Home for Horny Monsters Ch. 053

Kisa thought back to what Tink had said. "Did you actually try to kill Mike?"

"Yep. Within a few seconds of meeting him, actually." Yuki waved her hands over the water and a figurine made of ice appeared, which she picked up. It looked similar to Yuki, but this one had an eyepatch on and her face was a mask of rage. "I failed, obviously. I even trapped the guy in another dimension and turned everyone here to stone."

"Wait, what? Stone?"

"It's true," Naia added. "Even me."

She thought again of her fight with Tink, then looked at Naia and Yuki. She had spoken more with them just now than she had since she arrived. Why was that? Was she naturally aloof, or was there more to it?

"I turned everyone to stone and then got into a huge fight with a bunch of nasty witches on the front lawn. Almost died, actually. These were all things I did because I was broken and angry."

"So, what, is there a moral to the story? Stop being such a bitch?" She couldn't help it, the words just slid out of her mouth.

Yuki dropped her figurine in the water and summoned another. This time, it was Kisa, her hackles raised and her face frozen mid-scream. "Nobody is asking that. I mean, yeah, would be nice if you'd calm down a bit. The point I'm trying to make is that the choices we make, no matter what our mood, can permanently affect our lives. And right now, being angry with everyone won't help you find the answers you seek. This isn't just a safe place to stay. It's a home, and the people here are family. We may not be best friends, but we sincerely want to help each other."

This time, Kisa managed to hold her thoughts in. The kitsune was right. Being mad at everyone wasn't going to help her. Still, the idea that her memories had been messed with was sorely upsetting. "So how am I supposed to act? I don't remember anything about myself, other than I used to dance."

"I can see why knowing who you were is a foundation for who you are today." Yuki waved her hand over the figurine in her hand. It was still Kisa, but now she was curled up in the window of the house, a smile on her face. She held it out. "However, we often forget that today's choices don't have to be about yesterday. We can move forward as the person we are, the person who makes us happy."

Kisa regarded the figurine, then took it. Obviously the kitsune had spotted her sleeping in the window. "I'm not even sure this is who I really am."

"Then maybe it's something we can all figure out together." Yuki passed her hand over the surface of the water, and ice sculptures of everybody appeared, one at a time. "It doesn't have to start with everybody, not all at once. But I think you should at least try."

Kisa wiped her eyes, then set her figurine down and watched it bob in the water along with the rest. She spotted one in particular and picked it up. It was Tink, holding a hammer.

"Second chances..." she muttered, then dropped it into the fountain to watch it melt.

The back door slammed open and Mike came running out, his face lit up in excitement. Death followed close behind, one hand held protectively over his tea to keep it from spilling.

"Hey," he said to everyone with a wave as he shot past, then ran down into the backyard. Yuki pulled herself out of the fountain and made her way down into the garden.

Kisa got out of the fountain and shook herself off before following.

Mike, Death and Yuki now stood by the back gate, the Caretaker holding the padlock in one hand.

"This is it," he told Yuki, "the gate we need to the Underworld!"

"I'm not so sure," she told him, eying the gate with suspicion.

Death put a hand on the gate and leaned against it casually. "I am no fabricator of untruths, Lady Yuki. On the other side of this gate lies the spirit realm."

"So then all we have to do is get this open, right?" Mike shook the padlock, but Kisa was no longer paying attention. Her eyes slid up the length of the gate to the top where there was a small gap between the bars and the archway was. The world went silent, and now she was standing before the gate, Emily at her side.

"Get back in there," Emily commanded, pointing up at the gap. One of her eyes had gone black, and an eerie mist surrounded her body. The last couple of days had been like this, and the others were unable to see it. "I won't tell you again."

"I was attacked," Kisa explained. "Not by the shadows, but something else. You said that they wouldn't notice me!"

"Nobody is supposed to notice you. That's the whole point of using the collar to turn you. If I wasn't paying so much attention, even I would barely notice you." Emily took Kisa by the chin and examined her face. "Hmm. You aren't lying. Tell me, what was it? What attacked you?"

"I never saw it," she replied, then yanked her face away. "I heard it growling and then it chased me. I never found his castle, and I was lucky to make it back here alive."

"Fuck!" Emily put her face in her hand and the mist coalesced around her like a cloak. "I'm running out of time, Kisa, and I need you to get it back!"

"I can't do it, Emily! I was lucky to get away! That thing was huge!" The moment the words left her mouth, the collar had appeared in Emily's hand once more. "No, I'm not letting you put that back on me. I can barely remember my own name anymore. I feel like there's an actual cat growing inside of me, and she's taking over. I thought I owed you for getting the collar off of me in the first place, but now I see that I'm just a tool for you and your weird games. I've heard the rumors from the others, and I would rather leave and take my chances with the rest of the world than stay here and have you turn me any farther!"

Emily tilted her head, appraising Kisa. It was impossible to tell if she was angry or not, but the blonde turned her attention back to the gate and crossed her arms.

"Go to your room and pack," she said, the collar dangling from her hands. "Have Tink help you. I'll come to see you off."

Kisa said nothing, her eyes filling with tears as she turned away.

She was back in the present, viewing the gate through tear-laden eyes.

Yuki was now inspecting the lock and Death was sitting on a nearby rock, enjoying his tea in silence.

"I'll see if we can use a hacksaw on it," Mike announced.

"It won't work." When Kisa spoke, they all turned to look at her as if noticing her for the first time. "A hacksaw on the padlock. Nor will acid, an axe, whatever you have."

"Kisa." Mike crossed his arms and tilted his head in the exact same spot Emily had stood those many years before. "How do you know?"

"The gate, it goes somewhere. It's something I remembered, just now while standing here. You can't break the lock, nothing will. Emily couldn't get it to break, either."

"Did she have a key?"

Kisa took a deep breath and shook her head. "She used to. I never got the full story about it, but I vaguely remember something about getting tricked and the key getting busted."

"Well, damn." He looked at the gate and then back to Kisa. "You seem to know a lot about the gate."

"She wanted me to go through it. I can fit through the gap at the top." She swallowed the lump that had appeared in her throat. "Why do you want to go in there?"

"Death told me it's a gate to the Underworld. I can use it to return to the faerie realm to rescue Cecilia. Why did Emily want you to go in there?"

Her heart was pounding now. "She wanted me to steal something from someone on the other side. Something she gave away and desperately wanted back."

Yuki knelt next to Kisa so that they were eye level. "What did she want?"

"I...don't remember that part yet, it was something...small. In a container." Kisa pressed her hands against the bars and felt a cold rush of air blast her from the other side of the gate. "There's a guy who lives on the other side, a shadow man. I've seen him before, but don't remember where. She wanted me to get something back from him, but she couldn't go herself because of the gate." Hot tears ran down her face and she brushed them away. "She kept making me wear the collar. Every day I wore it, I became more cat and less human, but I also became smaller, harder to notice. She used to have me go out into the neighborhood and practice stealing, because we discovered that people don't notice me, not even if I'm right in front of them. I would sometimes walk into people's homes while they were eating dinner, and rummage through their cabinets. It's part of the magic that changed me."

Yuki put a hand on Kisa's shoulder and squeezed.

"You're...not going to make me go through there, are you?" It was a question she was afraid to ask, but it needed to be said out loud. She needed to know what the answer was, because her future depended on it.

"Hmm?" Mike looked at the gap above the gate and then back at Kisa. "You fit through there? Seriously?"

Kisa nodded. "Barely, but I can."

"Huh." He turned to look at the gate, and then back at her. He thought for a good minute before shrugging. "Unless there's a way for you to open it from the other side or something, I don't see why I would. I'm the one who has to go after Cecilia after all, so sending you in doesn't help me. But," he knelt next to her as well. "Can you tell me what you saw in there?"

She shook her head. "I never saw it, but there's something in there, something big. It wasn't supposed to be able to see me, but it can, and I barely got out in time."

"Okay, then. Death, any clues?"

"Mike Radley, I'm afraid my knowledge of the afterlife stops at a gate much like this one. I am blissfully unaware of what lies beyond the veil." He sipped his tea. "However, I know that a gateway such as this will allow your body to cross over with you. Such a thing is extremely rare, and I haven't decided if I am surprised that you have access to such a thing."

"Kisa." Mike was looking at her now, and there was nothing but kindness in his eyes. "If you remember anything else, please let me know. Thank you for telling me about the gate. Even knowing something is waiting on the other side is very helpful, even if it's unsettling."

"I...well...you're welcome." She bit her lip, unsure of what to say next. Her mind was a storm of memories and emotions, and she needed to get away from everyone. Without another word, she backed away from the group and then ran up to the house and inside, hoping to find somewhere she could be alone.

Deciding that her room was the best option, she ran inside and picked a corner of the room to lie down in. There was no furniture yet, only the boxes that had belonged to her that were full of her clothes and various linens. Wrapping herself in a blanket, she shivered at the distant memory of a throaty growl, just on the other side of the bars.

Should she leave? Whatever Emily had been caught up in, maybe Mike was caught up in it, too. It was impossible to know, not without being able to read his mind.

However, he didn't seem interested in bossing her around. If the stories were true, he had given the others plenty of chances to fit in, and didn't seem interested in pursuing anything other than helping his friend, Cecilia.

Emily had made Kisa fit, had made her wear that collar until most of her humanity was gone. More memories flooded in, dark ones of her final days in the house, and she shivered. It was the opposite of the warmth and light she felt now in the house, and she was conflicted. If Mike opened that gate, would the darkness come back?

There was no way to know.

"Second chances," she muttered to herself, wondering if the house was still worth it. Maybe she would be better on the streets, or try to carve a niche out for herself elsewhere. Through the haze of broken thoughts, she remembered how people's eyes would move across her as if she wasn't there.

Out in the hallway, she heard a loud bang, followed by the guttural mumblings of an angry goblin. The door of Kisa's room was shoved open by a pair of rats, and Tink backed in, another rat helping her carry something.

"Get the fuck out!" Kisa shrieked, standing up and baring her fangs.

The rats bolted, including the one who had been helping Tink.

Undeterred, Tink dragged the object through the door and then got on the other side and pushed.

"Are you fucking deaf?" Kisa cried out. "I want to be left alone!"

"Oh, Tink know." She stepped to the other side of the object and pushed it across the floor until it was up against the wall. "But now Tink carry everything, so stupid cat face wait even longer."

"Why won't you..." Kisa's protest died off when Tink walked back into the hall and came back in carrying a large horn. It was the top of the phonograph from the sitting room.

"Tink hear cat face talking," the goblin explained. "Make Tink think. When Tink sad, Tink can fix. When cat face sad, need dance."

Kisa growled, but kept watching as Tink installed the horn on top of the phonograph. She fiddled with some screws that she pulled out of a pocket in her dress, then flipped her goggles down to inspect the device. With a satisfied nod, Tink plugged it in.

"Old phonograph big fun, but break easy," she explained. "Tink planning to take apart, but cat face more important. Tink move fuse to second floor for power, but only until tonight, then move back to third floor." She pulled a record from a drawer beneath the phonograph, then set it down on the turntable.

"I don't need a musty old..." Kisa's protest died when the sounds of Die Puppenfee filled her room. The song was bright and cheerful, the exact opposite of how she currently felt.

Yet...something about the light-hearted tune carried by the flutes reached deep into her heart and pulled. She blinked, stunned by the playful progression that signified the toymaker's shop.

"Tink leave, but first help." The goblin pushed the boxes up against the wall. "Plenty of space for dance now. Maybe cat face feel better."

Kisa looked at the goblin. Had she really done all this for her?

"Thanks," she said, her attention focused on the phonograph.

"Tink help cat face, maybe help fix head, or even heart." Tink slid her goggles up to her forehead, then scrunched up her face. "Maybe never fix taste in music, though. Tink prefer Puccini." With that, she walked out of the door and closed it behind her.

Kisa focused on the music flowing from out of the phonograph. It was easy to let the world slide away and allow the music to flow through her. Her movements were second nature, her steps light, and she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror as she moved. She was rusty, but her own natural grace took over as she let the music carry her away.

She danced. The movements came back to her, and she spun about the room, twisting and dipping, The song was playful, and she caught herself smiling in the wall mounted mirrors on the other side of the room.

She didn't know who she was, or what the future held. But for now, in this moment, Kisa was able to lose herself in the music, to become somebody else. To allow the grace of the orchestra to move her limbs, to express herself with her body.

This was who she was. Like the old man had said, dance was never about the body, but the soul inside. And right now, her soul felt fine.

It wasn't a long song, but when it was done, she was breathing hard. The world was somehow cast in a finer light, and she approached the phonograph and opened the drawer beneath it. There were dozens of records inside, and more than a couple were unlabeled. She chose one of the unlabeled ones and set it on the phonograph.

"Fucking goblin," she swore with a smile on her face. It would bug her a little knowing that she owed Tink anything, and part of her was willing to bet that Tink knew it. Still, she couldn't help but grin as the next song started and she closed her eyes, ready for it to carry her away.

"What do you think?" Mike asked. He sat in the front room with two key fragments sitting on the table. Tink and Ratu sat across from him, and Jenny watched from the arm of a nearby recliner.

After Kisa had left the backyard, an epiphany had struck him. He found Cerulea throwing rocks at some squirrels and had her go tell Ratu to bring him the key she had been making for Emily, then went to his room to get a piece of a key he had found.

It had been taken from inside of Yuki's tower. It had been kept in a hidden room that he had stumbled across when he met the shadow. The other fragment looked different from the last time he had seen it. Emily had given it to Ratu in order to create a magical key to open a portal to speak to an elder god, but Ratu had caught on to her insidious plan and stalled long enough that Emily had finally died of old age.

Next to each other, both fragments looked like they were made of the same material as each other, and also similar to the invincible padlock that had been installed on his back gate. Tink had eventually come along to inspect the lock and had revealed it was a divine object, much like her goggles.

And much like her goggles, it was nearly impossible to destroy.

"Can it be repaired?" he added.

"I suppose it's possible." Ratu held up the two pieces. When she pushed them together, they didn't seem to line up. "It's hard to tell if there's a third piece or not. If so, it's just the stem we are missing."

"Tink think maybe three pieces." The goblin yawned. She had been up all night trying to string new electrical wire through the house. Even now, except for Kisa's room at the top of the stairs, the second floor was completely without power. "Need figure out third piece, key no fit all the way."

"Hmm." Mike tapped his fingers on the table and looked at the two key pieces. "Do you suppose the third piece is hidden away somewhere else? And for that matter, do we even need it? We have the head of the key and the teeth, why not just make a middle piece?"

"Why not? It's just a magic key to the Underworld, why not just put something together and hope for the best?" Ratu crossed her arms. "If you insist on pursuing such a task, count me out."

There were footsteps on the stairs and seconds later, Yuki appeared. Her hair was combed out and still wet from a shower. She had been covered in paint, but was now clean.

"What did you find?" she asked.

Mike showed her the key pieces and explained where they had come from.

"I remember this one," she told them, turning it over in her hands. "Well, kind of. It was in Emily's Jewelry box, she found it in the basement. Well, not the basement that's down there now. It was part of some vision she had long before I moved in, but she told me about it all the same." Yuki fingered the broken end of the key. "However, it used to be longer, that much I know for certain. The only part missing was, well, that part right there."

"So Emily broke a piece of the key off before giving it to Ratu? Why?" Mike picked up his part of the key, the teeth. If the key was supposed to be so important, why had Emily broken it up?

"Why did she give it to Ratu? I haven't heard this story." Yuki sat down at the table, her face all business.

"She needed me to create a special key that would allow her to open a doorway to somewhere else." The naga scrunched up her face. "Hold on...nobody talk for a second."

Everyone went quiet. Mike looked around, wondering if the naga heard something.

"Aha!" She stood up and held out her hands. "The key, let me see it!"

Yuki handed it over and Ratu inspected it for the hundredth time.

"It's the magic, don't you see? Emily gave me this key because it had the potential to open a door into another world. Without the other half, she had no idea what it was meant to be used for, but she did know what it's purpose was." Ratu's voice was climbing with excitement.

"And?" Mike looked at the others to see if they had followed Ratu's logic. Yuki wore a mask of uncertainty, and Tink, her goggles still over her eyes, had nodded off.