I wonder where the key is. Kohana spun around in a half circle looking for a key hook on the walls. There wasn't one but she did find something she recognized; a speaker/microphone set. Takuma had discovered them during their first couple weeks staying here. When you speak into one, your voice can be heard through all the other ones set up around the house and then you can answer back through the same means. Kohana leaned closer to blow the dust off of the speaker when it suddenly buzzed to life and Takuma's worried voice sounded from it. Kohana jerked her head back so fast that she lost her balance and fell back on her rump.

"Kohana; are you there? Hello? Answer back please!"

Kohana clambered to her feet and brushed herself off. She had no idea why Takuma was acting so panicky but she responded anyway.

"Yeah, I'm here. Where else would I be? Now come and find me!"

Takuma had arrived at the house out of breath and full of anxiety. He stilled himself as he listened for the intruder. Even with his vampire senses, he could only hear clearly from the cellar up to the staircase that leads to the third floor. It became fuzzy there and he couldn't hear anything happening on the top floor. Takuma didn't hear anything threatening within his range so he called out to Kohana through an intercom device. When she had answered back saying that she was fine, he felt a small amount of relief. Kohana was safe but probably not for long since there was still an intruder unaccounted for. Takuma sucked in a small breath and immediately went rigid as he picked up a strong smell. He knew that scent. What's one of them doing here? A hunter.