I'm Cleaning Out My Closet
Chapter Six: The Next Weekend
*** *** *** ***
The second weekend had arrived, and Leorio still
hadn't called. Kurapica was really beginning to worry. At two to one, the
phone rang. With a swelling bubble of joy in her heart, she went to answer
it. She tripped over a tile in the kitchen. Muttering about getting it
fixed sometime, Kurapica grabbed the receiver. "Hello?"
The bubble popped. It was Machi, wondering it she
wanted to go to the movies that night. Kurapica had finally been persuaded,
because, as Machi had said, it wasn't healthy to be shut up in a house,
moping around.
And they assembled. The Thirteen Souls who were
left on Earth, to wreak havoc and frighten the human race. Adele, Christian,
Ellen, Gregorio, Ian, Kaylin, Mikey, Opal, Quinn, Stephen, Ursula, Will,
and Yvette. All had died on October, Friday the Thirteenth, in the year
2000. On this night, their souls remained on Earth. They were the Forgotten
Thirteen. Born on the Thirteenth, died on the Thirteenth, at the age of
thirteen. They were hosted in Adele's mansion, where they had been. On
the hill, overlooking the City of Superstitions, Trevilleize.
One night, on Halloween, a group of four friends,
Fleur, Luke, Raini, and Xavier came to that very mansion, on a dare.
"Oh, come on! Their gang's got spies everywhere!"
Fleur said, as she dragged Luke along the steep, rocky path.
"I don't wanna go in that haunted place." Luke
whined. "I'm too young to die!"
"Shaddup, besides, do you want your mom and dad
to know that we TP'd the school and flooded the bathrooms?"
"That was fun." Raini giggled. "Xavi looked quite
fine with toilet paper stuck to his face and water dripping down his pants,
as Brenda said."
"FINE?! THAT HOE CALLED ME FINE?!" Xavier yelled,
his face turning red in the dark.
"Brenda isn't a hoe. She's a garden rake." Fleur
bonked Xavier with the flashlight. "And shut up."
Luke whimpered.
Entering the deserted mansion, Fleur shouted,
"Anybody home?"
"Shh!!!" Luke put his finger in front of his
lips. "No one's here—"
"Is that so?"
"—so let's go home." Luke started for the door.
He froze. "Who said that?"
"You, dummy." Raini said.
"No, in the middle of my sentence. Someone spoke."
Luke jiggled the doorknob. "We're locked in!"
"Oh, boy." Xavier sank down to floor. "Just great.
The flashlight went out too."
"Who disturbs the sleep of the Forgotten Thirteen?"
"Shut up, Raini."
"I swear, Fleur, it's not me!"
"Then who?"
"Luke?"
Luke whimpered again.
"Xavier?"
"No."
"It's me, mistress of the manor, Adele."
"Who's Adele?"
"A penguin."
"No, that's Adelie."
"SHUT UP!!!"
The chandelier on the ceiling lit up. The four
could see the faint shape of a girl. Adele. "Ian?"
An image of a boy, sporting big glasses stepped
into the hall. Pushing the glasses back on his nose, he addressed the four.
"To be properly taken to the Afterworld, the Forgotten Thirteen must enlist
the help of three their age."
"Three?" Adele arched an eyebrow.
"Four makes it fairly complicated."
"Go on then."
"To determine the three, the Weighing must take
place." At these words, a red haired ghost rushed in with a complicated
instrument.
Adele took it, and waved it at each one of the
living beings. The tool made a few whirring sounds, and a dial pointed
to Fleur. "Fleur will be taken."
"No!" Raini and Luke cried.
With a scream, Fleur fell through the floor.
A crashing, voices and more shrieks could be heard from down below.
As if not noticing, Ian continued. "The three
will, in their own way, must, send the Forgotten Thirteen to the Afterworld
by midnight. If they fail, they will live an immortal, cursed life."
"It is now thirty minutes to midnight." Adele
said. "These are the Thirteen: Ian and I are two. Here are the others:"
The red headed boy. "Christian"
A girl in a wheelchair. "Ellen"
A Spanish boy with a scar on his cheek. "Gregorio"
A seemingly friendly Asian girl. "Kaylin"
An androgynous teen. "Mikey"
A blonde with waist-length hair. "Opal"
A skinny kid with a shaved head. "Quinn"
A boy in a jersey, casually dribbling a basketball.
"Stephen"
A pudgy girl. "Ursula"
An African-American boy. "Will"
A brunette dressed in black. "Yvette."
Adele glowered at the three. "We are the Forgotten
Thirteen."
[Time lapse]
***
"What happened to Fleur?" Kurapica wondered.
"She died." Machi said matter-or-factly.
"I didn't like that part where they drove someone's head through a fork. That was weird and gross."
"Gross? That was cool! I should try that sometime..."
Kurapika-sama: Thirteen ghosts on the dead man's chest! Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Floraleon: ...