"You sure this is a good idea?" Wirt's voice trembles as the car approaches the place quickly. His dark brown eyes deeply focused on the dilapidating house before him. The car pulls over and parks at the curb in front of the house. His eyes focused on the sign of caution sitting in the front. As he took in the looks of the house, Wirt begins to recall the story of the sad looking house. Apparently, the house is the oldest house around the area, but it has had many makeovers to maintain its conditions. Many makeovers as well as many owners: the house has had its fair share of owners before the last owners suddenly left without trying to sell it a long while ago. There was no note left about why they had left either. They just… left. And of course that led to some misconceptions and rumors; some of which had brought Wirt's group there.
Jason Funderberker turns in the driver's seat, looking over to Wirt, letting out a light chuckle.
"What's Halloween without a little scare?" He gives a weak laugh… or what sounds like a weak laugh to Wirt. Wirt could never tell whenever Funderberker is talking..
"B-But it isn't actually haunted, right?" Wirt sits with back straight, bouncing his leg up and down as he toys with his thumbs. "There's no possible way ghosts can exist anyways… right?"
"Nah, don't worry, Wirt," Sarah peeks over her seat in the front to give Wirt an assuring smile. "I came here last Halloween with my cousins and nothing big happened. The scariest part of the whole thing was when my cousin shrieked loudly when they stepped into a hole in the house."
"Wait, so the house isn't safe? Maybe we shouldn't go, guys," Wirt coos, beginning toy with his seatbelt, but it's too late: everyone else had already exited out of the car. Hesitantly, Wirt shifts in his seat, hoping that maybe the other four kids would return to the car after a quick check at the house, but even then, he also began to worry about the possibilities that maybe he'll get trapped in the car or possibly being a victim of a car thief, being stuck in the backseat as the thief drives away.
Quickly Wirt unbuckles his seatbelt, jostling over to open the door. He trips over the curb as he falls out of the car ungracefully. Another step or two and he finds himself knocking into the girl Jason likes now.
"Sorry! Uh…" His mind blanks. Wirt couldn't remember the blonde girl's name, so immediately, he hushes up and turns toward Jason and Sarah. "So, uh…"
"Let's go inside already," Jason chuckles before walking straight to the door.
The blonde girl follows and so does Sarah, but Sarah turns back and sees Wirt rubbing his arm slowly. Sarah walks back to Wirt, placing her hand on his shoulder, "Hey, it's really gonna be okay, Wirt. Really, if it doesn't work out well, I could just leave with you. I'm cool with that."
His eyes don't turn back to Sarah, though. Wirt's brown eyes gaze back to the burning evening sky, as though it may be a way out of all this. He sighs, turning back to Sarah and nods.
Nodding back, Sarah guides Wirt toward the entrance of the door. Every step that Wirt takes toward the house, he can feel his nerves growing sharper. Every step he takes leads to him feeling colder in the pit of his stomach. He almost feels sick. And seeing the darker interior of the house unsettles him, as if when he enters, he would purge.
But soon enough, he and Sarah managed to enter the house perfectly fine. Once his eyes adjusted to the darker area, Wirt almost feels at ease seeing the decor more easily than from the outside. Of course he knew from the second he saw from outside that the decor would, too, be Georgian styled. Although considering that many folks have lived in the house, Wirt imagined that at least the furniture would differ, but only a few of the furniture was different. From the fancy chandelier down to the medallion, floral carpet, everything in the house practically screams Georgian. To Wirt, it is almost like he had travelled back in time the moment he set foot into the house. When the lights came on in the house, he felt all the more at ease; in fact, a smile even appeared on his face.
He was quick to stop smiling, though, the moment he notices Sarah looking over at him. The girl giggles to herself and asks, "Not scared anymore?"
"Not really," Wirt shrugs, looking around again, glossing over the curled arms of the ivory sofa. "The interior of the house is actually really nice. I haven't seen a lot of Georgian era architecture around so this is kind of refreshing."
"I know, right?" Sarah walks more inward, sitting herself in one of the matching ivory plush chairs. "I can't really imagine why people would imagine it would be haunted."
Nodding at her comment, Wirt decides to inspect the house a little more, basking in the glorious architecture and the furniture. It's only once in awhile that he sees a house as neatly furnished as this one. However, as he glances over the fireplace beyond the ivory sofas and chairs, something extravagant catches his eyes and immediately all his attention focuses on that one thing: an old, faded painting of a large family, perfect for the ginormous frame. As the centerpiece sits a mother in one of the ivory chairs. Behind it is the father and surrounding those two are many children, all of which have ginger hair — boys and girls that look awfully alike, aside from slight differences in clothing and height differences. Something about the depicted family put Wirt on edge, but at the same time, the family was a perfect painting, fit for the rest of the decor. He really wanted to pull his eyes away, but he just couldn't, looking over the little details of the painting. It was like the painting itself — the dark, swirling blue eyes of the family — were pulling him closer.
"Maybe that's why people say it's haunted," the sound of Jason's groggy voice breaks Wirt's attention.
"Yeah," the blonde girl nods, "Maybe the whole family is haunting the house."
Shivers go down Wirt's spine. "Wait… you're joking, right?"
"No way," Sarah laughs the notion off, "I came here before and nothing popped up. Trust me, Wirt, if there was a ghost, I would have seen it and probably would have told you."
"P-Probably?"
"I mean, would have told you," Sarah lays her head down on the sofa's arm. "So take it easy, Wirt."
"A-Alright," Wirt rubs his arm nervously, but he nods at Sarah's response. He looks back up at the large illustration again, looking at each of the family member's faces, taking in how each member was so different and yet had same looking features here and there. It was mesmerizing… and terrifying. He had to pull himself away. The more he stared at the family, the more he felt creeped out by the blank stares that the painting made them have. In fact, it was giving him chills.
"Hey, would you want to check out the other rooms? They've got a lot of cool stuff inside the house," Sarah suggests, adjusting herself to sit up.
"That sounds awesome," Jason blurts before Wirt can say anything. Then, with a nod, everyone was in an agreement.
Immediately, Jason took the lead and everyone followed; Wirt trailing behind. The group decided to investigate the kitchen first. Of course, the furniture was as extravagant as the rest of the house — perhaps even less so. The kitchen was rather empty when they entered, but the polka dotted walls made the room seemingly lively. The dining table was of decent size, but it was certainly not large enough to fit the amount of chairs that were present. Wirt figured as much when he remembered the painting. The painting again. The haunting eyes of the people in the picture. He really needed to block it out, but it really was bugging him. Just got to stop thinking about it, he kept saying in his thoughts.
Then, they found the study room before they decided to go upstairs. They looked into the study room and found large, dark wood shelves lining the back wall. The cabinet doors to the shelves were glass that looked like they have been dusted in a couple of months. After a bit of scavenging, they couldn't find a single thing in the bookshelves; the only thing they actually did find were a pair of broken glasses in the desk before the bookshelves. While the other kids were fooling around with the glasses, Wirt kept thinking about where he's seen the glasses. He was pretty sure he saw the older male wearing it in the picture. Oh god, the picture again.
And then, the kids went up the stairs to explore. At this point, everyone went off in their own little paths around the upstairs. Wirt, on the other hand, decided to stick around with Sarah. Sarah didn't seem to mind. At least, to Wirt, she didn't seem to mind. He even asked her, but Sarah affirmed and said she's fine. So, the two ventured off into one of the many bedrooms on the second floor.
Once they opened the door, Wirt and Sarah both are greeted by three lined up beds on each side. Well, there is five average, twin-sized beds, and then there is a baby crib, which is the closest bed to the door. Being in the room and seeing the beds creeps Wirt out; he thought that the former owners would have cleaned these out by now.
"Hey, Sarah," Wirt keeps his eyes on the baby crib, "Isn't it kind of weird that they decided to keep all these beds?"
"Yeah…" Sarah ponders, "Maybe for rentals?"
"Hm…" Wirt looks around to the other beds, "Yeah, I guess it makes sense."
Then back to silence and looking around. Wirt is still bothered by looking at these beds. He tries to stay right in the middle of the path between beds, following right behind Sarah as Sarah makes her way over to the wardrobe in the back.
Sarah opens the door to the wardrobe, which is all empty. As empty as the bookshelves that were in the study room. And dusty, too. When he saw how vast the wardrobe is, his immediate thought was that if his little brother had come along, he would definitely hide out in here. Or would that be too predictable? His brother is practically the opposite of predictable, so there is no way his brother would hide in there. But overall, he is rather surprised at how empty it is, but considering their luck in finding things, Wirt also doesn't feel as surprised.
Then, Sarah simply closes the door again, in defeat that they could not find anything interesting in the vast wardrobe, but just when she closes the door, she hears something. Something hitting a surface harshly. Wirt's eyes immediately dart to where the sound is coming from: the wardrobe. Sarah raises a brow and opens the wardrobe again to inspect, but nothing was there. The absence and the noise put Wirt on edge. He really wants to leave.
But Sarah is already off to room next to the bedroom they were in. Wirt quickly catches up with the girl, finding the girl inspecting the wall conjoined to the other room. He notices her squatting down on the ground, looking at what seems to be a wooden toy.
"Is that what the noise was?" Wirt asks.
"I think so," Sarah nods, "But I didn't realize I slammed the closet door. Seems kind of weird."
"W-Weird?" That last bit got Wirt. He feels a burning pit within his stomach and his gut telling him that he really should be off. Off doing what? Writing poetry again, or playing the clarinet? Anything but being here. It was enough that Jason joked around that the house was haunted, but it's another thing to be the ones to confirm that it's haunted.
Someone suddenly pats his shoulder. Wirt jolts around only to see that it's just Sarah. Good ol' Sarah.
"Don't worry," Sarah assures, "No ghosts, remember? Just a really old house."
"Yeah… a really old house," Wirt scans the room again. He keeps quiet as Sarah walks around the room. From the looks of it, the room is supposedly where the children would play. Below the window, there's an large but empty chest with a label too worn out to read anymore. There's a wooden horse that people used to play with; the paint nearly gone. There's a rocking chair in the far corner, probably where the parent would sit and watch their kids. Then, on the wall that Sarah was examining are some toys laying across the shelf; some were broken, with some of the limbs missing or broken. Wirt imagines that they would have looked pretty back during its time, but now, they have grown past their time, left to collect dust.
After fidgeting with the toys on the shelves, he retracts his hand, seeing how black they have become from the dusty toys. He rubs his hand against his pants to rid of the dust, grumbling at how dirty his hands got.
He hears a eerie creak coming from the door, causing him to turn around. Nothing. And that was the issue. He looks toward Sarah, who also was staring at the door. She then turns around and walks over to Wirt.
"How bout we go elsewhere?" Sarah smiles. Wirt doesn't say a word and simply nods, following after Sarah back into the hallway.
She leads them both into another bedroom; this one most likely belonging to the parents. It was rather extravagant, too: the white curtains by the window matched the veils that hung around the bed — unfortunately both are rather torn. The dressers in the room were of dark wood, just like those in the study room.
There's a vanity table with the same kind of wood next to the bed; to Wirt's surprise, the mirror still remains and is rather clean, compared to the other things in the house. When he looks into the mirror, he sees only himself, looking tired, and what's behind him: the entranceway to the bathroom. He leans over the table and presses his hands against the mirror. Taking his hand back, he sees that there is no dust whatsoever.
Then suddenly something peaks his attention. He could have sworn that through the mirror, he saw something pop up in the closet. He isn't sure what exactly he saw in the mirror, but he saw something.
"Sarah?" Wirt calls the girl. Turning around, he does not see Sarah at all. A sudden chill goes down his spine — actual feeling of cold wind blowing down his spine. He's frozen in place, unsure what to do.
Fear is slowly creeping into his mind, and suddenly he begins running out of the room. He swings the door open and zooms through the hallway and down the stairs (somehow without slipping). He's not turning around; he's just bolting straight to the door.
"Wirt? What are you doing?" Wirt freezes right when he opens the door. Slowly, he closes the door and turns around, seeing Sarah have her hand on the stair railway as she cautiously walks down the stairs. "You okay?"
"N-No!" Wirt blurts out. "I'm really not okay! I really really think I should go home now."
By the time Wirt finishes his argument, Sarah is already down the stairs, standing right before Wirt. She places a hand on his shoulder and nods.
"Alright, let's go then," Sarah looks away from Wirt back to the stairs. She calls out, "Hey guys! Wirt and I are gonna go back!"
A small grumble and footsteps above their head are heard. Soon, the other two are walking down the stairs. With a quick explanation, the other two agree to leave as well.
"Then, let's go," Sarah says. Jason is the first to exit out. Then it's the girl with glasses that leaves. Sarah guides Wirt out, walking in front of him.
However, Wirt is busy trying to think about exactly did he see back with the mirror. The sight of blue that appeared and vanished. Was it in his imagination? Was it real? Maybe it was some curtain of some sort? That blue seemed so familiar to him, but he did not where nor why. It's as though he has seen it before. Maybe it really was one of the people he went with, but when he looks at the clothes of the other kids, no one was wearing blue — or at least a blue that would drape down on the ground, like a dress. Sarah was wearing a jean jacket, but that's not it.
A dress. That's what Wirt thinks he saw back in the mirror.
"Wirt?"
Slam.
Wirt looks up from his position; he didn't move a single inch since everyone else walked out. He is still standing before the door… and the door was shut. That was the slam he heard; it was the door being closed. Too abruptly.
"Oh no…" Wirt mutters. His breathing quickens. He rushes to the door, trying to turn the knob but the knob is jammed. He bangs on the door with his fist, calling out for the kids outside. He tries to look through the window by the door to see if the kids are still there, but he is paralyzed — by his own fear? He feels a cold wind go down his spine, even worse than before. Just like at the mirror. He couldn't run. He's tense and stuck in one place. He gradually turns his head to peek over his shoulder.
And nothing again. It was absolutely nothing.. He doesn't understand his current situation. He's not even sure if being tense right now is the right thing, either. Slowly, he relaxes, taking deep breaths and making remarks of how silly he really is. He shakes his arms to relax himself and tries again to twist the doorknob and open the door but then —
"What are you doing here?" A girl's voice asks.
Wirt jumps and falls over. He tries to find out where it's from. As he lays back on his arms, he quickly scans the room around him to see where the voice came from. Still nothing, but he still feels the chills running up and down his spine. It's become more like someone had put an ice block against his back and it's stuck to him.
"You didn't answer my question," The girl's voice again. Wirt takes a deep breath and sits up.
"Where are you?" Wirt asks loudly.
"Hey," The girl shouts, "You can't ask a question without answering mine first."
Feeling a little annoyed, Wirt grumbles back, "I just came here with friends. Now, where are you?"
"Right next to you, you idiot," The girl's irritated voice says.
"What…" Wirt looks around again, but again finds nothing. "You're joking." Immediately, he feels an abrupt rush of wind in his ears, making him jump back.
"Feel that? That was me," The girl explains.
"So you're —"
"Yes, I'm dead, whoopie," The girl sasses. Immediately, Wirt doesn't feel afraid; in fact, he just feels rather annoyed. He feels absolutely weird in this state: he should be terrified, talking to the dead, but the girl is rather a bother. "So, did you come here because of some ghost story?"
"Yeah," he nods, "But why are you a ghost?"
"As if I know," the girl sighs. "I've been wondering that all these years, and still no idea."
"Okay…?" Wirt's voice trails off, his eyebrows narrowing, "So, why are you keeping me here?"
"Well, to be honest, I'm really bored," the girl whines, "It really sucks being alone and not being able to go outside, so what I want is for you to stay with me."
"F-Forever?" Wirt stutters.
"No, you dingdong!" she scolds him, "It's exactly as you said: I want to stop being a ghost— move on. So, I thought maybe someone can help me. I've been trying to find someone to help me all these years, and you're the only one that actually noticed me."
"I did?" Wirt questions blankly, making the girl grumble again.
"Okay, come here." A rush of cold wind passes through Wirt, making the boy shiver.
The girl sighs annoyingly, "Okay, you know the master bedroom right? There's a mirror there. Let's go." Her voice growing more distant as she speaks. Dazed, Wirt remains on the ground.
He hears a "hmph" from the stairs and soon after another rush of cold wind hits his leg.
"Well, come on!" The girl whines.
"Okay! Okay!" Wirt gets up and trudges up the stairs.
Once he reached the top floor, he walks over to the master bedroom, the door already open. His pace becomes a little slower, but he makes his way into the room, immediately spotting something new in the mirror; the blue in the mirror draws him closer. He passes the bed, past the pale veils of the bed, to see more of that blue.
He would have gone closer, but he stops himself at the corner of the bed, watching almost awestruck. There, standing before the mirror, is a girl. It's one of the girls that was in the family painting downstairs. Wirt figures just by the ginger hair and the style of the dress; all of it just makes him think of the Regency Era. The blue of the girl's eyes matches her gown, but her eyes are a slight icy blue and piercing to Wirt's gaze. He definitely is in awe now, mesmerized by being in her presence.
The girl's eyes glance over towards Wirt's way through the mirror, "Hey, what are you waiting over there for? Come here." Wirt sees the girl walk over his way, instantaneously feeling a cold wind strike him again. The girl reaches for his hand, but Wirt sees that her hand only phases through Wirt's hand; his hands begins to feel like it was hit by a snowball. He shakes his hand before he walks over to the mirror with the girl.
When the two of them stand before the mirror, the girl starts, "Don't you remember? You saw me through this mirror. I was…" She leaves Wirt's side to walk all the way over to the closet behind them. She adjusts herself to stand right past the doorway. "Right here. I was right here. You saw me, and then you ran straight out of the room, remember?"
"Y-Yeah," Wirt rubs the back of his neck.
"You're one of the only people that can see me and hear me," the girl explains. "Usually the people that live here see me or at least feel that weird chill you're getting." Wirt widens his eyes, but the girl continues, "Yeah, I already know about that. So anyways, since you can hear me and see me, maybe you can also help me figure out how to stop being a ghost."
"No!" Wirt shakes his head. He brings his hand up to his face and rubs his face down, then pitches the bridge of his nose. "I don't — I don't want to! I shouldn't even be here! How did I even get in this situation? I should've said no to Sarah! This is completely crazy!" He looks to the girl. "Look, I'm sorry, but I really can't help you. You just gotta find someone else! I can't be the only one around who can hear and see you. I really should go." Immediately, Wirt dashes to the door.
"Wait, please!" The girl pleads, "Please! Just think it through. It'll be a quick favor, and then I'll be gone. Then you can go back and live your life again, okay?"
"N-No!" Wirt tremors, "There's no way I can't help. I'm sorry!" Wirt opens the door, only for it to slam back.
"Please!" The girl roars. Wirt freezes in place, afraid to continue trying. The girl lets out a heavy sigh. "I just… I've tried.. Really hard on my own, and trying to find someone who can hear me. I really can't do it anymore. As stupid as it sounds, you really are my only hope."
Wirt loosens his grip on the doorknob. He keeps his eyes down and continues to listen to the girl.
"Look, if it doesn't work after a while, then I'll leave you alone. We just need time to figure it out… Just give me…."
"A week."
"...Did you say something?" The girl asks.
"I said," Wirt lets his shoulders drop, "A week. I'll try for a week. Then, I'm not coming back here again… alright?"
"What?," The girl states, "I can't work with that! What if it takes longer?"
"It's a week or nothing," Wirt crosses his arms.
"Fine!" The girl pouts, "Then you're just going to have to come back everyday!"
"What? Everyday?" Wirt whines.
"I have to make use of the time," the girl explains.
"Ugh fine, but like I said," Wirt crosses his arms, "after a week from today, I'm not coming back, okay?"
"Deal," The girl says cheerfully and confidently. "Then tomorrow we start, okay?"
"Fine," Wirt nods.
"Alright, then I'll see you tomorrow!" The girl's voice grows distant.
"Yeah, see ya," Wirt opens the door again, but he stops again. Looking up, he turns to the mirror again, "Wait, what's your name?"
"Huh?" He sees the girl walk toward the mirror, taking a seat before it. "My name?"
"Yeah, I don't think we introduced each other," Wirt shrugs, "I'm Wirt by the way."
The girl snorts, "Wirt?"
"Yeah, well," Wirt's face flushes, "What's your name?"
"Beatrice," the girl promptly says.
"Well, see you tomorrow, Beatrice." And with that, Wirt leaves the house.