Story Of A Girl
Nayru: Alright, consider this a double chapter. I got two votes.... each for something different... So you all get an uber-double chapter!!
Chapter 17: New Year's Eve! No Need For Fireworks!
and
The Haunted House! No Need For Returns!
"Whoooooooooooo!" Kai half-flew past Karen. He was dressed in bright clothes, and jumping around his living room. Karen was sitting in an armchair, a book in one hand, her head resting in the other. Occasionally, her hand drifted to her four-months-pregnant stomach, and immediately back to her book. Outside, the sounds of screaming and squealing rang out. It was New Year's Eve, and most people were outside celebrating, having a massive snowball fight. Karen and Kai were inside, but Kai was celebrating in his own way.
"Kai, not now." Karen sighed.
"Whooooooooooooo!" He pranced past her again.
"Kai, I have a migraine. Not now." Karen groaned, rubbing her head.
"WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" His 'battle cry' became more energetic and obnoxious. Karen smacked him with her book as he passed.
"KAI. Not now. I'm in no mood."
"But Karen!! It's New Year's!"
"So?" Karen continued reading.
"Be merrier! Be happy!"
"I've been through twenty-one New Year's, Kai. They all end in people getting drunk and people fighting in the morning."
"But Rae's being happy!"
"She has no reason to." Karen grumbled. "I'll be in bed." She went upstairs, and Kai sighed. Karen seemed miserable, and he felt it was his fault.
Cliff sat at the table by the window, reading glasses on, looking at three bills, and holding a calculator. "Hm... carry the eight..." He muttered, checking the calculator's work against his own. "So that's where we lost this..." He made a few scratch marks, and tapped on the calculator a few times.
"EEEK!" Elli cried, running past the window. Cliff looked up quickly, to see Gray and Harris chase her, throwing snowballs. He chuckled, and continued working.
"Multiply that by five..."
"AAAAH!" Cliff looked out the window, and watched as Andy tackled Popuri to the ground, pelting her with snowballs. He laughed slightly.
"Subtract... then add 4.8 times that figure..." He rubbed his eyes, still scratching onto the paper. He tapped a few keys on the calculator.
"Cliffy! Cliff!" Rae banged on the window. Her face was lit up with excitement, and there was snow in her hair. "Come and play!"
"Can't." He smiled, pressing a hand against the window. She pressed hers to match his. "Have to balance the books." She pouted cutely.
"Fine, but you better get your butt out here as soon as you're finished!" Rae stuck her tongue out. He did the same, and they made out through the glass- before Rae was mobbed by snowballs. Laughing, she ran from them. Cliff grinned.
"Then add 3,000... and it comes out to... exactly 40,000 in debt." Cliff gasped, standing up in shock. He watched Rae run around, carefree. She didn't know how far down he'd dragged her. When he told her, how would she react? How could he tell her? He stared around, his head spinning. He stared at the door. He heard Rae laugh again. Slowly, he ran his hand across his face. He lay a hand on the bookshelf to steady himself, his fingers brushing across a book.
"Do, it, Cliff. You'd be surprised." Cliff gasped in shock, whirling towards the door. Karen leaned in the doorway. Jumping in fright, he grabbed it, and fell off, the book in his hand. He tore it open, Karen leaning over him, desperate to find something, anything- until it fell to the very page he was looking for.
Rae and Kai climbed onto the roof of Rae's house. The entire group was covered in snow, as one by one they went up the ladder onto the roof, sitting facing the ocean. It was nearing midnight.
"Where's that husband of yours?" Kai asked Rae.
"Where's that wife of yours?" She replied.
"Karen's asleep. She had a headache."
"Cliff's doing some work on our checks... " Rae shrugged. "But he should be done by now." She bounced off the roof, and flung open the door.
The fireworks started above. The blues and reds flashed across the faces of the onlookers. The town was lit in beautiful, flashing colors, drenched in the crackling sounds and whirring of the fireworks. Gasps of awe and joy filled the air. Bells rang in the new year over all the noise of people and fireworks and explosions. There was applause as they ended. People were thrilled and psyched. It wascustom for the first sounds of the new year to be fireworks and church bells. It was not custom, however, for a girl to scream at the very end of them.
Kai bounded off the roof, not using the ladder, and burst into Rae's house. The first thing he noticed was that Cliff wasn't there. Rae was standing in the center of the room, staring at a piece of paper. "Rae, what happened?"
"He... it says he had to go and do something, that he'd return, that Karen was with him..." She shook her head slowly. "I... I think he left me..." She whimpered.
"Cliff's a better person than that! Don't worry!" Kai hugged her. "Any idea where he went?" Kai looked around the room for some clue of some kind. The open book laying on the floor a few yards behind Rae caught his eye. He examined the page. "Oh? A haunted house?" He read the whole page. "Curious. A gangster's treasure hidden in it?" He thought for a minute over the book, while Rae paced back and forth. Just then, there was the sound of a paper hitting the door.
"First paper of the New Year!" Stu called through the door.
"Thanks!" Rae ran outside, wearing a forced smile, and gave Stu a few coins as tip. "Happy New Year!"
"Thank you, you too!" He ran off, and Rae picked up the paper. Sighing, she flipped it open.
"A-ah!!" She cried. "Kai!!" He looked up from the book.
"Yeah?" Rae held up the paper. The headline was "Psychotic Stalker Escapes Prison Again, Returns To Hometown". Kai snatched the paper. "You think that's..." Kai flipped to the article on it, scanning the page for a name. "He's back."
"Karen, how did you know about this?" Cliff asked, as he picked the lock on the house's door. It was by the old, unused dock. It was empty, cold, and lonely. The sea salt's scent wafted off a few crusty, rotting wooden boats. It seemed nobody had even been there for a long time. The only other signs of inhabiting life was a third set of footprints that neither could identify. They assumed it was just someone who'd recently been on a walk in the area.
"Honestly, it's been haunting me." Karen sighed. "I remember the day my great-grandfather was carted off to prison, on charges of robbery and gang warfare, though I don't believe he really did what they say he did. New Year's Day, twelve years ago. He hid his loot here, but nobody's gone after it. The hiding place was only revealed while he was on his way to the electric chair. His exact words were 'All the treasure I have lies in my house by the dock.' Nobody's bothered going after it, they say he haunts it, but I... I've secretly always wanted to come after it, to find it. But... my dad did too. And my parents would spend every New Year's day arguing about it."
"Guess that explains why you hate New Year's." Cliff chuckled, as the lock fell off the door.
"Naturally." She opened the door, and entered. "This was all his." Karen sighed reminiscently, staring around the main hall. It was decorated in lavish pictures, covered in dust, fine art left to waste. The rug would have been elegant and beautiful had time not eaten away at its fibers and design. The wall paper peeled slightly, and the design was faded, but Cliff was convinced that it would have radiated rich living. A bare candelabra hung from the ceiling, all the glass broken on the floor. "I used to come here."
"He was rich?"
"Very." Karen smiled slightly. "Extremely wealthy. We got none of his money... because my father was bribed to testify against him in the court case. We were desperate for money, y'know?"
"But with all this, how could you be poor?"
"I suppose the old man hated my father. He loved my mother, though. His beautiful granddaughter-in-law."
"A sad thing indeed. Loving your son's wife more than your own son."
"A position I'd deplore." Karen nodded. Cliff rubbed his chin in thought.
"Let's see... where would he hide a bushel of money?"
"In the last place anyone would look, of course." Karen smiled. "Where is the last place you'd look?"
"Honestly? Under a table."
"I doubt it, that's TOO obvious." Karen laughed. "Hm... Perhaps... some secret hiding place nobody would know about."
"Let's look and find out. But Karen..!" He called, as she turned around to walk up the stairs. "Kai would kill me, absolutely maim me if you got hurt. Stay with me, I'd feel better."
"Alright." They walked off together into the dark house.
"Cliff's not a completely insensitive jackass, Rae. He's only partly insensitive jackass. He wouldn't run out on you." Kai comforted Rae, as they walked towards the old beach. "And he's not stupid enough to run out with Karen. And he's definitely not stupid enough to get into something that'll get him killed."
"But he's reckless." Rae sighed. "He doesn't know what'll happen when he does things. He doesn't know if he'll be killed or not. Besides, there's ghosts in there!" Kai patted and held her hand, gently squeezing it.
"Ghosts aren't real, Rae! They don't exist. We're entirely safe." They came through the clearing, still holding hands, seeing the dock and house about twenty yards away. "There are lights on; haven't been lights on there for years. They must be there."
"Then let's go!" Rae cried, breaking away from his hand, and running towards the house.
"Rae!" He made as if to run after her, but found himself not moving. "What the..." He looked down, and saw his leg entangled in freshly laid rope. "A trap... what in the hell?! Rae! Come back!" But she couldn't hear him.
"Well, well, what have we here?" Kai turned around, hearing the dreaded voice, and screamed.
"Cliff!" Rae burst into the house, calling his name.
"Rae?" Cliff whispered, hearing her call. "She's here?!"
"Are you hiding from her?" Karen whispered back.
"Yes, very much so... " Cliff hissed. "I'm trying to keep her from finding out how deep of debt we're in."
"That's terrible! Are you afraid she'll leave you over a little money problem? You're that insecure?! She didn't marry you over money."
"Cliff, come down or up here! I know you're here!" Rae cried. "Don't make me come after you!" Cliff looked at Karen. He had no choice. Rae suddenly screamed, though it sounded like she was crying. In a whim of bravado, he grabbed the railing, leapt over it, and landed on his feet in the main foyer. The floor cracked a little beneath him from the impact. But oddly enough, Rae was gone.
"You idiot, don't do that!" Karen called. "Where is she?"
"I dunno... I heard her, but I don't see her." Cliff sighed.
"Well, then get back up here. We should try to find that money while we're here."
"I think I should look for Rae."
"Well, choose then."
"... I'll keep looking, Karen." Cliff went back up the stairs, and he and Karen continued searching the upper floors.
Behind each painting, under each rug, in every bed, over every shelf, on every fan, everywhere they could think of for something to be hidden on the floor. They went back down the stairs, and stared around the foyer again.
"Nothing." Karen moaned. "There's nothing!"
"Maybe it's on this floor." Just then, there was a crashing sound. Karen jumped, and leaned against Cliff.
"What w-was that?!" She gasped.
"I don't know..." Just then, there was a huge gust of wind, and a distinct moaning sound. Karen shrieked again.
"I better hide!" She wailed, and slid under the kitchen table. Cliff looked around the foyer.
"There's something wrong here." He whispered to himself, turning to walk down the hallway.
In the basement of the house, Kai was tied by his waist to the wall. Rae was curled up in a little ball in the corner, her wrists bound to her ankles by rope. She was asleep, he was partially awake. He was aware enough to know what had happened.
"Damn it, Silas, let Rae go." Kai begged. "You can't take her from her husband. I thought you were in a maximum security prison!" Silas paced back and forth in front of Kai, smirking.
"I can do this to you. I'm not letting her go until she's dead. And I was in a maximum security prison. Bars and guards cannot withhold my love for Rae. She withholds her love from me, so I must do away with what I love so that I may love it more."
"That's disgusting." Kai growled. "She's married! Haven't you tried to ruin her life enough?!"
"No. She ruined mine."
"You're terrible, so selfish." Kai growled. "Someday, you'll get yours."
"I'd like to see that day." Silas chuckled. "Where's her valiant husband now? He's not here, is he?"
"Rrgh..." Kai grumbled. It was true; Cliff should have found them at this point. "Damn..."
"Like I thought." Silas snickered. "That old man left a cryptic message in this house, did he not? All that is precious is here. To me, the gold he left is precious. So I'm going to go find it." Silas turned to stalk out of the room, but the ceiling fell on his head, knocking him out.
Kai could only blink in shock as Cliff fell through the floor on the ceiling, covered in dust.
"Oow..." Cliff moaned.
"How'd you pull that off?" Kai asked.
"I guess the floor cracked when I jumped from the upper floor to the foyer." Just then, something entirely white whisked into the room. "What the-"
"You have what is precious to you..." The haunted voice whispered. Cliff blinked a few times in shock, and finally elected to scream.
"The hell!"
"I knew the floor would crack. You got lucky, boy. But remember what is really most precious to you." The voice cackled. "I helped you a bit... your weight alone wouldn't break the floor." Cliff's jaw dropped. The white thing laughed coldly, and vanished. Cliff stared at Rae, asleep in the corner. He ran to her, panicking silently.
"Hey, wake up!" He cried. She opened her eyes, and stared at him.
"... untie me." She mumbled. He calmly undid the ropes on her wrists and ankles. She straightened her body, and slapped him across the face. "I can't believe you came here! This place is falling apart, and a hideout for criminals at that!"
"Criminals like Silas." Kai interjected. "Let's get out of here, before he wakes up." Cliff quickly untied Kai, and they ran to where Karen was hiding.
"Get away!" Karen cried as they appraoched. Sighing calmly, Kai turned the table over.
"Karen, can we leave?" He smiled down at her. She jumped up and to him. He patted her on the head lovingly. Cliff, meanwhile, was fascinated by the table.
"Guys..." Cliff pointed at the underside of the table. They all looked, and gasped in surprise. Paper money was taped to the bottom, in high bills; 1,000 gold per piece. Karen slowly shook her head.
"He hid it under the table!"
"Should we take it?" Kai looked at Rae. She thought for a second.
"No." She smiled. "It's not ours, is it? Let's turn it into the mayor." She looked up at Cliff. "Unless you want to take some..." Cliff smiled slightly.
"Can we take just a little?" Karen and Kai both jabbed him in the stomach. "Okay, never mind." He gasped, flinching. Rae laughed, and took two bills off the bottom. She handed one to Karen and pocketed the other.
"Wait, grab three more!" Karen laughed. "We should give some out to everyone else!" She took three more. They both walked out, giggling in their riches. Cliff and Kai eyed each other.
"You... you're about drowning in debt, aren't you?" Kai smirked.
"Only if you are." Cliff rose an eyebrow, cheekily grinning.
"In debt to my eyes."
"In debt over my head. Nothing's cheap."
"Let's say we each take enough, just enough, to cover our debt. And not tell our wives."
"They don't need to know..." Cliff and Kai both snickered evilly. They picked up the table, and carried it out.
Cliff and Kai emerged from Kai's basement, smiling secretively. Rae and Karen were on the roof, watching the sunrise. They both climbed up the ladder, joining their wives.
"So, everyone alright?" Kai asked.
"Fine."
"Fine!" Karen giggled.
"Good, good." Kai responded, with a smile.
"When do we pick up again?" Cliff asked.
"I think perhaps in Spring?" Kai responded. "With the flowers in bloom..."
"Maybe around the Horse Races?" Karen grinned at the thought of horse racing.
"Ah, hell, maybe we'll finally get that chicken we've been waiting for!" Rae cried.
"Well, we'll see." Cliff smiled. "Next time, on Story of a Girl!"
TO BE CONTINUED...
Nayru: Your options are;
1) Cherry Blossom Festival 2) Horse Racing 3) Chicken Capers
Xiao: Review please!
Nayru: Alright, consider this a double chapter. I got two votes.... each for something different... So you all get an uber-double chapter!!
Chapter 17: New Year's Eve! No Need For Fireworks!
and
The Haunted House! No Need For Returns!
"Whoooooooooooo!" Kai half-flew past Karen. He was dressed in bright clothes, and jumping around his living room. Karen was sitting in an armchair, a book in one hand, her head resting in the other. Occasionally, her hand drifted to her four-months-pregnant stomach, and immediately back to her book. Outside, the sounds of screaming and squealing rang out. It was New Year's Eve, and most people were outside celebrating, having a massive snowball fight. Karen and Kai were inside, but Kai was celebrating in his own way.
"Kai, not now." Karen sighed.
"Whooooooooooooo!" He pranced past her again.
"Kai, I have a migraine. Not now." Karen groaned, rubbing her head.
"WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" His 'battle cry' became more energetic and obnoxious. Karen smacked him with her book as he passed.
"KAI. Not now. I'm in no mood."
"But Karen!! It's New Year's!"
"So?" Karen continued reading.
"Be merrier! Be happy!"
"I've been through twenty-one New Year's, Kai. They all end in people getting drunk and people fighting in the morning."
"But Rae's being happy!"
"She has no reason to." Karen grumbled. "I'll be in bed." She went upstairs, and Kai sighed. Karen seemed miserable, and he felt it was his fault.
Cliff sat at the table by the window, reading glasses on, looking at three bills, and holding a calculator. "Hm... carry the eight..." He muttered, checking the calculator's work against his own. "So that's where we lost this..." He made a few scratch marks, and tapped on the calculator a few times.
"EEEK!" Elli cried, running past the window. Cliff looked up quickly, to see Gray and Harris chase her, throwing snowballs. He chuckled, and continued working.
"Multiply that by five..."
"AAAAH!" Cliff looked out the window, and watched as Andy tackled Popuri to the ground, pelting her with snowballs. He laughed slightly.
"Subtract... then add 4.8 times that figure..." He rubbed his eyes, still scratching onto the paper. He tapped a few keys on the calculator.
"Cliffy! Cliff!" Rae banged on the window. Her face was lit up with excitement, and there was snow in her hair. "Come and play!"
"Can't." He smiled, pressing a hand against the window. She pressed hers to match his. "Have to balance the books." She pouted cutely.
"Fine, but you better get your butt out here as soon as you're finished!" Rae stuck her tongue out. He did the same, and they made out through the glass- before Rae was mobbed by snowballs. Laughing, she ran from them. Cliff grinned.
"Then add 3,000... and it comes out to... exactly 40,000 in debt." Cliff gasped, standing up in shock. He watched Rae run around, carefree. She didn't know how far down he'd dragged her. When he told her, how would she react? How could he tell her? He stared around, his head spinning. He stared at the door. He heard Rae laugh again. Slowly, he ran his hand across his face. He lay a hand on the bookshelf to steady himself, his fingers brushing across a book.
"Do, it, Cliff. You'd be surprised." Cliff gasped in shock, whirling towards the door. Karen leaned in the doorway. Jumping in fright, he grabbed it, and fell off, the book in his hand. He tore it open, Karen leaning over him, desperate to find something, anything- until it fell to the very page he was looking for.
Rae and Kai climbed onto the roof of Rae's house. The entire group was covered in snow, as one by one they went up the ladder onto the roof, sitting facing the ocean. It was nearing midnight.
"Where's that husband of yours?" Kai asked Rae.
"Where's that wife of yours?" She replied.
"Karen's asleep. She had a headache."
"Cliff's doing some work on our checks... " Rae shrugged. "But he should be done by now." She bounced off the roof, and flung open the door.
The fireworks started above. The blues and reds flashed across the faces of the onlookers. The town was lit in beautiful, flashing colors, drenched in the crackling sounds and whirring of the fireworks. Gasps of awe and joy filled the air. Bells rang in the new year over all the noise of people and fireworks and explosions. There was applause as they ended. People were thrilled and psyched. It wascustom for the first sounds of the new year to be fireworks and church bells. It was not custom, however, for a girl to scream at the very end of them.
Kai bounded off the roof, not using the ladder, and burst into Rae's house. The first thing he noticed was that Cliff wasn't there. Rae was standing in the center of the room, staring at a piece of paper. "Rae, what happened?"
"He... it says he had to go and do something, that he'd return, that Karen was with him..." She shook her head slowly. "I... I think he left me..." She whimpered.
"Cliff's a better person than that! Don't worry!" Kai hugged her. "Any idea where he went?" Kai looked around the room for some clue of some kind. The open book laying on the floor a few yards behind Rae caught his eye. He examined the page. "Oh? A haunted house?" He read the whole page. "Curious. A gangster's treasure hidden in it?" He thought for a minute over the book, while Rae paced back and forth. Just then, there was the sound of a paper hitting the door.
"First paper of the New Year!" Stu called through the door.
"Thanks!" Rae ran outside, wearing a forced smile, and gave Stu a few coins as tip. "Happy New Year!"
"Thank you, you too!" He ran off, and Rae picked up the paper. Sighing, she flipped it open.
"A-ah!!" She cried. "Kai!!" He looked up from the book.
"Yeah?" Rae held up the paper. The headline was "Psychotic Stalker Escapes Prison Again, Returns To Hometown". Kai snatched the paper. "You think that's..." Kai flipped to the article on it, scanning the page for a name. "He's back."
"Karen, how did you know about this?" Cliff asked, as he picked the lock on the house's door. It was by the old, unused dock. It was empty, cold, and lonely. The sea salt's scent wafted off a few crusty, rotting wooden boats. It seemed nobody had even been there for a long time. The only other signs of inhabiting life was a third set of footprints that neither could identify. They assumed it was just someone who'd recently been on a walk in the area.
"Honestly, it's been haunting me." Karen sighed. "I remember the day my great-grandfather was carted off to prison, on charges of robbery and gang warfare, though I don't believe he really did what they say he did. New Year's Day, twelve years ago. He hid his loot here, but nobody's gone after it. The hiding place was only revealed while he was on his way to the electric chair. His exact words were 'All the treasure I have lies in my house by the dock.' Nobody's bothered going after it, they say he haunts it, but I... I've secretly always wanted to come after it, to find it. But... my dad did too. And my parents would spend every New Year's day arguing about it."
"Guess that explains why you hate New Year's." Cliff chuckled, as the lock fell off the door.
"Naturally." She opened the door, and entered. "This was all his." Karen sighed reminiscently, staring around the main hall. It was decorated in lavish pictures, covered in dust, fine art left to waste. The rug would have been elegant and beautiful had time not eaten away at its fibers and design. The wall paper peeled slightly, and the design was faded, but Cliff was convinced that it would have radiated rich living. A bare candelabra hung from the ceiling, all the glass broken on the floor. "I used to come here."
"He was rich?"
"Very." Karen smiled slightly. "Extremely wealthy. We got none of his money... because my father was bribed to testify against him in the court case. We were desperate for money, y'know?"
"But with all this, how could you be poor?"
"I suppose the old man hated my father. He loved my mother, though. His beautiful granddaughter-in-law."
"A sad thing indeed. Loving your son's wife more than your own son."
"A position I'd deplore." Karen nodded. Cliff rubbed his chin in thought.
"Let's see... where would he hide a bushel of money?"
"In the last place anyone would look, of course." Karen smiled. "Where is the last place you'd look?"
"Honestly? Under a table."
"I doubt it, that's TOO obvious." Karen laughed. "Hm... Perhaps... some secret hiding place nobody would know about."
"Let's look and find out. But Karen..!" He called, as she turned around to walk up the stairs. "Kai would kill me, absolutely maim me if you got hurt. Stay with me, I'd feel better."
"Alright." They walked off together into the dark house.
"Cliff's not a completely insensitive jackass, Rae. He's only partly insensitive jackass. He wouldn't run out on you." Kai comforted Rae, as they walked towards the old beach. "And he's not stupid enough to run out with Karen. And he's definitely not stupid enough to get into something that'll get him killed."
"But he's reckless." Rae sighed. "He doesn't know what'll happen when he does things. He doesn't know if he'll be killed or not. Besides, there's ghosts in there!" Kai patted and held her hand, gently squeezing it.
"Ghosts aren't real, Rae! They don't exist. We're entirely safe." They came through the clearing, still holding hands, seeing the dock and house about twenty yards away. "There are lights on; haven't been lights on there for years. They must be there."
"Then let's go!" Rae cried, breaking away from his hand, and running towards the house.
"Rae!" He made as if to run after her, but found himself not moving. "What the..." He looked down, and saw his leg entangled in freshly laid rope. "A trap... what in the hell?! Rae! Come back!" But she couldn't hear him.
"Well, well, what have we here?" Kai turned around, hearing the dreaded voice, and screamed.
"Cliff!" Rae burst into the house, calling his name.
"Rae?" Cliff whispered, hearing her call. "She's here?!"
"Are you hiding from her?" Karen whispered back.
"Yes, very much so... " Cliff hissed. "I'm trying to keep her from finding out how deep of debt we're in."
"That's terrible! Are you afraid she'll leave you over a little money problem? You're that insecure?! She didn't marry you over money."
"Cliff, come down or up here! I know you're here!" Rae cried. "Don't make me come after you!" Cliff looked at Karen. He had no choice. Rae suddenly screamed, though it sounded like she was crying. In a whim of bravado, he grabbed the railing, leapt over it, and landed on his feet in the main foyer. The floor cracked a little beneath him from the impact. But oddly enough, Rae was gone.
"You idiot, don't do that!" Karen called. "Where is she?"
"I dunno... I heard her, but I don't see her." Cliff sighed.
"Well, then get back up here. We should try to find that money while we're here."
"I think I should look for Rae."
"Well, choose then."
"... I'll keep looking, Karen." Cliff went back up the stairs, and he and Karen continued searching the upper floors.
Behind each painting, under each rug, in every bed, over every shelf, on every fan, everywhere they could think of for something to be hidden on the floor. They went back down the stairs, and stared around the foyer again.
"Nothing." Karen moaned. "There's nothing!"
"Maybe it's on this floor." Just then, there was a crashing sound. Karen jumped, and leaned against Cliff.
"What w-was that?!" She gasped.
"I don't know..." Just then, there was a huge gust of wind, and a distinct moaning sound. Karen shrieked again.
"I better hide!" She wailed, and slid under the kitchen table. Cliff looked around the foyer.
"There's something wrong here." He whispered to himself, turning to walk down the hallway.
In the basement of the house, Kai was tied by his waist to the wall. Rae was curled up in a little ball in the corner, her wrists bound to her ankles by rope. She was asleep, he was partially awake. He was aware enough to know what had happened.
"Damn it, Silas, let Rae go." Kai begged. "You can't take her from her husband. I thought you were in a maximum security prison!" Silas paced back and forth in front of Kai, smirking.
"I can do this to you. I'm not letting her go until she's dead. And I was in a maximum security prison. Bars and guards cannot withhold my love for Rae. She withholds her love from me, so I must do away with what I love so that I may love it more."
"That's disgusting." Kai growled. "She's married! Haven't you tried to ruin her life enough?!"
"No. She ruined mine."
"You're terrible, so selfish." Kai growled. "Someday, you'll get yours."
"I'd like to see that day." Silas chuckled. "Where's her valiant husband now? He's not here, is he?"
"Rrgh..." Kai grumbled. It was true; Cliff should have found them at this point. "Damn..."
"Like I thought." Silas snickered. "That old man left a cryptic message in this house, did he not? All that is precious is here. To me, the gold he left is precious. So I'm going to go find it." Silas turned to stalk out of the room, but the ceiling fell on his head, knocking him out.
Kai could only blink in shock as Cliff fell through the floor on the ceiling, covered in dust.
"Oow..." Cliff moaned.
"How'd you pull that off?" Kai asked.
"I guess the floor cracked when I jumped from the upper floor to the foyer." Just then, something entirely white whisked into the room. "What the-"
"You have what is precious to you..." The haunted voice whispered. Cliff blinked a few times in shock, and finally elected to scream.
"The hell!"
"I knew the floor would crack. You got lucky, boy. But remember what is really most precious to you." The voice cackled. "I helped you a bit... your weight alone wouldn't break the floor." Cliff's jaw dropped. The white thing laughed coldly, and vanished. Cliff stared at Rae, asleep in the corner. He ran to her, panicking silently.
"Hey, wake up!" He cried. She opened her eyes, and stared at him.
"... untie me." She mumbled. He calmly undid the ropes on her wrists and ankles. She straightened her body, and slapped him across the face. "I can't believe you came here! This place is falling apart, and a hideout for criminals at that!"
"Criminals like Silas." Kai interjected. "Let's get out of here, before he wakes up." Cliff quickly untied Kai, and they ran to where Karen was hiding.
"Get away!" Karen cried as they appraoched. Sighing calmly, Kai turned the table over.
"Karen, can we leave?" He smiled down at her. She jumped up and to him. He patted her on the head lovingly. Cliff, meanwhile, was fascinated by the table.
"Guys..." Cliff pointed at the underside of the table. They all looked, and gasped in surprise. Paper money was taped to the bottom, in high bills; 1,000 gold per piece. Karen slowly shook her head.
"He hid it under the table!"
"Should we take it?" Kai looked at Rae. She thought for a second.
"No." She smiled. "It's not ours, is it? Let's turn it into the mayor." She looked up at Cliff. "Unless you want to take some..." Cliff smiled slightly.
"Can we take just a little?" Karen and Kai both jabbed him in the stomach. "Okay, never mind." He gasped, flinching. Rae laughed, and took two bills off the bottom. She handed one to Karen and pocketed the other.
"Wait, grab three more!" Karen laughed. "We should give some out to everyone else!" She took three more. They both walked out, giggling in their riches. Cliff and Kai eyed each other.
"You... you're about drowning in debt, aren't you?" Kai smirked.
"Only if you are." Cliff rose an eyebrow, cheekily grinning.
"In debt to my eyes."
"In debt over my head. Nothing's cheap."
"Let's say we each take enough, just enough, to cover our debt. And not tell our wives."
"They don't need to know..." Cliff and Kai both snickered evilly. They picked up the table, and carried it out.
Cliff and Kai emerged from Kai's basement, smiling secretively. Rae and Karen were on the roof, watching the sunrise. They both climbed up the ladder, joining their wives.
"So, everyone alright?" Kai asked.
"Fine."
"Fine!" Karen giggled.
"Good, good." Kai responded, with a smile.
"When do we pick up again?" Cliff asked.
"I think perhaps in Spring?" Kai responded. "With the flowers in bloom..."
"Maybe around the Horse Races?" Karen grinned at the thought of horse racing.
"Ah, hell, maybe we'll finally get that chicken we've been waiting for!" Rae cried.
"Well, we'll see." Cliff smiled. "Next time, on Story of a Girl!"
TO BE CONTINUED...
Nayru: Your options are;
1) Cherry Blossom Festival 2) Horse Racing 3) Chicken Capers
Xiao: Review please!