Chapter 26: Terror at Nightmare Mansion Part 1
One evening, Jani-Ca and the Babylon Rogues are setting up camp for the night deep in the forest. The tents are set up and their sleeping bags are unrolled. Jet remains at camp as he looks at a map to figure out the direction they need to go. Walking to camp is Storm holding a large pile of firewood.
Storm walks to Jet and says, "Boss, I brought back the fire. This should be more than enough for the night."
"Good job Storm. Place it by the fireplace," Jet says.
"You got it, boss," Storm replies.
Storm walks over to a dirt circle that is circled by stone. Storm places the wood on the ground and dust off his hands. He looks around to notice two members of their group are missing.
"Where are the girls?"
"Wave and Jani-Ca went out to find food for tonight. Hope they get back soon. I'm starting to get hungry," Jet says.
"Me too. I haven't eaten since lunch," Storm says.
Storm walks to Jet who is reading a map.
"Whatcha doing?" Storm asks.
"Trying to figure out where we are and where we need to head to next. We'll be leaving early tomorrow," Jet says.
Storm turns to the forest, "Shouldn't the girls be back by now."
"Now that you mention it, they should have. I wonder what's taking them so long," Jet says, turning to the woods.
In a different part of the forest, Jani-Ca and Wave are searching around for food to have tonight. Jani-Ca and Wave are able to pick many berries, mushrooms, and other fruits and vegetables the woods have to offer.
Wave looks at Jani-Ca's basket to see how full it is, "Wow! You have collected a lot of food."
"It's a good idea to be sure we have enough food for everyone," Jani-Ca says.
"Especially for Storm. He eats like a horse," Wave says.
The girls begin to laugh.
"We should be heading back. The boys might start to wonder where they are," Jani-Ca says.
"Yeah. I'll bet Storm is very hungry by now," Wave says.
Wave then looks ahead to notice something, "Hey. Look over there."
Jani-Ca looks to where Wave is looking, and becomes shocked. She sees a certain part of the woods is dried up and dead.
"What happened here?" Jani-Ca asks.
"I'm not sure. The forest looks like it has died. But how? The forest we just went through is fresh," Wave says.
Jani-Ca walks ahead, "I'm going to check it out."
Wave decides to follow her to the dead part of the forest. The girls walk down the forest to see the area is like a wasteland. The trees' bark his crumble and there are no leaves on them. Even the bushes don't have berries or even leaves. Jani-Ca and Wave are shocked and wonder what happened to this part of the forest.
Suddenly, Jani-Ca hears a whisper, "Help."
Jani-Ca stops and asks, "Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Wave asks, confused.
"I-I thought I heard a voice," Jani-Ca says.
Wave shrugs her shoulders and is confused.
Suddenly, they both hear, "Help… Help."
"There it is again," Jani-Ca says.
She looks around and asks, "Where is it coming from?"
Wave and Jani-Ca looks around and continues to hear someone whispering 'Help.'
Wave turns to the left side and heard the whispering distress call.
"It's coming from over there," Wave says.
Wave begins to head off to find the source of the sound. Jani-Ca decides to follow her. The two girls head off and continue to hear the distress call.
"I think the voice is getting louder. Which means, we're getting closer," Wave says.
"We might be able to find out where the voice is coming from," Jani-Ca says.
Jani-Ca and Wave continue to follow the voice until they stop in shock. What they see is a large two or three floored mansion. It has crumble hedgehogs and an old fountain in the middle of the hedgehogs. There are statues that are old, and broken looking. The mansion is a dark color with multiple windows on each floor. There is a porch at the front with pillars in front of it. Thunder clashes in the sky as clouds begin to roll in.
"What is that? Jani-Ca asks.
"I-I don't know. I never seen a mansion like that before," Wave says.
"We should go find Jet and Storm, and tell them what we found," Jani-Ca says.
"I agree. Plus, this place is giving me the creeps," Wave says.
Jani-Ca nods her head in agreement. Then the girls head off back to camp with the picnic baskets in their hands.
The mansion continues to stand as the wind blows, thunder clashes in the sky, and the clouds begin to form into the sky. Suddenly, one of the lights of the window turns on. And then, a silhouette of some kind of female appears looking outside to see the pair leaving the scene.
After arriving at camp and having dinner with the food the girls bring back, Wave and Jani-Ca explain to Jet and Storm about what they discover. From finding the dead woods to the mysterious, creepy mansion.
"A mansion? What's a mansion doing in the middle of the woods?" Jet asks.
"I'm not sure. I never seen a mansion like it before. I tried looking it up on my computer, but nothing came up," Wave says.
Storm reluctantly says, "And you say the mansion is old, creepy, and… scary."
"The old mansion is old and creepy, but I do admit it's scary," Wave says.
"Knock it off! I don't want you to say anything weird that it's haunted and all that stuff!" Jet says, annoyed.
"But that still doesn't explain the strange voice we hard in the woods," Jani-Ca says.
"Hmm, I'm not sure. Maybe it's the wind or something," Jet says.
"I doubt it. The voice we heard seems to be calling out for help. It's like… someone needs help, but I'm not sure who or why," Wave says.
Jet says, "Well, the best way for us to find out is to go over to this old mansion and see if anyone is there."
"Are you sure? The mansion doesn't look safe, and I don't mean it being haunted. It looks like it might be ready to collapse," Jani-Ca says.
"Well, we'll never know who needs help until we head to the mansion. Let's finish eating and get going," Jet says. Then continues to eat his dinner.
The others do the same.
Storm asks, "Are you sure there aren't any ghost?"
"Come on Storm! There's no such thing as ghosts!" Jet says.
"I-If y-you say s-so, b-boss," Storm says, sounding scared and continues to eat his dinner.
Sometime later, after having their dinner and packing their gear, the Babylon Rogues and Jani-Ca reach the old mansion with no trouble. They soon find themselves in front of the old mansion. Storm is actually shaking like a leaf as he sees how spooky and old the mansion is.
"So this is the mansion you guys were talking about?" Jet asks.
"That's the one. We heard the voice coming from here," Wave says.
Jet walks towards the mansion, "Well, let's head inside and see what it's about. Maybe we can stay inside for the night."
"What? Are you crazy? The mansion is probably old and dusty, and covered in cobwebs," Wave says.
"It's better than sleeping outside," Jet says.
He walks up the small stairs and on the porch, "Come on, it looks like it might rain tonight."
Jet walks towards the door to get inside. Jani-Ca and Storm reluctantly follow.
Wave thinks, "I' getting a bad feeling about this."
They will follow Jet to the front of the mansion. Jet reaches for the door knob and turns it. The door happens to be unlocked so Jet is able to push it open, allowing them access. Jet and the others begin to walk inside to see what the mansion looks like. Surprisingly, the mansion is a mess. There are furniture, antiques, and other stuff. Small figures and large statues, lamps, and lights. Everything in the mansion is covered in cobwebs and dust.
"This place looks like a mess," Jet says.
Wave touches a small desk and moves her finger a little. She lifts it to see the thick grayness of the dust.
"Yeah. This place seems to be abandoned for years. I'm surprised the place hasn't been torn down yet," Wave says.
"Um yea," Storm says, weary.
Jani-Ca walks around with the others and notices something sticking out of the sofa. It seems to be a brown color. Jani-Ca reaches it and takes it out to reveal a teddy bear. It seems to have on of its arms ripped off and it's ribbon is dirty with dust and some strange dark stain.
Jani-Ca thinks, "What happened to this beat and what is that covering the ribbon? It seems to look like hand prints."
Suddenly, Jani-Ca and the others begin to hear some strange sound. It sounds like the wind is blowing, but it's more like moaning of something or someone.
"Wha-what is that?" Storm asks, scared.
"I-I don't know," Jet answers, starting to get nervous.
Jani-Ca looks around as she hears the moaning sound. She turns her head to see stairs leading to the upper part of the mansion. Suddenly, Jani-Ca hears more moaning and it seems to be coming from the stairs.
Jani-Ca says, "It seems to be coming from upstairs."
Storm's beak begins to chatter and asks, "D-d-d-do w-w-w-we we we -h-h-have -t-t-to g-g-g-go u-u-up th-th-there?"
"I'll head up there," Jani-Ca says. Then she begins to walk up stairs.
Jani-Ca continues to hear moaning sound as she walks up the stairs. Soon, she finds the second floor and look around to see two halls and the left side is longer with multiple doors on each side of the wall. The Babylon Rogues follow after her to see if she needs help. They soon see the different rooms down the hall.
"Now what do we do?" Wave asks.
Jet steps forward, "We'll have to check out the rooms to see if we can find anyone in the house."
"A-and if we don't find anyone?" Storm asks.
"Then we'll leave," Jani-Ca answers.
The group begins to walk down the hall and decide to look in different rooms. Jet turns to the door on his left and opens the door. He looks inside to see a white canopy bed. It has white pillows and sheets, a few stuffed animals, a tea set, and female clothes.
"Hmm, this places seems to belong to a little girl or something," Jet says.
Wave then looks in the door on the right side to see a large bed. It has a few furniture, a lamp and a draw with a mirror attached to it. She looks at the ground to see a few clothes, one for men and another for women.
Wave thinks, "Hmm, I wonder who does these clothes belong too?"
Storm and Jani-Ca continue to look around from their end on the other side of the house. Jani-Ca turns to one of the doors and open it. She walks inside to look around to see a bed and a few furniture and accessories. She then notices a strange mirror in the room. Jani-Ca walks towards the mirror to have a look. Unknown to Jani-Ca, something or someone is standing behind her. Someone seems to look like a female with pink skin. Feeling something a miss, Jani-Ca turns around to see no one is here.
Jani-Ca thinks, "Why am I getting a bad feeling? I feel that someone is here."
Meanwhile, walking in the master room, Wave looks around to see the room.
"Hmm, I wonder who used to live here," Wave says.
Unknown to Wave, the same someone is standing behind her. Sensing something off, Wave turns around to see a ghost girl floating in front of her. The ghost has light pink shin and purple pigtails with a flower on her head. She is wearing a long purple dress with light purple skirt on the bottom and has a magenta ribbon on her tail. Her eyes are hollow and she continues to stare at her. Wave becomes shocked to see the ghost girl staring at her with a calm smile.
Scared out of her feathers, Wave lets out a terrified scream. Wave screams so loud that it catches the attention of others attention. Jani-Ca and the boys run in the room to see Wave scared as she pants and is shaking like a leaf.
"Wave, what happened? We heard you scream?" Jet asks.
"Are you okay?" Jani-Ca asks.
"I-I-I-I I think I just saw… a GHOST! There was a ghost in this room," Wave says, beginning to panic in fear.
"A ghost?" Jet says, confused.
The others look around to see the ghost girl isn't even in the room.
"I don't see anyone," Jet says.
"Or anything," Jani-Ca adds.
"M-maybe she left," Wave says, sheepish.
Suddenly, someone whispers, "Help… Help…"
Storm becomes scared, "What-what was that?"
"Help… help me," A female voice says, getting clear.
Suddenly, they hear a loud deep voice, "Get out! Get though!"
Suddenly, the group senses something off. They turn to see the furniture, pillow, lamps, statues and such are floating. Suddenly, the stuff are starting to be thrown at them.
Jet shouts, "Look out!"
Everyone duck their heads and everything hit the wall close by.
Once the mess is done, Storm screams, "Let's get out of here!"
Everyone hurries outside of the room and down the stairs. Suddenly, they hear a loud wailing sound. They look ahead to see the front door is closed. Wave grabs the knob and tries to turn it. Sadly, the knob won't turn.
"I think we're locked in," Wave says, panicking.
Storm says, "I'll get that door open!"
Storm rams at the door, but it won't open. Storm rams the door multiple times, but the door still won't open.
"I can't get the door open. We're locked in," Storm says.
"And it looks like we might not last long," Wave says.
They look up the stairs to see the furniture and other stuff coming down stairs. Then the furniture and stuff from down stairs are starting to float as well.
"We're stuck," Jet says.
"And looks what's coming," Jani-Ca says.
They soon notice the teddy bear from before is heading towards them. They all scream in fear and run away from the bear. The group move to the living room as the stuff from upstairs and downstairs begin to approach them. Suddenly, the supplies and stuff comes to a stop and drop to the ground.
Confused, Jet asks, "Okay. What just happened?"
"I don't know," Wave says.
Jani-Ca then notices a piece of paper and opens it up.
She reads, "Help me? What could this mean?"
Jani-Ca then notices something on the back. She turns it over to see a poster of mobians that has the word 'missing. under the photos.
"What?" Jani-Ca says, deeply confused.
What Jani-Ca is holding is a poster, a missing person's person. She then looks down on the ground to see multiple missing posters. Some of them are dated years apart.
"What's going on?" Jani-Ca asks, looking at the poster.
She looks to see a female ghost and she looks very familiar.
"Hmm, this girl. She looks almost like the ghost girl that way saw earlier," Jani-Ca thinks.
Jet walks over, "Hey Jani-Ca, what's going on?"
"I'm not sure. I found all these missing posters on the ground," Jani-Ca says.
Jet picks up one of the posters that each have a person that has the word, 'missing' on the bottom.
Wave looks at one of the posters herself, "Do you think these missing people have something to do with this mansion?"
"I'm not sure," Jani-Ca answers.
Suddenly, a strong wind begins to blow somewhere in the house as it begins to shake rapidly.
"What's going on?" Storm screams.
"I don't know. Where did this wind come from?" Jet replies.
Suddenly, a mysterious force pulls the four into another room and shuts the door. Soon enough, Jani-Ca and the Babylon Rogues find themselves on the ground.
Jet groans, "What just happened?"
"I don't know," Wave answers.
Suddenly, the ghost comes over and reveals herself and waves her hand with a smile. Storm screams in fright like a little girl. Then Jet covers Storm's mouth. Wave looks at the poster Jani-Ca has and the picture of the girl and the ghost are a match. She even sees the name Lah on it.
Wave asks, "You're Lah, aren't you?"
"That's correct. It's a pleasure to meet you," The ghost girl, Lah says.
"But what's all this about?" Jani-Ca asks.
"Well, you all are in a mansion called Nightmare Mansion. This house is home to many dangerous ghosts and phantoms. Many people who have entered this house have been taken to their spirit dimension and have been turned into spirits themselves," Lah says.
"So you're one of those spirits' victims?" Wave asks.
"Yes," Lah says.
"What is she talking about?" Jet asks.
Jani-Ca says, "The house is like a portal to the afterlife for monstrous ghouls and demons are being held back by a force field. It seems that the ghouls have been luring people inside and turn them into spirits themselves.
"Oh you gotta be kidding me!" Jet screams.
"It's no joke," Lah says.
Suddenly, everyone begins to hear laughter.
Lah panics, "Oh no. They're here."
"Who here?" Storm asks, scared.
Everyone turns around and gasps in shock to see a large white spirit with blue lips, sharp teeth and a rainbow color tongue, and yellow and red eyes. It is accompanied by multiple smaller ghost. Jani-Ca, the Babylon Rogues and Lah look to see the giant ghost laughing as it begins to float towards them. They come to realize that they are in huge trouble.