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“Maturity, one discovers, has everything to do with the acceptance of ‘not knowing.”
- Mark Z. Danielewski, House of Leaves
~~~
They had just completed the final lap of Rainbow Road when Kaito realised he needed to use the bathroom. Ordinarily, this would not be a problem. After all, he knew Kokichi’s house like the back of his hand. The issue came from the fact it was the middle of the night and the bathroom was on the other side of the empty house.
When they had first learned they would be home alone on Friday night, it had felt like a dream come true. They had complete, unrestricted access to the state-of-the-art basement/TV room, unlimited snacks and sugary drinks, and no rigidly enforced bedtime.
The best part was that there was no one to boss them around. Kokichi’s parents were attending a wedding and would not be home until the weekend. His older sister Miu was “studying for her finals in her room”. In actuality, she was attending a house party and had sworn them both to secrecy by renting them movies they were normally not allowed to watch.
They had been very careful about everything. If Kaito’s grandparents had gotten even a whiff of this cunning plan, they would have freaked out and called a babysitter – which was absurd. Kaito was eight and a half, and well on his way to manhood. He did not need some annoying teenager telling him what to do.
Of course, it was all fun and games up until this point. The thought of climbing the wooden stairs to a dark, empty house gave him an uneasy feeling in his stomach. He was starting to regret choosing the scary movie with the clown in it from the video store. Kaito could already imagine it skulking in the shadows outside the basement, ready to snatch him and tear off his skin with its razor-sharp teeth.
Kaito shifted uncomfortably in his beanbag. He could not put it off any longer though. Shaking the scary thought away, he stood and began psyching himself up. He rode rollercoasters without breaking a sweat. He was not scared of any animals, not even the ones with fangs or stingers. He watched horror movies without freaking out most of the time. This was going to be easy – a cakewalk, really.
“Hey, um, I’m just going to the bathroom.”
“Kay, can you get some more Panta on the way back?”
He walked to the bottom of the stairs, lingering for a few moments as he tried to come up with an excuse to get Kokichi to come with him.
“Are you gonna be okay by yourself?” Kaito asked.
“Uh, yeah?”
Kokichi flopped backward over his beanbag, his hair dangling toward the ground. He smirked at Kaito.
“Oh, I get it - you’re scared.”
Kaito felt his cheeks grow hot. He clenched his fists.
“Am not!”
“Are too, fraidy-cat. Do you need me to hold your hand and take you there?”
“No!”
“Then go, dummy.”
He glanced back up the stairway. Taking in a deep, shaky breath, he began to ascend. Each stair creaked under his weight as he made his way to the door. He could hear Kokichi making silly ghost noises and giggling.
“Shut it.”
“I’m not doing anything! Have fun!”
Kaito exited the basement and was met with a very uninviting kitchen. None of the lights were on. The faintest hint of moonlight glimmered through the window above the sink.
Distracting himself from the unsettling atmosphere, Kaito tried to go through the floor plan in his head. Through the kitchen, past the stairs to the second floor, take a left down the hall, and then a right. Sucking in a lungful of air, he knocked his knuckles together.
“Let’s do this.”
He ran through the kitchen, going so fast that he nearly hit the wall on the other side. It was only when he peered down the dark hall that he realised he should have flicked on the light switch back in the kitchen. He was too far gone now, plus he really needed to go.
Holding out his fists in front of him, Kaito flailed wildly, hoping to hit anything that dared to attack him. He turned the corner so fast he nearly fell over. Hopping on one foot, he stumbled into the bathroom.
A huge wave of relief washed over him as he set foot onto the tiles. Bathrooms were neutral zones. Nothing was going to get him in here, that was just monster/ghost/horrifying clown demon logic.
With the scary part out of the way, he completed his mission with little fanfare and padded back to the entrance.
Now was time for the hard part – if he was a frightened baby, that is. Which he was not.
Straightening his back and puffing out his chest, Kaito rounded the corner and stopped dead in his tracks. Midway through the hall was a figure dressed entirely in black. It was standing on all-fours and had a lopsided grin on its pale, shining face. The uncanny, not quite human spider crawled towards him, its limbs twisting grotesquely in a parody of movement.
Kaito froze up, shrieking in horror as the creature skittered around his feet like an enormous spider. He drew back his leg and kicked at it, but the freakish monster avoided his pathetic flail. It slid up his body and wrapped its arms around his stomach. Kaito deflated, letting out a choked sob. He was on the verge of passing out when it pressed its cold, hard lips to his ear.
“Gotcha.”
A loud, cackling laughter filled the hall. Twisting around, Kaito drew back his fist and smashed the bipedal creep in the centre of its upside-down nose. It staggered backward, clutching its unmoving face.
“Ow, what the hell!?”
Kokichi tore off the Halloween mask. Blood was running out of one of his nostrils. He glared furiously at Kaito.
“It’s me, dumbass!”
“I know!” Kaito shouted, leaping onto him.
They both tumbled to the ground and rolled around on the floor in a flurry of punches and kicks. Kaito managed to grab his friend’s arms and hold them down tightly to his sides.
“You’re an asshole!” He yelled.
“And you’re an actual idiot!” Kokichi retorted.
Gritting his teeth, Kaito reeled back his clenched hand.
“I’m gonna kill you!”
Kokichi grinned, wiping the trail of blood off his mouth with the back of his fingers.
“Can’t kill what you can’t catch, pussy!”
Leaning up, Kokichi licked cheek. Kaito shrieked in disgust, releasing him and wiping his face. Laughing, he scrambled to his feet and raced down the hall. His fears temporarily forgotten, Kaito shot up and began running after him.
He sprinted as fast as he could, but as always Kokichi was one step ahead. Kaito was so focused on his target that it took him a good thirty seconds to realise that he should have been at the end of the hall by now.
They both slowed down and came to a halt at the same time. Kaito looked around. Despite not having any source of light, the hall was lit by an eerie glow. He touched one of the walls. It was smooth and cool to the touch like metal. An icy wind blew through the passage, sending a shiver down his spine.
“Uh, Kokichi?”
“Yeah?”
“Did your house just get bigger?”
“I think so?”
Side-by-side, they moved together through the now unfamiliar corridor. Neither of them spoke a single word. They walked for so long that Kaito could feel his legs growing sore. He did not want to stop though, and he got the sense that his friend felt the same way.
There was a strange aura to not-Kokichi’s home, one that made his pulse race and his skin prickle. Sure, it was already creepy that they were in this impossibly long hallway, but that was not it. The feeling reminded him of how antelopes knew when a lion was nearby. Somehow, Kaito could sense that they were being watched.
Soon, the hall opened into a wide chamber that was far larger than any room in the house. It was so big that the darkness engulfed the edges. For all Kaito knew, it could have gone on forever.
“Where’s the kitchen?” Kokichi asked.
His small voice echoed as if they were in a large gymnasium. In response, a loud, animalistic roar came from deep within the gloom. They both jerked, and Kaito willed himself not to burst into tears.
“I wanna go back.”
“Yeah, okay.”
They turned around. The opening they had entered from was gone. Kokichi let out a small whimper. Kaito just stared at the wall dumbly.
“I…I guess we have to keep going.” He murmured.
With anxious steps, they wandered into the darker part of the endless room. A cold, sweaty hand suddenly grabbed Kaito’s. His normal reaction to this would have been to push him away or hit him. Only girls and babies held hands. He figured this would count as an exception to the rule though. Besides, it was not like anyone could see them. They were the only ones in here. Hopefully.
Hand in hand, they walked blindly through the open space. It was so cold. It was so wrong.
To his left, Kaito heard harsh panting. It sounded like the breathing of a large, angry dog. The sudden smell of rotting meat passed by his nose, and he gagged. Kokichi’s grip tightened, and another sound soon caught his attention – muffled whimpering and sniffling. It was coming from his immediate side.
“Are you crying?”
“N-no.”
The panting started to morph into a deep, rumbling growl and the crying grew more audible. His heart thrashed wildly in his chest, and Kaito tightened his free hand into a fist. If he could survive a trip to the bathroom in an empty house, he could get them through this too.
“It’s okay, don’t cry. I’m gonna run.”
“What!?”
“I’m gonna run!”
With a loud yell, Kaito tore through the pitch-blackness, pulling Kokichi along with him. He flailed his fist wildly, hoping to punch out any creature who dared to come near him or his best friend. Kokichi held onto his arm for dear life.
Loud thumps followed behind them, vibrating the floor beneath their feet. Kaito came to the swift conclusion that whatever was chasing them was not a dog. He did not want to stick around and find out what it was.
As he felt himself losing stamina, Kaito noticed something illuminated several paces away from them. A set of stairs. The stairs to the second floor.
“Look!” He shouted.
“I see it!”
They sprinted up the staircase. The not-dog stomped behind them, letting out an angry bellow that blew against the back of his head like a cloud of steam. Coming up to the landing, Kaito pointed to the closed bathroom door.
“Bathrooms are safe zones!”
He threw the door open and they bundled inside, slamming it after them. Kaito and Kokichi pressed their backs against the door, gasping for air. Miu stared back at them, a ball of tissues bundled in her hand. Wet mascara mixed with glow stick goo was running down her cheeks.
“What the FUCK are you little shits doing in here.” She growled through her teeth.
“I thought you were going to the party.” Kokichi huffed.
“I did! It FUCKING sucked!”
A small smile cracked on Kokichi’s face.
“You got dumped again, didn’t you?”
“GET THE FUCK OUT!”
Kaito cracked the door open and peeked out. The house had returned to normal. There was no unending darkness and no monster waiting to devour them whole. He felt a hand shove him hard out of the bathroom along with Kokichi. Letting out an irritated shriek, Miu slammed the door behind them.
They both stood in stunned silence for a solid minute.
“That was weird.”
Kokichi gave a small nod in agreement.
“Yeah, she never usually keeps a guy for that long. Do you think she was paying him?”
Kaito stared at his best friend, squinting.
“I meant the hall growing? And the huge room, with the monster?”
Kokichi blinked.
“Huh, what are you talking about?”
“You don’t remember?”
His best friend stared back at him; his blank expression unwavering. It almost seemed a little too blank, like he was purposely keeping a straight face. Before Kaito could question him, Kokichi frowned, looking bored as he folded his arms.
“Is this a joke, cuz if it is it’s a dumb one.”
There was another bought of uncomfortable silence.
“Do you, uh, wanna play Super Smash?” Kaito asked.
Kokichi’s frown flipped into a wide smile.
“Uh, yeah! Race ya there!”
He bounded down the stairs two at a time, leaving Kaito to contemplate everything that had occurred. He started to wonder if any of it had actually happened. His grandparents did say he had an overactive imagination sometimes.
As he walked to the bottom of the stairs, he noticed something odd. He turned and counted, and then counted again for good measure. That weird tickling crept up the nape of his neck.
Kaito knew this place like the back of his hand.
There was an extra step that had not been there before.