"Servant of Monsters"

Chapter 5 - Monsters

After the alarm clock, Kaien collected himself. This time he brought a black jumper – autumn nights tend to be quite chilly outside. In the shack, he looked for a ladder, a basket, scissors and a flashlight. *Yaaawn* I wish I could sleep a little longer. But no worries, as soon as I'm done with it, I can go back to my oh-so-sinfully-comfortable bed. Dreaming lifted up his mood as he approached the nearest tree. Again, Kaien had a really hard time detaching fruit, but with a small help of scissors and complicated technique, he eventually collected 7 beautiful big apples.

"Grrr..." The growling appeared from behind his back. W-Wh-What? He turned around and noticed a cat-like figure, only a lot more bigger. It resembled a panther. The creature uncovered two rows of stunning, sharpened, deadly fangs. All the blood from Kaien's face drained.

"Holy shit!" Kaien took a step back, going a bit further into the orchard. "Easy there..." The monster in front of him was terrifying. Even more shocking, the cat grinned dangerously at the servant.

"Such a juicy treat..." I-IT SPOKE! "Mind coming closer, gorgeous boy?" It didn't take him too much time to think. Kaien turned on his heel and set his feet on fire. HOW THE FUCK I'M GOING TO OUTRUN A FUCKING PANTHER!? Hand firmly gripped on the apples. He thought about throwing some of them at the predator, but then he dismissed the thought. That one obviously wanted a treat of flesh and blood. "STOP!" Kaien squeaked at the command. The cat was coming closer.

"DON'T COME!" The flashlight flew from his right hand, hitting the cat-creature right into its nose. A furious roar came from its side. "A-ANYONE! HELP!" His watch started beeping constantly. It was past the midnight. But he didn't care about that. All he wanted was to come out alive from the encounter with the cat. He felt a set of claws grabbing his leg. Falling, Kaien let go of the apples. In the contact with the ground, the fruit immediately became rotten, with black peel and green inside oozing out. The sight was too disgusting for the servant. WHAT THE FUCK!?

"ARGH! YOU RUINED IT!" Kaien covered his head. He didn't dare to look above him, where the monster was purely angered. "I've been waiting for them for almost whole week!" Animals don't talk. Cats don't talk. Panthers don't talk. So panthers are animals! It's probably a dream, a very nasty dream. "SHUT YOUR MIND, I can't think when you panic like that!" Kaien's mind went blank. Aquamarine eyes looked up. All he saw in front of him were fangs. I'm done... I'm going to be eaten... This is the end... The panther widened his eyes. "Like hell I'm gonna eat you! I cherish my stomach! Though, I don't mind punishing you."

"P-Please, leave me alone..." Something long was lying a little further from his hand. Even though it was dark, Kaien recognized a shape of a rake. Seemed like a gardener left it on the ground rather than in the shack. I-If I could reach it... The monster blinked, but hissed when Kaien grabbed the handle ans swung it in front of its muzzle. Taking this chance, Kaien stood up. His hands confidently held the rake, rotating it in defense. The monster didn't know where he could attack. And now... RUN AWAY! Kaien withdrew and ran into the darkness. Only the moon was giving a dim light, making the whole orchard look scary and grotesque. Blinded with panic, Kaien hadn't noticed that the line of the orchard ended with a steep cliff

"STOP!" The same growl from before showed up, only this time it sounded more like a warning. Kaien turned his head away, but that was a mistake. The missing ground under his feet let the servant fall down. "DAMNIT!"

Not even a small scream could out of his mouth. So, that was his end, there was no way he could survive a fall like that one. He closed his eyes and waited for the final hit... But it never came.

"GOT'CHA!" He felt a firm arm wrapping around his waist and holding him tightly. Surprised, Kaien looked up at what was happening. He wasn't falling anymore and that was thanks to Ichigo, who hooked them with his long claws right into the dirt of the cliff. Kaien's brain started processing. Somehow, Ichigo seemed different. His usually slightly-tanned skin was more pale and gray. Brown eyes changed into golden and were glowing in the dark like LED lights. No way... Kaien tried to reset himself. Ichigo wanted to shift, but then the dirt under his hand collapsed. Both of them fell a few more meters down. Ichigo snarled, showing his teeth in irritation. Something small glimmered from the moonlight. THIS IS A FANG! IT'S A FUCKING FANG! Kaien thought loudly to himself and Ichigo hissed in pain. "Fuck! Could you lower your thoughts down? It really hurts when you panic that loudly." Kaien was on the verge of passing out. "Damn, I can't move up only with one hand. HEY! IS SOMEONE OUT THERE!? I FOUND KAIEN!"

"Nice job, Ichigo! A few seconds later and he'd be just a big puddle of blood." Right from the wall, a transparent person in white came out, levitating next to the boys. Kaien froze. It was a ghost, an authentic, scary, transparent, flying, fucking ghost. And not only that, but the ghost actually had features of the Kurosaki triplets. The only difference was in colors – long hair and skin where snow-white and brown eyes changed into golden, covered in deep-black sclera. "How's it hangin', Kaien-san? We haven't seen ya near the dinner table at midnight." From all three sons, the strange way of speaking was distinctive to the oldest, Shiro. Kaien was only opening and closing his mouth silently, his index finger was pointing either at the ghost or at Ichigo. If he could stand, he knew his legs would be as shaky as hell. Kaien firstly mewled. Then he whined. He called a little louder. He was about to scream so much that even a Tarzan would need to find a new job. Both Kurosaki boys' eyes widened, not liking what was about to come. "Calm down, Kaien. You've got a strong psyche and you're doing really grea-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Ichigo moved his head away. His face scowled at the volume. Aside from that, he had to held the servant tighter, because the one started to wiggle in panic.

"'You're doing great', my ass! Smooth talk, psycho-freak! What do your patients pay you for!?" Ichigo stated angrily. Kaien tried to wave the ghost away. To his horror, the hand smoothly went through the white body. Shiro cringed at the sensation – he hated when something went through him.

"LET ME GO! LET ME GO! I DON'T WANT TO BE HERE!"

"Kaien-san, we're just about to take ya out of here, but for that I need yo' cooperation." Shiro smiled and flew closer.

"OH NONONONONO, STAY AWAY!" Kaien couldn't do much in the position and Shiro suddenly flew into his body. Thousands small needles of cold went through servant's body. The sensation was odd. Suddenly, his brain couldn't process any movements. "AGH... GGGGHH!" He couldn't say a word. Suddenly, his hands unwrapped themselves from Ichigo's hold. Kaien looked down. He wasn't falling, he was flying. W-WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!?

Chill out, I'll make it as quick as possible.

FUCK! One of his hands grabbed Ichigo's black shirt and gripped it tightly. The orange-haired boy growled, letting go of the cliff. This can't be happening... Oh, it's reality, alright~!His own head was responding. Both Kaien and Ichigo flew up, finally reaching the orchard. With a strong hand, Ichigo was tossed brutally into the ground. Why is my body... What's happening to me!? Nothin's bad happening to ya. I just possessed ya and used ya to get ya out from there. As a spirit, I can't really do much handworkin'. WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH MY HEAD!? Seems fine to me. I'm speaking to you from the inside. INSIDE!? Yeah, inside of your body! It's me, Shiro! It was almost as if the pressure lifted up. The white ghost left his body quickly. Wobbly legs couldn't stand on their own, the black-haired boy lifelessly fell down. Not being able to move his body or to even think coherently, Kaien could only move his eyes. Right now, both the ghost and the fanged-boy were looking at the servant.

"Will he be okay?" Ichigo finally spoke, concern shown on his face.

"He's experiencing a small kanashibari. I haven't been inside of him too long, so he'll quickly come around." Shiro grinned.

"By quickly, you mean?"

"Around 30 minutes." Shiro waved in front of Kaien. "Oy, blink once if ya say yes, blink twice if it's no, okay?" Even though he was terrified, he carefully blinked once. "Good. Tell me – did something come here?" One blink. "Was it a big, furry, emo bat?" Kaien's eyes widened. Were there more monsters in the orchard? Two blinks. "Was it a fat, pig-tailed mantis-like witch?" Again, two times. "Was it a cat in white armor?" This time, he blinked once. "So, we've got our culprit, Ichigo."

"Dammit! I told Grimmjaw to wait until our new servant gets used to our mansion!" Ichigo rubbed his temple. "It's freaking too soon. I won't be surprised if he'll quit on the spot." The orange-haired boy looked at the paralyzed servant in sadness. It really surprised Kaien. Sighing, the boy picked unmoving body. "I'm really sorry all of that happened to you, Kaien."

"We'll make sure to explain everything to you in the mansion. Our family must be worried now." Shiro nodded and flew beside his brother and the servant.