Title: Gemini Twins: The Demon House
Fandoms: Real Person Fiction, 我是歌手 | I Am a Singer (China TV) RPF
Characters: Dimash Kudaibergen (Qudaibergen), Hyde Kudaibergen (Qudaibergen) (OMC)
Tags: Supernatural Elements, Mystery, Gemini Twins
Description: Dimash purchases a house rumored to be haunted by a demon, and when Hyde goes to check it out, he disappears. Now it's up to Dimash to find out what really happened.
Gemini Twins: The common name for Dimash and Hyde Qudaibergen. The concept behind Hyde's character came about because of the song "Mademoiselle Hyde" by Dimash. Check out the official performances of "Mademoiselle Hyde" on Dimash's Official YouTube Channel.
THIS STORY COMES WITH COVER ART. I cross-posted this story. To see the image, please go to my AO3 (Archive of Our Own) account (under the same username, RainbowSheltie).
BETA: Annabelle
Dimash and Hyde were the Gemini Twins—a duo that won second place in the vocal competition known as "Singer" in China. Six years later, when they were on the last leg of their third world-wide tour, they noticed Hyde was becoming more and more fatigued. They had a little over a month left, but they decided Dimash would finish it solo.
Shortly before the tour started, Dimash and Hyde had bought a long-abandoned house at 116 Estate Row, Newhaven.
It was a large, neglected mansion nestled in the outskirts of town, where the neighbors were rich and their homes equally large, but more opulent and inviting.
In its prime, the house at 116 must have been stunning, but now it was no more than an old building on an eerie tract of land with an ominous, foreboding presence. Tall dead trees surrounded the edges of the estate. The house was an immense, two-story home next to a set of stone steps leading to an open patio, and surrounded by a dead garden that consisted of no more than dirt and tall grass stalks.
The home had two entrances, one in front and another that could be accessed by a hidden staircase on the side of the house, located underneath an overhanging balcony supported by two stone columns.
The front of the house consisted of a long patio with tall stone fencing, and another roof overhang supported by four stone columns. This gave the second story the appearance of three houses with triangular roofs; one was in the front centrally, and the other two were farther back on the right and left. There was a small, rectangular room jutting out from the second floor on the front of the house, resting on the first story roof. The first floor had large wide windows with shutters on each side, in contrast to the second story, which had tall thin windows.
Dimash saw past the dreary appearance and found instead an opportunity to bring this estate back to life.
Many tried talking Dimash out of buying it, given the rumors that it was haunted by a demon.
Strange noises were heard during the night, and occasionally lights would turn on or off, even though there was no electricity. Amateur ghost hunters sometimes visited the house, and found the activity ranged from nothing to an all-out assault, causing them to abandon the investigation. Exorcists were brought in a number of times over the years. It always happened the same way: the oppressive feeling would "lift" and the house was declared free from the demon; but a few weeks later, the house would resume its "demonic" activities.
The property had been bought and sold a number of times over the years, but its last inhabitants had evacuated the house over fifteen years ago, back when Dimash and his twin brother, Hyde, were ten years old.
There was quite a history here, but when Dimash toured the house—alone, because the realtor refused to come in and Hyde was busy—he found it inviting, but also derelict. It was the latter quality which created enough of an eerie atmosphere as he walked around that he almost decided to pass on the house entirely.
As he toured the house, he didn't "sense" a demon or witness any supernatural activities, but it was also mid-day, with a bright, blue sky, 90°F (32°C) weather and a cool breeze every now and then. Not the perfect conditions for hauntings in general, Dimash supposed. But the realtor was more than happy to give Dimash the house for a superbly discounted price.
Not ten minutes after Dimash agreed to buy the house, the realtor finalized the sale and handed over the deed. Then he drove off before Dimash could say "thank you."
As it turned out, preparations for their third tour took more time than he realized and Dimash had to forego any further investigation into the house. But now that Hyde was on break, this was the perfect opportunity to finally visit the house again, the first time since the sale.
The last message Dimash received from Hyde was just before he left to visit their Newhaven house.
"Don't worry, Di. Just finish your tour."
Communication had been silent afterwards, which wasn't entirely unusual for Hyde, but by the time the tour was over, Dimash was starting to worry.
Since Dimash was still tied up in post-tour activities, he asked one of his friends to investigate what happened to Hyde. They found Hyde's empty rental car parked on the street. Some of the neighbors remembered a man entering the house weeks prior, but had not seen him since. Their overall impression was the house had definitely picked up in activity, but were not sure whether or not they had actually seen Hyde.
It was a few days before Dimash was free and able to fly down to Newhaven to begin his own investigation.
Once in town and settled into his hotel room, Dimash drove down to the house and decided to start by interviewing the neighbors about Hyde's disappearance. A woman who lived across the street met him and explained:
"Since kids and ghost investigators are constantly breaking and entering into the house, the police ignore our requests to investigate and the people who have gone inside the house have been violently attacked and run out screaming. I even saw an exorcist run out in a panic, and that was last week. There's something demonic in there, I can feel it."
Dimash didn't get much more information than that, so he decided it was finally time to enter into the "demon's den."
It was early evening, and the sun was beginning to set, turning the clouded sky a dark purple against the shades of red and orange emitted by the sun. Dimash could have waited until tomorrow, but if there were demons or other supernatural phenomena haunting the place, he wanted to find out. And what if Hyde was somehow trapped inside and needed his help?
Dimash shook off his hesitation and began walking up the path towards the front door. The grounds were unsettling, and the house gave him a sinister feeling. As he made his way to the front door and stepped onto the front porch, the wood creaked under his feet.
He reached for the door, found the doorknob unlocked, and then slowly, and very carefully, opened the door.
CRASH!
A loud noise reverberated throughout the house and Dimash jumped back, just in time for the door to slam shut. He forced himself to slow his breathing and calm down. He would not be frightened away so easily.
He wrapped his hand around the doorknob again, took a breath, and threw the door open.
Before him was a wide hallway, with two sets of wide doors on either side, all of which were closed except for the one on his immediate left. This led into a room that contained leftover furniture, including a large broken coffee table, and other debris. Judging by its contents, this was probably the living room.
Between the two doors on the right side of the hall there was a stairway which led up to the second floor. Light was coming from two windows near the front door, the open living room, and a broken window at the far end of the hall. He could see part of the second-floor railing, but the rest of that floor fell in pitch darkness.
The house was certainly intimidating, but Dimash was determined not to run.
"Now demon, you're stuck in here with me!" Dimash hollered, angrily. "You can't scare me away!"
He heard a familiar voice chuckle at him.
"Don't call me a demon," it replied. "And stop shouting, I'm right here."
Dimash looked up the stairs to find Hyde sitting at the top, grinning at him. His enthusiasm at seeing Hyde was countered by the reports of demons and violent hauntings.
"Are you really Hyde?" Dimash queried, skeptically. "Or something else?"
Hyde snorted.
"Don't start with me, Di. You know demons don't exist," Hyde replied. "Not here, anyways."
Hyde pulled his gun out from the holster on his left hip and aimed it at Dimash.
"I shot it with the holy bullets I found in the basement," He added. "Someone was quite the exorcist."
Hyde lowered his gun, and reholstered it.
"Long story short, a famous exorcist was here hunting demons, with nothing but a diary and a gun with special "holy" bullets. Unfortunately, it seems the demon killed him first."
Dimash's legs gave out and he fell to the floor.
"So, what's with the hauntings and violent attacks? And the noise with the door slam?" Dimash asked, exhausted. "And why haven't you contacted me? What's going on with you?"
Hyde came down the stairs and sat next to Dimash.
"I got lucky. This place was haunted—the demon came and wasted no time telling me I wasn't welcome. I was running from it, when I stumbled across the bullets and managed to kill it first. That's what stopped all the supernatural activity."
"And then?" Dimash prodded.
"Well, the door thing was just me messing with you," Hyde laughed. "You know I'm also staying at a hotel downtown, right? I left my car here the first day, then just came back to demonize the trespassers."
Dimash sighed.
"So the exorcist that came by…" Dimash trailed off.
"That two-bit hack wasn't an exorcist, and this house isn't haunted, not anymore," Hyde stated. "But I do feel much better, and people did stop breaking in after he left."
There were better ways to go about it, but Dimash wasn't about to mention it now.
Dimash continued asking questions about the finer details of what Hyde was up to, but it all boiled down to this: the house had a hidden entrance to the cellar in the backyard that Hyde used to sneak in and out of the house. And the forest behind the house led to an adjoining neighborhood where he would pick up a cab to his hotel. The rest of the time, Hyde was messing around with whoever trespassed in the house. It ended up as a pretty elaborate setup, all things said and done.
Dimash leaned against Hyde.
"Are you finished haunting the place?" Dimash inquired. "I'm sure the neighborhood would like to know."
Hyde paused, then placed his arm around Dimash's shoulder, holding him close.
"I missed you, Di." Hyde replied, changing the subject.
"Missed you too," Dimash responded. "Are you sure the demon isn't coming back?"
"It wouldn't dare," Hyde announced, laughing.
Dimash decided it better not to ask, and instead just reveled in being by his brothers' side once more.
Prompt: A demon is inhabiting an old home that's been abandoned for years. Finally, a person purchases the home, and as soon as he enters, the first thing he says is: "Now demon, you're stuck in here with me" in a very hostile tone.