Chapter 1-The Mansion

"Remind me again, why we're doing this?"

Cole's voice was thin and soft, filled with a nervous edge. His fingers tapped against the steering wheel of his truck, eyes squinted against the shaded path. Nya sat beside him, her body language the polar opposite of his. She was leaned forward in her seat, eyes wide with wonder, eager and bold.

"Because we need a good story to write." Nya smiled to herself, sense of adventure making her heart hammer victoriously against her chest. "Besides, you don't really believe the place is haunted, do you?"

"Of course I believe it." Cole huffed. "Why wouldn't I believe it? People have gone missing in this place. That's got ghosts written all over it."

"Or people who wanted to disappear took advantage of the urban legend." Nya pointed out. "Besides, someone answered the phone. Someone said it was alright for us to come poke around. Can ghosts do that? Answer phones? Give directions?"

"Possibly."

Nya didn't respond. She knew they could both argue for hours, without actually settling down. They both had very different views of the world, and very little desire to change them. Despite the differences, however, Cole and her made a good team.

A large mansion rolled into view. Cole groaned as it did, fighting the urge to drop it all and turn back around. Vines crawled up the side of it, and the vast grounds surrounding it poorly kept. An uneasy feeling rattled through Cole as they drove through the open gate.

"You have to admit, it looks creepy."

"It looks interesting." Nya countered, although she did find the place a tad unsettling. When they rolled to a stop, she clicked off her seatbelt and hopped out of the truck. Her boots sunk into the mud with a soft squish. On the opposite side of the truck, Cole did the same.

"Gross." He frowned.

"Let's go. The owner's probably waiting for us." Nya did her best to keep balanced through the soft ground, moving forward with a determined gait.

"They're not home, actually."

Cole and Nya, on edge as they were, jolted at the sudden voice. The turned to the source, spotting a young man who was quite the opposite of threatening. Wild auburn hair adorned the top of his head, and his eyes were a bright cheerful blue. Nya thought his features looked somewhat familiar, but she couldn't place them. He gave a wave as he moved closer.

"Hello! You must be the ones that called yesterday. I'm Jay. I take care of the place. Ish. Not much one person can do against this mess." Jay chuckled, gesturing to the tall grass and invasive vines. "But I do try."

"I'm Nya."

"And I'm wondering what you meant when you said the owner isn't home?" Cole asked.

"That's a long name." Jay laughed again. "In all seriousness though, something came up. You could wait. Or you could go home. Come back some other time. He probably wouldn't mind."

"Great." Cole readied himself to turn, but Nya grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks.

"We're already here, might as well look around."

"Nya, why?"

"Because," Thunder grumbled above them. Nya smirked. "You wouldn't want to drive in the rain."

Cole looked up, watching the dark clouds. His face scrunched up as a drop fell against his cheek. "Fine. But as soon as it clears up, we're leaving. Even if the owner hasn't shown."

"Deal!" Nya nodded.

"Follow me then!" Jay scurried through the grounds, and Nya a followed closely. Cole moved a bit more reluctantly, but he moved nonetheless.

Once inside, the fear was momentarily wiped from Cole's mind. The mansion was grand, far more than he'd expected it to be. He lifted the camera that hung around his neck, snapping pictures of the more attractive pieces of decoration.

Jay led them into a small living room, where a warm fire had already been brought to life. It flickered pleasantly, giving the room a homey feeling. "You can wait here. I'll see if I can get ahold of him."

With one last look at them both, Jay stepped back out of sight. Cole continued to snap pictures of his surroundings, while Nya strolled through the area, committing every detail to memory.

"He must be a collector of some sort," Nya said, picking up a small figurine. It was carefully crafted, and incredibly life-like. She set it back down, turning toward Cole. "There's so much stuff here."

"No kidding." Cole lowered his camera. "And this is just one room. The guy must be loaded."

Once their curiosity had been mildly satiated, they sat together on one of the couches in the room to wait. Cole hummed softly, while Nya scribbled questions to ask the owner once he finally showed.

They waited. And waited.

The rhythmic tick of the clock, along with the soothing warmth made both of their eyelids grow heavy. They each fought back the urge to sleep, but in the end, boredom made their minds too numb to argue. Their eyes shut almost in unison, sending them spiraling into a welcoming darkness.

A sudden shiver rattled through Nya's body.

Her eyes snapped open, and it took her a couple of seconds to process the world. The room Jay had left them in had grown dark, the fire having burned out and the thick rain blocking any light from outside.

Nya sat up slowly, stretching out her arms as she did. "Cole."

Cole snored away in response. Nya frowned, stepping up to him and shaking his arm roughly. "Cole."

"Huh?" Cole's eyes blinked open, unfocused and reddened. Nya waited patiently. All at once, Cole hopped into a sitting position, turning left and right. "Whoa. We're still here? What happened?"

"We fell asleep."

"What time is it?" Cole looked behind Nya, at the windows roughly splattered with rain. "It's still raining?"

"The roads are probably flooded by now." Nya slipped her phone out of her pocket to check the exact time, but the screen wouldn't light. She frowned, then gave up, looking up at the aged clock against the wall. "And it's. . . holy crap. It's midnight."

"No way." Cole shivered, looking at the clock himself. When Nya's words were revealed to be true, he stood, clutching his camera tight. "We need to go home. This is not right. The owner should have been here already! This place is way, way creepy. I'm done. We're done."

"Something is definitely not right." Nya agreed. "But we can't go home. Can you even drive in this?"

"I'd rather try than stay here." Cole shrugged. Nya didn't think it would be much use to argue, so she followed. Together, they retraced the path back to the entrance.

The room hadn't been too far into the mansion, so the route should have been easy to remember. There was no complicated pattern of turns, nor a considerable amount and steps. And yet. . .

"Um." Cole frowned. "What?"

Before them, stood the same dimly lit room they'd walked away from.