Chapter 5: Nightmare
Stepping through the door, I could immediately smell the aroma of fish. I believe this is the first time I ever mentioned my loathing of fish. I started breathing through my mouth, and it was much harder to notice the smell. Feeling better, I made my way to the living room, where Kairi was sitting on the couch.
Her hair was dripping wet, and her clothes seemed fresh. She sat back deep into the couch, seeming quite comfortable. Her eyes smiled as she took notice of my presence. "How's it goin', stranger?"
I sat down beside her and leaned back with a sigh. "Fair, I guess," I answered. She smiled and looked back at the television. I felt pretty stupid. Here she was, just out of the shower, smelling nice and fresh, while I've been outside all day, sweating it out against Him. Literally. If I did smell nasty, she was doing a good job of hiding it.
"How was your walk?"
I hesitated, almost telling her about the encounter with Him and the sense of being watched before I opened the door. "Nothing much happened," I replied with a shrug. "It was kinda refreshing to see the island." Which was a lie, considering that I almost died on the way here.
But she bought it. "Dinner's almost done," she stated. "How do you like your fish?"
I didn't answer.
"What, you don't like fish?"
No reply from me.
She cocked an eyebrow and sighed heavily. "Fine, there's some extra paupu fruits from a few nights ago you can have." Kairi stood up and trudged to the kitchen, preparing the fish for herself. I felt pretty bad; she must've wanted me to taste her cooking.
But fish was fish; I couldn't eat it, let alone smell it. I stood up as well, and turned towards her. "I'll take a shower," I told her. "Feel all sweaty."
I couldn't tell if she was relieved that I was going to smell much better than I was now, or glad that she didn't have to deal with me for twenty minutes or so. "Go ahead. Shower's upstairs, second door on the left."
I nodded my thanks as I walked briskly upstairs. A few random stairs creaked as I made my way up. I took note of this, in case I needed to sneak out for something. Which I was hoping I wouldn't have to.
I opened the door to the bathroom and gaped. The room was pink. As in, 100 pink. The wallpaper was made up of pink flowers over a lighter pink background. The ceiling was painted the same pink as the background of the walls, and the toilet and sink were pink. Heck, even the showerhead was pink. I felt totally out-of-place; black clothes in a pink room definitely do not go together. It was like a bat fluttering its wings through a Barbie convention.
Trying not to feel weird (I can't really describe the feeling. It just felt so… different… to be in such a pink room.), I shut the door and started getting undressed. Once my coat and belt were off, I reached for the shower knob and turned it just before Hot. Water suddenly sprayed from the showerhead. Steam started to rise from the tub; I could feel its warmth just before I was able to undo my belt.
Finally, with all my clothes in a heap near the door, I stepped inside the shower and winced. I didn't expect the shower to be that hot (I was literally diving for the shower knob to change the temperature.). Once the shower started cooling down, I let out a sigh of relief and wet my hair, which hung in strands that covered my eyes completely.
About five minutes into my personal cleaning paradise, I thought I heard a scream. I turned off the shower and yanked the shower curtain back (which, I am sad to say, was pink) to listen.
Thump
I took a towel that hung from the rack near the door and quickly dried myself off. Though my hair was still soaking wet, I wrapped the towel around my waist and opened the door. Something told me that someone was in the house. An unwanted someone. I stepped towards the stairs, toes before heel, and strained to listen.
Thump
I gulped. You better be all right, Kairi, I thought as I slowly made my way down the stairs. I skipped the stairs that creaked (Maybe it was a good thing I made a note of it after all.) and leaned over the stairwell to get a better view of the kitchen. What I saw made my mouth drop.
The kitchen was ransacked. It was as if someone painted everything in the room red before letting an angry bull loose. Shattered glass littered the floor and the countertops. The fish was clearly destroyed; it stank up the room, lying in the sink. The fridge door was open all the way, most of the food and drinks on their sides. Some of the drawers were gone, which I couldn't understand why.
I stepped through the mess, wearing only a towel that I had to hold up (The shock of seeing the kitchen in such a state seemed to have loosened it, which would definitely give the female readers a nice image. If their minds were in the gutter, of course.), completely confused as to what had happened. I tried not to step on the glass as I started to clean up. Suddenly, something broke under my foot. I lifted my foot up and saw a small something. I bent down and picked it up.
It was a white paper star with yellow and blue points. It had a smiley face on one of the points, and was connected to a chain. As I studied it, I began to realize that there was something odd about it. I shivered as I straightened up.
Wait a second.
I glanced around and noticed something that caught my attention. The kitchen window was opened. The drapes were blowing softly against the wind. Shivering again, I looked out. It was a waste of time; it was too dark to see anything out there.
But I knew that this was the way the thing left from.
Taking Kairi with it…
I rushed upstairs and dressed in the same clothes; I was somewhat relieved that they didn't smell bad. I straightened my belt and landed on the ground floor with one jump. Rushing outside, I looked around in every direction. I gritted my teeth as I was hit with a single thought.
She isn't coming back…
I dashed through the streets towards Saphera and Gunnar's house. Maybe they could help out. Then it hit me again.
I have no idea where they live.
God, I wish I didn't have such bad luck.
