The sound of the gunshot echoed through the mansion. The lonely millionaire pulled the handgun back to his side, looking at where it had hit on the target. It hit between the arm and the chest instead of right in the middle. He scrunched his nose and put the gun back, trying to figure out why he had been missing so many attempted shots lately.
He had it all...Well, almost. He wasn't as famous as Justin Biter or Lady RaRa, or anywhere close to that much attention and affection. Infact, most people hated him because he was apart of the mofia. It wasn't his fault he was born in the business and nobody would accept it. They despised him enough for him to be in the most wanted, trapping him inside for most of the time. The rest of it was spent on jobs or running from the police once they caught hold of his location until he got back to the abandoned building.
He froze in mid-stance when he heard voices coming from outside.
Draculaura giggled, "Come on Cleo! You said dare!"
Cleo shook her head and hissed, "But you KNOW I'm nyctophobic! Come on ghouls, can't I do something else?! Like drink a whole bottle of wine or something?"
Gory snuffed, "I thought you were supposed to be a future queen. Queens don't have a childish fear like the dark."
"Try being in a sarcophagus for thousands of years and see how YOU like it."
"I've been in a coffin and I'm perfectly fine."
Frankie interrupted, "Ghouls, I don't think this is good. I mean, Cleo shouldn't have to face her fears over some silly thing like a dare-"
Gory shot, "Stay out of this Frankie."
Clawdeen, however, agreed with Frankie, "Actually, I think she's got a point. We all know Cleo flips out whenever she's in the dark alone...Especially in a place like this."
"Oh come ON! This is great practice for her! I mean, she's supposed to focus on other things eventually like her country falling, who's next in line for the throne instead of some stupid thing like the dark."
Frankie added, "Besides, what if this isn't what it seems? What if we're trespassing?"
"Then Cleo can afford to pay for the ticket." The purple haired vampress folded her arms and finished, "Now, I suggest Cleo gets this over and done with. End of discussion."
The mummy stood still, glancing nervously up and down at the mansion. Vines were growing rapidly around it, covering some of it's windows. The paint on it was slowly chipping away with cracks on it's paved entry. Gory groaned and forced Cleo to move by pushing her towards the door, flung it open and threw her inside, slamming the door shut a second later. She pulled out a skeleton key and locked it, leaving Cleo to bang her fists against it repeatedly, wailing for her to let her out.
Lagoona hissed, "Gory!"
She shrugged, "What? She had it coming."
"She shouldn't be in there, let her out and apologize!"
"No. This is so going to make up for everything she's done."
"Like what?!"
"Like being fearleading captain every damn year during high school and acting like a snob!"
"She may be a bit annoying at times, but she's kind-"
"Kind? Bah! How so?"
"Well, there was that one time where she payed for everyone's prom dresses AND dinner, and then she also got Holt a new DJ set with no questions asked-"
"So?"
"So! She's made up for it and doesn't deserve to be pushed into her discomfort zone like it's nothing!"
Gory rolled her eyes and scoffed, "Whatever, I'm out of here."
"Y-You can't just leave! You have the key!"
"I'm sure you'll find a way in...Or she'll find a way out."
"What if she doesn't?"
"Well then that's just her problem."
She climbed into a car and shut the door, letting Bram take her away without any more words spoken.
Cleo trembled as she attempted to stand up, trying her hardest not to cry. Of all the things she could've done, Gory had to dare her to go in an old, abandoned house and try to find her way out. It wasn't too terribly dark, but any form of darkness scared her which caused every video in class in every school she ever attended to be played with the lights on. The sun was almost set, which meant she had to start testing solutions if she didn't want to spend a night there.
The furniture looked to be mid 1800's to early 1900's. The color scheme appeared to be a light beige and white, with the wallpaper -like the outer walls- starting to fade and fall apart. A few minutes later, she was crawling up the large staircase that lead to two more flights of stairs. However, one had a light radiating from it, which peaked her curiosity.
Naturally, she took the lit stairs. It seemed to be an eternity before she reached the top of the staircase, only to be dumbfounded by a whole row of nothing but doors. She folded her arms and stamped her foot, muttering curses to herself before wandering up and down the halls, trying to figure out which one would lead her somewhere that'd help her escape.
Bang, bang, bang.
She froze after the three gunshots. It was confirmed that she wasn't alone...But she wished she was. An unlocked window caught her attention as a door at the opposite end of the hall was opening. She simply screamed while running for the door, "Stay away from me!"
But the figure followed her, moving slightly faster than her. She continued running despite their slight advantage.
Moments later, she reached the end of the hall and tried to unlock the window. She tried flipping the switch, but that didn't work. Neither did simply flinging it open. She back up a few meters and sprinted towards it again, her shoulder being the most outward. She was almost certain it was going to work, until she remembered how far the fall down would be...Certainly not a height she'd want to fall at.
She wanted to stop, but she couldn't. If she did stop, she'd be likely in more danger than if she didn't...But if she didn't, she'd plummet and nearly break every bone in her body. So, in case worst came to worst, she muttered, "Ra, I'm sorry about whatever I did to deserve this situation! Throw me in the lowest level of the underworld, far away from paradise! Just don't let me go like thi-"
She was stopped when something grabbed her by the wrist and caused her to land backwards. She whinned, "I-I'm sorry if I tresspassed! I-I'll do anything, just please don't shoot me!"
It laughed and asked, "Why would I shoot you? Nobody asked or payed me to shoot you, so why would I do it?"
"B-But I heard gunshots!"
"I was just practicing my aim until I heard you stomp your foot so I figured you were lost and needed a bit of help."
A hand was extended to her. She hesitated for a moment before grasping their wrist and was pulled up. It was a male gorgon, about the same age as her. He laughed again, "Oh, sorry, I forgot to introduce myself, didn't I? The name's Deuce. You would be?"
"Cleo."
"OK Cleo, how did you get here?"
"I was dared to come in here by my friends. There are rumors this place is abandoned...But I guess their wrong."
"Hehe, yeah...About that..."
"What?"
"You can't tell anyone I'm here, alright? You also have to forget we ever crossed paths."
"W-Why?"
"Because, I'm a wanted man for killing, drug trafficking, and breaking just about every law in the book."
"No, I won't forget you."
"Your not going to turn me in, are you?" His voice rose in anger.
"No no no! You didn't do anything to me!"
"That's because I wasn't hired to kill you or something like that. I don't like this, but I have to."
"Why?
"My dad was apart of this wretched business...And of corpse, I was the one it was passed to! I was his least favorite."
"But can't you clear your name?"
"Nope. If I tried, I'd be in the electric chair in an hour."
"What if you had help?"
"Then we'd both be dead."
"Have you tried?"
"Well, no...Everyone hates me because they don't want to die."
"Well, what if there was someone who liked you?"
"Then they'd hear what I do after admitting it."
"Even after that?"
"I don't know. Why? Y'know someone?"
"Yeah..."
"Who?"
She smiled and asked, "Do you want to move somewhere else?"
He was catching onto her behavior and tugged at his collar. His voice cracked, "C-Cleo, I'm a stranger to you!"
She dropped the smile and rolled her eyes before correcting him, "I meant do you want to sit down? I'm not that type of ghoul."
"Oh...Yeah, my feet are killing me. Follow me."
She trailed behind him to a small room. There were two settees between a sofa with a round clawfee table sitting in the middle on top of a white rug. The walls appeared slightly more modernized, but not up to date. She questioned him about his decorations, "Working on one room at a time?"
He sat back and shrugged, "Business has been slow...Thankfully."
"Now, why can't you quit your job?"
"Because it's been going on for generations and if I dropped it like that...Well, then I'd be guaranteed to have my head served on a silver platter!"
"What if I said you went bankrupt?"
"They'd ask how I could afford everything."
"What if you told them you had a rich source?"
"Cleo! You couldn't possibly give money to me-"
"Yes I could...Under one condition."
"Which is?"
"Let me remember this and visit you as often as I'd like to."
"Oh come on Cleo, you can do better than that."
"But like you said, I'm a stranger to you. I'd like to get to know you better so I can see if I want to get a little deeper."
"If your saying what I think you are, then I can't because it'd be too big of a risk. What if I got caught?"
"I'd bail you out, bail money or not."
Before he could reply, a knock on the doors echoed through the mansion.
"I think your being summoned." He laughed.
She smirked and got up from her seat. She almost left, except she stopped and started playing with his living hairs. His scales stood straight up as she placed her head on his shoulder and whispered, "Tomorrow?"
He shook and replied, "Y-Yeah. Tomorrow."
She smiled and let herself out of the room.
Clawdeen hissed, "God, when I get my hands on Gory...Imma gonna-"
Frankie interrupted,"Now Clawdeen, we don't do that to friends."
"I know, but I'm starting to question her..."
Draculaura changed the topic, "Why are we talking about Gory? I just hope Cleo's okay! I mean, remember the LAST time she was stuck in a dark place?!"
"Yeahh, that didn't end so well..."
The doors flung open and Cleo strutted out as though she was making her entry in a play as the princess. Lagoona immediately asked, "Cleo, you OK?"
She rolled her eyes and sarcastically huffed, "No Lagoona, I was crying and curled up in a ball the whole time. Of corpse I'm fine."
Draculaura jumped on her and squealed, "Ohhh thank goodness! We thought you got lost in there!"
"How can I get lost in a mansion?"
"Well...we've gotten lost in walk in closets, right?"
"Yeah...But something extrodinary happened."
"What happened?!" She took a step away from her and had her fists balled together, hoping for the whole story.
"I can't say. You'd never believe me."
The mummy strut off to the car and didn't say a word the whole ride back to town.
...My fingers slipped. ^^; Sooo continue or just keep it as is? If continued, this'd involve all characters btw.
