Chapter 3
"Haunted houses suck. Period."
It was the weekends. Beacon employed two rest days for its students, which everyone were all too happy to take advantage of to go downtime for some chill time. The studious ones would use that opportunity to get some extra training, while many more would rush to get their assignments done. And those few who had partners would go off on a romantic escapade.
Every student loved the weekends, and Blake was no exception. With all that free time, she was always looking forward to using each hour productively; maybe sleep the day away, or take a walk downtown, or read her collection of books. If her team wanted do make an excursion somewhere, then she'd be dragged into it, of course, but she was fine with all of that.
Today, though, she just wanted to get some shut eye—and judging by the fact that everyone else were still quiet, save for Yang who was snoring like a bear, everyone wanted to sleep in too, it seemed.
She sighed into her pillow, flexing her body before letting it go limp. 'It's a good morning. It's cold and quiet. Perfect for sleeping in…'
With that thought in mind, she closed her eyes once more—
Someone knocked on the door. Having the most sensitive hearing out of the four, she was quick to pick up on it, and she could feel her eyebrow twitch. Who the hell was up this early on a weekend? For god's sake.
"Hey, girls. Anyone awake in there? Wanna' catch some breakfast?"
Jaune. She'd come to recognize his voice easily, after all their meetings and time spent in class and outside of it. It was soft, disarming, not at all like the other boys like Cardin's or his gang. Even now, she could tell just how friendly he was by his tone.
The moment he mentioned breakfast, however, she could feel her tummy grumbling, making her groan into her pillow. 'Really?' She thought moodily. 'You're betraying me like this? How could you? I want to sleep in.'
Her stomach, obviously, did not answer her. What did speak was Jaune, who knocked again. "Hello? Hmm… Maybe no one's awake…"
She really wished that was true, but she was. And the thought of getting some food in her stomach was too good to pass up on now, which was the only thing forcing her to stand, dragging her feet forwards as she moved to the door, grabbing it and swinging it open. A look of surprise greeted her in return.
"Jaune…"
"B-Blake," he looked past her shoulder for a moment. "Was I bothering you?"
"No, you… I was asleep, but I'm not now," she rubbed her eyes, realizing that she was probably looking like a mess in front of the guy. Still, she didn't feel any shame. Was that a sign of their growing trust in one another? "You mentioned breakfast..?" He nodded. "I'm feeling in the mood for some."
"Oh, cool. And, uh, how about the others?"
She glanced back, and then looked at him again. "Everyone else are probably too dead asleep to care. How about you?"
"Nora, Ren and Pyrrha are all in the deep end," he chuckled. Somehow, that was enough to make her grin as well. "So it's just the two of us. You okay with that?"
"We've literally gone to the library with just the two of us. I'm pretty sure it'd be fine to go with you for breakfast."
"Cool, cool. So, um, guess I'll wait for you in the meantime."
"Alright then. Give me ten minutes, and I'll be out."
Unlike Yang, Blake took no time in freshening herself up, joining her friend outside of her room in a blue shirt and black knee-length skirt. Jaune wore a yellow hoodie with trousers on the other hand, and together, they left their rooms.
"So," she asked. "Anyplace you have in mind?"
"Well, if we're going downtown, there's this cute café I found the other day with Pyrrha and Weiss. Want to give it a try?"
"I'm okay with anywhere, so long as it isn't too costly."
"Don't worry. The prices there are pretty decent."
"Then that's where we're headed," she nodded. "Lead the way."
Leaving the academy grounds, they took a bullhead to get to town. The thing about the bullheads was that they needed to be early, for fear of them taking off before they could get on board. Thankfully, they were minutes early, so all they had to do was wait for a bit before they were well on their way. And the fact that they were free made them that much better.
She had to admit, the magnificence of flying had worn off with time, but it was still really nice to look outside the window and see the world like some kind of tiny specimen. It'd be a lot nicer if it was open-air, feeling the breeze on her face, but that would probably be too dangerous.
Jaune, on the other hand, seemed more focused on trying to keep his eyes closed and not look anywhere. Right, he said that he got airsick on the first day coming here, and even threw up on Yang's shoes. Heh, that was funny.
Nevertheless, when the bullhead eventually landed on the ground, Jaune took the lead and moved to one of the business districts, rows of shops on their left and right. Blake took pleasure in the smell of freshly-baked bread in the air, enough to remove the last dredges of sleepiness in her system.
"The place we're going to is a little far ways away, so it's not easy to spot it. But it's definitely a-must to go to whenever you have time."
"Anything you suggest?"
"Depends. When I went there, I tried out their croissant, and they're pretty good. And they've got a good selection of teas and cakes. And the macarons!"
"I guess I'll go for their tea, then," she hummed, never having been much of a coffee person herself. She could definitely drink it if it came to it, but give her the choice, and tea would always be her go-to option. "Is it super busy? I'm not that big of a fan of crowds."
"Not really. Because a lot of people would miss it, not many would go there. And at this time, we might be the only ones there."
Not having to deal with other people should have sounded great, but now, all she felt was chills. Urgh. All these horror vids had made her extremely paranoid of silence and absence of life, which is why she hadn't gone anywhere on her own for the past few days.
Fortunately, her dreams hadn't been haunted by howling laughter or murderous freaks or pitch-black humanoids, although she didn't seem to find it easy to fall asleep at night. It'll definitely take some time before she can get back to feeling like everything's alright again.
Going down the street, they eventually took a left into an alley—oh, bloody hell. He couldn't be serious… No, of course he is. The shop was a little thing, and because it was secured a little deeper inside, snug between a vacant store and a flower store, it really would be easy to miss it. Thankfully, it had nice decorating in the form of potted plants hung up on the walls, making it look colourful.
Stepping through the glass door, a bell jingled over their heads, and the interior was a typical café layout; short little chairs and desks arranged here and there. What she liked was the choice of pastel colours, going for light greens, cyan and white. It felt less like vintage and more modern, but in an eye-pleasing way. Multiple potted plants were hung from the ceiling, outfitted with lights to look like chandeliers.
"Welcome to Denise's!" The waitress at the counter greeted them, her smile way too wide and fresh for someone who just got up. They're literally the same age!
"Hey. We'd like a table for two."
"Of course. Take your seats. I'll bring the menu over in a bit."
They opted to take a seat by the window, which gave them a view of the alleyway. There were the rare few who walked by, but just as Jaune had said, it was relatively unbothered. Peaceful. She could appreciate that.
When the waitress returned, they skimmed through the menu before making their orders; Jaune got himself a caramel frappe and cheesecake, while she got herself a wildberry tea. At his insistence, she decided to get herself a chocolate cake.
"I don't really eat sweets that often," she said after the waitress left.
"But the cakes here are great! I bet Ruby would love it here. Heck, even Weiss enjoyed herself here."
"Ah, right. She has a sweet tooth," she chuckled at that. Even if she had a frosty exterior, there was no denying the fact that she was just a teenage girl at the end; and that was so obvious by the fact that she loved cakes and sweets like any other girl. "How'd you even find this place?"
"Well, me and Pyrrha came here with Weiss to buy some dust. And then, she mentioned that she was suddenly craving cake. One wrong turn… Okay, a couple of wrong turns," she snorted at that. "And we somehow found this place. It started to rain, so we just stayed here and ate together while we waited for it to stop."
"I see… That must have been nice."
"It was. The ambience here is really calming. Added with the rain, and this becomes such a good spot to hang out when you want to just take a breather."
She could believe that. With her expectations of this being some creepy place dashed, she was able to relax, enjoying the calming scenery. She was also only now noticing the quiet tunes of pianos and violins playing in the background, making it even better.
"Guess I'll come here whenever I have time, then. It's a nice find."
"Yeah it is."
"Yeah… So hey, I wanted to talk to you about something."
"Sure thing," he nodded. "What's on your mind?"
"It's about the videos you shared with me," he perked up at that, that familiar glint in his eyes making his nerdiness all the more obvious. "I'll admit, it took a while because of how… abstract the concepts could be, but I think I know what the series is about."
"Okay, okay. Go on."
"It's about a girl dealing with mental illnesses, isn't it? The house is her mind, and all those monsters tormenting her are… symbolic of her insecurities, I think?" She leaned back in her seat, trying to collect her thoughts. "To be fair, I didn't catch it right away. I, um, accidentally saw a snippet from your review, and I must have briefly glimpsed 'manifestations', or something."
"Ahh. Well, no worries. Just tell me what you learnt."
"I didn't realize it at first, but it was around the video 'hide and seek' that what you wrote made sense. That lady with the black veil called out Mary and said that she made them, which made no sense… unless it was literal. That they were beings that literally came from Mary, representing some kind of mental aspect—"
"—The mirror lady was her physical insecurities, since she always laughed at her. And Mary even called the lady prettier than her in a message that flashed across the screen really quickly. The lady in the black was… depression? I don't think. In 'hide and seek', she kept saying stuff like how she just wanted to make Mary feel bad, so that was probably it. As for the humanoid, that must have been lack of purpose, or something. Because every time it showed up, she always felt empty, and said stuff like I messed up. And the last thing… I don't know."
"I see, I see… You actually got the first two right."
"I did?" She blinked, surprised.
"Mmhm. The masked woman was indeed her physical insecurities, and the veiled lady could represent depression. Since she appears the most, it meant that she is the primary emotion or feeling that she has to deal with, and depression would be at the root of everything."
Well, it was good to know that she managed to get her deductions right. "And the other two?"
"Debatable, but I think the shadow man is regret. Every time it shows up, she mentions how she feels terrible, or feels nothing."
"That… Well, when put like that, I suppose it made sense," she hummed. "Regret is just a thing that exists in the back of your mind. And whenever a person thinks about it, they start feeling bad, just like Mary."
"Precisely. And with how it's purposefully slow, that's exactly how regret and guilt works; it isn't a fast thing. It burns slowly. And the last entity," he nodded. "Is anxiety. All you need to do is look no further than 'DO NOT TOUCH'."
Ah… She remembered that video. That one had been such a ride, and actually gave her a restless night too for how everything just got worse and worse after she attempted to capture that fourth entity; the video flashed through all three monsters—the masked woman no longer in her mirror and revealing the ugliness beneath her mask, the veiled lady much more erratic, and the humanoid so much larger—attacking her, and it was so clear that she was struggling terribly.
"You could say that she suffered a panic attack after she caught that thing, hence why everything suddenly grew in magnitude. Even the subtitles mentioned how she was gasping for air, and she passed out in the end before waking up in the morning."
The girl shuddered. Put like that, every single thing she faced was dreadful. She had been combating her inner demons for almost twenty videos, confronting them with no rest and wondering if the suffering would end someday. When she could catch some peaceful sleep.
And the more she thought about it, the darker it became. How many people were facing this sort of thing? How many… succumbed?
"I know," she looked up. Jaune smiled at her, but it was sad. "It's not something anyone deserves to face. And it's so much more serious. After all, it isn't something you can easily solve by cutting in two like a Beowolf. No matter what you do, you'll always get hurt by it."
"And there's just no way to avoid it, huh..?"
"I don't know. I don't think so. But there's always light at the end of the tunnel," his smile gained a happier tone. "And Mary found hers."
She did. The video at the end was truly a relief, knowing that the girl could finally start herself on the path to healing. From start to finish, it had been utterly calm, and it was even more shocking when she'd managed to put to rest her self-doubt and regret, facing both the masked lady until she permanently disappeared into the mirrors and the black humanoid was assured of a better tomorrow.
…Still didn't make that last bit where the black veins surfaced on her skin any better, though.
But, Blake supposed, her dark moment had come to an end. The door was open, the world was bright and waiting for her, and in that final moment, she had been smiling. Things were finally getting better for her.
"It was… quite the journey. I didn't expect myself to get that invested in that story."
"I know, right? That's the thing about a story; when it manages to captivate you, it makes you want to stick with it from start to finish. You want to see it to completion, no matter what."
"That's certainly true," she hummed. "Although… what do you think that garden represented? Or the version of her wearing white?"
"Not sure. As far as I can tell, the garden might be symbolic of drug use, hence being her 'paradise' to escape to. She even admitted to wanting to just stay there and never leave, which could relate to addiction and dependence."
"That's… so much darker than what I thought. I just assumed it represented happy thoughts."
"Happy thoughts couldn't possibly beat mental disorders, Blake. Substance abuse, on the hand, can do that, although not without unhappy consequences," yeah, and she didn't like the idea of Mary having used drugs to give herself temporary escape. "As for the white girl… Maybe it's her subconscious. She was trying to help her, after all. Calling out to her to leave, always trying to give her strength. Or it could be the collective hopes of the people in her life, who want her to get better. It depends."
"There certainly are a lot of theories you could make on this series."
"Yep. And I'm happy that my discussion of the series actually increased the overall awareness of the series in the public's eye. Countless of people are fascinated by the lore and the symbolism, while others could empathize with her. Think of the hundreds of thousands of people she helped with her videos."
"That would be amazing."
And the phrase 'not all heroes wear capes' really does strike through here, in this moment. A simple girl who was dealing with all the anguish in her mind, crafting all these terrifying yet powerful videos to reach out to others struggling in the dark just like her. And her success at finally moving forwards would give many others the strength to do the same.
Blake smiled. That really made it worth to watch her journey.
"I guess… at the end of the day, everyone wants a happy ending. That makes the horror worth it, huh?"
"Yeah. Knowing that there will be a bright conclusion at the end of the road fills you with just a little bit more joy," he chuckled. "And I guess it's time to turn the dial the other way 'round with our next session."
Her smile faltered. "What?"
"The Vacuan Sleep Experiment evoked horrifying imagery that dived into the horrors of humanity, while HiImMaryMary explored the deeply personal and uncomfortably true world of mental disorders and likely use of drugs. All of those are scary, I agree, but it's time we really go full-on with this next one."
"Um. I don't think that's necessary."
"There's never such a thing as too scary, because everyone will always find ways to go even further. And with the videogame you'll be trying out next time, you'll understand it for yourself."
"Sounds lovely…"
"As a videogame, horror thrives in its ability to make the moment incredibly immersive for its players. And sure, they'll likely have jumpscares and whatnot, but pull it off right, and you'll be scarred for life. This game is a reminder of how simplicity can still be extremely terrifying."
"Ahh…" And there goes all the good feelings from earlier. Typical Jaune effect. "How scary is it?"
"I played it as a kid, and that was a whole ten out of ten for me. Now, I'd give it… ehh, a seven and a half? I mean, I know how it'll go, so it's obviously rated lower, but I'm still confident that you'll have a heck of a time with it!"
A heck of a time, he said. Spoken with a thumbs-up and a confident grin, almost as if stars were twinkling in his eyes, Blake did the only thing she knew what to do.
She smiled back, took a bite out of her cake, sipped her tea—
And promptly slammed her head on the table.
"I hate yooouuu..!"
Finding time to schedule another 'horror session' (as Jaune took to calling it, much to her dismay) proved surprisingly difficult, on account of them always being pulled into a group session or another issue. In fact, she was supposed to meet Jaune yesterday, but Cardin had gone ahead and challenged the entirety of Team RWBY to a team fight. On the plus side, at least she got to kick his ass, so that felt nice.
Nevertheless, with some clever scheduling and convincing of her teammates, Blake was able to get some time for herself once more as she went to the library under the guise of seeking a book about the migratory pattern of Grimm. That sounded interesting in her head, but she had something else to look forward to.
It was around the mid of the week, as she made her way to the library, still dressed in her uniform. A couple of students loitered in the hallways while a few bustled about doing their own thing. She paid them no heed, muscle memory carrying her to her destination.
"Ma'am," she greeted the librarian. Miss Goodwitch had indeed gone back to her post, which was a big relief—and the same was felt by the other students, hence why the library seemed to have more people than usual. "A friend of mine, Jaune Arc, registered under 'Discussion Room 6'?"
"Hmm? Jaune Arc, Jaune Arc… Ah, yes, I see it here. A room for two," she nodded, marking down something in her book. "Very well. Do make sure to tidy it up after you're done using it, alright?"
"We will. Thank you."
Jaune was already in the room, his scroll set up in the docking station while he sat at a chair reading a book with the cover art of a man's maniacal smile in front of a black background, blood dribbling down his chin. That was totally not worrisome in the slightest.
"Hmm? Oh, hi Blake!" In contrast to the gruesome artwork, the boy reading the book was far brighter, smiling nicely her way. "You were busy?"
"Should have been, but we handled it quickly," she answered, putting down her bag on one chair. "So, what's the game I'll be playing today?"
"The House 2," he said, making her quirk a brow. "Sorry. I'd find the link for the first one, but it seems like the second one was more popular, so the link for this one is still intact. It's really old."
"Ah, I see," she moved to sit beside Jaune, who had moved the tables and chairs a bit so that they were seated adjacent from one another and at a distance of at least four feet from the TV. "So, here's how it works. This game is a point-and-click game, so you'll have to link your scroll to mine so that it can function as a hand-motion detector."
"Sure. I don't mind."
Not gonna' lie, these scrolls sure are versatile. Whoever invented them really did think up all the ways they could possibly be used, and if it served them to play some old school horror game? Well, the more power to them, she supposed.
Once her scroll had finished establishing a connection with Jaune's, she tried tracing the figure of an eight on her scroll's screen. A pale white pointed formed on the screen of the TV, which meant it was working just as intended.
With ease, she navigated the list down to the category of 'T', where she was able to find the name of the game; The House 2, which didn't really stand out compared to all the whackier-named games out there. But even so, she trusted Jaune's judgement of the game, so she clicked on it. Following his instructions, she skipped his review and moved down, until she was able to press on a link.
That caused his screen to black out, a loading icon rotating lazily…
And then, high-pitched piano notes began playing, accompanied by chilling winds in the background.
Blake deadpanned at the screen, then stared at Jaune. "Why do you do this to me?"
"Umm. Good luck?"
Just the song alone was doing all kinds of things to her that she didn't appreciate. They were just being played on loop, but the addition of the wind and the unsettling mention of 'parental guidance' at the top was not helping her nerves at all. The black and white image of a realistic, broken down two-storey house in the background worsened it—and she wasn't even playing the game yet!
Text popped up, aiming to set up the story; essentially, a wealthy family consisting of a father, a mother, their daughter and a maid had committed suicide in the house, and the other people of the village had shut it off in fear of it being cursed. Years had passed, and it had withered away with time, everyone deciding to be rational and steer clear of it.
Everyone, except her, the player. Because of course she would go inside there.
"I don't want to do this."
"No one does. Not even me. But you can do it!"
Blake sneered, but played along regardless. When a prompt came up to approach the door, she pressed on it using her own scroll. The screen faded to black, shifting to a close-up of the front door. Wooden panels were secured over it with nails.
And there were blood trails on the bottom. Oh, hurray!
Blake stepped into the shoes of the suicidal explorer, cursing the person for their decision to go into what was obviously a death trap. Still, with a gulp, she pushed on, knocking on the door.
"Hello?" Were she in the game, she would have called out a greeting, if only to maintain some level of courtesy. As it was, she was still in the dark room with Jaune, so she simply kept quiet while her mind played out the scene for her. "Crap, crap, crap… This is a bad idea…"
With nothing else to do, she knocked on the door—rather strongly, if only because she wasn't sure if the people inside could hear her otherwise. The action was enough to rattle the wooden panels, and that spurred the reckless bit in her brain to knock some more, further loosening the hold of the wood over the door. She proceeded to knock, over and over again.
Eventually, however, the wood detached from the door and clacked against the ground. The front door, as if commanded by a silent voice, swung inwards, presenting her with darkness.
A draft of wind, far too cold to be natural, swept against her. She froze in her spot.
And, after a couple of seconds, stepped into hell.
You are now inside the house.
"Oh, yay… I feel so fulfilled…"
"It's just the start. You'll be okay."
She was stuck in the loading screen for a couple of seconds before the environment turned into what must have been the living room, with almost no furniture in sight save for a couch. Plenty of other blood stains could be seen, trailing off into the kitchen, or bathroom. She couldn't tell. It was too dark.
With no light in hand or any other object to defend herself (because in what horror game could you ever fight back against the monster?), she moved around the floor, inspecting anything that she could find. Her hands danced across the surface, dust sticking to her index. The scent of rot hung thick in the air.
'So far, I can interact with the letter on the couch, the creepy picture of the family, and the light switch.'
There was nothing else noteworthy from there. She flicked the switch and no light came to life. She read the note, which was written by the maid, who contemplated quitting because she noticed some presence in the house. Clearly, she had a good brain in her head.
Looking around, there wasn't much else to interact with. Limited to only three options, she tried flicking the switch again and again, but to no avail. The picture wasn't very nice to look at, on account of how inhuman the three almost seemed, and the note was just the same thing—
Something moved upstairs. Her head snapped in that direction, body tense as she watched dust fall from the cracked ceiling. It almost felt like someone had ran upstairs, and just the thought of her not being alone was making her dread the possibilities of what could happen.
"Oookay. Not going to think about that, then," she said to herself, walking over to the picture to pick it up. "I guess I'm just—"
A silhouette of a woman frazzled before her on the couch, weeping across the room.
Her heart leapt to her throat, a choked scream escaping her lips as she jumped in her seat in the real world. And yet, her hands did not leave her scroll, moving to tap on the note. It could no longer be interacted, and she figured the letter's contents had become indecipherable to her. She tried looking at the picture next, and nothing changed.
After the second click, however, blood spilt from a ventilation hole in the wall, going down all the way until it spilt on the painting. She gasped, but compared to the woman's appearance earlier, this was much more bearable.
Okay, okay. It's just point-and-click, so there was nothing to be afraid of. She just needed to interact with everything, and randomness would guide her forwards. Like how pressing the switches now just elicited whispers from her surroundings and nothing more, and she couldn't look at the picture again. That just left the note. She clicked on it.
The maid materialized, screaming.
Blake jumped from her seat, dropping her scroll in the process. "Nope! Nope nope nope, not like this!"
"It's okay, it's okay!" Jaune came over to steady her, patting her back slowly. "You're doing really great!"
"That was fucking scary!"
"That's the point," she made sure to glare at him when he said that. "B-But you're still being really strong! Just keep going!"
Whether it was pride or sheer hatred, she retrieved her scroll and sat back at her place, taking in a shaky breath. The maid had left behind a note on the floor, it seemed, and picking it up, it said 'daughter's year of birth'. That must be a clue, then.
She tried to interact with the picture again, but got nothing. The light switches, this time, produced a crackling sound. That felt unsafe, so she moved to the letter on the couch, of which the contents were markedly different, describing someone's tendency to talk alone; laugh in the night; c̶a̴l̴l̸ ̵s̸o̶m̷e̶b̷o̵d̶y̴.
Blake gulped. And then, perhaps a hint of movement in the corner of her vision, drawing her to the framed picture. She reached for it—
And a disfigured family stared back at her, black eye sockets boring into her soul as their screams pierced the air.
"Fuck!" She screamed, shoulders hunching throughout the jumpscare. "Why do these get me..?! They're so simple, damn it—Gaaah!" Another jumpscare. Right when she read the note on the couch, the maid materialized, her features flashing over her blackened face for a moment before everything snaps into darkness. The loading screen came up. "Come on..!"
"You did great. One room down, four more to go."
"Four more…" She moaned, trying hard to steady her beating heart. Why had she agreed to this?
The next room to visit was the bathroom. She stepped inside, wet tiles on the soles of her feet cold and slick. Thunder roared outside of the window, the bright flashes of light being the only thing that illuminated the room in intervals. The thunder, coupled with how cramped this space was, had her feeling way more claustrophobic than she realized. Yeah, she really wanted to leave this place and never look back.
She shook her head. Not like logic had any place here. She had to continue investigating, on account of the person she was mentally embodying being a complete lunatic.
Looking around, there was not much to work with. There was the sink, which allowed some water to run. There was the curtains that she could pull open, revealing a little cuboidal space for showering (there's totally going to be a jumpscare here, she knew). She carefully stepped around the floor so not to cut herself on anything, and tried the toilet, which cranked loudly. There was also a book, labelled as a bible. Perhaps an item pertaining to religion.
This game recognized specific patterns, which allowed progression. Or, it was simply the matter of having interacted with everything, so she did just that; testing everything, making sure to click on them a number of times.
"Whoa!" She shouted, just as a black figure popped outside of the window, only to disappear in mere seconds. "Bloody hell."
"That wasn't so bad."
"For now… Oh, look. The sink is pouring out blood. Lovely."
"And there's a note. Try reading it."
Did she want to, though? No. No, she really didn't want to. Regardless, she carefully lifted it from the pool of blood, and read it out loud. "I am truly sorry for what I have done to our kid. Please, forgive me."
Oh no. Ohhh nooo. What did he or she did to the kid? Did one of them murder her or something? This whole house sucked, and its people sucked too if that was the case.
It was only getting worse, though. That was what Blake learnt when, after interacting with the bible, a loud noise was prompted and the silhouette of legs hanging from the ceiling came from behind the curtains.
She didn't scream that time, but she most definitely did jump in seat when she flipped the curtain open, and the legs were still there, swinging back and forth lazily.
Gulping, she eased closer to the legs, wanting to ignore the pale colour of the skin or the traces of wounds. Instead, all she could focus on was the sound… almost drowned out by the thunder, but it was distinct with how it seemed strained.
The clue was there. This person hung themself.
"Okay, okay… Nothing too bad," she closed the curtains, then tested the toilet once more. A whole black shadow formed behind the curtains, and her eyes widened. "Nope. Nope nope nope. You are not going to get me!"
As if taking her own destiny by the reins, she grabbed a fistful of the curtain and pulled back!
And nothing remained in the shower. Even the hanging legs had disappeared.
Eventually, countless words in blood were written upon the surface of the walls. Forgive me, they all said.
"Gah! Damn it!" She cursed when the disfigured human flashed on screen. "So there's a jumpscare at the very end, all the time. I get it."
"Still got you though—Ow..!" Jaune whined after she punched his shoulder.
"Don't comment. I'm on frayed nerves here."
"R-Right. Got you…"
Navigating the house upwards, Blake takes in the ruined interior as she proceeds to go to the bedroom. She wasn't sure if it belonged to a child, for there were two beds in here, and the one closer to the window had a teddy bear on it. That, and a very large bloodstain on the mattress. How nice.
There were only three things to inspect here; the teddy bear, a framed certificate on the wall, and the little music box. Neither the bear nor the certificate did anything, so she ended up taking the music box—a cute little thing, if obviously worn down and rusted—and wound the thing. She cranked it more and more before it eventually started playing music.
Setting it on the bed, a nice jingle began playing. Or, well, it's a nice jingle in a creepy setting, and that was technically making things much worse. But she pressed on and tried the teddy bear again, but got nothing. She was able to read the certificate this time, though, and she checked it properly.
"Adoption, eh? Of Nicole A. Matty," she looked at the picture of the girl. This was the same one she had seen in the framed family photo downstairs earlier. "Well, I suppose it's a clue. Also, the note earlier mentioned the daughter's year of birth. So it would be… 1963, maybe."
She tried the teddy bear, and a girl's giggling resounded around her. Blake didn't flinch, taking in a deep breath through her nostrils as she decided to challenge the girl. She tried the bear again, and the laughing grew. She clicked on it a third time.
The girl ran across the room, a black blur.
"…Ooohoohoo…" She breathed out, teeth gritted. "Okay, okay… That was okay…"
"You definitely held your ground, that's for sure."
Blake checked the bear again, but got nothing. She wound the still-playing music box, but got nothing. She inspected the certificate on the wall, and got… paper notes on the wall. Those hadn't been there before.
Curious, she reached for the first one on her left. It read: she comes every night. She looked at the next: she loves playing hide and seek. And the last…
She's really good in hiding. I never find her.
The ghost of a girl sitting near the bed made her jump in her skin, this time letting go of the scroll as she punched the air with a frustrated whine.
"Okay! You got me there, but not again!" She picked up her scroll once more. "Try me again, I dare you!" She pressed on the bear, and the words Play with me materialized on the wall, written in blood. "I will! I'll show you I'm not afraid of you!"
"Blake, she can't hear you."
"Shut it!"
Something caught her attention. She looked to her right, spotting an exposed piece of paper, coming out of… the wall? She pulled it out, revealed to be a drawn picture of four people standing in front of a house; a father in a suit, a mother in an apron, their daughter…
And a fourth person. This one a child, too, black hair hiding her face.
She got goosebumps. She didn't know why.
Putting back the picture, Blake tried the other objects before trying the picture again. A shadow materialized outside of the window, but she simply rolled her eyes at it. They'd have to try harder than—
Something stood in front of her now. Blake stepped back, eyes wide, as she stared at the girl with black hair and white dress, clutching a teddy bear in her arms. Whispers blared in her ears, her vision darkening, and the loading screen coming up.
A giggle.
And the ruined face of a girl marred with blood and black, soulless eyes leapt at her.
"Gyaaah!" Blake screamed, reeling backwards. The next room loaded, but she was still breathing incredibly hard. "Bloody hell! They did that on purpose!"
"I know, right? You'd think it's already over, but they still catch you with the scare," he chuckled. "That got me too, back in the day. And I had nightmares about that face," after today, she might too.
She had moved upwards, this time into what was the working room. It was dark, that was apparent, so she moved her hands around to find a switch. Hopefully, the electricity was still working here, though with it having been abandoned for years, she wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't.
To her delight, the hanging ceiling light did indeed come to life when she flicked the switch, revealing the massive hole in the floor. She stepped away from it, then took in her surroundings. A chest, couple of boxes, a little bed.
The things she could interact with was the light switch, a bottle of nitric acid, the rope hanging from the ceiling that travelled down the hole, and even a birth certificate. 1947, this one being much earlier than the year of 1963 that she saw earlier. However, this one had to do with a different name.
"Alrena Roushe," she read. "So this must be their blood daughter, while they adopted a different child later down the line. So I guess we have two different years to use… But what happened to her?"
"I mean, think about the message in the bathroom. Wonder what happened there."
Remembering how the note in the sink was someone apologizing for what they did to their child… a dread pooled in her gut. They couldn't have… Did they?
She shook her head. There was no time to think about anything else. She tried turning the light on and off, then interacting with the bottle of acid and the certificate. She even tugged on the rope, wondering what it was that was down there—
A woman's body immediately snapped upwards, right in her face.
"Bwah!" Blake screamed. "S-She hung herself? Then this is…"
"The same one we saw in the bathroom."
"So this must be the mother…" The faunus muttered, scratching the back of her head. It had to be, since this was clearly the body of a woman, and the maid was down in the living room. "Okay, so… let's see here… What can we do?"
She looked around the room, trying out the other objects in the room. She did end up finding a key to the next room on the floor; the safe room. Afterwards, it was the same thing over and over, and eventually she went to turning the lights off, then on. Then offed it again, and then on.
The body went missing.
"There she goes," she hummed, the noose swaying precariously. The top edge of a letter revealed itself from under the bed, and she walked over to take it. "I can't stand to see you suffer like this anymore. Rest in peace, my poor child."
Something about that particular line made the dots connect, and the sick feeling in her gut finally grew too much. Her shoulders hunched, mind finally understanding the reason behind the guilt, the adoption, the suicide and the bottle of acid. After all, having watched HiImMaryMary and dissected it, she'd become adept at understanding the intricate storyline behind it all.
When she put down the note, the paper changed. Grabbing it, it was a picture of a sleeping baby. Its features looked almost diseased, and she could spot a faint trail of blood down the nose. The baby really had been—
Hands reached up and snatched the picture out of her grasp.
"Gah, shit!" Cursing, the girl shook her head, waiting for the loading screen to end. "So she killed her own baby, because it was suffering from something. They adopted a girl later on, but the mother got too guilty and killed herself."
"That's basically it, yeah."
"But I wonder where the dad is. We hadn't seen hair nor hide of the guy."
"Good question. But I don't think that matters at this point," the blond tilted his head towards the tv. "Open the safe."
"Open the… Oh," the safe stared back at her. "Oh. Open that."
"Yeah."
There was nothing else in the room. Just a safe requiring four digits to access its content. She sighed, knowing that the note in the living room asked for the birth year of the daughter. She tried out 1963 at first, but as expected, the number was rejected. She then decided on 1947.
The safe was wrenched wide open by an invisible power. Blake's heart leapt into her throat, but with sheer stubbornness, forced herself to continue onwards as she reached a hand for the note inside the safe.
She drew it out, but she didn't even need to read it.
A voice screamed into her ears.
Why? Why did I have to die mom? I want to live, no matter what!
The lights began flickering. Something was crawling out of the safe.
Blake, deciding that she had enough of this, stood up. "Okay, and that's the end of it!"
"Not yet! You're so close to the finish line!"
"Damn you, Jaune!" Despite that, her butt ended up taking its place on the chair, and her hands refused to let go of the scroll, sweaty as they were. The ghost disappeared, and the safe was shut back tightly. "Where is she? Where did she go?"
"Soon…"
Why did he have to say that?! That was so ominous as hell!
But it was like he foretold. Something crept up her legs, filling her with dread as she watched the crown of a head peek itself into her vision. She kept going upwards, until the two were face-to-face, the thing hiding its face behind shaking decayed hands.
This was the moment of truth.
The thing stared at her through her hands. Blake knew that she was as stiff as a board now, eyes wide and lips trembling as she struggled not to make a sound. Every fibre of her being demanded she give up now.
But she didn't have any other choice. She had to fall over the edge. She had to look the demon in the eyes.
And so, cursing the heavens and the boy sitting beside her, she wrenched the monster's hands apart—
"G̵͕͇̤͕͕͚̓̒h̷̪͍̜̩̠͎̠̗̯̯̝̱̏̑̀̈́͐͐̀̐̚͝͝Ḣ̴̠͚͇͇͔̫̺͛̓̇̅̿͛̓̽̚̚̕͜ͅU̴̡̜͈͍̲͇͉̬͍͗̓̋̌̚A̶̤͇̥̱̝̞̦̠̅͊̍̉͂̊͜͝W̸̨͈͓̜͎̎́͂͒͛̾̃Ą̶̢̲͔͕̍Ȧ̴̢Ą̷̳̮̼̬̍W̸̨̤͕͇̣̗̖̱͍̝̹͛̆̈́͜͝Â̷̛̛̙̰̗̲̠̻̐̇͑̇̂̄̕͝Ȃ̶̼Á̷̡̛͇̩̻̩͙̪͛͗͛͛̆͘͝!"
"YaaAah!"
The two screamed at one another, and then darkness.
The door to the room swung inwards with force, the lights coming full blaze. Her senses, earlier overwhelmed by the loud screaming and the brightness of the screen, were assaulted once more by the lights suddenly coming on. She flinched in her seat, eyes screwed shut tightly.
"What the..! I had assumed something terrible had occurred, but… what in the world are the two of you doing?"
A stern voice cut through the moment. Blinking wet eyes, Blake slowly glanced towards the source of the voice.
Miss Goodwitch stood in front of the door, looking incredibly unimpressed and physically ready to throw her out of the library herself. Her eyebrow twitched, her crop was in hand, and she was bloodthirsty as she could get.
Slowly, her gaze moved over to Jaune, who shook his head left and right in very stiff, very slow motions.
Well… damn.
Author's Notes:
If you were there in the time when Flash games were the hottest thing on the Internet, then you sure as hell know what The House 2 is. Or, you know, you watched PewDiePie play it back then.
I remember growing up playing all sorts of games on the website y8. Games where you click on two things and merge them to form one thing, games where you have a zoo, stickmen action games, and way more. But one thing that I was just too chicken to try back then was this very game.
This game is terrifying. For how simple it was, being just a bunch of images, it made full use of realistic images and backgrounds, sound design and atmosphere, turning what was supposed to be a simple experience into one of the most bone-chilling, most popular horror game that you could find on the Internet.
The jumpscares come out of nowhere, man. And they will get you. Doesn't help that the faces are so darn creepy!
