With a shaking hand, he took the book. He stared at the book in his hand for some time before taking a deep breath. Slowly, he opened the book and flipped through the pages. But nothing had yet been written in it. He was disappointed.
“Kaien,” Allen came to Kaien with a book in his hand. It looked like he had found his book too. “I found a book with my name as the title, but the inside was empty.”
“Yeah, same here,” Kaien waved his book in front of Allen.

“Why is it empty?”
“I guess because our story hasn’t finished yet or no one could write it yet,” Kaien guessed. “I guess we have to find a different way.”
“I wish I could help more,” Allen said with disappointment. “But I couldn’t do anything.”
“Don’t look so down,” Kaien tried to cheer up Allen. “You can look around and pick any book you like. Perhaps, there would be something in the book.”
“Oh. Ok! I’ll look around. Don’t push yourself too much, ok?”
Kaien just nodded and watched Allen gone among the bookshelf. He was wondering if there were books of Dom or Sean. Perhaps the books could tell their story. But when Kaien looked around, he could not locate any book titles ‘Dominique Drancezci’ or ‘Sean Sutcliffe’. He had questioned Benji and Nathan if they had seen any of the books, but same as him, they never stumbled upon such a book.
What if Dominique Drancezci is not Dominique Drancezci? What if Sean Sutcliffe was not Sean Sutcliffe? There were so many ‘what if’ questions in Kaien’s head that made his head feel so hot. Kaien took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He started to think about what he had known so far and combined them one by one like a puzzle.
Kaien went to the nearest table, grabbed the pen and paper on it and began to jot down all his thoughts. Everything in his head went so fast like someone was talking so fast and nonstop. And he had to write them all. After a while, Kaien stopped writing and reread what he had written.
‘Dominique’s diary.
He did not write the diary.
Dominique’s book.
He hid his book.
Sean is not Sean.
He is not him.
The mansion is not the mansion.
The devil is not the devil.
Everything is here, nothing is here.
They are here, but they are not here.
They are everywhere.’
Kaien scratched his head. Everything he wrote did not make sense at all. He did not understand anything. He was trying to relate everything with each other, but it gets more confusing and nonsense at all. Above all, he knew there was something wrong with Sean and the mansion. He knew there was something between them.
No matter how hard Kaien thinks, he still could not figure out anything. He folded the paper and put it in his pocket. He decided to look for the mansion’s book. But nothing could be found. There was no such book titled ‘The Mansion’. Perhaps, it was in a different title. Then Kaien remembered that the mansion had a name. He closed his eyes, trying to remember the name. What’s the mansion's name?
‘House of Malach HaMavet.’
A voice whispered to Kaien’s ears and whispered back. “House of Malach HaMavet,”
Suddenly Kaien saw a faint glow from a bookshelf that was a few steps in front of him. He went to the bookshelf, but the glow was already gone. He reached for a book where he thought the glow came from and the book cover read, ‘‘House of Malach HaMavet.’
Just like Kaien thought, something in this house could read minds and grant whatever you want. Allen, Benji and Nathan might not realize yet, but Kaien guesses that was how they found their book so fast. Anything that he wished for would just appear right in front of him.
Kaien opened the book and began to read it. First things found out was something that he already knew. The meaning of ‘House of Malach HaMavet’. It means the House of Angels of Dark and Light. But the book did not say why the mansion was named like that. So, he continued reading until he found something that caught his interest.
‘The form of the mansion changes. It changes based on the master’s power. . .’ That was what the book said.
Kaien closed the book and thought, ‘So, that’s the ‘things’ that are lurking in the mansion.’ Kaien did not go out of his room much, so he could not confirm what the book said. Perhaps, Benji or Nathan would know since they had explored a lot.
Just in time, Kaien thought when he heard Nathan’s giggle from somewhere near where he stood. Really? Everything that he wanted or thought of would suddenly appear just like that?
He went looking for Nathan and saw him sitting on the floor with a book on his lap. Clearly Nathan was unaware that Kaien was looking at him. Whatever the book he was reading, it must be really interesting that it could make him giggle non-stop and unaware of his surroundings.
“Ahem. . .” Kaien tried to get Nathan’s attention and it worked.
Nathan looked at Kaien and responded, “Oh Kai, I didn’t notice you were there. I-I found the book you talked about, but it’s empty. So. . .”
“It’s ok. I know. What did you read just now?”
“Oh, this?” Nathan showed the book he was reading to Kaien. “It’s a story about dolphins. They are so cute and funny. I love them! Hihihi! Do you want to read?”
“No, no. Thank you,” Kaien politely declined. “Nathan, I want to ask you something,” Kaien questioned and took a seat next to Nathan. “You and Benji went around the mansion a lot, right? Do you notice anything. . . . urm. . . weird?”
“Anything weird? No, nothing like that,” answered Nathan. “Nothing weird. This mansion is just too big. That’s all. Right, Benji?”
Kaien looked behind him and saw Benji was standing there. Perhaps, he heard Nathan’s giggling earlier and came here too. Then he joined Kaien and Nathan, sitting on the floor.
“That’s the weird thing. The mansion was too big,” Benji said.
“It’s a mansion,” Nathan argued. “Of course it’s big,”
“How many rooms have you seen or visited so far,” Kaien interrupted before their argument got worse.
“Urm. . . I don’t know,” Nathan answered, scratching his head. “Too many. There’s a TV room, gym, theater room, big bathroom, study room, music room, and many bedrooms.”
“I see. Did you use the rooms?” asked Kaien.
“Yeah. Haha! Sorry. They are really a nice room,” Nathan answered, embarrassing.
“Did you visit the same room twice or over and over again?”
“No. No,” Benji quickly replied.
“How do you know it's a different room or the room you haven't visited yet?”
“Haha! Because the doors are different, Kai. Haha!” Nathan exclaimed.
After hearing that, Kaien concluded that this mansion was not a normal mansion. It was ‘alive’. Even though he did not go out of his room often, he noticed something in his room too.

Kaien was aware all this time that the objects in his room moved around on their own when he did not look. Some objects just appeared out of nowhere. Like the laundry basket was not in the room when he first arrived, but later there was a laundry basket in the room as he needed one. There was a basket of fruits and bread on the table, and the mineral water in the jug was always full.
Some objects suddenly just disappeared like a comb since he never touched it because he had brought his own. It was just all this time he thought Dom was the one who came into his room and moved all those objects. But now Kaien knew it was not Dom. It was the room, the mansion.
He was sure when he was not around or looking, the hallways would multiply, new doors would appear and some doors would vanish. When he went out of his room for lunch or dinner, there were new doors when he went back the way he came, and some stairs would lead to nowhere.
When he got lost on the first night, it was not because he did not know this place, it was because he had nowhere to go in his mind. When he was tired and wanted to go to his room quickly, the hallway led directly to his room. And he just noticed them all now.