"YAY! WE'RE HERE!"
Arthur cringed at Vivi's sudden exclamation as he rubbed his ringing ear. Mystery gave the woman a look as if she were mad, and she simply ignored it as she stared out the window to admire their surroundings. Arthur shook this off as he then turned the van into the entrance of the lake. What entered their sight was of a locked gate blocking their path. He turned to her.
"Vivi, you got the key, right?"
Vivi nodded as she rummaged through her handbag, only to end up spending about 2 or 3 minutes looking through it. When she did manage to find the key, she stepped out of the van as she used the it to unlock the gate, opening it so Arthur could come through. He gave her a nod before pulling in, parking somewhere in the empty lot.
Vivi locked the gates back up as she made sure to stuff the key back in her bag, jogging over to the van in excitement. She eyed her surroundings and ended up stopping just to look around.
It was quite late into the night and it just happened to have a beautiful full moon shining in the starry sky. The weather was colder than before, and fog could be seen on most of the ground of the lake. The ground was moist and multiple puddles were seen on the asphalt of the parking lot. Vivi could hear her footsteps echo from the miniature puddles she stepped in as she made her way to the van, still eying her surroundings with a smile.
Arthur turned off the ignition as he stepped out of the van, his own footsteps echoing from the puddles he stepped in. He looked at the ground in disgust before moaning.
"Why did I have to wear my new socks!?"
Vivi rolled her eyes. "Because you didn't plan very well. First you're missing a jacket and now you're ruining your socks. Arthur, I thought you said you were ready for this!"
"I didn't think there wouldn't be fog everywhere!" Arthur exclaimed as he motioned to their surroundings.
Vivi sighed, shaking her head. "Arthur, you're going to freeze to death. Take one of the jackets stuffed behind the driver's seat."
"Wait...we have jackets in there?" Arthur said, arching an eyebrow at her. She gave him a look.
"Well, yeah. Did you not know that?"
Arthur gave her a confused look, but just shook it off as he made his way back to the van. Opening the car door, he then looked behind his seat, reaching into the stuff held in the bag behind it. He felt a piece of clothing, and had pulled it out, only for his eyes to widen in surprise.
The jacket was larger than Arthur, but still looked very fitting to someone who was the specific size for it. Someone with broad shoulders would fit into it very well. The pockets were quite low, and the size seemed to be in a male's. But what threw Arthur off was the color of the jacket, with it having a specific tone of purple.
He felt himself sweat nervously.
This was Lewis' old jacket.
"Hey, Arthur! Did you get it yet?" Vivi asked from behind him, peeking into the van. Arthur snapped back into reality as he turned, giving the female a sheepish smile as he hid the jacket behind him.
"T-Turns out there wasn't one, V." He lied, stuttering.
She gave him a look. "Really? I could've sworn that there was at least one in there."
"Well, there isn't," Arthur said as he quickly threw the jacket aside as subtle as he could, stepping out of the van. "Guess I'm just going to have to freeze, right?"
"Guess you're going to have to use your own jacket," The female responded as she put her hands on her hip. "And by using, I mean actually zipping it up and using it like a real one."
"What!?" Arthur exclaimed. "Oh, c'mon, V! This was the trend back in high school! I simply can't drop it!"
Vivi narrowed her eyes, and Arthur ended up rolling his own as he exhaled, zipping the jacket up and pulling his sleeves down so they fell onto his wrists. This got his friend to smile.
"Thanks, Arthur."
He nodded, but frowned as he tugged at the long sleeves. Mystery gave his master a nudge, telling him to suck it up. Arthur simply groaned.
"Alright," Vivi commented as she took a notepad out from her bag. "We're going to have to map where we're going to head out first and where we should place some of the equipment. I don't know whether or not to film tonight, since I doubt we're going to get any ghosts..."
Arthur sighed in relief. Vivi simply tapped her pencil on her chin in thought. After a few seconds, she started to map down where they were headed and of where the machines could go.
Vivi turned to her friend, eyes still focused on the notepad. "I know I haven't said this before, Arthur, but..."
"But what?" He asked, tilting his head.
"We're going to have to split up."
"W-What!?" Arthur stuttered, giving her a look as if she were mad.
Vivi gave him a look. "I said we're going to have to split up. The lake's really big, so exploring it as a group would take too much time. And I don't know about you, but it's pretty late as it is..."
"A-Alright," Arthur nodded, eyes widened in fear. "W-Who's going with who, though?"
"Arthur, you're stuttering a lot. Are you sure you're not cold?" Vivi asked, tilting her head in confusion. Arthur simply shook his head.
"I-I'm fine, V. Just...a little scared, is all."
"Well, we'll get through it," Vivi said as she gave him a reassuring smile. "Right?"
"Right," Arthur nodded, trying to hide the frown coming onto his face. Vivi turned back to her notes.
"Alright, in order to have my plan carried through properly, I'll have to go with Mystery southeast so we can check the store and of the area over there. You'll have to go investigate the restrooms and the campsite, which is northwest. Got it?"
"You want me to go WAY over there?" Arthur asked, eyes widened as he pointed to the foggiest and darkest side of the lake. "Alone?"
"Yeah. You're so lucky that it's spooky!" Vivi said as she bit her lip, taking in the area he had to investigate in. "I kind of want to trade places."
"Please do."
"Oh, suck it up, Arthur!" Vivi lightly punched his arm. "If I can stand a spooky place, then you can, too!"
Arthur frowned, but nodded, nonetheless. Vivi gave him a grin before going over to the van and taking out the equipment and setting it up. Arthur helped her, biting his lip during the entire process.
Once they were done gathering the equipment(which took awhile because they had some difficulties), they then went out together to set them up, leaving the van alone in silence.
This, sadly, also left someone else to sit alone in silence.
Lewis groaned in boredom as he leaned on the edge of the van, watching as Vivi's figure disappeared within the fog. He knew he watched her leave a bit longer than he intended to do, but...God, did he miss her.
He was actually starting to regret focusing on Arthur more than he did to Vivi. His death affected her the most, after all, so her life must've dramatically changed ever since the incident. Arthur seems to be the same scumbag as he was years ago, but Vivi seemed...different.
He had to admit, back at the mansion, he really couldn't tell by then. Just the bare sight of seeing her in front of him and...so clueless just gave his heart away. If only she had the chance to take it...
He narrowed his eye sockets at the memory. If it weren't for that fucking idiot, she could've had a head-start to remembering him. But, NOO, that loser just had to have her all for himself, didn't he!?
Lewis felt the flame start to ignite on his skull, and he closed his eye sockets, hoping to calm himself down. The last thing he wanted was for that dog to spot him again. He simply couldn't have that.
But, still...He wished he could thank Vivi personally for making his plans easier for him. It was too bad he couldn't, though. At least not yet. Having the idiot by himself really will boosted his chances on killing him. After all, the setting was perfect. A lake in the middle of the night with fog everywhere...
It was almost as if he were asking for it, really.
A sudden voice snapped him back into reality, and Lewis went back into his invisible form as he scooted backwards on the vehicle. He watched as Vivi walked back to the van with Arthur, whom was shaking within each step he took. Mystery followed behind them, appearing to not really be affected.
"-For the last time, Arthur! It's only for one night!"
"V-V, I can't. N-Not in this place."
"And why not!? You managed to get through that mansion last week, which is probably scarier than this one!"
"I know V, it's just..."
Arthur sighed before leaning on the van. Lewis gripped the side of it in surprise, having almost fallen off of it.
"I'm still feeling shaken by that mansion, y'know? And exploring a place like this isn't really going to help with it..."
Vivi frowned. "Arthur, can you please just do this?"
She then clamped her hands together before looking at him with the same puppy eyes Mystery made when wanting a treat. She asked, "For me?"
Arthur stared at her for a few moments before shaking his head. "Fine. But I'm doing this for you, Vivi."
The female smiled as she then hugged her friend, whose eyes widened in surprise. He paused before hugging her back, a smile formed on his lips. They remained like that for a few seconds until Vivi pulled away, tugging a bit on her scarf.
"Alright! Then I guess we start, eh?"
"R-Right," Arthur nodded, giving her a sheepish smile. She nodded.
"We'll meet back here at...oh, 11:45? Somewhere around that?"
"Got it," He nodded. Vivi smiled before walking southeast. She motioned for Mystery to follow, whom, after glancing at Arthur a few times, complied. The teen watched as their figured disappeared within the fog, and sighed.
It was going to be a long night.