"Interview? Like a journalist, Mr. Simmons?"
"You can say that, Phoebe. And after you interview them, you have to make a report and present it in front of the class. I hope their amazing stories will inspire you all."
"You're going to work in pair in this project." Mr. Simmons walked around the class while offering a small box with full of paper. "Let's pick your partner."
Rhonda took one out of the box. She looked at it and sighed. "Helga." She rolled her eyes.
Helga rested her chin on her fist. "Me and Rhonda together?" she sighed. "What else could possibly go wrong next?"
"Your turn Arnold." Mr. Simmons offered the box.
Helga suddenly looked tense. She folded her hands firmly. Her eyes looked straight at the boy without blinking, as if transferring black magic spell.
..Not Lila..Not Lila, Not Lila.. Not Lila…
The boy with funny shaped head unrolled the paper.
..Not Lila…Not Lila…Not Lila…Not Lila…Not Lila…
"Eugene."
Helga heaved a sigh of relief.
"Alright, now. Let's find out whom you will interview." Mr. Simmons offered another box of paper.
"Michelle McCartney?" Rhonda said as she looked at the paper.
"Who is Michelle McCartney?
"She's a musician and songwriter, Helga. Mostly, she writes melancholic and heartbreaking songs. One of my favorite songs is called Lost in Loneliness." Mr. Simmon took a heavy sigh and continued in more melodramatic way, "the lyrics and the melody are very touching. I can help but crying every time I hear this song."
Helga sighed and slapped herself on the forehead.
xxxxxx
The blonde and the brunette were standing in front of the gate of a house which seemed more likely to be inhibited by the witches than by the humans. They had the eerie feeling when they looked at it.
"Are you sure it's the address?"
Rhonda looked closely at her clipboard. "According to this note, yeah!"
Helga sighed. "No wonder this woman wrote a bunch of so-called melancholic and heartbreaking songs, this house tells everything."
"Doesn't she have any money to buy more colorful paint?" Rhonda said peevishly. "Seriously, this house needs to redecorate from scratch!" she continued.
They both passed the gate and walked toward the house. As they were walking, they heard nothing but their own footstep and the sound of the bird humming from a distance. The air felt colder as they got closer to the house.
Rhonda held her clipboard close to her chest, "This place is creepy."
"Let's hope that whoever live here is not as creepy as this place," Helga said as she rang the bell.
A minute passed by but no one opened the door. They rang the bell again for the third times. This time, they could hear the sound of footsteps approaching. The door opened and there was a young woman standing with a weary expression. Her hair was messy as if she just woke up from sleep. She looked at the girls with no clues.
" Hai, we're looking for Michelle McCartney." Rhonda said.
"I am Michelle McCartney and you guys?"
Helga and Rhonda looked startled.
"You're Michelle McCartney?" Helga said in disbelief.
Rhonda looked at her clipboard. "But this note says that Michelle McCartney is 35 years old."
"That's true I am 35 years old."
"WHAT? But you look so—"
"Young?" the woman laughed.
"Geez you don't seem to age." Helga wondered.
"I know that's why people call me VAMPIRE." She laughed again.
A sudden gust of wind blew the girls from behind. The way the woman said 'vampire' and the way she laughed had sent a chill down their spine.
The woman stopped laughing as she saw the girls stared at her dumbly. "You guys don't like a joke huh? You don't think I am a vampire, do you?"
"That's not funny!" Rhonda said, taking a heavy breath.
"Right, so who are you guys? And what are you doing here?"
"I am Helga and this is Rhonda, we're from Ps.118. We're here for—"
"Aha! You're here for interview? Your teacher had called me about that. Sorry I forgot." She scratched her head. "Anyway please come in."
The girls walked inside the house. The look inside was not any better from the outside, so bleak with lots of antique furniture. And there was the eerie music that kept playing.
"Okay girls, please take a seat, I'll get you some cookies and tea," said the woman, walking to the cupboard.
The girls sat at the kitchen table. A minute later, the woman walked over with a tray on her hands.
"Here have some cookie and tea," she said as she put two plates of cookies and two cups of warm tea.
"Thank you." Rhonda sipped the cup of tea in the most elegant way and the put it down in the most elegant way as well.
"Do you live here alone?" Helga asked, taking a cookie.
"Yes I live here alone, sometimes there are friends who come and play here." She smiled, her eyes rolled to the lower right.
"Aren't you scared?" Rhonda added.
The woman giggled. "No. lots of people said this place is creepy but I love it here, this place always gives me lots inspiration to write music."
"Speaking of music, what creepy music we're listening right now?"
"Hey, it sounds familiar, is it Lacrimosa?" Helga said, taking another cookie.
"It is! you like it?"
"I don't! But my sister does, she always listen to it whenever she's in sad and sorrow condition." Helga sighed. "What a dork!"
The woman gave a broad smile. "I always listen to it because it gives me a peaceful feeling." She looked away.
"It gives me goose bumps, could you please turn it off!" Rhonda said as she rubbed the back of her neck.
"Alright, I'll turn it off." The woman rose from her chair and turned the music off.
"I guess we can start the interview!" Helga said, turning on the tape recorder.
"Go head." The woman sat back at her chair.
"The first question! Where do you usually get the inspirations to write?" Helga asked like a police who was investigating the suspect.
"Mostly, from my personal experience, so writing music is like translating my own feelings and my own emotion into lyrics and melodies." She looked at the girl straight in the eyes, smiling.
"I see, you wrote a bunch of so-called melancholic and heartbreaking songs. Doesn't it mean you you're sad all the time, huh?" Helga continued, investigating.
The woman looked up, stroking her chin. "Hmm I don't think I am sad, maybe I'm just a little bit mellow."
"Mellow-Dramatic huh?" Helga mumbled. "Alright, next question! When was the first time you write a song?"
"Probably when I was fourteen or fifteen, I remember at the time I was falling madly in love with a guy. He's cute and nice," She said with sparkling eyes. "But I never had a gut to tell him how much I loved him. So I kept it as a deep secret."
Helga swallowed hard, "and then?" she asked with a curios expression.
"That was the first time I wrote a song with my guitar. A song to express my love to him, a love I dare not speak." She said in a poetic way.
"And then?" Helga was all ears.
"And then?" the woman sighed. "I become so obsessed with this guy. He was my muse. I wrote tons of songs about him. And can't you believe it I even made his likeness and I put it on my closet." She laughed.
"That's hopelessly pathetic." Rhonda said.
"I KNOW!" said Helga and the woman together as they banged their fist on the table together at the same time.
Rhonda was startled, she blinked in wonder.
Helga laughed nervously. "So did you eventually tell him?"
"Nope, he's dead!"
Helga fell off her chair. "I am okay!" She got up immediately. "Your turn Rhonda."
Rhonda cleared her throat. "My question, what is your secret to look so young? Do you use mask every night?"
Helga slapped her forehead. "Criminy!"
The woman touched her chin, seeking for the answer. "Umm.. I don't know. I always feel young at heart so maybe that spirit is reflected on my look." She smiled, showing her teeth.
Rhonda knitted her brows and whispered to Helga, "She doesn't wanna tell us the secret."
The woman held her stomach with a weird expression. "Girls, please excuse me for minutes. You guys sit here or do whatever you want. I'll be back as soon as possible." She ran to the bathroom.
"Let's play around!" Helga said.
The girls went upstairs. Not much interesting there. They just saw a piano on the left corner and lots of classic paintings hanging on the wall.
Helga rubbed her nose. "Did you smell something?"
"Yeah, it's like my mother's perfume, black rose."
"The smell made me dizzy."
"Tell me about it! I guess she bought the cheap one." Rhonda grinned.
Helga walked alone to a dark room. She turned the light on and saw lots of rack of books. She walked closer to the rack. Her eyes rolled to left and right, scanning the books. She frowned as she saw a book with a monster on the cover."Frankenstein? Hmm..Looks interesting." She sat on the couch near the rack and started turning the pages.
Rhonda was busy looking around in the living room. She was standing there in front of that woman painting from 19th century since couple minutes ago. "Is that the way the girls dress long time ago?" she wondered. She continued walking around and passed by an antique floor mirror. She faced the mirror and brushed her hair with her finger. "Mirror mirror on the wall! who is the coolest girl in the world?" she paused. "Rhonda Wellington Lloyd!" She laughed and stopped all of sudden. For few seconds, she couldn't see her own reflection in the mirror. She rubbed her eyes. "I need new contact lenses." She looked at the mirror again and had her jaw dropped open. The mirror in front of her was tilting slowly to the back and front. She looked around and saw no window open. The mirror was tilting faster. The hairs on back of her neck stood up. She covered her face with her hands. The mirror stopped tilting. Slowly, she uncovered her face and saw the mirror before her started to crack from the bottom to the top. She covered her face again, turned around and raan.
Helga turned over the pages of that book with a monster image on the cover. She closed the book as she heard someone humming a song. The voice felt so close to her ears, so clear. She looked around and found no one around. The voice became louder and louder. "Cut it out!" she shouted. The humming voice vanished, she heard nothing but BOOM CLAP, the sounds of her own heartbeat. And the beat stopped for a second as the light suddenly flickered out. The room was totally dark. "O-my-Aaa".
The girls ran and crashed into one another. They both sighed in relief .
"Helga, I heard you screaming, something happened huh?" Rhonda said, hardly breathing.
"Oh no I wasn't screaming, I was just uhm singing." Helga laughed nervously. "I saw you running, something happened huh?"
" Oh no, I wasn't running Helga, I was uhm dancing!" Rhonda laughed nervously.
They took a glance at each other. There was a silence for a second.
Helga stepped closer to Rhonda. "Alright Princess, here's the deal, you continue the rest of the interview here and I'll do the report all by myself. I have to go home right now. I have really important meeting with my family, what do you say?"
"No way Helga, why don't you continue the rest of the interview and I am doing the report. I also have important meeting with uhm my Doctor. I need new contact lenses."
They took a glance at each other.
Helga sighed. "Fine Princess, I have a brilliant idea. How about we continue the interview tomorrow or whenever so we can leave this house right now!"
"Sounds good idea!"
"Let's go then!"
They ran downstairs.
"Hurry up! We don't wanna be late to our important meeting, right?"
"Right Helga!"
They rushed packing their bag but as the lightning flashed, they froze. A clap of thunder rolled. They gazed out the window. It was raining heavily.
"Just perfect!"
Rhonda looked at her watch. "It's official. 14.34. My life is over."
Review Response
EJ : Thank You. Glad you like it xD