Kaii turned and bumped into a low shelf. He swore as the pain shot up his
leg. He called Rika again, shivering at how eerie his voice sounded as it
echoed around the room. Reijiro stepped out from behind one of the kimono
stands and shrugged.
"She's not here..." he said.
"Oh Jesus....", Kaii said, rubbing his calf in an attempt to stop the throbbing "Where the hell could she have gone then? She was there when we came through the last room". Reijiro shook his head mournfully.
"I don't know. If anything's happened to her, my 'rents are gonna kill me. Oh shit, you don't think..."
"No", Kaii interrupted him "I'm sure she's fine, probably just lost us in that room or something". Reijiro nodded, Kaii could tell by his eyes that he had gone beyond panic now, and he didn't blame him. His twin sister was lost somewhere in a huge, strange mansion. The twins, although they fought like cat and mouse when they didn't agree, were incredibly close. Kaii knew how much it would have hurt Reijiro if anything had happened to her.
"Come on" he said, motioning for Reijiro to follow him "we have to go back through there anyway, there's no other doors here, she might still be there." Reijiro nodded and pushed back against the wall he was leaning on to stand upright. He didn't get far. The section of wall he had been leaning on swung back and opened up, revealing a hidden doorway. Reijiro yelped and grabbed Kaii's arm for support, but pulled him through the doorway too. They crashed onto the tatami mats in the room beyond, and the 'door' shut itself again. Kaii got up from on top of Reijiro and pushed the panel. It was stuck fast and wouldn't swing open again. He turned back to Reijiro, who was writing on the mats in pain from having Kaii's elbow jammed into his groin. He had gone as pale as sheet of new paper and was groaning something about feeling like he was going to throw up.
"Are you okay?" Kaii asked him, kneeling next to him and brushing his hair from his face.
"Yeah..." Reijiro choked out "just give me a minute or seven..." Kaii smiled, lent down and kissed Reijiro softly on the cheek.
"Good," he said.
"I told her, by the way," Reijiro said, "Rika I mean, she wasn't bothered"
"I told you she wouldn't be."
"Yeah, but it's not everyday you find out your twin brother is bi and is going out with a guy who you've known since you were in nursery school." Kaii laughed quietly.
"What did she say then?"
"She said she knew about you, she said your too style conscious to be straight. She's not bothered about my sexual orientation, just as long as I'm happy and I don't steal all the good looking guys." Kaii smiled again.
"She's a typical woman," he said "they can pick up a gay guys vibes before he's even said hi to them. Christ I hope she's okay."
"Me too", Reijiro said, sitting up and wincing slightly.
Kaii stood up and helped him to his feet. Reijiro looked around the room they were in and stepped back. The walls of the room were lined with hundreds of porcelain Japanese dolls in traditional dress kimonos of hundreds of different colours and styles for every season. They all had the same face and long black cotton for hair. They stared at them, blank and expressionless, their glass eyes just staring like they were watching the two boys.
"Shit," Reijiro murmured, "I hate dolls." Kaii stepped up to the closest shelf and looked closely at one of the dolls. I sat, looking back at him with those horrible eyes.
"They look.... alive" he said softly. He reached out to the doll, and it lurched forward at him. He screamed, jumping back into Reijiro who screamed too. He looked at the shelf, where the dolls body still sat, minus its porcelain head, which had rolled beneath a cabinet. He felt Reijiro's hand close around his and pull him back.
"Let's go, now!" Reijiro said. Kaii nodded his approval and they ran to the door at the other side of the room, through it and out into a garden with a huge cherry tree in the centre and what appeared to be a gravestone, roped off under the tree.
They walked slowly and cautiously along the creaky walkway to a small set of steps that led into the garden itself. There was yet another door at the bottom of the garden beyond the tree, and one at the end of the walkway. Realising that they had to choose one of the doors, and they didn't feel like going back inside the building right now anyway, they chose the one in the garden, knowing it probably led deeper into the mansions grounds. They went down the rickety steps hand-in-hand and past the cherry tree, which looked, although very old, still quite healthy. The gate creaked open when Kaii pushed it and led out into another part of the garden. A huge waterwheel was turning, squeaking as it did so. The sounds of the squeaking mixed with the wood slapping the water made Kaii even more nervous, and he huddled closer to Reijiro. This part of the garden was small, but they couldn't see beyond the first garden lantern. A thick fog had fallen and was shrouding the grounds in its grey cloak. They stepped forward to get a better look around. There didn't appear to be much here. A little burial mound stood at the end of a narrow wooden jetty that stuck out over the stream that cut through the garden, but neither of the pair felt brave enough to try the jetty for fear that it was unstable.
Kaii turned back to the gate they had come through, and gasped, stepping back into Reijiro and making him yelp. By the gate, a figure was turning away from them as though it had been watching. Reijiro recognised it at once.
"Rika!" he called "Rika wait! We're here Rika!" Rika took no notice to her brother's shouts, and disappeared into the fog. Rejiro stood in disbelief that his sister had totally ignored him.
"Let's go after her!" Kaii said as he pulled Reijiro towards the gate. The went through, and saw Rika going through the door on the walkway that they had given the miss before. They sprinted along the garden path and to the door. It opened into another hall with a mirror, a huge mirror like the one in the first hallway. In it, Rika's reflection wandered down the corridor and around the corner. Kaii called her, but once again she appeared not to hear. They followed her and through a doorway into a room with old fish tanks set into the floor. At one time, the tanks probably held a multitude of fish, but now, the scummy green water was still and empty. Wooden planks ran over the tops of the stone tanks to act as walkways over them. There was only one other door, at the other side, over the tanks. Reijiro stepped cautiously onto the first plank and found it stable enough to walk on. Kaii followed him, and the crossed together. Kaii tried the door at the end, and it swung open to the outside again, onto a dirt path.
They made their way down the path, coming out into another section of the grounds. A stone well stood there, covered with a slab of grey stone that looked to heavy to move. They followed it through to another gate, at which point Kaii groaned.
"Bloody gates and doors...." He said, "It's no wonder she got lost." Reijiro pushed on the gate, and it creaked and groaned on its hinges. It took them both to open it far enough to squeeze through, and it led them out onto another path, leading up too a building on top of a small hill. It looked from here, like a temple of worship. Kaii led the way along the path and up the stone steps to the doors of the building. They opened with less trouble than the gate, and they saw that it was a temple inside, with what looked like an alter in the centre surrounded by small Buddha statues. Outside, the rain had started again. It drummed on the roof, and was coming in above them, splashing on the floor creating puddles all around the temple. Kaii sat down on the floorboards.
"Maybe we should stay here until it dies of a bit, what do you think?" he asked Reijiro.
"I agree, but I'm worried about Rika. She has to have come in here, there was no where else to go!"
"We must have missed a door or something," Kaii said. He leaned against the altar and Reijiro sat down beside him.
He lent his head on Reijiro's shoulder and shivered.
"We need to find Rika and the others, then get the hell out of this godforsaken place," Reijiro said.
"I know" Kaii murmured, "I think we should move from here, the water's coming in and it's just splashed down my back." He stood up and pulled his shirt off to wring the water out of it. He stopped, and stood frozen with the shirt in his hands.
"Kaii? Kaii what's wrong?" Reijiro asked. Kaii didn't move. Reijiro stood up, put his hand on Kaii's shoulder and looked at the shirt he was holding. The purple material was wet just near the shoulder seam, but the liquid that stained it was thick and dark.
"Oh God...." He said, then looked at Kaii's back. There were no cuts or scratches in the skin. Kaii turned to face him, his eyes wide and scared. They looked up at the ceiling together.
"Ri...." Reijiro started, getting cut off as the body fell from where it had been suspended and crashed on the floor in a crumpled heap. Reijiro screamed and dropped to the floor, his legs unable to hold him up. Kaii stood frozen, staring at the body of Rika lying on the floor. Her wrists, ankles and neck were bound with rope so tight that they had cut into the skin, making her bleed. She stared up at them, her eyes glazed and her whole expression one of utter terror. Kaii dropped next to Reijiro who was shaking uncontrollably, holding his head in his hands.
"Rika..." he said, over and over "Rika.... Rika..."
Kaii put his arm around Reijiro's shoulders and pulled him into a comforting hug. He started to cry, his face buried against Kaii's bare chest. Kaii felt the tears well up also, and the boys sat and sobbed in each other's arms while the storm raged on outside.
"She's not here..." he said.
"Oh Jesus....", Kaii said, rubbing his calf in an attempt to stop the throbbing "Where the hell could she have gone then? She was there when we came through the last room". Reijiro shook his head mournfully.
"I don't know. If anything's happened to her, my 'rents are gonna kill me. Oh shit, you don't think..."
"No", Kaii interrupted him "I'm sure she's fine, probably just lost us in that room or something". Reijiro nodded, Kaii could tell by his eyes that he had gone beyond panic now, and he didn't blame him. His twin sister was lost somewhere in a huge, strange mansion. The twins, although they fought like cat and mouse when they didn't agree, were incredibly close. Kaii knew how much it would have hurt Reijiro if anything had happened to her.
"Come on" he said, motioning for Reijiro to follow him "we have to go back through there anyway, there's no other doors here, she might still be there." Reijiro nodded and pushed back against the wall he was leaning on to stand upright. He didn't get far. The section of wall he had been leaning on swung back and opened up, revealing a hidden doorway. Reijiro yelped and grabbed Kaii's arm for support, but pulled him through the doorway too. They crashed onto the tatami mats in the room beyond, and the 'door' shut itself again. Kaii got up from on top of Reijiro and pushed the panel. It was stuck fast and wouldn't swing open again. He turned back to Reijiro, who was writing on the mats in pain from having Kaii's elbow jammed into his groin. He had gone as pale as sheet of new paper and was groaning something about feeling like he was going to throw up.
"Are you okay?" Kaii asked him, kneeling next to him and brushing his hair from his face.
"Yeah..." Reijiro choked out "just give me a minute or seven..." Kaii smiled, lent down and kissed Reijiro softly on the cheek.
"Good," he said.
"I told her, by the way," Reijiro said, "Rika I mean, she wasn't bothered"
"I told you she wouldn't be."
"Yeah, but it's not everyday you find out your twin brother is bi and is going out with a guy who you've known since you were in nursery school." Kaii laughed quietly.
"What did she say then?"
"She said she knew about you, she said your too style conscious to be straight. She's not bothered about my sexual orientation, just as long as I'm happy and I don't steal all the good looking guys." Kaii smiled again.
"She's a typical woman," he said "they can pick up a gay guys vibes before he's even said hi to them. Christ I hope she's okay."
"Me too", Reijiro said, sitting up and wincing slightly.
Kaii stood up and helped him to his feet. Reijiro looked around the room they were in and stepped back. The walls of the room were lined with hundreds of porcelain Japanese dolls in traditional dress kimonos of hundreds of different colours and styles for every season. They all had the same face and long black cotton for hair. They stared at them, blank and expressionless, their glass eyes just staring like they were watching the two boys.
"Shit," Reijiro murmured, "I hate dolls." Kaii stepped up to the closest shelf and looked closely at one of the dolls. I sat, looking back at him with those horrible eyes.
"They look.... alive" he said softly. He reached out to the doll, and it lurched forward at him. He screamed, jumping back into Reijiro who screamed too. He looked at the shelf, where the dolls body still sat, minus its porcelain head, which had rolled beneath a cabinet. He felt Reijiro's hand close around his and pull him back.
"Let's go, now!" Reijiro said. Kaii nodded his approval and they ran to the door at the other side of the room, through it and out into a garden with a huge cherry tree in the centre and what appeared to be a gravestone, roped off under the tree.
They walked slowly and cautiously along the creaky walkway to a small set of steps that led into the garden itself. There was yet another door at the bottom of the garden beyond the tree, and one at the end of the walkway. Realising that they had to choose one of the doors, and they didn't feel like going back inside the building right now anyway, they chose the one in the garden, knowing it probably led deeper into the mansions grounds. They went down the rickety steps hand-in-hand and past the cherry tree, which looked, although very old, still quite healthy. The gate creaked open when Kaii pushed it and led out into another part of the garden. A huge waterwheel was turning, squeaking as it did so. The sounds of the squeaking mixed with the wood slapping the water made Kaii even more nervous, and he huddled closer to Reijiro. This part of the garden was small, but they couldn't see beyond the first garden lantern. A thick fog had fallen and was shrouding the grounds in its grey cloak. They stepped forward to get a better look around. There didn't appear to be much here. A little burial mound stood at the end of a narrow wooden jetty that stuck out over the stream that cut through the garden, but neither of the pair felt brave enough to try the jetty for fear that it was unstable.
Kaii turned back to the gate they had come through, and gasped, stepping back into Reijiro and making him yelp. By the gate, a figure was turning away from them as though it had been watching. Reijiro recognised it at once.
"Rika!" he called "Rika wait! We're here Rika!" Rika took no notice to her brother's shouts, and disappeared into the fog. Rejiro stood in disbelief that his sister had totally ignored him.
"Let's go after her!" Kaii said as he pulled Reijiro towards the gate. The went through, and saw Rika going through the door on the walkway that they had given the miss before. They sprinted along the garden path and to the door. It opened into another hall with a mirror, a huge mirror like the one in the first hallway. In it, Rika's reflection wandered down the corridor and around the corner. Kaii called her, but once again she appeared not to hear. They followed her and through a doorway into a room with old fish tanks set into the floor. At one time, the tanks probably held a multitude of fish, but now, the scummy green water was still and empty. Wooden planks ran over the tops of the stone tanks to act as walkways over them. There was only one other door, at the other side, over the tanks. Reijiro stepped cautiously onto the first plank and found it stable enough to walk on. Kaii followed him, and the crossed together. Kaii tried the door at the end, and it swung open to the outside again, onto a dirt path.
They made their way down the path, coming out into another section of the grounds. A stone well stood there, covered with a slab of grey stone that looked to heavy to move. They followed it through to another gate, at which point Kaii groaned.
"Bloody gates and doors...." He said, "It's no wonder she got lost." Reijiro pushed on the gate, and it creaked and groaned on its hinges. It took them both to open it far enough to squeeze through, and it led them out onto another path, leading up too a building on top of a small hill. It looked from here, like a temple of worship. Kaii led the way along the path and up the stone steps to the doors of the building. They opened with less trouble than the gate, and they saw that it was a temple inside, with what looked like an alter in the centre surrounded by small Buddha statues. Outside, the rain had started again. It drummed on the roof, and was coming in above them, splashing on the floor creating puddles all around the temple. Kaii sat down on the floorboards.
"Maybe we should stay here until it dies of a bit, what do you think?" he asked Reijiro.
"I agree, but I'm worried about Rika. She has to have come in here, there was no where else to go!"
"We must have missed a door or something," Kaii said. He leaned against the altar and Reijiro sat down beside him.
He lent his head on Reijiro's shoulder and shivered.
"We need to find Rika and the others, then get the hell out of this godforsaken place," Reijiro said.
"I know" Kaii murmured, "I think we should move from here, the water's coming in and it's just splashed down my back." He stood up and pulled his shirt off to wring the water out of it. He stopped, and stood frozen with the shirt in his hands.
"Kaii? Kaii what's wrong?" Reijiro asked. Kaii didn't move. Reijiro stood up, put his hand on Kaii's shoulder and looked at the shirt he was holding. The purple material was wet just near the shoulder seam, but the liquid that stained it was thick and dark.
"Oh God...." He said, then looked at Kaii's back. There were no cuts or scratches in the skin. Kaii turned to face him, his eyes wide and scared. They looked up at the ceiling together.
"Ri...." Reijiro started, getting cut off as the body fell from where it had been suspended and crashed on the floor in a crumpled heap. Reijiro screamed and dropped to the floor, his legs unable to hold him up. Kaii stood frozen, staring at the body of Rika lying on the floor. Her wrists, ankles and neck were bound with rope so tight that they had cut into the skin, making her bleed. She stared up at them, her eyes glazed and her whole expression one of utter terror. Kaii dropped next to Reijiro who was shaking uncontrollably, holding his head in his hands.
"Rika..." he said, over and over "Rika.... Rika..."
Kaii put his arm around Reijiro's shoulders and pulled him into a comforting hug. He started to cry, his face buried against Kaii's bare chest. Kaii felt the tears well up also, and the boys sat and sobbed in each other's arms while the storm raged on outside.