Haunted Mansion (Part 2)

The group watched at the towering timber door, the arch framing it had intricate floral motifs. They had tried to look into the lancet windows beside them but the mansion looked abandoned.

"Here goes nothing!" Clark went to grab the brass door knockers. The knockers had a lion head biting a ring which connects to an enclosed fist that serves as the knocker. Before he managed to even grab hold of it, the door swung open on its own. A cold breeze blew from the interiors of the building.

"Okay…" Clark commented. "At least the place looks nice."

Once they entered, they couldn't help but look around. The foyer was large, enough to hold a gathering of a hundred people. The original owner of the place must be very influential to have the need for such foyer. The floor was made of smooth limestone, complementing the walls. To the right and left, there were smaller rooms lined up but the main character of the room was the main grand stairs.

The stairs were made of similar light brown limestone and its steps were furnished with a bright red carpet although the vibrancy of the red dulled from the lack of maintenance and time. Despite that, light draped on the stairs gave it a mysterious feel. Clark's eyes wandered upwards to find the source of the light and it amazed him further.

The grand stairs were located in an octagonal tower about four storeys tall, with large clerestory windows encircling the white and gold vaulted ceiling above.The second floor surrounded the stairs like opera boxes. It was clearly meant for an audience to view the main spotlight walking on the stairs. Even now, he felt the pressure of being on stage even when the patrons were long gone.

"The owner must be some narcissistic person," he continued to remark.

"I'm here you know. Enjoy the fruits of my labour," someone whispered into his ears.

Clark immediately looked back. Bruce, the closest person behind him, was ten steps behind, looking around the place.

'It could not be him. There's no way he could run up to me and run back in such a short window. That only means…" His face turned pale. 'The ghost is real!'

He immediately ran back to the group. Safety in numbers, he felt.

"What's the problem, Clark? Have you encountered a ghost?" Damian sneered at him.

"Ye... Yes… I heard someone whisper into my ears."

The group looked at him seriously. "Are you sure?" Everyone had tense faces before exploding into laughter. "Seriously? Ghosts… whispering to you?! They might want to get your phone number and invite you for dinner!"

Clark became furious.

"I'm telling you the truth!" He then stopped and realised.

'Actually, they're right. There are no ghosts in the world. The supernatural are a hoax, a prank for people to create content.'

He held his face and gave a sigh. "Yeah, you guys are right. I must be hearing things from being too absorbed in the atmosphere."

Damian broke the awkward moment. "Hey everyone, look what I found!" He gestured to one of the rooms on the second floor. "I found something interesting!"

The group dismissed the previous event and followed after Damian. As they walked on the stone floor, the echo of their footsteps could be heard throughout the mansion.

"Woah this is sweet!" Bruce exclaimed. They found a row of armour, still gleaming and impervious to rust. A set of strange weapons were displayed on the wall. There were even several odd looking weapons.

Damian took a blade off one of the displays. The bronze grip and guard had already started to turn a little greenish-blue which gave it a unique feature. He then realised a trigger right below the guard. As he tried to fiddle around it, something popped and startled him. Two extra blades emerged from the middle blade, forming some sort of a fork or a trident.

'Okay…'

He returned the tri-blade back to the display without withdrawing the other blades to its original form. The blade sat awkwardly on the display mount because he did not know how to reset it back. He took a look around and saw Bruce trying out an odd looking shield with a gauntlet and multiple blades attached to it, above the gauntlet hung a lantern.

It wasn't long before his attention was drawn to a claymore. It was simple, in contrast with all the fancy weapons around it. The straight silver blade complimented the brown wooden grip. Damian was drawn to it as if it called to him and he tried to take it but it stuck to its mount stubbornly until a click was heard.

The floor below him disappeared and he fell down to a dark pit below. The suits of armour began to shake and rattle in unison. The rest of the group started to become worried but none of them realised the disappearance of Damian until they wanted to ask him for instructions.

"Wait, where did Damian go?! Did he run away first? That coward!" Clark looked around for Damian furiously. The rattling of the armour intensified.

"I think… We should leave," proposed Bruce, who was sweating profusely now. "This place really is haunted."

"Yeah. Since that jerk left us first, there's no reason to stay here any longer," Clark agreed before they ran out of the mansion as fast as they could.

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The figure watched the group as they explored the armoury. He rubbed his hands gleefully in anticipation. It's only a matter of time before they spring his traps.

From a peep hole, he could see Damian approaching the claymore as if he's bewitched by it.

'Ah gullible kids, always falling for something so simple. Always drawn to something looking special.'

Damian tried pulling the claymore a few times before breaking it free, triggering the mechanism. Gears started to turn around the hidden figure, causing a chain effect, infecting more mechanisms to life.

He laughed sinisterly as he saw Damian fall into the pit, he carefully timed it with the shaking of the armour to distract the rest. He grinned at the group while stroking his long white beard as the rest of the group ran away in terror.

'This is why I love doing this. I'll never get tired of it. Now, we have our first participant. Hmm hmm."

-----An hour later-----

Elma knocked the door a few times but as expected, nobody answered.

"Why do you even knock on the door?" Dexter questioned the futility of Elma's actions.

"Common courtesy! Even if it's abandoned, we should at least knock to announce our presence. With that, we increase our chances to meet the ghosts," she replied as she pushed the massive doors open with ease. The door hinges were surprisingly well oiled.

The group had the same amazement as their predecessors. Leo wondered how much grander it would be during its prime. Sylvia looked around suspiciously for clues. She too did not believe in ghosts. From the marks on the dust, someone came here before them recently.

"Hello?" Elma shouted and echoes came back. "Show yourself or at least give us some hints!"

In her peripheral vision, she saw a figure disappearing away into the shadows on the second floor. She wasn't sure what she saw but she's not letting that escape.

"I saw a ghost up there. Quick, let's go!" She hurried the rest while getting her camera ready. "We can't let it escape!"

Meanwhile, Sylvia noticed some footsteps behind them.

"You can go without me. I want to find out about something suspicious," she told the group.

"Ehh? What can be more suspicious than a ghost? Anyways, we will be leaving first then," Elma questioned.

Luna looked back at Sylvia, concerned but Sylvia gave a smile. Even without any words, both of them understood each other perfectly.

'You can go with them, I'll be quick.'

Luna gave a nod. 'Take care…' Before trying to catch up to Elma who already dashed some distance away.

Now alone, Sylvia got ready. Her eyes were that of a hunter.

'Where are you, sneaky rat? I'm coming for you.'