A/N: Thanks for the review, JP.

Also I've changed the names to last names for everyone, even in the preceding chapters. No point sticking to the naming conventions of the English dub, if I'm editing this thing anyway.

Chapter 5

Kiyota dreamt that a tremendous earthquake shook the Mackenzie Estate to its foundations. A fissure appeared in the earth, and magma bubbled up to the surface. Pretty soon all that was left of the mansion were a few bare brick walls floating in the lava like little islands. It must be the end times, Kiyota thought, jumping from one brick-wall island to another, just before it tilted downwards and sank into the lava. At one point William Mackenzie's portrait floated serenely past him. Something seemed off about the old Englishman. Then Kiyota realized that Mackenzie was wearing Hanagata's glasses in the portrait instead of his usual stolid monocle. He was wondering just what the fuck Mackenzie should be doing in Hanagata's glasses, when the lava in front of him began to bulge out, like a bubble. The bubble grew bigger and bigger until it resembled a tidal wave preparing to come crashing down on Kiyota. Then out of the lava emerged eight large black legs. Some sort of lava spider, it transpired, when the lava bubble burst, and the spider became visible in its entirety. Its eyes burned like coals in a fire, and lava dripped from its white-hot fangs.

Kiyota awoke in a cold sweat. He sat up in his sleeping bag, breathing heavily for a few minutes. The hair on his arms stood on end, and he shivered.

"It was just a dream," he said aloud in relief when he realized where he was.

He felt something crawl up his arm. In the dim twilight he saw that it was a large spider.

"What the fuck?" He shrieked. "Get off, get off, get off!"

He managed to shake the spider off, and watched as it scurried away into the darkness.

He climbed out of his sleeping bag, and stood in front of the window. The edges of the panes had frosted over during the night, and the ice was beginning to melt into droplets of water that rolled down the glass like tears. The sky outside was dark, but not black. The tall trees on the border of the estate looked black against the crepuscular sky—like a craggy mountain range. The sun would rise in an hour or two, probably.

Kiyota was actually beginning to enjoy the picturesque peacefulness of this place—away from the city crowds, in Nature's lap. He might even be tempted to take a walk around the estate later in the morning, when there was more light.

He turned around, and leant against the wall, resting his elbows on the window sill. His shrieks had not woken anyone up. Fujima groaned and turned in his sleeping bag, but became still as a log right after. Sakuragi, he was pleased to see, appeared to be having a nightmare of some sort, too.

Then something compelled him to look up at the bedroom door, just beyond where everyone was sleeping. It was too dark to say for sure, but Kiyota was certain that he could make out the silhouette of a person in the doorway. He could see shoulders and the outline of a head, a shade darker than the surrounding blackness. It was still as death.

Kiyota swallowed. He became seized by a nameless terror. He didn't have to look down at the sleeping forms in front of him to know that it was not one of the others. He could feel a foreign presence in the room, and was certain from the moment he laid eyes on the silhouette that it wasn't human. He knew it the way you know things that you can't explain—the way a deer can tell if there's a tiger lurking in the tall grass.

He felt cold. His fingers and toes became numb with cold, and his breathing became labored. He didn't know if it was because his clothes were still damp with sweat, but he began shivering, and his teeth chattered softly—and not even from fear. His heart began racing, and beads of sweat formed on his forehead. He wanted to close his eyes, to look away from the thing in the doorway, to scream—but none of his muscles seemed to respond to his will. It was as if the thing that had stepped across into this world had him pinned against the wall with an unknown and otherworldly force, sucking the life out of him with its insidious presence. His vision was reduced to pinpricks, and was beginning to turn black at the periphery.

Just when he felt that he was about to depart this world, life surged back into his body, and he gasped for air. He fell to the floor, panting, and stared down at the dirty old rug at the foot of the great bed. When he looked up at the doorway again, the thing was gone. It was still pitch-dark in the hallway outside, but he knew that the presence was gone.

He passed out on the rug.

The morning sun shone brightly in through the windows in Mackenzie's bedroom when the first people in the group began to awake. It was difficult to stay asleep for long when the sun shone right in your face—some would say impossible—but "impossible" was apparently not a word that could be found in Rukawa's dictionary.

"What's up with Kiyota?" said Maki, nudging Kiyota's limp body by the window with a foot.

Sakuragi laughed.

"It seems the wild monkey can only sleep in his natural habitat."

"Monkeys sleep in trees," said Mitsui, yawning and stretching his arms.

Sakuragi scowled at him.

"You know what I meant, Mitchy," he said. "The rest of us slept in sleeping bags like humans, but that was too civilized for the wild monkey."

"We'll be heading out soon," said Fujima, shuffling over to the bathroom to freshen up. The creak of ancient faucets was heard within.

Kiyota finally began to stir at the sound of the morning chatter around him. He groaned as he slowly opened his eyes.

"Where am I?"

He became aware of a presence above him, and rolled onto his back at lightning speed, bracing himself for another supernatural attack. He heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that it was only Maki.

"What's the matter, Kiyota?" said Maki. "You don't look too well."

Kiyota sat up with some effort, and swallowed. To his dismay he realized that he had a sore throat.

"Something… something happened last night," he said gravely.

Kogure was all ears. He bounded over to them like a scientist whose theories were about to be vindicated.

"What happened? Did you see a ghost?"

Kiyota told them what he remembered. How he woke up from a nightmare, walked up to the window, and then… saw it.

He closed his eyes and shivered. The memory of what it felt like to be in the presence of that thing was still fresh in his mind. It was like nothing he had ever felt or experienced before.

Hanagata had walked up to them in the middle of Kiyota's story. He looked grave.

"You say you saw a shadowy figure of some sort?"

"Just a silhouette. In that doorway," said Kiyota, gesturing to the doorway with a jerk of his head. "Why? Do you know what it was?"

Hanagata frowned.

"Nothing I've heard of or read about before," he said. "As far as I know the only supernatural experiences people have had in this house have been doors shutting all by themselves, the subdued sound of whispering in the walls, and the occasional sight of people out of the corner of your eye. The murders were all caused by forces that did not physically manifest. As in, the only proof of their presence is the sheer improbability of that many people falling sick and dying or going crazy and killing each other for no reason. I don't know that there has ever been a demonic presence in this house."

"So what you're saying is that you have no fucking clue what's going on here?" said Kiyota, his temper rising.

"Are you sure you didn't just imagine it?"

"I know what I saw," Kiyota yelled.

"Calm down, Kiyota," said Maki, placing both hands on Kiyota's shoulders. "We'll be out of this place soon. Now why don't you go and freshen up?"

Kiyota shuffled off wordlessly toward the bathroom once Fujima emerged, drying his hair with a towel.

"What about that gardener who was decapitated?" said Kogure. "Wouldn't you say that was caused by demonic forces?"

"Probably," said Hanagata. "But all that was supposed to have ended after the Tourism Department took over the place. And for all you know, the maid might not have been a very reliable witness."

"Wild monkey's probably not a reliable witness, either," said Mitsui, hands in his pockets.

Sakuragi was thrilled that Mitsui had taken to using that wild animal's proper name.

"Be that as it may, I prefer to give him the benefit of the doubt," said Maki. "Now let's get out of here."

"We can leave Rukawa behind," said Sakuragi, staring gleefully down at Rukawa's sleeping from, still zipped up in his sleeping bag. "I'm sure the spirit was awfully disappointed that it didn't get to eat the wild monkey, so it's only polite to let it have Rukawa."

Rukawa heard that. It seemed that the sound of Sakuragi's laughter was too much even for him. A hand shot out from inside the sleeping bag, and caught hold of Sakuragi by the ankle.

Sakuragi scarcely knew what was going on when he fell face-first onto the floor.

"Rukawa, you dirty fox!"

They were brawling for a full five minutes, when Sendoh finally took it upon himself to break up the fight.

"That was quite something," said Jin once they were on the train back home.

"Wasn't it?" Fujima smiled. "I was hoping when the candle blew out that we'd get to see something. Maybe William Mackenzie himself. But alas, we weren't so lucky."

"Disappointing indeed," said Hanagata.

Kiyota snorted mirthlessly.

"As someone who has recently had a close brush with death, I can tell you that 'lucky' is the farthest thing from what I feel. Fucking amateurs."

The only other passengers in the car were a few elderly commuters, who cast censorious looks at Kiyota.

The sun was high in the sky when they reached the city, and the group decided to spend an hour or two at the park to eat some ice cream and cool off.

Kiyota leant against a tree some distance apart, and stared darkly at the rest of the group. He thrust his hands deep into his pockets as he grappled with his emotions.

"Fucking Hanagata, thinking I made it all up," he muttered.

Then he suddenly became aware that something was off—that something was not as it should be.

"Uh, guys," said Kiyota, walking up to the rest of the group. The defiant edge to his voice was gone. "I think I left my house keys at the mansion."

Mitsui groaned.

"Don't you have a spare?"

Kiyota shook his head.

"I guess you'll have to go back and get them now. Before it gets dark," said Fujima. "Hanagata and I have an interview with the Tokyo University basketball coach this afternoon, so we won't be able to go with you. We're applying for a basketball scholarship."

Maki groaned.

"So am I."

"I can give you the keys," said Hanagata, handing Kiyota the keys to the mansion. "Be sure to bring them back, because I need to hand them over to my uncle today."

Jin apparently had a cousin's wedding to attend.

"I'm not going with you," said Mitsui flat out.

"I really wish I could go," said Kogure. "But Akagi and I are meeting up to study for Monday's exam. Mitsui can join us, too, if he likes."

Mitsui shook his head.

"I couldn't study one more minute."

Kiyota was beginning to think that fate had it in for him, when Sendoh's voice pierced through the rainclouds like a ray of sunshine.

"I can go with you," said Sendoh. "I have nothing better to do today."

Rukawa coughed softly behind him.

"We were going to play one-on-one this afternoon."

"You can come along, too," said Sendoh. "We'll get off near Ryonan on the way back, and head to the basketball court near my house."

Rukawa was not thrilled at the thought of traveling with Kiyota, but decided that he was up for it, if it meant that he would be able to keep Sendoh from changing his mind about playing basketball with him later on.

They waved their goodbyes solemnly to the rest of the group as they headed back to the train station.

"The keys had better be there."

"Shut up, Rukawa."

tbc.

A/N: Like I said, this is a departure from the original plot (which sucked - trust me), so a lot of this chapter was written from scratch. The part after they woke up in the morning was part of the original Chapter 4, modified slightly to fit this new plot.

(Trivia: It was originally Sendoh who left his keys at the mansion. When I was editing the story, I changed it to Sakuragi. Now, after departing from the original plot, I changed it to Kiyota.)