The echoes of her footsteps rang in her ears as her heels clanked against the wet cobblestone. Trotting along the sidewalk, Kisara moved quickly, wrapping her arms around herself, trying to keep warm as best as she could— cursing herself for forgetting her jacket and wearing nothing but a lightweight cardigan.
The weather had changed as soon as the calendar did, marking today as the first of October. The previous month had been nothing short of beautiful. Sunny skies, temperate weather, nothing more than a light breeze consistently. That was until today, when the cold, wet rain seeped in, creating an eerie fog Kisara wasn't too thrilled about. She enjoyed autumn and the changing colors of the trees made her evening walks home back from work enjoyable too, but tonight's walk home had been anything but enjoyable. Not to mention the fact that the sun was setting earlier and earlier each day. She'd soon have to find an alternative way to trek home once the days shortened.
Tonight was already dark due to the dreary rainclouds blanketing the sky above. Kisara looked around, realizing she still had well over halfway to go before she reached home. The price one pays for a cheap apartment on the outskirts of town.
Taking in her surroundings, Kisara noticed less and less travelers than usual. Sure, this was normal as folks dissipated from the city, but tonight there were ominously less individuals than usual, but she assumed the rain and the cold probably had something to do with it. Too bad for her, she couldn't ask a stranger for a spare umbrella. She was soaked— making the journey even more frustratingly miserable.
After finally making it to just outside the city, Kisara came to her usual halfway point of her trip marked by the most significant landmark: The Abandoned Mansion. To be more specific, it was the abandoned Kaiba Mansion from the affluent Kaiba family. No one had lived there for several years and for some reason, no one was hired to upkeep the place. All it did was sit there growing mold and gathering dust. Kisara passed by it every single day twice a day since she had gotten this job, and nothing ever changed from the outside, besides the grass growing extremely long.
Once on her way to work, Kisara noticed the rusted rod iron gates slightly ajar, and she only glanced at them to see that the padlock had been busted. Probably from a bunch of teenagers trying to sneak in. There were plenty of stories about people breaking and entering into the place, and even more stories about the place being haunted, but none of those stories ever really held up.
Even still, Kisara was curious. She'd often thought about the mansion as she passed by it, telling stories to herself about why or how it went abandoned. She remembered hearing stories about Kaiba Corporation's CEO disappearing, but she'd swore she heard the same story about the man's father. For the life of her, she couldn't even remember his name, but she knew he had a brother, another member of the family who the rumors said 'disappeared.' It was more plausible that they were involved in a business deal gone wrong and had simply fled the country rather than just vanish. Rich people did that all the time.
But Kisara still made-up stories, passing the time on her way to work thinking of different ways an entire family could go missing, like they were part of an elaborate corporate espionage where the Kaiba's were held hostage or killed and now someone else runs their company… Or maybe they went on a vacation to a private island and the entire island blew up? Maybe they spent all their money trying to find the lost city of Atlantis and never returned? Kisara chuckled to herself as she thought about her silliest hypothesis yet… inventing dimensional travel and forgetting to program a way to come home. She laughed at the stupidity.
As she approached the front gates of the mansion, Kisara wondered why the shadows of the trees nearby seemed to lengthen the closer she got the Kaiba Mansion. Even with the rain and it being hours past nightfall, the shadows seemed to stretch far and wide. She'd chalked it up to the harsh lighting of the streetlights, but still, she'd never noticed it before, and a strange feeling washed over her. The feeling of being watched, like she wasn't alone.
Being on the edge of town, not many people passed by this way, and she wondered if maybe it was the cold and the rain that kept foot traffic low on a night like tonight, but as Kisara stopped in front of the gate to look around, she noticed no one else around.
The air suddenly felt thick as she shifted to look toward the mansion. It rested higher up on the hill and was completely pitch black. Not a sign of life in sight.
Kisara shook her head and shivered as she rubbed her drenched arms in a failed attempt to keep herself warm. She was about to keep moving when suddenly her wet foot slipped from her heel, sending her forward. Landing on her hands and knees she cursed herself for being such a klutz but wasted no time in getting up and grabbing her heel to put it back on. Kisara quickly realized she wasn't the problem at all. Her heel had gotten stuck in a crack between the sidewalk, and she'd unintentionally broke it trying to pry it from the earth's clutches.
Damn… The heel dangled back and forth as it threatened to tear from the sole of the shoe. Now she was cold, wet, and shoeless…
Groaning, she whipped out her phone, checked the time, and dialed her roommate's number. Please pick up, please pick up.
Normally, Mana worked the night shift at her job, and if Kisara were lucky, she'd be getting ready to leave for work, maybe she'd be able to pick her up. There were unfortunately no bus routes that would take her this far out of town, and until Kisara could save up enough for a car, or even a bike, she was stuck walking.
"Hey!" The cheery tone of her roommate's voice echoed over the phone. "What's up?"
"Mana! Thank God you answered!" The shrieking that came from her throat was unintentional, but she couldn't help it. She was annoyed and kind of freaked out. "I broke my heel walking back from work. Can you come pick me up?"
There was a pause. "Wait? You're walking back right now?"
"Yeah." Why was this concept so hard for her?
"Isn't it raining… and like… dark?"
Kisara groaned. "Yes, can you please come pick me up?"
"Why didn't you get a ride from one of your coworkers?"
She sighed, hoping twenty questions would end soon. "Their shifts didn't end at the same time as mine. Now can you—"
The was some static and rustling on the other line before Kisara could hear Mana's scolding, "—I told you to bring a change of shoes! You've lived in the city for how long now? You should know everyone brings a change of shoes if they're commuting on foot."
Kisara rolled her eyes. "Yes, mother," she mocked, "now can you come get me?"
"Where are you?"
Slightly hesitating, Kisara glanced back at the creepy, empty mansion. "Standing outside the Abandoned Mansion."
Another pause. "The Abandoned… huh?"
"The old Kaiba Mansion."
"That's far!"
"I know, can you come get me now, please?" She was so over begging.
Mana grumbled on the other end of the line. "Sure, but I'm already in my car halfway to work. It'll be at least a half an hour. Can you wait that long?"
Kisara figured she could call a cab, but it would be roughly the same time anyway, and Mana's car ride was free. She glanced back at the mansion noticing a structural awning covering the large front porch. Maybe she could wait on the steps to keep out of the rain? Despite the stories and rumors surrounding the mansion, Kisara wasn't scared— at least not easily. She'd grown up in the country and learned there was a lot more to be scared of out in the woods than in an old disgusting house.
"Yeah, that's fine."
"Alrighty!" Mana's voice sang through the phone, "I'm on my way, hang tight!"
She thanked her friend before hanging up and taking off her other shoe. The cobblestone felt like ice as she scurried past the rod iron gate, hearing it moan and creak with every inch it moved. It sent a wave of eerie echoes throughout the area and Kisara immediately looked around to see if anyone else was around to notice. Not a single soul in sight.
She slipped inside the entryway and discovered that the journey up the top of the hill to the mansion took longer than she expected. For some reason, the place looked closer to the street than it actually was.
Kisara plopped down on the front porch step and sighed as she let her eyes adjust to the dark. There weren't any streetlights from up here, but she always loved the view of looking down at the city lights. She could see them perfectly from up here.
Domino City was beautiful and had been everything she expected it to be. After moving from the country, Kisara began working as a waitress to get herself through university. Her and Mana attended class together and most of the time transportation to class wasn't an issue, but it was on weekends or nights like tonight where their schedules were opposite, and they couldn't carpool anywhere together.
She sighed and pulled out her phone, trying to keep herself occupied as she waited for Mana to show up. After a few minutes of scrolling aimlessly through social media, Kisara looked up and noticed a car parked just outside the gates with its headlights turned off. Had thirty minutes really come and gone just like that? She was about to get up and make her way down the hill when she noticed that car wasn't Mana's.
Immediately locking her phone, she shoved it— screen side down— onto her lap, praying that no one had seen its light from all the way up here. A car door opening made her heart drop. She wasn't as scared of an abandoned mansion as she was of strangers. Mansions usually didn't hurt people. But people? Yeah, they could hurt her.
What if it was the owners? What if they came here all the time to check in on the place? What if someone actually lived here? Could she call the police? Would they arrest her for trespassing?
The thoughts that swirled through her brain paused the moment she saw a figure get out of the car and begin making their way up the driveway.
Oh shit! Oh shit! She didn't want to be here anymore, but she also didn't know if these people were nice or if they could hurt her. Kisara knew she had one advantage, just so long as the person approaching didn't use a flashlight. From the street and its streetlights, the mansion appeared pitch black, but from up here, her eyes had adjusted. If she could move inside before the stranger's eyes attuned to the dark, she might be able to hide somewhere and slip out when they were gone.
The ungodly screeching sound of the giant front door unstealthily opening was nothing short of a dead giveaway that she was here, and she clenched her teeth to try and keep herself from squealing at the offensiveness of it ringing in her eardrums. Thankfully, she snuck inside and closed the door right before she saw a flashlight— that was practically a spotlight— shine onto the door. That sizeable light alone was a sign that whoever was here surely was supposed to be here. Kisara prayed they didn't see her but noticed the light moving through the mansion's large windows and without thinking, she bolted further inside, more afraid of getting caught than what could be lurking within the halls of this place.
She stayed on the first floor, not wanting to move upstairs or downstairs in order to make her escape much easier. Was there a patio door somewhere that lead to the backyard? Maybe she could slip out through there?
Kisara wandered through what seemed to be a large, empty foyer. Nothing had been touched. Not a single chandelier crystal out of place… at least not from what she could gather. The light from the flash— spotlight was still illuminating pretty much everything, and Kisara feared she might not find a hiding spot. A quick flash of light to her right caught her eye and she saw a pair of large wooden doors, similar to the ones at the front door. She snuck inside the room right as someone entered the entryway of the mansion, watching from the small crack she left between the two doors.
Kisara couldn't make out what the person looked like. All she saw was the blinding light of the spotlight flash across the one eye she was using to peer out the door, and then back again as the person made their way further into the house.
"Mr. Kaiba!" It was a man. His shouts were loud and clear, and without hesitation. "I know you're in here! I saw the front door move!"
Someone was still living here? There was no way…
"Mr. Kaiba!" The man shouted again. "It's me!"
Me? Had this man come here before? Did he know the Kaiba's? But there was just no way someone was living here. This place was, from what little she could tell, completely dusty and untouched. Maybe he was a paranormal investigator? That would explain the crazy equipment… but he didn't seem to have anything else on his person, at least not from what she could see, and he was all alone. Didn't paranormal investigators usually investigate with groups? Maybe this guy was just super brave? Like she was one to talk…
"Sir, I know you're here! Please!"
Sir? Please? That was an odd way of addressing a ghost.
"Mr. Kaiba!" The man shouted again as he moved toward the staircase, making his way up the stairs. Kisara continued to hear him shout as he made it halfway up the stairs and then stopped. "M-Mr. Kaiba…?" He hesitated. Did he see something? Which Kaiba was he talking to anyway? Don't ghosts like to be addressed by their full name? And if not, then which Kaiba was supposedly here? Weren't there three boys and their father or something? Couldn't they all technically be 'Mr. Kaiba?'
"I felt the air change… I know you're listening…"
Kisara furrowed her brows at this. Addressing the air change definitely felt like some of the spooky things she'd seen paranormal investigators say on TV.
"The team has a new lead on your brother… I wanted to let you know… just in case you were still…" Suddenly, the spotlight violently fell from his hand, dropping only a few steps before the man picked it up without even breaking a sweat. Kisara couldn't tell if the man had dropped it on accident of if it fell due to something else.
"Understood, sir… I'll be taking my leave per usual…" The man made his way back down the stairs and to the front door. He paused before leaving with parting words for the empty house, "I hope you know we're doing all we can," and shut the door behind him.
Well, that was certainly strange. Clearly, this man was here to talk to one of the Kaiba brothers. Which one? She had no clue. It sounded like he knew them personally, though, which made Kisara think that one of them must still be living here. But how? Was he a hermit? If that were the case, then she needed to get the hell out of here before she was seen.
She checked the time on her phone. Thirty minutes had come and gone but there was no text or call from Mana saying she was here. She must still be on her way.
Blinking a few times, Kisara's eyes began readjusting to the darkness, however, she was still seeing spots due to that stupid man and his freaking spotlight. Who the hell owns a spotlight anyway?
Even after blinking several times, Kisara's eyes still wouldn't adjust. All she saw was pitch blackness. Frustrated, she sighed and turned on the flashlight function of her phone, figuring the man from before had to be gone by now so he wouldn't find her if she turned on a light to see. But when doing so, an awful chill ran down her spine, and for the first time since being in the mansion she realized that coming in here probably wasn't the best idea.
Her phone illuminated the room she was in, and from the looks of it, it looked to be just an office. Except unlike the rest of the mansion, this place was completely trashed. Papers were strewed every which way. Books and other documents were ripped, cluttered into giant piles, and torn to bits. Some even looked like they'd been burned. The desk near the back of the room had been flipped over and was broken in half down the middle, wood splintering in directions Kisara didn't think were even natural. All in all, something terrible had happened in here, and one glance toward the floor was most likely why.
On the floor, in the center of the room, was a giant six-pointed star with a circle encompassing it, containing some strange text Kisara couldn't understand. Correction, containing some strange text she'd never want to understand. The lines of the symbol were thick and looked to be remnant of an eerie green color.
All of the ideas Kisara had come up with while walking to work as to what happened to the Kaiba's suddenly felt better than the reality she'd walked in on. Sure, she'd heard the theories of affluent people making a deal with the devil or practicing in the occult for fame and fortune, but Kisara never thought it'd be something she'd actually stumble upon someday.
She shook her head. So, the Kaiba's all disappeared because they pissed off Satan… Nice… She needed to leave now, and maybe ask Mana to drop her off at the nearest church.
Taking a step back toward the double-doors, Kisara's barefoot grazed something cold like a kind of metal. Looking down, she noticed what appeared to be a necklace in the shape of a Duel Monsters card. She recognized the game by now since she'd been living in Domino City for long enough. It was the gaming capital of Japan after all…
Picking up the metal card, she noticed a long brown rope attached to it. It was definitely a necklace but the front of it flipped to the side, revealing it to actually be a locket. She couldn't recognize who was in the picture on the inside, but she hardly cared. Kisara needed to get the hell out—
"Drop it."
A voice, one much different than the man's from before, spoke. This voice rumbled. It sent what felt like piercing knives throughout her entire body. The hair on the back of her neck stood up so much that it threatened to fly off. A chill overcame her body, and she almost had a hard time breathing. The cold she felt now was different than the damp rain from before, this struck her to her soul, with a chill so deep it rattled her very bones.
Kisara couldn't tell where the voice had come from, nor did she hear anyone approach. She whipped her phone around the room, shining her flashlight in every direction, but she couldn't see anyone or anything that may have spoken to her. Until…
Turning back toward the doors at a pace so slow Kisara still thought she'd never have the time to mentally prepare for what she was going to see. Through the crack in the doorway, she saw one lone eye, peering in at her just as she had before.
Her breath hitched in her throat as she gasped and jumped away from the doors. Terrified was an understatement. Just beyond those doors was her escape route, but there was a stranger blocking her way. What was she supposed to do? Beg profusely for forgiveness? What if it was the hermit who was still living here? How would he react to her knowing about their secret satanic cult practices?
"I- I-" Her words did not form and nothing but short spurts of vowel sounds came out. Kisara had never been this frightened in her entire life. Maybe the forest was her friend and maybe she really should've been afraid of mansions? Too late to think about her poor decision making now.
The voice rumbled and Kisara swore that even the walls shook. "I said… Drop it!" Any books that remained on the shelves flew off as if they too, were shaken by his words. His words? Was it even a him? The voice sounded… otherworldly… Kisara had no idea what she'd just gotten herself into, but she dropped the locket without question and made the sign of the cross over her head, heart, and chest, mumbling something about the father, the son, and the spirit, at least that's how she thought it went.
She watched as the eye glared at her through the crack in the doorway and wondered why he— it? —hadn't opened the door yet. Was he— it— going to kill her? Did she just walk in on its domain and he going to punish her for it? Also, why did this thing's eye look so… human? From the light of her phone's flashlight— that she'd accidentally dropped on the floor in her haste— Kisara could see the reflectiveness of his eye. It was dark, but the color surprisingly matched hers, a piercing deep blue.
"I- I- I'm s- s-so sorry!" She stuttered. "I didn't mean t-to come in here! I'm leaving!" And just like that, the crack between the double-doors slammed shut and she heard it click. Locking her inside with the scary circle on the floor. "No! No, please!" She shouted, running back up to the door and pounding her fists into it, begging to be let out.
"I won't tell anyone about your cult!" Her palms slapped the wooden door. "I promise! Please just let me go! I'm sorry!"
She cried and pounded on the door for what felt like hours before she noticed a bright green hue envelope the room, a strange light emitting from behind her. She turned around to see the scary circle on fire. It's flames an awful green glow.
Screaming, Kisara turned back to the doors, this time desperately kicking them. "I'm sorry! Please!" She begged, going back to pounding on the door. "Don't make me a sacrifice to whatever ritual you're doing! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Tears were falling down her face as she tried to get out, yanking, pulling, and twisting the doorknobs to no avail.
She just kept pounding the doors, trying to get out. The tears kept flowing. Out of nowhere, she felt an awfully dark presence looming over her. It was the same feeling she had before when she saw the eye looking back at her. Was it in this room with her? How was that possible? It was just on the other side of the door, right?
Kisara felt so overwhelmed, she fell to her knees. Her left leg landed on something cold and hard, and she assumed it was that locket she'd dropped. She didn't care, she just punched the door with desperation to get out. To do something, anything!
"Let me out!" She cried.
"You're not going anywhere." The voice was ever-present, but the speaker was nowhere to be found.
"PLEASE!" She shouted at the top of her lungs, praying someone from outside the mansion would hopefully hear her cries for help. Mana should be here by now, right!?
"Look at me."
It was as if her body moved on its own and she found herself adjusting to look behind her shoulder toward the creepy flaming green circle she was trying to avoid. In the center of the circle stood a man, just above six feet tall with brown hair and eyes so ice cold Kisara felt almost literally impaled by them. For a moment, Kisara thought she recognized him from somewhere, but she couldn't place her finger on it. In fact, she couldn't place her finger on any of this. She thought she was in this room alone, but he had suddenly appeared in this room with her. Kisara didn't know how but assumed his freaky satanic powers probably had something to do with it.
He began moving toward her, walking through the flames as if they didn't exist. Kisara knew they were hot. She could feel the heat from the other end of the room. He stopped just outside the edge of the circle and the strangest look crossed his face. Almost as if he were confused by something. His eyes narrowed and Kisara could tell his brows wrinkled together from underneath his bangs.
"What's wrong with you?" His voice no longer reverberated throughout the room and suddenly sounded somewhat normal.
The question was stupid, and Kisara was done answering questions for today. She screamed at him out of anger and fear. "What's wrong with me!? What's wrong with you!? The nerve to trap a poor, helpless girl inside your house just because she accidentally discovered your family's dirty little secret is what's wrong here!" She couldn't help the words from tumbling out like a jet stream of emotion. This was all too much, and truth be told, she was not prepared to deal with the supernatural today.
A beat. He still didn't look any less confused. "What?"
"What? What do you mean, 'what?'"
"No, not that." He shook his head and waved his hand nonchalantly at the crazy evil magic powers glowing from behind him, accidently summoning a book from one of the shelves as he did so, and it flew from across one end of the room to the other like someone had chucked it. He didn't react. "Why aren't you scared of me?"
Kisara blinked at him. Was this man delusional? "Of course I'm scared! I'm fucking terrified!"
Crossing his arms, he cocked his head to the side. "Hmm, interesting. Most people tend to pass out after looking at me for this long, nevertheless are able to carry on with a full conversation."
She blinked again. Yes, this man was totally delusional. Rolling her eyes, she couldn't help but glare at him like he was the most self-righteous person on this planet. "Do you really think you're that good looking that women just pass out when seeing you? Oh, please…"
At this he uncrossed his arms, just gawking at her like she was the stupid one. "Good looking? I… I guess," he shrugged, "if that's the kind of stuff you're into…" He visibly shuttered.
Now she was confused. "I… I don't understand."
He scoffed at her. "Haven't you seen me?"
Was this a trick question? Of course she saw him. "Are you supposed to be invisible or something?" She only guessed that from the way he was somehow able to talk like an omnipotent being and pop in and out of rooms without being detected. Oh yes, and let's not forget books flying off the walls all on their own. If he was looking to be told he was creepy, then he definitely was, but he surely didn't look it.
Instead, he was dumbfounded. "You… You really don't see it?"
She ground out a frustrating, "see what?"
"The…" he began but stopped. Instead, he posed a question to her. "What do you see?"
Was this a trick? Kisara was done with questions! "You look like a normal dude. I don't know what you want me to say…"
"Normal?"
She rolled her eyes. Another damn question. "Yes! Normal! Now can you please let me go?"
Raising his hand, he touched his face just to be sure he was feeling his own flesh. A puzzled look etched across his features once again and his head cocked even more to the side as he peered down at her.
"What's your name?"
She sneered at him. "Can't your freaky satanic powers tell you that?"
His voice roared again, and Kisara hated it. The fact that his voice alone could manipulate her physical surroundings was terrifying enough, but to add on the fact that he seemed to be totally senile was a whole other layer of crazy that Kisara did not want to get into.
"Tell me your name!" He shouted. More objects flew off the walls.
She cowered, covering her head with her hands in an attempt to avoid getting hit by something. Despite this, she still tried to negotiate her way out. "If I do, will you let me go?"
His horrid laughter echoed throughout the room as he mocked her. "Don't be stupid."
She stood her ground. "Then I'm not telling."
"Fine," a wicked grin stretched across his face, "I don't need it right now anyway, and besides," his grin stretched even further across his face and Kisara's stomach churned, "I have ways to make you tell me. So, either you do it of your own volition, or you tell me with a method I choose for you… Whichever you prefer."
Kisara swore he moved without her even blinking and he was right next to her, crouching beside her. His finger tucked a strand of her long, white hair behind her ear, and she flinched as his nail touched her skin. Somehow, it felt different than how it looked. Like he had talons rather than normal nails, but one glance at his hands deceived her. His nails were normal, kept trim and short, so what had scratched her?
One look into his cold gaze and her name was involuntarily spilling from her mouth, like she couldn't keep a secret. "Kisara… My name's Kisara," her voice was barely above a whisper.
He smirked again. "That wasn't so bad, now was it?" His other hand swiped away a few more strands of hair from her face, and again she felt talons lightly graze her skin, but nothing was out of the ordinary…
"Can you let me go now?" He was way too close for comfort and Kisara swore her heart was going to explode from beating so fast if she stayed in this mansion a moment longer with this psychopath. She still had no idea who he was besides assuming he was one of the Kaiba brothers. Honestly, she'd heard about the Kaiba's in her social circles since moving to Domino City. But frankly, she never really cared. She thought they were all dead. Now she wished she'd paid more attention to the stories about them.
"First, I need you to tell me why you can see me?"
She was lost. "What are you talking about?" Hadn't she just told him he looked like a normal dude? What more did he want? Considering he had her cornered and quivering on the floor, she figured it best to just tell him what he wanted to hear.
"You don't see…" he debated his next few words, tapping his index finger to his chin, "… anything out of the ordinary?"
Kisara shook her head.
"Interesting…"
"Why?" She asked, "am I supposed to see something different?"
"Hmmm," he pondered, "differentwould be a good term for it. Let's just call it… supernatural for now."
She cut to the chase once again. "Can you just let me go?"
"No."
A mixture between a whine and a cry escaped her throat and Kisara wished she could take it back. She wanted to seem strong, but she was utterly terrified. "Why not?"
He was silent. They both were. From the looks of it, he appeared to be mulling something over in his head.
"I need you to do something for me."
She frowned. "Only if you let me go."
He ignored her. "I need you to Google a name then go to images." He pointed to her phone lying flat on the floor. Odd, but okay? Kisara picked up her phone, the flashlight app still on and waited for him to say the name.
"Seto Kaiba."
Kisara had a funny feeling she knew where this was going but decided not to question it. She did as he asked and her jaw dropped slightly when she got to the images, eyes darting as she scrolled down the screen, finding thousands of results. Looking back and forth between her phone and him she couldn't help but ask, "is that…?" She pointed to her phone and then back to him. "That's you!"
He closed his eyes and smiled, pleased with himself. She couldn't quite tell exactly what he was so dang happy about, but he kept on smirking. It wasn't a smirk of maliciousness, and Kisara swore she saw a sigh of relief thinly escape through his lips as his face quickly contorted back to confusion.
"If you look at my bio, you'll notice I'm a man of business—"
"— it says you mysteriously disappeared around five years ago—" Kisara mumbled as she kept scrolling, searching through what information Google could offer her on this weirdo.
Ignoring her interruption, he continued on. "—and I'd like to make a deal."
She tore her eyes away from the screen to look back up at him.
"Your freedom," he began, "for mine."
This time it was her turn to look confused. "I'm not following?"
"See that locket? The one you picked up earlier," pointing to it resting underneath her leg. "All I need is for you to wear it."
"Is that it?"
"That's it," he affirmed.
"And I get to leave?"
He nodded and Kisara couldn't help but feel like this was all too good to be true.
"What do you get out of all this?"
"I just told you. My freedom."
She was skeptical. "What's the catch?"
He smirked and she hated it. He didn't tell her what the catch was either.
"See?" She exclaimed. "I knew there was something! I'm not making a deal with you!"
Closing his eyes and sighing, he said, "then I can't let you leave."
Holding up her phone, she shook it, lighting up its screen from sleep mode. With as much disdain as she could muster, she shouted, "I'm calling the police!" Punching in the emergency number into her phone, she held the device to her ear and scowled at him as she waited for the emergency operator to answer on the other end. The line rang… and rang… and rang… and Kisara wondered what the hell was taking them so long to answer an emergency call when suddenly an awful string of obnoxious beeps blared through the earpiece.
"We're sorry," a robotic woman's voice responded, "your call could not be completed as dialed. Please check the number and try your call again."
"What?" Kisara flipped over the phone and checked the number. It was the emergency number so why wasn't it going through? She called again. The same awful robotic voice spoke back to her through the speaker. She checked if she had service… well, of course she did, she just used Google!
"No luck, huh?" Kisara didn't like the cool mockery etched into his tone.
"Did you…?"
Seto smiled wickedly ignoring her need for confirmation. "So? Do we have a deal?"
Kisara's heart began beating faster as she contemplated all of the different scenarios accepting this deal could have. First off, she didn't know him. He may have been a well-known businessman, but to her, he was a total stranger. Second, he was definitely into the occult and Kisara mentally prayed to Jesus, Mother Mary, and Joseph for forgiveness if she accepted this deal. It was her only way out, right? And finally, why wouldn't he tell her what the catch was? Was it bad? Not to mention, who the hell was that man who followed her inside and seemed to know the Kaiba's? And what about Google saying Seto Kaiba had been marked as missing for five years? Did he leave his normal life to join the Church of Satan or something? Did he eat goats for fun?
Kisara wanted to cry, in fact, she was crying. Would she go to hell if she accepted his deal? All she wanted to do was go home, not to participate in witchcraft!
Unexpectedly, she felt his ice-cold hands wipe the tears from her cheeks and she immediately stopped crying, but not because he'd randomly shown her an uncharacteristic ounce of compassion. No, it was because of the way his hands felt. They were frigid, like placing ice cubes directly onto the skin kind of cold. But his fingers didn't feel like flesh. They felt almost scaley, like a snake slithering over her cheeks.
She couldn't deny her gut intuition any longer. Something else was going on here. Something deeper and much more sinister than what showed on the surface. She just couldn't put her finger on it. Apart from his freaky magical powers, Seto Kaiba looked completely normal.
"I just want to go home," she cried, burying her head into her hands not wanting to look at anything anymore.
He placed an oddly heavy hand on her shoulder and straightened her up so she was no longer hunched over. "Kisara, I need you to understand something for me, okay?" His voice was calm and lacked its usual undertone of infernal growl but was somehow still sounded strong and steady. "I've been waiting a very long time for someone like you to come along. I need you to help me, okay?" A slight hint of desperation escaped from him. "Will you make this deal?"
She wasn't sure how wearing a locket would help him, but she nodded and replied meekly with a soft, "alright…" wrapping her arms around herself in an attempt to just make it all go away.
"Thank you," he replied.
Maybe the catch was to help him? If that were the case, then why didn't he just say so? Kisara loved helping people. It was in her blood.
Speaking of blood…
"I need you to hold out your hand."
She did as she was told and regretfully held out her hand, palm facing up. He latched onto it with his own cold, scaley hands. Holding her hand tightly into place, he ran one of his thumbnails over the top of her palm, and Kisara gasped as he drew blood. Again, she didn't know how he did it. His nails appeared normal but that one felt like a razorblade. No way normal nails would be able to slice through skin with such ease like that.
Blood dripped from her palm and splattered onto the hardwood floor. She felt the sting and immediately wanted to close her fingers over the fresh wound, but his hands held her palm open.
"Grab the locket and place it in your hand."
Again, she regrettably did what she was told, reaching for the rope cord of the locket by her leg, adjusting herself just enough to where she could move the locket out from under her. She held it up in the air as they both admired it for a moment. It's metal glistening in the glow of the green flames from the satanic circle on the floor.
Dropping it into her hand, Seto wasted no time and immediately folded her fingers over the top of the locket. He gripped her outstretched hand with both of his and began chanting. The booming, fiendish voice grew louder and louder until she could hardly hear Seto's natural tone anymore as it overtook the atmosphere of the room. Seto spoke in a language she couldn't understand but somehow still recognized and guessed it was Latin of some sort.
The flames of the circle began spinning and so did the scattered items in the room as a random gust of wind blew through it. Papers and books flew passed them as the chanting continued and before long, Kisara felt like she was spinning too. Her whole world seemed to grow darker and darker until the last thing she saw were his eyes, glowing an iridescent green hue, unlike anything she'd ever seen before.