The couple made their way to the kitchen, quickly opening the door that lead down to the basement. Lewis went first, testing out the old stairs with his weight before Vivi could follow behind him. They descended down into the basement, almost swallowed up in the dark.
"So where did the reports say the body was?" Lewis asked as he looked around.
"Far corner," Vivi replied quickly, before pulling ahead and walking away. Lewis stumbled slightly as he rushed to catch up to her.
"Slow down Vivi," Lewis said gently. "We have all night. I'm pretty sure ghosts stay active while the sun is down." He smiled gently and had to break into a short sprint to catch up to the girl. How she managed to move so fast with her short legs, he would never know.
"I know…but I just want to cover as much as possible as quickly as possible," Vivi said quickly, moving a little faster. "Arthur's by himself…basically, and the longer he's like that, the more worried I get… You know he's more prone to getting kidnapped than a virgin girl in a white dress. It worries me…" Lewis followed her back to the far corner, where they found what looked like a large blood stain on the back wall. Lewis watched as Vivi placed her fingers to the dried liquid, carefully examining it up close. "It's dry… Usually in fake hauntings, someone will layer fresh blood every night so anyone wandering inside will think the ghost is 'reminding people of their death' or some nonsense. Either no one has been here, or they aren't very thorough." Vivi started searching through her backpack, pulling out the papers. She started shuffling through the materials, an unsure expression on her face. Since Arthur is far away…maybe I can get some information from Vivi…
"Hey…" Lewis said gently, getting only a small grunt in acknowledgement. "I need to ask you something…about Arthur…" Vivi stopped messing with her papers and looked up at Lewis, sensing the seriousness in his tone.
"What about Arthur…?" Lewis thought for a moment, thinking of how to approach it carefully.
"Has he…been acting weird since I left…?" He asked, getting a loud scoff from Vivi.
"Of course he has," Vivi almost snapped. "He's been a guilty nervous wreck! Obviously he's acting weird!" Lewis winched a little.
"That's…not what I meant…" He mumbled, avoiding her gaze. "I meant…does he have any odd habits…that he didn't have before…" Vivi's glare was still burning into the side of his head, but she did answer him.
"He picked up a few…" Vivi grumbled, looking away from him. "He insists I have the better equipment and better situation, no matter what. He's gone without a flashlight so many times… I'm starting to think he can see in the dark, cause he's pretty good at not getting lost."
"Maybe the flashlight was a handicap," Lewis mumbled.
"He doesn't swim anymore," Vivi grumbled softly.
"He doesn't swim?" Lewis asked. "He used to swim like a fish!" Vivi spared him a glance, before turning away and walking towards the other far corner.
"He doesn't like taking off the arm to get into the water…" She mumbled gently, finding a few dusty boxes in the corner. "He hates taking off his shirt too… I think he's self-conscious… I guess he's nervous about me seeing the stump for some reason…"
"Have you ever seen it?" Lewis asked, all too pleased she approached the subject on her own. "His arm anyway… Have you ever seen the…stump?" Vivi looked over her shoulder at him, her eyes seemingly staring through him.
"Why do you ask?" Why does she have to be so sharp? Lewis looked away and laughed nervously.
"Just curious…"
"Bull," Vivi said flatly. "Why. Do. You. Ask. Lewis?" The blue clad girl was determined to get an answer out of him, and nothing stopped her when she was determined. Lewis let out a long sigh.
"I didn't want to embarrass him…" He mumbled, looking away. "But…I saw some scarring when I looked at his arm earlier…but before I could register what it looked like, he ran away…" He looked at Vivi, seeing a hard expression come across her face.
"What are you implying Lewis?" Her eyes were staring hard, but he could tell she was thinking the same thing he was.
"He hasn't been that way…since the day when I found all the cutting scars on his wrists…" He mumbled gently. "He jerked his hands away and tried to hide them. I already knew he'd done it, but at the thought of me seeing them, he freaked out. I think he's ashamed…" Vivi covered her mouth, her eyes widening.
"You don't think he…" She let her voice trail off, searching for the words desperately.
"I think…so…" Lewis added, avoiding saying what they both thought. He cut himself on the stump too. Lewis jerked up when he heard Mystery's loud barking, following by the sound of four paws coming down the stairs. "Fuck…" Mystery ran to Vivi, pawing at her legs and whining loudly.
"Oh no…"
Arthur shone the flashlight as he walked down the hallway slowly. This is horrifying… Why did I do that…? He walked a few more steps forward, sighing at himself. Because those two are safer with each other, than with me… Arthur heard a whine, decidedly setting Mystery back down on his feet. The little dog shook for a moment, before walking towards one of the doors. Arthur, more wearily, followed the dog and opened it.
The room looked like a child's bedroom, though it was covered in dust and cobwebs. There was a small bed in the corner of the room, and the floor was littered with old toys. There was an assortment of blocks, train tracks, cars, and even a few teddy bears lying around randomly. Arthur sneezed softly, the dust bothering him, as he carefully walked into the room.
"Vivi did say there was a child involved…" Arthur mumbled as he walked to the bed. The covers are old…but it doesn't look like there is as much dust on it… Arthur turned an examined some of the toys on the floor, noting that there wasn't as much dust on these either. "She didn't say the kid died though…only disappeared…" He shifted around and started to leave the room, when he heard sound. Click. Click. Click.
He shone the flashlight in front of him, slowly walking out the door. Mystery started barking as he followed at Arthur's heels. He rounded the corner, heading towards the source of the noise. "Hello? Is anyone there?" It sounds like someone tapping against wood… "Hello?" Arthur opened up another door and took a cautious step inside. He had stepped into what looked like an old master bedroom. There was a large canopy bed, an old beauty parlor on its right, and a large closet on the left.
The room was very open, allowing Arthur more than enough space to move around. He looked under the bed, half expecting the find the source of the noise, but found nothing. The room fell silent, Arthur tricking himself into believing he had imagined it, when he heard it again, louder. Click. Click. Click. He followed the sound to the closet, opening it slowly. "Hello?" He pushed around some old coats, sneezing again as dust flew into the air.
Click. Click. Click. As if responding to him, the noise came again. Arthur shuffled more coats around.
"Who's here?" He asked gently. All his senses were telling him to turn and run, but the curiosity brimming in his chest kept him there. What is that? As if on cue, his flashlight flickered and turned off, leaving the room black. He felt his body start to get cold, turning around slowly to leave when he heard it.
Click. Click. Click. It came again.
"This isn't funny." Arthur mumbled, shoving the coats in the other direction. "If this is some sort of prank, it needs to stop right here." There was a pause in the silence as Arthur got closer to the end of the coats. Now that I think about it… Where did Mystery go? He looked over his shoulder to find the dog wasn't around. That's not a good sign.
Clickety-click. The noise changed slightly. He looked back into the closet. I'm already close… I might as well finish what I started. Arthur got to the end of the clothes, when he felt a cold hand grab onto his wrist. Clickety-click. He felt his arm get tugged harshly, falling forward into the closet. He felt himself fall forward far more than he was supposed to, and smacked his face on the ground.
"What just happened!?" Arthur asked, rubbing his chin with his spare hand, the cool metal soothing the forming bruise. He looked up straight into glowing white eyes. Unnatural, glowing white eyes that stared back at him. He started to let out a wail when all his senses were filled with darkness.
Click.