A Haunting
Part 7
"Ve~ Ludwig?"
Feli was tired. She was tired and very very hungry. To the point where it was hard to focus on anything else, even her fear and worry for her big sister.
"Ludwig?"
She was also feeling rather lonely, despite the presence of the policeman who was guiding her through this big, scary house. She felt so relieved and happy when she first found him. She wouldn't have to be alone and scared anymore, because now there was someone who could protect her. But she was starting to feel that happiness wilt.
Because he was completely ignoring her now.
His expression was tense, his features twisted into a mask of severity. He was marching through the hallways, so fast that it was hard for Feli to keep up.
"Ludwig?"
Her call finally reached him and he glanced down at her with a scary frown. "What?"
She really wanted her sister. Or Ally or Mattie. Someone who wasn't so grumpy and who wouldn't look at her with such scary eyes. She cowered under his gaze, but she was too hungry and tired to not say something. "Ve~ Ludwig, I'm hungry."
His expression was kind of strange, as he looked at her for a moment like he didn't understand what she meant. Then there was an expression almost like realization and then another frown. Less grumpy and more thoughtful.
"I don't have any food."
"No food? Not even pasta?"
That sent another wave of panic through Feli's mind. She was going to starve! Lovi hadn't let her bring any food—she had been in an awful mood when they left and said that she wasn't going to wait for Feli to make a goddamn picnic, ignoring the fact that they were going to be in the house for hours, so obviously they were going to get hungry—and now her stomach was growling furiously. "Can we go find some?"
Ludwig shook his head. "There isn't any food in the house."
"None at all?" Feli's stomach rumbled again.
"I'm sorry," he apologized and then returned his attention to the hallways.
Feli just wanted to go home. She wanted to find her sister and Ally and Mattie and go home. Nonno was probably wondering where they were. He was probably really worried and he'd be really upset and probably scold them a lot when they got home. But she wouldn't even mind that.
She remained silent for a few minutes and then said, "Ludwig?"
He glanced toward her again. He looked tired, she thought. "Yes?"
Ludwig was refusing to answer most of Feli's questions about himself, but he did tell her that he was here because he was looking for his sister as well. He wouldn't say anything more, but that had been enough to pique Feli's curiosity. "Ve~ Do you think your sister might be with Lovi?"
He seemed to wince at that question, but then straightened. "I don't know. Perhaps. Hopefully not."
"Hopefully not?" Feli wondered why he would say that. If he was looking for his sister and she was looking for her sister, then finding them together sounded like the best thing!
"Feliciana," he sighed and then suddenly stopped and turned toward her. His face looked even more tired as he stared at her. "Please don't ask questions. This isn't something I want to talk about…"
"Well, now, that isn't fair, Ludwig. Isn't that what got you into this mess in the first place?"
The voice shot through the air like a bullet, appearing from nowhere. Feli screeched and immediately hid herself behind Ludwig's back, eyes darting around the still-empty hallway. There was no one here, but that voice had sounded so close. Like the speaker was standing right next to her.
She could feel Ludwig tense, as she clung to his arm in hope of protection. He was muttering to himself in what sounded like German.
"V—ve?"
And then there was laughter. Echoing, seemingly coming from every direction at once. But still, no one was visible. It just grew louder and louder and louder…
Feli's instincts told her to flee, but she had no idea where the laughter was coming from. If she ran, she might find the monster. Or the monster might find her.
She grabbed onto the back of Ludwig's uniform, noticing that it felt wet for some reason. Not that she had time to really puzzle over this, as he suddenly took a step backwards and hissed out, "Feliciana, don't move. No matter what."
She nodded, clinging even more tightly to him, and then bit back a scream. A shape began to materialize in front of them—a dark, wispy, humanoid shape that was surrounded by ever-shifting smoke. All she could really see clearly was what looked like a white mask that covered where the face should be, a huge, crooked smirk etched into the smooth ivory-like features. Where the eyes should be were only a pair of holes that seemed to suck you into a pitch-like void.
She could feel tears begin streaming down her cheeks as she cowered behind Ludwig, too frightened to move or speak or…
"What do you want, Sadiq?"
Huh?
She glanced upwards. She could only see the side of Ludwig's face from this angle, but she could tell he was frowning. He didn't seem scared. He was just tense and looked angry.
The monster—Sadiq—laughed again. "I was just curious what all the ruckus was about. It ain't often we get visitors." He didn't walk toward them, because he didn't have visible feet, but he did move closer in a sort of floaty way. Feli squeaked and hid her face against Ludwig's back. "Least this one's cute."
"Please don't eat me, Mr. Monster! I don't taste good at all!"
There was a moment of silence and then that laughter came again. "Eat you? Why the fuck would I want to eat you? You been watchin' too many of those movies like Gill's got?"
Feli wasn't sure who Gill was, but he said he wasn't going to eat her, so she risked looking up from her safe place behind Ludwig.
The monster was just standing there, those empty eyes staring deeply into her own.
"Sadiq, leave us alone," Ludwig said, his deep voice startling Feli into jumping slightly.
"Oh no." The monster shook his head. "You're lyin' to people again. I thought you'd've learned by now that that ain't a good idea." He disappeared and reappeared right next to Feli, startling her into shrieking in terror.
The terrifying-thing seemed annoyed by that. The mask covered his face, but his voice took on an irritated, clipped tone. "Hey, I just said I'm not gonna eat you. I'm actually doin' my good deed of the day and givin' you a little warning."
"W—warning?"
He nodded, his hand disappearing into the smokey blackness for a moment as he turned his gaze toward Ludwig. He remained tense, staring back at him with a face almost as blank as the scary thing's mask.
"Consider this my present to you."
She didn't even have time to scream. Sadiq's hand moved into sight, pale fingers with nails almost like claws clutched around the trigger of a huge, black gun. Ludwig shouted something that she couldn't understand.
And then there was the gunshot.
Feli wasn't entirely sure what happened in the next few moments. She felt Ludwig's body jerk backwards and then there was another shot and another. She heard a scream, although she wasn't immediately aware that it came from herself. She couldn't run, couldn't move…
It felt like she was frozen in place as she stared at the gun. At the tendrils of smoke that curled toward the ceiling. Ludwig sunk down to his knees. The masked monster was still standing in front of them, staring at her with empty eye sockets. Although suddenly the smile etched into the mask moved and twisted upwards and upwards and the air was filled with laughter.
He turned fully toward Ludwig. "How does that feel, old partner? It hurt as much as it did the first time?" His gaze returned to Feli and he laughed again. "So there's your warning. By the end of the night that's what's gonna happen to you. Gotta say, the place's getting a little crowded."
Then he was gone. Without any sort of warning, they were alone.
Feli's first instinct was to turn and bolt, but then she heard Ludwig groan and that thought immediately disappeared.
"Ve~ Ludwig! Are you okay? Oh no! Oh no!" She dropped onto the ground beside him and reached toward his face. "Ludwig!"
He grunted and moved away from her. "I'm fine. Just… Give me a moment."
He was shot so many times, though. She couldn't understand how he could even be speaking or moving or anything. She reached forward again, intent on touching him to try to help him, because he was going to need a doctor or a hospital or at the very least to be bandaged up!
"Feliciana, don't touch—!"
The order came too late, as Feli had already reached forward to grab his hand and felt her heart jolt to a stop when her fingers passed right through his skin.
A/N: Ah, ghosties. So fun story. I actually wanted to get a story up on Halloween; I wrote out a whole Pleasantville Halloween story. And then my computer ate it. -.- RAAR. And since honestly, Idk at this point whether I could rewrite that one again, I decided to work on another chapter of this instead because I gotta do something for Halloween!
Anyways, so you get more ghosties! I'm super curious if anyone has any ideas about what's going on in this story? It's my first time writing something more mystery-ish, so who knows how good of a job I'm doing. I feel like I'm failing hardcore. xD Trying to throw in hints about what's happening. Why all the ghosts are there, what type of danger the girls are in, etc. I'm curious if anyone has any theories! If you do, you should let me know! Because God, I feel like this story is such a fail but I really like ghost stories but God, I'm so bad at writing them. Orz
Also, yeah, there's a reason why Ludwig could still feel pain as a ghost. Which is related to why he's the most solid of the ghosts thus far. REASONS.
