The Massacre Mansion

Chapter 3- Saturday Night

     "We've been walking for hours," whined Lidia. 
     "Well maybe if you were wearing something fitting for the occasion you wouldn't be so tired," snarkly replied Nathaniel.
      Lidia had chosen to wear 3 inch heels with a black mini skirt and a black-and-white, low hanging T-shirt. It was quite true that her apparel wasn't right for a hike through the Armagedon Woods, but Lidia being herself found it the right time to show off everything possible. 
       In all reality we had only been walking for about one hour. It didn't help that no one knew where we were to find the mansion. We were just following our instincts, a.k.a. Mark. I don't even think he knows where he's going.
       "There's not even a change in scenery anywhere! It's all just green trees and the occasional animal," Lidia whined a little more. This is what we'd been listening to for the past ten minutes. It was getting a little annoying.
      "Well what did you expect to see? The house just out in the open basically saying 'Hey, here I am! Welcome to the blood bath"? It's still a forest, Lidia. And forests have endless amounts of trees," I stated. 
       "Everyone just calm down, we're getting closer," Mark spoke from up ahead. He slightly turned his head and glanced at me from the corner of his eye, "We don't need anyone getting into fights this far out in the woods, or even worse, getting hurt."
      "Hey look! It's a bridge. That's a change in scenery," Miranda shouted, pointing at what appeared to be an old, rickety bridge going across a small, crystal blue river. 
       "That looks a little dangerous, don't you think? I mean, if it were to break someone could fall into the river and get swept upstream," Lewis said, concern and worry written across his features.
        "Oh relax, man. It's perfectly safe. See?" Said Luke, as he demonstrated. He walked over to the bridge and stood on it. He grasped the ropes that ran along the sides that served as rails. Then, he began jumping to show its strength. 
         While the bridge did sway and make little creaks and groans of protest, it did not break and it withheld his weight. 
        "Come one, Baby. Let's get across to the other side and see if they are brave enough to follow us," he said to Lidia, while holding out his hand for her to take. Lidia strided over to his side, taking his hand, and following him across the bridge. All the while the river seemed to pick up speed and grow louder  as if to warn them not to cross. 
      The next to walk across was Caspian. He'd been surprisingly quiet the entire time. It wasn't like him. He just silently walked to the middle of the bridge. ​​​​​​....then he peered over the edge, as if waiting for something. He leaned over the protective ropes, watching, waiting. The next time he looked up there was just blood where his eyes should be, and an empty blackness. He stared straight at me and mouthed the word "run" before he jumped over into the beating river and rocks below, then.....
   NOOOOOO!!!
   I woke up on the cold forest floor screaming. The faces of Kadince, Mark, Miranda, Lewis, and Nathaniel were looking down on me with looks of concern. I could hear running footsteps coming to see me as well.
    "(y/n) are you OK?!" Said the face of Caspian, the real Caspian. He had his ocean blue eyes, filled with concern instead of red, crimson blood. I immediately sprang up and hugged him around the neck. He was alive. He hadn't jumped to his death.
      "While I appreciate being hugged by a lovely lady such as yourself, I'd really like to know what just happened," he said with that mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
​​​​​     "You're alive!" I shouted, overjoyed. I felt warm tears welling up in my eyes.
      "OK, (Y/n). I think you've hugged him enough. He is indeed alive and well. Now what just happened?" Mark said with, what was that in his voice? A hint of jealousy? 
      I let go of Caspian who made a small pouty face at his release.
     "Why do ya gotta ruin all my fun, Mark?" Caspian inquired, still pouting.
      "Because the little lady just fainted out of nowhere, and a minute later she wakes up screaming. That's why, " Mark replied haughtily. They continued to argue over this but I drowned them out because I just found out I fainted.
       "Hey, sis. What just happened?" Kadince asked in a small child-like voice. She was the only one at the moment who wasn't finding a way into the argument that the two idiots started. She grasped my hand as I recited to her what I saw. 
    "If I didn't know any better I'd think that ol' Marky here had a crush on our (Y/n)," Miranda said in a playful way which caused his face to take on a light shade of pink. 
     "Says the one who wants to--"
      "WOULD YOU GUYS JUST SHUT UP!" Shouted Kadince. This caused everyone to suddenly grow quiet. It was amazing what that girl could do.
     "If any of you were paying attention to what (Y/n) just said instead of acting like a bunch of 3rd graders you would know that she had a warning in the shape of a vision!" Kadince continued to shout. While still holding my hand she explained what I had just told to her.
       "Hmmm. Well, as you can see I'm right as rain. It was probably nothing important. She probably just fainted from dehydration or something, and the fear of the Ferdinan Mansion influenced the blackout," Caspian said in a matter-of-fact tone.
      "You're probably right," said Lidia," our little lady here just needs some water and a snack.  We all could all use some."
​​​​​    "I'll get some," said Nathaniel, rummaging through his backpack and retrieving some water bottles and fruit snacks. While he was passing around the snacks everyone decided to sit down and take a rest. It was slowly starting to get dark. One would guess it to be around 6 pm, and we still hadn't found any traces of the mansion.
      It was silent with the exception of the raging river and the birds that would chirp occasionally. That was until Luke spoke up.
       "So....uh...Mark, are we any closer to the mansion?" He questioned while taking a drink of his water.
      "Well this river here is supposedly a landmark for it. I've heard around that the mansion is about a thirty minute walk from this river," the green-eyed teen explained," By the way, this river is called the Crimson River. It's said that when the moon shines just right the river will give off a red shine, giving off the effect of blood running through it."
     "Why must everything in this God forsaken forest have something to do with death and murder?" I cried out. "I've gotten sick and tired of all the stories and legends revolving around this place. Why can't this just be a normal friendly camp out? Why did we have to come here?"
      "It'll be ok. We're only gonna be here until tomorrow. Until then why don't we all just stop talking about all the bad around this place. It's getting to all of us," said Miranda. She stood up and slowly everyone followed.
      "Yeah. Let's just get across that bridge and continue on our way. We're almost there. I can feel it," said Lewis with a determined look on his face. He walked to Miranda then put his arm around her shoulders making her blush a thousand shades of red. "Me and Miranda here will go first this time. I think we should all pair up with someone just in case something happens since it is getting dark."
     Everyone nodded in an agreement. Lidia and Luke immediately wrapped their arms around each other and started walking behind Miranda and Lewis. Next Caspian and Nathaniel decided to "team up as an unstoppable force" as they put it. Kadince and I hadn't been separated the entire time, so we naturally were together, but that left Mark. After the trickster and Nathaniel walked across that just left us three. 
     "You don't mind if I join your little group, do you girls?" Mark questioned. He had an adorable expression on his face. It was like he attempted a puppy face, and in the process both of his eyes were showing. He looked breathtaking. 
     Kadince must have caught me staring because she saved me pretty quickly.  It's great having a little sister like her. 
       "Of course we don't mind. We're the only people left anyways," she grumbled. I don't think she ever really liked Mark. He was too quiet and dark for her. Well anyways, the second she spoke she broke me out of my trance thank goodness.
     We began walking carefully across the bridge. It was fairly wide so two people could walk across at a time. I was holding Kadince's hand while Mark held my other one. He walked behind us two, so my arm was bent at a slightly painful angle. As we walked, the bridge swayed back and forth. When you looked down you could see the water maybe eleven feet below. Soon we made it across with the rest of the group.
       Kadince let go of my hand at that time and I had completely forgot about Mark. So while we were presuming our walk I assumed it was still Kadince holding my hand. It was all fine until I went to ask her a question and realised it wasn't her.
      "So Kadince wh--MARK?!" I shouted. I immediately let go of his hand and blushed. That would explain why the hand holding mine felt larger than normal. It would also explain why it felt so protective and warm and.....right.
      "Uh, sorry. I forgot," said the green-eyed teen, looking away while scratching his neck.
       "It's OK, I guess," I mumbled quietly. After that whole ordeal I wandered around the group and found Kadince laughing with Caspian. It felt nice having her beside me again, but I couldn't help but feel a little lonely without Mark's warmth. Stop that, (Y/n). Mark is just a friend, and that's all he's ever been or will be. You have your mother and Kadince and that's all I need in your life right now I told myself.
     Meanwhile, the scenery had slightly begun to change. The farther we walked, the more dead trees came into view. The birds stopped chirping and it was getting deathly quiet. I think everyone was starting to notice because they started talking more amongst each other. Out of the corner of my eye I say something shiny on a tree trunk. I walked away from the group to investigate it. Kadince of course followed me, but the rest didn't notice our disappearance. I cautiously stepped toward it and peered at it. About a foot above my head I saw what it was. 
      "Uh, guys......GUYS! You might wanna take a look at this," I said in wonderment pointing at the tree.
       "Yeah, that's real interesting. It's a tree. Just like all the other trees here," Nathaniel replied in his sarcastic tone.
​​​​​​        "Well if ya looked harder you numb skull you might notice the shiny thing in the wood," said Lidia rolling her eyes. Mark starting walking over to look at it more closely. 
         "I think she found something interesting. It looks like......a recording camera. And it's on, don't you see the red light? Someone or thing must be watching us. I think we're almost there," he muttered the last part so quietly I could only barely hear it. 
​​​​​​         Everyone shared the same worried glance, but we got together again and walked on. I wrapped my arm around Kadince's shoulder and kept her close. It had gotten a lot darker in the past thirty minutes, and I didn't want there to be any chance of losing her. We started walking in a row, with Miranda and Lewis taking up the rear. He was whispering something in her ear which caused her to giggle and move closer to him. Next was Lidia and Luke, which to no surprise he seemed to be moving his hand as low as she would allow. After the pairs of love birds it was Caspian and Nathaniel. Who could tell what they were doing? Caspian was most likely thinking up some scheme based on the look of his face. He had a slight smirk that reached his eyes, causing them to shine with a mischievous glow. Nathaniel was just glancing around with a stoic expression. No one could know what he was thinking.
      Kadince and I were just walking to the front where Mark lead the way. He looked so determined, and he had slightly pink cheeks. I'm guessing it was the cold that was starting to appear due to the night.
     " What are you doing up here, little lady?" He asked without glancing at me. I swear he's not human. I was pretty sure I had made no noise.
      "Well you seemed lonely up here, and everyone else is doing their own thing. Me and Kandi don't wanna be third wheels, ya know?" I said slightly laughing at the end. 
      "Oh, you brought your little sister up here too. I thought you came alone," he finally looked to the side as if confirming Kadince's existence. So he is just a human, he just has some freak senses I chuckled a bit.
         "What's so funny?" He inquired glancing at me curiously from the side. Of course Kadince decided to open her mouth then.
         "Maybe it's because she was thinking about how funny you look with your hair in your eyes," she said in a snotty tone. He turned and looked at her, glaring.
        " Hey, be nice Kadince. I think you look perfect like that, Mark," and once I said that I think he zoned out because he got a faraway look in his eyes while pink found its way to his face. He also didn't answer me question after that. Kadince just started dragging her feet and pouting as if she was a small child that I just took candy from. I waved my hand in front of the black-haired male. 
        "You-hoo, are ya gonna answer me?" I asked, at which he seemed to finally come back to Earth.
         "Hmm? Did you say something, little lady?" He asked curiously. He wasn't even paying attention to what was in front of him and he tripped on a tree root, falling to the ground and landing on his hands. I laughed and bent over to help him, causing Kadince to roll her eyes and sigh.
       "Are you ok?" I asked between giggles. 
       "I'm fine," he grumbled, hair covering his eyes. I stood up and put my hand down for him to take. He accepted it and stood up, wiping the dirt off his clothes. It was then that he finally noticed the top of the mansion rising above the trees. His electric green eyes widened beneath his bangs and he shouted to the rest of the group. We all took off on a run for it, glad that we had reached our destination. 
     We got to the front steps and all looked up, hooting for joy. I think at that point we all forgot where we were, that we were at the Massacre Mansion. It looked so ancient, but it was magnificent in a creepy way. (Mansion in picture)
      "Who's going first?" Asked Kadince, eyes lit up with excitement. Miranda started hopping from foot to foot, making a few of us laugh.
      "I think our little lady should go first," stated Caspian. In return he recieved several nods. I didn't know if I was up for it, but heck. How many times in your life do you get this opportunity? I stepped forward and placed a shaky hand on the door knob, readying to open it. I grabbed Kadince's hand and we stood there together for a few moments, my breaths  steadying. I turned the knob, and pushed.
      The door creaked in protest, but opened easily. I stepped through with Kandi right behind me. I found a switch to the left of the door and flipped it, illuminating the entry room. Behind me came Mark, followed by Luke, Lidia, Miranda, Lewis, Nathaniel, and lastly, Caspian.  We all walked halfway into the room, staring in amazement at the huge chandelier hanging from the massive ceiling. 
  

BANG 

We all turned around to find the door closed at that moment. And what many of us did not know at that time was that not only was this our destination, for many it was their final destination.
       

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Hi! This is the author here. By the way, "little lady" is a nickname everyone in the group calls reader because she's gonna be the youngest in the group not counting Kadince of course. Until next time!