CHAPTER 133

Yuki transformed back into a human, and threw herself at the gate. A tarot card vanished from her hand and a series of staves embedded themselves through the iron bars of the creaking gate, barring it shut.

Cerberus appeared through the gloom and growled at them, padding closer. Easily fifteen feet tall, the three-headed dog could easily lean over the wall and snap one of them up.

"Oh, you are totally not invited in here," Mike announced, then rolled out of sight when all three heads started barking at him. Behind the wall, he heard the low throaty growl of the Cerberus followed by the sound of padded feet going back into the forest.

"Shit, that was close," he said, wiping the sweat from his brow.

"Mike?" Yuki's back was against the wall, and she was staring toward the house.

"What's up?" He turned to look, and his jaw dropped.

The house was dark, as if it had been stained in shadows. It was smaller than normal, and he realized they were standing in the front yard, not the back. The stone lions were no longer there, and neither were any of the gardens. Instead, it was as if the house had reverted to its original form, the one he had seen on his very first day there.

"What the fuck?" He stood and Yuki joined him. He realized that the sky was still overcast, and a large wall of fog was pressed against the outer perimeter of the wall, creating an odd hollow that extended up into the sky. "What happened here?"

"I have no idea." She looked out the gate. "Cerberus is gone. Should we go inside?"

"Unless you want to play tag with a three headed dog again, then yes." He walked toward the house, his heart falling. The front porch creaked under his feet, and he noticed that half of the porch swing had been taken off its chain. He walked over and hooked it back together and gave it a push.

It creaked ominously at them as they walked into the house together. The home's furniture was covered in large drop cloths, and there was a layer of dust on everything.

"It's like it was the first day I moved in," he said, then looked at Yuki. "Like, a copy of the place from before I met Naia."

"Maybe it is the same place. A copy that swaps with the house when the current Caretaker dies, so that its secrets remain hidden. That would make sense, I guess." She walked to the stairs and looked up at the second floor. "Don't know why, but this place gives me a bad feeling."

Mike looked up. The landing where his room was looked darker somehow, as if the light had been sucked out of it. "Agreed. Let's take a peek out back, see if the fog goes all the way around. Maybe we can just go out the back and try to find our way home from there?"

Yuki nodded, and followed him out the back door. Once they stepped outside, he saw that the back yard had shrunk back to its original shape and size. The wall of fog extended here as well, and he groaned.

Sitting on the edge of Naia's fountain was a figure in a simple gown. It looked like a woman, and she was hunched forward, her attention seemingly on the ground.

"Um..." Mike looked at Yuki. The kitsune's eyes were narrow, and she was already clutching a tarot card in one hand.

"Let's do this," she muttered, then moved ahead of him. He realized that her sword was gone, and wondered if she dropped it in the fog. When they got close to the fountain, he saw that the figure had dark skin that was etched with intricate patterns that seemed to shift, though the figure herself had yet to move.

"Don't move," Yuki said, and the figure sat up straight, her hair tumbling down her shoulders. "Turn around slowly so we can see you or I'll turn you into a block of ice."

The figure obeyed, and held her arms out as she turned. Clutched in one hand was a tattered paperback novel, and when she looked at them, Mike realized that her skin looked like the bark of a tree. Her dark eyes watched them from beneath a tangle of hair that looked like wilted roots, and her eyes widened in recognition.

"Yuki? Is that you?" The woman dropped her book and stared in awe.

"Am...Amymone?" Yuki lowered her hands. "Is that really you?"

The dryad's eyes welled up in tears and she ran across the yard and threw herself into Yuki's arms, then tore herself free. "Wait, does this mean...did you die?"

Yuki was crying now as well, and she wiped tears from her eyes. "No, I'm not dead. I'm here with Mike, he's the new Caretaker. Mike, this is my friend, Amymone."

Amymone looked at Mike, then back at Yuki. "He's the new Caretaker? Really?"

"He is."

"Hell, yeah!" She pumped her fist in the air and then spun around, her arms outstretched. "I've been so fucking bored in here! There's nobody to talk to and I've only had one thing to read this whole time." She threw herself at Mike and wrapped her arms around him. "I assume you came here for me, right? I am so over this place, when do we leave?"

Mike and Yuki looked at each other.

"Uh..." Mike grimaced. "Amymone, right? Yeah, we didn't know you were here. We just kind of stumbled on this place."

"Oh." The light in her eyes faded, and was followed by a large scowl. "You didn't even know I was here? That means...you probably don't have my heart wood, do you?"

He shook his head. "I'm so sorry, I really am."

Amymone let out a groan. The silence between them was deafening, and after a minute passed, Mike opened his mouth to say something when he heard the sound of someone tapping on a window.

He turned and looked up. It was his own bedroom window, and a woman with long, blonde curls disappeared behind the curtains. A low, mournful wail filled the air, and Yuki started breathing fast, her features going pale.

"Shit. Looks like you've caught Emily's attention as well. Good thing she's stuck in there, rancid bitch." Amymone shook her head and walked over to the fountain, her eyes on the distant wall of fog. When she sat down, she placed her chin on her fist and sighed. "Being dead fucking sucks."