Chapter Two

The Disappearing Donuts

I stared up at the squat two story building. It was old, and shabby, the brown paint was peeling off in places, showing the bare wood underneath. I double checked the address on a crumpled piece of paper I took out of my pocket, then looked back up at the building. This was the right place, this was the apartment I was here to look at. I shoved the paper back in my pocket and went to find the lobby.

The land lady was a friendly old woman, who seemed excited just to have someone looking at her apartment complex. She showed me all the utilities, prattling on about what a sturdy and historic structure this was, talking about the water pressure, and the heating system, etc. I listened patiently, smile fixed to my face. I already knew I would be taking the apartment. This was the cheapest place listed and the only one that didn't need a reference.

Once she was done with the tour, I happily applied for the space, it had it's issues, yes, but it wasn't anything I couldn't live with, some patches needed replacing, it needed mopped and swept, and dusted, and then probably dusted again, but it was cute enough. I chatted with the land lady as I went through the paper work.

"There is one thing I have to warn you about, Dear," said the old woman after a while, taking the papers from me.

"Some superstitious people have told me that they believe the unit is haunted. Of course I've never had any problems up there, but you know how some people are, it can be...difficult to dissuade someone from a notion they're so stuck on, you understand."

"Of course," I nodded my head, but my stomach sunk, it would be just my luck to end up in a haunted apartment, but it wasn't like I had any choice in the matter.

"Good, good, you're a reasonable girl, what day are you planning to move in?"

"Um, today, if you don't mind."

~oOoOoOo~

I surveyed my belongings, an air mattress, three shirts, three pairs of pants, two skirts, and one good dress, shampoo, a tooth brush, a half used tube of tooth paste, my cell phone, my laptop, and my wallet. I had left most of my stuff behind, it wasn't feasible to take all of it on the train with me, anyways.

I blew up the air mattress, and sat down, looking around. It was dark, and dirty, and dusty, it certainly looked haunted. But ghosts don't exist.

I lie down and stared up at the ceiling, thinking about what to do next. I had moved here on my meager savings, which meant I had to find a job and fast, or else I'd be out on the streets. Kamome Village was small, but not so small that it wasn't in need of hard workers. I'd check out the help wanted ads tomorrow, right now I was exhausted. My eye lids felt like they were being weighted down by bags of sand. I closed my eyes, and before I knew it I was asleep.

~oOoOoOo~

"Nene," someone is calling out to me, the voice is both strange and familiar. I feel warm sunlight on my face, I open my eyes and see myself staring back at me. No, she's different, but only slightly, her eyes are a bit more narrow, her expression more jaded, her long silver hair that so resembled mine is tied back in two braids that fall past her waist, while mine goes only to my mid back, and her ankles are perfectly slender.

"Who are you?" I ask, feeling unnerved looking into her familiar yet strange eyes.

"I'm you," she says.

"No you aren't," I say, "you can't be me, because I'm me."

"I am you, more or less, but lets talk about more serious matters, you are in a very special place."

"A special place? How?"

"Don't you remember Nene? You're home, we're home!"

~oOoOoOo~

I woke up to the sound of footsteps creaking on the floor boards outside of the bedroom. My heart leapt into my throat as they slowly approached the bed. At last, they stopped, right beside my bed, I waited, for what I didn't know. Had someone broken in? Was I about to die a grizzly death? I waited and waited, but nothing happened. Gathering my courage, I rolled over to face the mysterious intruder, and opened my eyes.

There was no one there.

~oOoOoOo~

I was monumentally freaked out. I swung my legs off the side of the bed, and padded to the door, looking for any sign of an intruder. I hadn't thought to bring a weapon with me, I figured Kamome village would be a pretty safe place to live.

There was no sign of anyone having entered the apartment, all the doors and windows were locked up tight, there were no foot prints in the thick layer of dust that covered the floor. Maybe I had imagined it? I had been having odd dreams all night, surely that could have been one of them. I shivered. It had just been so real.

Reluctantly, I returned to bed, but I couldn't get back to sleep, I kept thinking about the footsteps and about the strange dream I had. I lie awake all night, turning thoughts over and over again in my head, until sunlight streamed in through the broken blinds in the bedroom. I slid out of bed and stretched out the kinks in my muscles. My stomach growled, I was ravenous, I hadn't eaten anything since I had moved in. I had been too busy chasing away any thoughts of Koji.

I grabbed my wallet, and my keys and headed across the street to the small corner store I had seen while I was moving in. The man behind the counter greeted me warmly as I browsed the shelves. Stores in small towns were so much different then their big city counter parts, where the cashiers were so beaten down by the constant barrage of customers that they didn't even bother being friendly. I got a cup of steaming hot coffee (with plenty of cream and sugar) and a dozen donuts. The world would look a whole lot better once I was less hungry.

I set the donuts down on the counter and sat on the bed with my laptop, browsing through local wanted ads. I got so focused that I didn't notice the sounds at first, but once I did notice them, I froze. There was a soft shuffling noise coming from the kitchen.

Carefully and quietly I slid off the bed, and headed for the kitchen, clutching my cell phone tightly in my hand, I didn't know what good it would do me, maybe I could chuck it at the intruder and run? I hadn't really thought this one through.

I peered into the kitchen, and saw nothing out of the ordinary, except that the box of donuts was floating. I screamed, and the box fell, splattering gooey frosting all over the floor. I doubled back and ran back to the bedroom, shutting and locking the door behind me, like a locked door could keep out a ghost. I curled up against the wall, pressing my knees against my chest, trying to make myself as small as possible.

This place was haunted, I had no doubt in my mind about that now, but what could I do? Where could I go? The answer was clear, there was no where for me to go, I had to stay here, haunted or not. Maybe I could find an exorcist? But I didn't even know if those existed any more. What about a psychic medium? My thoughts were interrupted by a soft, polite knock at the bedroom door.

"Who are you?" I demanded, my voice sounded shaky and louder than I had intended it to be, there was no answer, just a little knock. "Is there any way we can talk?" on the door, there came a series of three knocks. "I don't understand." I said, another three knocks, then silence. The atmosphere in the room changed. The spirit was gone.