Roman looked at the old mailbox as they passed it in the darkness. The name Leatrice Dark was barely noticeable but he could read it. He already knew the name before they went there. This was the biggest treasure trove in town according to the stories. The giant mansion that no one had managed to break into yet.
"What do you think she looks like?" Roman asked.
"Who?" Seth asked.
"The lady living here. Leatrice Dark. No one seems to know. It's like she's remained unseen forever," Roman said.
"I only know the stories like everyone else," Dean said. "The mansion has been passed down for generations to the next male heir. Her brother got it from their father. When her brother mysterious disappeared, she got it."
"20 bucks that she killed her brother," Seth said.
Dean chuckled in return, and Roman shushed both of them. There might not be any houses close to the mansion, and it might be complete dark at this hour, but that didn't mean they wouldn't accidently wake up the woman living there.
"Get to work," Roman whispered.
Dean dropped down to his knees and started working on the lock. To his surprise it opened just as easy as any other places they had broken into before.
"I thought this was supposed to be a fortress," Dean said.
"Or maybe no one actually tried before us," Seth said.
"Or they tried but got spooked by hos desolated it is out here. The darkness and whatever creepy sounds there are hiding in it," Roman said.
Dean opened the door, turned on his flashlight and shone it inside. It looked like a normal giant hall. He couldn't see further because every other door this room connected to were closed. He stood back up and smirked over his shoulder at his two friends before taking a step inside.
"Little piggy, little piggy, let me in," Dean said.
They all stepped inside and shone their flashlights around. Old paintings were hanging on the wall. The floor was a weird black and white chess pattern.
"Fuck, it's creepy in here," Seth whispered.
"Let's find some treasures," Roman said.
"And the little piggy," Dean added. "People wanna see what she looks like. If we get a picture, we can sell it to somewhere. You know, solving the mystery of the woman living here."
"Enough with the piggy shit," Roman chuckled.
"What? You don't like fairytales?" Dean repeated himself in a louder voice. "Little piggy, little piggy, let me in."
Giant sounds drowned their voices. The front door slammed behind them. Black panels slid down and covered every window and door in the room so no moonlight shone through. All they had were their flashlights. They all pulled their guns to be on the safe side.
"I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in," a female voice answered Dean's rhyme.
All three men shone their flashlights around to figure out where the voice came from.
"Who are you?" Seth asked.
"Leatrice," Roman sighed.
"Lea?" Dean asked. "You don't mind me calling you Lea, do you?"
"I do," Leatrice answered.
"Shit, I'm sorry, babe. Leatrice. Yeah, look, we made a mistake here, but as you can see, we're three against one. Be a good girl, let us have some of your treasures, and we'll leave without ever harming you," Dean said.
"And what treasures might that be?" Leatrice asked.
"Ehm..." Dean said.
Dean looked over at Seth and Roman who both shrugged in return. Neither man knew exactly what this mansion was supposed to hide. Only that treasures should be here according to stories. They made a living our of robbing people's houses. They figured they could find treasures in this mansion and live the good life after that.
The light turned on and a loud, metallic sound came from the corner. They all turned in the direction of the sound and saw a gold, red and green painted treasure chest standing there with the lid open. It looked old and expensive. Seth moved towards it and looked inside.
"It's empty," Seth said.
"You're not the first ones to break into my home, and I doubt you'll be the last ones," Leatrice said. "You only get one chance with me. Once you choose, there's no going back. Put your weapons and flashlights in the chest, and I'll open the front door so you can leave. If you choose to try your luck getting through my house, you're gonna be hunted."
"What the fuck? You can't do that to us," Roman said.
"Choose!" Leatrice demanded.
"Oh, hell, no!" Dean growled. "We didn't come this far to turn around. All she has are some cheap tricks and cameras. There's still three of us. We're gonna find you, Leatrice. Clearly you're not smart enough to call the police so let's see what you got, bitch."
"Suit yourself," Leatrice said.
The lid on the treasure chest slammed shut and made all three man jump back in surprise. The light turned off and left the men relying on their flashlights. The black panel in front of one of the doors slid up, and the door opened into another room. They moved slowly over to the door to shine their flashlights inside.
"Little piggy, little piggy, let me in," Leatrice laughed. "Looks like you're the three little pigs and I'm the big, bad wolf."
"Fuck you!" Dean yelled. "We'll find you, Leatrice! We'll fucking find you, and we'll take whatever treasures you're hiding in this place."
"Yet you keep standing in that room," Leatrice said. "Are you scared?"
Dean was about to step forward but Seth placed a hand on Dean's arm.
"I got a bad feeling about this," Seth said.
"No shit, Sherlock. The bitch is playing with us but no one plays these types of games better than we do," Dean said.
"I'm serious, Dean," Seth said.
"It's like the fucking Saw movies. It feels like there's traps waiting for us," Roman said.
"I was thinking more like the Cube movies," Seth said.
"Saw? Cube? You know I don't watch horror movies," Dean said.
"Are we actually gonna start a movie club right this moment?" Roman asked annoyed.
Seth swallowed hard and walked over to the front door.
"Excuse me, Leatrice. I've changed my mind. I'd like to leave," Seth said.
"You made your choice," Leatrice said. "I told you there's no second chance with me."
"Fuck!" Seth muttered. "Fine! We'll play your stupid game."
Seth walked back to Roman and Dean. All three of them were still standing there looking through the open door into the next room. There were rows of armors on display in front of each wall. There looked to be about twelve in total. Six by each wall. Down by the end of the room was another black panel with a door behind it waiting to be opened.
"Three little pigs oh so scared of the big, bad wolf," Leatrice mocked.
"I'm not fucking scared!" Dean snarled.