"Do you like the manor?"
Alyssa and Bradley jumped.
"Hey! Don't scare us like that…" Bradley's voice trembled as he said that.
"Sorry, it wasn't my intention to scare you. I'm Lucius, and I believe you are here investigating the mansion, aren't you?"
"Well, yes, I'm looking for an interesting story for an article… What are you doing here?"
"I'm a writer, mainly of horror novels. And there's no better place than Phantom Manor, right?"
"Phantom… what?" Alyssa asked intrigued, her gaze completely focused on the man.
"It's the nickname they gave to the place, because of the Phantom. Don't you know the story?"
Alyssa shook her head.
"Oh… Let me tell you. Rumor has it that this mansion is haunted by a ghost known as the Phantom, an evil being that controls the place. And not only that, but it keeps 999 ghosts locked inside its walls."
"The Phantom? I didn't read that in the book I found."
"The book?"
—Yes, one that I found in my local library, with the logo of someone named S.E.A.
Lucius' eyes shone with intensity.
"Oh, the Society of Explorers and Adventurers! That makes sense…"
"The what?" Alyssa asked, confused.
"It's a secret society, or it was, rather. The brightest minds were in there."
"Like Henry Ravenswood?"
"No, I don't think he was a member…" he said, rubbing his chin.
"I love these informative conversations, seriously," Bradley interrupted. "But, who are the guys with Melanie in that round room?"
"Are you referring to the Portrait Chamber? They were Melanie's fiancés before they disappeared, of course."
"D… Disappeared?" Bradley's legs started to shake.
"Yes, without a trace. Another mystery of Phantom Manor."
"And how did you discover this place, Mr. Lucius?" Alyssa asked.
"Hmm? Oh sure, I read it in a book as well."
Without warning, the lights of their phones suddenly went out.
"Oh, the battery!"
"Impossible, I had it fully charged."
The room's chandeliers' lights flickered on suddenly.
"Okay, this is weird. What do you think, sir…?" Before finishing her sentence, Alyssa realized Lucius was no longer with them.
"Hey, where did this guy go?"
"Maybe he's in the Portrait Chamber…"
The two friends returned to the enormous circular room.
"I don't seem to belong here."
"I don't like this, Alyssa, let's go…"
Suddenly, the walls began to stretch.
"What the heck?"
In disbelief, she watched as the paintings grew larger.
"Our tour begins here, in this gallery, where you gaze upon the sweet innocence of youth…" said a deep, raspy voice that echoed throughout the room.
"Who's speaking?"
Melanie was slowly disappearing from the paintings.
"Oh, but things are not always as they seem… Can it be this room is actually stretching?" The voice sent shivers down their spines just by hearing it.
The painting now showed four new scenes: a man on top of a barrel of dynamite about to explode, another fleeing from a huge bear by climbing a tree, one about to reach a chainsaw tied to a log, and another on the brink of falling off a cliff.
"What… What does this mean?"
"I don't know, and I don't want to know!" exclaimed Bradley.
"And notice this, this chamber has no windows and no doors… Which offers you this chilling challenge: to find a way out!" A devilish laugh filled the room, mocking the two friends.
"I'm out of here!" Bradley began pounding on the walls in desperation.
Alyssa looked up and saw something she would never forget: what seemed to be a man in an elegant suit and top hat, but was actually just bones… Literally.
The lights went out suddenly.
Alyssa and Bradley burst out of the room suddenly, not knowing quite how.
"We have to get out of here!"
"What about Lucius? We have to help him!" Alyssa replied.
"We don't know him at all. We have to get out of here, I'm sorry…"
Alyssa looked around and realized they were in a new hallway.
"Wait, this isn't possible, we were in a different place before. What is happening?!"
Her heart was racing, and her legs were as shaky as jelly. But she had to calm down, they had to think clearly.
"Okay, Bradley, we have to move forward. We can't stay here… We don't know what's happening."
Bradley nodded.
In front of them, a young woman appeared at the end of the hallway, holding a chandelier.
"It can't be…" Bradley recognized her immediately. "It's… Melanie Ravenswood."