Tadashi forced the lump in his throat away, before bending down to Hiro. "Come on, we'll be okay. He was right…" He looked up at the house once again, repressing a shudder and forcing a smile. "There'll be lots of places to explore."
Hiro gaped at his brother. "Seriously, Tadashi? I'm getting tetanus just looking at that house."
"Don't be so dramatic…and when did you learn what tetanus was?" The older boy shook his head, standing once again. "Never mind, let's go inside and just…check it out." Tadashi tried to move forward, but found his hand stuck with his brother who refused to move. Their case worker waited patiently beside the boys. "We'll be there in a minute, Mr. Callaghan," Tadashi muttered toward him, looking apologetic.
The older man, with silvery hair and gentle eyes, gave Tadashi a sympathetic look, before turning toward the house and relenting to wait for the boys at the door.
Tadashi bent down once again, eye level with his little brother. "What's wrong, Hiro?"
Hiro moved his eyes towards the house, then back at his brother, mouth hanging open and revealing his little tooth gap. "I don't want to go in there. I get a bad feeling." The boy shifted his gaze downward, tiny cheeks turning a rosy color.
"We have nowhere else to go, Hiro."
"Can we go back to the station?" The messy-haired child looked up hopefully, trying to give his brother the puppy-dog look. "Let's go back!"
Tadashi grabbed his brother's arms, looking at him sternly. "We can't go back. We can't just live at the station, that's not how it works." The elder sighed, taking away one hand to run it down his face. Really, why was it so difficult to reason with an eight year old?
"Well we'll make it work that way! I'll get rid of our paperwork so it's like we never existed! Then we can live on the run!"
Right, cause that eight year old was the wildly imaginative Hiro.
The older brother had to bite back his frustration, eyebrows narrowing and grip tightening on his brother's forearm. "If we go back, they will separate us. Do you want to get separated?"
Hiro was startled as his brother's tone changed. He began to shrink in on himself, eyes firmly planted on his shoes. "N-no…"
The exasperated teen's posture relaxed as guilt began to set in. He dipped his head in an effort to meet Hiro's eyes, speaking softly. "I don't want them to either. Not at all." He poked under the eight year old's chin, trying to get him to look up. "Even if it's scary, at least we're together here."
The child's muddy eyes looked up at his brother, then quickly shot to the ground again. He shuffled on his feet, twiddling his thumbs together as he thought. He looked at the house, staring at its grayed and gloomy appearance and the swaying of its frame against the wind. Finally he met Tadashi's eyes, still frightened, but surrendering. "Fine. Let's go," he mumbled.
The elder smiled, standing and ready to lead the way to the rotting door which he was sure had some strange gargoyle-shaped knocker. Something, however, made his chest twist before he could take a step. He once again knelt down in front of a very surprised Hiro, his smile gentle but timid, as if embarrassed.
"Let me carry you."
"W-what? Dashi, no, I'm not five anymore…"
"Hiro," Tadashi mumbled, once again gripping the child by his arms. He put his face close to his brother's, gingerly bumping his forehead against the other's. His smile widened when he pulled back and saw pink coming to the eight year old's cheeks. "A couple days ago, having them take you away from me was a very big possibility and fear." Hiro's eyes widened when he heard the nervousness in his brother's tone. A guilty pout began to pull at his lips. "Now let me carry you."
There was a pause, and then Hiro slowly lifted his arms up towards his brother. Tadashi swiftly scooped him up, balancing him on one hip with his arm firmly under the child to make sure he didn't slip. Hiro kept his hands on Tadashi's shoulders, resting his cheek against his collar bone in apology for making the other worry. The older brother used his other hand to grab the suitcase, and began to walk.
Callaghan was waiting at the door, grinning as the two walked up. Tadashi smiled back at him, signaling to him that everything was okay. "Ready?"
The teen nodded, and Callaghan stepped back to reveal a lion-shaped door knocker. Well, Tadashi mused, I was close. Their case worker hesitated before grabbing its grimy handle and knocking, the sound reverberating throughout the house and making its foundation quake almost. Hiro subconsciously curled in on his brother.
The door, like every cliché, slowly opened with a creak. Yet the three males stayed rooted toward their spot, most likely struck dumb by the large toothed, pearly white, snake like grin thrown back at them.
"Hello Callaghan…" The man, whose nose was too long and chin too pointed, bent to look closer at the two boys. "Are these my new boys?"
Both Hamadas felt a shiver go up their spine. The addressed man coughed uncomfortably, throwing a comforting look at Tadashi before regarding the slithery man at the door. "Krei, these are the Hamada's children."
"Tyler and Harry!"
"Tadashi and Hiro."
"Oh, right! I'll have to write that down somewhere. Such complicated names really."
Then the man, Krei, got face to face with Tadashi, making the older step back. The man's icy blue eyes had entirely too small pupils, possibly the same size as the tip of a pencil, and his irises looked cracked, lines shooting out from the pupils like spider webs. The older brother, uncomfortable, hoisted Hiro up more to distract himself.
"Please, you two, come in. Time to say bye to stick in the mud there." Tadashi had to resist the urge to grimace at the man's liquor and garlic smelling breath.
Callaghan glowered at the man, before getting on one knee in front of the boys. He put a hand on Tadashi's shoulder, looking straight at the younger's eyes. He tried to comfort the two with a reassuring look, a sympathetic frown making his cheeks sag. "I know you hate this." Hiro gave him a look that clearly stated no duh. "Krei is an old…friend, I guess…of mine. He's not the greatest man," he whispered, looking up at the gangly man that was picking at something in his ear. "But he has a big house. And money. He'll take care of you two." Callaghan's voice caught, hand dropping from Tadashi's shoulder. The two boys peered up at their temporary care-taker, eyes wide at the idea of leaving the man they had gotten used to over the past couple of days. Abruptly the man stood, casting one more comforting gaze on the brothers. "Take care of each other. I'll check-up," his voice faltered, the last part hushed, "I promise."
The older man stood straight, walking back to his car briskly, one last timid glance at the boys before pulling away.
They were left with Krei, who had moved his roaming finger to pick at something in his teeth. Finally he found whatever he was digging for, smacking his lips together. The younger males flinched as he clapped his hands triumphantly, smiling his Cheshire like grin once again.
"Get in here, then!" He hooked a thin finger around Tadashi's pant straps, forcing both boys into the house with a small squeal of protest as the door slammed behind them. Once they finally saw the inside, both boys were sure the house had once been the talk of the town. Now, that was clearly not the case.
There were several arches, pointed at the top like an old gothic cathedral's, leading to various parts of the house. The wood was white as bones, cracking in certain places and stained a weird crimson in others. Tadashi could only imagine where the stains had come from, and steered Hiro away from those spots.
His shoes clicked on the marble floor as he looked around. A spiral staircase, the banister shaped like a giant curling snake, seemed to go on forever as the boys stood in the middle of its swirling frame. The end of the railing held the snake's giant head, scales carved into the wood, its mouth opened wide as if it had found a rather juicy mouse to crunch. The brothers trailed their eyes all the way up the stairs until they reached the ceiling of the house. Upon seeing the ceiling of the house, both boys gasped, a giant eye seemingly looking back at them.
A pause, and then both Tadashi and Hiro realized they were also looking at themselves, and it dawned on them that the ceiling was a giant mirror. Glancing down, they saw the marble floor they were standing on held the image of an eye, with long curling lashes and a teeny pupil. The ceiling had been reflecting the floor on which they stood.
A hand on Tadashi's back made him jump, clutching Hiro closer to his body as he whipped around. Krei was standing there, his signature smile still plastered on.
"Would you like to see your room?"
The boys timidly nodded, following Krei to the staircase. Tadashi reluctantly put Hiro down, unable to carry him and the suitcase up the stairs at the same time. Hiro clung on to him for a moment, keeping his brother's sweater fisted in his hand even as he was placed on the ground. The elder smiled softly and patted the top of the little one's head, who had surrendered to just holding the back of his brother's shirt as they walked up the stairs.
Krei gestured grandly out to the first floor as they began to ascend. "The first floor is the main, of course. It's meant to be kept spick-and-span at all times. I host frequent parties for my very important friends."
"This guy has friends?" Tadashi turned for a moment to send a glare at his whispering brother.
Krei began to trail a finger nail up the railing, scratching off the paint as it grinded into the wood. Previous scratch marks showed this was a common occurrence. "The second floor," he began as they passed the second part of the house, "has various rooms, including a library." The boys peered into the floor as they passed it, a long carpet leading down a hallway, red painted doors lining the hallway with brass knobs. At the end of the hall was yet another pointed arch, which Hiro cocked his head at. The arch's entryway was but a brick wall, not actually leading to anything.
"Not that I need the library now. With the money your parents left," he glanced back slyly, teeth glimmering in his smile, "I'll never have to read again. The books are for show now."
"Aren't you supposed to use that money to take care of us?" Tadashi asked, squinting his eyes.
"Details. Moving on!" The gangly man declared, now seeming to march up the stairs like a soldier. Tadashi glanced back at his brother incredulously, shrugging before continuing to follow the strange man.
Krei swept right past the third floor, Tadashi hurrying his pace and hefting the suitcase over the last stair. He looked around at the third floor, noting it was very much like the second, only the doors weren't the lovely red shade. These doors were all different, figures carved or painted into the wood. Eyes, spiders, snakes, strange antlered creatures, skulls, all stared back at him. He shook his head, catching up to Krei.
"But this is the last floor," he protested, huffing at the weight of the case he was dragging. "Where's our room?" he asked, his brother soon catching up behind him.
"That's where you're wrong," Krei said mysteriously, dramatically and elegantly spreading his body along the wall while staring down at the two boys. He ran his bony fingers along the wall paper, stopping at a certain flower and hitting the side of his fist against it three times. The wall, which was not a wall but a hidden door, swung open.
"This way," the man stated, going up a newly revealed flight of stairs.
Hiro huffed, leaning against the wall and glaring at the stairs. The other boy frowned, his legs were also tired, and he couldn't fathom why their new caretaker placed them in such a secluded part of the house when so many rooms were available. Despite that, he shot back up, shooting a tired grin down at his brother.
"Come on," he eased, pushing Hiro up before him. "We're almost there."
Upon finally reaching the top, Hiro jumped up the last stair and leaned on the nearest wall, while Tadashi, with a frustrated grunt, pushed the suit case up and slumped against it. He surveyed the room, dread filling his stomach.
It was a strange, small, attic like space. The room was shaped like an octagon, possibly no bigger than perhaps a really nice bathroom. Half of the walls were wood, while the top half was all glass, creating a terrible chill throughout the room. The ceiling was angled on all sides of the octagon, creating a point. A yellowed mattress was pushed up against one of the sides.
"One bed?" Tadashi mumbled more out of curiosity than complaint. The boys had been clingy the past couple of days, anyway.
Krei dramatically gasped, hand on his chest. "Tyrell Hamada…!"
"Tadashi."
"…lots of children don't have a bed at all! You should be thankful!"
The boy whipped around, offending people and being unappreciative a terrible fear of his. His parents raised him better and he knew it. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that! I was just wondering, is all, one bed is fine!
"Well good!" Krei cheered, clapping his hands. He started backing up towards the stairs, twiddling his fingers as a wave at the boys. "You should be eager to use it then. Good night!" And with that, Krei slammed the door to the room, promptly turning the lock on his way out. His footsteps could be heard retreating down the stairs and followed by another door slam.
The boys flinched at the final bang, before looking at each other. At a loss, Hiro walked toward the mattress, poking it with the tip of his shoe.
"Uh, Dashi? There's a really dark yellow spot on the end…"
Tadashi sighed, laying the suit case down and sitting on his knees. He opened the case, shuffling through its contents. "We'll flip it then."
Hiro, though his arms were scrawny, lifted the bed to peer at the bottom. He wrinkled his nose at the sight. "Dashi…there's a dark red stain on this side…"
The older brother sighed again, pulling out a couple of sheets he had managed to scavenge. "Hold on, I'll fix it."
Within the next couple of weeks, the boys fell into a rather dull and harrowing pattern.
They'd wake up in the morning, still shivering from the draft in the room and lack of blankets, to find a sloppily written to-do list pinned to their door.
Tommy and Harvey! I'm leaving today once again for some major business. I noticed the marble floor in the foyer looking rather dingy the other day. I'm assuming it's from you boys stomping all over it like the animals you are. Polish it up. If I can see my reflection in it when you're done, you can have dinner.
That day, their caretaker came strolling in, whistling, and sporting a new pin-stripe suit.
Tadashi rushed up to him, rag still in hand, sweat beaded on his forehead from waxing the floor. "Did you get the sweaters I asked for?"
The man looked at him disbelievingly. "The what?"
The fifteen year old had to stop himself from gaping at the man. "Sweaters. I've asked you a few times if you could…" he became shy, wondering if he was out of bounds. "Our room's cold and it makes it hard to sleep," he mumbled, looking down. "A-and it looks like you've been shopping, so I figured…"
Krei waved him off, turning on his heel and promptly leaving an ugly black scuff on the newly polished floor. "You have sweaters! You're wearing one right now! Lucky children, you are, a lot of homeless children sleep naked."
Tyson and Hugo! The books, now that no one is reading them, are collecting insufferable amounts of dust. You wouldn't want the only person that was willing to take you in sneeze his brain out would you? Dust all of them, front to back. Get the pages as well, who knows what insects are hiding in there.
That afternoon, Krei pulled in a brand new automobile, its exterior long and sleek, an impressive gold shade, shining back at the boys who ogled at their reflections in its metal.
"Why did you get a car?" Tadashi asked, looking up at him.
"For you boys of course!"
Hiro narrowed his eyes, poking the sleek finish. "You don't take us anywhere."
The man smirked, not taking his eyes off his new toy. "Yes, but I thought you'd enjoy looking at it!"
Tobias and Harrold! The other day I felt some tiny hideous creature crawling its way up my skin. Go through the house and find all the spider webs and kill the ugly arachnids. If you find their eggs, dispose of those as well. I'm sure squishing them between your fingers should get the job done.
When the man came home with a new hat and a silver watch that day, Tadashi had had enough. He grabbed his brother's hand and promptly marched upstairs, locking themselves in their room in an effort to stifle the sudden urge he had to rip the hat off the man's head and see how far it could go down his throat.
As the evening wore on, guilt began to gnaw at the older boy as he watched his little brother pace the room anxiously, understanding the other's anger and not wanting to wander by himself. They lay in bed later that night, the sky a dark blue with little white puffs of snow collecting along the rusted window panes.
"Tadashi," a small voice mumbled, rustling in the sheets and bringing a fist to rub the tiredness away from his eyes.
The mentioned teen turned, facing his little brother who had been snuggled into his back in an effort to keep warm. Tadashi had given the child two of his own sweaters, though they reached his knees, to keep him warm, but once again felt guilt stab at him as that was obviously not working.
"What?" he asked back, finally meeting the large doe eyes.
The eight year old mumbled incoherently, making the older ask to repeat himself. Before he could a low growl came from the child's stomach, making his face turn red.
Tadashi sighed, still feeling inadequate. "You're hungry." A nod confirmed his statement.
The teen hesitated for just a moment, before quickly rolling out of bed and darting over to their suitcase. He rummaged around a bit, his brother watching him curiously, before pulling out a pocket knife and smiling.
Hiro gawked, holding his hands up. "Woah, Dashi, I'm hungry, but if you want to kill one of the rats and eat that you're by yourself."
The older brother rolled his eyes, standing up and going to the door. He jammed the pointed end of the knife into the lock, wriggling it around a bit. "Don't be dramatic, bonehead. I'm just…" With a final click, Tadashi was able to turn the knob and looked back at Hiro victoriously. "…going to get us some food."
He felt a hand tugging on his shirt. "Wait! What if we get caught…?"
Tadashi shrugged, looking down at the younger one. "He never said we couldn't go out at night."
"The locked door kind of implies it…"
The fifteen year old smiled, trying to reassure Hiro. "He knows we skipped dinner too. Maybe he'll be understanding."
"Yeah, and maybe he hasn't been using our money to buy stupid things…"
"Hiro," Tadashi said quickly, before he could become too angry at the obvious statement. "I will take total blame if we get caught. But we've had nothing to eat, so let's go get something. We'll be find, little brother." He reached his hand out, looking at Hiro with raised eyebrows. Hesitantly the little brother took his outstretched hand, following him down the stairs.
Hiro determined the house was much better in the daylight. It was already creepy enough, and with the shadows stretched across the hallway walls, he felt as if one could suddenly transform and pull him away to God-knows-where. He walked closer to Tadashi, who had dropped his hand upon reaching the bottom stair. He stepped gently, cowering away from the drawings on the doors that appeared to be glaring at him through the glooms. They reached the stairs, and began to descend. The brothers stepped lightly, flinching as the steps creaked under their weight.
Suddenly one of the floor boards fell out from under Hiro, who squealed as his foot began to plummet through the wooden stair. Tadashi whipped around and grabbed Hiro's arm, the other hand slapping on his mouth to keep the child quiet. He lifted him out of the hole and removed his hand, ducking his head to look his little brother in the eyes.
"Are you okay?" A nod of the head. "Anything hurt?" A shake this time. "Good. We're almost there, okay?" They continued walking, this time Hiro's hand fisted in the back of his brother's shirt.
Finally they reached the bottom and quickly hurried to the kitchen. Tadashi smiled at Hiro, feeling accomplished, before hurrying over to the food pantry. He opened its doors, resolving to get something little, like crackers, to tie them over until morning. He felt a presence behind him, and turned to ask Hiro what he wanted.
But it wasn't Hiro. Tadashi was looking into the beady blue eyes of Krei, who, before the teen had time to open his mouth, grabbed Tadashi's hair and threw him back with such force he crashed to the ground. He heard Hiro shout behind him, and little feet scamper up behind his older brother. Tadashi patted the hand Hiro put on his shoulder, assuring him he was alright.
"What are you two bratty rascals doing up?" he drawled, face holding no emotion as he stood over Tadashi, much how a large bear towers over a tiny rabbit. The teen almost preferred the creepy smile over the stony dark look he was receiving now.
Tadashi stood, making sure Hiro was placed firmly behind him. He swallowed the lump in his throat before opening his mouth. "We went to bed without dinner and were hungry." He refused to let his voice tremble.
Krei stalked forward, chest to chest with the boy. "Little boys shouldn't be up so late," he chastised, nose pointed down at Tadashi.
The teen, however, felt his face turn red with sudden frustration. He gritted his teeth back at the man, looking up confidently. "People shouldn't spend money that isn't theirs."
A hand shot up and gripped the boy's cheeks together, squishing his mouth. Tadashi felt Krei's grimy nails puncture into his skin, his teeth grinding against the inside of his mouth with the force the older man was using.
"You have a smart mouth, Tadashi," the man hissed. He used his other hand to grip the boy's wrist, pulling it upward and in front of the younger's eyes. Tadashi yanked his face out of the older man's grip, noting the whimper of fear that came from behind him. He used his free hand to place on Hiro's head, not moving his determined eyes away from the man that stared back at him, his usually large grin replaced with the scowl of a dog.
"If I catch either of you downstairs after dark again," the grip on his hand tightened, fingernails creating crescent moons in the slim wrist, "I will take a cheese-grater to each one of your fingernails until you have none left. Just crusted, little red stumps." His eyes moved behind Tadashi, then back to the teen's glare. "And I'd start with ickle brother there. You would watch."
As Tadashi's strength began to falter he threw the boy's hand away, dramatically flipping around and rubbing his temples with his fingers. "Oh, fatherhood is so hard!" The skinny man turned back to the boys, all theatrics gone and blank expression back. "Punishment is the only way to deal with children."
His gaze flickered to Tadashi's hands, who suddenly felt the need to cover them. "Now get out of my sight."
The frightened teen didn't hesitate, turning on a dial. "C'mere," he whispered to his younger brother, not waiting for a reply before grabbing him by the torso and carrying him out of the room. He nearly ran to their room, Hiro's nose pressed into the crook of his neck. This time he locked their own door, placing their suitcase in front of it to keep whatever out.
Their routine changed only slightly. They still woke up cold as Krei's heart every morning, read the note on their door, and completed their chores. The difference was, now, they completed the chores in a record amount of time. They collected whatever they could out of the food pantry before scurrying back to their room, locking the door and staying there until the following morning.
It was one morning when Hiro, all but traumatized by the episode in the kitchen, suggested they split up to complete their to-do list so they could finish faster. Tadashi had agreed hesitantly, but agreed it would be more efficient, and had reasoned that Krei was out of the house anyway.
Hiro was dusting away on the second floor, sneezing as a particularly large cloud formed around him. He rubbed his nose, grumbling about stupid old houses, before continuing down the hall. The boys had been ridiculously directed to 'dust the air', most likely as continued punishment from the bizarre and greedy man.
His fingers braided together as he studied the house, this time all by himself. It was dreadfully quiet without Tadashi, he noted, but refused to whine about. Though the sound of his own footsteps made him want to dash upstairs and cling to the boy's shirt, his pride as a growing boy made him stubborn.
As he walked he waved the duster around, 'cleaning' the empty space in the hall with an unamused frown on his face. He sighed, knowing the chore was completely preposterous, but didn't risk getting in trouble again. However, as he reached the hall midway he heard a creek, and then a door slam. Heart racing, he panicked as he heard shoes began to slap against the marble flooring.
He ran down the hall, reasoning that it would be better to hide than run back upstairs. As he reached the end, intending to wrench open one of the doors and pray Krei didn't go in that particular room, his foot caught in a run in the carpet at the end of the hallway. He gasped as he saw the entry-way with the brick wall now only inches from his face, and scrunched his eyes shut to prepare for the impact against its stony wall.
Instead, to his surprise, Hiro fell longer than expected. He threw his hands out in front of himself and met the cool floor with a thump, hands stinging. Breathing heavily, he turned to lay on his back, looking up at where his face should've been smeared against the red bricks.
To even further his surprise, he saw the bricks still there, but they were fainter, if not ghostly looking. Mouth hanging up and eyes squinted curiously, he reached up to touch the wall. His fingers passed right through them, a static sound emitting as the digits of his fingers met the illusion.
Being the curious eight year old he was, he wanted to further investigate the strange hologram that was very convincingly a wall from the other side. His thoughts were cut off when a bony hand reached through the apparition, however, grabbing his wrist and dragging him back to the other side.
He felt his nerves freeze as he stared at an infuriated Krei, his pupils possibly even smaller than normal.
"You little pesky brat…!"
Tadashi, at this time, had resolved on the third floor to dust the actual objects in the room rather than wave his duster aimlessly. All his actions ceased, however, when he heard a very distinctive smack, and then a very familiar cry, from the floor below him.
He dropped the duster and sprinted down the stairs, pushing his body down the hall with all the speed his legs would let him. The sight that met his eyes made his blood pop like heated oil, his hands fisting at his sides as his eyes began to widen in rage.
"Did you hit him?"
A/N:
Whoo. That happened.
I just have these two chapters typed up for now, so please please give me feedback and let me know if this is worth continuing!
I know this chapter is really long, sorry . the other chapters will probably be a bit shorter, if not just as long. But that means more story, right? Right.
Krei is obviously Olaf. I know he may be OOC, but we really didn't get a good characterization of him in the movie and I can totally see him being this kooky, greedy person, which is why I decided to make him Olaf. You'll meet everybody else later, I promise! Some of you can probably assume how we'll meet everybody else anyway.
Again, please review! I get so excited over them, I tend to go on a writing frenzy after getting one :) Criticisms (gentle) welcome!