41 The house in Hohenau (1)
The Kaplans wouldn't travel with them but reach the house later. Sara and Vera rode a car with Florian that same morning while the family would arrive in the afternoon.
The journey was quite silent, and no one of the three knew what to say. Florian was focusing on driving, Vera liked silence, and Sara couldn't come up with any interesting topic.
They arrived in Hohenau before lunchtime and took a walk in the village. It was a small place, with one principal road and a few secondary paths, sometimes without concrete but on bare ground.
There was nothing particular about it. There were no energy crossroads, no specific events. Nothing at all, except the usual house spirits in the old buildings.
And most of them were calm. Maybe catty at times, but not dangerous.
«I don't understand,» Vera sighed. «A kikimora does become tremendous when the house is untidy, the husband is impolite with the wife, or the kids are spoiled, but... Not to the point of scratching the kids until bleeding. Often, they can barely be noticed... And they can become nice when everything is how it should be. So, if everything is in order, the Kaplans shouldn't have problems.»
«Is that so?» Florian replied, turning his attention away from his phone. He had no field, either way. And the small R showed him that the little signal he could get was from the Czech Republic and not Austria.
He turned to Vera and listened to her explanation.
«But I'm afraid it's not just that. The first time the Kaplans visited, everything was all right. So, something must have happened that made the kikimora unhappy. I don't think a marriage crisis is enough; especially because they came here to solve it. They were trying very hard, weren't they?»
He shrugged, not knowing the answer.
«Weren't you here then?» Vera asked. «Since when have you been working for Herr Kaplan?»
«Uh... A few... A few months,» he said.
«Only? I thought you had been his secretary for years. He gave you this mission to complete after all. I wouldn't have trusted someone I knew for months only.»
Florian almost nodded his head, but it was clear he couldn't just admit that Mark Kaplan was not his boss. He was on a mission, and it had little to do with the kikimora and more with the witch who was supposed to send it away.
He was there to keep tabs and find out what Vera liked, disliked, desired... What did she think about her job. And, possibly, about hard-working young CEOs.
But that last part would be the hardest. How was he even supposed to introduce the topic?
He returned to the real world a moment later, and he found the amber eyes fixed on him. She was looking at him as if she could read his mind. And, after witnessing the way she solved that case so quickly, it might have been the case.
«Don't be nervous,» she said, a polite smile on her lips. «It was not my intention to make you feel uneasy. I was just surprised... It must mean you're very competent, Herr Fiser.»
«It's just... I was the one Herr Kaplan could send without wasting personnel on the matter.»
«No! He sent you because he believes in you. This house means a lot to him. Speaking of the house... Where is it?»
«It's at the end of this road,» Florian said, looking at his phone. He had a screenshot of the map and Mark Kaplan's instructions to reach it. «Will we go in?»
«Of course. We need to find out how dangerous it is before the family arrives.»
«Will it be all right?»
«It will,» Vera said.
«After all,» added Sara from the back, «we're professional agents.»
She was walking on the grass in her sandals. She was tired of that place already. Couldn't they go back to Vienna?
At least she had managed to say something about the case. She had no clue what a kikimora was and how to expel it from a house, so she couldn't wait to be done with the mission. She preferred performing enchantments and attending parties undercover with the higher-ups.
«Shall we get in?» Vera inquired, observing the building. She had the feeling nothing would happen.
After all, the house had been renovated by strangers, and no one complained about ghosts. The kikimora appeared only when the owners were home.
«Let's get in!»
Florian followed her in silence, still wary. He wasn't sure what they were going to see. And he had just listened to the story from Mark Kaplan. He was a little curious as well.
«Hey, wait! No precautions?» Sara yelled.
«No,» was Vera's only word of reply. What precautions would they need? «You can stay out there if you're afraid.»
«Afraid?» Sara stuttered.
She observed the garden in front of the white house, and she decided to get in. It didn't feel safe to stand alone out there, even under the sun. Something eerie was moving between the bushes in the corner, and she didn't want to find out whether it was supernatural or just a disgusting animal like a toad or a snake.
«I'll come with you,» she said. «I'm not afraid of a house ghost.»
«You shouldn't be because it's not after you. She's tied to the owner of the house; Mark and Helena Kaplan are the owners. So, we are safe,» Vera said.
Florian unlocked the door and moved a step in, still set on protecting the boss's future wife from ordinary dangers - like webs and rats. But the house was clean and in order.
He remembered that Mark Florian would spend a capital on it, which meant he also paid someone to clean it often.
«Here it is,» he said. «This is the place the Kaplans want to take back from the spirits.»
«Cosy,» he heard from his right. «The perfect place to relax.»
Vera took a few steps and inhaled the fresh aroma. It was very, very well-maintained. Such a pity no one lived there.
