Still feeling the pain of my heart beats, and noticing the darkening environment, I opened the door and closed it behind me.
I was greeted with the odd and dramatic winds of the outside.
Looks like I'm outside the mansion, albeit there's no way to get to the main front from here. I can still see that the blue fog is surrounding the area, so why are the winds here?
As the wind blows, I hear the flapping of clothes.
In front of me is a surprisingly large area, filled with clotheslines and hanging on the clotheslines are various clothes. However, the clothes…I can see the clothes, but why are all of them black?
Nothing is going on besides the winds and the flowing clothes, so I progressed forward to see what made me feel…alarmed.
Ugh, I don't know how long I can handle this…
But I have to endure it.
Pushing past the clothes directly, I ended up being surrounded by them. How much clothes does this one person have? Well, I guess if this person works as a fashion designer, then I think some of these clothes are for the clients. Tch…most of these clothes are unisex, so I can't guess who lives here based on outfits.
When I pushed myself away from the last row of clothes, I saw another clothesline far away from the other clotheslines. On that clothesline is a single large white sheet, standing out from the black clothes. For some reason, its flowing more vigorously than the other clothes…
Of course its different, its the same place the faces from the storage room showed me.
Stay strong…stay strong…
Walking incredibly slow to the white sheet with my emotions going out of control and the surroundings becoming darker is nerve wracking by itself. It feels like something big is going to happen, something that's not in my favour at all.
Don't mess this up…I can do it…
Taking the camera out, I looked at the white sheet but I didn't take a picture yet. I was hesitant…I kept staring at that piece of cloth and I can't even tell if time is flowing anymore…
Take the picture…take the picture…take the picture…take the picture…take the picture…take the picture…take the picture…take the picture…take the picture…take the picture…take the picture…picture…picture…picture…picture…picture…picture…
TAKE THE FUCKING PICTURE!
I don't know what's going on over me, but I'm starting to become an emotional wreck. Yet, I managed to keep my face as neutral as possible…that doesn't sound good at all.
"AARGH!" With a yell, I clicked the trigger on the camera. There, that wasn't so bad…
Heh, that's so wrong of me to say…
When the picture formed, what I saw made my blood chill and my spine tingle. In the picture, the white sheet suddenly turned black like ink was running through it. However, the ink missed a big spot…
That spot is a human shape.
"W-what…?"
Before I can even say anymore, I heard gunshots that startled me. The sounds are as weird as the winds, as I'm hearing the sounds from all over…
That's when I felt a strong pressure to my right, a little too close to my arm…
I quickly looked behind me, but nothing was there other than the other black clothes. However, that was the moment when the winds become too strong that all of the clothes flew upwards.
My eyes widened as I saw something…something that…that…no…no…!
There is a ghost…a pitch black ghost, like a 3d shadow that rose up from a figure. The figure has dirt marks and possibly some wound marks that are grudgingly white instead of red. Its as if the ghost is a reverse monochrome filter. Its even holding a rifle that has color, so the ghost did not originally had it before.
However, what made me so shocked…so scared…oh god…
This ghost looks exactly like Tino. His face is pure black and his eyes are pure white…and unlike the happy Finn, this one is…petrifying.
"N-No!" I yelled out, "Tino!"
When I saw the pitch black ghost point its rifle at me, I immediately ran to my left and barely dodged that single shot. After that shot was fired, the wind stopped and the clothes flowed down, covering the ghost.
That ghost looks exactly like Tino…dammit, what happened to him?! What happened…
So this is the reason why my heart ached so much earlier…I-I…
I have to save him.
I decided to go back to the rows of black clothes to find that ghost. This area is so large that the ghost made it it's battlefield.
The clotheslines are close together, so I'm somewhat covered up by the clothes. I ran through the clothes quickly to find that pitch black ghost…
When a long sleeved shirt and a kimono grabbed my arms and wrapped it selves around them. Shit, the ghost is controlling the area!
"Let me go! No! Let me go! Let go!" I struggled to remove my arms but the clothes are too strong. My right hand is holding the camera, so I have to be extra careful to not drop it to the ground. However, that's the arm where I struggled the most.
That's when the wind blew strong and the clothes flew upwards again besides the two pieces that are holding my limbs in place.
The ghost is in my sight, but its quite a distance far so its walking slowly towards me with that unnerving face. This is where my adrenaline pumped in, and I struggled even harder to release myself.
I managed to release my left arm from the black shirt, but I'm holding the camera with my right hand.
I then saw the ghost pointing its rifle at me.
With my left hand, I release my right arm from the black kimono in a quick hurry and immediately snapped an uncharged shot. However, I missed the face and the camera took the picture of the rifle.
This however made the ghost drop the rifle in pain, as I also caught its hands in the shot. When it dropped the rifle, it started to slowly walk towards me with its hands stretching out, intending to strangle me.
The camera started to charge the shot as I focused on the face. The moment its face was right in front of me is when I clicked the trigger of a charged shot.
The ghost fumbled back and the circle turned red again, just like what happened with the two ghosts in the tailor room. I took another picture with the red circle and the ghost screamed in pain, and it screamed again when I took a third shot.
It then disappeared but not in the way that I defeated it. It must have moved itself.
The winds stopped and the clothes flowed down. Since I was caught in a trap earlier, I have to be careful of the black clothes as they can stop me from taking a picture.
I heard another gunshot, and I can see the bullet in front of me since the clothes in front of me have a small burning hole through them. I have to end this quickly, or I'll have a bullet in my heart and I start seeing pure black.
Wait…my heart…pure black…
In my adrenaline earlier, I stopped feeling my heart beats but my vision became darker. What if I can…sense a trap with this other sense?
Speed walking through the row, I felt my heart beats becoming louder and my vision became darker. Almost on instinct, I took an uncharged picture of the clothes in front of me and to my surprise, the clothes flowed without any wind flowing through.
Looks like I was right.
I started my search for the ghost through this maze of clothes, snapping pictures of clothes that will definitely trap me.
That was when I saw another bullet shot through in front of me. I stopped in my tracks, any further and I'll be shot. The direction of the bullet came from my right, so I immediately passed by the rows and ended up where the sheet with the human shaped print is.
The ghost by the sheet is glaring at me and pointed that rifle to me. I dodged to my left and in my haste, I took an uncharged photo and I managed to take a shot of the ghost's face.
To my surprise, that did nothing.
"What…? That did not work…?!" I muttered to myself. That's when I remembered what I did moments ago.
I took a picture of that rifle earlier and it became vulnerable afterwards.
Taking a mental note of my plan, I dodged another shot from the rifle and while I did, I took a picture of that rifle. Even though I could see that the ghost got hurt from that picture, it resisted from dropping the rifle again.
Tch…
When I dodged the next shot, but very barely as I'm almost certain I felt that bullet on my clothes, I took another picture of that rifle. Finally, it dropped that weapon and started to walk towards me.
I charged the shot again but I noticed that the ghost became faster. I had to take a few steps back but I can't let that ghost out of my sight. The ghost proved to be faster than me, and I can feel it's hands strangling my neck.
At that moment, the charge is complete and I immediately took a picture of its face. Once I did, it released me from its icy grip and it released a blood chilling yell much louder than the other ghosts. The circle became red and I snapped more pictures at the ghost.
After multiple shots, the ghost finally tumbled down to the ground but to my horror it did not disappear.
Instead, multiple blue glowing circles appeared at the ghost's feet. I stepped back but I noticed how the ghost continued to writhe in pain. Is the circle doing something harmful to the ghost…?
Or is it…doing something horrible to Tino?!
I quickly looked at the circle with my camera and snapped a picture at it along with the ghost, but afterwards no effect has taken place. Damn it, this is just telling me that something possessed Tino!
…Wait…is that what really happened?! I don't know…I don't know…
"Damn it!" I yelled out, not knowing what's going to happen.
The circle on the ground emitted a pillar of blue light that covered up the…'ghost' completely. Once a moment went by, the pillar disappeared.
It left behind a really exhausted looking Finn on the ground, looking as if he ran a marathon across the world. I don't care at this rate, I'm just really happy to see him.
I knelt down to his level, "Tino! Are you ok?!"
"Ugh…" He rubbed his forehead before looking at me with out-of-character dull eyes, "Emil…? Wh-what're you doing here…?!" He seemed to wake up completely just from seeing me here. I took a breath in and sighed out.
"At least you are ok."
"W-wait, Emil! Why are you here?! I never told anyone of this place!"
I see, he doesn't remember being possessed by something.
"Tino I…came here to save everyone."
"Everyone?" He looked at me with disbelief, "Why, who?"
"You, Berwald, Matthias, and Lukas. Each and every one of you went missing, and you all left me alone." I stood up and offered my arm to the Finn, "So I came with Kiku to look for you all."
"What?! Everyone's gone?! What's Kiku doing here?" He looked at the ground, "D-did I start those chain of events…? No…Its my fault everyone's gone…"
I shook my head, "No, it isn't. I found your letter in the room filled with firearms. You summarized a lot in your letter, but you have to explain what exactly happened."
He grabbed my hand and stood up, "Ok, I'll say everything. First of all though…did I…try to kill you earlier…?"
This caught my attention and I couldn't pass it up. Might as well tell him the truth, "I think something possessed you and used you to kill me. There were so many times where I could have had a bullet in my heart."
"Argh, no way…" He let out a really solemn expression, "How could something use me to kill you…? Emil, I'm so sorry."
"It wasn't you in the first place, so there's no need to apologize."
Soon, the winds perked up again and I saw that black stained sheet with the human shape flow really vigorously. The sheet flew out of the clothesline and started flying around with the odd directions of the wind. I hate to admit it, but its a sight to behold…
Yes…something stained in black…flowing with the wind…so dark…so dark…so…beautiful…
"EMIL!"
I blinked a couple of times in shock, as I saw Tino looking at me with scared and worried eyes. I'm confused, why is he looking at me like that…? I then felt something on my feet, and I found out the the sheet, now mysteriously white, is laying on the ground below me.
"Emil, don't freak me out like that!" He grabbed one of my shoulders, "You were looking at that sheet and you kept saying the word 'dark' over and over…"
"I-I did…?" I placed my free left hand on my forehead. Before I can say anything else, I saw something appear on the white sheet beneath me. In black ink, the word say…
Help.
"Help…?" I repeated the word, however soon afterwards Tino grabbed my arm and dragged me away from the white sheet.
"I don't know what's going on in this place, but let's leave the area! I'm not letting you have another trance in my watch!"
Help? Help what? Why is that word ringing in my head like an echo? However, I managed to distract myself by replying to Tino.
"Kiku and Hanatamago are outside at the front gate. Let's head outside."
"Wait, you guys found Hanatamago?" He let out a sigh of relief, "Oh thank goodness she's ok!"
Seeing Tino relax a bit is somewhat helping me relax as well, but I still have this heavy weight on my chest since I can't relax yet.
The moment we walked out of the mansion with, luckily no trouble, Kiku bombarded me with questions as to what happened in my time inside but I told him that i'll explain in a bit. Hanatamago jumped unto Tino's arms and they both laughed at being reunited and safe from trouble.
We all leaned against the outside walls of the mansion and we began talking about our experiences so far. We started with Tino, who explained why he went here in the first place.
It turns out that our theory is correct, something sent a ghost to Tino's house and drove him away from the house. He had a vision about this forest in Iceland and a mansion, which happens to be this one. He went here in hopes to find out why there's a ghost in his house, but he couldn't tell us because he doesn't want us to be hurt and there's a big chance that we won't believe him.
When he was in the mansion, he wandered around the mansion for answers.
"That reminds me." Tino grabbed out a piece of paper from his pocket, "I found this, but its written in Japanese. Since your here Kiku, can you translate it to english?"
"Of course, Tino-kun." He grabbed the paper and began reading out loud the contents in english, "We are sent to different countries, because our curse has doomed our close ones and even killed closest friends. I was sent here to Iceland, an isolated nation, and I agreed. In incognito, I managed to make a living by selling some of my clothes and other designs by faking my name. So far, nothing bad has happened and I thought that I could finally live peacefully. I wish it was like this forever…but I miss my family, I wonder how they are doing? I hope they can live as well as I currently am…god, its so lonely here…I miss my—"
"Not good, it was cut out. I think this person is about to mention a family member." Kiku sounded disappointed.
What a shame, we could've found out who lived here.
Afterwards, Kiku and I explained what happened while he, Tino, was gone. He seemed especially stricken once I mentioned how Berwald was dedicated to look for him, and even more so when he went missing. I can't blame him for reacting like that, Berwald is the closest to him. I then mentioned how Matthias disappeared, and this just makes him feel even more guilty.
Then I mentioned to him the events this morning in my house, of how a ghost appeared and tried to kill me, and how Kiku appeared to save me. I was slightly hesitant but I told him about how Lukas disappeared this morning, and that's what triggered me to search for all of them myself.
It looked like Tino was taking this hard, because of how he lost track of time and never realised that two months has passed since he disappeared. The mansion is shrouded in night that doesn't seem to move, so anyone can easily lose track of time. I'm just as equally surprised that he managed to survive two months here all by himself, as well as Hanatamago.
It was Kiku's turn to talk and he repeated what he told me this morning, about the reason he's here and about the family in Japan that has been cursed by the very camera I'm holding.
"Wait, doesn't that mean that you and Emil…are cursed by the camera as well?"
"We are nations, and from my experience we are not as affected by the camera as that family was." Kiku then looked at me, "You are still ok, right Emil-san?"
I nodded, "Yeah, nothing has happened to me so far." For some reason, Tino looked at me after I replied. He had this face of confusion and worry when he looked at me, almost as if I said the wrong thing.
However, I'm fine. Right?
Afterwards, we became silent and no one spoke. I felt really exhausted, and I know that everyone else is exhausted. Kiku fell into a nap and so did Hanatamago in Tino's arms. Even though I felt really tired, I couldn't sleep, and Tino isn't sleeping either.
Instead, we remained silent and the air became awkward all of a sudden. Soon, Tino started to giggle, which surprised me a bit.
"What's so funny, Tino?"
"I was thinking about that rifle I picked up."
Ok, thinking about a firearm and laughing about it sounds really scary.
"Why did you grab a rifle anyway?"
"A sense of protection." He stopped laughing, "I had to protect myself and Hanatamago, so when that ghost girl led us there, I grabbed one immediately and left a note. It was the first room we arrived in anyway. I couldn't hurt the ghosts, but I used the sounds of bullet fire to distract them so that we can run away from them. Thanks to that rifle, we avoided danger. Until I was somehow possessed…"
I paused a bit and I remembered something, "Was it you who locked Hanatamago in that closet?"
He nodded, "Yeah, we were chased by a lot of ghosts and when I saw that closet, I immediately locked Hanatamago inside to keep her safe."
"Did you know that inside that closet is the corpse of the ghost girl who led you to that room with the firearms?"
He looked at me wide-eyed, "Really?! Oh my god…that girl looks too young…"
We remained silent, probably to respect the dead girl who reunited me with Tino again.
"But I have another reason why I laughed because of a rifle." He paused, "Do you remember the time where I shot an apple out of your hand when I was practicing sniping?"
Oh yeah, I remember that…
Tino is practicing shooting with a rifle in the garden of my house. I was around to watch him practice alongside Lukas.
"Tino is incredibly accurate and deadly with that rifle…" I muttered.
"He is. I can't even tell if he taught Simo Häyhä how to snipe or vice-versa." Lukas replied, "Whatever it is, Tino has the best sniper in the world in his domain and he himself is a deadly sniper himself."
I was fascinated at how Tino is accurate with that rifle, and how he managed to even shoot the smallest targets.
I reached out to the plate of snacks next to me and grabbed an apple, "I wonder how far his skills are…"
Soon, I felt my hand burning up and the apple flew away from my hand at a ridiculous speed. Lukas and I soon realized that Tino shot that apple right out of my hand…and my hand is still attached to my body.
I looked at the scene with amazement, I mean, how many people can shoot a small apple out of a person's hands without harming the person?! Ok, maybe those knife throwers from the circus, but this is a rifle! Its awesome!
"TINO!" Lukas stood up in rage all of a sudden and walked angrily to the Finn, "What you did was extremely dangerous!"
Just seeing Lukas all this raged up caught us both off guard.
"Lukas, wai-"
"You could've shot off my little brother's hand! And if that were to happen, I'll beat you up until nothing is left!"
"I remembered how furious Lukas was, which is extremely rare to see out of him." Tino laughed, "Sure I felt guilty for doing that, but that reaction of his was so amusing that I didn't care if I had to be the maid in your house for a week as punishment!"
"Well, I thought what you did was awesome." I laughed, "I'll let you practice sniping at my house again, we just can't tell Lukas from now on."
"Deal."
Silence came after a few fits of laughter. I really missed this…I really miss having my family around me and now one of them is with me.
"So…after Kiku wakes up, you guys will go back to the mansion?"
I nodded solemnly, "I have to. I need to save everyone else. You and Hanatamago need to stay out here since the ghosts can't come out here thanks to the paper charms."
"I…understand." He sighed, "Just promise me you will make it out safely. Value your life, Emil."
I nodded and a yawn came out of my mouth. Then I suddenly remembered that I need to write down in my journal. Shoot, I don't have a pen…Then I remembered that Tino wrote a note earlier, so he must have a pen.
"Hey Tino, do you have a pen?"
"Ah! Wait…" He searched his pockets and he grabbed one out, "For some reason, this pen just rolled to me so I picked it up. I used it to write my note."
Feeling tired, I didn't bother asking Tino how this pen lasted for him when the other pens I used dissolved in my hands. I then started writing my next entry.
Entry no. 3
I ended up battling a ghost in an outer area with black clothes on clotheslines. The ghost had a rifle, and it was controlling the area so I had difficulty. However, I managed to defeat it but to my shock,
The ghost is actually Tino, who was possessed by one. I felt extremely happy to be reunited with him, and we led him outside where its safe. We both then talked about some things to lighten the mood somewhat, but I know that I have to go back in that mansion to save everyone else.
Right after finishing that short entry, the pen dissolved in my hands. Figures.
My eyes started to droop down and I became incredibly tired. Tino noticed this and allowed me to lay down on his lap.
I looked at the dark sky before I drifted off to sleep.
Iceland is sleepy and I am sleepy. My drive to write somehow only works at night...
So please review if you want to say something!