Eye of the Needle: Into the Reikai

DeMain II: Change

DeMain's mother had recommended he pull out of school for a bit, with the administrators suggesting the same. He'd missed his friends and thought it was a horrible decision at first, but he realized he hadn't been thinking straight since his dad had died. He and his mom had an especially difficult argument after his father's funeral service. A lot of folks (some he'd never even seen) showed up to give their eulogies in his name. Cynically, DeMain thought they'd just showed for snacks, but a lot of them praised his father as old time colleagues or people who knew him as the friendliest mechanic in the city. It only made the pit in his heart sink deeper to know that someone that even the community valued had been taken away because of a trigger-happy fuckwad.

DeMain had to step out halfway through the service, and nobody stopped him. His mother shot him a brief parental glare, but she ceased her fire when she saw his strained eyes and clenched jaw.

DeMain and his mother arrived at their new home after hours of driving, and he thought he'd died in the car when he stepped out. Bright fairy lights lined grecian pillars on either side of the driveway, with a lawn so spacious it might as well have been a football stadium. The house itself was more splendid than any factory or business office DeMain had seen, with a strange pristineness to its outer surface. The windows weren't cracked, the door was a massive set of two oak slabs with intricate decals melded into the wood, and fancy cars straight out of magazines lined the garage.

DeMain got a strange vibe from this place. It looked magnificent, but the building itself seemed to radiate some kind of smug... apathy? DeMain wasn't really sure. Maybe he was just a tinge jealous that places like this could even exist for one person, instead of for a whole neighborhood of people.

DeMain swiveled to face his mother, who was already hurriedly unpacking her things and trying to muster DeMain inside before the shock and questions set in.

"This is your client's home? You come here every week?!"

"Yes, DeMain. But there are... reasons I don't really talk about it. We'll be living her for a little while until we're back on our feet."

"Back on our feet? This place is as good as it gets—"

"DeMain." His mother shot, glaring at him while she pulled her suitcase up. She'd made herself as presentable as possible too. Dressed nicely, smelling clean, and with her hair curled. He'd never seen her go through half of this effort for her usual clients.

His mother walked forward and ushered for him to ring the doorbell. The resounding bells inside shocked him, he'd never heard one that sounded so crisp and didn't burn out halfway through—if it worked at all.

DeMain looked around as they waited, surely it would take whoever lived inside a long time to get to the door with how large the place was. He could even see a hedge maze garden in the backyard. Crazy. Where were they anyway? It was all forest and countryside. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been out this far from the inner city. The air smelled... weirdly tolerable. Like he'd been trying to breathe through a filter his whole life before now. It was nice. Better than nice. His head felt clearer, his limbs felt a little lighter. Is this what air was supposed to be like for everyone?

The door to the mansion opened, and DeMain swore he saw a figure in one of the windows of the outreaching walls to the side vanish at the same moment. Spooky, but his attention was taken back to the doors as a tall, balding man with a crooked mustache and black-rim glasses opened the door. DeMain had expected a butler, in all honesty. This guy was wearing a navy blue three-piece suit and looked like he just came off a businessman's yacht.

"Hey! Glad to see you two made it. I cannot express how sorry I am for your loss—but I don't want to drag the mood down. Welcome to your new home!"

DeMain and his mother were given an opening as the man stepped aside, propping the door for both of them. His mother walked in behind him, making a strange yip as she crossed the door. DeMain looked back and saw the man's hands flush in his pockets, his mother's heels shaking a bit on the smooth tile flooring.