The House of Teeth (Con't)

[Katrielle Layton]

Mei sighed, glancing around what appeared to be a living room. Aside from the table in the corner and a group of chairs, though, it was oddly vacant. A lack of dust confirmed that this house had been used recently, although one wouldn’t be able to tell the amount of people nor the length of time they had stayed. An open hallway led to the kitchen, and another door appeared to lead into the basement.

When Kung asked if everyone was alright, she nodded, examining the scratch marks one of the monsters had left behind. “I’m okay,” the climatologist replied, spraying tiny bursts of ice at the wound much like someone would put on an ice pack to dull the pain.

“That was actually pretty fun,” Yuuka mused with a smile on her face. Holding her parasol in a casual manner like nothing happened.

“We could’ve died out there,” pointed out the karate cop.

“You could’ve died,” Yuuka corrected. “I was perfectly capable of handling myself out there.”

“Whatever you say, miss.” Kung Fury turned back to the entrance. The windows had repaired themselves during the short moment in time that no one was looking at them. “…Weren’t those windows broken before?”

Mei got to her feet and walked over to the window, tapping the glass with her finger to make sure it wasn’t an illusion. Indeed, it was fixed. “They were. I’m not sure if I like this place.” Sure, it was helpful that the house had repaired itself, but the Overwatch member couldn’t help but find it suspicious. “At least this place is safer than out there.” Had the monsters left yet? Maybe. It was really hard to tell when they were invisible.

Turning back, she saw that the Youkai was heading into the kitchen. “Don’t worry about me. I’m just exploring.” And with that, she disappeared into the next room.

Now that she had a moment to rest, Mei settled into one of the chairs by the table. Being close up, she noticed the odd device resting in front of her. It took her a moment to recognize the machine, since she hadn’t seen one in decades, but she realized that it was some type of tape player. Despite the theoretical age of the player, it looked relatively new. “Huh!” She picked up the device, alongside the tape that was sitting next to it, and waved Fury over. “Check out what I found! Shall we see what it says?” She inserted the tape cassette and hit the play button.

The voice that spoke was that of a middle-age man, laced with static. “In the psychology of a modern human being, it is difficult to overstate the significance of the house.” The voice was incomprehensible for a few moments. “…Humankind has defined itself by its buildings. Buildings for watching, buildings for socializing, buildings for protection, even buildings for the commemoration of the dead. But of the various structures that mankind invented for itself, the house is the one that mankind relies almost completely for its continued survival.”