"Ah!" she gasped softly as she scraped the back of her thigh while crossing over, but that didn't matter. She was here.
The estate at night was a stranger sight, very different from the morning view of the vast estate. There were no gardners, but there was the occasional 'wuush' of the water sprinklers. Haruki took in a deep breath and walked straight forward towards a cluster of lights in the distance, the lights from the humongous villa this green field surrounded.
Using that as a guide, she walked on for a long time, wondering if there were people living there in that house. She never saw any human life on these green fields except the gardners. There has got to be some residents, otherwise why would there be gardners to take care of the plants?
As she walked closer and closer, she felt her heart pounding. Her heart rate quickened as she saw the lights in the house go off one by one. And soon, there was only one tiny light left on at the entrance.
'There is definitely someone inside!' she confirmed. Energised by a newfound hope and energy at finding some clues, she walked forward. Her father's anxious tone came into her mind. He seemed very disturbed when she asked about the estate. His eyes drifted back and forth between the kitchen window that gave you a view of the estate and Haruki's face. There was definitely something weird about all of this.
Before she knew it, she was standing right in front of the entrance.
Her jaw dropped slightly at the sheer size of the house, then her jaw dropped even more at the tall spires that escaped the roof. The golden domes that seemed to swallow her and the gigantic fountain that stood silently on the left side. There was no water in it, and it looked tall and pretty, but like it had lost its purpose.
The fountain reminded Haruki of her own mother.
She fixed her attention back on the door and lifted her hand to ring the doorbell. Her eyes were shut (she was a little scared) as she pressed the bell.
There was no sound.
"Hmm… maybe the doorbell doesn't work?" She cleared her throat and knocked on the door like how they did in the olden days.
She waited for a while. Her ears perked up when she heard footsteps on the other side. "Oh no, someone's coming!" she blurted and looked left and right. Out of instinct, she hid behind a pillar on the side.
She covered her mouth as she heard the clear and loud sound of the door unlocking and swinging open.
"Who's there?"
Her hands froze. She had expected an old grandma's or grandpa's voice, or even a really tired adult's voice to reach her. But the words she heard belonged to a… a young boy's.
Yet, she couldn't move. All she could do was wait for the boy to go back inside and lock the door again.
Haruki could breathe now. She stepped out of her hiding spot and stood in front of the entrance door again. She slapped her face lightly. 'What are you so scared of, Haru?' But more importantly, she thought about what her father had been so scared of. It was just a little boy in this not so little house. Did he live alone? What did he do inside? Why was her father frightened? There were so many questions she wanted to ask.
'Okay, I'll not run away this time!' she decided finally and lifted her hand to knock on the door again. But before her hand touched the door, it moved backwards and the door opened to reveal a boy a little shorter than her.
Haruki's hand froze in the air as her eyes fell upon the kid. Her face went pale as she looked at his eyes.
They were glowing.
She whimpered as they both locked stares, all her breath had left her body. The fact that it was night-time didn't help either.
"What do you want?" the boy asked. It was the same voice that had asked "Who's there?"
"I-" Haruki tried to speak. The boy looked down at her feet and saw that she was wearing only socks. He looked up at her again with that glowing eyes of his.
"Are you homeless?"
Haruki suddenly got an idea after hearing those words. If she said she was homeless, would he let her in?
"Y-yes…" she managed to say.
Two seconds passed and the boy nodded. "Okay." And he closed the door on her face.
Haruki pursed her lips and knocked again. This time, the door flew open and his eyes were furrowed together in annoyance. "Go somewhere else."
Haruki shook her head, "I don't have anywhere else to go." Partly, what she said felt like the truth. She didn't feel like going back 'home' either. It didn't feel like home. But neither did this place. All she could see was his glowing eyes. Why did they glow like that? Is this why her father was scared?
"Get out of here before you regret it," the boy said quietly. It didn't sound like a threat, rather like an advice.
Regret what? What's wrong?
Haruki wanted to know. All this was her father's fault. Only if he told her properly what the reason was…
But she wasn't dumb. She knew that when a person didn't want her there, she needed to go. "Okay," she finally said, "Guess I'll just sleep outside without any shelter." She turned around to leave.
"Wait!" The boy called.
Haruki stopped, a smile on her face. Hiding the smile away, she turned around to look back at him. A chain got thrown back at her face.
"You dropped this," he said and Haruki looked down at the chain which had fallen on her hand. 'This… this was the bracelet I had been wearing, when did it slip down?' she thought to herself.
"Th-thanks…" she muttered before the door closed on her face once more. She wanted to knock again and find more answers, but her legs took her away from the house and out of the estate like it had a mind of its own. Before she knew it, she was back in her bed, and her parents had no idea what had happened to their daughter that night.