"Mr. Modulavich, how are you this morning?" Exasivoor Chente, a Goblin who stood five foot, two and a half inches tall, and who had light brown skin, olive colored eyes, and a series of hairy warts on his left cheek and chin, said after Homsi entered their employer's house. Along with it being the twentieth of January, the clocks all throughout the house had just chimed 6:45; everyone was either punching in, and getting ready for the workday, or was already working.
"Very good, Exasivoor." Homsi replied. "You?"
"Good, now you know the routine, Mr. Modulavich." Exasivoor's friendly appearance and demeanor changed right then and there. He went from being what he was to professional in the drop of a hat.
"Remove your coat then hold your arms out for the pat down." Homsi said.
He did as he had been doing for the last six days; his jacket was removed, then handed over for his co-worker to check, then his arms were held to the sides. Exasivoor, after checking the jacket, then slinging it across his arm, did the pat down quickly, but efficiently. While he knew that the pat downs were important, he did have one issue with them—whenever Exasivoor, or another of the more burlier Goblins did the patting, they were very forceful when they ran their hands over or between one's legs.
If not for his employer's wife being choked by her amulet, the pat downs wouldn't be happening; Master Tazir, after learning that his wife had been choked by the band of her amulet, then further learning that it had been cut by someone other than Kohl, had grown concerned that some unknown person, who was both cloaked and meaning to harm members of his family, was in the house. Before everyone came in for work, they were given a pat down. If anyone went down to the staff's quarters for lunch, or went to some other place that wasn't in the house for lunch, they were stopped before entering the house and then given a pat down. No questions were allowed to be asked and no requests for the pat downs to not be done were being allowed; his employer was serious in having this measure done and the ones who he appointed to do them were equally serious in doing them.
Except for the forceful actions of when one went to run their hands over or between his legs, he had no true qualms about the pat downs, or about anything that went along with them; if it had been he in his employer's shoes, and his wife had been choked by some unseen and unknown presence, he would of done the same thing.
"Mr. Modulavich, your box please."
The one who was giving him his first pat down of the day, and who was now rummaging through his lunchbox, was a relatively friendly fellow both before and after the pat downs were done; the original guy, who had been given the task of both guarding the door that gave access to the stairwell that ran down to the staff's quarters, and giving everyone who came up from the staff's quarters a pat down, had called in sick five days ago—even though the guy was better, Exasivoor looked to be a permanent fixture to his position. Mr. Chente was doing his job well, which was probably the reason to why he still had the original guy's post.
The man, though not especially new to the job, was new enough to know that he also had eyes on him; he was just fifty years in on working for their employer—so far, he was proving to be a most excellent employee and fellow to either hang around with or talk to.
Exasivoor wouldn't find a thing of interest on him—on the day that the order was given for the pat downs to be given, he had made the move to leave everything that could raise a red flag at home. His pocketknife, which was always carried on his person, wasn't on him and his lunchbox was free of knives and forks. Whenever lunch-hour came around, he used one of the plastic forks and knives that were in the employee lounge—after using them two items, he broke them into more than ten pieces then tossed them in the trash. Regardless of his being free of things that'd gain Exasivoor's attention, he let the man do his job in patting him down.
"You're good, Mr. Modulavich." Exasivoor said after taking his hands from him, then giving him his lunchbox and jacket back.
"Hear anything after you came up to take your post?" Homsi asked after taking his two items back.
"Master Tazir, and his family, are all awake. They've already eaten breakfast, and are somewhere in the house. Ulision is currently hard at work in making the meal that everyone else will consume, and Master Tazir has plans to spend half of each hour with his family." Exasivoor relayed. "That's about all that I've managed to overhear."
"Do me a favor in sending Ulision a message—tell him to spit in the food that Master Vile's to eat this morning." Homsi said.
"Alright buster! It's time to go down to where the pipes drip and there's no raylight." Exasivoor was playful in trying to grab Homsi. At the last second, he pulled back then regained his former composure. "I'd love to do that, Homsi, but you know I can't. You have a nice day now."
"Same to you."
"Enjoyed our date. See you soon, Lover."
The man who had just concluded his session in running his hands over him was known for being both single and gay—due to his spending time with a number of their same-sex preferring co-workers, this was known to almost all of them; while he and Olok hadn't done anything together, they did know that they were good friends. With him knowing this, he didn't reply to what Exasivoor said; except for to the women, the man said that to everyone that he gave a pat down to—it wasn't meant in a bad way and everyone who heard him say it to them knew it.
With his first pat down of the day being over, and with his belongings being returned to him, he left Exasivoor behind then went to the employee lounge; once he was in the room, he wasted precious time in storing his lunchbox in the fridge. With his lunch safely stowed away, he went to the coffee table then took up the newspaper that was on it. Instead of taking a seat, he read it while standing.
The first article was nothing; something about a sports team that had lost its run for glory, and that's coach was getting the shit thrown at him for how his team did in their least game. The second article was about the Moas Derby, which was now starting to look interesting with its colorful line-up of fast three-year olds. The third article was on the newest fad in women's clothing and cosmetics while the fourth was about the upcoming films that were slated to be shown in theaters in the next few months. After seeing that the paper consisted of nothing of interest, he returned it to the table.
"Mr. Ruchali." Homsi said after finding himself as bumping into one of his security detail co-workers. The man, who was on his way to taking up his post somewhere in the house, stopped then turned to address him.
"Mr. Modulavich, do think that our employer wants to see you." Thrajuz Ruchali, a chubby, green-skinned Goblin who was wearing a plain green tuxedo and shoes, said. The man, who's wart-encrusted face had a pair of piercingly bright, amber-colored eyes in it, and who stood five foot, one, made as to move on after acknowledging him.
"Where is he?" he asked before the man had a chance to move away from him.
"In his office."
After leaving the lounge, then going to the room that he needed to go to, he thought about the happenings that were going on at his place. He hadn't had all that grand a sleep for the last two nights; the twins had grown fussy and, in order for them to calm down, and go to sleep, he and Abara had agreed to let them sleep in the bed that they usually inhabited. All while sleeping on the couch, he had either seen or heard all sorts of things that he'd usually not hear or see when he was in the room that he and his wife slept in.
Beaufi, it did seem, had a habit of getting up after everyone was in bed and was asleep; she raided the fridge, or the cabinets, numerous times before finally making the decision to go to bed and then go to sleep. The first two times, he had been okay with this then, when she continued to get up to raid the kitchen, he had gotten up to tell her to go to her room and then stay there—though looking tempered over being told to stop her nightly habit, she had done as he had told her to. About an hour after Beaufi was sent to her room, Dlahsleon started getting up—along with having a bad case of diarrhea, and nausea, he was also experiencing cold and hot spells and high-grade fevers. He had managed to get in a halfway decent sleep on the seventeenth while, on the two days that followed, he had gotten little to no sleep. According to the man that his wife had taken their son to see yesterday, Dlahsleon had a spot of Gastroenteritis, or Stomach flu—except for being told to keep him hydrated, and in bed, nothing had been given to make him feel and get to being better.
His father had made a habit out of telling him that, when he grew up, and became a father, he'd find himself as hating the trips to see a doctor as much as the kids did. There's a lot of doctors out there that won't lift a finger, or that will look you over but not do anything to help you out, was what the man had said one day when he had been a fresh new-comer to the bachelor scene. He believed the man because, over the years, he had learned to detest each doctor visit and the minds that the doctors seemed to possess. Abara, after getting their son home from his visit to the doctor, had made him something to drink—a potion that was said to help one who was sick to get better sooner—and then told him to sit on the couch and watch some tv.
"Go on, Homsi." the Goblin who was standing before the door to their employer's office said after he stopped before the door to the room that he was headed to. This very burly Goblin, who's name was Qosdir Tuger, had been appointed the job of looking after the ones who wished to enter their employer's office three days ago; he had purple skin, red eyes, and mid-long, brown-red hair. "Master Tazir's on the phone right now—been on it for the last twenty minutes."
"Business?"
"Yeah—Axalwen." Qosdir replied.
Homsi groaned after hearing the reason to why his employer was on the phone; Axalwen and Ssaavoo were giving the man a lot of trouble, and so were two other planets that were also in the Bula Galaxy. The rioters, along with upping the anti in making more trouble, were passing their influence to others, which was causing the man to lose sleep and be extra stress out. Just yesterday, two whole neighborhoods went up in flames, and a national park was destroyed—there were many injured folk, and a handful of deaths, accredited to the two neighborhoods being set on fire while no one was coming forward to say that they had been harmed by the ones who had set their sights on the national park.
After the two neighborhoods were set ablaze, a broadcast was done—the leader of the rioting had said that all who were loyal to TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit were to reap to benefits of their loyalty by being burned to death, which had caused a lot of people to grow fearful of what was going on and of what was to happen next. Most of the people who lived in the two neighborhoods had gotten out while the remaining folk had either been barred by the rioters or had bean beaten and then thrown back to where the fires waged. The rioters were now publicly challenging his employer, who was growing increasingly angry over them and their antics.
As if the televised broadcast by the leader of the rioters wasn't bad enough, the same man had taunted Mr. Surfeit into making an appearance and then putting him in his place the following day via radio—going by the voice alone, which sure sounded similar to the one that was used by the guy who did the televised broadcast, he knew that it was the same guy.
He knew that his employer was doing all that he could to stop the rioting; along with sending someone to track down and then speak to the leaders about their issues, and about what they wanted, he had both called and sent them letters—one of the tertiary leaders had been caught as ringing out a number, which had been forwarded to his employer, who had called it only to have it dropped right after it was answered. The only real choice that the man had left, since talking to the ones who led the rioting was out, was to go to the planets and then take care of matters himself. Homsi was quite sure that his employer would get the matter squared away after doing this—though not experiencing many riots during his tenure in being a conqueror he did know how to handle them and, furthermore, put them out of business.
"And then we have what's going on under the roof of this place..." he thought after grabbing the door's knob then twisting it.
Due to what was going on in the house, and to how two of his sons were acting, Master Tazir had made the decision to postpone his plans in going to Axalwen and Ssaavoo. Young Master Hazaar, after learning that his mother was nearly choked to death by her amulet, had started mouthing off and creating all sorts of trouble for both him, his brothers, and his father—Master Tazir, after learning that his son was pinning the blame on him for what was going on in the house, had slapped the boy and then sent him to his room for the rest of the day. A few hours after that happened, Young Master Lhaklar created a bit of chaos in the dining room—after learning that his brother was grounded for two weeks, he had spoken on it; a challenge had been given on the man's disciplinary skills right after he had spoken on the given punishment.
While he hadn't been in the house to see or hear any of what happened, Ulision Volvio had; it was through him that they knew what happened on the night of January 14. Everyone had just sat at the table, and had just started filling their plates, when the boy started up on Hazar's given punishment, and on how their father slapped him for "voicing his stresses". Master Tazir had really let his son have it; after plopping his hands on the table, then standing from his chair, he had said that Lhaklar had no right in coming in on his decisions, or in giving his opinion on what all discipline he gave out, and that he had no right in challenging him. A big fight had happened next, which had ended in Lhaklar being grounded for the same amount of weeks that Hazaar was in the hole for—after that punishment was given out, Lhaklar was told to get up and then go to his room, which he had done. The room grew to being very quiet after the boy left it; after everyone was done in eating, they were dismissed—Young Master Bile, Hazaar, and Lazeer were found as being upstairs, in their parents' room, ten minutes later. The three had, apparently, told their mother, who had been put on bed-rest by her husband after being seen by a doctor, all of what happened during her time in being in her and her husband's room and she, after Master Tazir came into the room, then saw the boys as being in it, reacted to it.
A big fight had happened between the two; Lhaklar's punishment had been revoked, and Hazaar's had been dropped to being a week instead of two weeks, and Mistress Angel had slept upstairs, on the third level, that night and on the two that followed.
"For his crime in doing nothing while his daughter was being choked, Master Vile was thrown from the house." he thought after entering the room that his employer was in.
This hadn't settled well with some of the house's female guests—Irka and Dara Dara, for three of the five days that Master Vile was home-evicted, had been quite loud on the man not being allowed to be in the house while Cyla and Rita had put forth the claim that he was being criminalized for something that he shouldn't be criminalized for. On the night of the third day that the four women were ranting and raving on Master Vile's home eviction, Master Tazir exploded. Along with threatening the women of their stay in the house, he had also threatened to throw the married one's husbands, and their children, out too, which had caused all of them to snap their traps shut.
Master Vile was just two days returned to the mansion; along with being able to weasel himself back into the house, he had managed to also retain the room that he had been given—while his actions were still the same, he was keeping them down when his uncle was around.
The other members of his employer's family, rather surprisingly, were staying calm and cool; he guessed that they knew how much pressure their relative was in, and how much he didn't need anymore added to his shoulders, and he also guessed that they were giving him the respect that he needed.
"I don't care if you have to yank people from their beds or drag them from their homes—I want the open area, that's being used as a meeting point between me and the rioters, to be secured from the rooftops by fifty armed men." his employer was saying into the phone. Along with being up and about, he looked rather flustered. "Yes—on Ssaavoo you idiot! The rioting there will fall quicker than the ones that are happening on Axal... Get the area secured before noon today—should I arrive, and not see my demands honored, there'll be hell to pay!"
Slam! The phone came very close to breaking after being returned to its station.
Homsi, though reluctant to go forward, or to speak to the one who had just gotten through talking on the phone, was amazed at how well his employer looked—regardless of the stress that was on his shoulders, and his not getting in much sleep, he hadn't lost an ounce in weight, and he still looked and sounded strong. The man walked well; he had a good color to him; he wasn't slurring his speech; and he wasn't acting like he was confused either—Homsi had to admire this. If it had been he in his employer's shoes, dealing with all this business on Axalwen and Ssaavoo, he'd be one foot in the door to the nearest insane asylum.
The man, who was wearing a burgundy tuxedo, that was both striped and had a long, split tail on the back of its jacket, turned after slamming the phone's handset to its station. The sound of Teskon being messed with was heard, as was the sound of Teskon's cage being opened and of Teskon being taken from it; Master Tazir held his pet for a few minutes before returning him to his cage then turning to sit behind his desk.
"Mr. Modulavich," the man acknowledged him. "Hope all is well with you, and that you wasn't asked but so much to be searched this morning—the measures that I've implemented are important, and are to remain until my youngest son's knife is found, and all this mess with whatever's torturing my wife and kids stops, but I have made a motion to ensure that you, and the others in both my and my wife's Circles, aren't searched but so many times a day."
"Sir, I assure you that we understand the reason to why the searches are in place—neither I, nor any of your other employees, mind the pat downs or searches." Homsi responded truthfully. Ever since the pat downs, and searches, were put into effect, he had heard nothing on anyone detesting them; everyone knew why they were happening and were accepting them as they were being done.
"I'll cut to the chase with you, Homsi—I'm right busy, and will be for a while. I've asked for all in my and my wife's Circle to see me this morning." the man tapped his finger on the desk's surface twice before going on. "While I'll be popping in on my wife and children from time to time, I'm afraid that I can't adhere to my earlier made promise in doing so all day. Since I won't be available to be with them, or uphold my promise in checking in on them once every thirty minutes, I'd like for all of you to be with them today."
"We'll go by your order in doing so, sir."
"Glad to hear, Homsi." the man stood then rounded his desk. "Angel and I had a minor fight after waking up—she decided to make a trip to Earth last night, which I think was a right dangerous decision. Do you not agree?"
"I do, sir."
Mistress Angel had said that the one who was tormenting both her and her sons was on Earth; with the being's presumed location being what it was, he thought that it was a very dangerous thing for her to be going to the planet. Who said that the being, whoever he or she may be, was waiting for her, and was hoping to do further harm to her before she returned home? Mistress Angel, after coming to from the sedative, that had been given to her by the on-call doctor, had said something about the entity having not only the missing magazines and music but also Lhaklar's missing wallet and Lazeer's missing knife—with his hearing that she went to Earth last night, he got the idea of her going to purposely find them missing items and to, possibly, find the one who had them.
"Nothing was brought back from her trip, which makes me believe that she only went to find the items that are missing of our children's. After hearing that she went to the planet, I forbade her from going to it again—as a way to keep her home, I gave her Jaiboa, which she did require some prodding to take." TazirVile relayed.
"Good idea to do, sir." Homsi said. "I and the ones that you're to appoint to keep them in good company will do our best in looking after them."
"Happy to hear that, Homsi." TazirVile said. After saying this, he reached into his jacket; after removing a white envelope from his inside jacket pocket, he gave it over then went to sit back at his desk. "I'd like for my wife and children to take a trip to the nearest city for lunch, and for some shopping—have one of them outings where they can breathe and relax a little, got me?"
"Crystal, sir." Homsi nodded his head while pocketing the envelope that he was given.
"Good. While on their outing, I don't want any of you to stray from their side." TazirVile said. "If you are wondering, my wife, and our sons, are in the Pet Room. My sister-in-law is with them. Eshal's in the gym."
"Do you wish for me to retrieve and then take Miss. Eshal to where her mother and—"
"No, leave her be. Her grandfather is watching her at the moment, so she's fine." before he could say anything more, the phone rang. While grumbling, he picked it up then placed it to the side of his head; after answering the phone, he dismissed him.
After leaving the room, then going down the hallway, towards the stairwell that'd take him to the house's third level, he found it rather difficult to not smile. Master Tazir had done as any other husband would in allowing his wife to redesign, and decorate, several of the rooms that were in his home; while she had loved the task given to her, she hadn't gone overboard in decorating or redesigning and, really, she had only re-done three of the rooms that had been given to her. Mistress Angel, along with making up the design plans, and calling in the ones that were to aid her with two of the three rooms that she had been given to do, had taken it upon herself to use the tools and assist the people who were given the task of installing the room's created designs.
The Pet Room was the first room that she had taken to redesigning; she had decided to take all of the bedroom furniture out, and then the carpet, and then make it into a room that her pet Sekhems could use when they needed a play session. Up to when the room was created, her Sekhems, which had numbered two, had to be content with playing in a medium to large-sized playpen, that was routinely set-up in the gym—the two animals had just about had a hissy fit after seeing the room, and in being let loose to play in it.
"With her putting as much effort as she did into making the plans for that room, and then in helping to get it fixed up, it was no surprise to us that she was given another Sekhem." he thought while going up the stairs.
Two weeks after the room's construction was complete, a box had been found as being on the bed that the two slept on. Mistress Angel, while being reluctant to open it, had squealed after seeing and then taking the tiny, seven and a half week old Sekhem kit from it. Zeox and Exutho, while being a little rough with the little kit at first, had settled down and accepted her into their "horde" after five days time—at the time that they did so, the baby Sekhem was given the name of Elaye.
"Master Vile was very against her getting Zeox, Exutho, and Elaye..."
Along with voicing his detest on her getting the animals, he had shown her several records from where the animals had injured their owners; sometime after the records were shown, he had said that the rabies vaccine was very ineffective on the animals and that the animals required more than the basic care and attention that was required by the other domesticated pets that were known to be sold in stores. Mistress Angel, along with reading the reports given to her, had listened to the man speak before giving her opinion on what she was hearing and seeing.
"It's mentioned in a lot of these records that the animals bit and scratched their owners after their owners were rough with them—a Sekhem is known to not like rough-handling, dad, and I've not been bit or scratched by any of mine since getting them." was what the woman had said after looking at the records and then hearing the man out.
Zeox, Exutho, and Elaye were very on-schedule for their Rabies shots, which were doing wonders with them, and which were working on them, so Master Vile's claim on the vaccine being ineffective on them was incorrect. While what the man had said about the Sekhem needing more care and attention than that of what was required by the other domesticated pets out there his employer's wife was doing well with the ones that she had, so his attempt in scaring her from owning them by mentioning their care needs hadn't been successful.
From what they had seen and heard over the last few days, Master Vile seemed to have something against anyone owning any type of animal—he was very negative towards Zanra and, whenever the house's other pets were brought up, he scoffed before going on to ramble and then rant about them. The man's father, just yesterday, had told him to pipe down on his negativity towards Zanra—according to Kuruk, Master Vile had been raised around both cats and dogs and shouldn't be regarding them in the way he was.
Eldass had been the one to overhear the conversation on Kuruk saying that Master Vile had been raised around dogs, cats, and barnyard animals and it was he who had said that there was something very wrong on how the man acted around and treated anything that was regarded as a domestic pet. During that same overheard conversation, it had been learned that Master Vile had been bit by one of his father's dogs when he had been very little—according to the man's father, the man had been trying to ride the dog like a little horse, which had earned him the distinct honor of being bit by the animal. Master Vile had a "heavy" interest in snakes, but he owned none as pets—he claimed that he was too busy to have any and that they'd derive his attention from the task of working on his conquered realms, which they all called balls on.
Master Tazir had pets in his home, and he did well with his conquered realms. Kuruk had pets in his home, and he did well with his conquered realms. Shaam, Duru, and, they presumed, Trobrencus had pets in their homes and they did well with their conquered realms. With all of this being known, and with it also being known that the man owned, bred, and raised horses, cows, and sheep, they knew that his claim on being "too busy" to own a pet was wrong.
Master Vile, along with speaking negatively on Zanra, had also been seen as trying to kick her twice; this hadn't hit well with Master Tazir and his wife, and the man who had once owned the puppy had been phenomenally pissed after hearing of the event.
"Hop to it, Goblin! Make them short legs of yours get springs... hurry before the hare sees the fox!" TrobrencusVile said while they walked by one another.
"Cheating on Olok already?" Homsi teased.
He walked on down the hallway; the smile, that was on his face, spread after he mentioned his co-worker to the man who was still using his cane, fists, and feet on the hired help that his host employed. His smile faltered after he heard the man's progress down the hall cease, then it dropped completely after he felt the man's cane strike the back of his head—this would make the sixth time that the cane was taken to him, and the fourth that it had struck him.
Olok was still doing as he had been told to do in driving Trobrencus crazy; they really had to laugh inside at the man's antics and, while the man didn't like the man, he did have to agree with them on his actions being hilarious—Olok said that he was having fun, and was looking forward to each opportunity that he had in driving the man batty with his come-ons, and with making him feel uncomfortable.
The Pet Room was room number 9 on the house's third level; after he went by the first eight rooms, he slowed down before coming to a complete stop. After rubbing the back of his head, then straightening his tie and checking to see if he was presentable, he stretched his hand towards the door then grasped its knob. A single twist, followed by a shove, did the trick in opening the door; his action in taking two steps forward caused him to not only be in it but to take in and hear what was going on in it.
"I don't get you, Angel. You say that you understand why we're relieved in knowing that you're banned from going to Earth, and that you understand why your and Tazir's fight happened, yet you keep going on in saying that we have nothing to fear from your travels." Irka said when Homsi entered the room. "The one that's trying to possess, or get in contact with you, isn't a good person, honey. Not when he does magic, that makes the things that you're wearing strangle you he isn't."
"Bile, be careful now. Exutho wants to play, he doesn't want to fly." Angel said to her oldest son before responding to her grandmother. "The kid that's trying to get in contact with me isn't trying to intentionally hurt me. He seems to be—"
"Trying to contact his mother? You think I'm going to believe that, Angel? You have no other children than the ones you have... this demonic entity is trying to trick you—he's trying to change his appearance and demeanor to make you think he's harmless when he's not." Irka said quickly.
"He wasn't any changed from what I saw—except for his wearing a different pair of pants, he looked the same." Angel said. "Bile, I'm only going to say this one more time—feather-like swishes; you're playing with a Sekhem, not trying to fly fish."
"Sorry ma, keep forgetting the strength that I put into my swishes." Bile was fast in replying.
"Don't think it matters—Exutho looks to of lost interest." Lazaar, who was standing beside his brother, mumbled in Bile's ear.
Exutho wasn't the only one to have a short attention span; all three of his mother's pets were having trouble in concentrating on one thing and there were several reasons to why. The first was that the animals seemed to have the attention span of a toddler while the second was the fact that there were a lot of people in the room.
It wasn't just he and his brothers, and their mother, in the room; Aunt Irka, and four Goblins, were in it too. Two of the Goblins were standing by the door—judging by how they had said hello to them after entering the room, he guessed that they were friendly—and there was a rather grumpy Goblin across the room from them. The fourth Goblin was newly arrived; after entering the room, then going over to say hello and good morning to their mother, he went to stand beside Eldass—it was he, and his oldest son, who were standing on either side of the door. At the moment, he didn't know the other guy's name—all the guy had done was come in, make a grunting sound while passing by their mother, then take up position by the wall; he looked very uninterested in what was going on in the room and, going by his demeanor and stance, he guessed that he was angry over having his better and more interesting activities be canceled in favor of being with them for the day.
The third reason to why the Sekhems were so easily distracted, or had an interest in one thing for a few minutes before going on to the next and then the next and so on, revolved in the animals that his aunt owned.
"Is that all they do—roll, or bounce?" Lazeer whispered to Lhaklar after going to where he was.
"Good question, and one that I have no answer to." Lhaklar returned in a low whisper.
There were four of them—three small and one large—and they resembled the creatures that had been in that 1986 science fiction movie, Critters. Each were round, with the biggest being ten inches wide and long, and none had legs or necks or even tails on them. The bigger of the four was covered in coarse, white hair; she had red, almond-shaped eyes set in a cat-like face. Two of the three smaller creatures were either brown or black while the third had black, brown, and white fur on it.
After being released from the pink monstrosity that was their animal carrier, the four animals started zooming around the room—they either remained on the floor while rolling around or, thanks to the momentum of their rolls, they rolled along on the walls or on the boards that were rigged up on the walls. Some of the smaller animals had taken to bouncing around as well. All of this rolling and bouncing around had done wonders in making the Sekhems be distracted, and in making everyone fearful of walking around.
According to his aunt, the animals were called Roe-Poe's; the bigger of the four was named Gahzie while the three smaller animals were her babies.
"Guess being in here, with Aunt Irka and her odd pets, is better than being where Mr. McBitch'n'Grumble is." he thought after taking up a cat wand and then wiggling it. Zeox, the older of his mother's pets, ran over then started chasing after the ball that was on its end.
Breakfast, while being decent, would of been a lot better if not for dad's bitching at him and Hazaar to watch themselves; he and Hazaar were both a little testy that morning—that damn Temperamental phase had them in its grasp... had the old man understood that, or even tried to understand why they were the way they were? Uh, no. The man had snapped at them, and then promised punishments if they didn't quit fighting among themselves—and, in Hazaar's case, get a little more cheery and drop the chip from his shoulder. While they knew that he was a little stressed out—things "at work", and at home, weren't the best for him right now—they did wish that he'd calm down and mellow out when he was around them.
Hazaar was just one day away from being free of his given punishment of being grounded for a week—ma had dropped a week from the initial-given punishment after hearing all the shit that her "husband" was giving them. At breakfast, he had been threatened of his one-day away freedom; Lhaklar, who had been let off the hook by their mother, had also been threatened of his freedom during breakfast. Bile, yesterday, at around lunch and then supper-time, had been threatened of his freedom and he, for the last two days, had heard near-constant threats on his. All of these given threats were doing nothing in lessening their stress levels, or in lightening the image that their father had gained on himself.
Hazaar, at the moment, was sitting all by his lonesome in one of the room's corners; his brother didn't look to of had much sleep over the last two nights so it wouldn't surprise him if he found him as taking a nap sometime later on that morning. It was just he, Bile, and Lhaklar who were up and about in the room.
"Which is very well set-up for our mother's pets."
The hardwood floor was a bright honey color while the walls looked to have maple wood paneling on them; the ceiling was a very light brown color, and had all sorts of dangling, bell-like lights hanging from it. All sorts of shelves and ramps were on the walls; the cat trees were either small or big, and were numerous; and there were many scratching posts and toys to accommodate the ones that the room looked to be set-up for.
So far, he had played with Exutho with a blue and white, rubber ball and with Zeox with two cat wands and with a rope that had a series of mouse-like things on one of its ends. Elaye, after being set down, had gone to town on the tunnels, which were built into the floor, and with one of the ropes that were both hanging from the ceiling and that had some sort of fuzzy ball on their ends.
From what he was able to see, Zeox, Exutho, and Elaye loved the room—if not for his aunt's "pets", they'd probably be having a better than fine blast in playing in it.
"Ma stopped playing with her pets when Irka came in." he thought after his mother took up a very pink tickle wand then started flicking it about the room. Elaye, the younger of her three pets, went after it at once. She chased after it by running up the ramps, then across the shelves, before jumping to catch it in mid-air. The animal had only just come close to catching the feather that was on the wand's end when she stopped and then hissed—the bigger of his aunt pets rolled before her, then barred her from going anywhere for the longest time, before zipping to the side and then "slamming" against the wall.
The animal that's play was just interrupted had a very annoyed look on her face; he was about to take up for the animal, and voice her annoyance for her, when the door to the room opened. His father, looking very much the same as he had been during breakfast, walked in then stopped to take everyone and everything in.
"Irka, my brother wishes to—" he, along with the four room-present Goblins, cringed after two of the Roe-Poe's crashed into the walls and then zoomed along on the shelves. When one of the animals rolled around before him, then around his feet, he grew angry. "Irka! Must you allow for your pets to run around like this?"
"Sorry, Tazzy, but that's how they play." Irka said apologetically.
"These pets of yours are going to put either you, my brother, or one of your kids in the hospital one of these days." TazirVile said after receiving passage to walk in the room.
"Not if you watch where they're going." Irka said.
"Ir..." TazirVile stopped; he looked at the ceiling then shook his head. His brother's wife was very fond of her pets and he knew that she'd have a come-back for everything that he said on them. "Except for saying that you and my brother shouldn't of snuck them in here, I'm not getting into it with you on these pets of yours today. Kuruk wants to speak with you."
"Is it important?"
"Yes."
"Okay... let me collect Gahzie, and her kids, then I'll leave to see him."
The woman started the process of trying to collect her pets; it did seem that with every attempt that she did she was met with failure, which was both comical and a little annoying at the same time. The animals either rolled or bounced from her grasp. She wasn't able to catch or pick any up for the longest of time before making the decision to go to the carrier; a can of what-they-believed was Roe-Poe snacks was removed from the bag and then shaked. One shake was all it took for the animals to race towards her. Once they were before her, she picked them up then put them in the carrier; when they were all in the carrier, she stopped to catch her breath.
"If they weren't cooped up in the chamber that you assigned my husband and I they'd not have all this pent-up energy, Tazir." she said after zipping the carrier and then taking it up.
Homsi winced after she said what she did; while his employer, and his employer's sister-in-law, fought he remembered what happened when the woman's pets were discovered.
Attaec Ioniff, after going to clean the room that Kuruk and Irka were given to inhabit, had had a hissy fit after opening the door then seeing the four creatures zooming past her. The poor woman had perceived the animals as rodents, and had about screamed herself silly after seeing them as racing down the hallway, and then bouncing on the walls. Master Tazir, after leaving his and his wife's bedroom, had been livid after seeing the animals; his brother, on the other hand, had done nothing but stare at them before going to corral and then collect them. At the time of Kuruk, and his family's arrival, none of them had had any boxes or crates on them that'd be able to hold four Roe-Poe's, which meant that they had, somehow, slipped them in via a spell.
After the animals were noted as being in his house, and after they were caught and then returned to the room that their owner and her husband slept in, Master Tazir summoned his brother to his office—a lot of yelling had been heard, most coming from his employer while around a quarter of it coming from his brother. After the yelling was done, Kuruk spoke on why the animals were in the house.
Kuruk was "famous" for cutting the heat and cooling system in his house down during the times where he and his were away for a stretch of time; due to the Roe-Poe needing a temperature of over seventy degrees to be happy and healthy, they couldn't be left at home or be put in the care of one of the hired help. Kuruk, after explaining the reason to why the animals were in the house, had said that he'd pay for any damages that they did during his and his family's stay—after saying this, he had been rather cold in saying that, until his and his family's stay was up, they weren't to be sent home. Master Tazir, after exploding, then telling the man that he was the one to make that decision and not he, had said that they could stay on the condition that they remain in the room that their owner slept in. If not for Irka going to the man, then asking if she could let the four animals run around in Mistress Angel's pet room, the animals wouldn't be in the room or distracting, or annoying, the ones that were in it.
After the two's fight concluded, Irka left the room in a huff; his employer was fast in clearing his throat after she was out of his presence. After his throat was cleared, he went towards his wife, who now had the full and rather happy-acting attention of Zeox and Elaye.
"Hazaar asleep over there, or just resting?" TazirVile asked after reaching his wife's side, then noticing that his secondborn son was sitting with his eyes nearly shut in one of the room's corners.
"Probably sleeping," Angel replied. "He didn't sleep all that much last night."
"Again? What in the dickens is keeping him up at night?" TazirVile sighed after hearing this. What, was today to be a day for issues or something?
While there was a lot more to it than his just plain not getting in a good night's sleep he let his mother tell the tale on what he had told her that morning—knowing his father, he might not believe it if it was being told by him instead.
From the fifteenth to the seventeenth, he had been tormented by the shadow manifestations that formed on the wall of his bedroom; along with doing their usual, strange dances, he had heard certain sounds that he shouldn't be hearing from them, which had caused his already anxious self to not want to go to sleep. Only after taking a trip to his parents' room, then rummaging around in their medicine cabinet for some sleep aid medicine, had he gotten any sleep on them nights; due to his parents looking to not be all that asleep on the eighteenth, and last night, he had forgoed the option of going into the room and then taking what he needed, which was why he had been so sleepy yesterday and was so sleepy that morning.
A new torture had started being experienced on the eighteenth; the second his head hit the pillow, he had been plagued with dreams, which seemed so real that they were scary, and which he hadn't spoken a word of to his mother or father.
In the first dream, a dark-skinned being had been seen as walking up to a man who looked like a police officer, but who was wearing olive khakis and a very light olive work-shirt. The being had spoken to the man in very fluent German, asking about where the nearest jewelry store was, and he had been answered with a down the street, take a left, then you'll see it. That was where the dream ended; the one that came after it had seemed connected to it in some way that he couldn't comprehend or figure out.
Wellendorff was where the second dream took place in; after the dark-skinned being walked into the store, then went to the available clerk, he slammed his hand down on the counter then asked for the clerk's attention and assistance. Again, he had spoken in very fluent German.
"Need some jewels appraised." he had said.
"I might be able to help you with that." the clerk, a rather pretty creature who had strawberry-blonde hair, green eyes, and a moderately tan skin complexion, replied.
A diamond necklace, a gold necklace, and a bracelet that matched the gold necklace, had been removed from the guy's pocket and then placed on the counter; the woman, after looking them over, had said that they were valued at $1,295—the guy hadn't liked that appraisal and, honestly, he also thought that it was absurd. The guy, after saying that her assessment was wrong, then requesting that she check the items again, then being told that she wouldn't, had taken the items that had been "assessed" from the counter and then left the store in a huff—this was where dream #2 ended, and where he woke up and then decided to stay awake for an hour before trying to go back to sleep.
The next dream revolved around the dark-skinned guy visiting two other jewelry stores; he had grown very angry at the first store's clerk after he assessed his items as being $2,205 while, at the second store, he had been thrown out after declaring the one who assessed his items as being a fraud and only wanting to assess his items at the low price of $550 so he could gain them and then sell them for a much higher price. The third store that the guy visited had proved to be a mistake—after having his items assessed at $1,070, then bickering with both the clerk and the store's manager, he had been picked up by the police and then carted to jail. He hadn't stayed behind bars for long; after the man who put him in the cell left the area, he teleported from the cell then went to collect the items that had been taken from him. He teleported from the station just before the presiding police officers could pull out their weapons or try to arrest him again.
In the next dream, the guy had had a better run of success; the lady in the store that he went to had assessed his jewels at $5,495, and had said that she'd pay him right then and there for them for that price. The guy had accepted her offer, then had been given the money for the items that he had just gotten assessed, then had left.
"My alarm was like a saving grace on the morning of January 19—the dreams stopped, and they became very fragmented in my memory... or, at least until that night." he thought.
After falling asleep, he had found himself as being in an area that looked very non-American. He had seen a series of bushes, that he had never seen before while living on the American continent, and a lot of trees that, again, didn't look like those that were known to be on the American continent. After taking in the trees and bushes, he had seen that he was in a camp of some sort.
The white sheet was hanging over the branch of an overhanging tree, and was weighted down on the sides by rocks; the needle-like leaves, that were on the branch, were a dark yellow-green color, and the pine cones looked a little brittle and cold. A fire pit had been present in the camp's center—the fire, that was in it, was low but seemingly stationary; the cooker, that was over the fire, had looked crudely made but holding up to the purpose of holding the piece of meat that was on it.
The owner of the camp was in the tent at the time; while taking in the camp's various items, and waiting for whatever was to happen in the dream to occur, he had seen that most, if not all, of the items that he and his brothers were missing were by the tent's front end.
After seeing the missing items that were owned by him and his brothers, he had seen nothing else in the camp—the Mountain Lion pelt, the Lynx pelt, the skull of a wild boar, and the two sets of antlers, one that looked to belong to a Moose while the other looked to once be owned by a Mule deer, had all been lying out and in the open but he hadn't paid all that much attention to them.
After seeing the collection of music and magazines, and Lhaklar's wallet and Lazeer's pocketknife, he had gotten up to both retrieve them and to teach the one who had them a lesson—being that he was dreaming, he hadn't found himself as being all that surprised over not being able to get up or go to them. After around four or so attempts to get up, he made a sound then slumped to the side—he liked to believe that it was the sound that he had made that attracted the camp's owner, and he also liked to believe that it was the sound that he had made that caused him to think that the dream wasn't a dream but some sort of magic usage that he either didn't know or was aware of.
The camp's owner, who turned out to be the dark-skinned guy, looked out from the tent then crawled out from it; after collecting something from the pile of music, then looking at the area around him, he came towards him then sat down.
"Uhm... hello, can I help you with something or—" he remembered saying.
"About dang-k time! You people are really making-k me put all tha-k-t I've learned at the schools that I was sent to to work." the guy returned.
"What do you want?" he asked.
"Say again? I have limited connec-k-tion with you H-To-The-R-Man." the guy said.
"H-To-The-R-Man?" hearing that had sparked up some memories. Nearly four hundred years ago, he had been called that; with his having such a dislike to the name, he had ignored the ones who had used it, which had caused it to stop being used. "Who are you?"
"What was that? I heard only part of wha-k-t you said."
"Who are you?" he said again, only louder this time.
"Again, I didn-k-t get that." the guy looked down at his lap forlornly before looking at him again; nothing was said between the two of them for a matter of seconds before the one before him held the case to one of his missing music discs up. "I didn't steal from you guys out of greed—I only wan-k-ted to get your at-k-tention. That's the only way I can ge-k-t in contact now—the force that barred me from contacting you five has gone away... but i-k-t's been replaced by something else. I'm depressed over no-k-t being able to see or talk to you guys, mum especially... and I'm angered too. Why are you five distancing-k yourselves from me? Wha-k-t have I done to make you five distance yourselves from me?"
"If we knew who you was we wouldn't distance ourselves from you." he replied.
"Dangit-all!" the guy stood up then walked away. He had stayed where he was for a short while before come back; after re-taking his seat before him, he said, "I apologize, bruder, but I have no choice bu-k-t to try to expel this power or force tha-k-t's banned me from contacting you five. This migh-k-t scare and hurt you some—get ready."
The warning hadn't been heeded; for some reason, he had felt himself as being yanked up, and then flying through som vacuum of darkness, before falling back to the body that he possessed. At the time of his waking up, he had found himself as being bound to his bed—some sort of pressure had been present on his stomach and wrists, and he had felt a sort of pain in his arms. For a fleeting second, he had seen something as lunging at him—the pressure, and pain, had grown before he started voicing his fear on what was going on, which had woken almost everyone in the house up.
The act of his amulet breaking, and its liquid splashing against him, had caused him to scream even louder—it was no surprise to him that, when the room's light was turned on, he had experienced a sort of black-out. After coming to, he had seen that his parents and siblings, and one of his two grandfathers, were in his room—except for his father, everyone had been worried about him. His father, after Bile, Lhaklar, and Lazeer ripped and then tossed their amulets from themselves, had grown very angry—before his mother was able to tell the man to calm down, he had threatened him of being punished if he didn't stop the charade. Momma had told him to leave the room after the threat was made, which had caused the man to grow even angrier.
As his mother gave his father a re-telling of the events that happened last night, he felt a tear form and then release from his left eye. He was just reaching up to wipe it away when his father spoke on what he had just heard.
"With all that I've gone through these last few months, I'm not all that surprised that I acted in the way I did last night. I apologize for my actions." TazirVile said. Up to his being told all of what happened last night, he had forgotten it all; he felt bad for how he acted towards his son now. "Is he alright?"
"I honestly don't know," Angel replied. "I'm right concerned about him. His wrists are bruised and, from them on up to his elbows, there's a deep gash present."
"Say ag... Hazaar, come here for a second please." TazirVile breathed in his shock.
Hazaar came close to yelling for his mother to not speak about the bruises and gashes that he had—they hadn't been on his body last night... upon waking up, he had found and then grown more than a little freaked out by their presence. They, and they alone, told him that what he experienced was real, and that it was no dream or figment of his imagination.
After what happened last night, he had taken to sleep in Lazeer's bedroom—the two of them had shared the same bed, which was a very rare event in itself. After waking, then going to leave the room, he had looked down to see the wreck that was his wrists and arms. Instead of yelling for his parents, and waking the still-sleeping folk in the house up, he had gone to his bedroom. After doctoring himself, then doing his usual routine of getting dressed, and then using the bathroom, he had gone to find his mother. After finding her, then telling her some what he was going through, he had unwrapped his arms and then shown them to her—she had just about had a heart attack after seeing what was on them. Up to now, only he and she knew about the wounds that he had on himself—his brothers were fast in looking at him as he got up from the floor, then crossed the room.
The wrap of bandaging, that was on his arms, was removed then his father took in the items that he wanted to see. The fact that his arms were a near-black color, and stung like hell, almost made him start to cry—when his father started "touching" the gashes and bruises, he did start crying.
"A priest is coming over right after you, and the children, leave for your scheduled outing this afternoon." TazirVile said. Thanks to his labored breathing, his chest hurt; he had never seen gashes, or bruises, of this severity on a child before and he hoped to never see them again. The fact that they were on his son made him grow cold in the stomach; due to his actions last night, he felt like he had betrayed his son. What had he done after hearing Hazaar screaming, and then after going into his room to see what was up—had he been comforting, or done any checking for possible injuries, or heard the boy out on what was bothering him? No! Instead, he had yelled at him, and threatened to punish him for voicing his fear on what was going on between him and the presence that had obviously been out to hurt him. "Angel, I'm having you, and the children, sent out to have some time in one of the nearby cities at around noon—the ones in our Most Trusted Circles will join you.
"He wasn't attacked by a—"
"He was attacked by a demon, Angel! This was caused by a demon, not by some punk-kid!" TazirVile yelled. All three of his wife's pets ran off in fear; their sons reacted by standing stock-still while most of the Goblins went forward to bar them from coming forward. "Angel, a man who's blind and deaf would be able to see that this is the work of a demon—our son wouldn't of been hurt by some kid who's looking for or trying to get in contact with another in his family. This is the work of a malevolent force, baby... an entity bent on hurting others and—"
"Everyone would of felt something if he was a malevolent entity." Angel said.
"Everyone has felt something of this entity, Angel! He, or whatever gender it is, has harmed you and the boys—whoever it is has tortured all five of you and, by doing that, everyone in this place has been effected." TazirVile re-wrapped his son's arms then sent him on his way. After sending his son on his way, he turned to look at his wife, who was fast in taking a fear-filled step from him. "A priest is coming to bless this house, Angel. I want you, and our children, out of here before he, or she, arrives. Got me?"
Angel felt a dread fall over her as she nodded her head; while she knew that Tazir was being a protective parent, and spouse, she saw his act of bringing a priest in as wrong. It wasn't a demon that was tormenting them—she felt and knew this now, which would mean that a priest might well cause more harm than good—but Tazir was steadfast on it being that and that she stick to being an adult in seeing things his way. After nodding her head, she felt a sense of guilt override her—who was it that was tormenting her and her sons? Why was he tormenting them and did he have someone to go to, or was he all on his own with no one to help or guide him in how to do things?
Her husband made his rounds in checking Bile, Lhaklar, and Lazeer; he checked their arms and legs, and then stomachs and backs, for marks then, when he saw that neither of them had anything on their bodies, he left the room. Once he was out of the room, the Sekhems went back to playing with their toys. Bile resumed his session in swinging the cat wand that he had in his hand, and Lazeer tossed a few of the toy balls for the Sekhems to chase; Lhaklar, meanwhile, went over to sit beside his mother. Hazaar, after reaching the corner that he had formerly sat in, sat down then went to sleep—he wasn't bothered for a total of thirty minutes before being aroused and then told to follow them from the room.