The Other World

Chapter 5 - Down the Rabbit Hole

Haku scanned the ground below frantically. He had flown back straight, not caring that he might be seen by those along the way. It was still early, the sky just brightening. The humans weren't awake yet. It was quiet. Too quiet. The birds knew. And there she was, walking out of her house. Haku dove down in between two houses, careful to keep out of her sight, and transformed quickly. Still, he took the time to go over his appearance with more care than he had the day before. He couldn't afford a mistake now. His ears were ringing with tension. Fujisan had just as much as said he was... Haku pushed the thought away and ran out from the alley into the street. She was nowhere to be seen.

Haku took a deep breath, sorting through the scents that lingered in the air, and found hers easily. He followed it at a run, turning down a street just in time to see her opening the door to walk into a house at the end of the street. With the door open, he could just hear a woman's voice coming from within the house out into the quiet morning.

"Chihiro?" the voice was saying. "Risuni has a friend named Chihiro. She spends a lot of time here. In fact, she just walked in."

There was a pause.

"She's about Risuni's age. They're both headed off to college soon." Pause. "What? Kohaku is here?"

The door swung closed. Haku cursed the limitations of his physical form, and ran faster. He would need to find out who they were, and what they knew, but for now he kept the questions out of his mind. He needed to focus on more pressing matters. It felt like forever, but in fact less than a minute passed before he reached the house and pulled the door open to see Chihiro and her long-haired friend, as well as the older woman who must be the owner of the voice, staring at him. She was still holding the receiver of the phone.

His gaze skipped from one stunned expression to another. "Everyone get outside. Now," he ordered. "There's an earthquake coming." A part of him registered that the small television in the back of the living room showed dark plumes of ash rising from the familiar cone-shaped mountain.

They didn't waste time questioning how he knew or where he had come from, only ran out of the house after him, for which he was grateful. As soon as the last person had left the shadow of the eaves, a shockwave threw them all to the ground. A window shattered. The house creaked menacingly. They heard crashing sounds from behind them. The asphalt on the street cracked as they watched, throwing up clouds of dust.

Chihiro scrambled to her feet.

"Chihiro," Haku called. "Wait!" Another wave pulled the ground from beneath her and she stumbled, scraping her knee, but then she was up again.

"I've got to make sure my parents are okay!" she called back.

The metallic tinge of her blood mixed with the bitter scent of fear already in the air. "Damn it, Fujisan," Haku muttered as the ground continued to shake violently. "Damn you," he said, louder, then picked himself up and ran after Chihiro. Now is not the time to lose track of her, he told himself. No one noticed that his feet didn't always touch the ground.

The ground rumbled again just as they reached the Ogino residence. Glass rained down from the second floor. Haku reached out and grabbed Chihiro's arm as she fell, trembling legs barely holding her weight. "Be careful!" Haku said.

"Thanks," she gasped, fighting for breath. "Mom! Dad! Are you okay?" she yelled, as she fumbled with her cellphone. "Mom!" No one answered the phone. "Dad!" She pulled open the front door. "Are you guys in here?"

"Chihiro!" Akio Ogino ran down the block toward them. There was dirt smeared on his palms and his clothes. "Thank goodness."

"Dad! Where's Mom?"