Just wanted to say thanks for sticking with me for 100 chapters! I love yall! Sorry, it took me so long to update, but I was planning on doing a different story for chapter 100, but it's not finished yet. (Hint: It's about a Batman game) However, I decided to go ahead and publish one of my Halloween chapters.
I'd like to thank CrossfireBullet for suggesting the idea of doing a haunted house. (Hope you like it!)
Chapter 100: The Secret Lies Beneath the Heart
Jason's POV
"I'm telling you, Jay. The place is haunted." Kyle stated as I rolled my eyes.
"No freaking way. No such things as ghosts." I stiffly replied.
"That's where you're wrong." Zach seriously stated.
"Come on, dude. You don't seriously believe in all of that hocus pocus shit do you?" Tom asked.
"Of course. I've seen more than you ever will. After all, I'm a magician and one of Merlin's descendants." Zach hissed.
"Guys. Seriously, let's not play the guess who I'm related to game... Look, why don't we just spend the night in the house. If nothing happens then we know it's not haunted." Kyle suggested.
********Break********
The four of us looked up at the creepy decaying house. It was three stories with vines and rotten boards covering nearly every inch of the old mansion. The full moon casted an eerie glow on the crumbling structure.
"Uh, there's a graveyard out back." Tom stated.
"Uh huh… Let's get this over with." I muttered as the four of us hopped the rusted metal fence.
"No trespassing." Tom read as he pointed to a sign.
I shrugged before saying, "We'll be fine. Bruce can afford to pay for bail anyway."
"Why hasn't anyone torn down this place yet?" Kyle asked as we approached the worn-out porch.
"I think it's protected by the Gotham Historical Society or whatever." I shrugged.
The four of us soon reached the porch. The wooden flooring creaked and groaned beneath our weight. I reached for the door. Before I could open it, a gust of wind passed by and the door opened by itself.
"Alrighty then… Who wants to go first?" I asked.
"You're the leader, Jason. Shouldn't you lead the way?" Zach smirked.
I ignored him and stepped into the pitch black house with Kyle, Tom, and Zach following behind me. The door slammed shut behind us.
"Zach, I swear if you're manipulating the house-"
"It's not me!" he hissed as our eyes began adjusting to the darkness.
An old grandfather clock stood in the hallway along the wall. Candles were scattered along the walls. I took out my lighter and lit a few of the candles as Tom followed my actions. Leaving the main hallway, we moved into a room with furniture covered in white sheets and dust. What wasn't covered in dust was covered in cobwebs. Above the crumbling fireplace was a portrait of a young couple. The woman was beautiful. A gold heart-shaped locket hung around her neck.
"What's the deal with the people in the picture?" Tom asked as we moved in front of the portrait.
"I don't really remember all of the details, but supposedly, this dude was filthy rich and he was freaking insane-"
"Everyone from Gotham is insane." Zach stated, looking directly at me.
"Shut up. I'm telling a story." I growled. "Anyway, the guy married young. But, he was paranoid of his wife. He was so afraid that she'd leave him or cheat on him. He did the only thing he could think of to prevent it… He slit her throat while she slept and hid her body somewhere in the house. But, he couldn't take it anymore. He kept seeing her everywhere. He was literally going insane. So, he hid his fortune before he climbed the staircase to the attic. Supposedly, there was a secret room up there where he kept an organ. As he played the organ, blood fell from his fingers, staining the keys red. The legend says that the organ never stopped playing, even when he jumped from the roof and took his own life."
Light suddenly flashed from outside as a grumbling sound was heard, only to be followed by pelting rain. The rain slapped against the old windows as the occasional flash of lightening lit up the mansion.
"Guess we're stuck here for a while." I muttered.
"Did you guys see that!" Kyle screamed pointing at the portrait.
"What?" I asked.
"Her eyes moved!" he exclaimed.
"Stop being a baby. You're supposed to be fearless remember." Zach hissed at him.
"Shut up. I didn't say it scared me." Kyle muttered.
"You probably just imagined it… Let's go check out another room." Tom spoke up.
We continued to explore the old mansion. It kinda reminded me of Wayne Manor, except this place doesn't have an Alfred… and it's not haunted.
"Alright we've been all over the first floor of the house and I'm tired." Zach grumbled.
"Fine. We'll head back to the bedrooms." I replied.
"Wait, we're not staying together?" Kyle asked.
"We'll be fine. If something was here. We would've already seen it."
We split up into four rooms. I swiped most of the dust off of the bed before laying down.
"There had better not be spiders in here." I grumbled.
I closed my eyes. My eyes flew open as I heard screaming coming from the room next to mine… Kyle!
Jumping out of the bed and running down the hall, I forced the door to his room open. Empty. He's gone.
"What happened? Where's Kyle?" Tom asked as he appeared behind me.
"I don't know." I replied as we entered the room.
"Jay, look at this." Tom spoke up as he pointed to a dust mirror in the corner of the room.
We looked at the mirror with the words "Get Out" written in blood.
"We can't leave! Kyle's missing!" I hissed.
"Oh. Is that all?" Zach added as he appeared in the doorway.
"That's not funny." I growled.
"Whatever."
"We're not doing anything until we find him." I growled at him.
"And how do you propose we find him? The house is three stories. He could be anywhere… If he's still alive." Zach added as I lunged for him and pushed him against the wall.
"Listen to me. No one else dies. No one else gets left behind. Until you know what loss is, you don't make the calls, I do… You don't like it, you can get out. No one's forcing you to be here." I threatened before Tom pushed me away from him.
"That's enough! Fighting isn't going to help us find Kyle." Tom stated as we continued to glare at each other. "And he's definitely going to need help. This was on the floor." He added, holding up Kyle's ring.
"He should really consider gluing that thing to his finger." I muttered.
"We'll buy superglue later. Right now we have to find him." Tom stressed.
"Right… Whoever took him had to have been close by… Check the walls." I ordered.
"Or we could just check that wall." Zach suggested pointed to a trail of footprints that disappeared at the wall.
Tom and I pushed against the wall in vain as Zach "supervised." Yet, we couldn't get the damn thing opened.
"Are you two done yet?" he remarked.
"If you think you can do better, then be my guest." I snapped.
He walked up to the wall and laid his hand on it. He whispered something and the wall swung open, revealing a secret passage.
"Showoff." I grumbled, passing his smirking face.
We moved through the dark and narrow passage. A creaking noise was heard as we stopped. The next second, we were falling through the rotten floor. I gasped as I landed on my stomach. Looking around, I could see that we were back in the main parlor. I climbed to my feet and looked over to where Tom and Zach were lying.
"You two okay?" I asked as Tom moaned in pained.
Blood poured from a wound in his side, staining the worn carpet red. I could see a piece of the rotten flooring protruding from his side.
"Shit. Hold on, Tom." I whispered, leaning over him.
"Hold him down." Zach ordered as I looked up at him.
"What?"
"It wasn't a request. Make sure he doesn't move. It'll only hurt more if he moves." Zach ordered as I pinned him to the floor.
Zach held his hand above the wound and started chanting something. Tom released a cry of pain as the chunk of wood slowly rose from his side. Seconds later, Zach was holding the bloody board as I pressed my hand over his bleeding side.
"He heals quickly. He'll be fine." Zach stated.
"Tom, you okay?" I asked as he nodded.
"Yeah. Give me about five minutes and I'll be good to go."
I nodded as very distinct music suddenly filled the air… Organ music.
"Look!" Zach hissed as he pointed at the portrait of the couple.
My eyes grew wide as droplets of blood oozed from the woman's neck. A flash of lightning filled the room and the blood disappeared.
"Something's going on here." I hissed.
"Okay. I think I'm good." Tom stated as I helped him to his feet.
"You okay?" I asked.
"Yeah. It's one of the bright sides to being a metahuman."
"We need to find out where that music's coming from." Zach said as we exited the parlor.
We headed towards the stairs and froze a transparent figure of a woman appeared at the top of the stairs. She suddenly floated towards the third floor.
"We all saw that right?" Tom asked as Zach and I nodded. "I was afraid of that."
"Let's go." I ordered.
"You want us to go up there with a ghost!" Tom yelled.
"Yup." I replied, climbing the staircase with them following behind me.
Hurrying up the third floor, we paused as the floating figure disappeared into a room. We followed behind her and pushed the door open. A library? We looked around the room, but the figure had vanished. I finished scanning over the room as a pull-out ladder opened from a ceiling hatch.
"Uh, that thing opened by itself." Tom stated.
"Come on." I said as I moved towards it and started climbing.
We soon found ourselves in a room with nothing but baby stuff. Cribs, toys, pacifiers, rattles, and dolls filled the room. This is creepy as Hell.
"If a baby starts laughing, I'm leaving." Tom added.
"So I'm guessing she was pregnant when she died." Zach suggested.
"Why would he kill his wife if she was pregnant?" I asked.
"Holy shit!" Tom exclaimed as he knelt beside an open trunk.
"What is it?" I asked.
"A body."
The three of us peered down at the corpse stuffed inside of the trunk. A golden locket hung loosely around the skeleton's neck… I guess we found the woman. I reached down and snagged the locket. I pried it open and found a bunch of numbers written inside of it. The numbers read 10-31-34.
"What is that?" Tom asked over my shoulder.
"A combination?" I replied.
"To what?" Zach asked as I shrugged.
"I have no idea."
"If she's in there, then what's in her grave?" Tom asked.
"I don't even know her name."
"It would so easy to decipher." Zach commented.
"And just how do you propose we do that?"
He rolled his eyes before replying, "Just follow me."
He disappeared down the ladder as we followed him. He studied the books in the library before pulling out a very old tome. He flipped through it before coming to stop.
"Her name was Rebecca Griswold and her husband was Meriwether Griswold... That's weird. There's something written in here saying that the secret lies beneath the heart."
The heart of what? Before I could respond, organ music filled the house again.
"That can wait. First we need to find out who's playing that organ."
The three of us once again climbed the stairs before ending up on the third floor again. We checked every inch of every room, but found nothing.
"There has to be a way up there!" I growled.
"Tick-tock." An unknown voice whispered as a rush of cold air passed by me. What the freak was that?
"What is it with rich people and hidden rooms anyway." Zach commented.
"I don't know-" I began before breaking off. "Come on!" I yelled, heading back down the stairs.
Tom and Zach swapped confused glances, but followed me anyway. We ended up on the first floor in the main hall. I came to a stop in front of the grandfather clock.
"Zach, open it." I ordered as Zach raised an eyebrow. "Just do it!"
He rolled his eyes before commanding the clock to open. It opened, revealing a hidden staircase behind it. Huh… Why do all these rich people put rooms behind their clocks?
We moved up the staircase and stopped as we came to another trap door above us. We pushed on it and it opened. I scanned the room and found a bloodstained organ and… Kyle! He was in the corner on his knees. His hands were behind his back and a rag was tied over his mouth.
"Kyle!" We yelled as he gave a muffled cry and started shaking his head as if he was trying to warn us.
"That's far enough, boys." A voice hissed behind us as we turned to come face to face with a gun.
"Who the hell are you!" I demanded.
"You three back up against the wall now!" The man hissed.
We backed up against the wall as he cocked his pistol. He moved closer to Kyle and dragged him over to the trapdoor.
"Let go of him!" I yelled.
"You should have left while you still had the chance." He hissed.
"And you shouldn't have kidna-" I began before shutting up as he jammed the gun into Kyle's face.
"Children should be seen and not heard… Now, you have something I want. Hand over the locket or your little friend dies." he demanded.
I pulled the locket out of my pocket as gestured for me to put it on the ground. I kicked it towards him and he retrieved it from the floor.
"You got what you wanted. Now let him go." Tom threatened.
The man ignored him and opened the locket.
"What the hell is this!" he yelled.
"Jewelry, dumbass. Let him go." I hissed.
"Where's the clue? What did you do with it?" he demanded, grabbing a fistful of Kyle's hair and yanking him to his feet.
"Leave him alone! The numbers were the only thing written inside!" I snarled.
"That can't be it! There was supposed to be another clue!"
"What are you talking about?" Tom growled.
"That was the clue." Zach casually stated as the man gave him a questioning look. "It's a date… The same date that Rebecca Griswold was murdered."
The man seemed to think it over before asking, "What does that mean?"
"Let us go and I'll tell you." Zach calmly replied.
"You tell me now or I'll kill him!" he threatened, tightening his grip on Kyle.
"Zach, tell him now dammit!" I growled.
He sighed before mumbling, "Whatever you're looking for is beneath Rebecca's grave."
"It had better be." The man hissed as he prodded Kyle towards the trapdoor.
"You can't take him!" I shouted as he began pushing Kyle down the old steps.
"I wouldn't worry about your friend. I'd be more worried about the fire." He responded before tossing a cigarette lighter at an old rug.
The trapdoor slammed shut and was locked as the fire sprang to life on the carpet. Coughing, we started putting the fire out. As soon as it was out, I ran over to the trapdoor and started pulling on the handle.
"The damn thing-" I began before stopping as Tom started taking his clothes off. "What the hell are you doing? Put your clothes back on!"
"That's my favorite pair of jeans and I really like that shirt. And I love that jacket… Plus, I'm tired of buying clothes every time I have to transform." He replied as his hazel eyes turned bright gold.
Fangs formed in his mouth as claws shot out from his nails. He yelled as his skin ripped open. Fur quickly replaced flesh. He released a feral growl as a tail formed. The next minute, he broke through the wall and started running across the roof.
"Must he always show off? We could have just taken the stairs." Zach grumbled as we stepped out onto the roof.
Zach levitated us onto solid ground before we ran after Tom. We entered the graveyard and found Kyle's kidnapper digging up a grave. Kyle was on the ground beside him.
"Where did Tom go?" Zach whispered.
"I have no idea. Get Kyle. I'll deal with that asshole." I growled, silently moving towards them.
Zach started to untie Kyle as I crept closer. Before I could jump him, he turned around with his damn gun. The bullet exited the chamber as Tom tackled him to the ground. The bullet grazed my shoulder as the werepanther pinned the man to the ground.
"Stay. Down." Tom growled as salvia dripped from his fangs onto the man's face.
"Jason! Are you okay?" Kyle asked as he knelt down beside me.
"Fine… You okay?"
"Yeah." He replied as Tom walked over to us.
"He fainted… You two okay?" He smirked.
"We're great… Go put some clothes on." I replied.
The metahuman bounded back towards the manor.
"I'm going to glue this thing to your finger if you don't start keeping up with it." I threatened, handing his ring over.
"Oh please. I've only lost it like twenty times." He smirked, slipping it into his pocket.
"Yeah well-" I began before a trunk levitated out of the grave.
My greatest treasure was written on the chest. Tom approached us in his human form as Zach began to open it. Inside the chest was nothing but a tiny corpse… a baby?
"What?" I asked.
"There was more than one Rebecca Griswold. She gave birth to her only daughter. The baby was early and didn't make it. Overcome with grief, she slit her own throat. Saddened by the death of his wife and child, he locked away every memory of them. That's why there's all that baby stuff in the attic. However, Merewether was framed for his wife's death by their butler. The butler was going to be replaced because of old age. He wanted revenge from the people he had dedicated his life too. He was going to frame his master and take control of the estate. However, Merewether knew what his servant had planned and he knew he didn't have much time before he would be arrested, so he hid his treasure and took his own life. The only thing the butler inherited was the house and all of his master's debt." Zach stated before gesturing to the unconscious man on the ground. "That's the butler's great grandson. The legend of the treasure was passed down from generation to generation… Yet, there never was any money. The Griswolds had lost their fortune long ago. The only thing they really cared about was having a baby. The child was their greatest treasure."
"How do you know that?" I asked as he rolled his eyes.
"Because they told me."
"Who?" I asked as organ music filled the air.
"Does that answer your question?" he replied.
"Guys look! It's morning! We survived the entire night!" Kyle exclaimed.
"Three of us did, all you did was play damsel in distress." Tom snickered as Kyle rolled his eyes.
"Shut up."
********Break********
We called the cops and watched as they arrested the man. The commissioner approached us.
"Were any of you boys hurt?" he asked as we shook our heads.
"Jason was shot, sir." Zach spoke up, smirking at me as I glared at him.
"It's fine." I mumbled.
"Jason, you know better." Gordon scolded. "We'll get you fixed up… and then you can explain why the four of you were trespassing on private property!"
"Uh… we were trick-or-treating?"
Check out my new story, Big Bird, Little Wing, Baby Bird, and Mini Bat: Ever After! It's the second part to this story!