Haunted Mansion (Part 1)

"The current station is West Cross Station. Please mind the gap when you exit."

The station was still brimming with people although it's already 10 pm. The holiday mood got the people to stay up late and to cater to that, the train services were extended to dawn.

Leo, Luna and Sylvia tried to navigate their way through the crowd, bumping into some drunkards on the way. The station was a part of an underground complex, housing various well known historical bars and pubs, and many of the working class would come to wind down from work or just meet up with friends and colleagues. However, beyond the station, the place was quiet with many abandoned buildings. It was once the city's oldest historical centre but over time, people moved to newer parts and the place became a ghost town.

Upon reaching the entrance of the station, the trio found Elma's hand waving enthusiastically among the mass of commuters. Elma was wearing an orange hoodie with night-vision goggles strapped on her head. Dexter was holding a bulky bag beside her. Anyone who passed by them could not help but look at Elma's ridiculous gear, some of them whispered among themselves.

"Is there a cosplay event or something happening around here?" "I have no idea, but those goggles look so cool. It looks like the shooter game that was released yesterday."

After their rendezvous, they went to a quieter place to plan. They were catching too much attention. A few meters away from the entrance, they stopped and Dexter put the bulky bag down before swinging his arm around to relax from the heavy lifting.

"Alright, everyone is present. Good!" she gave a thumbs up and began rummaging through the bag. "I have brought some equipment with us to find the ghosts." She took out several pieces of equipment. "Infrared thermometer, EMF meter, video recorder, miniature microphone and voice recorder. She passed most of the equipment to Dexter. Alright, we're set. Let's go!"

The stone pathway was uneven and rugged. Nobody had been frequenting these parts therefore the maintenance had been lacking for decades. The ancient trees were overgrown on the sides of the path, occasionally roots broke through the paved stone and the group had to navigate carefully. The functioning streetlights were rare in between and those working had their yellow lights flicker sporadically. The landscape already gave an eerie atmosphere even before reaching the mansion.

When the mansion got within sight, strange fog started gathering and visibility dropped to only a few meters. The mansion itself now looks otherworldly as it glowed under the full moon. The gargoyles perched on the towers stared down coldly, guarding the Gothic building.

However, before the mansion, an extensive garden stood between them. The hedges were surprisingly trimmed and they stood like a formidable living wall. A wooden sign with handwritten words on it was hung on the entrance. The words were really hard to read due to the red paint faded from the passages of time. Nevertheless, Elma narrowed her eyes as she tried to read it.

"Welcome to Casper's Mansion, visitor. In order to enter as our guest, it is required to pass a simple test of traversing The Labyrinth. We would be pleased to see you on the other side, that's if you can. We wish you the best of luck." Elma took a peek beyond the entrance and looked to both sides. Both paths were identical to the hedges' evergreen leaves.

"Prez, are you sure you want to continue?" Dexter looked worried. The whole place was already looking suspicious, especially with the sign there inviting them. Who even does that?

"Since we're already here, why not attempt it? It would be rude to decline an invitation to their house, no?" Elma was beaming with excitement. Dexter wondered if she's incredibly naive or dumb, he settled for both. "Well then, which way should we go?" She rubbed her chin. "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe," she finally settled with the path on the right. "Let's go!" She dragged the reluctant Dexter along with her and the others followed her without question.

The fog dissipated a little upon their entry into the maze. The moonlight from the full moon provided some illumination to the otherwise unlit garden. Elma put on her goggles while the rest of the group switched on their torchlights to have a better view for their journey.

"We should try to take a look at the surroundings first before continuing. Then, we won't be walking around blindly," Sylvia casually commented from the back of the group. Everyone stopped on their tracks and turned back with a bewildered face.

'Oh right, why didn't we think of that…'

Leo offered his shoulders as he was the tallest and would provide the best vantage point. Elma would be the one to scout the area with her superior equipment.

He squatted down and stretched his shoulders. "Alright, I'm ready."

Elma climbed on his shoulders and with one quick motion, he stood up.

"Aiee," Elma squealed. She wasn't prepared for it and now she realised that she's sitting on a guy's shoulders. She became conscious of the situation and her face became bright red from embarrassment.

"Are you okay up there?" Leo asked.

"Ah yes, I'm fine," she shook the thoughts away and regained her focus. She took out a crumpled piece of paper before drawing a crude map of the maze. The maze had several pocket gardens dotted in between the paths. It took her a few minutes to draw the entirety of the map before returning back down.

"The maze isn't that complicated, but the sheer size of it might take us around 30 minutes to walk through it," Elma explained with the group. "There are several pockets around where we could take a break."

As the group arrived at the first pocket garden, a large blue butterfly flew by Luna. She raised her hand and it landed on her finger. It's bright blue wings looked like it's glowing. More butterflies came flying to them, attracted by the light of their torchlights. The swarm of butterflies swirled around them in a vibrant polychromatic performance.

Everyone held their breath, captivated by the magnificent spectacle.

"Such beauty…"

"You should turn off your torchlights before more of them gather into an unmanageable size and become a problem. We can see in pitch-black darkness if we strain our eyes a little. With the moonlight, you'll get used to the darkness easily after a while," Sylvia warned, breaking the charm the butterflies had on the group.

They obliged and switched their torchlights off. It took some time for the butterflies to disperse back into the flowers and shrubs. The garden was equally beautiful. A white masonry fountain on a small shallow pond was the centrepiece. The water glistened like jewels from the reflection of the moonlight. Some butterflies congregated by the edge of the pond, basking on the sandy bed. Flower beds and shrubs of various types, colour and sizes were scattered around in a radial pattern, complementing the pond while providing a place for the butterflies to feed and rest.

'I could only wonder how much grander the garden would be in the day," Luna commented.

"We should get going now," Elma persuaded the group to continue the journey, taking one last look at the garden.

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A figure was watching the group from one of the windows of the mansion as they travelled through the maze with ease. He gripped his hands in frustration.

"Damn it, why are kids these days so good at this? Don't they just sit in front of computers and phones all day? I need more time to fix it up. I guess I will have to change some things up. It will not be as easy as you think. Try going through this! Muahahahahahaha!"

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"Hold on, I think we got the wrong way," Elma stopped the group's advance and looked back at the parchment of paper she drew the map in. "We're supposed to take a right turn earlier and reach the second pocket garden five minutes ago."

"Are you sure you did not draw the map wrongly?" Dexter asked as he took the map and rotated it several times. "Or read it upside down the whole time…"

Elma snatched the map back. "I'm absolutely sure that I did not make any of those mistakes!"

"Alright, alright. We know that you're right. Do you want to take another look to confirm our location?" Leo knelt to allow him to lend his shoulders to Elma once more.

Elma looked around from his shoulders. She wasn't as flustered as before, probably because of her focus on the strange maze. She scanned the surroundings and found its layout changed completely from before. They're supposed to be going through the middle part but now they're only separated one wall away from the mansion. However, the path looked like it was going to bring them back to the maze's entrance.

"It cannot be… The maze actually transforms while we're in it," Elma was in disbelief and looked really down. The others start to feel some fear from her expressions.

"Yea, I guess we should turn back," Dexter softly muttered after gulping his fear.

"What do you mean?! Do you know how awesome this is? An actual haunted mansion. The real deal!" Elma's expression turned the complete opposite. "You didn't think of chickening out, didn't you?" She specifically leered at Dexter.

'I'm watching you.'

"Now if we only could pass this one wall then we don't have to explore the entire maze and go straight to the main event." Elma continued as she examined and prodded at the dense hedge. "Maybe there will be a special hidden gateway like in those dun… Aieeee!!!"

She fell through the hedge as she was prodding the wall. Somehow, she managed to accidentally find a thin part of the hedge. The others stood in bewilderment.

"The heck? How? What?" Dexter could only question the bizarre event while holding his head and his mouth gaping wide open.

"Ow, that hurts," Elma stood up and brushed the dirt and leaves from her clothes before quickly recovering. "I told you, it's part of the plan," she gave a wide smile and a victory sign.

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"What?! Impossible!" the figure watching dropped his monocular on the floor in shock. "Although I did not have enough time to repair the damages caused by the other group, the disguise should have been foolproof. They should not have discovered it! How?!"

He cracked his knuckles and his eyes gave a menacing look.

"Play time's over. The other group will not have it easy too. Muahahahahaha!"

----2 hours earlier----

"Hey good to see you not chicken out, Damian. What took you so long?" Clark teased. "With you, the troupe is finally assembled."

Damian wore a simple white shirt while his hand held a black leather jacket draped over his shoulders. "Shut up! I'm here on time. It's you guys who came too early."

"Okay, sure. Can we start now?" Clark grumbled.

All of them looked at the large mansion and the tall hedge wall standing between them. Clark went closer to examine the sign by the entrance.

"Welcome to Casper's Mansion, visitor. In order to enter as our…" Clark read out the sign out loud for the rest to listen before Bruce cut him off.

"Race to the mansion's entrance. The last one has to buy lunch for everyone," he quickly said before speeding off into the maze. The other four members, excluding Damian, quickly followed suit and disappeared into the maze.

"Wait, what? Hey!" Damian quickly gave them chase, not wanting to be the last.

Right at the front of the pack, Clark and Bruce were competing fiercely for the first place. Currently, Clark was slightly ahead due to his leaner and more agile size which allowed him to navigate through the sharp corners of the maze.

"I will not lose!" Bruce declared as he increased his pace to overtake Clark.

"Hey, wait! You won't be able to stop in time!" Clark tried to warn him, slowing down in the process.

"You can't fool me with your petty tricks! Hahahahaha!" Bruce looked behind and laughed as he passed Clark. When he looked in front again, he saw a corner ahead but did not manage to stop in time before crashing into the hedge wall. He shook his head and found himself at the front door of the mansion.

Clark and the rest quickly caught up behind him and looked through the hole in the wall.

"Are… you alright?" Clark tried to assess the situation. He was concerned for Bruce as the hedge wall had many thick branches that made it so tough. Anyone who managed to create such a hole would at least have some injuries but his worries were unfounded.

Bruce stood up with only slight scratches.

"It's my victory!"