Hey! So here is the next chapter. Sorry for the bit of a wait, but honestly that was pretty fast for me. Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 2

Everything was pitch dark.

"Vivi? Mystery? Where are you?" Arthur called out anxiously.

"Arthur?" Vivi called out from somewhere ahead. "Why did you close the door, I can't see anything!"

"I didn't close it!" He said, stumbling back in the direction he knew the door was. He found what felt like the handle- he pushed, he pulled, and twisted with all the strength of his bionic arm, but the door didn't move an inch.

"I can't open the door, Vivi! It's stuck!"

"That doesn't matter!" She called back happily from somewhere behind him. "Look!" Arthur turned to look, despite the fact that he couldn't see anything, and-

His insides froze. Illuminated by a ghastly light, Vivi was pointing towards a single, purple flame that floated between them.

Mystery whined. No one paid attention.

Arthur couldn't move. This could not. Be happening. Again. As if in protest of that very thought the flame moved of its own accord, lighting up ornate candles that hung along the wall with the same purple light.

Arthur tried the door one more time, then gave up and ran down the short entrance hall to where Vivi and Mystery were. He was suddenly aware of a faint, rhythmic pounding in his ears that he might have mistaken for his own heartbeat had his heart not been beating at least twice as fast with terror.

The flame had settled in a grand chandelier that illuminated a large foyer before them. Though significantly less deprecated, the great room was vaguely distorted like the exterior of the house. Edges were too sharp. Steps of a large staircase were not quite level. The innumerable doors and hallways all leading into darkness were placed at odd, uneven intervals. Imposing suits of armor were twisted in ways so that Arthur wasn't sure if a man could actually fit into one. Everything was… off. And like the exterior of the house, the whole place seemed distantly familiar. But Arthur did not care about the details or familiarity of the room he was standing in. He did not wonder about the source of the beating sound on the edge of his hearing.

Because they had to get out of here-

They had to get out of here now-

Before anyone else got hurt.

Vivi suddenly laughed, breaking his anxious concentration. Arthur turned towards her- had she gone crazy? But Vivi had always been like this. She had always enjoyed being in dangerous, unknown situations. Situations that made her feel alive. She couldn't accept provided answers. She had to see, feel, risk her life to experience something herself. That's why she had gone miles and miles searching for ghosts. And eventually she had found one.

But despite her reckless, fiery nature, Vivi had always been human. Sometimes she was happy, and sometimes she was sad, angry, confused, lonely, bored, or frustrated. But after what had happened with Lewis, she was none of those. None but happy and euphoric. She was something Arthur couldn't relate to anymore. So he knew it was useless. But he still tried.

"Vivi, we need to go. Please, help me find a way out!" Arthur whispered quietly, urgently. He didn't know why he whispered- there was just an oppressive quality in the air that made it hard to talk openly.

"What!?" Vivi exclaimed openly, appalled by the notion. "C'mon! We have to explore this place. It's more haunted than the cave!"

That's my point! Arthur thought, but the words never left his mouth. Hovering in the foyer just a few yards away from them was a ghost.

It was opaque, yet it seemed anything but solid. There was a suggestion of a human figure in its obscure shape; insubstantial limbs that may have been arms, slight indents where eyes might have gone, but the edges were blurred so that it was mostly formless. Its indistinct features gave it serene and somewhat purposeless look, as if it was waiting for nothing. The ghost was colored all purple except for a single, golden light that glowed in what (Arthur assumed) was the center of its chest. The light pulsed in time with the strange beat that had, unnoticed by Arthur, been steadily growing louder so that he no longer had to strain his ears to hear it.

The ghost appeared to either not notice or not care about their presence, as it continued to float aimlessly in the center of the room. Although it didn't seem hostile (or even attentive), Arthur was taking no chances. He grabbed Vivi's wrist and was about to lead her back to the locked front door (maybe he could force it open?) when the ghost did something strange. It began to sing.

Quietly, quietly, the notes reached Arthur's ears. Immediately Arthur was reminded of loss- the loss of his parents, the loss of Lewis- but, no, that was not quite right. This was not the razor-sharp pain of having what you thought was a constant, immutable presence in your life torn for you. The song of the ghost was not as painful as sheer loss yet seemed even more tragic- it was the emptiness of life. It was a sick, drenching realization that all of humanity and human endeavor from the dawn of time didn't matter. It simply didn't matter. Old age, sickness, death- no one escapes. Most people were happy wasting their lives with the thin veil of purpose cast over the human predicament that made it seem less repugnant and horrible, but as if the glow from the ghost's heart cast a light onto what had always been in shadow, humanity was unveiled to Arthur! It was rotten top to bottom.

Arthur let go of Vivi's hand. He didn't feel like running. More purple ghosts were gathering in the foyer to add their soft voices to the song, and they slowly began to drift towards the group. But all Arthur could think about was people, people who swarmed the earth like ants, who lied and helped others and cheated and laughed and worked and spent their time and money on drugs and wrote books or painted masterpieces and murdered each other and created more people to do the exact same things. And every false smile and word said but not meant and actions taken to please others like actors trying to create a point to a play without a plot. Restless nights spent obsessively worrying about all of these things that did not matter. They could not matter.

/

Vivi was so glad she hadn't followed Arthur's advice to leave because that ghost. Was. Adorable! She really wanted to hug him except she wasn't sure if her hands would just go through him. She had never seen one up close before (or at all, really) but it was even cooler than she had imagined! What was that light for? Was it his heart? Can he talk? Vivi really hoped he could, she had so many questions. Vivi was just deciding how to greet the ghost (Hello? Nice to meet you Mr. Ghost? What's being a ghost like?) when Arthur grabbed her wrist.

He looked scared (as usual). Vivi sighed internally; it was times like these when she missed Lewis. It was no fun exploring with a complete scaredy-cat all the time. But not even Arthur could bring down her mood because there was a real-death ghost right in front of- Oh. My. God. The ghost was singing. Vivi was so glad Arthur had been skimpy with gas. They would have drove right passed this place! In all honesty the ghost's singing wasn't very good, it was all low, flat notes and there wasn't any discernible tune, but it was still incredibly cute. Vivi didn't think the ghost could do anything that wasn't cute. More ghosts seemed to appear from nowhere as the room was suddenly full of them, all singing discordantly (but still cutely).

Arthur wasn't saying anything and had let go of her wrist, which was weird. She turned towards him. He didn't look scared anymore (which was also weird), just sort of… blank. Mystery growled at one of the ghosts, which seemed to be slowly coming towards them.

"Yo, Arthur?"

I'm taking a different spin on the generally accepted "Vivi forgot everything about Lewis," as I hoped was obvious by the Arthur's description of her in the first chapter. Also, I must admit that this section "It was a sick, drenching... it was rotten top to bottom" was LARGELY influenced (i.e. borderline plagiarism) by Donna Tart's The Goldfinch (which is a great book that should be read by everyone who reads). It wasn't the exact same, of course, but it was too similar for me to not own up to it without feeling like I was lying. Anyway, two chapter's down and we're a total of 45 seconds into the song! (This was meant to be a short story XD) I dunno when the next chapter shall come out, but I shall try to be timely with it. Ciao' for now.