Cursed Hearts

Chapter 2

Kyoko tried to block out the visions that were trying to form in her mind. The mental family portrait that she had secretly harbored in her heart was now covered in blood. Blinking the vision away until all she could see was the kind man that had spoken to bluntly she asked, “What happens at midnight tonight? Mrs. Crap said…”

“Mrs. Crap,” Mr. Sennin laughed then cleared his throat. “You have to admit that the name fits her.” He shared a grin with her then placed his folder of paperwork on the desk in front of Kyoko. “There’s a rather large house and an even larger sum of money that reverts back to you tonight at midnight. You may stay here as long as you like, or you can return home to the place you were born and finish out your senior year of high school.”

Kyoko’s lips parted and her emerald eyes had grown bigger as he spoke. “I have a house?”

He looked a little sheepish as he answered, “Yes. It’s on the edge of town and the land behind it is yours as far as the eye can see. It even has a heated in ground swimming pool within the flower gardens behind the house that you can’t see from the road. You’ll have all the privacy you could ever want.”

Seeing her bite her lower lip, he tried to ease her fears. “The house is not in the middle of nowhere like this place is. There is a huge house directly across the road and there’s always lots of cars coming and going. I’ve noticed because my wife and I have gone to your house once a month to clean it for the last fifteen years. We even recently stocked it in case you decide to come home.”

A slow smile spread across Kyoko’s lips as she reached for the one thing she’d always wanted. Inside the folder was a picture of a big house with a well-manicured flower garden and a long driveway. Home… she had a home, a place where her family had once lived and been happy.

Looking back up at Mr. Sennin, she smiled once more and gave him her answer. “When can we leave?”

*****

Kyoko stood on the front lawn looking up at the house where Mr. Sennin said she once lived with her family. The house was two stories, solid white, with huge columns holding up the roof of the front porch that went all the way across the front of the house. She had been standing there for almost ten minutes just taking it all in, but the sun was quickly setting and she focused her attention on the front door.

She’d been so nervous leaving the girls' school and taking a plane across the ocean, but now that she was home, a quiet serenity had settled over her. Mr. Sennin had been a lot of help sending her luggage ahead of her and having his wife deliver it to the house. He’d even had her school records sent to the high school in town so that tomorrow all she would have to do was show up for class.

Seeing headlights move across the front of the house, Kyoko looked over her shoulder at the residence across the small two-lane road. The house was about the same size as hers, but different. Every light in the other house was on and with so many cars in the driveway… it looked full of life. Both were set close to the road with nothing but land around them as far as the eye could see. It was like they were the only ones out here on the edge of the forest and mountains.

The headlights in question were actually a jeep that came to a screeching halt almost in the front doorway of the other house. She heard grinding gears before seeing the door of the jeep open. Swinging back around, she realized how lonely this house really was.

Hearing the jeep door slam, she took off up the steps with the key and had the door shut protectively behind her before she even got the light on. For some reason, she wasn’t ready to meet the neighbors with their happy family and normal life. Flicking the light switch on, Kyoko released the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

*****

Toya jerked the jeep into park and climbed out looking back at the house across the road. He could have sworn he’d just seen someone standing in the front yard. A dark eyebrow rose under his bangs as light appeared in the front room. He leaned against the jeep wondering who was in the Hogo house.

“Did you get the pizza?”

Toya nearly jumped out of his skin when Kamui spoke from less than a foot behind him. “Damn it Kamui! One day I’m gonna take your head off before I realize it’s you sneaking up on me like that.”

Kamui smirked, “Wasn’t killing me once enough for you?” His stardust colored eyes lit up seeing the pizza boxes scattered across the back seat. Knowing Toya’s driving, it was a wonder they’d even survived the trip. Picking them up, Kamui started back toward the house only to realize Toya hadn’t moved.

Following Toya’s line of vision, he looked across the street not seeing any cars in the driveway. He barely acknowledged the fact that a faint light could be seen downstairs. “The old lady was over there earlier today, probably just cleaning it again. I guess she forgot to turn the light off.” Kamui shrugged. “You coming?”

“What are you, my babysitter?” Toya gave the halfhearted insult not even bothering to look at him.

“Nope, but I am the pizza guru and I say if you don’t hurry, you won’t get any.” Kamui took off laughing when he heard Toya’s growl.

Toya waited until he was alone in the driveway before he started toward the Hogo estate. He’d been in the house many times over the last fifteen years looking for clues as to where the priestess had disappeared. When they’d first come into the human realm and entered the house, the guardians thought they were too late. They quickly realized the priestess had not been among the dead. They could still feel her life force within this realm and the demons were still hunting for her as well.

In the first memory Toya had of this house, there’d been ambulances and cop cars everywhere. The mother and father were dead, and the children and grandfather were missing. Without revealing themselves to the humans, the guardians had waited and watched. As soon as the house was empty, they entered it… smelling the evil scent the demons had left in their wake.

A couple of days later, the body of the grandfather was found with his neck broken. The coroner’s office ruled it an accident but the brothers knew better. The old man was clutching a scroll that Shinbe removed from the scene before calling 911. Shinbe was also the one to decipher the scroll. The old man had snuck back onto the property and been in the middle of trying to make the house and land consecrated ground to ward off demons when he’d been killed.

The demons never strayed far from this area and over time, the humans caught on enough to think that the town was haunted. The feds had even sent their paranormal and extraterrestrial investigators many times thinking maybe it was an alien invasion. But they were usually a little too late to find the evidence. Toya and his brothers would try to get there first, to kill the demons or to at least cover it up.

For fifteen years the guardians had lived in the house across from this one and blended in with the rest of humanity as best they could. Kamui even became quite the computer geek to keep the government from red flagging them. No one ever asked how five young men had an endless supply of money and a huge house on the edge of town.

Toya stayed in the shadows as he stepped around to the back of the house. Glancing over at the pool, he noted it had recently been reopened. His gaze narrowed on the crystal clear water seeing a red hue slide through the liquid as if reaching for him. Narrowing his golden eyes, he took a step back from it.

The creepy vision disappeared as he watched the steam rising off the heated water and he tried to shake off the feeling that he’d just stepped on his own grave.

He shrugged off the possibility that someone could’ve sold the house. If it had ever gone up for sale, the guardians would have been the first to know and they would have bought it. Besides, if some stranger had secretly bought the place, the fact that the house is haunted would quickly get rid of the new owners… or at least it would be haunted if it needed to be. He and his brothers would make sure of that.

Toya held his hand over the lock on the sliding glass door and heard a soft click. Slipping inside, he closed it behind him and stood listening. The house was so silent at first that he thought he’d been mistaken, but then he heard a soft voice coming from the living room. Following the sound, he stopped near the shadowed doorway.

There was a girl standing in front of the cold fireplace and she was looking above it at the wall. Toya glanced up seeing the huge family portrait that had always been there. It was of a man with silver hair, almost like Kyou’s. But this man’s hair was shorter, coming only to his shoulders. His face seemed very young, but there was a look in his eyes that held wisdom beyond that of a mere human.

The muscle in Toya's jaw jumped knowing the man was mortal… very human, and very powerful in his own right. This man had once been called a wizard… just not in this lifetime. Now they just call them scientists and physicists. Torsion fields and worm holes were never meant to be tampered with by humans. His appearance hadn’t changed no matter how many times he and his family was reborn into the world.

Toya’s gaze moved to the beautiful auburn-haired woman cuddled up next to him. She was holding a toddler in her arms while the father had a small girl with auburn hair sitting in his lap. The children couldn’t have been more than a year apart in age. Toya had come here so many times… staring at the picture. He was sure all the guardians had.

The little girl’s eyes sparkled like emeralds even in the muted color of the photo. She had her father’s eyes. Her lips were pouted as if the photographer had just told her to be still and a pretty blush colored her cheeks.

“I’m home Momma… Papa,” Kyoko reached out and touched the elegant wood that framed the picture. Her sight lingered on her little brother as she tried to put his face to memory. “Tama.”

Tama’s eyes were the same color as hers, even though in the picture some of the baby blue hadn’t yet faded… but she could tell their true color. He was smiling like he had just done something wonderful… so full of life. Mr. Sennin said Tama had vanished when her parents were killed. Could he still be out there somewhere?

“I wish you were here with me Tama. It would be nice to know at least one person at school tomorrow.”

Toya forgot to breathe as he reached out and gripped the door frame to steady his suddenly weak knees. He took a quick step back, deeper into the shadows as the girl turned full circle to look around the room. When her emerald eyes caught the light… the breath he’d been holding rushed out of him as if he had been punched in the stomach.

She had long auburn hair, and at that moment her lips were once again in a state of melancholy. His golden eyes trailed down her school uniform, the likes he had only seen in catholic high school movies. The skirt was short, reminding him of a cheerleader’s uniform followed by long shapely legs. She’d unbuttoned the shirt enough that Toya knew the nuns would not have approved.

He had seen her before… on the other side of the heart of time. The maiden statue that held the time portal in her hands… this girl mimicked the stone, born into flesh and blood. He’d found the priestess and she was breathtaking. He closed his eyes to the phantom memory of kissing her… it wasn’t his memory to keep.