Melancholy

The engine of the SUV shut down in front of a wide gate which stood four and a half feet from the ground. Riri jumped out of the SUV, into the pattering rain, and opened the gate. Then she walked to the garage of the house with a key in hand to open the garage gate. She inserted the key and then something sting on her left hand resulting in falling of the keep from between the door. She bent down to pick it up but somehow pushed it behind the door. She started searching behind the door with her hands as she couldn't see what was behind the door.

"She lost the key." Said Naomi who was sitting at the driver's seat in the SUV, "Someone's gotta help her," She looked at Kai and continued, "Someone who took the risk of staying with her."

Kai rolled his eyes in annoyance and went out in the rain. He bent down beside her and started searching for the key. In the darkness behind the door, Kai found the key and Riri's hand fell right over his. They looked at each other.

"Quit the romance and open the goddamn door!" yelled Naomi who came out of the SUV. She took the key and opened the door.

Naomi opened the main door of the house and switched on the lights. As the light was switched on, the living room brimmed with designs on the light yellow wall. The doors and windows were draped behind royal blue curtains except for one door in the room. The floor was covered with white tiles. The main door was at the right corner of the room and there was a window on the same side of the wall as the main door. In front of the window sat a couch and a tea table. There was a pair of armchairs at the right side of the table and a pull-out couch at the left. There were two doors at the adjacent side of the main door, one covered behind the curtain the other was not. In front of the main door was a door too which went into the dining room and the hall.

Naomi pulled a trolley bag into the living room and said, "Okay guys! We are lucky we have enough room for everyone." She pulled open the curtain at the right side of the main door. Behind the curtain was a room. "Tyson. Max. This will be your room. I'm sorry about the mess in the bookshelf; I was looking for something there. There are awesome books in there."

"It's fine. I don't like reading," said Tyson who was standing behind her.

"Is that so?" she looked at him and continued, "Then you won't like the room beside this one. It's a small library." Tyson didn't say anything and he and Max entered the room.

Naomi walked to the dining room. There was a dining table for eight people to sit around and there were a lot of paintings in the room, every single one on different sizes of canvas with fabulous combinations of colours.

Naomi turned left from the door. There was a staircase leading to the terrace of the house and a long hall in front of it that ended to a wooden door to the storeroom. Naomi stopped at the first door at the right side of the hall, opened the door and said, "Kenny, I picked out a separate room for you as you wished. You have a WiFi in there so you can do your work using the internet."

After Kenny entered the room, Naomi looked at the end of the hall. She gestured to the room in front of her room that was adjacent to the storeroom and said, "Lastly, Ray and Mr Grumpy, the room at the end of the hall is for you. Riri, Hilary and I will be in the room front of yours."

It was until evening that rain had stopped. Riri grabbed a bundle of keys and took Kai with her outside. There was a small garden on the left side in front of the house. From the edge of the garden was a pathway which went to a small, rusty gate that connected with the house beside theirs. Riri asked Kai to follow her as she opened the gate. Kai was looking at her bare leg, which was most of the time covered behind her stalking. Riri was in her regular black mini skirt but she wore her blue top and plain black stiletto heels.

Riri opened the main door of the house. It was dark in there and no one lived there. Kai looked around in the dark, there were pictures and paintings. Riri went to the backdoor and opened it to the backyard.

Kai looked outside and he was soon fascinated. There was a tree with blue leaves. The blue leaves were falling down as if it was autumn. Kai looked at Riri and asked, "It's the tree from that place you took me, right?"

"Almost," Riri walked closed to it and continued, "It's a clone. Regen has a mineral that gave it a blue colour. That mineral is not found on Earth."

Kai looked at it as Riri came in front of it. He asked, "It is summer how are the leaves falling so much." She smiled, "That is its speciality- it is always in autumn. That's why it is called Endless fall of Melancholy, or simply say Melancholy."

Suddenly the lyrics of Polaris's song crossed his mind- there's a place where melancholy lies, death is waiting for you, child.' He looked at Riri who was looking at him with a smile on her face and asked, "I don't know why I feel bad here."

"It's another speciality," she turned to the tree, "It gives negative feelings. Regen's ancient magic lies in it."

"Does it have anything to do with living and dying?"

"No." She looked at her curiously thinking how he felt like that. "Where did that come from?"

"The day you broke your phone, Polaris sang to me," Kai explained. Riri stared confusingly as she knew it was unusual of Polaris to sing for someone else. Breaking the silence, she asked, "What did she sing?" He said the lyrics in a normal way, "Oh, shall you hear me sing, with a melody I was given. I may sing for you with a voice so pure and true. Where melancholy lies, death is waiting for you, child. In your origin land hate has met her end."

Riri thought for a minute. Kai rephrased his question, "Is anyone dying?"

"Pfft- No, you silly," Riri giggled, "Death is the woman who attacked us, Maiden Of Death. 'Death is waiting' is something to do with her."

Kai looked down doubtfully; he still thought that someone was going to die. Riri touched his cheek and pulled her eyebrows together worriedly. "Everything is going to be fine, dear. It is this tree that is making you feel this way. No one is going to die."

TO BE CONTINUED...