title: Hikikomori
genre: Horror
rating/warnings: Mild violence and cursing, references to the death of a parent.
summary: Nobody has seen the residents of house 409 in three years. The only signs that someone still lives there are pizza deliveries left on the doorstep. Rumor has it that the father had made a deal with the Devil and the Devil had come to collect. Both parents had been killed, they said, and only the daughter was spared. Trapped inside the house, a prisoner of monsters.

Xena Caldwell is a drifter and new to town. To everyone else, the story is just a bit of local color, but to her it is a fairy tale waiting for its happy ending. She breaks inside, determined to ride to the rescue...and gets more than she bargained for.

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Kennett Street was your typical American neighborhood, the houses lined out like cookies on a baking sheet. They were simple structures, with two stories and a two-car garage, varying only in their particular shade of beige. Neighbors were quite used to redirecting lost pizza boys who could not tell the different homes apart.

409 Kennett Street was the one house that never had a mistaken delivery. It was just another cookie, but something set it apart. Perhaps it was the fading paint, or the slightly unkempt front lawn, or the rusted weather vane that would not turn, no matter how hard the wind blew.

Dani Caldwell, known to everyone but her parents as “Xena,” liked to go see it. She would park her car down the block and take a walk through the neighborhood, lingering for just a little bit in front of 409. She never stayed for long, and she never brought her camera, as tempting as it was. The last thing she needed was for the neighbors to think she was planning a heist. Why else would someone like her be so interested in a house like that? It’s not like she was looking to buy it.

Sometimes she would play out the interrogation scene in her mind, with the bright lights and the two cops - you had to have two cops, otherwise there’d be no good cop, bad cop. The bad cop would be a big, glowering presence in the corner, and the good cop would lean forward, just like they were making small talk, and ask why she was so interested in 409. But the only answer she could come up with was “I just like it.”

She’d heard rumors about it, of course, but nobody ever offered her details. She wondered if maybe it was haunted. It looked like it could be a haunted house, and she liked that. She liked the idea of a suburban ghost story.

As she pulled in front of the Murphey’s at 406, three cheese pizzas radiating heat beside her, she stole a glance at 409.

Someone had mowed the front lawn.

“The hell?” she muttered. She had lived and worked in Falston for a month, and this was the first hint of life she had seen from the house. Taking the pizza, she skipped up the steps to the porch and reached for the doorbell, but the front door was already open.

“Good evening, Mrs. Murphey!” Xena chirped in her professional pizza girl voice. “Three large cheese pizzas.”

“Thanks, Xena.” The harried woman took the boxes and set them on the side table.

Xena handed her the credit card slip to sign. “So I saw 409 mowed the lawn.”

The woman smiled tightly. “The neighborhood association paid someone to do it. Gotta keep up appearances, after all.” From the living room, a child screamed “PIZZA!” and a cacophony of young voices took up the call. Mrs. Murphey rolled her eyes and handed Xena the signed slip. “Thanks, Xena.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Murphey.” Xena waved at the little monsters that had swarmed around the mother and held back a sigh. The door closed, and she turned back to her car.
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Other than the delivery for the Murphey’s, it was a slow night for the pizzeria. Xena perched on the counter, watching Zachary try to spin a ball of pizza dough into a flat circle. Megan sat at the computer, which she had jailbroken so she could check Facebook while keeping an eye on the online orders.

“Dude, you suck at this game,” Xena laughed as Zachary cursed and dropped the ball of dough. He picked it up and chucked it at her head with a good-natured “Fuck you.”

“You try doing it,” he added, and Xena shook her head as she tossed it back to him.

“The wise man knows what he cannot do,” she told him. Any retort on his part was cut off by the computer, beeping an order notification. Megan minimized her Facebook page so she could look at the details.

“It’s 409,” she told Zachary. Rolling his eyes, he grabbed a fresh ball of dough and began rolling it out. He didn’t even ask what the order was for.

“Wait, somebody’s living at that place?” Xena asked. “I thought it was haunted!”

“You don’t know the story?” Zachary asked, covering the dough in cheese and sliding it into the oven.

“There’s a story?” Xena perked up.

“The Mori family used to live there,” he said, leaning against the counter next to her. “But nobody’s seen them in almost three years. My mom says Mr. Mori made a pact with the Devil, but he couldn’t keep control of the demons he summoned and they killed them all.”

“So who’s ordering the pizza?” Xena asked.

“The daughter, Kiko,” he answered. “She’s the only one the demons didn’t kill. She never leaves the house, or opens the door. Not even for deliveries. But you can see her sometimes, through the windows, glowing red like hellfire.”

Xena waited for him to crack, to smile and confess to the joke. But while Zachary clearly relished telling the tale, there wasn’t any laughter in his eyes. Megan, who was always the first to call Zach on his shenanigans, had turned back to Facebook, tapping her fingers with nervous energy, not offering a word.

So Xena rolled with it. “What did the cops say?”

“The cops?” Zachary asked.

“You said they were killed,” she said. “Didn’t anybody call the cops?”

He shrugged. “I dunno. Most of it’s hearsay.”

“Didn’t they have any friends?” Xena asked. “Neighbors?”

“Nobody I know of,” he said.

“So nobody’s done anything?”

The timer beeped, and Zachary pulled the pizza out of the oven. “Geez, you’re really taking this seriously. It’s just a story. Local color or whatever.”

Xena pulled out a box for him to slip the pizza into, and glanced over at Megan, who was clearly upset. It didn’t seem like “just a story” to her. “It takes about fifty years for something to become local color,” she told him.

Zachary rolled his eyes. “Whatever. It’s just a story.”

Xena let the subject go. “Want me to take it up?” she offered, instead of pressing further.

“Got a thing for monsters?” Zachary asked. He leaned over and waggled his eyebrows.

Xena closed the box and slid it into the insulated bag. “Yeah, they really turn me on,” she said coyly.

“I’ll have to remember that,” Zachary said, but took the bag from her. “Anyway, I’ll take it. I’m off in a bit anyway. Clock me out, will you?”

“You just don’t want to help clean,” Xena said. Whistling innocently, Zachary left without saying another word. Xena rolled her eyes and turned back to Megan. “Men.”

Normally, Megan would whole-heartedly jump in, rattling off a list of her boyfriend’s latest offenses. But the other girl just made a small sound of agreement and scrolled through her Facebook feed, too quickly to actually be reading anything.

Xena leaned on the counter next to her. “You okay?”

She waited patiently as Megan hesitated. “I used to live in that neighborhood,” she said. “Zach thinks it’s just a story, but I saw them. They’re real.”

“What are they like?” Xena asked.

Megan shuddered. “I can’t even.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “I still have nightmares about them. I’m seventeen years old and I still sleep with a fucking nightlight.”

“Didn’t anyone else see them?” Xena asked.

Megan grabbed a mop, needing some outlet for her nervous energy. “People see what they want to see,” she said. “Safer to ignore it.”

She mopped the floor with peculiar intensity, and Xena opted to drop the subject. But she continued to turn the story around in her mind. After they finished cleaning, she offered the nervous Megan a ride home. By the time she snuck down into her basement apartment, careful not to disturb her housemates, it was one in the morning. She kicked off her pants and fell back onto her bed.

Three new messages on her phone, all from her mother. She deleted them without listening, already knowing what they said. She had missed her weekly call-in. She didn’t know what her parents were more afraid of - that she was dead in a ditch somewhere, or that she’d been arrested again.

She hit the speed dial on her phone and lay down, using her pillow to hold it to her ear.

Her father picked up in one ring. “Hey sweetheart.”

“Hey Daddy. Mom still awake?”

“Think so.” Her father pulled away from the phone, and she could dimly hear him shout for her mother. “You sound tired.”

“Yeah, well, it’s 1 AM here and I just got back from work,” Xena said.

“You’re still at that pizza place, right?” As usual, her mother jumped in without any greetings.

“Yup,” Xena said. “Still at the pizza place.”

“You like it there?”

“It pays.” She half-shrugged, even though they couldn’t see. “That’s good enough for me.”

“Do you still get along with your boss?”

Xena sighed. “Yes, I still get along with my boss. I haven’t stolen anything.”

“Excellent!” her mother said, as though she had announced that she had gotten a raise. Xena hated when her mom did that. She deserved it, she knew. But it still stung that her mother had such a low opinion of her, that something as basic as not stealing was a cause for celebration.

“Are you coming home for Thanksgiving?” her father asked, quickly directing the conversation before a fight could start.

“Depends on how much money I have,” Xena said.

“You know we’ll pay for your ticket,” he chided. “You should come home.”

Home. Yeah, no. “I’ll think about it,” she said. “Look, I just called to say hi. I need to get to bed.”

“You’re keeping out of trouble, right?” Her mother never knew how to end a conversation.

“Believe me, you’d be the first person the cops would call,” Xena said.

“This isn’t a joke, Dani,” her mother scolded. “You’re on the other side of the country. We can’t help you if you get in trouble again.”

“I won’t,” Xena said. “Can I please go to bed now?”

“Sleep well, sweetheart,” her father said, and her mother added “Remember to call us!” Xena rolled her eyes and cut the call, not bothering to dignify that with a response. Her mother acted like she didn’t call every single Friday. They were supposed to be her parents, not her parole officers.

She set her phone on her nightstand and rolled onto her back, staring at the ceiling. The light switch was on the other side of the room, and she didn’t have the energy to flick it off just then. If she did, would there be monsters waiting for her in the shadows? Somehow, the thought didn’t scare her.

She thought back to the story Zachary had told her. For him, it was an urban legend; for Megan, it was a horror story. But to Xena, it seemed more like a fairy tale. It wasn’t about the monsters — it was about the princess trapped in the tower.

She imagined how helpless the girl must feel, how scared and alone. Nobody was coming to save her. Nobody even seemed to care about her. She was trapped, and her neighbors simply mowed the lawn. It struck Xena as incredibly sad.

She closed her eyes and fell asleep, dreaming of a girl being eaten by shadows.

-----------

The next day, it was like yesterday’s conversation never happened. When Megan arrived for her shift, her smile was unclouded, and the only thing Zachary talked about was his upcoming basketball game.

Listening to Megan complain how much history homework she had been assigned, Xena wondered if yesterday’s conversation had just been one big joke, and they were waiting to see how long she would fall for it.

After the lunchtime rush had died down, Xena leaned against the sink, where Zachary was washing dishes.

“So how did last night’s delivery go?” she asked.

He scooted closer to her. “You mean did I see any monsters?” She quirked a curious eyebrow and he grinned. “Hate to disappoint you, but no. I just left the pizza on the front porch and went home.”

“Did you at least ring the doorbell?” she asked.

“Why?” he asked. “It’s not like she’s going to answer the door.”

“Don’t you want to see what’s inside?” Xena pressed.

“Not really?” Zachary chuckled a little. “I mean, she’s probably just a crazy cat lady. Those monsters of Megan’s are just feral cats or something.”

“How are you not curious?” Xena asked.

“Why are you so curious?” Zachary turned the question on her.

Xena shrugged. “It’s strange,” she said, though even she knew that wasn’t entirely the answer. “I like strange things.” He didn’t need to know about her interest in the princess inside.

Zachary turned his attention to the dish in his hands. “Y’know, if you like monsters so much, Fright Night’s starting tomorrow. You wanna see it?”

“Who cares about horror movies when I’ve got a real live mystery on my hands?” Xena asked.

“So that’s a no?”

There was a strange quality in Zachary’s voice that Xena brushed aside. “Maybe some other time,” she said.

“Sure.”

She glanced up at the clock. “And I am going going gone!” She pulled off her apron and suddenly stopped. “Hey, can you toss in a medium cheese pizza?”

“You don’t get free pizzas,” the teenager said peevishly.

Xena pulled out her credit card. “I’m a paying customer.” For good measure, she added “Please?”

He sighed heavily and pulled out a ball of pizza dough.
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Her 2001 Corolla puttered to a stop in front of 409 Kennett Street. Xena turned off the ignition and leaned back in her seat.

She wasn’t sure what crazy impulse had motivated her to get a pizza and drive over to the Mori house. It had just come over her, what a perfect cover that would be for breaking in. It’s not too late to turn back, she reminded herself.

She studied the house. The front door was in the far back of the porch, the roof almost seeming to cover it. It reminded her of Violet from The Incredibles, using her bangs to hide from the world. The entire house seemed like it wanted nothing more than to become invisible.

But there was movement in the second floor - a curtain rustled as though caught in a breeze.

Xena reached under her seat and pulled out a switchblade and a set of lock picks. The first stop she had made on her road trip was to pick up a set to replace the ones her parents had confiscated. For her own good, they had said, but she felt safer with them around. She slipped them into her pocket, grabbed the pizza, and got out of the car. Turning back would be the wise decision, but she had never been known for her smart choices.

Reaching the front door, she rang the doorbell. “Hello?” she called. “I have an order for Kiko Mori?” She knocked again. Maybe the woman would open the door, if only to tell her that there had been a mistake.

But no one came to the door. Xena caught sight of Mrs. Reese, the middle-aged, perpetually disapproving resident of 407, and waved. Mrs. Reese sniffed and pulled down her shades.

“Works for me,” Xena muttered. Glancing around to make sure no one was watching, she set the pizza down and pulled out her lock picks. If Rapunzel wasn’t going to let down her hair, then she would just have to find her own way into the tower.

It was the work of a moment to get the door open. She quickly picked up the pizza and within a breath was inside.

She had expected darkness and dust, the usual hallmarks of the abandoned. But while the lighting was dim, the room was immaculately clean. The strong scent of lemon soap cloyed the stale air. There was no sign of Kiko, or of the rumored monsters.

“Hello?” Xena called. “Pizza?” She felt shy, realizing only now how creepy she must seem. But it was too late to do anything about it now. “My boss said I had to get your signature.” A little white lie never hurt anyone.

There was no response. Xena held her breath, listening for some sign of life. Nothing.

“I’m gonna leave the pizza in the kitchen,” she said. “And then I really do need your signature.”

She looked around. The living room - if anything in this house could be called living - held an entrance to the kitchen on the other side. Shifting the pizza so she could put away her lock picks, she headed in that direction. A pile of mail sat neatly stacked on the coffee table. Nosy, Xena set down the pizza and thumbed through the stack. Bills, bills, bills, and more bills, most from a place called St. Vincent’s.

A quiet growl was the only warning she got.

Something tackled her from behind, knocking her to the floor. She cried out in pain as sharp teeth sunk into her shoulder. She rolled over, trying to dislodge it while she reached for the switchblade in her pocket. It flipped open and she stabbed blindly. She was rewarded with a yelp of pain and the release of her shoulder. She scrambled backwards.

It looked like a boar. A boar with the claws of a cat and the razor sharp teeth of a wolf. Its fur seemed to be made of shadows, the edges blurry and indistinct. Black pus oozed from its wound. It licked the injury and then turned its glowing red eyes back to Xena.

“Fuuuuuuck,” she breathed. It was one thing to believe Megan, another thing entirely to see a monster for herself. She understood now why, even years later, the young woman shivered.

Her shoulder throbbed; she winced as she touched it, and her hand came away sticky with blood. She still had her switchblade, but that creature probably had a lot more practice with its tusks.

She stole a glance at the kitchen. There was a door to the backyard. If she booked it, she could probably make it outside. With any luck, the creature wouldn’t bother chasing her once she had left its turf.

But she would be leaving Kiko behind. She imagined the young woman trapped alone in here, with only this monster as company. She imagined her parents’ bodies, hearts gouged out by its wicked tusks, rotting in the basement. She couldn’t just leave the girl here.

So what could you do when you could neither fight nor flee?

The creature lowered its torso, like a cat getting ready to pounce. Xena ran, and it landed on empty air. A little hallway connected the kitchen to the dining room, and there was a small bathroom. She raced inside and slammed the door shut. Thunk! The creature skittered to a halt. Xena locked the door and waited.

A dark paw wedged itself under the door, scratching the floor. Xena stomped on it, and the creature cried out, quickly retracting it. She held her breath, waiting for its next move. A real boar would charge the door, try to break it down. But this creature seemed to realize it didn’t have enough room to charge. She heard it pace the hallway for a little bit, then silence.

After a minute, she relaxed slightly. She bit her lip as she tried moving her shoulder. She needed to take care of that.

There wasn’t any kind of first aid kit, just soap, a sink, and some hand towels. She pulled off her shirt and carefully washed the injury with one of them. With her good hand, teeth, and a great deal of patience, she used another to bandage the wound.

“I am the god damn MacGyver,” she announced to nothing.

She stuffed the remaining towels into her back pocket - never leave home without a towel, the Hitchhiker’s Guide had said - and looked around for anything else she could use. She found a make-up kit, a bottle of hairspray, and some paper towels. She ripped off one of the paper towels, pulled out the black eyeliner, and sketched what she could remember of the house’s layout. There were stairs near the front door; Kiko was probably hiding up there. Couldn’t have a princess without a tower. If her map was accurate (and there was no guarantee of that), she wasn’t far from the stairs. There had been an entrance to the dining room from the front door area. She just had to make it through the dining room and up the steps. She’d be vulnerable on the steps, though. If something attacked, she would be hard pressed to get away.

She shook the can of hairspray. It was fairly full. “You take what you can get,” she muttered. A breath for courage, and she unlocked the door.

Her good buddy the boar-dog-cat thing growled, letting her know it was still around, and in fine fighting spirit. Thud! Wood cracked as it attacked the door.

Xena shoved the door open, slamming the monster against the wall. Before it could regain its bearings, she dashed for the dining room.

Another creature melted out of the shadows and leapt at her; she sprayed it with the hairspray. It cried out, clawing at its face, and she shoved it aside. Something caught her ankle, though, and she stumbled, catching herself on the table. She stomped on the serpentine creature holding her ankle captive. It clung to her stubbornly.

“God damn mother fucking jackass piece of shit,” she breathed, and leaned down to slash it with her switchblade. It loosened its grip just enough for her to slide her foot free and run again. She reached the stairs at the same time her first monster did. There was a look of surprise on its face as she leapt over it, stumbling hard as she landed on the staircase. She scrambled up the steps, kicking the monster in the head when it got too close. There was a door not far from the top. She just had to make it to that door…and hope there wasn’t another monster waiting for her behind it.

A giant spider skittered towards her from the landing. “Jesus fuck, how many of you ARE there?!” she shouted. She sprayed it with the hairspray, but it quickly recovered. She slashed at it with her switchblade, but that only put her wrist in biting distance. It chomped down. She cried out and whacked it on the head with the hairspray can as she walked backwards towards the door. Finally it let go and she opened the door, slamming it shut behind her. She breathed a sigh of relief.

“What are you doing here?"

-----------

Xena had found her.

Kiko Mori looked nothing like Xena had imagined. She had expected a willowy beauty, with the delicate grace of a falling cherry blossom. Someone feminine and regal, like a princess.

In the flesh, Kiko was emaciated. She had the bony thinness of someone who ate poorly, and soft muscles that indicated a lack of exercise. Her skin was pallid, her eyes sunk deep into their sockets. And she was terrified.

Xena looked down at her tattered clothes, bleeding injuries, and the hairspray and switchblade she still held in each hand. A hysterical laugh bubbled up from her throat.

“I’m here to rescue you,” she said. She dropped the knife and hairspray and melted to the floor. “Just call me Prince Charming,” she added, still giggling.

Shockingly, Kiko didn’t seem reassured by her hysteria. The young woman kept to a far corner of the room and watched Xena warily. “Who are you?” she asked.

“Xena,” she said as she caught her breath.

Kiko frowned. “The Warrior Princess?” she asked suspiciously.

“Yeah,” Xena said. “The Warrior Princess. I never liked the name Dani.” She looked Kiko over. “You look like hell.”

Kiko bristled. “So do you.”

“Yeah, I guess I do.” Xena groaned and pulled out one of her spare towels. “You don’t have any peroxide here, do you? Or soap & water?” Kiko shook her head. “Figured.” Xena used the bottom of her shirt to wipe away the blood on her wrist, then wrapped the towel around it.

Kiko watched her in silence. Then, like a timid bird, she perched on the edge of her bed, poised for flight. Xena felt like she should say something, try to soothe the other woman, but every breath hurt.

“You’re not from around here, are you?” Kiko asked finally.

Strange question to ask, but it was better than silence. Xena shook her head. “Just passing through.” She glanced at Kiko. The girl seemed curious, but still very scared. “I’m doing this road trip across America thing,” she continued conversationally. “You know, pick a town, work there for a few months, see what there is to see, and move on.” Breathing deeply, she took a look around the room. “Nice place you got here.”

Kiko’s bedroom was nearly as disconcerting as the monsters themselves. The shelves were lined with dolls of various kinds, all of which seemed to stare down at her. Over by the bed was a desk and another shelf, both of which were covered with doll body parts. It looked like a serial killer’s practice chamber.

Kiko clearly sensed Xena’s discomfort and pulled back slightly. “I customize dolls,” she said. “What are you doing here?”

“That’s cool,” Xena said. “Do you sell them?”

Kiko just glared, and Xena held up her hands. Clearly small talk was out of the question.“Like I said, I’m here to rescue you.”

“Why?”

When Xena had played out this scenario in her head, she had not expected an interrogation. She had been anticipating more gratitude, maybe a little exaggerated swooning. It was kind of irritating, really, to have her motives questioned.

But three years of people not giving a shit was bound to make someone suspicious, so she bit back a snarky remark.

“Because you’re in trouble,” she said. “And I want to help.”

Kiko shook her head disbelievingly. “You don’t even know me,” she said.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Xena asked.

“Everything!” Kiko said vehemently. “Have you even looked at yourself?”

Xena shrugged, letting out a small hiss of pain as her shoulder reminded her what had happened earlier. “It’s just a flesh wound,” she said. “Nothing to worry about.”

The other girl gaped at her. After a moment, she shook her head and stood abruptly.

“You need to leave.” She yanked the sheets from her bed and began tying them together. “You can get out the window. They won’t follow you outside.”

Xena tested her wrist by pushing herself to her feet. It hurt, but she could probably make it down the rope. “You first,” she told Kiko.

“I’m not going,” the other girl said.

“What?” Xena stared aghast at her. “That’s the whole point! We’re getting you out of here.”

“No, we’re not,” Kiko said. “You’re getting out of here, and you’re never coming back, and you’re going to forget this entire thing happened.”

“‘I’m not leaving without you,” Xena said stubbornly.

“Look, it’s nice that you want to rescue me, but you can’t,” Kiko said. “I don’t know what kind of scenario you had concocted, but it isn’t going to work like that. This isn’t some haunted house.”

“Yeah, I’m kinda aware of that,” Xena said, and Kiko released some of her frustration on the innocent bedsheets.

“It’s not a matter of just getting me outside,” she snapped. “Wherever I go, there they are. I am never going to get away from them. Ever. So kudos for courage; you can pat yourself on the back for what a good person you are, but you are leaving.” She tied the end of the makeshift rope around her bedpost.

Xena strode towards her. “Just slow down, okay? Let’s think about this.”

“There’s nothing to think about,” Kiko said, and turned to open the window.

“Yeah, there is,” Xena insisted. “There’s gotta be some kind of solution. Just stop -“ She grabbed Kiko’s arm.

Kiko jerked out of reach. “Don’t touch me!” Her eyes went wide. “Oh no.”

Xena whirled around. The shadows in the far corner of the room were swirling, forming themselves into a large, bear-like creature with teeth like a sabertooth tiger.

Kiko stumbled back into the corner, and Xena moved in front of her protectively. She held out her switchblade in a defensive position, and was painfully aware how puny it seemed in comparison.

“Get out the window,” Kiko insisted, cowering in the corner.

“What about you?” Xena asked.

“Please just leave!” Kiko begged. Her voice was beginning to choke.

The monster let out a warning roar and despite herself, Xena let out a whimper of fear. She wasn’t a thug. She knicked pretty things, occasionally tagged the school, broke into houses when she got bored just to watch the big screen tv or pet the dog. She kept the switchblade around because it made her feel like a badass.

The wise man knows what he can’t do. By all accounts, she should run.

But she couldn’t. She didn’t want to be the kind of person who ran away when things got hard. She wanted, for once in her life, to come through for someone. To do something she didn’t have to be ashamed of.

“Do you have a pair of scissors?” she asked.

“What?”

“What do you use to butcher the dolls?” Xena repeated tersely.

Kiko fumbled for an Exacto knife. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“We’re gonna fight this thing,” Xena said. “Use that to protect yourself.”

The creature growled and advanced. Xena readied her hairspray and switchblade.

“Don’t!” Kiko shouted, grabbing Xena’s switchblade arm. Xena instinctively squeezed the hairspray. The creature roared with pain and swiped her hand, knocking the can away and leaving deep gouges in her skin.

“WHAT THE FUCK?” Xena doubled over, clutching her injured arm. Kiko dropped the Exacto knife and wrapped her arms protectively around Xena. “That thing is trying to kill us!”

Kiko trembled. Her eyes were red from tears that Xena had not seen. “That’s my mom.”

All Xena could do was stare.

The creature kept up a low growl, but halted its advance. It seemed to be waiting for something. Kiko took a deep breath, but no words came from her lips.

Xena finally recovered her wits. “I thought your parents were dead,” she said.

Kiko shook her head. “First it was my mom,” she whispered. “She’d been sick for awhile, and then I woke up one morning and she was gone. This thing had taken her place. My dad followed a few days later. That’s why nobody’s seen them.” Her fingers tightened around Xena’s shoulder. “And that’s why I can’t leave.”

“Lots of people leave their parents,” Xena said. “Fuck knows I did. They can’t trap you here.”

“It’s not that,” Kiko said.

“Then what is it?” Xena pressed.

“What if I become a monster too?” Kiko asked. “It happened to them! I just…” She choked on her own breath. “As long as I stay here, they don’t hurt anybody. As long as I stay here, I can’t hurt anybody. So please, just leave.”

A moment of silence. “I need to bandage this.”

Sniffling, Kiko helped Xena sit on the bed. She mutely reached out to borrow Xena’s switchblade and used it to tear her pillowcase into strips. Xena kept a close eye on the monster as Kiko did her best to clean and bandage her arm. It kept perfectly still, watching them with a wary, mute intelligence.

“We should rewrap your shoulder too,” Kiko said.

Xena carefully pulled off her shirt. “Did one of the other monsters attack them?” she asked, wincing as Kiko pulled off the blood-soaked wash towel. “Maybe it’s a werewolf thing.” She hissed with pain. “God I really hope not.”

“Sorry,” Kiko breathed. “And no. The monsters never liked them, but they never attacked.”

“Have they ever attacked you?” Xena asked.

“Sometimes,” Kiko said. “They didn’t like it when I tried to go out.” She lifted up her sleeve and showed Xena a series of old scars. “I learned pretty quickly to stay inside and keep to myself.”

Xena resisted the urge to reach out and touch her scars, tracing the history of a lifetime of pain. “Doesn’t sound like much fun,” she said softly.

Kiko shrugged. “I’m not much of a people person anyway,” she said. “I like just hanging around at home.” She sighed. “And even when they weren’t attacking, the monsters kinda freaked people out.”

She tightened the bandage a little harder than necessary. “I didn’t think they would follow me to college.”

“Where did you go to college?” Xena asked.

“New York,” Kiko said. “It’s the farthest I’ve ever been from home. I thought if I got far enough away, things would be different.”

“But wherever you go, there you are,” Xena said. Kiko nodded.

“It was a rough year,” she said. “I was homesick; I didn’t have any friends, and I was still surrounded by monsters. I know freshman year sucks for everybody, but it felt like torture to me. I didn’t want to go back.”

She finished redressing the wound and sat on the bed next to Xena. “And then my parents turned into monsters and I didn’t dare to. I was afraid I’d turn next.”

Xena slid on her shirt and glanced over at the creature. It had ceased growling and settled on its haunches. It was wary, but not threatening.

“How long have the monsters been around?” she asked.

Kiko pulled her legs up onto the bed, almost curling up in on herself. “As long as I can remember,” she said. “There weren’t as many when I was little, but they’ve always been around. My first grade teacher nearly had a heart attach when she saw them first. She thought my kindergarden teacher was pulling some kind of prank.”

“Why you?”

Kiko shrugged. “I don’t know.” She laughed a little, a painful sound. “For awhile I thought I was a changeling. The monsters had switched me for my parents’ real baby, and now they were coming to take me back. But then my parents changed.”

Xena nodded, and kept an eye on the creature. It kept an eye on her as well.

“Why do you care?” Kiko asked. She kept harping on this one question, as though it was important. It made Xena’s skin crawl.

“Why does it matter to you so much?” she snapped.

“Because!” Kiko said. “Nobody else in this stupid town cares, and they’ve known me my whole life. And you broke into my house and you’re hurt and you don’t even know me! I don’t get it.”

Xena shifted uncomfortably. “It just seemed sad,” she said. “You being trapped here, and nobody doing anything about it. Everyone seemed content to just…leave you here. Like they’d given up on you.” Kiko’s eyes seemed to bore into her, and she looked away. She didn’t want the other girl to see her like this. “Quit looking at me like that!”

Kiko averted her gaze. “Sorry.”

The creature straightened up and growled warningly, making Kiko jump. Frightened, she pushed herself towards the center of the bed. The creature growled even louder and advanced threateningly on Xena.

“Jesus, chill out!” Xena shouted, scrambling backwards. “What the fuck did I do?”

“I don’t know!” Kiko cried. The sound of her voice seemed to make the creature even angrier.

Her mom.

“Calm down!” Xena told Kiko. It failed, as these things do - nowhere in human history has anyone been soothed by a harsh order. She grabbed the other girl’s hand and squeezed it. “It’s okay! I think I know what’s going on.”

This proved a sufficient distraction from fear. “You do?”

A little self-consciously, Xena let go of Kiko’s hand. “When I got into the house, how did you feel?” she asked.

“You broke into my home,” Kiko snapped.

“So you were scared, right?”

Kiko stared at her. “…I guess?”

“And when you heard me coming up the stairs?” Xena pressed. “You were scared too, right?”

“I thought you were going to kill me!” Kiko said defensively. The creature growled.

“It’s your fear,” Xena said quickly. “When you get scared, it gets aggressive. They get aggressive.”

She watched Kiko stare at the creature, what had been her mother, processing what she had said.

“So it’s my fault?” Kiko asked softly. Xena fought the urge to smack the girl, knowing that she would likely get worse from the monster.

“No,” she said. “Fault has nothing to do with it. You didn’t ask them to be psychoviolent protective.

“But I think that’s what they’re doing. Protecting you, the only way they know how.”

The creature huffed, a strangely endearing sound. Slowly, hesitantly, Kiko uncurled from her seat and approached it. Xena bit back a fearful protest, the pain in her arm a vivid reminder of what the monster was capable.

But the creature made no threatening moves. The growling softened to a low rumble, and it settled back down on its haunches. When Kiko reached out a hand, it lowered its head and butted it gently, like a cat demanding attention. She stroked its muzzle gently.

“I’ve never touched them before,” Kiko said wonderingly. “I always tried to pretend they didn’t exist.”

Xena couldn’t blame her for that. Even gentled, the creatures were horrific. She couldn’t imagine living with them her entire life.

Silence. “Why me?”

Xena stood painfully. “Fuck if I know. Maybe you’re their long lost princess.” She was awarded with a small giggle.

Kiko turned when she let out a cry of pain. “What are you doing?” She hurried to Xena’s side.

“I think I need to get to a hospital,” she said. “Do you know how to drive?”

“Drive?” Kiko squeaked, and the creature growled. “It’s all right!” she told it quickly, before turning her attention back to Xena. “It’s been three years.” She looked Xena over, and her voice firmed. “But yeah. I can take you.”

“Great,” Xena said. “We can take my car. It’s out front.”

Kiko wrapped an arm around Xena’s waist, supporting her as they walked to the door. The monster growled again and quickly blocked their path.

“It’s all right,” Kiko told the creature, her voice trembling but firm. “We need to get through.” They locked gazes, and though Kiko clutched Xena for comfort, she did not waiver.

Snarling, the creature backed away, allowing them to pass.

Glowing red eyes filled the half-lit hallway and created a pool at the bottom of the stairs. The air thrummed with the growls and hisses of their anger. But Kiko held firm, and they kept their distance. They carefully made their way down the stairs.

“Okay, stop, stop.” Moaning, Xena lowered herself onto the bottom step.

“Are you okay?” Kiko asked.

“My adrenaline abandoned me,” Xena said. “Just gotta rest for a sec.”

A sharp knock on the door took them both by surprise.

“Kiko Mori? This is MDPD. Please open the door.”

“The police,” Kiko breathed. The air was suddenly filled with angry howls.

“Ms. Mori? Are you all right in there?”

“It’s okay,” Xena said. “Just open the door.”

Kiko took a deep breath. “You need to hide,” she told the monsters. They snarled, but she pressed. “Now.” She stared them down, ignoring the pounding on the front door. Reluctantly, the creatures faded into the shadows. A faint red glow, easily missed, was the only sign that they remained, ever watchful.

The pounding got more insistent. “Ms. Mori, please open the door right now.”

She did, and tried her best to smile for the officers. It was a weak effort.

“Ms. Mori?” the female officer asked, and Kiko nodded. “I’m Officer Jackson, and this is my partner, Officer Reynolds.” The male officer flashed her a quick, reassuring smile. “We received a report of a break-in in progress,” Officer Jackson continued. “We have a witness who says someone disguised as a delivery girl broke into your house, and that there were sounds of violence.”

“I’m afraid there’s been a misunderstanding, Officer Jackson,” Kiko said. “There wasn’t any break-in.”

“And the fighting?” Officer Jackson pressed. Kiko glanced helplessly back at Xena, drawing the officers’ attention to her. They took in the bloody wash towels and bedsheets covering her wounds, and the bruises that had finally had time to form.

“There’s a first aid kit in the car,” Officer Reynolds said, and he hurried to get it. Officer Jackson’s hand went to the taser on her hip.

“It’s not what you think!” Xena said quickly. “There was a raccoon in the basement.”

Officer Jackson gave her a level look. “A raccoon.”

Fortunately, Xena was an accomplished liar. She adopted the perfect expression of pain and nervousness, mixed with a tinge of embarrassment.

“I was going to downstairs to get…fuck, I don’t even remember, and it just jumped out at me.”

“Where is it now?” the officer asked. Her partner returned with the first aid kit, and she kept a wary eye on both the girls as he stepped inside and squatted beside Xena.

“Locked in the basement,” Xena said. “We didn’t know who to call.” She hissed with pain as Officer Reynolds pulled off Kiko’s bandages and began applying peroxide.

“Can you walk?” Officer Jackson asked. “Do you need me to call an ambulance?”

Xena shook her head. “I just need someone to drive me,” she said, and tried to stand.

Officer Reynolds grabbed her good shoulder and held her in place. “Not so fast, miss,” he said. “That raccoon did quite a number on you. You’re gonna need stitches and a rabies test. Is there a particular hospital we should go to?”

“Who’s got the best drugs?” Xena joked, and quickly regretted it. You didn’t make drug jokes with strange cops.

Fortunately, Officer Reynolds just smiled. “St. Vincent’s is nearby,” he said, securing the final bandage. “All right, allyoop!” He helped Xena to her feet, and led her out the door.

“Wait!” Kiko said. The others turned around to face her. Xena watched her blanch under the attention. After three years of no direct human contact, it must have been overwhelming to deal with three people at once, especially when two of them were cops. She was clearly frightened, but the monsters remained in the shadows, making no move to attack. Their growls were nothing more than a low rumble, barely audible.

“Yes?” Officer Jackson asked patiently.

Kiko took a deep breath. “Can I come with you?” she asked.

Xena looked up at the officer supporting her. “I’d feel more comfortable if she was around,” she told him. Kiko seemed to relax with the support.

The officers exchanged another thoughtful glance. “All right,” Officer Jackson said.

Kiko smiled, and hurried to the door. She hesitated at the threshold, and the monsters growled protest. Officer Jackson looked around suspiciously, but her eyes passed over the shadowy, sinister shapes.

One small creature, almost cat-like, peeled out of the darkness and rubbed against Kiko's leg as though to block her way. She leaned down and scratched behind its ears.

“Thank you,” she murmured, and then stepped through the door.

-----------

Xena sat on the edge of her hospital bed, kicking her legs irritably. The stitches on her arm were hot to the touch and itched badly. She poked at them.

“You shouldn’t do that.” Kiko sat in the visitor’s chair on the other side of the room. A little monster lay on her lap, purring quietly as she stroked its back. There had been more of them earlier, but one by one Kiko had managed to send them home with the reassurance that she would be perfectly safe.

“It itches,” Xena whined.

“It needs to heal,” Kiko said. Her voice was firm, but the creature on her lap cracked an eye open and gave Xena a disapproving look.

Xena huffed and threw herself back onto the hospital bed. “Why are they keeping me here? I’ve got my damn stitches already.”

“The doctor needs to sign your release papers,” Kiko said.

“Fucking hate hospitals,” Xena grumbled.

They sat in an electric silence, punctured only by the monster’s purr.

“Have you called your parents?” Kiko asked.

Xena’s heart clenched. “My parents are on the other side of the country,” she said. Her voice was calm, her tone blase. “There’s no point in worrying them.”

“Maybe.” Kiko looked down. “I’d want to know, though. If I were them. Even if there was nothing I could do.”

Why did Kiko have to push every fucking button? She couldn’t just let a subject rest.

“I’m just not in the mood to be yelled at, okay?” Xena snapped. “ If my mom found out the cops were involved, she’d blow her gasket. And then they’d ask me what the hell I was thinking.” She huffed irritably and threw her head back into the pillow. “I can do without the drama.”

“They’ve got a point,” Kiko said. “Would have a point. If they knew.” She looked down, staring intently at the monster in her lap. “I mean, you broke into my house to fight monsters. You don’t know me. You don’t have any reason to care. But you did it anyway. That’s not normal behavior. I’m grateful,” she hastened to add. “But it’s kinda weird.”

Xena shrugged. “Kinda weird is how I roll,” she said.

She could tell Kiko wasn’t happy with her dismissive answer, but she didn’t know what the other girl wanted to hear. It seemed like a good idea at the time. That was the only reason she had for the things she did. What other reason did she need?

“Are they really that awful?” the other woman asked softly.

Xena stared at the ceiling, fighting the urge to snap.

“They’re not awful,” she said eventually. “We’re just different, that’s all. They’re total nerds. Like, MENSA geniuses. They’ve got brains. I’ve just got a lump of gray stuff. And you may not have noticed, but I am a real pain in the ass.” She looked over at Kiko and tried a grin. The young woman didn’t seem impressed with her effort. She sighed and turned back to the ceiling. “Sometimes you just gotta put some distance between yourselves.”

“That’s why you’re doing the road trip?” Kiko asked.

“It seemed like fun,” Xena said. “I’m not cut out for college. If I’m gonna be stuck with a lifetime of flipping burgers and delivering pizzas, I might as well have fun doing it. I’ve always wanted to travel.”

Kiko picked up the monster in her lap, holding it tightly. It tolerated this treatment with unnatural patience. “I’m jealous,” she admitted.

Xena opened her mouth to say she could travel herself, but what came out instead was “It’s not as romantic as it sounds.”

Kiko studied her, then buried her head in the monster’s fur.

“Where are you going next?”

Xena shrugged. “Dunno. I just drive until I find a place that’s hiring and looks interesting.”

“How do you know when it’s time to leave?”

Xena glanced over, but Kiko wouldn’t meet her eyes.

“You haven’t fallen in love with me already, have you?” she asked jokingly, and was rewarded with a petulant scowl.

“You broke into my house,” Kiko reminded her.

“That’s what princes do!” Xena protested.

“Anyway, no,” Kiko said. “I just…” She struggled with the words. “It might be nice to have a friend.”

It was a painfully honest statement. Xena’s chest tightened. There was something terrifying about it.

The doctor pushed aside the curtains that gave them the illusion of privacy. “Ms. Caldwell?” he said. The monster in Kiko’s arms leapt off and hid under the chair. It had learned quickly to hide itself from the hospital personnel. “I’ve got your papers. You can take these to the nice lady at the front desk and she’ll handle payment.”

Xena carefully manuvered off the bed and took the proffered documents. “I’ve got a prescription for some painkillers and a few antibiotics,” the doctor added. “Your bloodwork doesn’t show any signs of rabies, but with animal wounds, better safe than sorry. You don’t know where those teeth have been.”

Xena smiled. “Thanks Doc.”

He smiled and directed them to the exit. Xena walked slowly, the muscles that weren’t bruised still sore from the unusual amount of exercise. Kiko matched her speed, with seemingly infinite patience.

It might be nice to have a friend.

“Sure,” she said.

“Hm?” Kiko asked.

“Might be nice to have a friend,” Xena said, and felt a strange giddiness when Kiko smiled.


Written for Original Big Bang. Check out the awesome mix that Cherith made to go with it!






Hikikomori by Katie Nolan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
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