T H E     N I S H I M M U R A    M A N S I O N

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Minato opened his eyes and straightened his upper back as a gasp left his mouth... 

His brother's face was the first thing he saw after waking up from the horrible nightmare. . .

Jason had never stopped laughing, at least not since Minato woke up.

"Why are you laughing?" asked Minato, making a silly face at him.

"Do you actually know that you're soaked in piss right now? ... haha ... haha," Jason said, lapsing into another burst of laughter as Minato looked down at his own shorts...

"Jeez! Wa... Wha... What the..." He stammered and quickly jumped out of bed, pushing Jason out of the way as he tried to take pictures of him, and ran into the bathroom to shower.

One thing he also wished was part of the nightmare was "peeing," but alas, it wasn't.

"What time is it, Jason?" Minato asked Jason as he turned on the shower.

"It's 10:00," he replied.

"Damn!" Exclaimed Minato, remembering that he had an appointment for a job interview at exactly 11:00 this morning.

"The interview, right? That is why I'm here to wake you up early," Jason said.

"You think this is early?" Minato asked rhetorically, walking out of the bathroom. From his body dripped the cold water from the shower.

Jason was sitting on the stool next to the bed... He was reading the book Minato had fallen asleep with last night after reading only the first chapter.

Jason read only the first few lines and reached for the title of the book.

"The Dark Ones," he read aloud. . .

"Is this the reason for your nightmare?" He said to Minato and waved the book in the air, placing his index finger between the cover and the first page.

"Well, I don't know, I think it's only natural," Minato said to his brother.

"You haven't had a nightmare since . . .the last . . .say...15 years. I think that's strange. Remember how I used to describe to you what it felt like, and you didn't know what I was talking about until you had one yourself? That was it, wasn't it? I didn't hear anything more from you about nightmares after that," Jason said.

"Yes, I know, but as grandfather used to say, sore ga anata o nozomanai kagiri, anata wa shizen o damasu koto ga dekimasen," he replied to Jason.

"You can't cheat nature unless it wants you to... I really miss the old man." Said Jason, interpreting the Japanese proverb that Minato had said. Something their grandfather had told them a long time ago.

It's been two years since he died, but it feels like yesterday," Minato said approvingly.

While the conversation was still going on, Minato had almost finished preparing for the interview when he sat back down on his bed and began to put on his shoes.

"I am ready, how do I look?" He asked after  he had put on his shoes - standing upright and looking quite smart.

"Like you already got the job," Jason said with a grin on his face. Minato could see he was already proud of him.

Jason picked up his car keys from the bed where he had dropped them.

"Come on! I'll drop you off, I'm almost late for work," he said as he got up and headed for the door.

By this time it was already 10:25.

Minato pulled his backpack out of the dressing room; it contained all of his files and other valuable documents that he thought would be useful for the interview. Just before he could turn around from the dressing room, he heard his phone ring.

"Oh, it's Mom," he said with a grin, picking up the phone.

“Baby, are you ready for your first job interview?”

"Good morning mom. Yes, I'm ready, Jason is about to drop me off at the office," Minato replied. He hated being called baby, and it seemed like that was the only thing his mother liked to call him.

 “I hope you know there's nothing I'd like more than to be by your side on this very special day.”

"Don't worry Mom, you can't break the promise you made to Grandpa just so you can see me at my first job interview... It's not like it's my birthday or anything," Said Minato to her, trying to reassure her because she knew what this day meant to her, even if he didn't find anything special about it. It was just a job interview.

She believed that a man isn't really "a man" until he has his own paid job - at least she let her sons believe this to motivate them during their school years.

“Yeah, I know... I know it's not your birthday. But today my baby finally becomes a man.”

"But mom, you talk like I already got the job, you know it's just an interview, right? I mean... these things happen."

“Are you trying to be pessimistic here? I know you're going to get the job, and no one else deserves it more than my baby.”

"All right, Mom," Minato told her, handing Jason the phone.

"Hello mom," Jason said to the phone... 

Their conversation was discreet, Minato could only see Jason nodding to each statement their mother made.

Minato could tell that she was giving Jason some sort of instruction to take care of him, as his eyes were fixed on him while he said a series of "Alright, Mom."

"Mom says she loves you," Jason told him as he ended the call and handed him his phone.

They left the bedroom in a flash and went straight to the garage. . .

"Tell me about the nightmare you had," Jason said to Minato as he was about to open the garage. Minato froze behind Jason. He hadn't seen that coming. He hadn't expected Jason to still be talking about it at this hour. It really wasn't a big deal to him, and he had no idea why his brother was so worried.

"Just forget it, it's stupid anyway," he replied, making a gesture to express how stupid he thought it was.

"Hit me, I'll be the judge of that," he countered, trying to force Minato to let it out.

"All right," Minato agreed, on the condition that he wouldn't think it was stupid, too.

By this time, they had already gotten into the car. As Minato was about to buckle up, he began to tell what his dream was about.

"Well, about the nightmare. It's kind of weird, and I don't remember every detail, but the main thing... i think it was..."

Minato paused. He spoke, and then he was deep in thought as fragments of memories of the dream replayed in his mind. Jason expected him to continue after a few seconds, but he didn't. He glanced briefly at his brother, who was staring impassively at the dashboard of the car, and furrowed his brows.

"Why did you stop? I'm listening."

He didn't even realize he'd stopped talking until Jason spoke. . .

They had been traveling on a narrow road that would take them from the reserved area where their mansion was located to the highway that would lead into the city.

"Can we just - I do not know why, but I think we should stop talking about this nightmare. I literally get chills when I remember even one scene from that nightmare. Everything was so real, and it scares me," Minato told Jason, staring down the street.

Jason was driving, but his eyes were not on the road. He was so focused on his brother, and since their car was the only car on the road since they had left, he had become comfortable with the idea of not having to pay attention. The curiosity buzzing around in his head took all his attention off the road.

"What are you even talking about? I thought you said-' Jason broke off.

Minato's eyes widened and his mouth stopped open as he watched the paved road break apart in front of them. A shrill sound came from the area that also caught Jason's attention.

"What the hell..." Jason froze as he finally noticed the inauspicious and sudden change in weather. His mouth also dropped open as he caught sight of the crumbling road ahead of them.

His hands slipped from the steering wheel in shock, sending the car careening uncontrollably toward the area of the road where the earth seemed to be evaporating. They both cried out as a pale green light emerged from the deep crack in the road ahead. . .