Chapter 16: Annex
Jenny punched the floor s few more times.
“You’re EFFING kidding me!” she cried, “What good is stopping it if you are dead?!”
“Jenny! Stop this. You’re only injuring yourself. Your hands are bleeding!” Hime lectured.
“Jenny…”Chero sighed.
“Sorry….heh….We’re back!” Jenny smiled at Hime.
“And it’s good to see you. I’m glad you made it back safely. Where in the world were you?” Hime asked.
“We wound up in the past.” Chero explained, “And then I, er…died—I mean found the
journal and wait…no…um…”
“What’s wrong?” Danni asked, “Are you confused? Why don’t you get some rest then, mama?”
“What’s this door? What happened?” Dino asked.
“It’s the door to the annex that one of Hime’s friends told us about in a phone call. If you want details go ask the group upstairs. We’re going in now,” Tsukino said.
“Annex—Wait what? What are you talking about? And you three can’t go in there alone! We’re coming with—“Chero started to say, but was cut off.
“No.” Hime interrupted, “Leave this to us. We will be fine. We’re only going to take a quick look around and then we’ll come back.…it should dead end. Besides…We can talk about going back in time later. We won’t be going back anymore. Our first priority is to investigate.”
Chero frowned and then smiled at Hime hesitantly, “…Alright then…in the meantime I’ll be sorting out my head. Let’s go Jenny…You want to go see Kiki, right?”
“She’s on the fourth floor with Mocha. Dino, walk them there and come back. Chero, you stay with Jenny, ok?” Danni instructed.
“Right. Let’s go…” Dino said.
“Ok…Let’s go Jenny,” Chero said, helping Jenny up to her feet.
Jenny nodded numbly and let Chero led her away. Dino quickly followed after.
[BREAK}
“The past huh?” Danni questioned, “If…if Jenny is like that…then…Kiki must have gotten killed, right?”
“That must be it…” Hime said, “But Chero will give her some advice. We should go on ahead, but carefully.”
Tsukino, who had been looking at the door they had found spoke up, “This door…it looks like a staircase…It goes down, but it’s very narrow.”
“Narrow so only one person can go down at a time?” Hime asked, “Then…I will go first. Does anyone have a light?”
“How about the lighter I found earlier?” Danni asked, offering it over, “Be careful, grandma.”
“I may be old, but I can handle myself,” Hime said, sticking her tongue out at Danni.
She flicked on the lighter and carefully walked down the stairs.
“It’s alright!” Hime called back up, “I got all the way down, it seems relatively safe.”
“Only relatively?” Danni questioned, “You’re not making me feel better!”
Hime looked around while she waited for Danni and Tsukino to join her. Hime noticed a small sparkling clock cog in the corner. She walked over and picked it up.
“Hm…Shiny….By rules of video games this…MUST BE IMPORTANT!”
“What are you going on about?” Danni asked, joining Hime.
“Is she losing her mind?” Tsukino asked, standing next to Danni.
“….Maybe….But I um…I was having a moment…let’s keep moving!” Hime insisted.
The trio walked along through a hallway and through what looked like a library. Hime picked up two more clock cogs along the way. They reached a dead end in what looked like a small study off the library. Hime found another clock cog and showed Tsukino and Danni.
“This is a dead end…” Danni said, “So…what the hell are those shiny things you
keep picking up, Hime?”
“I’m not sure…but they are not harmful…I have been fine picking them up…” she said.
“Are you sure that’s safe?” Tsukino asked, “The effect may grow as you pick up more…You may have already picked up too many…”
Hime cupped her hand around the one she had picked up in the room they stood in.
“They feel warm…What could they be? …They…they also feel so sad…Should we keep them?”
Danni looked alarmed, “Shhh….”
Tsukino closed her eyes and listened. A thumping noise was heard….the…monster?
“I knew it would come after us…” Hime said.
Tsukino’s eyes snapped open as the large monster burst through the door.
“It’s here…” she said.
