It had been a long night of strange interactions, unexpected kisses, and most dreadedly, the line of questioning from her perky blue-haired friend about what had taken her so long and what had happened when she visited her three other friends.
Daphne felt more than ecstatic to put the odd night behind her, and she finally could, thanks to the morning sunbeams reflecting off of her vibrant red hair.
But today opened a new chapter of uncertainty - a long road trip with Isabel. The redhead had certainly enjoyed the previous trip with her friend, but the thought of all the colorful twists and turns - particularly one which was colored blue, symbolizing Isabel's rebellious hair-dying incident - gave her feelings of caution.
Still emotionally and physically tired, Daphne ran her hands through her hair before rolling out of bed. Letting out several big stretches, the redhead yawned several times; her exaggerated movements only confirming her slight sense of anxiety regarding the upcoming trip which would almost immediately start off her day.
After getting herself dressed, Daphne closed the window before walking out of the now-drafty bedroom.
"Hi Daph!" a familiar cheery voice called.
Daphne nearly jumped ten feet before realizing that the voice came from Isabel, who she had allowed to stay the night in the guest room.
"Morning." Daphne said in a groggy voice, rubbing her eyes gently. Daphne's eyes readjusted to the morning light just as Isabel walked into her line of vision. Apparently just getting out of the shower, Isabel's hair was still soaking wet, and her face had several small teardrops of water from where she had missed drying with her towel, which was currently wrapped snugly around her body.
Feeling like she should follow Isabel's example and be more pleasant, Daphne spoke up and continued talking as if she it were still part of her previous mumbled comment. "So, when do you want to leave?"
"Maybe like an hour or so?" Isabel answered, "Just let me finish drying my hair and we can talk about what we each have left to do."
Daphne's jaw nearly dropped when Isabel unwrapped the towel from her body to dry her hair off, before realizing her friend was wearing a t-shirt under the towel. The purple t-shirt was quite oversized and went halfway down to her knees, as to cover any private areas which Daphne quite frankly didn't really want to see.
However, Daphne found herself oddly surprised about how nice of a figure Isabel had. Generally, her friend always wore clothes which were a bit looser and didn't really show off much of any part of her body. Not to mention that she never really paid close attention to Isabel's physical appearance; after all, she thought of Isabel as a friend and didn't really care how she presented herself physically. Though the shirt didn't reveal any shocking parts of Isabel, Daphne still had to push back a bit of jealousy when she noticed how firmly the t-shirt hugged her friend's figure, showing off her ridiculously many curves. The redhead was glad Isabel felt comfortable enough to dress in what she wanted without creating any awkwardness between the two, but Daphne wished she could have as nice of a body as her friend apparently did.
"You ready to go, Daph?"
"Yep, Iz. Just finishing curling my hair!"
The only answer Daphne received was her friend's footsteps and the dragging of a suitcase across the hardwood floor. The redheaded girl finished curling her hair in a matter of minutes and walked out to affirm she was ready.
"You know, I've never gotten why women need to curl their hair. It looks way more natural when people just leave it straight. Just look at me, for example."
Daphne rolled her eyes at her friend's comment, thinking back to how apparently easy it was for her friend to have an amazingly curvy figure.
Speaking of curvy figures, Daphne noticed that Isabel had ditched the t-shirt and put on a dark brown jacket, which had an appearingly-soft inner white lining. Black boots covered her feet, which were complimented by a pair of gray sweatpants. Around her neck lay a soft, gray scarf which seemed to be hand-knitted, though she wasn't sure if it was by Isabel or some random other store which her friend had bought it from. The outfit was a lot more fancy than what Daphne was currently wearing, jeans and a white t-shirt which donned her show's logo on it, with some plain white socks and tennis shoes. Trying not to get back in the jealousy cycle (even if her friend was wearing an outfit which looked as soft and comfortable as wearing five chinchillas), Daphne quickly grabbed her suitcase and asked Isabel if she had grabbed the redhead's house keys.
"You sure you want to go out looking like that, racoon eyes?"
Confused by her friend's thinly veiled insult, Daphne grabbed a mirror from her suitcase, to reveal she had majorly overdone her eyeshadow.
"Here, I'll show you how to do it." Isabel grabbed the eyeshadow out of her own bag and carefully applied it around her eyes. Amazingly, somehow the eyeshadow made Isabel look even better, in a mysterious way.
"I know how to apply it! I AM eyeshadow!" Daphne quickly realized her comment made no sense. "Or, I mean…"
Isabel giggled, before stating "No, I don't want to hear what you meant to say. That was adorable!"
Too annoyed to see the comedy in her wording mistake, Daphne snatched the eyeshadow out of Isabel's hand (not realizing it was actually Isabel's eyeshadow to begin with...Daphne's was still in her bag) and walked into the bathroom in a huff.
From the bathroom, Daphne could hear her friend mimicking her amusing mistake, saying "I AM eyeshadow!" in a faux-deep and superhero-like voice.
"Are you done with the superhero antics, Commander Cool?" Daphne said as she came out of the bathroom, annoyed at the fact that she was being teased, even if it was just in fun.
"No, I'm doing quite a good job amusing myself, thank you." Isabel replied.
"NOW who's adorable?" Daphne put her hands on her hips, smirking that she had seemingly made the tables turn.
"Still you. Now, are we leaving or not?"
"Yes, I'm coming, I'm coming!"
"Jeez, someone's cranky today." Daphne's perky friend seemed suddenly annoyed with her foul mood.
"Sorry, it's just, I feel like I should be taking this trip with the gang. You know, I've never taken a mystery-solving trip besides the Mystery Weekend one without them."
"No, it's cool. I get it. I'll try to behave and leave you alone." Isabel said, her perpetually perky tone getting slightly colder.
"No...you don't have to do that. This is our trip, and besides, we're still pretty new friends. I'd like to get to know you a little more." Daphne stated calmly, trying to deescalate her previously hostile tone.
"I'd love to know you more too. Bring it in and let's hug on it!"
Daphne eyed her friend, that clearly not being the response she expected.
"My name is Isabel and I have a problem!" Isabel said in a silly manner, though feeling slightly guilty for always wanting hugs as reassurance.
"Okay, fine, hugs it is." Daphne unfolded her arms, which were positioned tightly across her chest, unconsciously signifying her current closed-off mentality. Isabel wrapped her arms around Daphne in a firm manner, so tightly in fact that Daphne felt a slight bit of pain. Isabel was usually gentle, but she definitely didn't mess around when it came to hugs!
Daphne drove her car out of the driveway after Isabel had loaded all her belongings and hopped in. In a few brief seconds, the redhead noticed something different about her friend which she somehow hadn't noticed previously - Isabel didn't have blue hair anymore.
Without taking a moment to consider whether to internalize or externalize her thought process, Daphne blurted. "Oh, now it makes sense! You were showering because you were washing the dye out of your hair!"
Isabel snickered, before responding "You just noticed that?"
In hindsight, Daphne didn't really mean to say her thought aloud and scrambled to think of something to reply. "Well, to be fair, I was more surprised you weren't wearing any pants!"
"You make it sound like I was flashing myself naked in front of you. Nothing was showing!"
Daphne couldn't tell if Isabel was jokingly arguing with her or actually frustrated, but nonetheless she was enjoying the presumably fake argument.
"Except...all your curves! How many do you have, like 100?"
"Damn it! You figured out my plan! I was going to show you my curvy body and watch you drool in jealousy!"
That was certainly a new one for Daphne.
The two friends finally cracked and burst into laughter over their silliness.
"Drool in jealousy?" Daphne asked, still giggling.
"Oh admit it, you were jealous!"
Daphne wouldn't admit it, even in fun, though she was a bit jealous.
"I don't know why I even worried. This is turning out to be an awesome...and amusing...trip!" Daphne finally let loose and tried to forget her worries about leaving the gang behind. She told herself that this was only one trip, and it wasn't going to affect her friendship with the gang. Well, at least not any more than it already had been affected from the gang's disbandment.
"I've gotta ask, Iz, do you ever miss your gang?"
"Yeah, I so love being called a bitch!" Isabel said sarcastically, reminding herself of the scarring time where her so-called friends actually did use this term in reference to her. Noticing her straight-faced friend was very unamused, the blonde quickly changed her tone to a more serious one. "I mean, I miss them, of course. But, I see it more as a learning experience I guess. Those people were supposed to be in my life at that time for a reason, and I've grown a lot since. I've probably grown in some way because of them. It's never too late to learn from your experiences and be the best person you can be because of them."
Though Isabel could be a bit shallow at times, Daphne was amazed at what a positive, deep view she had of the world around her.
"I would ask if you miss your gang, but I think I already know the answer." Isabel chimed in.
"Yeah, I mean, I miss them even more now that…" Daphne stopped herself before she was able to say anything about her kiss with Shaggy.
"That what?" Isabel motioned for her white-shirted friend to keep moving.
"That we're going on a trip without them!" Daphne quickly followed, relieved that she had successfully stopped herself from revealing anything about her intimate life, even though she didn't really have much of one at the moment.
It had already gotten dark and a whole day's driving had passed. Daphne continued driving, solaced by only the fact that they would be there in a matter of minutes.
She had turned the radio on to keep her awake, which was currently playing a piano solo. It quickly ended and was replaced with the voice of a man. "And that was Jimmy Lewis with his latest hit! Alex Super, The Sparkles, and Lindsay Pagano all coming up in less than ten minutes on ZPOP!"
Daphne shifted her gaze over to Isabel, who was currently asleep, half of her face nestled peacefully in her soft gray scarf and the other half exposed, to which a slight smile could be seen. Daphne admired the constant pleasantness of her blonde friend, even seemingly when she was asleep.
Daphne turned down a bleak, shadowy road only lit by a flickering street lamp. A brief drive through the dimly lit pathway led to a much more beautiful sight: an old Gothic mansion, which was surrounded by a light layer of snow. It was difficult to see the features of the house in the dark, but it looked gigantic and awe-inspiring, yet slightly foreboding. As Daphne parked the car in the snowy driveway, she noticed her friend was still fast asleep.
"Iz." Daphne said quietly, as not to startle her.
Isabel didn't respond directly, but instead made an almost inaudible sleep noise, while unconsciously nuzzling her nose on the soft material of her scarf.
"Isabel. We're here." Daphne tried to still keep her voice soothing, but raised it slightly so the blonde would be cognisant of it.
Her friend's eyes fluttered open, and looked up at Daphne in anticipation. Her eyes gave the redhead a very sleepy gaze.
"Time to wake up, Iz. We're here." Daphne repeated for the third time.
Isabel adjusted her scarf to give her neck more breathing room, and stretched out her arms as she gave a big yawn. She struggled to keep her eyes open and become aware of her surroundings.
"Rise and shine, little ray of sunshine. We're at our destination!" Daphne urged one last time, before Isabel's eyes sleepily met hers.
Isabel grabbed her two suitcases, which were colored blue and purple (the same ones she had brought up to the Mystery Weekend), before surprising Daphne with a third and a fourth suitcase, which she had not brought on the previous trip. The third suitcase was brown in color, while the other one was a more blondish shade of yellow. Isabel grabbed all four suitcases and began wheeling them towards the door.
Daphne fought back the urge to ask Isabel what exactly she needed four whole suitcases for, as they were only going to be gone for a single weekend. After a strenuous mental battle with herself, she finally forfeited to her ever-curious brain and asked, "Iz, what exactly do you need all those suitcases for?"
"Ah, you know, some heavy weaponry, hard liquor, kinky lovemaking accessories. Just the essentials."
Daphne's mouth nearly dropped to the ground before she realized that her blonde friend was joking, as she burst out in laughter.
"Kinky lovemaking accessories?" Daphne laughed.
"Well, that's what happens when you ask sleepy Isabel a question and she has to think of a joke on the spot!" Isabel responded, casually referring to herself in the third-person.
The two girls continued walking up the steep driveway very slowly, to avoid tripping over their feet in the thin layer of ice which covered their path.
"Seriously though, what do you need all those suitcases for?" Daphne asked in a silly voice, though internally serious and curious of what her friend needed all that luggage for.
"Seriously though!" Isabel mimicked, but in a much more whiney and exasperated voice than Daphne had. "Why do you need to know?"
"Uh…no reason. Just asking." Daphne said, now embarrassed that she had pried into Isabel's personal business. Though, she did wonder now if there was something strange like "kinky lovemaking accessories" in the extra suitcases.
The two women, both slightly frustrated with each other, hiked up the driveway, beginning to finally near their destination. As they approached, their view of the house became clearer and clearer. The house's roof was sprinkled lightly with snow, and its porch, which was made of old hardwood boards, also had a thin layer of ice surrounding it. As Daphne and Isabel walked up the stairs, they did so cautiously to avoid stumbling on the ice or falling through the boards, which creaked as they stepped on them. Though most of the windows were dark, lights could be seen on inside a selective few of them.
Before they knocked on the door, both girls looked up at the immense house which loomed over them like a giant. The winds that night were very strong, and blew the huge oak trees which were nestled around the house as if they were simply toothpicks.
Daphne shivered before her hand reached the doorbell, causing a chain-effect of seemingly dozens of bells all around the house. It took the two a second to realize that what they were hearing was simply one loud, powerful doorbell.
The two bright-eyed females remained hopeful that someone would eventually answer the doorbell, both so they could get out of the cold, and explore the gigantic house which awaited them. Finally, the door slowly creaked open.
"Yes?" The butler said very slowly. He was an older man, possibly in his late 50's, and wore a black dress shirt with a navy blue tie, along with some tannish pants.
Daphne wanted to simply run in the house, as she was absolutely chilled to the bone, but didn't want to be ostentatiously rude. She noticed her blonde companion was pulling up her scarf over her mouth and rubbing it gently on her face for warmth.
"Can we come in, s-sir?" Daphne said rapidly, to prevent her teeth from chattering.
"Yes, ladies, come on in!" the butler replied. "May I take your coats?"
"Sure, that would be great!" Daphne replied, ecstatic to explore the unfamiliar territory and a possible attraction for her show.
Daphne handed the man her coat, which was a dark shade of purple. The butler put his hand out for Isabel's coat, though it took her a minute to realize what he was doing. She handed him her coat, which was red with an orange inner-lining.
"What brings you here at this late of an hour, ladies?" the black-shirted man asked.
"We're here to…" Daphne began replying, but was distracted by Isabel brushing the snow out of her hair in a 'look at how cute I am' sort of way, which briefly annoyed her. She enjoyed Isabel's company, but the constant chipperness and attempts to look adorable were enough to get on anyone's nerves occasionally.
Daphne regathered her thoughts and continued. "We're here to look at some of the spooky goings-on which are in all of your employer's movies. You see I'm Daphne Blake, from the hit show Coast to Coast from Daphne Blake, and I'm looking for some paranormal attractions for my show."
"Oh yes, I've seen that show. You've done a wonderful job with that, I must say. My employer, Lorde Sumley, has retired for the night, but I'm sure he would be more than honored to show you around tomorrow morning."
"Alright, so should we just find a hotel to stay in for the night?"
"No, no, Lorde lives alone ever since his wife died five years ago, and all his children are grown and off at college, so there are plenty of guest rooms. Would you like one room or two for you and your friend?"
Daphne looked at the blonde to make sure she was comfortable enough to sleep in the same bed. Sure, they were pretty good friends, but the redhead didn't want to presume anything about Isabel's comforts or discomforts. Isabel nodded and smiled in response, affirming that she was more than comfortable in stay in a single room.
"Sure, we'll take a single room please. By the way, this is my friend, Isabel."
"Nice to meet you, madam." The butler reached out his hand to shake hers.
Instead of the traditional handshake which the man clearly expected, Isabel tried to speak in a slightly deeper 'fancy' voice.
"No, the pleasure is all mine, my good sir!" Isabel responded before curtsying and pretending to remove her nonexistent top hat.
The butler was taken aback by her strange response, but Daphne simply rolled her eyes at Isabel's 'fancy' voice and mannerism, which looked quite unnatural and awkward.
"Uh, that was...interesting." The butler replied, shaking his head at Isabel's quirkiness. "I'll show you two to your rooms now."
Daphne and her friend walked up the stairs with the butler, which creaked just like the set on the porch did. Along the way, the redhead looked at the paintings in awe, which all featured classic movie monsters such as Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolfman, along with less traditional monsters like a swamp monster and a strange boogeyman-esque creature.
"Your room is the last door on the right." the butler said. "I'll leave you two ladies to get ready for bed if you wish, but let me know if I can be of any assistance. It was a pleasure to meet you, and feel free to sleep in tomorrow morning. Breakfast will be served whenever you decide to come downstairs."
"Thank you, sir!" Daphne answered. "I didn't catch the name though?"
"Oh yes, you may call me Charles if you wish. If you need me, just ring the bell in your rooms, and I'll come right up." Charles responded.
The two girls walked down the long hallway in solitude, and were awe-inspired to see their room. It was furnished in beautiful decorations, including very comfortable-looking pillows and a warm fleece quilt on their bed. The walls were covered in various trophy heads, including a deer and a large-looking bear head.
"I liked your fancy voice, Isabel." Daphne said sarcastically, before going to change and get ready for bed.
"Thank you, thank you, madam." Isabel resumed her faux fancy voice and curtsied again. "You have to hear British Isabel!"
Isabel raised her voice to a high-pitched tone and began speaking in a horribly stereotypical "proper" British accent. "Well love, I suppose it's time we turn in for the ev'ning!"
Daphne rolled her eyes again. "Please don't ever try that again, if you'd like to survive the night."
"Bonjour! Ho-ho-ho!" Isabel tried to imitate a stereotypical French laugh, though it sounded like a very poor imitation of a Frenchman's accent.
In a silly voice, Daphne responded "I'll kill you right now if you want!"
"You love me too much to do that!" Isabel said playfully, and put her arms tightly around Daphne to form an awkward, one-sided hug.
"Well, I love you, but keep doing those accents and we'll see if I can restrain myself." Daphne responded, half-joking, yet half-annoyed. "Do you need the bathroom right now? I'd like to get ready for bed."
"Sure, go ahead. I can change out here while you're in there."
Daphne opened the bathroom door and began brushing her teeth and changing into her pajamas.
Once both girls had gotten ready for the night, they both went to bed. Daphne felt exhausted, while Isabel stayed up began reading a book, entitled "The Legend of the Vampire."
Collapsing into bed and nestling herself under the fleece blanket, Daphne mumbled "Night, Iz," quickly falling fast asleep before she was able to hear Isabel's response.
Daphne woke up to a partially-awake state and sleepily rolled out of bed. She glanced at her friend, who was still fast asleep, and walked into the bathroom to shower and get ready for the morning.
After taking nearly an hour to shower and do her makeup and hair, it surprised Daphne to see that Isabel had still not woken up from her deep sleep.
Daphne quickly grabbed a pair of blue jeans with a glittery material around the knee areas, as well as a white blouse, which had several tiny frills towards the bottom near where her stomach would be. The redhead took one last look at the sleepy blonde and began her way downstairs. She half wondered if Isabel would come down to breakfast and surprise her with a crazy new hair color like she had at the Mystery Weekend event.
While walking down the hall, she ran into Charles the butler, and greeted him pleasantly.
"Morning, Charles. My friend is still sleeping, but I'm ready for breakfast, if it's not too much trouble of course."
"Oh, not at all, Ms. Blake. Please feel free to head down and meet Lorde Sumley while I prepare my breakfast specialty."
"Mmm, sounds delicious! What exactly is your 'specialty'?"
"It's a delightful combination of pancakes, eggs, hash browns, and three types of sausages. Everyone seems to love it, madam."
"Sounds delicious, Charles!" Daphne fibbed, as she was not a big fan of sausages or eggs. She did, however, heartily enjoy a nice warm pancake in the morning.
As the man walked off towards the kitchen to prepare their breakfast, Daphne continued her trek down the staircase and took a closer look at some of the house's decorations. After all, she was so tired last night, it was difficult to maintain focus on anything, especially since there was so much beautiful decor to look at around the house. Her eyes met a fake trophy head of some kind of monster, which appeared to have large fangs, and pointy rabbit-like ears along with bright red hairs and black fur surrounding its face.
Daphne arrived at the dining room to find an older-looking man already sitting there. The man wore a black suit and tie, along with some gray dress pants. She quickly realized who he was.
"You must be Lorde Sumley! I've seen a bunch of your movies, and I love how accurately you stay true to the classic horror films, while adding your own, unique twist to it!" Daphne said, excited to meet the horror film star she had heard so much about.
"Thank you, my dear. Pleasure to meet you as well. I've watched quite a few of your shows, and I must say, you do an amazing job capturing the paranormal world in a professional light. So many people these days rush to create content like you are, in fact, it's movies like the 'Finding Bigfoot' and 'Capturing the Yeti' which give us horror filmmakers a bad name!" Lorde Chumley replied, in his distinctive thick British accent.
Puzzled for a moment, Daphne questioned "Hmm, I've never heard of any of those films. What exactly are they about?"
"Ah, it's quite silly really, there are these two hikers you see, and they attempt to go on some ridiculous 'quest' to find evidence of the existence of Bigfoot."
"Oh, I've heard of those kinds of films before, the ones where they take videos of grizzly bears and claim it's 'Bigfoot'?" Daphne asked.
"Yes, those are the ones I'm speaking of! That 'Capturing the Yeti' film is even more irrational. So you see, there are these four teenage hunters in the woods during the winter. They capture what is obviously a snow-covered black bear in a large rucksack, yet they will not admit that what they bagged isn't a Yeti!"
Sumley began chuckling heartily at the ridiculousness of the film, and Daphne quickly joined in after the image of four excited teenagers thinking they had captured a Yeti, when in reality they had captured a bear which would probably eat them for supper.
"So my dear, how do you take your coffee? Black or with cream and sugar?" Sumley inquired.
"I'll do a bit of cream and sugar, if you wouldn't mind." Daphne responded.
"Oh, not at all, darling." Sumley stated. "Charles, while you're making breakfast for us, can you get our guest some coffee with cream and sugar?"
"At your service, sir. Breakfast should be ready in another 10 minutes." Charles smiled, before quickly running back to attend to the breakfast.
"Thank you, Charles." Sumley acknowledged. "Now, what is it you'd like to look at today, Ms. Blake?"
"Well, I've heard you've had some strange happenings going on around here lately."
"Ah yes, there are many oddities lurking around every corner of this house. Albeit not just lately, the strange occurrences began right when the house was built!"
"When you say 'oddities,' what kind of oddities do you mean?"
Lorde Sumley paused for a moment, pondering his next word choice.
"Well, I suppose the most prominent oddity would be the paintings. All of the portraits in this house represent each individual role that I was given in my critically-acclaimed films."
"What exactly is odd about that though?" Daphne interrogated.
"You didn't let me finish. You see, some of the portraits have taken on a life of their own. They move about in the night, and I've even seen quite a good number of them reach out of their respective canvases."
"You mean the monsters can just get out and walk around the house?" Daphne said, in a slight panic thinking about the image.
"Oh no, they wouldn't dream of it. Like that of a turtle and its shell, the creatures need the canvasses for their security. Though also in analogy to a turtle, they get restless and sometimes reach an arm, a leg, or even a whole body out."
"Aren't you scared of what the creatures might do?"
"Oh, heavens no!" Sumley declared, "I have no reason to fear them. In my 20 years in this house, they have never so much as harmed a hair on my body."
"I suppose they can't hurt you very easily, if they're all trapped in the paintings."
"Ah, but there are others. The trophies on the wall sometimes come alive, and other mysterious beings lurk around the house in the dark of the night."
"Are you sure it's safe for me to look around?" Daphne asked, now slightly uneasy after hearing his frightening stories.
"Well, my dear, I can't exactly be sure, but as I've said, they've never sought out to do me harm. Though I suppose…" Sumley once again had a pause in his speech, presumably trying to figure out how to most intelligently articulate his next words. "...there is a chance that they may not take to strangers."
"You've never had strangers in here before?"
"Well, of course I have, but mainly friends and family. I have a theory you see, that the monsters can sense friendship and strong bonds between people. But you and your friend, I've just met, so I cannot guarantee how exactly the monsters will react."
Daphne was shocked about how seemingly calm Lorde was about monsters living with him in his own home. If the roles were reversed, Daphne would have ran out and sold the house 20 years ago.
"Well…" Daphne hesitated, "I think my friend and I will still look around anyways. What kind of creatures should we be on the lookout for?"
"All kinds, really. Presumably you've seen the paintings near the stairs. I've seen a few of those gain self-awareness and reach out of their frames. I've been in this business for nearly 40 years now, so my resume is extensive. I've played everything from a gryphon to your average everyday phantom."
To distract Daphne from the unsettling thought of running into hundreds of monsters, Charles averted her restless mind with the delicious smell of pancakes and hash browns.
"Breakfast is served!" Charles carefully set a platter down on the table, which was covered with at least a dozen pancakes and various kinds of maple syrup. Less intriguing to Daphne, he also rested a large dish of scrambled eggs on the table, as well as an additional plate of sausages. The plate included sausage links, patties and a type of German sausage which appeared to be a sort of bratwurst-looking meat.
"Looks delicious!" Daphne said, despite her dislike of the majority of the food offered. "Thank you, Charles!"
"Oh, it's my pleasure, m'lady." Charles responded. Daphne was glad Isabel hadn't come down yet. Quite frankly, she didn't care to see her curtsy once again.
"This is absolutely delightful, Charles! Always a treat to indulge in one of your Saturday morning breakfasts." Sumley praised.
"Why, thank you, sir." Charles said, in a very subdued manner.
Daphne grabbed a single large pancake and drizzled a small bit of syrup over her plate.
"Would you like some topping, Lorde?" Charles questioned.
"Why yes, Charles, I think I will have some."
Charles sprinkled what appeared to be a light, white powder onto Sumley's plate. Daphne watched the butler, who was now wearing a white dress shirt and khaki pants.
"What exactly is that, if I may ask?" Daphne pondered curiously.
"Oh, of course my dear. It's powdered sugar, quite common to put on pancakes around here. I wouldn't dream of having one without it!" Sumley chuckled heartily and continued indulging into his meal.
Daphne still found it to be an odd custom, as she had never heard of doing so in any place she had visited previously, but she shrugged it off and continued eating her syrup-covered pancake.
After the two had finished breakfast, Daphne felt like moaning in fullness. She had eaten two full pancakes, along with several hash browns. Charles had returned to the room to take their dishes.
"Mmm, Charles, that was delightful! You may take our guest's plate away now if you please." Sumley ushered for Charles to grab Daphne's plate.
"Of course, sir!" Charles grabbed Daphne's plate off the table and walked slowly towards the kitchen, trying to balance the many platters and plates he had picked up without dropping them.
"Now, if you want to get your friend, I shall show you around the residence!"
"Alright, I can go up and wake Isabel if you'd like."
"Oh, I didn't realize your friend was still resting! Best let the girl sleep if she wishes; I can instruct Charles to alert her to where we are."
"Sure," Daphne affirmed, "Just tell Charles to have Isabel meet us downstairs when she gets up."
"Charles?" Sumley said authoritatively.
"Yes, sir?"
"Charles, I'd like you to instruct Ms. Blake's friend upstairs to meet us in the basement when she's up and alert for the day."
"Of course, Lorde. Anything else I can assist with, sir?" Charles asked.
"No, I do believe that is all for now, Charles."
"Alright, sir, please let me know if I can be of assistance."
"Now then, let's begin our tour!" Sumley said in an announcer-type voice.
"Where shall we start?" Daphne said, though slightly distracted while attempting to turn her camera on for filming.
Sumley cleared his throat to prepare for being filmed. "I suppose that the basement is the best place to begin. Most of my paintings are down here."
"And we're recording in 3, 2, 1, now!" Daphne pressed the record button on her camera, which was marked by a bright red plastic cover for easy accessibility.
"WELCOME, to Coast to Coast with Daphne Blake, ladies and gents. I'm horror film star and host, Lorde Sumley, here with the lovely Daphne Blake, solely for the purpose of your entertainment." Sumley said, forcefully articulating his words.
Daphne giggled a bit, not expecting the lavish introduction from Lorde Sumley. He continued, and Daphne zoomed in on his face for added effect.
"I should warn you, however, that tonight's programme is not one for the faint of heart. This next hour will document footage of REAL supernatural beings, in their natural habitat. Proceed watching at your own risk!"
Daphne tried to avoid giggling at his outlandish and very proper-sounding intro, but couldn't hold the laughter back any longer.
"I see you liked my introduction!" Sumley said, his tone still elevated with cinematically-induced energy.
"Yes, it was quite interesting!" Daphne laughed.
"Thank you, thank you, madam!" Sumley bowed and removed his top hat briefly.
I guess Isabel's impression wasn't so off after all, Daphne thought to herself.
"Ah, sorry, I momentarily forgot we were still filming. Back to my tour!" Sumley announced.
"No worries, no worries." Daphne assured. "I can easily edit anything out."
"Stupendous!" Sumley responded in an almost ecstatic tone, continuing to be very ostentatiously proper-sounding. "Now, on with the tour!"
"Many creatures lurk about in this basement of bad omens, prankish poltergeists protrude out of the paintings, and ghosts giggle about the great secrets of life and death, which us humble humans haplessly wonder about all our lives, but shall never find the answer to. This room, is a portal to the very depths of Hell, and holds the secrets of parallel and paranormal universes that we have previously only dreamed of! But tonight, you shall see evidence of the concepts you never thought were possible. Those concepts, are that of true paranormal activity and life, living right here in our very world. Behold!"
Daphne, still amused by the drama, whimsically clapped at Lorde's extravagant introduction.
"You see, Daphne, this is what I was speaking to you about at breakfast. I have been in the horror business for 40 years now, and I've learned time and time again that one cinematic principle towers over them all. Authenticity, my darling! You must build your audience up to what they are about to witness and see, not spoon feed it to them. You must build up the suspense, but allow the audience to react to the shocking revelations they see on their own, and surprise the evidence with what they never thought was possible! It is then, and only then, that you can make a true horror masterpiece!" Sumley explained.
Finally understanding the point of Sumley's over-the-top intro, Daphne found his comments to be inspiring.
"I think I see, so you have to do just the right amount of explanation and development to make a good horror film?"
"Precisely! A movie without development is like a story without plot! You cannot make a truly good story without a strong foundation! But, you must make the story as strong as the foundation! You cannot simply presume your audience are a bunch of uneducated simpletons. Rather, it is YOU who is trying to win the audience over, not the other way around. You must, at all costs, ensure you are making content which entertains others, as well as yourself!"
All of a sudden, a loud creak could be heard throughout the basement.
"What was that?" Daphne inquired.
"Oh, I dare say it might have been one of the ghosts! Or…"
"Or what, Lorde?" the redhead urged.
"Or, I fear it may just be the age of the house, my dear. I love this house, and would never dream of replacing it, but it has its clear downfalls. The foundation is beginning to become worn and scuffed about, so it's only natural to hear a creak here and a creak there." Sumley said woefully.
"No need to apologize, Lorde. We'll find some evidence of paranormal activity in this house."
"Ah yes, but I worry. You see the ghosts are quite unpredictable with guests as I said, and they may remain dormant despite our intent to capture them on film. I don't want to disappoint."
Daphne felt sorry for the man, who, despite his outgoingness, seemed a bit lonely and woeful at the moment.
"Don't worry, you've already taught me so much about the horror business. I mean, I'm a 'horror host' of sorts, and I didn't even know most of the tips you've spoke of this morning."
Sumley seemed to light up immediately from Daphne's kind-hearted gesture.
"That's fantastic, Ms. Blake! I'm so glad you've enjoyed your visit. Now, let us finally start the tour!" he repeated. "First stop on our apparitional adventure is the gallery hall!"
Daphne nodded, urging for him to continue as she turned the camera back on just in time to capture his previous words.
"Alas, I must confess that in the depths of night, I have heard the restless spirits howl like a strong burst of light. It's a noise which I can describe in no other way, than a listless phantom seeking to cross over, cross over into the world that it once knew when it was alive."
Almost if on cue, one of the picture frames began to slightly rattle, although it was a jolt so quick that it was almost impossible to tell if it was caused by an undead spirit, or simply a movement caused by an old creaky house.
"Zoom in on that picture, Ms. Blake!" Sumley urgently instructed.
The picture was slightly unsettling, as it featured a picture of a ghostly looking man who was slightly deformed, with two large scars on the skin of either side of his eyes.
Sumley briefly glanced over his shoulder, to make sure the moving picture wasn't a diversion for something more interesting happening behind him.
In the split second he wasn't vigilant of the picture, Sumley heard Daphne gasp and say "Was it just me, or did the eyes move in that picture?" Her voice sounded very agitated and nervous.
"I'm afraid I don't know, Ms. Blake. I wasn't looking."
Slightly hyperventilating, Daphne caught her breath and responded, "Oh, it was probably just my imagination. Let's keep moving."
Sumley, who was visibly worried as well, paused for a brief second and sighed before quickly shuffling towards the next room. His somewhat unsettled state made Daphne uneasy as well, particularly as he had seemed so calm when speaking of the spirits before.
"This next room is my basement study, where there are quite a few more paintings as well as an old player piano." Sumley informed.
Looking around, Daphne noticed the room, painted in a plaidish color, was covered in paintings of various horror film ghouls, and an oddly placed umbrella stand in the far right corner of the room. The room also had a large desk, which the redhead presumed to be Sumley's. The desk had several documents scattered across it, as well as a few stray ballpoint pens laying on a few of the papers.
"Have there been any strange happenings in here, Lorde?" Daphne inquired.
"No, nothing in here I'm afraid. None of these paintings seem to move, or do much of anything really."
As Lorde's final word was vocalized, the two heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Daphne could feel her shoulders immediately tense up, and her stomach becoming tight.
"What's that?" she quickly blurted out.
"Oh, nothing to worry about my dear, that's just Charles."
Daphne instantly felt less afraid and averted her gaze to the ground, to familiarize herself more with the surroundings. She noticed an odd whitish dust on the ground, and zoomed her camera in for closer inspection. After a brief moment, Daphne shrugged off her odd finding, not seeing any clear significance to it.
Before she changed the angle of the camera to be at eye-level, she quickly paused to wipe off the camera lens. Though she didn't have any cleaning cloth with her at the time, she decided to improvise and use her shirt sleeve to wipe off the dust. The redhead glanced through the lens to make sure all the extra dust was gone, and observed a man's black shoe which was directly ahead of her.
That must be Charles, Daphne thought to herself, as she lifted her head to greet the amiable butler.
Except, as Daphne quickly discovered, the man she saw was not Charles. This man had a very distinctive characteristic which Daphne would never forget: two long scars, on either side of his eyes. It was the ghostly man from the painting.
Author's note:
I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! Admittedly this chapter took the longest of any so far, and went through the most rewrites and revisions of any other chapter as well. Seeing as so many people enjoy the "horror movie" aspect of Zombie Island, my goal with this chapter was to give it a horror movie-esque vibe, in both tone and plot.
Before I get into talking about the chapter more, it's reference time!
Daphne's comment to Isabel near the beginning about Commander Cool ("Are you done with the superhero antics, Commander Cool?") is a reference to Shaggy's favorite superhero from A Pup Named Scooby-Doo.
"And that was Jimmy Lewis with his latest hit! Alex Super, The Sparkles, and Lindsay Pagano all coming up in less than ten minutes on ZPOP!" Lots of fun references with this line. Each of the four musicians mentioned here were all in various Scooby episodes. Alex Super is from "Mamba Wamba and the Voodoo Hoodoo" (The Scooby-Doo Show), Jimmy Lewis is from "The Diabolical Disc Demon" (The Scooby-Doo Show), The Sparkles was the band in "The Neon Phantom of the Roller Disco" (The Scooby & Scrappy-Doo Show), and Lindsay Pagano is a real-life musician who guest-starred in the What's New, Scooby-Doo? episode "Riva Ras Regas." Additionally, ZPOP is the callsign of the TV station which the gang had Scooby's televised birthday celebration at in "Happy Birthday, Scooby-Doo" (The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries).
The book which Isabel is reading in bed, "The Legend of the Vampire," is a reference to the respective Scooby movie of the same name.
Lorde Sumley is a reference to horror film star Lorne Chumley, who was in The New Scooby-Doo Movies episode titled "The Exterminator," which also featured guest star Don Adams. You'll notice however, that while I often refer to characters by their first names (i.e. Daphne, Isabel, Charles, etc.), Lorde was almost always referred to by his last name. Though this was unintentional and not a reference, I referred to him by his last name to avoid confusion with the famous pop-rock singer who goes by the monomous name of "Lorde." Obviously you're not likely to get the two confused, but as a writer I know how powerful word associations can be, and didn't want you to think of the singer as you're trying to get a feel for the proper British gentleman that Lorde Sumley's character is. Well that and I know I unintentionally pictured the singer when having to type "Lorde" so many times lol. So thus I changed it to "Sumley" so hopefully it will be less confusing and reference-inducing to you readers.
Really, beyond the Lorne Chumley reference, the whole chapter could be construed as a retooling of that same The New Scooby-Doo Movies episode. In example, you'll notice the painting, and the descriptions of the player piano and the umbrella stand; all things which were in "The Exterminator" episode.
Not much else to explain with this chapter I suppose, but hopefully you're getting a better feel for Isabel's character at this point and see why I added her as a 'recurring' character of sorts. I personally don't usually care for fanfics which try to force new characters on you, so that's why I'm a bit hesitant with Isabel, but hopefully she makes a nice addition and you can see her character's purpose. Or if you don't, you'll likely find out in these next few chapters!
