Chapter Two

"So how long has this café been here anyway Mr. Ilan?" Isha asked the man. He stroked his mustache, thinking about it.

"More that thirty years… Really this is where I started. I built this from the ground up and never left." He announced proudly, puffing his chest a bit. Isha's smile didn't falter as he talked to Mr. Ilan. Suddenly his smile dropped though, alarming Isha. "Here's trouble.." Mr. Ilan muttered under his breath.

Isha tilted his head as he heard the bell on the door ding. He turned around to see who came in.

"THERE YOU ARE." The girl followed by the group walked in. They were all drunk, just at differing levels, the bookworm being the seemingly least drunk out of them. Or not, seeming as how she just passed out into a café booth.

"I WAS LOOKING ALL OVER THE CLUB FOR YOU." She yelled, clearly upset. Isha just stared blankly at her, almost gazing through her.

"WELL SAY SOMETHING!" She added, panting a bit. The others in the group made no attempt to calm her, not even Hank.

Isha pulled back his sleeve, taking a glance at his watch.

"Zoey, it's one thirty-seven." He stated, not letting a shred of emotion show. She seemed a little taken a back.

"Yeah! You just disappeared from the club witho-"

"I never set foot into that building." He cut her off, staring directly into her eyes. "I've been here since you guys decided on going in there." Mr. Ilan nodded to Isha's words, having of course been there to witness it.

Zoey had a distraught look on her face.

"Wha- But… I swear you went in with us…" She started to panic a bit. The bimbo then decided to stick her two sense in.

"Um yeah, you were like, totally in there with us. Like, why wouldn't you?" She said, slurring her words a bit.

Isha's eyes narrowed a bit. Zoey, now seeming to have calmed down, walked up and gripped his sleeve.

"Let's go, we can still have some fun before it closes." She stated as she tried to pull him. He didn't budge from the stool.

"Fun? Fun for who? It definitely wasn't fun for me. I didn't even go in." His jaw was clenched.

At this, Zoey puffed her cheeks, obviously upset.

"I didn't invite you here just to be like this Isha. I invited you so you could have fun and take a break from college for a bit. That's why I brought her!" She exclaimed, gesturing the passed-out bookworm.

"You didn't invite me. You forced me out here. Then you ran into a place you should full well know I wouldn't like. You didn't even ask though. And I definitely didn't want you to try and set me up with someone." His voice went cold as Zoey stepped back from him.

Isha stood up, putting his book into his coat and redoing his scarf. He pulled his wallet out and set down a twenty for his bill.

"Keep the change." He told Mr. Ilan, giving him a quick, soft smile, before dropping his expression again and walking toward the door.

"Hey, treat Zoey with some respect why don't you!" Hank demanded, getting up into Isha's face, threatening to hit him.

Before anyone else was able to say anything, Isha thrusted his knee into his chest, knocking the wind out of Hank and letting him fall onto the floor in a wheezing mess.

"Keep your filthy hands off me. God knows what girls you touched in there." At that, the muscle head charged him. "And the same goes for you." Isha added as he sidestepped and kicked the muscle head in the butt, making him fall onto Hank.

Isha then left the café, stopping just out the window, letting a breath out and watching it rise. He smiled softly at it and proceeded to walk, heading home.

"I hope Zoey doesn't try this again. Really I kind of hope she just leaves me alone now." He muttered to only himself, staring off into the night sky as he walked.

It took about thirty minutes for him to walk home, but he enjoyed the peace and quiet. He thought about Mr. Ilan. The chit chat with him was very enjoyable, as well as the food.

"Paying lip service huh…" Isha recalled what Mr. Ilan said. He tagged it to be coincidental, but still that's what Isha usually said. Mainly because it was true. Everyone he met just payed lip service. Except for those two.

Isha stopped for a moment outside his house, staring up at the night sky, just above his apartment building. It wasn't that big, being at about four stories. Still, it was home. Isha walked through the door and started up the stairs. He didn't have to worry about waking anyone up, not many people lived in the apartment and Isha was an orphan, having moved here when he started college.

As he unlocked his door and walked in, he made sure to bolt his door behind him and slide the chain lock in place. Isha hung his coat and his scarf on the rack by the door and went into the kitchen.

Isha's apartment was roughly 500 square feet, the kitchen being open other than the island separating it from the living room. The bathroom was right next to the entrance and right acrossed the kitchen. The bedroom was down the hall, which was basically just the bedroom and bathroom walls. The living room was the space left between the kitchen and the bedroom.

Going into the kitchen, he put a kettle of water on the stove and put two teabags in it. Taking a quick glance down the hall, Isha noticed the bathroom door was open and the light was on. He checked to make sure the door to the bathroom near the entrance was still closed.

Letting the water boil, Isha started down the small hallway. Upon looking into the bathroom he saw nothing out of place.

"Huh. Maybe I left it on?" Isha mumbled to himself, eyes narrowed. He turned the light off and shut the door. Turning around he saw his bedroom door open. Not that is was already opened, but in the process of opening.

He stood still as he watched the doorknob blatantly turn, going back to its original state. Isha took a deep breath and went towards the kitchen, grabbing a chopping knife and the aluminum lid to his trash can for a shield.

"Okay. You better be an intruder, because there are two things that I don't do, and that's ghosts and catholic priests." He called to his bedroom. He slowly approached his door, using his foot to open it fully and his knife to flip the switch.

Light flooded the room and he saw something move acrossed the room. He threw his knife at it and heard the sound of glass shattering.

"You're kidding me…" Isha sighed as his knife stuck out of his bedroom mirror, his cracked reflection staring back at him. Isha moved his black hair away from his ears and walked toward the mirror, pulling the knife out. "I guess I really can crack up mirrors by staring at them. He muttered as he looked around his room.

There was nothing inside his room other than him.

"Hehehehe." The door then slammed shut, causing Isha to jump and turn around.

"C'mon! I've been living here for a year now! Why couldn't you do this during the viewing of the place!" He shouted at the door. As he walked to the door, he heard another door open with a loud creak. Letting out another sigh and grumbling to himself, Isha pulled his door open to discover the lights in the apartment were off, his bedroom light flooding out into the hall.

Stepping out into the darkness, Isha held up his trash lid shield, going towards the light switch for the apartment. As he got about halfway, the bedroom door slammed shut, drowning him in darkness.

Not a word was uttered as he stood still. The sound of footsteps, small ones, came towards him. As he dropped to a defensive position they moved to behind him. Isha slowly began to back into the kitchen, being able to remember where the switch was.

Then from behind him he heard a hiss, causing him to fall back, throwing his shield and weapon, and falling onto something soft. The hissing didn't stop, filling the room with its sound as Isha let out a sigh. That was the teapot. Then realizing the object beneath him was squirming. Furrowing his brow, Isha picked it up, his hands easily fitting under armpits.

The thing had to be a person, it was soft and seemed light. Maybe a kid.

"Hey, why are you doing this, this isn't funny." He began scolding whoever it was. He thought he heard whimpering, but couldn't tell over the kettle. "Okay, listen, stay here and I'm going to turn the light on. Then we're going to have a talk about this understood?"

As he set the being down, he went to flip the switch, wondering how a child was able to do all of that. When he flipped the switch and turned around he saw a small pale child with white hair and pink eyes. Well, she wasn't exactly a child. You could tell she was at roughly in her early teens.

Isha went to take off the kettle as the small girl sat there in her knees, tears falling onto her ragged clothes. He prepared two cups and poured the tea into them, placing the cups on the island. He then knelt down to the sniveling girl.

"I made a cup of tea, do you like tea?" At his question, the small girl nodded and looked up at him. She raised her arms up, as though asking to be picked up. Isha obliged and picked her up gently. She weighed almost nothing in his arms as he carried her to a chair in front of the island, setting her down on it.

She stared at her tea and sniffed it a bit, smiling a little at the fragrance it gave off.

"It's hibiscus. It has a little tang, so be warned." Isha informed the small person, picking his cup up and sipping the red liquid. The small girl sipped the tea, wincing and putting her hand over her mouth as her eyes closed tight.

"You forgot to blow on it, here." Isha smiled to himself as he began to blow onto her tea, the steam floating off it and disappearing. The girl watched him and nodded a bit, taking her cup and blowing on it herself for good measure.

She then brought the cup to her lips, drinking it. A soft smile set upon her lips as she enjoyed the taste. It was then as Isha glanced down the hall, he saw why the sound of a loud, creaky door was heard. A door that was not there before was open at the end of the hall.

The door looked as though it blended right into the wall when closed. It swung inward so you'd just need to push it open, no need for a knob. However, there wasn't any light in that room, so Isha was unable to see to far into the room. But Isha's apartment was at the end of the complex, so it couldn't be someone else's.

"Did you come from there?" He asked the girl, pointing at the door. She nodded gently, sipping the tea. "What's over there?" Isha continued. The girl went to open her mouth, but closed it again, staying silent.

Isha tilted his head and stood up from the chair, walking towards the hallway.

"Ah, but first…." Isha walked over to where his weaponry landed, picking them up before continuing. The girl seemed to look distraught but didn't say anything as Isha continued. It was then he heard a thud behind him, turning around to see her on the ground.

"Hold on… Did you get hurt when I fell on you?" Isha asked, feeling a bit panicked as he set his knife and lid down, quickly going to her. She didn't respond but looked up at him as though in pain. Isha looked at her legs, assuming that's why she wasn't able to stand earlier.

"Does it hurt here?" He asked her as he pressed on the different joints of her legs. She shook her head at him. Nothing looked out of place, and he was pretty sure if he broke her spine, she wouldn't be able to sit up like she was.

"What's wrong then?" He asked her, tilting his head. In response she looked toward the hidden room. "You want to go there?" To that she nodded, raising her arms to be picked up again.

Isha picked her up carefully incase he did break something. He headed towards the room, picking up the knife before continuing just in case. He slowly entered the room, looking around for a light switch.

There was no window in this room, that being easy to tell. Isha soon found the switch and flipped it, the lights flickering to life. The rooms looked old, the wall paper peeling and revealing wood. It was about the size of the kitchen and living room put together.

Isha noticed stuffed animals, rather old ones, piled up in a corner. As well as an old sleeping bag and and some old ragged clothes, similar to what the girl was wearing.

"Ufufufu." She giggled. It was the same voice as what laughed earlier.

"So this is where yo-" Isha's question was cut off as he felt a sharp pain in his neck, feeling a warm red liquid running down his front and back. His eyes widened as he glanced down, seeing the girl dig her teeth into his neck, his blood the same color as the tea.

As Isha did his best to not allow her the joy of hearing his scream, he raised the knife to stab her. But, alas, the knife instead of doing what he wanted it to, left his hand. It now floated above him, inching toward his eye.

Isha then managed to throw the girl off him, sending her against the wall, a loud thud as she hit the wall, falling to the ground. Her eyes seemed to glow as she stared at him, a smile forming on her lips as her tongue ran acrossed them.

Isha held his neck where she tore into, turning and running out of the room and towards the apartment door.

"Ufufu. Running so soon are we?" She asked, tilting her head as she got up.

"What kind of devil would use a cute girls voice like that!" Isha yelled back. He then felt a sharp pain in the back of his leg, making him fall. It was the knife. He grabbed the knife from his leg and threw it at the girl as he attempted to get up, falling.

The knife stopped in front of her and floated behind her, about a foot above her head. She then ran towards and jumped at Isha. He noticed the trash can lid was right by him and quickly grabbed it, holding it like a shield infront of him.

The girl hit it and Isha maneuvered the shield and flung the girl with it, making her hit through the window and busting through it. Luckily he was on the third floor, so that should of killed he.

"Oh shield I should have brought you first!" He exclaimed with an exasperated tone of voice, hugging the lid. "I'll never doubt you aga-" He froze as the girl was in the doorway of the hidden room.

"Oh…. Son of a-" The girl jumped him again, this time however the lid flew out of his grip. "No! My shield betrayed me…" He tried to reach for it, but the girl pinned him down, weighing like a ton of bricks now. "Oh c'mon… I'm not that fattening…" He gasped.

"Ufufufu. You talk a lot, but that's not really a bad thing either." She smiled down at him, licking her lips. It might have been due to the lost of blood, but Isha felt entranced by her pink eyes and white hair. Then she quickly jerked down, sinking her teeth back into his neck.