Part Two: The Arrival New England, 1954

The car rounded the bend on the cold, dark night, and pulled into the long, winding driveway of the gloomy looking mansion. The car pulled to a stop, and from the driver's seat stepped a serious looking man, dressed in a bowler hat and suit. He walked briskly to the front door, and stepped into the house, the song 'Shake, Rattle, and Roll," blaring throughout the house. The man stepped into a library, where a young lady with short brown hair, and dressed in a low cut maid's outfit, was setting up glasses and cognac. The man removed his hat, and wild black, red, and blonde hair sprang out with a 'boing!' in a ansortment of spikes.
"Is everything ready?" he asked the busty maid.

"Yes sir!" She said, cheerfully. The man existed the room, and walked down the hall to the kitchen, stopping to readjust a painting that hung sideways. The old cook chopped heavily at the meat with a cleaver.

Then, as the well dressed man walked up behind her, he asked, "How is dinner com-!" He stopped short when she turned around sharply, her cleaver poised to chop at his head.

"Dinner will be ready at 7:30," the cook said, looking ominous in her eye patch.

The man coughed nervously, then said, "Uh, Yes. Yes, thank you, Keade." Then, he turned tail and walked out of there as fast as possible. As he he was about to renter the library, the doorbell rang.

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The Colonel stood in the pouring rain. He looked at the address on the invitation again. Yeah, this was right place…

"Right now, I'd rather be home watchin' the tube," The soaking wet young officer said, closing his coat closer about his shoulders. Then, the door opened, and the man he assumed to be the butler stood at the door.

"I uh…" the officer started.

"You are indeed expected, Colonel," The butler said, "It is Col. Mustard, isn't it?" he asked as the Army officer stepped into the house, and handed over his coat.

"Naw," he said "My name's Joey. Just Joey."

"Very Well," the butler said, "But you may feel well obliged to my employer for the use of an alias." He closed the door and put the coat in a closet.

As the servant walked on in front of him, Joey asked, "And just who are you?"

"I am Yami," he said, "The butler." Lightning flashed outside, as if on cue. Joey looked around the room, expecting the axe drop. "You need not fear," Yami said, "Please, wait in the library for the other guests to arrive."

"Other guests?" Joey asked suspiciously.

"Of course, sir," Yami replied, this is a party after all." Joey shrugged and followed him to the library. Inside the library was the maid, to whom Yami said, "Tea, please give the Colonel whatever he requires, within reason, of course," Then, before Joey could utter a word, he shut the doors.

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The doorbell rang again, and Yami opened the door to see a young lady with long black hair, looking pale and tragic under her black veil and black dress of mourning.

"Mrs. White, I presume?" Yami asked.

"You may refer to me as Sango," she said coldly, stepping inside. She too followed Yami to the library, where the maid Tea was just handing Col. Mustard his drink. The door opened, nearly knocking the poor gentleman down. He stood an inch away from the door, balancing on one leg with the drink held up above his head.

"Mrs. White, may this Colonel Mustard," Yami said, as the Colonel regained his balance and footing.

"Call me, Joey," he said eagerly.

"And this is our maid, Tea," he said. Tea and Sango flinched to see each other. "Oh, I see you've already met." But just then, the came another ring at the door. Yami went at once to open it.

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Mai cussed and kicked at the tire of her broken car. The rain had stopped only a few minutes ago, and she wasn't about to ruin her red dress and makeup to fix the clunker. But to her amazement, and sheer luck, she heard a car coming up behind her. She looked around, unbuttoned the front of her dress and exposed her lingerie. The car passed, but then screeched to a halt. A second passed… two seconds. Then the car slowly back up next to Mai- who was buttoning her dress back up. The car stopped, and the driver, a young man in a dark purple suit, leaned over to the passenger window, and asked, "Need a lift?"

"Yes, please," Mai said. She opened the door and slid on in. After she closed the door, thunder clapped and the rain came pouring down. "That was close." she muttered.

"Where are going tonight, madam?" the young dark haired driver asked her.

"Hill House," she replied, "I'm running late for a party. And my name's Mai."

"Mine is Miroku, and it's funny that you should say that," Miroku said, "I'm going to that house as well."

"Did you get a funny looking letter?" Mai asked.

"Yes, I did," Miroku said, surprised. They both looked in the direction of the looming mansion on the hill ahead. They both gulped nervously, and Miroku drove forward.

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"May I introduce, Mrs. Kagome Peacock," Yami announced. The young lady wore a bright orange dress and a hat covered in feathers. "Would you like a drink madam?"

"Oh, yes," Kagome said brightly, "Thank you." As Tea came forward with the glass, Kagome looked at her disapprovingly and said, "Watch it, you could poke an eye out with those things."

"Excuse me for wanting to look nice," Tea said. The maid turned smartly and waltzed back over to Joey as the door bell rang.

Yami answered the door and found a mousy young man, with white hair, dressed in green, standing in the rain.

"Is this the Mr. Body's residence?" the timid lad asked.

"You must be Bakura Green," Yami said. Behind Bakura, the dogs started barking loudly and wildly, and Yami shouted, "Sit!" the dogs quieted and shrank away. Bakura also sat down quickly, looking like he was about to pass out. "Oh, not you, sir, please come in." Yami said, helping Bakura up and into the house, where he introduced him to the other guests.

Not a moment later, the doorbell rang again. Outside, Miroku and Mai were looking around, the thunder storm worsening.

"What a creepy place," Mai said.

"Indeed," Miroku agreed. Mai's eyes widened as she registered that Miroku now had his right hand all over her butt. She turned around and slapped him just as Yami opened the door.

"Miss Scarlet, Professor Plumb," Yami said, astonished, 'I didn't know you were acquainted."

"We weren't," Mai said angrily, trotting inside in a huff. Miroku, a large red handprint on his cheek, soon followed. He did not look pleased.

Yami introduced them, and announced that all but one guest had arrived. Suddenly, the cook loudly struck the gong, making everyone jump, and poor Bakura spilled his brandy over Kagome.

"I'm so sorry," Bakura said, embarrassed and distressed as he handed Kagome his handkerchief, "I am a bit accident prone."

"Oh really?" Kagome asked, "I hadn't noticed."

"Dinner is ready," Yami announced, "Please, follow me into the dinning room." The warily walked down the hall, into the large room, where a table in the middle of the room was set for seven.

"Is this your seat, Yami?" Miroku asked the him as he passed by to get to his seat between Kagome and Sango.

"No, this is for our seventh guest, Mr. Body." Yami answered.

"Guest?" Sango said. "I thought Mr. Body was our host?"

"Yes, well…" Yami said, skirting the issue.

"Then would you tellin us who IS our host?" Joey asked.

"I'm afraid I can divulge nothing until all our guests have arrived," Yami said. Just then, Tea came in, pushing a cart laden with bowls of shark-fin soup. She placed the bowls in front of them.

"Shouldn't we wait for Mr. Body?" Sango asked.

"I'll keep something warm for him," Tea replied.

"I bet you will," Mai muttered.

Joey looked at Yami, and asked, "So, Yami, what is it you do, exactly?"

"I'm the butler," Yami explained, "I 'butle'."

"And that is-?" Joey asked.

"I oversee the kitchen and the cleaning and the other household staff."

"Hmmm," Joey mused. Then, when the soup was placed in front of him, he said, "Man, I'm starvin!" and downed the whole thing… without the spoon. Everyone else ate their first helping of soup slowly, as Joey was given seconds. The whole room was eerily quiet. All that could be hear d was the slurping.

"Well," Kagome finally spoke up, "I guess if no one else is going to do it, I might as well break the ice. I have to be honest, I was really surprised when I got my invite in the mail. I mean, yeah, I have been to a lot of parties, but this is like, something totally different for me, being a…." Almost everyone leaned in and looked at her, eager to know the truth about ho she was. "Oops," she said, "I forgot… we're not supposed to say who we really are." The eager faces dropped in disappointment.

"Well, I know who you are," Bakura said. "I live in Washington, too."

"Oh… Really?" Kagome asked, "But, I've never you before."

"Well, you and your husband are in the papers all the time," Bakura said.

"So, you're a politician's wife," Mai said, "Lovely."

"Do you live in Washington?" Kagome asked Mai, hoping she didn't.

"Guilty," Mai said with gusto.

"So do I," Miroku said, "And I also work for the government"

"Well, lets remember not to get too personal," Kagome said, "I mean after all, we all only just met tonight…."

"You seem to like talking a lot, Kagome," Miroku said. "I find that interesting."

"Interesting?" Mai asked, "Interesting how? You're not a shrink, are you?"

"Well, yes, actually," Miroku said, "I am the personal therapist to the President."

"Do you two also live or work in Washington?" Bakura asked Joey and Sango.

"Yes," Sango said.

"None of your beeswax," Joey said. Then, of course, Tea walked out with the main dinner course. A very strange looking meal.

When the plate was given to Kagome, she perked up, and dove right in. "MMMMM! This is one of my favorites!" she said in ecstasy.

"I know," Yami said over her shoulder.

"So… what do you do in Washington, Bakura?" Kagome asked him nervously.

"I uh.."

"Why do want to know so much?" Mai demanded.

"Well, I'm just trying to be nice."

"You're a little to nice." Mai said.

"Well, you're too mean!" Kagome shouted.

"Will you two cut it out," Joey shouted at them. Suddenly, Joey threw down his napkin, and walked over to Yami, and demanded, "And you! Listen, man, just why are we here?!"

"Yeah!" everyone shouted. Just then, the doorbell rang. They all stopped in their tracks. Yami straightened his tie, and walked out of the room. Joey sat down again and started eating the dinner. Five minutes later, Yami returned, and announced, "Our Seventh Guest… Mr. Seto K. Body." Behind him strode a tall, menacing looking young man, with dark brown hair that cast shadows over his icy blue eyes. He carried a suitcase in one hand.

Outside, the rain fell harder, thunder clapped loudly and lightning flashed!