A/N: I'm in a Halloween mood. So what better way to celebrate than to stick the Rent characters in a haunted house? I just was really bored in English with nothing to do, so I came up with this idea! Wild, right? Reviews are as much love as the ghost of Angel!
OMG IT'S A GHOST!
Chapter 1
Mark pulled out his camera as he walked past the house on his way to Buzzline that day. He filmed carefully, trying to get the effect of eeriness that the house had. If he were to have listened harder, he could've sworn that he heard someone playing the drums.
That evening, when he got back to the loft, he showed Roger, Mimi, Collins, Maureen, and Joanne the footage.
Joanne was freaked. "That house is around here?"
"Yep," said Mark.
"What was that drumming?" asked Mimi. She'd gotten really weak since last Christmas Eve, and she hung on only because of her devotion to Roger.
Mark shrugged.
"Well, I say we investigate!" chirped Maureen. Everyone stared at her as if she was crazy.
"Maureen, you're crazy," said Collins. "That house will eat us alive!"
"Oh, don't be stupid!" snapped Maureen. "Houses don't eat people!"
Mark rolled his eyes. For once, Maureen was right.
"I say we should try. After all, what's the worst that could happen?" said Roger, glancing around the loft.
"Well, we could die," Mimi pointed out.
"Well, we're all gonna die anyway. It's a matter of when and how," Roger argued.
In the end, everyone agreed to go investigate the house.
"You go first, Maureen," said Joanne, shoving Maureen closer to the old mansion.
"Why me?" Maureen squeaked.
"It was your idea," Joanne told her, giving her another shove.
Maureen gulped, walked forward, and opened the door.
Nothing happened.
"See?" Maureen chuckled nervously. "Nothing to it."
Everyone reluctantly followed her into the house.
Somewhere inside, something fell over.
"Roger, I wanna go home!" Mimi said, grabbing him. She had just seen something fly past in front of them.
Maureen rolled her eyes. "Come on, guys. If we haven't died yet, I don't think we're going to."
Joanne agreed and followed Maureen. Collins went next, then Mark, then Roger. Mimi brought up the rear.
As the rest of the gang disappeared into another room, something tapped Mimi's shoulder. Mimi gasped and turned towards it.
It was a transparent girl about Mimi's own age. She smiled warmly. "There's someone here you have to see," she said, beckoning Mimi. Her voice was like small bells.
Mimi shrieked and ran to catch up with Roger.
"What's wrong, Mimi?" asked Roger as Mimi ran into him in her terror.
"Ghost! Ohmigod, Ohmigod, Ohmigod!" she gasped.
"A ghost? Mimi, there's no such thing."
"I saw her! She was short, and young, and her voice was like bells!"
The description sounded familiar to Roger, but he couldn't figure out where he knew it from. It was like something he heard in a dream…
The floor creaked under their feet, but other than that, the house was silent. Mimi didn't see anything of the ghost again, and neither did anyone else. Once, in the path of the flashlight, Maureen saw a rat, but other than that there was nothing creepy about the house, despite what everyone had assumed.
Time passed. Collins sighed. "I'm going to wait here you guys," he told them. "I'm beat."
"Okay, Collins. Don't hurt yourself," warned Mark. Collins rolled his eyes.
Shortly after everyone's footsteps faded away, Collins saw a strange white light growing several feet in front of him. Collins gasped as the light transformed into the shimmering semi-transparent form of a young woman. She smiled at him.
Collins knew that smile, but like Roger with the ghost's voice, he couldn't place where he knew it from.
The girl took him by the hand. Her fingers sent a chill through his body. "Come on," she said in her tinkling voice, "I have someone to show you."
Collins didn't move.
"It's urgent," said the ghost. Her waist-long hair fluttered around her as if it was being blown by a non-existent breeze. "She's been dying to say something."
Collins looked at her face, then at her small hand. Despite the many bangles that covered her wrist, he could see the small scar on her wrist. It looked as if she'd cut herself before she died. Collins gasped. Suddenly, he was able to place her voice, her looks, and her smile in his memory.
It was Roger's beloved April.