Once again, a rain sound effect is ideal for reading. If you are okay with the topic of death, then please continue and enjoy. If not, then I'm not sure how you made it here already when the previous material specifically outlined the subject. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Although there isn't a plan for any changes, feel free to send recommendations for what you would like to see or what you think would happen. It's always nice to see/hear something from another's point of view. Lastly, just a question for thought, but if you were to turn into a ghost right now, who would be the first person you'd haunt and why? Ask yourself that. Enough dabbling though. Avert your attention to the non-bolded text below and enjoy.
BAM!
"What the hell was that?" Samus looked up at the ceiling. Snake had his phone and was using the flashlight to navigate. He also heard it and frantically waved the flashlight around.
"Hey, I think it might've been the thunder. It's still raining hard." he said after settling down.
"I don't know. That sounded really close. Maybe we should go back and check on everybody."
"Don't sound so worried, Samus. We've been gone for barely ten minutes. We'll be up there soon." He flipped open the metal panel and scanned the buttons. He flipped the small lever that read 'Main Light 1'. There was no response. "Yeah, generators are off. Look around for one." he said. Samus turned her head away from the stairs and pulled out her mini flashlight from her inner shirt pocket. She walked around the stairs and found a large metal machine in the corner.
"Over here! Just need to get it started-" she yanked the long cord. And once more to get the motor going. "If I remember correctly, it should take a few minutes while it checks to make sure that everything is intact." Samus told while looking at Snake.
"A few minutes that could be used for better things than sitting around." he leaned against the wall.
"Well, in the meantime, I have been wondering how long you've been a bodyguard. Working for Mario no less." she gave him a small smile.
"I'm not interested in small talk. Keep your words, as every one of them could hold much more value to someone else." he said, shaking his head. The smile on Samus's face disappeared and she looked more weary.
"But, right now, my words are intended for you and I expect you to see the value in that. Besides, I thought I was good company. It wouldn't last long if I was afraid to have an interaction."
"FIne, but something you be damn careful for when it comes to expectations is not to expect me to be your pal. I'm here to protect, not distract."
"And protecting us you are. Now, I'm waiting…" She held her face in her hands. Snake let out a mildly irritated sigh and turned towards her.
"I was in the military for 12 years and fought for 6. By the time we defeated the Yusha empire, the only thing I could remember was how to kill a man." He looked up to see if she was listening. "I didn't really know where to go after our victory. I didn't have any family and the area I was staying in was destroyed by the conflict. I got into some shady businesses, searching for any way to support myself. For 3 years, I lived from place to place and found tedious jobs to pay for my next meal. I never slept well and I could feel myself slowly falling into my own madness as the days passed. After I was paid by a guy nicknamed Red Falcon, I snuck into a high security business establishment to steal development plans from a supposed corrupt company. I must have been off my A-game that day because I got caught. And in a simple way mind you. It was there that I met Mario. Mansa Mario. That day, the person who I was paid to steal from took me under his wing." he closed his eyes as if trying hard to remember something.
The generator piped up and began revving. The lights flickered on through the whole house.
"There we go. Good." Snake started towards the stairs.
"Wait, you aren't going to finish your story? You didn't answer my question either." The rain began to fall harder from the black sky.
"I purposefully didn't answer your question. But you now know a lot more than other people do, so pat yourself on the back." The door to enter the basement was wide open and showed more stairs that led back to the main living area. "Now that the power is out of the way, let's-" the door slammed shut. Loud thunder boomed and the lights began to flicker.
"Woah! This storm is raging!" Samus yelled above the sound while covering her ears. Snake tried the handle of the door; no luck.
"What the hell? There's no lock on this door. Is it jammed?" he pushed against it. With a huff of annoyance, he kicked the door. "Damned house!"
"Yes." a voice echoed. Samus quickly swung around and scanned the area.
"Who said that? Where did it come from?" Things were beginning to get awfully strange around here. Snake reached for the gun tucked into his belt strap behind his shirt.
There was a ghostly old lady near the circuit panel.
"You're correct. This house is damned and all of you are too. Upon opening those gates, you've set us free." she dropped the cloak that she was holding and it faded away. Snake pointed the gun at her.
"Hey! You'd better tell me that I'm just seeing things."
"Snake, put that away! That's obviously a ghost!" Samus reasoned. Snake ignored her and kept his arm straight. The old lady never stopped staring. No matter how many people were in the room, she somehow met every gaze with one of her own.
"The spirits of those who perished here. The spirits of those who were once important. The spirits in your head and those in your dreams. The ghastly amalgamations of your doubt and fears all come to life here and become one. You've set them free. You've set us free." she began to wrap herself in another cloak that came from seemingly nowhere. "We didn't tell the truth. We abandoned hope. We clung to selfish desires and the house has taken us for that. The house has taken us all; and now we're free. Free to fly. Free to play. Free to...kill. Kill like the previous spirits had. Like the nightmare of a man who started this cycle. Like the unholy beings of sin that desperately want to believe they are right. People just...like...YOU." her face contorted into a melting abyss and her body rushed through Snake in a fraction of a second. He shouted and shot, sending a bullet directly into the circuit board. A flash of electricity sparked and the lights shut off. Snake stumbled and rolled down the stairs, nearly hitting his head on the concrete floor before Samus barely slid under him.
"Got you!" She reached out and wrapped her arms around him. He seemed to be out cold. What did that lady do to him? Why did she target Snake when Samus was so much closer? Had he done something...bad? Samus quickly shook the thought off her mind. "The others!"
She jumped up and ran up the stairs to the door. It was jammed. She raised her restrictive gown and kicked the door. "Screw these heels." she kicked them off and rammed against the door. "Why is it stuck all of a sudden!? I have to tell the others about what the lady said. We have got to get out of this haunted hellhole!" she shouted and beat against the door.
There was a loud shriek through the air.
"Oh god, there really is something wrong with this house! HELP! SOMEBODY GET US OUT OF HERE!" she was only getting the attention of those who would do the opposite of help.
Mega turned around after hearing the loud crashing sound.
"Holy hell!" he cried out. "That just came from the living room!" he sprinted back to the opening in the stairs to find Marth attempting to do the same thing.
"The way we got in here, it's all sealed off. How is that possible?" he asked, beating his fist against the dark wall. The room was only possible to navigate in because of the candles lit around them. It seems that they had stumbled into the dining hall.
"Is this some type of prank? Sounds like something I would've done while younger…" Link thought back.
"Link, this is no time for childhood memories. We're stuck in here and that noise sounded like something large crashing. Was...was that Ganon's voice we heard earlier?" Corrin began to grow fearful. "I'm starting to have second thoughts about this place. C-come on, let's get out of this r-r-room." she shuddered. They all turned around and the lights flicked on. The man clad in green formal wear smiled.
"Hey, looks like Snake and Samus were able to get the lights back on!" he turned around. "Corrin, don't sound so worried. I'm certain that the host of this mansion is fully in control." he said while walking backwards. Opening the refrigerator, he reached in and pulled out a fruit.
"What the hell is that!?" Mega pointed and backed against the wall. Link raised an eyebrow.
"It's a pear? Nothing to get so excited about-"
"No, L-L-L-Link!" Corrin shuddered. Link turned his head to be met face-to-face with a ghastly figure.
"AAAAHH!" he cried and jumped onto the ground. The figure had a very blobby appearance and it's face began to twist and turn to form a childlike expression.
"Who goes first? Who always goes first? Who can appreciate being first? Who has yet to go first? Who doesn't want to go first? Who ridicules first? Who refuses first? Why is being first so desired?" it started. Marth raised an eyebrow.
"W-w-what are you talking about?" It's head ripped itself to Marth's direction.
"You were first. The first? The very very first? What secrets of yours were left untold? The ones far too painful to talk about? The ones that landed you into this failed business trip anyway? What story do you have to tell? If you were telling a story, how much of the truth would you change? How good would you make yourself look?" the childlike voice bellowed. The young blue-haired man was taken aback.
"S-story? I don't tell stories…" The ghost's smiling childlike face didn't match its murderous aura.
"Then let us hear you talk! I want to hear about you! When you were young or why you're here right now?" It's smile slowly shrank with every passing moment.
"I-um...I-I was an, I mean, I AM an orphan. I was only a baby, but I somehow ended up at an orphanage with...um," he nervously stuttered. "No clue what happened to my family. But I grew up besides hundreds of kids. I'm here because I need to see Mansa Mario. He's the only one that I can go to in order to aid me in my desperate time of need. After such a trauma…" he looked down. The face on the ghost had a funny frown as its grotesque body grew in some places and shrunk in others.
"Hee hee! Oh Marth, now isn't the time to fake your trauma! You feel nothing about what happened, hahaha!" As it giggled, the ghost doubled in size and their voice grew deeper.
"F-fake?" Marth spouted. Corrin walked to his side.
"Marth, don't listen to it speak. Don't let it get into your hea-" the ghost blinked towards Corrin and pinned her against the wall by her neck.
"SHUT THE HELL UP! SHUT UP! YOU DON'T GET TO GO FIRST! I WILL KILL YOU ALL, RIGHT HERE. ONE MORE WORD." her face was planted against the wooden wall. The ghost dropped her and spread to surround Marth. Mega and Link rushed to help Corrin. But they didn't dare to speak. "What did you do to them? What happened to all those people, Marth?" it circled around him and the lights shut off. He couldn't see anything but darkness.
"P-please leave me alone! Leave us alone!" he fell onto the ground. Blinded, he stumbled over himself.
"I want to hear about the fire, Marth. I want to hear you lie about it being an accident Marth. I want to hear your excuses Marth. I want you to test me and see who dies first, Maaaaaaarth!" a face of unknown horrors began to make its way to the blue-haired man's head.
"The fire…" he began. The face halted. "God, the fire. The fire that has burned the paths of a humble life. Oh, I am so sorry. Everyone else at the orphanage...I was the only one to escape. I was only 12. I didn't know matches were so dangerous. We just wanted to play with firecrackers. I didn't know I would lose everything that day." he trembled with each word. Marth's eyes began to fill up with bitter tears. The face retreated slightly and smiled.
"Tell us how you survived. Tell us how you were the first and only one to get out." there were eyes on the outside of the creature watching the other three thoroughly.
"I'm scared. You're scaring me."
"Your life will end. Answer me."
"It happened too fast! I can't remember!" he shouted.
"Do not spout nonsense!" The face began slithering around him as ectoplasm flew into every direction. "You left him. Your friend. Your best friend Roy; you left him to die in your place after he pulled you from the rubble. You pushed him back in."
"That isn't true! I didn't know better. How could I know that he would get hurt!? I couldn't abandon a friend!" Marth stood up. The tears were streaming down his face, but he was determined to stand up to the ghost-like creature.
"You lie. You lied. Again and again and again." a piece of it quickly rushed towards Mega and smiled in his face. "What do YOU think happens to one's like these?" he asked. Mega was too terrified to answer and the creature picked Marth up. He screamed as it slammed his head on the wall, over and over and over.
"Stop! Oh please leave him alone!" Corrin watched in horror as Marth was unable to prevent his head being slammed on the wall again.
"Liars! Like! These! Die! FIRST!" with one last burst of strength, it rammed Marth face-first onto the corner of the table, sending discolored red liquid all over Link. The creature disappeared and its words echoed into the air, "Being truthful is only the beginning...beginning...beginning…" Marth was slumped to the floor. The room filled with silence as the three looked on in horror. Link, trembling, slowly approached Marth while silent as a mouse.
"M-M-Marth? Are y-" his body fell over to reveal his caved in face and blood pouring from multiple breaks. Link fell back and they all turned away from the mess. He was dead.
Corrin let out a shrill scream.
A soul lost...But not your souls. They're still with you, so enjoy them while they last.
Glassdrop: Thanks for reading and taking the time to leave a review. No need to feel curious about what's going to happen. I'll be sure to release a new chapter in between 4-7 days just for you ;)
TheShadowStarr23: You already know.
Wormdude: Thank you kindly. Characters are freely restructured and recreated in order for me to provide the best image of my material possible, so thanks for noticing. Interesting take for the characters you want to survive this mess. Has anything changed after this chapter?
14shiffna: I did a minor amount of research on Look-See and I looked and saw what you mean (ha bad joke). But I initially hadn't heard of it in the beginning. Regarding who lives, I hope you aren't too torn about...well...being first...
Hope you've had enough time to think about that question. What will happen to our now traumatized ambassadors? Tune in next week in order to help your insatiable surge of curiousity subside. See you next time.