Pre-note: Hello, readers! I've decided to try my hands on something new: a horror story. It might be due to the fact that I've been watching too many horror movies lately. The story's premises and progression will be referring to some of those movies, but I believe the one that's most prominent is The Conjuring because it was still very fresh in my mind at the time of writing.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Kingdom Hearts franchise.

Enjoy the read.


Having a renowned mystery novel writer as a father could be great. One wouldn't have to worry about money, for one, because the amount of money flowing into the family from the royalties was just ridiculous. If he wanted to not work after growing up, that would be completely fine, because practically his father's income could cover him and his sibling—if he had had one—for his entire life.

Not only that, he didn't have to worry about education. His parents had made sure that he would be able to stay educated, perhaps for the rest of his life. He didn't really consider himself a bright student—just above average fit him better, he thought—but the tuition support was incentive enough for him to try his hardest so as not to disappoint.

All those perks seemed awesome, and combined with lots and lots of money his father had been making so far, he had everything a boy could have wished for. True, it all made him seem like the epitome of a spoiled brat, but really, there was no denying the fact that he couldn't have asked for anything else, correct?

Wrong. Sora had just found out quite recently that it didn't work like that for him and his family.

Being a writer meant his father was in a constant pursuit of ideas, which had taken him places. Now in the past, travelling had been a totally cool and dandy idea because his father would only go for an excursion and return after a short while, but sadly, it wasn't the case this time. Because his genre of choice was mystery—mostly touching on the macabre business of murder—inspiration wouldn't come as easily as that for, say, fantasy, would.

And what did that mean?

That meant, because a severe writer's block had struck, his father had come up with this brilliant idea of moving out from their current residence into a whole new one. To make things worse, the destination in mind had to be either of the following: in the proximity of a past crime scene, or a past crime scene itself, although this was a piece of information his father had been withholding from the others. Combined with the research and studying of case files, his father believed that being at the heart of the problem—so he said—would do absolute wonders to his performance and boost his writing quality, which ultimately would result in more money.

This was the reason behind the family's moving-out from their hometown of Destiny Islands, the town in which Sora had spent his ten years of life. By doing so, he had left his past behind: the cozy home, the beaches, the parks, and the school. It had been very difficult for him to turn his back toward everything he had experienced and walk away.

But nothing could have possibly come as close as the loss of his friends.

Having to leave Riku and Kairi, his childhood friends, had utterly devastated him. He could still remember the looks coming from them when he first told them that he would be leaving; they had stared at him as though he had grown four additional heads. The extremely bitter aftertaste of their heartfelt farewell still lingered even until now, and truth be told, it hurt a lot.

Because of all those things, Sora had been silent ever since leaving the Islands. He had opted to withdraw and stay at the very back of the family's RV, staying busy with his handheld game console and only emerging to the middle portion when he felt the need to either dehydrate or relieve himself. Lucky for him, his parents had decided to give him all the time he needed to cope, because if they had so much as asked what he might have needed, perhaps he would have just ignored them.

Finally, after a long and exhausting journey on the road, the family reached their destination. And the place they would soon be calling "home" was nothing short of lofty.

It wasn't your everyday, ordinary house. In fact, a house would be quite an understatement to describe the building.

It was a mansion.

Located within a few kilometres from the frontiers of a quaint town known to locals as Twilight Town, the mansion stood proud as though boasting that it had survived the harsh tests of time and nature. Old, yet still retaining its glory, it was protected by solid brick walls to all four directions, beyond which lay an expanse of pine trees. There were two ways in and out: the first was through a tall, intimidating steel gate that would open only via the use of a remote, while the other, a much smaller one next to it with a simple doorknob-style locking mechanism.

Past the gates was a lawn, through the middle of which a paved walkway cut and led to the main building. A few stone pillars—some had crumbled—lined the walkway. Strangely, the pillars possessed a certain je ne sais quoi that made Sora feel uneasy when walking past them; it was as though they were scrutinising him intently with eyes and ears unseen, watching every movement he made with each step.

The interior of the mansion was also a marvel to their eyes. Upon opening the main doors, their eyes were treated with a sight of a grand foyer, its walls and tiles golden from the glow of the twilight. Directly across and in between two flights of stairs leading up was a plexiglass door, and through it one could see a court that connected to the backyard. On either side of the foyer were a few doors and doorways, and so were on the second floor.

This was simply too big a house for a family of three, and Sora couldn't help but wonder how in the world his father could purchase it for a relatively small amount of money. But he wouldn't complain; as long as he had a place to sleep, eat, and play, he should be fine.

It was such a shame that though shelter could be replaced, memories and friends could not. And no matter how well-off and sustained he might be right now, it would take long before he could let go of his memories of the days bygone.

"Well, this is it… our new home. It's really a blessing we can move in here, and I'm sure it's for the better," said Sora's father. Although he was the most familiar with the house out of the three of them, perhaps because he had been here in the past during his survey, he was still visibly in awe.

They say home is where the heart is, but Sora's heart was still back on the Islands.

This wasn't his home, not just yet.


The sun was shining gently, although that was the harshest it would ever get around here. True to its name, in Twilight Town and its vicinity, the sun never seemed to rise more than a few degrees above the horizon. Some said this was caused by geographical irregularities, some planetary inclination, and some paranormal reasons, but the fact remained that the area always experienced golden days.

The warm tone that was cast all over the land would surely support melancholy, relaxation, laziness, and winding-down in general. Unlike locals who had grown accustomed, tourists, visitors, and newcomers were the ones who were affected the most by this phenomenon; red-yellow rays of the sun and orange skies were reminiscent of evenings, that time of the day when people would return from work and school to reunite and unwind with their families.

And since Sora was a newcomer, he was affected.

He had brought the suitcases containing his belongings into a bedroom. He was supposed to unpack, but felt too tired and lazy to do so. Instead, he had thrown himself into the bed—which was surprisingly springy—and observed the rather spacious room that was now of his own.

The colour scheme of the room was rather unusual. Two opposing walls had been painted completely white, while the other pair, black. The tiles had been arranged in a checkerboard pattern. Even the furniture—wardrobe, study desk, chair, end table, and the frame of the queen-sized bed—was all either black or white. It was as though in this room, only those two colours were allowed and all others were prohibited, making Sora feel as though he had contaminated its purity when he covered the bed with his multicoloured bed sheets.

On the end table by the bed stood a lamp, also conveniently coloured black and white. Obviously, with that little star on top of it, the lamp was designed for children. Sporting a few scratches, it looked quite old, and Sora was surprised that it could still work just fine when he flicked the switch; he had expected it to fail to function at all.

Now that was what Sora thought was strange with this house. His father had said that the house had been vacant for a few years before they moved in, yet everything was still in perfect order. From the moment he stepped inside the house, not once had he spotted a single speck of dust, and all electronic and plumbing utilities integrated with the house worked in an almost impeccable manner save for a flickering light bulb in the hallway directly outside his room. Whoever he or she was, the housekeeper had done a very commendable job in keeping everything smooth.

All things considered, he returned his focus on the room he was in. Taking the unorthodox theme of the room, the design of the bedside lamp, the presence of a study desk, and the relatively tiny size of the wardrobe—almost exactly the same size as his old one—into thought, Sora came to a conclusion that this room had once belonged to a child, possibly not much older or younger than he was.

"Sora, honey. Have you finished unpacking your stuff?"

Suddenly, in the midst of his musing, he could hear that voice echoing down the hallway and into his room. He had to act fast; it had been several hours since they had arrived at this mansion and Sora still hadn't taken out anything other than his bed sheets from one of his suitcases. His mother wouldn't be too happy about this, and with that in mind, he sprang up from the bed, immediately unzipped his suitcases, and scattered his clothes unceremoniously all over the room to make it appear that he had done something.

"Doing it right now, mom," he said in reply to his mother's inquiry. At least he wasn't lying.

A few moments later, his mother came strolling in. Seeing the room in a total mess, she sighed and smiled weakly. "Well, that's… not exactly what I had in mind by unpacking. These things have to go somewhere, and that's the wardrobe over there," she said while seating herself next to her son on the floor. "I know you hate folding clothes, so do you want some help?"

Sora shook his head and refused politely. He knew his mother was only here to check on him and probably was in the middle of something important, so he didn't want to trouble her further. "I'll be fine. Seriously, though…" he said, his voice trailing off. "Do we really have to do this?"

The mother just shrugged in reply. "Is it my fault that you have so many video games? Next you'd be complaining about how heavy all those consoles are combined. For real, Sora, you could kill a bear with your suitcase here."

"That's not what I meant…"

Sensing the depression behind Sora's voice, she immediately understood what he was trying to convey across. She held him in a hug and rubbed his back in circles, because this gesture had never failed to calm him down. "You know how important this is for your father. I know it's hard to leave everything behind… trust me, I wished we didn't have to move."

"You wished. Past tense," said Sora dejectedly, although he returned the hug nonetheless.

"Things happen, Sora, and sometimes there's nothing we can do about it. But remember, everything has a bright side."

"Like what?"

"Like… we don't have to start from scratch, for one. And it's near Twilight Town. We both know there's a good school there, and you'll be going there."

Sora wanted to mention Riku and Kairi, but refrained. That would just make him feel worse. "But when? And until then, I'd be alone."

"What are you saying, honey? Dad and I will be here with you. It's not like I can straightaway get a decent job, although that'd be real nice. Besides, you know you'd only lose your way when left alone in a house as gigantic as this."

At his mother's words, Sora gave a light chuckle and decided to play along. "That's not losing my way. It's called ex-plor-ing," he said, breaking down the word into its syllables so distinctly.

"Really? And what are you hoping to discover, young explorer?"

"A treasure room. And when I find it, everything inside it is gonna be for me."

"Well, I wish you good luck, because this seasoned explorations veteran here has the same intention."

"Hehe, I'll show you you're wrong. You should get ready to lose, mom."

By now, Sora had returned to his cheerful self, although in his sea-blue eyes still lingered a trace of sadness. That, however, would eventually go away completely; he just needed some time to cope, and during that period, he should always be kept entertained to ease his mind from the emotional burden he was undergoing right now. This was just a transitional phase, and everybody knew it was always a particularly harsh period of time, but Sora would manage and fare well.

With that in mind, the mother loosened his hug and kissed him on the forehead. "Alright, I should be going now. If anything, you know where to find me, right?"

"The last room along the hallway across. See, I remember," replied Sora. "I told you, this young explorer won't get lost."

Yes, Sora would be just fine, alright. The mother gave a small smile, stood up, and turned around, preparing to leave to attend to what she needed to take care of…

"Oh, and mom?"

But Sora stopped her with his words. She turned around once again, seeing her caramel-haired son looking down at the floor. Before she could ask what was wrong, Sora lifted his head and looked at her, showing her that megawatt smile pasted on his face.

"Thanks. I feel better now," he said in gratitude.

She couldn't resist cracking a smile of her own. Now this, she thought, was more like the Sora she had always known. "You're welcome, honey," she replied before walking out and shutting the door.

Once again, Sora was left in the bedroom by himself. His mood having been lightened from that exchange, the boy took a deep breath and exhaled audibly, trying his best to let go of the past he had grown so fond of and attached to. While it was true that he might no longer be able to meet with Riku and Kairi, it wasn't like technology hadn't advanced that he couldn't drop them emails or, better yet, video-conference with them in real time via the Internet. In addition, he would surely make friends with new people at his new school, so life really wouldn't be that miserable.

And his mother was correct. The sheer size of this house practically called for a good exploration. Although he was merely kidding when saying that he was hoping to discover a room filled with treasure, who was to say he wouldn't come across anything interesting in the house? A secret passage accessible through the backyard, a hidden chamber beneath the stairwell, or even a door to another world taking the form of a wardrobe just like in that one movie… it all was possible, and at this thought, Sora grinned even more widely.

Indeed, there were so many things to do and look forward to. Possibly, this journey might not be as hard as he had previously thought.


Post-note: It was a slow start, alright, considering this was just an introductory chapter. Do let me know how the story is looking so far, and I always appreciate constructive criticisms. Just be aware though that unlike my ongoing story, Memories of Days Bygone, this one won't have fixed update schedules. Until the next chapter!