Chapter 11

家族

Family

Vanilla and Akira stood on the front porch of a fairly large building.

"Here we are Vanilla-chan." Akira said. "This is your new home."

"I don't like it." Vanilla said staring at the ground. "It's not familiar. I won't know anyone at all."

"Don't think about it that way." Akira said looking down to Vanilla. "Think about it as your first day of school. Or maybe an adventure where you'll make lots of new friends."

Vanilla continued to stare at the ground.

Akira sighed at his failed attempt to cheer her up. "Listen Vanilla-chan. I know this is tough, but you have to be strong. What happened to you was unthinkable, but we have to put the past behind us and look forward to a brighter future."

"I guess."

Akira walked to the door and knocked while Vanilla turned around to sit on the steps to the porch next to her bag.

"Just a minute." Came a voice from inside. The door opened and there stood a woman around her thirties with short white hair and blue eyes.

"Oh, it's Akira-san. You being around here doesn't signal good news for me. Tell me that your here just to visit or to adopt one of these kids."

"I'm afraid that's not the case." Akira said moving to the side. "She's been orphaned as well." He said pointing to Vanilla who was sitting on the stairs to the porch.

"The poor thing. How old is she?"

"Only five. Her name is Vanilla."

"Last name?"

"I don't remember right now but I could call the office and have them look that up for you."

"No, no it's all right. It doesn't really matter here anyways."

"Shima-san, I don't want to impose, but would you mind caring for one more?"

"Not at all." She said walking forward to Vanilla. "Hi there."

Vanilla looked up at the woman and then looked back out towards the road they had driven in on.

"My name is Shima. What's yours?"

"Vanilla."

"That's a lovely name, Vanilla. Would you like to come inside?"

"I'm fine here." Vanilla said pulling her legs in.

"Well I can't just leave you here, now can I? I wouldn't be much of a guardian if I did that. Come on, let's go inside and get you some dinner. How about that?"

Vanilla sat for a second and then slowly got up from the stairs. "Ok." She said grabbing her bag.

"Thank you Akira-san. I'll take care of things from here." Shima extended her hand to Vanilla who took it in hers. Akira got in his car and drove away. "That's a lovely locket you have there. Who gave that to you?"

"My parents. For my birthday." Vanilla said holding onto it with her free hand.

"They must have really loved you." Shima said opening the door. The two entered into a reception like area. There was a desk to their right, and a phone on the wall to the left. "Now I want you to wait right here in this chair while I go and grab some things for you."

Vanilla sat in a small chair and Shima left the room through a door to the right. Looking around, Vanilla noticed that the house was rather large indeed. In front of her was an entrance that led to a room where a couch was located. Just past that she could see a spiral staircase that went upward. To her left was a closed door. On it was a sign that said "Kitchen." Suddenly, as she sat there, there came from the staircase two children running and playing, one with yellow hair, and one with red. Both were boys and wore overalls. They ran from the staircase into the room where Vanilla sat, toy swords in hand. As they were playing, the boy with the red hair noticed Vanilla sitting alone.

"Hey, you!" he said pointing to her while the boy with yellow hair turned around to look at what he was talking too.

"Hey, it's someone new!" the boy with yellow hair said.

"Yeah, I know. Hey, what's your name?"

Vanilla sat silent avoiding eye contact.

"My name is Roy." The boy with red hair said.

"Mine's Andrew." The other boy said.

"Va…Vanilla." She said timidly.

"Hey, she can speak! So Vanilla's your name?" Roy said.

Vanilla nodded silently.

"Nice to meet ya." Andrew said. He then turned quickly back to Roy. "En gard!" He yelled and began swinging his sword.

"Hey! No fair! I wasn't ready!" The two boys then dashed into the room where Shima had left.

"Cute kids aren't they?" Narthex said phasing through the door marked kitchen. "Not really the kind I like but I know someone who would. Rather I knew someone. By the way, doll. They got some good grub in there. You should check it out."

Vanilla just stayed silent.

"Silent treatment, eh? Fine by me. I can talk all day long." Narthex suddenly materialized to Vanilla's left. "So what's up with you, kid? You got a swollen tongue or something? Come on, answer me." At Vanilla's right. "Kid's like you are suppose ta be yappin' up a storm. But why aren't you? Oh sorry, I killed your parents! Big whoop!" Behind Vanilla. "Just gives me more time to spend with you, doll." Narthex placed his hands on Vanilla's shoulders. Vanilla suddenly became cold.

"Oh? You feel that? What happened to 'he's not real' hm?"

Vanilla put her arms around herself to attempt to warm her body. "Please stop." Vanilla said meekly.

"Not on your life, doll." Narthex said grinning. "This is just too much fun." Narthex gripped Vanilla's shoulders with his icy hands. "Aren't we having fun, doll?"

"No. Please."

"Vanilla!" Shima called as she entered the room. "I've found just the things for you." She looked up from the bed sheets she had in her hands to Vanilla who was shivering. "Vanilla? Are you all right?" Shima placed her hand on Vanilla's head. "Oh my word, you're colder than a swimmer in winter. Come with me, we're getting you a nice hot bath. That'll warm you up in no time."

"No! He'll be there! He's following me!"

"Who's following you darling?"

Narthex stood feet from Shima and Vanilla resting against the wall grinning from ear to ear. "Go on. Tell her my name. In case you didn't know, its Narthex so don't wear it out, doll."

Vanilla looked at Narthex. "He is." She said pointing to the wall where Narthex stood. Shima looked to the wall but saw nothing.

"There's nothing there sweetheart."

"But…" Vanilla said looking at Narthex. "But he's right there!"

"Who is, Vanilla?"

"Narthex! He's a very bad man who killed my parents and he's still after me!" Vanilla said grabbing onto Shima. "Please don't let him get me. Please."

Narthex stood in the corner laughing a laugh only Vanilla could hear. "You'll be seeing a lot more from me in the future, doll. Just remember that you're not safe from me." Narthex turned to the wall and walked straight through it.

Shima stood stunned. She didn't know what to do. "Vanilla, this man. What did he do to you?"

"He tied me up. He tore my cloths. He hit me, and did mean things to me."

Shima was worried now. "Jess, Tina!" Shima called. "Please come here."

From the kitchen, two girls twice the size of Vanilla came through the kitchen door. The looked exactly the same except one had a ponytail on the side of her head. They had deep orange hair and eyes to match.

"Yes Shima?" they said in perfect unison.

"Take Vanilla upstairs to the girl's quarters and show her the bed she'll be staying in."

"Right!"

The first twin grabbed the bed sheets from Shima while the second twin, the one with the side ponytail, took Vanilla by thee hand and grabbed Vanilla's bag. The three then went to the staircase and ascended it.

Shima picked up the phone that hung on the wall and dialed a number. The phone rang 3 times before someone answered. "Matsumoto Akira's cell phone. Matsumoto speaking."

"Akira!" Shima said angrily into the phone. "Why didn't you tell me about what happened to this girl?"

"Oh, Shima-san. Is she that much trouble already?"

"Don't try to blow this one off Akira-san. You know I don't handle cases like this. She needs to be sent to a psychiatric ward immediately."

"Shima-san, if you would just calm down…"

"She thinks someone is after her Akira-san. The same person who killed her parents and molested her!"

"Nearly molested her, Shima-san. The man was shot through the head with a powerful sniper rifle before he ever had the chance to do anything like that."

"Then why does she claim he was standing in the corner of my building when there clearly wasn't anything there?"

"I don't know. I'm not a psychotherapist. But it's not my problem."

"Problem? You consider her a nuisance?"

"That's not what I said. Look, Shima-san. I don't have time to deal with this right now. Just take care of the girl. What she needs is something close to family and not to be locked up in a mental hospital. Goodbye for now, Shima-san."

"Hey, wait a second…" Akira hung up his phone before she could say anything else. Shima forced the phone back onto the receiver and walked towards the stairs.

Vanilla and the twins were already in the girl's quarters and were making her bed.

"You get to sleep here." The first twin said.

"Cause if you sleep here, you sleep in-between us." The second said.

"We're the bosses of the girls,"

"Because we're older than the rest of them."

"I'm Jess."

"I'm Tina."

"But you can call us Onee-chan!" they said in unison.

"But you don't have to,"

"If you don't want to."

"Vanilla." Vanilla said softly.

"Your kinda quiet aren't you?" Jess said bending down to look at her.

"She won't be soon enough!" Tina said pushing Jess to the ground. "Not if she hangs out with us at least."

"All right you two," Shima said walking through the door. "Get this bed made quickly then back to the kitchen. It's still your turn on kitchen duties."

"Got it!" they said. Quickly they turned the bare mattress into an acceptable bed.

"Remember," Tina said turning back to Vanilla "If you need anything, just let us know."

"After all, it's a leader's job to take care of their crew." Jess said throwing her arm around her sister's shoulders.

"Ok, ok. " Shima said interrupting. "Go on you two. Back to work."

Vanilla sat on the bed that was just made for her and held her locket in her hands.

"Vanilla." Shima said turning to her. "This man that you thought you saw. What does he look like?"

Vanilla shuddered at the very thought of Narthex. "It doesn't matter. No one can see him but me. You couldn't see him. Akira-san couldn't see him."

Shima sat down on the bed next to Vanilla. "Well if no one but you can see him, then that must mean he's not real."

"But he is real." Vanilla said leaning on Shima. "He's a ghost and he's following me wherever I go. I can feel him when he touches me. I hear him. I see him. I'm scared of him, and he knows it."

"If that's the case, then you need to not be afraid. He can't do anything if your not afraid."

"Yes he can. Even when I tell him I'm not afraid he finds a way to make me afraid. He's after me. I don't know what he wants but he won't stop until he has it."

Shima put her arm around Vanilla and held her. "I won't let him."

Vanilla looked up at Shima. "You're a part of my family now Vanilla and I'll do anything to protect that family."

Vanilla smiled.

"Hey now. There's the face I've been looking for. Come on." Shima said getting up from the bed. "Dinner should be about ready so you'll get to meet everyone."

"Yeah." Vanilla said.

"Family?" Narthex said behind Vanilla. "How cheesy."

Vanilla's emotion instantly changed from happy to fearful.

"I'll kill them too, doll. Every last one of them. And anyone that gets between you and me."

"Vanilla? What's wrong?" Shima said.

"He's back." Vanilla whispered.

"Narthex?"

"He's behind us. He says he's going to kill you and everyone here just to get to me."

Shima couldn't help but feel a little disturbed by that comment. She turned around to see if anyone was there but no one was.

"Lets go, Vanilla." Shima said lifting Vanilla off the bed and onto the floor. "If this Narthex character is for real, he's gonna have to try a lot harder to scare me."

"A challenge, eh." Narthex said leaning against the exit. "This will be fun."

Vanilla and Shima walked out the exit and as they did, Vanilla watched Narthex and he watched her in return.

Downstairs a plethora of kids ran back and forth.

"Everyone!" Shima said from the stairs. All the kids quieted down and stopped playing. "This is Vanilla. She came here today. She's the newest member to our family so treat her like she's a part of it."

Everyone greeted Vanilla with a giant hello. Shima lead Vanilla through a room to the right of the stairs and inside was a large table that could seat about twenty. Jess and Tina were setting the table when they noticed Vanilla.

"Hey, Vanilla-chan!" Jess called. "Sit over here in this seat."

"This is the best seat at the table." Tina said pointing to the chair three down from the head of the table. "But don't tell anyone we told you that or they'll try to take it."

Through the doors came children only slightly shorter that Jess and Tina. They were carrying bowls of soup and salad. Shima pulled a bell out of her pocket and rang it. Instantly, children started entering the room from everywhere and started sitting at the table. Vanilla took the seat that Jess and Tina had pointed out for her. To her right were Tina and Jess and to her left were Roy and Andrew, the boys that were playing with swords when Vanilla first entered. Shima took her spot at the head of the table and remained standing.

"Everyone," Shima said to the congregation of children. "If haven't already met her, this is Vanilla. She'll be staying with us for a while." Everyone started applauding. Shima raised her hand to quell them. "Tonight, dinner was prepared by Tina and Jess so be sure to thank them when you're done eating." Everyone clapped again and were once again stopped by Shima's simple raise of the hand. "Finally, remember that curfew is at eight tonight. That means that as soon as you're done with dinner, take your plate to the sink, go right upstairs, brush your teeth, and go to bed." Everyone started to groan. "Quiet, quiet. Now, who will say grace?"

Jess raised her hand and began. Vanilla looked around the table. Everyone had their hands together and their heads bowed so Vanilla felt inclined to do the same thing.

"Lord God, thank you for this food that you have given us. Please watch over us and help the new member of our family, Vanilla, feel welcome here. In your name we pray. Amen."

"All right. Let's eat." Tina said abruptly grabbing the salad bowl. She placed some on her plate and passed it to her sister who in turn put some on her plate and passed it to Vanilla. Vanilla followed suit. Soon the entire table was enjoying a bowl of soup and a plate of salad. When everyone finished, they all turned to Tina and Jess and thanked them simultaneously for the food. They then carried their bowls and plates to the kitchen. Vanilla, however, remained seated alone, twiddling her fork in her hands. She smiled as she thought about how this whole thing might not be so bad until she looked across the table to see Narthex sitting with his feet on the table.

"What's up, doll?"

Vanilla grabbed her plate and bowl, got down from the table and walked briskly toward the kitchen. Before she could make it to the dinning room's exit, Narthex was there blocking her path. Vanilla looked at him, closed her eyes and walked. She took a few steps forward and the opened her eyes. She hadn't moved at all.

"Where you off to, doll?"

"Let me through." Vanilla said looking at him.

Narthex looked back at Vanilla. "You really think this could work for you?"

"Yes, I do."

"Get real, kid. Do you even know how these things work? Adoption centers?"

Vanilla simply looked at Narthex. "No. But I don't care. Shima said that I'm part of her family now."

"Family? Screw that shit. I never needed a family. Lived my whole life on the streets."

Vanilla looked at Narthex and said sternly. "Let me through."

Narthex chuckled. "All right. Fine. Go do your chores. Maybe they'll help you learn some obedience." Narthex vanished instantly.

"Vanilla!" Shima called. "Bring your dishes to the sink please."

"Right." Vanilla called back as she stepped through the door Narthex was blocking.

As Vanilla stepped into the kitchen, Shima turned to her and asked, "What took you so long Vanilla?"

"Narthex."

"Him again?"

"He's not a problem. I just need to truly not be afraid."

Shima smiled. "I like that kind of attitude. Now, hand me your plate, then off to bed."

Vanilla gave Shima her plate and then scurried off to the girl's quarters to grab her bag. When she got there she found that most of the girls were already sitting on their beds in their pajamas. Jess was reading them a story while Tina was nowhere to be found. Jess noticed Vanilla enter the room and stopped reading for a moment.

"Oh, Vanilla-chan. Hurry up and get ready for bed o.k.? You don't want to miss what happens next in this book."

Vanilla grabbed her bag then exited down the hall to the bathroom. Inside was Tina who was brushing her teeth and hair at the same time.

"Ah, Haniah-han." She said with her toothbrush still in her mouth. "Ih Jeh reading ahready?"

Vanilla nodded.

Tina spat before speaking again. "Come on, Jess. I told you not to start without me! I want to know what happens too," Tina said as she ran out of the bathroom.

Vanilla watched her leave and then looked around the room. To her right lining the wall, were 5 sinks. To her left were 5 stalls to match. Directly ahead was a plastic curtain. Vanilla assumed that that was were baths and showers were taken.

Vanilla looked around quickly to make sure no one was around and then opened her bag. She searched through it until she found the pajamas that Luft had acquired from her old house. Looking around again, she quickly moved into one of the stalls and changed cloths as fast as she could. After changing, she moved to one of the sinks with her toothbrush in hand, quickly brushed her teeth and left the bathroom with her bag.

As she walked down the hall, she wondered why Narthex hadn't made one of his signature sudden appearances. She looked behind her, but he wasn't there. When she turned back around, he wasn't there either. When she walked back into the girl's quarters, he wasn't waiting for her. Narthex was simply not there. Vanilla found it odd. Had her last comment to him gotten rid of him? Vanilla decided it probably wasn't best to dwell on this subject and instead decided to sit on her bed and listen to the story Jess was telling.

"I took her hand in mine, and we went out of the ruined place," Jess read, "and, as the morning mists had risen long ago when I first left the forge, so, the evening of tranquil light they showed to me, I saw no shadow of another parting from her. The End." Jess then closed the book. "That's the end of the story."

Everyone but Vanilla and Tina started complaining.

"But Onee-chan," one girl said, "I don't want the story to end."

"Onee-chan," another said, "Did they live happily ever after?"

Jess turned to Tina who shrugged her shoulders. "Probably." Jess said in response. "And Carly, I can't make the story longer. That's how he wanted to end it."

"O.k." Tina said interrupting. "Everyone, lets cut the lights out before Shima comes upstairs and gets mad at us."

"O.k." The girls all said in unison. One of the girls closest to the door got out of bed and placed her hand on the light switch by the door while everyone else got under their covers.

"Everyone ready?" She asked.

"Hold on just a moment." Vanilla said. She took her locket off, kissed it, and placed it in her bag. "Now I'm ready."

The girl flipped the switch and the lights went out. The girl made it back to her bed with little trouble and wished everyone a good night. Everyone wished the same.

Vanilla pulled the covers close to her and laid her head on her pillow. "Goodnight Mama, Papa." She said to herself. Then Vanilla slowly drifted off to sleep.