Me: This story inspired by J.B. Stamper's 'House of Horrors'. This is my first Naruto fanfic, so yeah. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Of course I do not own any Naruto characters mentioned in the story…or Konoha. –Masashi Kishimoto dangles Naruto above my head- Stop that! Gimme!
Summary: A fifteen year old girl is forced to work at an October carnival for a month as a tour guide for the "House of Spook". What she and her co-workers don't know is…one of the wax dummies shows interest in her and refuses to stay put.
CHAPTER ONE
"Soru, I got you a job."
"Really?! Oh, thank you so much, dad! Where is it? What is it?! Ooh, I'm so excited!"
"Oh, it's quite far back in the woods-"
"The woods?..."
"Don't interrupt. Now, you'll be working as a tour guide at the carnival that's going to be set up. It'll only be here for a month, this October, and I know you have a job working at that sushi bar, but it's not good enough. This one will give you a decent pay."
"Dad, it's-"
"Yes, Soru, it's in the woods, I know. I know you don't like the woods, but I've told you time and time again, there's nothing to fear, I promise you, it's not haunted. And besides, there will be lots of other people there, too, co-workers, tourists. Plus, you get free popcorn!"
"Oh, joy, popcorn. Fluffy, buttery little pieces of corn that will definitely save me from the ghosts."
"Listen here, missy. I got you a job, and it seems you're ungrateful. You can either take the job, or I'll tell them that you wont be working there, and you can go work in that dump of a sushi bar with that girl you hate ever so much….Matsi…Matsu…"
"NO! Spare me! I'll take the job, anything to get away from Matsuri! I love you dad, thank you!"
"Matsuri, that's her name! Anyways, I knew you'd see it my way."
"Yeah, I guess it wont be that bad…I hope…"
"That's the spirit!"
"What have I gotten myself into?!"
Day 1
The conversation had taken place only two months ago, but Soru felt as if it were a week ago. The past two months had flown by way too fast, and now here she was, on the first evening of October, walking down the pathway that led deeper into the woods near her hometown of Konoha, ready to sacrifice herself to the carnies.
'Okay,' she thought to herself, 'Maybe if I list the things I like and don't like about this, I'll feel better. Yeah, like writing it in a journal!'
'Okay, bad stuff first.'
'Number one: It's in the creepy woods.'
'Number two: I always hated carnivals.'
'Number three: If a clown comes within a hundred feet of me, I'll sock him in the face…'
'Number four: If my friends find out about this, my dignity will be gone forever.'
'Okay, good stuff.'
'Number one: There'll be a lot of people there.'
'Number two: Free popcorn.'
'Number three: I'll get away from Matsuri for a month.'
'Number four:……………….uh?.'
'Alright, one more bad thing. Number five: The bad outnumbers the good. I'm officially doomed. Please, God, just strike me down now.'
Okay, so, things weren't looking too bright at the moment, and Soru was on the edge of having a nervous breakdown. She played with a lock of her shoulder blade-length dark brown hair, and chewed on her lip. Bad habits of nervousness that she'd had for a long time.
Time went on, and the more she walked, the jumpier and more nervous she got, crying out at every sound and practically shrieking when a squirrel ran across her path. She glanced back and forth through the tall trees, thinking of nothing but ghosts, which was a fear of hers since as long as she could remember. That and clowns. She was so terrified after around thirty minutes, that the poor girl never saw it coming as she turned and came face to face with a huge neon sign. She screamed and fell to the ground, heart racing, threatening to beat right out of her chest.
It wasn't until she heard a familiar voice that she looked up, and saw to her horror, a fellow classmate and best bud of hers, Naruto Uzumaki. He was running towards her, waving a hand high above his head and wearing a concerned expression on his face.
But she realized that this was, in fact, not Naruto. No, their voices just sounded the same. The person running at her was as far from Naruto as you could get. He normally wore something bright and sunny, and his hair was the brightest blonde you'd ever see. But this boy was wearing a black suit, and a black cape to match. His hair was black as night, not yellow blonde. He reminded her of something, and it hit her.
Vampire.
Sure, his eyes were the same blue as Naruto's, sure he was as tall as Naruto, sure he had those same familiar yet strange lines on his round cheeks, but this was not Naruto.
Soru leapt up from the ground before the boy could reach her, and was about to shout at him to stay away, but he yelled to her first, "Hey Soru, I can't believe you're working here! Sasuke told me you were, but I didn't believe him, you know how he is. Guess what, he's working here, too!" He stopped right in front of her, and in the same loud voice, told her, "Look at my hair! Surprised you, hunh?! Isn't it neat?! I had it dyed for the month!"
Omigosh, it was Naruto. He was just dressed up and his hair was just dyed. Soru felt like kicking her own butt for thinking he was…supernatural.
"Heh, uh, yeah, I'm working here too. Er, Sasuke is?" she said dumbly, and chalked up another reason to kick her own butt. Why did she have to sound so stupid? Why?
"Yeah, sucks, huh? His mom signed him up, he said something about being too lazy. Sounds like Shikamaru, doesn't he?" he laughed. Soru grinned at him, her normal, hyperactive self returning. That's what had made it so easy for her and Naruto to be such good friends. Hyperactivity. Couldn't live without it, they said.
"Hah, yeah, my dad signed me up because he had the chance, and he hates my current job at the sushi bar." Soru said, and Naruto tilted his head, something he'd learned from the girl standing in front of him.
"The sushi bar on that street where the shop is that sells antiques?" he asked.
"The very one. Anyways, so duck-butt-head is working here as well?" Soru asked him.
"Yeah, he and I are tour guides for that cool 'House of Spook'. Corny name, right? So where are you working?" he confirmed.
"I'm a tour guide, too! Ooh, this is so neat! You and I are co-workers! Too bad Sasuke will ruin it." Soru replied.
"Still, maybe we can manage to avoid him. We work shifts, as in, one of us takes a group through, then the next person takes the next group, then the next person, and start over again with the first person and all that. That's what our boss said." Naruto informed her.
"Yeah, so what's our boss' name?"
"She told us we're supposed to call her Ms. Mitarashi. Her first name's Anko, but she'll kill you if you call her that. I tried it…"
Soru laughed, all thoughts of the creepy woods gone, as if her laughing had filtered her fear out. Poor Naruto, unlucky as always. She observed his attire, and then questioned, "Do I get cool vampire clothes too?"
Naruto's turn to laugh. "Vampire clothes? I guess they look like vampires would wear them. Yeah, you'll get some too, I think. While we're talking about the job, why don't we make our way over to the," he put on a face he assumed was scary, and said in an unnatural, deep voice, "'House of Spook'?"
Soru laughed until her stomach hurt as he did silly impressions of retarded vampires as they strolled through the darkly colored tents.
"Will I have to dye my hair, too?" she asked with a hint of worry in her voice. She'd always liked the color of her hair, and thought that black would just be too overwhelming with her pale complexion.
Naruto examined her hair with a peculiar expression, finally saying, "Nah, we'll be working when it's pretty much all dark, and your hair's dark enough that I don't think it'll need it. Heh, you can pretty much guess that mine was way too light."
Soru agreed, and the two eventually arrived in front of building they'd be working in. It was a big mansion that seemed like it would take an hour to guide people through. Not only that, but some might even want to take pictures and lag behind. Naruto noticed his friend's face, and grinned at her horror.
"Don't worry, Soru, we'll only show the first few main rooms. We won't have to go too far into it." He reassured her. Soru returned his grin, but inside, she was still scared. Not because of its size, but what might be in it. It looked like the perfect place to be haunted by mean old ghosts that had nothing better to do than terrorize unsuspecting human beings.
"Erm, what's in it?" Soru asked before she could stop herself, and Naruto answered, "Oh, just a bunch of old furniture and wax figures. Wax, not real. But I have to say, whoever made them knew what they were doing. They look so lifelike."
The fifteen year old girl stared at the house, wondering how a boy who was only a few months older than her could resist the terror of wax. Another stupid fear of hers…wax dummies. Naruto was right, every wax figure she'd ever seen had appeared so real, and it frightened her to think of being forced to give tours near these…these…these things!
"Uh, what are the wax figures doing?" she asked, and Naruto gave her a what-do-you-think-they're-doing look.
"You know, Soru. The usual things wax figures do, sit and stay still and amuse people." He told her as if explaining to a five year old what grass did. Soru glared at him and snorted.
"You know what I meant!"
Naruto laughed and said, "Sorry, had to say it. Um, well, they pretty much look like what you'd see in a horror movie. Death scenes, torture scenes, stuff that scares the crap outta people, stuff that belongs in a…" cue the deep voice, " 'Houthe of Thpook'!" adding a lisp at the end, resulting in making Soru laugh once more.
Suddenly, a woman's voice cut through the air, making the two jump. "HEY! Get in here! The carnival opens in twenty minutes!"
Soru looked at the entrance of the house to see a miffed looking woman with dark purple hair pulled up into a spiky bun at the back of her head, Ms. Mitarashi, she guessed. Ms. Mitarashi wore a simple black dress that fit her curvy body perfectly that Soru felt jealous of.
She approached her boss quickly, but with caution, realizing that this wasn't a person she wanted to get on the bad side of. Ms. Mitarashi gazed at her with a no-nonsense look, and Soru introduced herself quietly.
"Erm, Ms. Mitarashi? I'm Soru Umitaka, and my dad applied for a job for me here."
"Speak up girl, the customers wont be able to hear you if you're so damn quiet all the time!" Ms. Mitarashi commanded, which struck a nerve.
'Quiet? I'll show you quiet!'
Soru scowled and shouted, "Fine, I will Ms. ANKO!!"
As soon as she let this out of her mouth, she regretted it instantly. She tried not to wither under the piercing, furious glare that she was receiving, and decided that angering her boss on the first day was…really bad.
So she did what she normally did. Jumped from the frying pan into the fire.
"Guess I'm not allowed to say that, hunh? Naruto said not to, but I guess I'm ignorant!" she said.
Ms. Mitarashi looked a little taken aback, but still glared on. Soru foolishly decided to glare right back, and Naruto cowered a few feet away. Then, all of a sudden, Ms. Mitarashi laughed. Downright laughed. Now Soru was scared, one word going through her mind.
'What?...'
The woman patted her on the shoulder none too gently and barked, "You've got nerve, girl! More nerve than a lot of people! I'll give you that, but understand that I am your boss and you will respect me. Is that clear?!"
Soru nodded and said, "Yes, ma'am, very clear."
Ms. Mitarashi took her hand off of Soru's shoulder, and said, "Well, go find her an outfit, Naruto and give her the lowdown of the place. Time's a-wastin' people!! Let's get cracking!!"
Naruto dragged Soru away quickly, who remarked, "Ya know, Naruto, she reminds me a lot of you, except more…aggressive."
He gave her a bewildered look, and shook his head at her, leading her into the mansion.
Once inside, before them was a large wooden staircase, the passageway to the left leading into a sitting room where Soru could already see the wax dummies, fixed in awkward positions on the couches, while the right passage led into a more businesslike room, which was cut off by a rope which could be unhooked, a sign that said 'Employees Only' hanging from it.
That was the room Soru followed Naruto into, feeling a little relieved at not having to go into the wax dummies' domain just yet. He pulled a curtain across the doorway, blocking the view of anyone outside the room. He then led Soru to a rack from which several black outfits hung.
It consisted mostly of all black dresses for girls, and all black suits for boys, of all different sizes. Soru found a dress that looked just her size and told Naruto to leave while she changed. He left and she took off her regular clothes, slipping on the dress. It rested on her figure gently, which was only gently curved, but not as curved as Ms. Mitarahsi's like she now wished.
She found that it fit very well, but felt quite self-conscious. She never wore tight clothes of any sort, and while the dress wasn't very tight, it still hugged her waist a little more than she liked.
She examined herself in the full length mirror that hung on the wall. The neck of the dress dipped low enough to only show her collar bone, but that was it. At the middle of the neck was a red, egg shaped rhinestone surrounded in golden plastic, a nice touch to the dress. The hem was slightly ripped up, but she could tell it was on purpose.
Soru wanted to find a bigger one, but this one's hem reached her ankles, and the next longest that she found would have touched the floor. It would have to work. She folded her t-shirt and jeans up, and exited the room to tell Naruto she was ready.
He looked at her and nodded approvingly, a slight tinge of pink touching his cheeks. "It looks pretty on you." He said, "But you need shoes and a cape."
He once again dragged Soru into the room and let her find the right size shoes and cape, and it was not necessary for him to leave, so he helped her out. The boys' shoes were ordinary black tennis shoes, but the girls were delicate, slipper-like shoes with little red rhinestones running along the toes. They found a pair that fit, then came the cape.
Once they were through, Soru admired herself in the mirror, satisfied that she had a cape to hide her body. But Naruto told her that it was obligatory to keep it open, something about Ms. Mitarashi saying to.
They had only five more minutes until carnival opening, and the sun was setting. Naruto decided to give her a tour of the house for her, first going into the living room. A fireplace, some couches, a table, and a large clock above the fireplace's mantle decorated the spacious area. Soru glanced at the clock and saw it was 7:25. Only a little longer, and she too would be doing this for larger groups of people.
Naruto showed her from there a kitchen, dining room, and ballroom on the first floor, then led her up the stairs. Just a bedroom, a bathroom, and a sitting room, then the basement, turned dungeon. Last but not least was the library, where one certain wax dummy caught her eye.
Every wax dummy scared Soru, all of them just as bloody and punctured as the last. Soon enough, the time came for the two to have to leave and report for the job. When they passed the living room, Soru's mind flicked back to the interesting wax dummy in the library, the most fascinating of them all. Interesting because he was the only one unharmed or marred in any fashion. He had blood red hair, an outfit similar to the ones in the room in the entranceway, and dark black rings around his icy blue eyes. Naruto told her the story she was supposed to tell the visitors about him.
He was called Gaara. He was a vampire that had led all wax dummies to their deaths. Poisoned the dummies' food in the dining room, stabbed the wax dummy chef with knife in the kitchen, drank all the blood of the wax dummies in the living and sitting rooms, then randomly killed all the other wax dummies in the house with random sharp objects that belonged in the particular room, such as the shard of glass from the mirror in the bathroom. She was also supposed to ask why he didn't just drink all the other peoples' blood, why only the living and sitting room ones. Because, she was supposed to answer, why don't normal people about his size finish five hamburgers? He had to get full at some point.
So he killed the rest, not letting them escape and tell their friends the horrors of the house. It was a chilling tale, but Soru still couldn't help but be charmed by "Gaara's" looks. The wax dummy people had really outdone themselves with him. He was the most realistic of them all!
Soru just shook her head. 'Yes, let's fall in love with the wax dummy. Maybe you can ask Ms. Mitarashi if you can marry him…'
As she thought this, she and Naruto made their way out the doors, and waited for the first tourist group to come up.
Soru's POV
While we were waiting, a voice drifted over to us, "So, Dobe One and Dobe Two wait side by side for the first victims."
Naruto and I whirled around to see Sasuke sauntering towards us, looking smug. I scowled and Naruto said, "Come on, teme! The carnival's already open, and we have to wait here for the tourists!"
Sasuke just scoffed, but came over and stood to my right, Naruto to my left. Which meant that I was second in line to be a tour guide. Which scared me out of my wits.
"Sasuke?" I said, trying to be as polite as possible to the guy I sorely disliked, "Um, can you and me maybe trade places?"
He gave me mocking sneer and asked, "What, is Dobe Two scared?"
I reluctantly nodded, keeping my temper under control, "I've never done this before, and I'm nervous."
I could tell he was a little surprised by my admittance of being afraid, but still smirked as if he knew everything…which he totally didn't!
"Nah, I think it's better if you get if over with if you're so scared." He mocked cruelly, leaving me to my fate of being second, and so there I stood, the butterflies in my stomach forming into full fledged hawks.
Eventually, a group of giggly girls and smug looking boys made their way over, examining the house…er, mansion. Naruto led them inside, acting dramatic as he went, earning a couple of giddy giggles from the girls.
"Ugh," groaned Sasuke, "We have to deal with that?"
"Know what, Sasuke," I replied, "I have to agree with you for once. We are going to die."
Another group of about seven people came over, again with giggly girls and boys who were trying to impress them by saying how cheesy it all looked. This sort of offended me, for I had already gained respect for the mansion which my job would take place in, and forced a smile onto my face.
I turned to Sasuke and whispered, "Does this smile look too fake?"
He nodded.
"Damn," I cursed, then faced my doom.
"Hey, so, like, can we, like, go in or not?" asked one of the girls obnoxiously. I really hoped that they didn't see the way my eye twitched, and I told them, "There's already a group in there at the moment, you'll have to wait." I also hoped that they didn't see through my purposely lowered voice.
"That, like, sucks!" said the same girl, and I gave her a sickly sweet smile. But they waited anyway, and Naruto and his group came out shortly. The girls looked terrified, and the boys were talking about how cool it was, but I could see past their acts. They had been just as scared as the girls.
"Time for me to show you lucky people the horrors of the House of Spook." I said, lowering the lids of my eyes a little, and smiling just a little more, trying to give off an air of mystery.
I beckoned them in with a flick of the wrist, and when they were all in, I closed the door a little loudly behind them. Some girls jumped, and one emitted a squeak. I smirked to myself. Wimps. But then again, I'd probably not be much better.
"Follow me." I told them, and veered to the left.
"Hey, walk a little faster, girly!" One of the boys commanded, and I turned back to him. I was angry enough to keep my face straight, and silenced him with a calm look, just by making my face emotionless, and focusing on fixing all my anger and emotion into my eyes, not blinking. His smug smile faded, and I turned, trying not to smile myself, and right as we stepped into the room, a girl shrieked her head off.
That's how it went throughout the whole tour. Girls scream at wax dummies, boys try to act tough. On and on. It had to end though, and I realized I was a little disappointed when it did. It was actually quite fun, scaring the crap out of people. Plus, I was happy to see my beloved "Gaara" again. I could just stare at him all day.
Though when I looked at him, it almost seemed as if he'd turned a little, but I dismissed it as one of Naruto's group bumping into him. As I let my own group out of the mansion, I imagined a young girl colliding with him and fainting dead away, forcing me to hold in a laugh.
So the night went on, the three of us giving tours, each one more amusing than the last. Naruto and I came up with the game of counting how many people screamed in our tours, and at the end, around 11:00, we tallied up near thirty for him, and twenty eight for me. I'm still convinced that he cheated.
Afterwards, I was double checking everything in the mansion, now comfortable in it since I'd been through several times, making sure everything was in place. I visited the library one last time to check in on "Gaara". Again, it seemed as if he'd moved, instead of looking out to the desk where a person lay stabbed with a dagger, he now faced a little more towards the doorway, almost all the way at me. I entered the room, deciding to fix him. But when I placed my hands on his upper arms and shoved, he wouldn't budge. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth, yet he refused to move.
"Damnit, Gaara!" I growled, "You're not supposed to be like this! MOVE!" Then I made the mistake of looking back at his face. His eyes…were turned downward….at me….looking into my own green eyes. I gasped and jumped back, but his eyes stayed the same, pointed at the floor now that I'd gone from his field of vision. I gulped. His head had not moved, just his eyes.
'Come on, Soru. Think. They've probably been like that the whole time, and you've probably not realized it. Heh.' Satisfied with this explanation, I nodded, when suddenly…
"What're you doing, Dobe Two?" came Sasuke's voice behind me, making me jump. I faced him, scowling.
"Idiot, I was trying to fix Gaara!" I cried, gesturing at the handsome wax dummy. Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"Already tried it. He won't move. We'll try it tomorrow morning, 'kay? Anyway, just wanted to know, but are you gonna be at the party?" he asked. I tilted my head.
"Party?"
Sasuke smirked.
"Yeah, Naruto, me, an' some other carnival employees are throwing one."
I blinked, signifying my cluelessness. Sasuke sighed exasperatedly.
"Be here, eleven-thirty, alright? Ms. Mitarashi probably won't approve of the whole thing, so hide behind a curtain or something when she comes and double checks the place. I'll come find you when she's left we're ready." He informed me, then curtly turned and walked off.
"Thanks!" I called after him, surprised at this sudden kindness. I realized that I might worry my dad, but this party was worth it. I did what Sasuke said, and hid behind the curtain of the living room, and sure enough, Ms. Mitarashi came it, checking on everything like I had, and left after a while.
Thirty minutes later, I emerged from the curtain, figuring out that Sasuke had tricked me. All sorts of terrible names flew through my head, calling him everything in the book I stomped to the door, but when I tried to open it, I found that I couldn't.
I was locked in the House of Spook for the night.
Now I was scared, wondering what in the heck I was supposed to do, and realized that I had no choice but to sleep here, and apologize profusely to my parents in the morning. I figured that I'd sleep in the library, near my dearest wax dummy.
I made my way through the other rooms, making sure not to look at the wax dummies, which seemed to tease me: 'Haha, you're trapped with us now!'
The library was cold, and I pulled the cloak around me, shutting the door behind me as I entered. I turned to face the room, taking a few steps, and when I looked around…horror flooded my mind.
Where….was……Gaara?
My breath quickened. I felt my face grow cold, and I knew I had paled. And when I heard footsteps behind me, I bit down a scream.
Moments of silence, then, "What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be in here right now." Came a raspy, but husky voice from the direction of where the footsteps came, melting my heart. I was still frozen, and had to come to my senses to force myself to move. I immediately regretted ever doing so as I turned to see…him. Gaara. Looking down at me with an expressionless face. I didn't know what to do or think. Was this a trick? A part of Sasuke's plan?? Oh, someone help me out here!
I swallowed hard, retorting shakily, "And….and you're supposed to…not move. You're supposed to be, uh, made of wax."
Gaara nodded bemusedly, nothing in his face changing, but I could see the humor dancing in the blue pools of his eyes.
He reached out with a pale hand, and lifted my chin up a little with one cold finger so that my face was directed more towards his. His long talon-like fingernail pricked the skin under my chin, and I was worried that it would cut me.
"I suppose so. Well, it appears that I'm not, now am I?"
Me: Whatcha think? Needs more detail? Did I make any mistakes? Have any suggestions? Please review! Constructive criticisms and anonymous reviews very welcome! NO FLAMES PLEASE.
(Please understand that I'm working on another fic, so be patient. Updates may take awhile, but I promise never to drop the story!)