~The haunted place~
"Izam kun~~~I don't want to take drug today~~" Blinked his watery eyes, Yukki beg to the nurse. "It's too bitter! I don't want it!"
"Please don't say that Young Master, Doctor will get angry with you if you refused to take drug on time ne."
"Well.." Yukki pouted when he heard the words [Doctor will get angry]. And realized that the nurse wouldn't give up today." all right then."he rose his hand close to Izam and swallowed the mouthful of pill the nurse offered him.
"That's much better ne Young Master." Izum took the bottle back into his pocket, his sights skimming across the floor and he discovered a red leather-covered notebook was there.
"It seemed that Doctor forgot to bring his note book ne." Izam reached out to pack the book up. "So I will return it to him then."
"Young Master, it's time to sleep." Izam said gently to the younger man as he snatched the cloth up and held it fast to the boy's neck protectively. Then handed toward the iron gate, at the very beginning when he started to work in the castle, Izam had already been warned for many time that he must be very careful to lock the gate every time he leave the dungeon. Izam followed what he was told for years even he barely understand the reason for Count Okano being that neurotically paranoiac concern of isolating his harmless, fragile son. He made sure that the gate was locked before he got out of the dungeon.
After the heavy iron gate was closed, and Izam's footsteps disappeared at the end of the passage before long, leaving Yukki alone in the dark. Scaring by the darkness, all he could do is calling out to his brother..
Ken?
Silence. Ken~~Ken~~! Are you here?
.I'm here Yukki, don't be that noisy!
But when I first called you, you wasn't here.
What happened to your face!? Father slapped you again?
Yes, Father's so mad at me.
Why? Ken? Father wasn't like this before.
Yes, Yukki. Father also ignored me all the time after Mother's death.
Nonono.no more Father please! I tell you~ today I met a person~~
~His name's Tetsu ne~ he's a really nice person~ I wonder if I could see him again?
Do you see yourself exciting like this? You 're already fond of him!
I~~ I'm not!~ I don't want to talk to you anymore, Ken! I'm tried.
So have a good sleep then. Yukki.
The conversations between the two would never be heard. No matter how loudly you scream or shot or growl neither inside the dungeon, the people outside wouldn't hear a slightly noise..because the dungeon's gate was just too heavy, and its walls were built to be thick and unbreakable far more than enough to lock prisoners and lunatics away from the world outside forever.
***
"Uh.Where's Doctor?" Izam found himself get lost in the castle *again*. Even though he had been walking up and down through these same old passages and corners, stairways, corridors and archways. Still the large number of dark long and intricate passages within the castle always found their way to make him lost his direction.
He has been hired as a nurse for almost two years, helping Doctor to take care of the demented boy was his duty. But Yukki had always been a good child almost all the time, which made Izam's job became more easier to deal with.
Even the Doctor had murmured before." .it seems that Yukki's condition has been greatly improve, compare with the past few years ago."
However, what Yukki had been in that [past few years ago], the cause of his mental disorder and when did his madness has began.was all unknown to Izam.every one just refused to tell him any further. Sometime..rarely.very rarely that he was permitted to take Yukki got out of the castle for a walk.while seeing Yukki running and playing around the beautiful woodland happily like a tiny bird got rib of its cage, he couldn't stop thinking that it may be some kind of mercy for the boy to stand like this forever..so purity, like an innocent child.
Furthermore, not long after he started to work for Okano's family, he also learned the nick name of this castle---[The Castle of Vampire]
However, a name such as this was quite suitable for a place as melancholy as the Castle of Okano indeed.
According to rumor, the past few generations of Okano's family were so passionate to all kind of trap, secret passage and entrance, which made them put countless of traps into the structure for the own place they lived. This could also explain why there were so many hiding panic rooms, maze-liked passages, staircases chamber and corridors. The tricky structure of the castle made the whole building almost turned into a haunted maze for many people.
Especially at night, when the wooden structure of the castle such as window frame started to moan under the bitter cold wind, making the atmosphere turned more fearsome than day time, and the phantasmagoric armorial trophies and large oil-paintings along the corridors also making him feel uneasy. Izam had to believe that some.some hideous creature must hide behind those dark corners of the building, whether there was a vampire's castle or not. Sometime Izam had to ask himself why he still stay at such hideous place? He couldn't tell either, and the fact that he has survived in this Castle of the Vampire for two years amused him quite much.
Now he opened the wooden door at the end of the corridor, maybe the Doctor was there, behind the door?
But he was wrong.behind the door leaded to the open square area in the middle of the castle, he looked up to see the velvet dark sky above the high guarded-walls.he found himself in the courtyard of the Okano's castle.
The nurse also noticed that just opposite to the door, there was a ramshackle and pointed locked tower..The Northern Tower.a chill made its way down his spine. Still he forced his uneasiness away as he walked slowly close to the tower..he had no other choice because the only away out was next to the tower; he stopped himself at the middle to gazed upon the two long narrow windows at the top of the tower. He felt that these tow eye- liked windows were also stared right to him in return.in fact Izam fear for that tower a lot after the [accident] happened.
It happened in the middle of the night.the night there was as dark and cold as tonight..a man fall from the window onto the ground.follow by the hideous noise of his body crashed into the hard stoned floor.he couldn't forget the sound of breaking human's bones, the crimson color of fresh blood and brain juice seeping everywhere.It was an accident, a misfortunate accident that took place in that castle back then..after that the tower's gate was locked since then.
He almost could taste the rich smell of blood again now.No.he didn't want to think.He didn't want to think about the tragedy again any more. Unwilling to memorize the whole scene again, Izam turned his back, shooting the gloomily images out of his mind and ran back into the castle.
*** At the same time, in the study of the second floor, a slim figure faced against the candle's light, checking around the bookshelf to make sure that everything was still in order.
"You're still here working, Sister?" Klaha stepped inside the study, frowned when he saw the older one." You know you're getting to late to sleep again."
"Nay. I have to finish checking as soon as possible,Master will have things all done tomorrow." Mana answered his younger brother, he couldn't help to think that the younger man was being over-concerned about him again.
"This kind of matter can be handle by maid." Klaha wondered that why his 'sister ' would never relax himself a just little bit?
"But it's the duty for me as a butler! It's nothing matter."
"Well.Sister." Klaha leaned himself closer to the curl haired.
"Hai?"
".Doctor?" Meanwhile Izam finally made his way to the study, just at time to over hear the conversations between the two.
"Please take care of yourself a bit better, ne?" Upon speaking Klaha gently wrapped his arms around the older man. "You know I no longer have any other clan but you ne.."
For a reason unknown even to himself, Mana pushed the younger man's hands away quickly without thinking, a feeling almost made his blood frozen that left him no choice but pushing his brother away..now he didn't even have enough braver to look up into the younger one hunger's sights.his younger brother had just given him a eerily feeling.a feeling that was almost alien to him..was that.fear? Maybe before he had even noticed, Klaha has already been..
Klaha smiled, then put his hands away from Mana and let him passed away from him. His childish expression somehow made Mana felt release again.it seemed that Klaha had just been showing normal concern to his only remaining clan.he'd thought to much.there was nothing more than it between the two of them.
But Mana could never see Klaha's smile faded just at the moment after the older one turned his back. Thank god that Mana was taking the door which opposite to Izam to leave so he wouldn't run into the nurse. And Izam could not overlook the hurting expression on the Doctor's face as he watched his 'sister' walking away from him.
Izam started to wonder why he had to hide himself as if he'd witnessed someone else secret affair.
When everything went back to silent again, Izam opened the door to enter the study pretending that he'd just been there a minute before. "Doctor Klaha! Wait!"
He passed the notebook to the Doctor, whose emotion was already hid under his mask-liked face.
"You'd forgotten to bring it with you, Doctor."
Narrowed his eyes lightly, Klaha handed over his notebook. "Thank you so much for bringing it back to me."and smiled friendly to the nurse before he left.
Doctor Klaha left the study without speaking any further, unfortunately the older man would never understand how much that meant to the younger man by just saying a few common friendly speaking such as this.
----Everything will be okay.as long as I can stay near to you.that's enough for me.
---I'm not afraid.as long as you are there.Doctor.
with the thought in his mind, Izam turned aside and managed a small smile to a mirror on the wall, and his own reflection smiling back to him.
To be continued.
To the next part