Chapter Fifteen: Haunted Mansion
Police are of no help to me. They know no more than I myself know—no more than the reports of the people filed of what happened at the event. Still, I can't help but think someone knows more, even though I have had lie detector tests done on everyone I could. That revealed no more answers.
Time is running out. But nothing more comes forth. Sitting here and waiting is killing me. The fact that I am of absolutely no use at all makes me so frustrated I would charge up to strangers on the street and demand they tell me what they know.
No one knows anything. That's the problem. No one but whoever had a hand in this.
Kaiba had been planning on staying in his room all night and getting work done, but after only a brief work on his project, he stood and stretched.
"I should check on Mokuba," he murmured.
As much as the prospect of seeing the little collection of best friends made Kaiba excited to visit a lair of scorpions and walk barefoot among them, a certain thrill and anticipation shuddered through his bones thinking of his brother's planned night.
That haunted house…he had gone through it and witnessed its expertise. Now, he wanted to be present to hear the monkey scream like a two-year-old. Maybe he'd even bring a camera or tape to blackmail Wheeler with later. No, not blackmail. Wheeler had nothing he wanted anyway. He'd simply do it for tortuous fun.
Chuckling lowly in anticipation, Seto Kaiba dug through his closet to put on a special pair of glasses—no doubt Mokuba would have been delighted to see them on him—that had a camera hidden within them. Being a billionaire was truly helpful at times, even for little petty schemes like this.
"It's about time others get to see how amateurish Wheeler really is. And I certainly wouldn't mind a bit if I caught Yugi doing something stupid or embarrassing, either. With Téa here, that shouldn't be too hard."
Taking the stairs in a fast clip, the servants around the mansion didn't know what to make of it. But they did smile, glad to see their master in such high spirits.
If only they knew the reason the spirits were so high.
If only they knew that this would be the last time his spirit existed at all.
"And so," finished Mokuba, "the curse passed on from that day all the time following the bearer of the amulet."
He now had the chance to be where the old store keeper had been, looking at the faces staring at him in rapt attention. All were completely taken in by the story and seeing distant visions of murder on a sandy terrain and a dark tent.
Then, the candle, little more than a stub anyway, blacked out and everyone was lost to Mokuba's vision. A high-pitched, distant giggle sounded in the chambers, and Joey started, discernible by his tell-tale shriek.
"Just like dat girl! Dat's wrong, Mokuba! A kid killin' her fader? And when so young? Dat's evil!" He gave a violent twitch and shudder, looking around him in the blackness as if the girl were waiting for him now.
A light came from Mokuba; he had pulled out a flashlight from his pocket and set it to pierce the ceiling with its single, yellow beam. Now the ring of people had a spooky glow to their faces that made them all appear unhealthy.
Tristan looked closely at the amulet that Mokuba had. "And you say it's all traveled down through the years on that thing? Others who had it did the same thing?"
The clerk hadn't given any other exact examples, but Mokuba was going to use the night and setting to his advantage. "Yes. Every single person who had this necklace ended up doing something he regretted greatly to another person. Another person he or she cared most about."
Covering her mouth with a tiny gasp, Téa stared at the boy. "So…you're going to…Kaiba?"
Yugi looked quickly at Mokuba, reaching the same conclusion that Téa had. Why would Mokuba own something that was just going to end up harming his brother?
"You believe I'd ever do that, even with a cursed item?" Mokuba scoffed. "Yeah, right. Seto's got nothing to fear from me! Besides, it's just a story." He was a little put-out with how they assumed his brother was in danger. He had wanted the story to work, but not that well.
From deep within, from the Puzzle always around his neck, Yugi heard a voice.
Yugi…I sense a great evil coming from that necklace. It's still potent, whatever Mokuba claims. I'm unsure of whether Mokuba would be able to face its wrath and power when it unleashes.
Such dire words worried Yugi. "Um, Mokuba, are you certain you feel safe wearing that? Maybe you should give it back to the place you got it. I had no idea they sold things like that! My grandpa just said they had ancient artifacts."
"And your Puzzle isn't one like that? I've heard what it said on the box: The one who solves me shall gain the powers and knowledge of darkness. Do you think your grandpa was happy with you doing that? And nothing so terrible has happened since you solved that! Why is this any different?"
The others looked from Yugi to Mokuba, the real-life terrors of the story dwindling as harsh reality set upon them once more. Well, all but one. Bakura could never truly escape his real-life terrors. From deep within, he heard the Spirit's laughter once more.
There's no need for the young one to know what I said, the Spirit of the Puzzle informed Yugi, and mentally, the teen nodded to the ancient pharaoh.
"You're right; maybe that was just a story. But stories start for a reason, and maybe there's some truth to this one." Saying that a spirit could sense an evil presence seemed too far-fetched to even mention aloud. After all, this was Kaiba's younger brother, even if he seemed more open to tales of the unnatural.
His night was completely going downhill. Instead of just getting chills and the spooky feeling, his friends were trying to get him to abandon his birthday present. It wasn't that dangerous. What had it done so far?
Nothing! Mokuba hadn't felt any ill will toward his brother in the slightest.
Thinking the only way to get them all off his case was to somewhat agree, the boy slipped the pendant off his neck and placed it in a pocket. "There, I'll take it off now. Let's go see the real reason I brought you down here now!"
Joey's stomach rumbled just at that time, taking away from the gravity and creepiness of the situation. As everyone looked at him, some disdainfully and others with amusement, he tried to look innocent.
"What? You dink a few snacks are gonna make up for a whole dinna for me? I can't help it when I'm hungry!"
"You can eat later," Mokuba promised. "Right now, come check out the haunted mansion!"
He jumped to his feet, grabbing the flashlight and turning it to pierce the darkness behind him at one of the doors. Whatever mystery was behind it had the natural pull of a reel as a fisher dragged in a hooked catch, no matter how the fish struggled for freedom. Curiosity needed to be assuaged.
The small group entered the blackness behind one small adolescent and his single, dim flashlight.
The Spirit of the Ring continued to snigger quietly in his host's ears.
The staircase was still completely cut off from any light, and traveling through the ebony ribbons were like wading through snow that tried to drown any trespassers. When a cobweb, the same that had so startled Joey, brushed across Kaiba's face, he smirked.
"Nice going, little brother."
Mokuba had gone all out with this haunted mansion deal, as Kaiba already well knew. A tape was even playing of small creaks and protests of feet against wood or a door slowly being shifted. The CEO, after all, had not allowed Mokuba to replace all the stairs with old rickety wood just for this purpose, not even to frighten Wheeler.
His brother's voice echoed up the steps, the disembodied sound reminding Kaiba so much of horror tales he couldn't resist chuckling again. This nearly reminded him of that shop where they had found the dragon pendant.
While Kaiba had been investigating the basement before, worried things might have been taken too far, all the music and darkened places hadn't been prepared and set up as they were now. Experiencing the completed work, the tall teenager could proudly see how similar he and his brother were.
Someone down below shrieked, and not a doubt whispered in Kaiba's mind that it was anyone other than Wheeler.
"I better start that tape."
Glasses already on, Seto simply had to touch a finger to one of the rims to turn on the recording. Then, Kaiba continued down the steps like he was going down into an ancient tomb such as rulers were buried in.
Whispered tones gone from his voice, Mokuba was now just talking.
"Tell another spooky story, Mokuba," Kaiba said softly, amused. "I want to see Wheeler get up and run."
Or maybe, Kaiba would simple participate in the night after all. Mokuba had never asked again, and the CEO had to assume it was because the kid had thought Kaiba wouldn't want to. That would have been true. But now, Kaiba was completely anxious to catch something that would completely humiliate Wheeler and his friends so that maybe they'd leave him alone once and for all.
The maze-like depths of the basement held all sorts of surprises and spooks like any traditional haunted house.
One more person to creep out the visitors wouldn't do any harm.
…or so he believed.