Disclaimer: I don't own the Kingdom Hearts franchise.

Enjoy the read.

The first day had passed, yet Sora still hadn't uncovered any secrets this house might hold. It wasn't like he could have roamed about.

Yesterday, the movers had arrived not long after that little conversation between Sora and his mother. Because they had been so busy going back and forth, in and out of the house to transfer furniture and electronics from the trucks to various rooms, there wasn't too much space for Sora to be around. He had stayed in his room, which had been quite peaceful since all that needed to be moved there had only been a computer unit, the monitor that came with it, and a not-so-big television set.

Sora used to think that there were a lot of things to be moved from his Destiny Islands house to right here. While he wasn't wrong, it still amazed him to no end how right now, everything had been moved and there simply was still so much free space in the house. It sure was a huge house, and perhaps his mother's words—"You know you'd only lose your way when left alone in a house as gigantic as this," she had said—held some value of truth after all.

Take the living room, for example. The sofa, coffee table, and the forty-inch television set that had taken slightly less than half the space of the old living room didn't take even a third of the current one. The bathroom? One would need to walk for seven steps from the toilet to reach the bathtub. His bedroom? Even with what he had right now, it still felt empty, and it wasn't because of the colour scheme. And the foyer? That one was the best of all; everybody was welcome to play football in that room.

In any case, the movers had only helped putting stuff in the right rooms since by the time they had emptied the trucks, night had already fallen. As a cost-saving measure, the family had decided to arrange the furniture and all themselves, and that was what they had been doing since the previous night.

Being just a young boy, Sora had been given the privilege to not have to help out. His parents had been aware that he had been so exhausted from the long trip, so they had allowed Sora to go and get some rest. And so, having been granted permission, he had immediately taken a relaxing bath after eating his dinner, set off into his room, and gone straight into sleep. Its irresistible charms had taken over in no time; he had slept like a rock and woken up in a very refreshed state.

To his utter surprise, in the morning, he saw that everything had been arranged so very nicely, although there were still a few empty boxes lying around. His parents must have been awake until late doing all the work, and when he checked on their room, they were still asleep. That wasn't too surprising; there was no way one didn't get exhausted after doing such labourous work.

He actually had wanted to help his parents yesterday. Figuring the least he could do was to stow the boxes somewhere, he began roaming around the house, this time freely, to find a place to hide them from plain sight. "Let's see… I think I can just put them away in the store. But where's the store again?"

It was true that Sora was still unfamiliar with the floor plan of his new house. He searched, in vain, upstairs, although he did come across an empty room that most likely would function as his father's study. Moving downstairs, he began his search from the kitchen because that was where the store had been at in the old house, but again, no luck. He thought the sliding doors by the entryway were his target, but no, for they led to the shoe drawer. His excursion to other rooms resulted in nothing, and he started to grow frustrated for being unable to find just one lousy store.

The only place he hadn't been to was the backyard past the plexiglass doors across the foyer, so that was where he was going next. He had indeed heard stories and watched movies in which the characters stored some of their belongings in a shed in their backyard, but those were usually horror stories telling about haunted houses. And this house… so far, nothing strange had taken place, so Sora believed it wasn't a haunted house. Correct?

It wasn't that if he found a shed in the backyard, his house was sure to be haunted. He knew that, but he still had mixed feelings about this. What if it was a prelude of things yet unknown? What if it was a sign that this house might not be so innocent as he had previously thought? What if the secrets he had been hoping to uncover were in fact dark secrets? What if there was a dead body in the shed?

He shook his head violently and slapped himself mentally. 'C'mon, you're crazy. Nothing bad's gonna happen, Sora, nothing bad's gonna happen…' he said to himself, repeating the words as though they had been some kind of a mantra.

Swallowing his worry, Sora advanced toward the door to the backyard. When he was already before it, hesitation struck him hard; as though anticipating that an unknown entity would rush into the house, he turned his head to the left as he prepared to push it open…

… and that was when he saw it.

There was this one door he hadn't seen before. Located at the end of a short, rather narrow recess under the stairwell, the door was wooden and of plain, ominous black colour, completely in contrast to other doors in the house that were either brown or white. If one wasn't observant enough, he or she wouldn't be able to find it, and in Sora's case, it was pure chance.

"That's a strange door. I wonder where it connects to?" he mumbled.

Said boy was unsure whether or not this was worse than a shed in the backyard, but again, he shoved aside his feelings of worry and anxiety. Once again, he mumbled that mantra in his head, made his way toward the newfound space, and—this one he didn't know how he managed to do—turned the knob without hesitation and pushed the door open.

He could feel warm air breezing from behind, indicating that the temperature was cooler inside. There was a strong smell of mildew emanating from the depths of the room. Suddenly, Sora sneezed, and in the process he unknowingly stirred the previously dormant dust into the air; because of that, he had to back away a good distance from the doorway, sneezing again and hacking as he did so. It seemed his initial presumption that this house was perfectly spotless had been wrong.

"Geez, a room under the stairs. Isn't this great…"

After waiting for a while for the dust to settle, Sora then reentered the room. Upon flicking the light switch, he found out that he had finally found the room he had been looking for.

In the room stacks of boxes stood high, some precariously. It was as though the slightest touch would cause them to tumble. It wasn't only the boxes that had had Sora walk in small, careful steps; the dust on the floor was so thick it could get agitated only by the shuffles of his feet, and every time he took a step, the wooden boards that acted as the flooring creaked as though they would give way.

"So this is the store. I just hope nothing will come out of this place and starts firing off magic. That'd be cool, though…"

The store was more spacious that Sora had expected, taking the entirety of the empty space beneath the stairwell in the foyer, but thanks to the careless—and dangerous, one might say—organisation of the stuff being stored inside, there wasn't much space left. Sora figured, however, that what little remaining space he had here would be enough to hold the boxes that had been lying untouched upstairs since yesterday which, in his opinion, had become an eyesore.

With that, he carefully made his way out of the store so as not to cause unnecessary agitation of the thick layer of dust that had formed on the surfaces, shut the black wooden door, and sighed in relief. Now, he only needed to convey his intentions to his parents, and possibly, he would be rewarded with a nice meal for breakfast or lunch for being such a kind and helpful son!

Grinning like a madman at the thought of tasty food, Sora then walked away.

But that grin was wiped off of his face by a thud-like sound.

And the sound came from inside the store.

His eyebrows furrowed and his eyes narrowed, Sora turned around and stared at the door. Did he just hear something from within? It sure did sound like something heavy hitting the floor. Was it one of the boxes, or… something else? He did the equivalent of shutting down his other senses for a while, focusing solely on his hearing. Although he really wasn't sure about this, for some reason, he was half expecting to hear that sound again.

But he didn't. It was very silent.

Sora was made even more uncertain. Had he even heard the sound to begin with? Had his mind been playing tricks on him? Had he been hallucinating? Those questions swam about in his head, and he sure hoped the answer to the last one was no. It was far too early in the day to imagine things, although seeing and hearing what wasn't supposed to be seen and heard in this house wasn't even in his list of things to do.

That only caused him to will things to stay as normal as he had previously thought. After all, what was one supposed to do if he didn't believe that his house was a safe haven for him? "Nothing's wrong, Sora. Nothing's wrong," he said those words out loud. "Must've been one of the boxes. They're stacked so high up… it's not strange if one falls down, right? Yeah, that must be it."

Having convinced himself that the sound was nothing supernatural in nature, Sora again walked away to head upstairs, proceeding with his intention of informing his parents about his plan to move the boxes into the store.

The family had gathered together in the kitchen, ready to enjoy the breakfast that the mother was preparing for them. That had saved Sora the trouble of waking them up, because not only he was actually reluctant to do so considering they had worked until late last night, but his father was known as a heavy sleeper that wouldn't wake up from his sleep even in the event of fire or earthquake.

After waiting for some time, the meal was finally ready. Sora almost forgot to thank his mother before digging into the plate simply because he had been tantalised for too long by the fragrant aroma of the breakfast wafting in the air during their preparation. This menu was by far his favourite; nothing would ever brighten his mood in the morning more than a few strips of bacon grilled to perfection that was crispy and a sunnyside-up egg that was almost as bright as the sun itself. Add a glass of milk into the equation and Sora would belch in complete satisfaction at the end of his meal.

"Don't eat too fast, Sora. It'd be a shame if you choke on the bacon," the father warned seeing Sora wolfing down his breakfast as though he hadn't eaten anything in the past week.

"Sorry, dad," replied Sora with his mouth full. His mother noticed this and threw him a glare; he cringed, and took his time chewing on his food and swallowed it before continuing. "Sorry… but mom always makes the best food. I can't help it."

After sipping from his cup of coffee, the father spoke again. "Well, now that you've mentioned it… I've never seen you eat like that when it's my turn to cook. Are you saying that… my cooking isn't as good as—"

"Whoa, dad, I didn't say that, okay?" Sora interjected, laughing.

The mother also chuckled, and the father was dismayed to know that she sided herself with Sora. "It's true, though. Whenever he decides to cook, it'd be best to have someone ready beside you in case of food poisoning."

At the mother's words, everybody at the table burst out laughing. She was the first to come to; seeing Sora's cheerful self, she figured he had all but recovered from his withdrawal. She would do anything to keep her son comfortable and make him at home, and knowing that the heart-to-heart they had had together yesterday afternoon had fulfilled its purpose, she gave a relieved smile.

She suddenly remembered the little competition that was going on between her and Sora. "So, what secrets has this young explorer unearthed so far?" she asked the boy.

"Secrets?" asked the father, interested in the topic.

The mother nodded in reply. "It's this game Sora and I are playing. We're in a race to find the ultimate treasure hidden in this house."

"I haven't found anything," said Sora in a nonchalant manner. However, remembering his experiences earlier on that he had almost forgotten due to the food, his expression tensed a bit. He decided to refrain from mentioning anything about the sound, though. "But that reminds me, mom. Actually, this morning I found a room under the stairs… I think it's the store, so I'm thinking of moving all the empty boxes there."

To Sora's surprise, the easy atmosphere in the room died down. His father narrowed his eyes and looked at him incredulously. "Under the stairs? You mean the small hallway by the backyard door?"

"Y-yeah?" he replied in an uncertain manner. To be honest, the way his father had asked caused this uneasy feeling within him to resurface.

"I thought there was only a boarded-up wall there," said the mother, who then exchanged looks with her husband. "Someone must've taken the boards down. Was it you?"

The father shook his head. "Must've been one of the movers. I should've told them not to touch anything."

"Probably. You didn't take them down, did you, honey?"

"No… I, uh, I didn't even know there was something there," replied Sora again, stuttering. "Is… is this bad? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"Why would you think something bad's going to happen? Don't worry," the father reassured. "I just found it strange that someone actually boarded up a store. That doesn't make sense, although it does explain why we couldn't find a place to move all those boxes to yesterday."

Sora seriously wasn't liking where the conversation had taken them all to. Had he brought a topic he shouldn't have? Sure, his father might have said there was nothing to worry about, but still… now the idea of the store being a mysterious space, possibly holding more secrets than met the eye, didn't seem to be all too far-fetched, and he hated to admit that it was true.

His train of thought was broken by a ruffling sensation against his hair. Nobody else would do that except his mother. "In any case, it looks like our young explorer is already one step ahead. Shall we check it out later for treasures, then?"

Sora only stared at the yolk of his egg uncertainly. "I… don't think I like being around there."

"Take it easy, Sora. I told you there's nothing to worry about. It's only a room we just haven't seen yesterday, big deal," said the father.

"I dunno… but yeah, I hope so."

The rest of the breakfast period was spent in silence, the only sounds present being those of cutleries hitting against the porcelain plates. Once they were all done and the dishes had been washed clean, the mother once again expressed her interest to have a look at this store. Sora was still unsure if he should come or not, but remembered that what had led all things here was his intention to help move the empty boxes over—he did still want to accomplish that.

A pat on the head was all it needed for Sora to finally comply and tag along, and he could only hope nothing weird would be taking place.

"This is where the boards were, alright. And now they're nowhere to be seen."

"Leaving us with something else. So, shall we check it out?"

"Be careful, dad, it's very dusty inside."

Thanking Sora for the heads-up, the father slowly turned the doorknob and pushed the black door open, revealing the dark, cold, and damp store for all to see. The light from outside allowed him to see, albeit without great detail, boxes being stacked on top of one another, which had left him with only so much space. Also, it seemed that Sora had underestimated the dust; just by exhaling gently he was able to agitate the dust, which wasn't good.

To allow himself to see more clearly, the father hit the switch and the lamp came to life, bathing the store in eerie orange light. It was similar to the yellow-golden tone cast by the Twilight Town sun, but that one had a peaceful, relaxing tone. On the other hand, there seemed to be no positive adjectives that could be applied to the glow of this particular lamp; if anything, it was sinister.

He then began inspecting what was in the room, starting from the object closest to him. "Alright, what do we have here? Boxes upon boxes… upon boxes. This is really dangerous. I wonder what's inside."

It was then that realisation suddenly hit Sora. "Huh? That's weird, I'm pretty sure I left the light on…"

"What's that, Sora?" asked the father.

"He said he didn't turn off the light, and that it's strange," replied the mother in Sora's stead.

The father just shrugged and dismissed Sora's worry. "From the looks of it, this room has been untouched for no one knows how long. It's possible that the lamp—"

Before the father could end his sentence, he was silenced by the lamp's sudden failure.

"Shit. This is what I was saying."

The room was once again blanketed in darkness, prompting him to flick the light switch up and down. It bore no fruit, though; it seemed that was it for the lamp, and nothing would be able to bring it back to life. With no other options available, he was forced to be done with his little inspection.

"Dad! Are you okay?" Sora shouted, worry present in the voice.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. But don't come in here," the father warned. "It's dangerous to be in a dark, confined space like this. I'll replace the light bulb, but let's do that tomorrow because we still have work to do today." He then emerged from the room, shook off the dust that had clung onto his clothes and hair, and turned to face Sora. "Sorry, I think those boxes have to go somewhere else until then. Thanks for wanting to help out, though."

"Oh well, at least you're okay," the boy replied with a sigh of relief. "But the boxes… they're an eyesore."

"Not much more of an eyesore than your ransacked room, if you ask me," the mother cleverly responded, leaving Sora with nothing to retort with for he knew it was true. That pout on his defeated expression was just very amusing, she thought. "Well, I guess we're done here for now. Let's get going."

The father nodded, indicating his agreement. "I can't believe how dirty I've gotten in just a short while! I need a shower and my clothes a good laundry."

Now Sora was alone. Upon noticing that the door to the store was still open, he decided to challenge his worry and entered the room to make sure the lamp was dead for real. Not expecting it to turn on, Sora flicked the switch, and was totally relieved to know that it didn't—he would have freaked out real bad otherwise. He then poked some of the boxes, and decided that indeed, were one to fall down and hit the floor, it would give off a sound just like the one he had heard earlier.

"I've been thinking about it too much. See, nothing's happened… and everything's gonna be fine," he said with a smile. Truth be told, he felt like an idiot for believing even for just a moment there that the house was haunted.

Sora exited the store and shut the door, feeling a rush of cold air as he did so. If he hadn't remembered that the room had been sealed for a long time, causing the air inside to go stale, he would have thought that a ghost had just gone past him. He chuckled at that stupid, overly imaginative thought of him, and strolled back upstairs in an almost galloping manner to get a good shower.

Unfortunately, Sora had overlooked something.

There had been no signs of any of the boxes falling off the stacks. When his father had come in, there had been no stray boxes on the floor.

This meant the thud had come from something else.

But what?