A Haunting
Part 3
Feli had never been more terrified in her entire life.
It was her own fault too. She hadn't meant to separate from her older sister. She was just so scared when that...thing...appeared between them that she panicked and immediately ran as fast as she could to get away from it. She hadn't even thought about Lovi until she was already hopelessly lost in this big scary house.
And Lovi didn't come when she called for her. No matter how loudly she shouted; it was almost as if her voice was being eaten by the walls. She finally gave up and started searching for the kitchen, but even that quest had been unsuccessful. She found a library and a bunch of bedrooms filled with cobwebs and mice nests, but no food.
The last door she checked led into this room, which was big and empty of everything but a piano. She was too tired to continue, so she just sat down on the piano bench and started crying.
She really had no idea how long it'd been since then. It felt like forever since she saw her sister. What happened to her? Why didn't Lovi come and find her? What if that monster ate her? What if the monster was going to come and eat her too?
"Are you hurt?"
If Lovi hadn't been eaten yet, then she definitely would have heard the scream that Feli let out at the voice that suddenly came from right behind her. She jumped up and spun toward the voice, already shouting, "Don't hurt me Mr. Monster! I didn't do anything! I'm really not tasty at all! I promise I taste really really awful! Don't eat me!"
But then she stopped.
Because standing in front of her was a man, not a monster at all. He was probably in his early twenties. Much taller than her and very big and muscular, with blond hair that was slicked back militarily. But the thing that she first noticed was that the man standing in front of her was wearing a police officer's uniform.
A policeman.
She was saved!
And Feli didn't take the time to think. She immediately jumped forward and grabbed onto the policeman's arm, feeling instant relief. A policeman found her! He'd protect her from the monster. "Mr. Policeman! Ve~ I'm so happy to see you! I've been lost and I thought a monster was going to eat me, but you'll protect me, Mr. Policeman, right?"
His skin was oddly cold, she noticed vaguely, like he'd been holding ice cubes against his skin for some reason. Which was rather odd, although she wasn't given much time to think about it before he took a step back and removed his arm from her grip.
"Miss," and his cheeks were all red now. He turned his head aside for a moment and coughed into his fist, then turned back with a very stern expression. "What do you think you're doing here? Didn't you see the 'no trespassing' signs?" He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest.
And now he actually looked a little scary, although not as scary as the terrifying monster. Feli's bottom lip trembled, and then she hurriedly exclaimed, "Ve~ I'm sorry! Lovi had to come to make sure that Ally didn't cheat and I had to come to make sure Lovi was okay, but then a monster appeared and we all ran away and I don't know where Lovi is and she may have gotten eaten and...and..." And that was when she burst into tears again.
What if Lovi had been eaten? What would she do? Feli couldn't imagine not having her sister anymore. Feli loved her big sister, even if she did call her mean names and tell her she shouldn't eat so much pasta and get really grumpy sometimes and lock herself in her room. She was really a good big sister besides that and what would Nonno say? Nonno would be so sad if Lovi had gotten eaten...
She almost forgot about the policeman as she was overcome by misery. At least, she did until she felt a slight pressure on her head. She looked up, to see the policeman standing much closer. His cheeks were bright red and his hand was settled on top of her head in a probable-attempt at a soothing gesture, although he immediately removed it as soon as she met his eyes.
He cleared his throat. "You—so you didn't come alone, then?"
Feli shook her head. "No, I came with my sister and Ally and Mattie. But everybody ran away..." What if Ally or Mattie had gotten eaten? She hadn't even really stopped to think about them. That would be really sad too!
"From a 'monster'?"
Yes, she only really caught a glimpse of the monster, but that was enough to scare her into a panic. It was see-through and shimmery, almost like mist, and it looked mostly human. Like a boy. But, its face... Its face had been almost completely destroyed, the right side a mess of gore...
Just the memory of that split second sent a shudder through her entire body. She couldn't remember much else, just that face...
"It—it was awful. We have to go find my sister before the monster finds her!" She was shaking; she wanted to go home, but Lovi was still here. Somewhere. And she had a policeman with her now, a policeman who would help her find her sister and the others. "Ve~ You'll help me, right?"
The policeman frowned, looking rather unsure for a moment, but then he sighed and nodded once. "Just stay with me."
Feli obeyed, immediately moving to his side and wrapping herself around his arm again. He jerked a little, but then sighed and didn't push her away this time.
Which was good, because it was much easier to stay close to someone when they let you hold onto them, although she still didn't understand why his skin was so cold. It wasn't that cold in the house. It was a little bit chilly, but he felt like a big, muscular ice cube... It almost made her not wantto hold onto him.
"Ve~ What's your name, Mr. Policeman? My name's Feli!"
He hesitated, as they walked out of the room and into a hallway, which... Feli was pretty sure looked slightly different than it had when she walked into the room. Maybe they'd gone out a different door than the one she entered? Although she didn't think so... But she was pretty sure that there hadn't been this many doorways in the hallway that she traveled through earlier.
"My name is Ludwig. Ludwig Beilschmidt."
"And why are you here, Ludwig? Are you here to make sure no one trespasses?" That seemed like a lonely job, just wandering around this place looking for people like her and her sister and Ally and Mattie.
He didn't answer for another long moment. They were passing lots of doors now. Most of them were open, which was definitely different. She clearly remembered the doors in the earlier hallway being closed. She stared into rooms that were magnificently furnished with beds that shone like gold and tapestries and beautifully-carved dressers and desks. They, for some reason, didn't look nearly as dirty and gross as you would expect them to, since this house had been abandoned for so long. They looked like someone was taking very good care of them, like their occupants just stepped out for a bit and were coming right back.
She felt a little nervous now and clung tighter to Ludwig's ice-cold arm. This seemed...wrong, somehow.
He spoke, though, drawing her attention back to the present. "I'm...looking for someone."
"Ve~ Who?"
It was really weird. It was like the house was getting cleaner and less creepy as they walked farther into it.
Ludwig spoke again, his voice sounding almost sad. "My sister."
A/N: Hey look who it is! It's me! I have returned to add another chapter to this story! Sorry it's been so long... xD Honestly I just totally forgot where I was going with this story and got distracted by other things. But now I sort of remember what was going to happen so yaaaaaaaaay~ Ghosties!
Methinks that Feli is in a bit of trouble right now, but at least she's with Ludwig. Right? Riiiight?
