Chapter 7

I dispised crying, and tried as much as possible to avoid it, like switching the channel when sad animal commercials came on, or leaving the vicinity if I saw a cockaroach. Yet I could not control my mouth from blubbering, and the blurring tears that soaked my face as I sat at Arthur's dining table, sobbing loudly. He set a cup of tea, and some tissues on the table before whisking out of the room.

I looked up, confused at his sudden departure, and sniffled. I grabbed some of the tissues to scrub my face, trying to look normal again. He staggered back into the bright room with a quilt, and draped it over my shoulders. I dipped my head, my ears burning, and thanked him.

"It's the least I could do," he mumbled and fell into the chair next to me.

I cleared my throat, and pulled the blanket closer, trying to banish the chill I caught from outside. He even gave me a pair of clean socks for my bare, and tattered feet. Now that the rush of being chased was fading, those nicks from the asphalt, and carpet burn from my friend's rug was now plaguing my skin. I peeked at Arthur as I took a tentative sip from my tea. He had a heavy frown embedded on his face, and his grand eyebrows were mashed together for a puzzled look, rather than one of horror, or sympathy.

"It is worse than before," he hissed under his breath. "Good Lord, what happened, Kiku?"

I rubbed at my eyes. "It is...I do not know where to start." I wheezed, and I felt my mouth twisting upwards out of stress.

He put a hand on my shoulder and leaned in. "I can wait."

I dropped my eyes to stare at my hands wrapped around the mug. "Feliciano-kun...he..."

Arthur was about to say something, but he clamped his mouth shut. "Take your time."

"I saw my friend murder Ludwig-san!" I blurted as I squeezed my eyes shut.

I heard him take a sharp inhale of breath. "Feliciano...killed Ludwig?" He lifted his eyebrows. "That fellow could not hurt a fly!"

My eyes flew open and I exclaimed, "He stabbed him in the back!"

He tilted his head. "Really? How so?"

"With a large knife!"

Arthur grimaced, then an expression of shock grew on his face. "Oh, God. You actually mean he took a knife and..." He gulped. "So you ran."

I hung my head. "I did not have a choice. He was going to kill me, too." The image of the knife sticking out of Ludwig's back was burned in the back of my skull. I shuddered, and grabbed the blanket for reassurance.

"Did you give him a reason to?" Arthur asked in a quiet tone.

"No!" I rose my voice, and he looked suprised. I ducked my head. "He kept saying he did not want to be alone, but I have no idea how murdering his friends would help anything!"

"Feliciano has been alone for most of his life. Everyone he loved has been dead for a long time. He may not fully understand," he explained in a calm tone.

"I know that, but he would be lonely again if Ludwig-san and I are dead!"

"Not if he killed you two," Arthur held a hand up before I could reply. "Who knows what is going on in his mind?"

I put my face in my hands. "If only I stopped him from killing him. If only I did not run! He would have not felt the need to take my life, too."

"I would not be sure about that," my friend muttered. "The problem manifested within time."

"He must have snapped when they had that fight," I murmured into my palms. "He was so upset, thinking Ludwig-san would leave him in favor of his job."

Arthur was quiet, pondering for a few moments. I avoided his sharp stare, until he claimed in a quiet voice, "Kiku, I can help you."

I picked up my head.

He slowly lifted a hand from the table, and squeezed my shoulder. "I asked you to come to Germany, only for you to have to go through with...all of this. I thought it would help your friend with his...loneliness problem, but I guess not," he grimaced, struggling with words like I did. "Let me show you something."

"Something, Arthur-san?" I mused with a quiet scoff. I gripped the edge of the dining table as I rose to my sore feet, but my legs still trembled. He stood, too, expecting an answer. I nodded.

"Follow me," he beckoned, leading me to the next room. Windows stretched from the ceiling to about waist height on one wall, and bookshelves filled the others. He walked to the far end and started to remove books from a middle shelf.

I tipped my head as Arthur knelt down and reached in the empty space, feeling around until we heard a click. "Aha," he smirked and backed up, taking one of the bookshelves with him.

"I did not know this was a door," I remarked, but then shook my head at my own comment. After seeing what I did that night, secret doors were the least of my worries.

"You never asked." He beckoned me into the hidden opening.

I peeked behind the book shelf. There were stairs descending into darkness. I clutched the blanket draped around my body. I have had enough of dark places. It was probably cold, too.

"Come on, then," Arthur took my hand. It was warmer than expected as he pulled me to the steps. "I am right in front of you, so try not to lose your footing."

I nervously chittered, and stepped without looking down. My foot missed the stair and I flailed, clutching onto the railing. Arthur seized my sides. "I am okay!" I said a bit too loudly, persuading myself I was truly fine. We awkwardly shambled down, and I breathed a sigh of relief when I felt solid ground below my feet.

Arthur slipped away, abandoning me in the dark. Sconces on the walls flickered on, and I blinked to adjust to the light. A large, pointed skull hung on the wall I was facing, and stared at me with eyeless sockets. I yelped, leaping back ,and crashing into my friend. The blanket fell to the floor, and I slipped on it. My arms flailed around him, and squeezed as my face burrowed into his shoulder.

"Easy there!" Arthur lightly warned, his body rumbling against my face.

I yanked away, and brushed my hands over my clothes self-consciously. "Argh, s-sorry..."

My face grew hot as he said, "That gave you quite a fright! I should have warned you. This is my special room. Not many people get to come down here. Please refrain from touching anything. At least, not before asking first, but I believe I won't have troubles with you, would I, Kiku?"

I scanned the room. It was only a bovine skull. I glanced away from it, and shook my head. The walls next to it held shelves full of various things; bottles, jars with strange liquids, and boxes of unknown. There was a wooden stand with a large vat in the middle of the room. A coat rack by the stair case held a pointy hat and a dark cloak.

Arthur grabbed the cloak and put it on, looking pleased with himself. He glanced at me. "What? It makes me feel enchanted."

"You are already enchanted, Arthur-san," I commented, and bent down to pick up the blanket.

He choose to ignore my remark and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen to begin scribbling on it. He glanced at me, as if going through some heavy thinking. "Kiku," he began uncertainly, "what if I told you that you could stop your friend from killing, but also prevent it completely?"

That sounds wonderful, but I had no idea how that could possibly happen. "What do you mean?"

"I could give you a spell, and you could go back, so to say."

"Go back?" I was not getting any of this.

"Rewind time."

I narrowed my eyes. "I thought you said you were going to help me help my friend."

"I am!" Arthur retorted. "I could give you this spell to go back in time a few days and help your friends."

My throat thickened. Arthur always had a fascination with the supernatural. Could it work with me, as well? "Would I remember?"

"Only if you accept the responsibility. Using spells like this can be dangerous."

"Like how? If I step on a bug, the whole future will not change, right?"

"I mean you must preserve yourself!" He began writing again. "Some bugs are not important, anyway."

"Preserve my-"

Arthur darted in front of me, took my hand, and pricked my finger with a pin. I hissed, pulling away, but he had a firm hold on my arm and the paper underneath my now bleeding finger. A few drops splattered onto the sheet, and he turned away, folding it. I popped my finger in my mouth, watching him raise the paper into the air, and dance around a bit. He started to chant nonsense, and the glossy stare in his eyes was slightly comical.

"Arthur-san?" I called out. "Are you drunk?"

My friend finished with a few more hops and relaxed, straightening up. "I have other things to do in my free time."

I bowed. "S-sorry." That was not a no.

He drew up to me and took my hands. I flinched, thinking he was going to prick my finger again, but instead he put the folded sheet in my palm and held it there. "Listen well!" His voice was ominously stern. "You must not mess up! You need a woundable clock set at the correct time. Spin it counter clockwise based on how long you want to go back, while saying the words on the paper. I trust you not to fail."

If that is what it takes to help my friends...My fingers curled around the sheet. "I will not fail."

"Glad to hear it," Arthur smiled, calm once again. "Will you be staying the night?"

"I wanted to fix this as soon as possible."

"If you say so," he shrugged, slipping off his cloak and hanging it on the rack. "Let me drive you back to Ludwig's house."

"That is generous of you," I noted, and followed him up the stairs. He shut the bookcase behind me, taking the smells and chill of basement away from us.

"Come on, then. I want to hear you recite the spell at least once."

"Will that do anything?" I clutched the blanket closer, realizing I still had it. I turned around to tell him, but he already shut and locked his front door. I decided to leave it in the car.

"No. The incantation is only one ingredient of the spell. Take making scones, for example. It is the flour, but you cannot make them from just that. You need milk, sugar, and-"

I held up my hand up, "I understand."

He grimaced, and unlocked the car. It was a short ride, and Arthur noted my chanting skills could use improvement, but it was mediocre enough to work. He stopped the vehicle in front of Ludwig's house. A few of the inside lights were still on, giving the welcoming feel, but we both knew that was not the case anymore.

"Kiku," Arthur's voice was low. "If he went back inside, I want you to immediately come back to my car. We will try again some other time."

I nodded, staring at the front sconce glowing with dread. "Of course." I threw open the car door, and the biting wind blasted my dark hair from my face. I shivered, and unwillingly slipped away from the blanket.

"Take care," I heard Arthur say before I shut the door quietly. "I will wait."

I hobbled up the driveway, gritting my teeth from the pebbles put up another attack on my battered soles. I grasped the door knob, pricking my ears for distress. I closed my eyes, took deep breaths, then swung it open. The stairs creaked as I crept to the living room. I was about to call out for either of my friends, but decided against the stupid maneuver. There were no other signs of life other than my own. The kitchen light was still on, so I peeked around the corner.

I knew what was in the kitchen, but I still groaned in disgust and anguish as I stared at Ludwig's body laying stomach down on the floor. I trudged toward it, and knelt down. I brushed my fingers across his forehead. It was cool, and I jerked away.

"I am going to fix this," I told him before turning into the living room. I glanced down the hallway and spotted a large clock inside of a rectangular wooden case hanging off the end wall. I drew up to it and stared, seeing my shadow fall on its face from the lights behind me. Its slender minute hand hopped around the neatly printed numbers.

I raised my hands and plucked it off the wall, turning it over. I unhinged the clasps from its backing, digging in my nails to lift the thin wooden slab. I propped the casing against the wall, and reached into my kimono sleeve. I flicked open the paper, and glanced over the strange language and blood drops.

The foreign words were not easy to pronounce while trying to twist and count at the same time. The last two lines repeated themselves, so I put extra force into their syllables. I glanced around once I wound the clock the appropriate amount of days. I reread the paper, seeing where I went wrong, but a harsh wind threatened to rip it out of my hand. I looked up in alarm to see the hallway stretch and the lights shut off, then turn on. The sunlight appeared and went down, and I squeezed my eyes shut from the quick flashes, I clutched the clock and paper to my chest, trying to not lose either. It felt like something was grabbing and trying to yank me, yank my items away.

My head started to whirl, and I fell back against the wall. Just as suddenly it began, the whooshing and pulling of my clothes resided. I let out a shaky breath I was holding and snapped open my eyes. I straightened up, staring at the clock ticking back in its case. "Was...was that the spell?"

I tensed as a voice called out, "Kiku? Are you all right?"