Chapter 4 - Home
As promised, Luka and Gakupo took the subway to visit Miki once classes were over. Her gated apartment complex was located in a busy thoroughfare, only a few minutes away from Lorentz Station. Luka had visited her a couple of times already, when her friend needed help studying for a particularly difficult test, so the guard at the front gate buzzed her and Gakupo in with a jovial greeting.
Once inside the high-ceiling lobby, Luka called the elevator while Gakupo approached the sliding door at the back. Gakupo gave the lush gardens and pool past the glass an appreciate look. "Very fancy," he commented.
"Fancy or not, I prefer houses to be honest," Luka replied, her eyes fixed on the elevator display.
"I don't know, I might enjoy having more people around these days. Sounds safer."
Luka smiled humorlessly. "Or maybe more people around just means more strangers that won't help us." The elevator dinged and the doors opened. "Come on."
One short elevator ride later, the pair arrived at the ninth floor. The door at the far right of the warmly lit corridor was open; a short-haired woman stood just outside the door frame. Behind her, Luka could see the familiar sight of the Furukawa's living room bathed in natural light.
Truth be told, Luka hadn't been eager to run into Miki's mom. After all, the girl had been injured while they were together. The woman might have a question or two regarding the supposed accident. But thankfully, Ms. Furukawa's expression was relaxed and friendly. After the introductions, the woman exclaimed, "Thank you for coming! I'm sure Miki will be happy to see you!"
"How is she doing?"
"Could be better. But at least she has books and homework to entertain herself," the woman replied, demonstrating a view of her offspring that Luka couldn't help but think was rather optimistic. "But come in, you know where Miki's room is. I'll bring you something to eat in a moment." She ignored Luka's feeble attempts to refuse the refreshments and marched into the kitchen space to the right.
"Prepared to be fed," Luka whispered. "And be fed some more." She sighed.
"I'll eat yours if you don't want it," Gakupo grinned.
"Are you one of those guys that eats like a pig and never gets fat?" Luka asked with bemusement as she headed left and into a narrow corridor.
Gakupo placed one hand on top of his head then raised it swiftly. "I'm still growing."
"Uh-huh," Luka muttered with skepticism. She came to a stop in front of a door decorated with a white and blue wooden star that proclaimed it to be Miki's bedroom. Luka knocked lightly. "Miki, it's me, Luka. Can we come in?"
From inside came a soft murmur. It was clearly Miki's voice, but Luka felt a slight tingling of worry. It was very unlike her friend to sound so weak and distracted. She immediately turned the doorknob and opened the door.
Miki was sitting up in her bed with her back propped against a huge star-shaped pillow. Her legs were covered by a colorful blanket, but Luka could see a leg brace sticking out from under it. Many sheets of paper covered in scribblings and drawings rested over the blanket and the quilt of the bed. The floor was littered by even more papers, most crumpled into balls. The girl had a sketch pad on her lap and was vigorously rubbing an oil pastel stick on the top sheet. "I almost have it," she whispered without looking up.
"Have what?" Luka moved closer and glanced at the sketch pad. Miki wasn't much of a visual artist, but it was easy enough to discern what the drawing depicted: a grey, headless humanoid figure surrounded by black four-legged shapes almost devoid of any detail. There were similar sketches in some of the pages strewn throughout the room, Luka realized, although some were crossed out and scribbled over.
"Excuse me," Gakupo muttered and grabbed a page resting next to Miki's knee to examine it more closely. At the sound of his voice, the girl finally snapped back to reality and looked up in surprise.
"This is the classmate I told you about, Miki." Luka touched the redhead's shoulder. "His name is Gakupo Kamui."
"…Have we met before?" Miki asked, studying his face with a slightly puzzled look.
"I don't think so. I've been back in this city for less than a week, and most of the time I've been either at school or at home." Gakupo gave Luka a brief look and added, "Maybe you've seen an older man that looks like me?"
Miki considered this, then shook her head. "I don't think so."
"Oh?"
"Can you sing for a bit?" Miki requested. "Something soft, like a lullaby."
Gakupo looked as surprised as Luka felt at the request, but after a moment he shrugged and began humming a tune.
Miki's face turned a shade paler. "Softer, so I can barely hear it," she muttered.
Gakupo closed his eyes and sang an even quieter melody. Luka leaned in closer, examining Miki's face. Her friend's eyes didn't seem to see her or any of the bright details of the room. Miki was far away, facing something Luka couldn't begin to fathom.
"Stop it! Stop it!" Miki suddenly screamed and threw away the pad and pastel stick. She covered her ears with her hands and sobbed, rocking back and forth.
Gakupo took a step back and immediately apologized in his regular tone. From his expression, Luka could tell he wasn't prepared for Miki's reaction. Neither was Luka, for that matter. She patted the younger girl's head in silence.
Ms. Furukawa's chose that moment to open the door, balancing a tray filled to the brim with food on one hand. She took in the messy room and her offspring's tears with one look. "Miki? What's wrong?"
Miki rubbed her eyes and bit her lip. Then, she rubbed her leg and bruised ribs. "It hurts, mom!"
Ms. Furukawa sighed with a mix of relief and impatience. "Of course it does, honey. It's supposed to. But your friends didn't come to see you complain, did they?" She moved towards a small table to the right of the bed and put down the tray. "You keep taking the pills the doctor gave you and everything will be fine. Here." She handed Miki a thick slice of cake and a fork.
Miki grunted an acknowledgment and morosely accepted the plate.
"You two, grab anything you want," Ms. Furukawa said to Gakupo and Luka. The rose-haired girl approached the table with trepidation. She could almost feel her blood sugar level raising just by looking at the food and drink on the tray. On the contrary, Gakupo stepped forward and in two seconds was attacking a cake slice of his own.
"This is great, Ms. Furukawa! Did you make this yourself?" He flashed a suspiciously charming smile at the woman.
"Oh, I bought some things, but I put everything together," the woman replied, looking a bit too flattered for Luka's taste.
"You don't mind if I take some of this back to my sister? It's been so long since we had anything as nice as this to eat!"
Ms. Furukawa blinked. "…Is that so?" She looked at the tray, then studied Gakupo's thin frame carefully. "How about if I put together a little package for the two of you?"
"Ah, I don't want to bother you too much-"
"It's no bother, I always make too much food anyway," the woman said happily. She began to open the door but then paused and asked, "Any favorite foods?"
"She likes carrot cake."
Ms. Furukawa absorbed the information and nodded purposely before exiting the room.
Once her footsteps faded, Luka gave Gakupo her most acerbic look. "What was that?"
Gakupo shrugged, smiling unabashedly. "She's not going to interrupt us for a while."
"And you get to mooch off food from Miki's mom?"
Gakupo's smile only widened. "You try surviving a month with the money my family gave us, then we talk." Luka frowned, realizing she hadn't bothered to ask in that much detail about his living situation. All she knew is that the pair lived alone at their old home. Her apprehension must've shown in her face, because Gakupo patted her shoulder and said gently, "It's not big deal, I'll just need to get creative." He turned in an almost dance-like manner towards Miki, who was chewing her cake and staring at him a bit fixedly. "Speaking of 'what was that,' may I ask the same to you?"
Miki suddenly became very interested in a maraschino cherry on her plate. "I don't know."
Gakupo lifted an eyebrow, unconvinced. He glanced at Luka, gesturing with his chin towards the younger girl.
"Miki, it's alright. We're trying to figure out what's going on." Luka sat next to her friend on the bed. "We aren't going to laugh at you, no matter what you say."
Miki ate the cherry, then pushed the last crumbs of cake on the plate with the fork, her brow furrowed. Finally, she looked at Luka. "He sang to me."
"Who?"
"At the clinic," Miki started saying with a trembling voice. "After you went to get help, everything hurt so much that I blacked out. But then… Then I felt someone right next to me, in the darkness. They weren't saying anything, but I could feel their breath," Miki touched the skin next to her earlobe. "Right here. I was so scared I couldn't move or even say anything at first, but then I begged them to leave me alone. That's when he began singing. I don't know what happened after that, one moment he was there, the next I was out in the front lawn, alone."
"I forgot all about it until this morning…How could I forget something like that?!" Tears appeared in the corner of her eyes once more.
Luka rested her hand on Miki's head, trying to keep calm. What could this mean? There was no way that the man in the grey suit had time to go inside the hospital, find Miki and carry her outside in the span of time Luka was on the staircase. Was it someone else? And what was the connection between the man and the noises inside the clinic?
"So, you didn't actually see this person?" Gakupo inquired, tilting his head slightly. Miki nodded. "What about the drawings, what's that all about?"
"It's the dream I had last night. It made me remember." Miki poked one of the drawings with a finger, leaving a crinkle on the page. "He was outside my window, whispering, telling me something about his...beasts. It's like he was standing in midair, I could see him from here," she traced a line across her neck, "to here," followed by another imaginary line across her knees. "I could see a bit of the moon behind him."
"He was here?" Gakupo pointed to the window next to the bed. He leaned on the sill and watched the landscape outside, almost as if he expected to see his doppelgänger floating there in plain sight. He slid the glass pane open and poked his head out. "No ledge to stand on," he noted.
Luka rolled her eyes. "Ninth floor, remember? Ledge or not, I don't think it makes a difference."
Gakupo shrugged. "Miki, do you know who lives upstairs?"
The girl blinked. After a moment, she shook her head.
"Don't tell me you think her neighbors decided to rappel down the side of the building in the middle of the night to mess with her," Luka said, rubbing the bridge of her nose.
"If the guy wasn't standing on something, or hanging from something, he was floating some 30 metres above the ground. You like that one better?"
"Or she was dreaming, just like she said."
Gakupo sat on the swivel chair in front of Miki's desk and turned to face them. "Did it feel like a dream?" He leaned forward and stared intensely at Miki.
The girl chewed on a fingernail. Instead of replying, she asked, "Why do you want it to be real?"
Gakupo huffed. "Luka, did you tell her what happened this morning?"
Miki turned around to look at Luka as well, wide-eyed. "What is he talking about?" Luka just let out a small sigh.
"Have you told her anything at all? No? I think we should. She's just as involved in this as the rest of us."
I really wish he was wrong about that, Luka thought grimacing. "Fine. Miki, listen…"
The shadows across the pavement grew longer and longer as Gakupo and Luka walked down Canopus Circle, towards her home. The homes and low buildings on the other side of the street kept the sun hidden from view, but the temperature was still mild and the slight breeze felt pleasant.
Gakupo was carrying two big bags full of food, courtesy of the Furukawa family. Even now, Luka couldn't help but feel a bit of secondhand embarrassment whenever she looked at them. But he seem pretty satisfied with the results of the visit.
"I think I might have to leave the hardware store for tomorrow. It's getting kinda late," he commented as they waited by a busy intersection.
"You didn't need to walk me home."
"I wanted to," Gakupo replied with a smile. "I like being with you."
Luka looked away, feeling strangely self-conscious. She struggled to find something innocuous to say. "Did Gumi tell you at what time they were going to drop her off?" Mentally, she chastised herself for asking such a stupid question. She had been right there at lunch break when Gakupo and Gumi were talking, after all. She knew the answer already.
Gakupo didn't particularly mind, however. "No idea, but she'll probably text me. Actually, she might've already sent me something, I think I left my phone in silent mode. Can you hold this for a sec? Thanks." He fished out the phone from his pocket and immediately raised an eyebrow. "Huh, I have a ton of notifications. Maybe I shouldn't have left that comment-" He swiped the screen with his thumb and his expression changed. He gave Luka a perplexed glance. "When did you send these?"
"What?" Luka leaned closer and Gakupo silently tilted the screen so she could see.
The screen read:
HE FOUND THE CENTER OF THE LABYRINTH.
DON'T FOLLOW HIM PAST THE LIBRARY.
I'LL KEEP YOU SAFE.
NO MATTER WHO OR WHERE YOU ARE, I'LL ALWAYS LOVE YOU.
The lines had been sent as four separate text messages from her phone number, a little over an hour ago. Luka patted her school blazer, almost expecting her mobile to be missing, but she felt the hard shape just where it was supposed to be, inside her left pocket. "I didn't send you that. We were in the same damned room at the time," Luka said.
"No kidding. Maybe someone spoofed your phone number?" Gakupo tilted his head, and Luka could tell from his expression that he didn't believe it was a simple prank. To be honest, she didn't either. The timing was too fortuitous.
"He found the center of the labyrinth," she read out loud. For a brief second, Luka pictured the dilapidated hallways of the clinic, and how lost she had felt while she ran in the darkness. Was that the labyrinth? Was the message referring to the man in the grey suit? What did it mean?
"At least whoever sent me this doesn't seem hostile," Gakupo mused. "Actually, I seem to have an admirer." He chuckled lightly.
"There's nothing funny about this!" Luka scolded him. A few people walking nearby them eyed her in passing, surprised by her loud tone.
Gakupo's smile faded. "I know it looks like I'm not taking things seriously again, it's a bad habit." He placed the phone back in his pocket. "When I get home, I'll check online if there's a way to find out who really sent these, alright?" His free hand caressed Luka's cheek. "I didn't mean to make you angry."
"It's...It's fine." Luka felt herself blushing. Part of her wanted to step back and perhaps hit Gakupo over the head with the bag of goodies. But his fingers felt so comforting that another part of her wanted to see what would happen next.
Before she could made up her mind, Gakupo's face came closer to hers and-
A businessman pushed past Gakupo, angrily shouting at them for standing in the way of the crosswalk. The shove made Gakupo stumble forward and he ended up painfully bumping heads with Luka. The pair yelped in unison, causing someone nearby to break into laughter.
Luka looked around rubbing her forehead. To her immense annoyance, she saw one of her classmates standing a few paces away, filming them with his phone. The blonde boy gave them a toothy grin and ran way before Luka and Gakupo could stop him.
"What the-?" Gakupo began saying, but Luka just pulled at his arm and forced him to cross the street.
"Let's just get to my place already. We can deal with Yohio tomorrow at school."
"It wasn't that funny," Gakupo complained, holding his head.
"Preaching to the choir," Luka replied. She spied the businessman power-walking in the distance, and felt an inordinate desire to toss a shoe at him for interrupting them.
For interrupting us? That means I wanted...
After squashing that train of thought, Luka made an effort to act natural while avoiding Gakupo's gaze for the rest of the walk. But try as she might, she couldn't help but view her own impulses with a critical eye. Even if she liked him, it wasn't the time. She had to keep the both of them focused!
Finally, they reached the stone steps of her home. Luka turned to face him, swallowing her uncertainties. "Here," she said evenly and handed him the bag of food.
"Ah, right. Thanks." Gakupo accepted it, but then immediately placed both bags on the ground, leaning against the steps.
"What are you doing?"
"I was thinking, you know," he started in a quiet tone. "If Yohio and his friends are going to tease us about it, well, we might as well finish what we started…" He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "If you want to, that is."
"Ah," Luka said incongruously. It was lousy timing, she meant to say. She also wanted to explain how silly it was to be thinking about that sort of thing with the problems they were facing. If nothing else, she needed time to understand the odd feelings Gakupo sparked in her. It was too soon after his return to her life. She opened her mouth to say as much.
"Yes," her voice said. And then her hands decided to pull him towards her, and her lips kissed his.
A moment later, her traitorous body finally decided to cooperate with her and Luka escaped up the steps, her face red as the sky. Gakupo waved goodbye from the sidewalk in a happy daze. His eyes were glowing, as if the last rays of the setting sun were seeking refuge inside of him.
Luka closed the door, then leaned on the dark wood, breathing heavily. Fortunately, her mother wasn't around to ask questions she couldn't answer.
"Yes," she muttered to the empty home. "I said yes."
Gakupo hummed a bright little tune as he set the dinner table. He hadn't bothered to make too much of an effort the last couple days, since it was just the two of them. But a more formal display seemed appropriate for the feast they were about to enjoy.
Soon, everything was ready. Gumi and Sachiko were still fifteen minutes or so away, so Gakupo went into his room and sat on his bed. He pulled out his phone and briefly examined the mysterious messages once more. But his mind and eyes kept focusing on Luka's profile picture instead. He laid down and stared at the ceiling with a smile firmly in place, considering the possibilities. He was expecting a lot from the move to his childhood home, and yet life had surprised him with more than he'd ever dared to wish. In a sense, his reunion with Luka was even more extraordinary than any supernatural impostors.
But why was he wasting time like this? He promised Luka to find out where the messages came from, after all. Gakupo put aside his idle (and rose-tinted) thoughts, and searched information about spoofed text messages on his phone browser. Though he was far from an expert in that sort of dealings, it sounded like a fairly easy thing to do via computer software. Unfortunately, finding out who had done it was another matter entirely. One possibility mentioned in a tech forum was to contact his phone provider; the problem was, of course, that his phone was actually in his grandfather's name, and Gakupo felt no desire to try to explain their situation to the severe old man. Maybe there was some other way…
Suddenly, a car horn broke the silence. Gumi was here. Gakupo went to the front door, wondering if his sister had forgotten her keys again.
When he opened the door, he saw Gumi crossing the narrow garden at the front of the property, illuminated by the lights of a car so impressive that it looked like something out of a movie. Gakupo spied a woman with a dark ponytail behind the wheel, presumably Sachiko. A moment later, he noticed that his sister was carrying a posh-looking cardboard box from a bakery from downtown. Gumi presented him with the box when she reached the doorway, then turned to wave goodbye to the driver. The woman mimicked the gesture with a solemn air and started the engine. Almost instantly, the car disappeared in the night.
"That's a pretty cool car," Gakupo commented. "Don't tell me Miku has a garage full of luxury models."
"I didn't see her garage," Gumi shrugged, utterly uninterested. "I could ask her..."
"That's ok," Gakupo replied with a laugh and marched back inside. He heard Gumi close the door, drop her backpack on the ground and follow him. "Go wash your hands at least, you savage." Despite this, he barely had time to enter the kitchen and place the cardboard box and his phone on the counter when he heard a loud gasp.
"Where did you get all of that?!"
"Remember the girl I went to visit with Luka? Her mom gave me some of her extras."
Gumi crossed the room into the dining area and sat at the table with reverence. "It looks so good!" Her fingers drummed on the table, barely containing her impatience as she stared at the carrot cake waiting on a platter. "Come on, sit down!"
Gakupo shook his head. "The main dish is still in the pot. Wait a sec." He pointed at the cardboard box. "I'm guessing we're saving that one for later? What is it?"
"French stuff."
"Incredibly helpful, thanks."
Gakupo put the box with French Stuff inside the refrigerator and served two plates of pasta with a pinkish seafood sauce. "If you don't want it, just eat some salad or whatever you want from the table. Oh, wolf down the cake if you want, it's not like we're gonna eat like this everyday."
"I'll try the pasta," Gumi said with poise. And she did, biting down delicately as if she expected her food to be laced with ground glass. A moment or two passed, with Gakupo holding back laughter. Finally, Gumi nodded and said, "Not bad." The next spoonfuls were consumed much more quickly and with noticeable relish.
"Glad to hear it." After that reply, the siblings concentrated on eating for a while, but then Gumi began to recount his afternoon with Miku. From what she was describing, the twintails girl preferred relaxing activities that allowed for introspection, like gardening and reading. Accordingly, the afternoon had been far quieter than what Gumi expected or preferred.
"She offered to lend me a book on plants!" Gumi said with the same tone one would describe being offered a free tooth extraction. "Like we don't have enough homework as it is."
"Everything has their own tastes, gremlin," Gakupo replied. "I assume you said 'I appreciate the offer but no thanks', and saved the look of disgust for later."
"Of course." Gumi gave him an eyeroll. "It's not her fault she likes boring stuff."
"I'm blessed to have so magnanimous a sister," Gakupo said dramatically.
Gumi let out a little "Hmph," but refused to take the bait and just helped herself to another slice of carrot cake.
"So, despite the threat of knowledge, did you have a good time?"
Gumi nodded as she made short work of the cake.
"Nice." Gakupo leaned back on his chair. "I had a pretty good day too."
Gumi paused her decimation of the cake for a few seconds and observed him with half-lidded eyes. "Are you going out with the grouchy girl?"
"...No," Gakupo said cautiously.
"She's your type," Gumi pointed at him with her knife.
"Like you would know."
"Is she the super-serious one in class? The one with the perfect homework but she won't let you take a look at it?"
"Ok, you got me. I pick girls based on their academic performance," Gakupo replied, amused.
"You know what I mean! Besides, she has huge bazongas."
Gakupo almost choked at this, and even as he struggled to breathe he kept on laughing for a while. Finally, he managed to ask, "Where in the world did you learn that word?"
"Dunno." Gumi blushed a bit. "It sounds funny, I thought I'd try and use it in conversation."
"Oh, it's funny alright. But it's the kind of word one only uses in select company."
Gumi tilted her head, as if she was unsure she understood why he was laughing so hard. More than the word itself, the amusing part was his sister acting like it was the most natural thing on the world to comment on Luka's breasts using it. But Gakupo didn't bother to explain this and soon Gumi returned to her cake.
Thanks to the lull in conversation, Gakupo heard a heavy but muffled sound, coming from somewhere behind and above him. The roof, his mind supplied. Maybe it was the neighbor's cat? There was an orange tree on their side near the boundary fence, although it seemed too distant for a safe leap. I hope she didn't hurt herself, Gakupo thought.
The words had barely crossed his mind when something else landed on the roof, making a similar sound. Then the two beings began to race from one side of the house to the other, making the old support beams creak. It sounded like mad dancers pounding on the tiles with heavy boots while they followed a very complicated choreography. More noises followed, although it was hard to say if it was the same two bouncing up and down or new arrivals.
Needless to say, no cat was big enough to make such a racket.
Gakupo realized he was looking upwards with his mouth hanging slightly open and his arm frozen in mid-air. Gumi's spoon landed on the table, loudly hitting the plate in front of her. An inarticulate sound came out of her mouth.
As sudden as the sounds themselves, a sharp stab of pain behind his eyes made Gakupo grab his head. He unwittingly pushed his glass off the table with his elbow and it shattered on the ground. The fragments bounced all over the floor with a tinkling sound almost drowned by the repeated stomping over their heads.
"Wh-Wha-" Gumi looked from him to the ceiling and back, completely overwhelmed by the situation.
"My head...it's like this morning." Gakupo meant to say more, but all that came out of his mouth was a groan. The pain felt even worse than before, and having a full stomach was doing him no favors.
Gumi jumped to her feet and rushed to her brother's side. She grasped frantically at his left sleeve, then asked stumbling over her words, "What do we do?! What do we do?!"
Gakupo squeezed his eyes shut, trying to concentrate. There was an obvious answer: lock himself and Gumi in the bathroom and call the police. If those things were corporeal enough to stomp on their roof, hopefully they were corporeal enough to get scared away by bullets. All he needed was to tell Gumi to use her phone and make the call.
And yet, Gakupo hesitated. If he involved the police, there was a chance Gumi and he would have to go back to his uncle's house. After all the pleading, all the suffering, all the anger…He couldn't stand the idea. To be free, to have Luka by his side, to finally be home again, only to lose it all after a few days?
It was irresponsible, selfish and perhaps suicidally stupid to do anything else but call for help. He wasn't on his own, he needed to keep Gumi safe!
And yet, he hesitated. But then a particularly loud bang over their heads made Gumi scream in terror and he knew he had no choice, yet again.
"Gumi, get-"
The sounds stopped. There wasn't even a hint of a presence above their heads. The siblings looked at the ceiling, shocked, and then at one another. At least thirty seconds passed in complete silence.
"Get a change of clothes, whatever else you need. Let's call a cab and go to Luka's house," Gakupo said, squinting a bit due to the piercing lights of the dining area. "I'll let her know we're coming." She stared as if she had forgotten what those words meant, still clinging to the fabric of his sleeve. He pried off her fingers gently. "Go, quickly."
Gumi's eyes suddenly focused. "R-right!" Without another word, she ran towards the corridor.
Gakupo rose from his chair much more slowly, making sure not to look directly at any lights, and headed for his room. Luka's mother is going to ask all sorts of questions, he thought as he walked down the corridor rubbing his temples. He had little doubt that she would shelter them, at least for a few days. But she'd probably demand to know exactly what they were running away from.
He stopped and leaned on the doorway to his bedroom, lost in thought. The last thing he needed was for Ms. Asakawa to think he was insane or lying. What sort of explanation would she want to hear? Maybe Luka could help him concoct something plausible.
His train of thought was interrupted by the unmistakable sound of breaking glass from his left, together with a high-pitched scream and other noises that were harder to identify.
"Gumi!" He turned his head quickly towards the end of the corridor, and was rewarded with fresh needles puncturing his brain. But the situation unfolding before him was a powerful distraction from the pain.
Gumi burst out of her room and crashed into the opposite wall violently. She stumbled, but quickly scrambled to her feet and ran in his direction, with eyes wide with fear.
"What-!" Gakupo's phrase was cut short when Gumi collided like a cannonball against him. Despite their size difference, his sister managed to push him inside his bedroom, making him fall to his knees. She almost fell to the floor as well but managed to grab the doorknob and close the door behind her.
For a second there was nothing but darkness and the uneven breathing of the siblings, but then Gakupo heard scratching along the walls of the corridors, as whatever beings had been on the roof now approached his bedroom. Several throats let out a howl unlike he had ever heard. He jumped to his feet, stars exploding before his eyes thanks to the migraine; he fumbled around until his hands found the hard corner of his dresser.
Gumi hit the light switch and took a step away from the door quickly. She then noticed her brother pushing the heavy dresser towards the door and rushed to help him. The noise outside turned thunderous as the intruders let out more alien, warped cries. Over and over they pummeled the walls and door. Each impact was so strong that if completely focused on the door, their efforts would've destroyed it before the siblings had time to block it. But for whatever reason, the attack was as disorderly as it was violent.
With a final grunt of effort, Gakupo and Gumi pushed the dresser into place. Gakupo leaned his forehead against the shaking wall, heaving, while Gumi curved like a ball on the floor.
The light blinked.
Gakupo looked upwards, just in time to see the light bulb flicker once more. Then his gaze travelled downwards and saw-
Two orbs of fire were outside the window. Two tiny stars close together, two rubies set on black velvet… Except they weren't stars or rubies, they were eyes staring at him, examining his insides. Invisible threads connected his pupils and the eyes in the darkness, and he couldn't look away, couldn't even blink. His eyes burned, his mouth hung open but no sounds came out.
Vague scenes and sensations came to him crawling from one end of the threads to the other, and suddenly the house and everything around him was gone. His body hung from the rusty wall of an immense chamber, one amongst many puppets. His eyes were gone, his insides felt emptied out. He knew himself to be dead.
Then his surroundings changed, and he was running along a hallway with ashen walls. Alcoves appeared and disappeared to his left and right as he ran, dark spaces with misshapen shapes that moved and screeched and tried to grab him. He jumped over squirming vines and evaded burnt, festering limbs. Claws caked with filth tore at the remains of his clothes and left red trails on his skin.
The world twisted and exploded into clear light. He was in a orchard consumed by fog. A woman was bound tightly to one of the trees. Her long pink hair hid her face, but Gakupo knew this was someone that once was precious to him. The sight of her battered body neither saddened nor distressed him, he couldn't feel anything but a mild sense of curiosity. He calmly approached her and traced the line of her collarbone with a finger. The woman trembled and Gakupo knew she was going to beg for her life, but before she could raise her head, she vanished alongside the orchard.
Gakupo was now climbing a steep incline devoid of any vegetation. The ground was so dry it crumbled under his feet and hands. But finally he reached the top and laboriously hauled himself over the edge. He was close, after all those years. Tears filled his eyes when his gaze landed on the massive tower in the distance.
The visions began to pile faster and faster, until they were nothing but scattered images, bare concepts mixed together like discordant notes. Blood, pain, cold fog, water, a woman's face, books piled to the ceiling in a great library, calculations on a blackboard, sacks of grain stacked on a dusty room, pink hair waving underwater, entrails strewn across a wooden table, a jellyfish-like creature lying squashed on a stone floor, a birdcage… More and more and more colors and shapes, mute and meaningless, burrowing inside his skull and wringing his brain. The invisible threads were not threads, they were incandescent daggers carving into his sense of self, emptying his body and stuffing his skin with nightmares. What was left of him would drop into the pits of fire outside his window and be consumed...
Two small hands covered his eyes, and a sweet, tiny little voice wrecked by sobs cried out. It was perhaps the only voice in the world he could've recognized at that point.
"Gumi…?" Another voice croaked gracelessly in response. His own voice. His life returned to him in a flash. He knew his name, he knew where he stood. Gumi had cut the threads.
"Close your eyes, don't look at him!" Even though she was next to him, Gumi shouted to be heard above the thundering noises nearby. The intruders were still just outside the door.
His hands rose and held his sister's hands in place. "I can't… I can't stop myself."
"Turn around!" They clumsily turned so Gakupo was facing away from the window. "Sit down!" Gumi pulled him to the floor.
Almost lost in the confusion, there was another sound: a finger poking at the glass. Let me in, it seemed to say. I'm not done with you.
"What- what is he doing?" Gakupo began to turn, his neck followed the motion, then the shoulders…
"Don't look!" Gumi grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked it hard, causing him to wince and stagger. She quickly reached past him and closed the curtain. "The wardrobe! Before he gets in!" The two of them crawled towards their mother's old wardrobe, one of the only things their family had spared when they went through the house after the funeral. The siblings pushed and pushed, the wardrobe creaked, the floor tiles whined and the hand behind the curtain kept knocking on the glass. It shouldn't have been possible, given the weight of the wardrobe. It wasn't even empty. But there was no choice. They had no choice.
Once the wardrobe was blocking the window, Gakupo sat with his back against it, cradling Gumi in his arms. In contrast to the noises coming from both sides, they were silent. There wasn't much left to say. They had no weapons, no way to call for help. Once the intruders became tired of terrorizing them, it would be the end. The lights sputtered for the final time and went out.
