Reader Beware

Chapter 15

            Rika woke up with her mouth open. She blinked, then rolled her eyes. For reasons she’d never been able to figure out, any time she accidentally fell asleep, she always woke with her mouth open. Sitting up, she glanced around the room she was in. The whole room was done in dark earth colours, from the burnt umber of the wool blanket she had fallen asleep on top of, to the deep orange of the rug that covered half the floor, she had to admit the room looked nice.

            Not that the room she’d left Damek in hadn’t been just as well appointed. They both had a bed, desk, chair, dresser, wardrobe, and small couch in them. The only difference between their rooms was that hers was done in earth colours, his in deep blues and purples. The thought of her friend got Rika off the bed and out the door.

            When her three knockings got her no response, she cracked the door open and peered inside. Seeing nothing but the couch, she swung the door all the way open and found it empty, except for his bag, left open on the bed. Frowning, Rika closed the door and made her way down the stairs.

            He wasn’t in the dining room or the front hall. When she walked into the kitchen she found both of her companions there. Damek was stretching, his legs in a split position while he walked his body forward on the floor. Ahisu was sitting at the table, staring at a spot beside him in a way that made Rika wonder if that’s where his demon was. The thought gave her a little bit of a thrill. Not only had she found out demons were real, but one had actually talked to her. Sort of.

            They both looked up when she approached, her footsteps loud in the near silence of the room. “Sorry, I fell asleep.”

            Damek nodded. “I’m not surprised. That was the first time you’d been in a fight, wasn’t it?”

            Rika nodded, colour draining from her face as the memories of violence brought back the scent of blood and sound of breaking bones and screams of pain. She shook her head, trying to chase the images away. Movement from in front drew her attention back to the present. Ahisu was standing, gaze on her.

            Grabbing the staff he’d left leaning against the table, he walked over to her, eyes never leaving her. He didn’t stop in front of her, instead using the head of his staff to press her forward, saying “Come.”

            “Where are you going?” Damek demanded, rising.

            Ahisu looked back at him only long enough to say “Store rooms.”

            Rika, after only a glance at Damek, moved so that she was walking beside Ahisu, rather than being pushed along in front of him. “What’s in the store rooms?”

          He didn’t answer her until they were climbing the stairs to the next floor. “Clothing.”

            “Eh? For me?”

            Ahisu inclined his head slightly, something Rika had come to take as his version of a nod. Everything he did seemed to be with the minimum amount of movement, words, or whatever, he could get away with using. It made her wonder what his family was like, that he’d become that way. His mom looked nice in the painting they were now passing, but that certainly didn’t mean much. After all, her mom could look nice too.

            They climbed up past the third floor and their rooms, to the fourth which was half-taken up with an enormous room that Rika guessed was the nursery or play room. At least, there were enough toys and child-sized furniture for it to be that. Ahisu didn’t even pause as they crossed to the next staircase. Despite the faint protest of her legs at all the stairs, Rika ran up to the next floor as soon as she caught sight of what was up there.

            Ahisu kept moving but she stopped dead, turning around and around, unable to believe what she was seeing. What looked to be two floors were completely taken up with endless shelves, some floor-to-ceiling, others only knee-height. But it was what was on them that had her practically salivating. Books. And endless seeming sea of books in a thousand colours spread out before her. Her fingers itched to run themselves along the spines, to breathe in that rich scent of old paper, and most of all, her mind ached to absorb every scrap of interesting knowledge these books contained.

            It was only the staff against her back that got her moving again, as Ahisu walked back towards her. He ignored the way her eyes darted around, trying to stare at everything at once, the same way he ignored her when she tried to stop in front of the stairs. He didn’t let the pressure off her until they had passed the hallway full of doors on the upper floor and were on the next staircase up.

            It took until they got to the top for Rika to shake herself out of her daze. If she hadn’t been certain Ahisu would drag her back, she might have tried to slip back into the library. But the way he was keeping an eye on her now had her following him meekly. The whole, dimly lit floor they were on seemed to be filled with boxes, trunks, and furniture. He led her through the maze of stored things until they came to an area that held several brass bound trunks.

            Ahisu gestured towards them with his staff. “Your clothes are strange.”

            Rika stared at him for a long moment, her mind shaken out of plans to sneak back into the library. “My clothes are…Are you saying I should change my clothes to blend in?”

            His head dipped slightly and he again flicked his staff in the direction of the trunks. She smiled at him, feeling some excitement rekindle at the thought of what kind of clothes there would be. She decided to start from one end, moving to the trunk on the far right.

            She had barely touched its lid when Ahisu’s staff slammed down beside her, making her jump. Rika spun and stared at him. His whole face shadowed, he hissed “Not this one.”

            Rika backed away, hands up and face pale. “I’m sorry! I…I…I’m sorry!”

            His face was turned towards her, his breathing audible to her for several seconds before he straightened. “Any other trunk. Not my mother’s.”

            She choked. “Oh my god! I’m really sorry. I didn’t know and…”

            Ahisu shrugged and turned towards the other containers, but kept his body between her and the offending trunk. “Choose what you like.”