Chapter Text
It was a calm afternoon, Klara had just left her second lecture of the day. She clutched her shoulder bag as she walked down the hall in light steps. She was to meet with Marcus today, she had mentioned she wanted to spend some time with her. Klara was more than happy to indulge, Marcus wasn’t much younger than her, but she still felt protective over her sometimes. She was a good kid. She would graduate soon as well, and Klara wanted to support her.
She picks up her pace a little, not wanting to be late and keep the poor girl waiting. The clicking of her heels sped up as she made her way toward the exit. Closing the heavy door behind her, she heads towards the park near her campus, where they would be meeting up. On the way there, her thoughts wander to her last lecture.
The professor had talked about art in the 20th century, and how the world wars had affected it. It was all already topics that interested her. Klara loved art, it was why she attended such lectures in the first place, despite her major not being art.
She always thought art and humanity reflect eachother, much like a clear mirror. To understand humans one must understand art and to understand art one must understand humans. It is an easy way to into the human mind, which she finds fascinating. Though there was a specific thing that interested her in the lecture.
The professor had mentioned a family lineage of artists that went insane, just around the time of world war one. While artists being defined as “insane” wasn’t anything new, and mostly a prejudice of the old times, it did make her wonder their story more. A known noble family like that probably had information about them somewhere. She made a mental note to search it up sometime to satisfy her curiosity. She could bring it up to Marcus as well, that girl loved to read and was quite knowledgeable.
Her thoughts cleared as she reached the entrance of the park. She made her way on the stone path and looked around as she walked, trying to spot the big fluffy coat Marcus always wore. She was just about to bring her phone out before she saw the girl sitting by a bench near the small fountain. She had a big hardcover book open in her lap, a common sight for her. Klara approached the bench, calling out her name.
“Marcus!” She called, her voice cheerful. The girl looked up from her book, seeming a bit surprised, then smiling. She closes her book and sets it aside on the bench.
“Hi Klara!” She replies before Klara comes down and gives her a short hug. Miss Klara always gives great hugs, Marcus thought.
“How have you been? Is school going alright? Ah have you waited long for me? I apologize, the lecture ended up lasting a bit longer than i thought!” She quickly explains, her enthusiasm is a bit much for Marcus sometimes. Though it always rubs off on her, and she ends up feeling happy as well.
“I’m doing alright, Uncle Adler is actually visiting us this week, So we’ve been doing a lot recently. Thanks for asking. School has been busy but fine, oh and no worries, i didn’t wait too long. I know you are quite busy as well. It’s no matter.” Marcus answered, her eyes forming crescents as she smiled softly. Klara takes a seat beside her and sets down her bag.
“I’m glad to hear that. Tell Adler i said hi! I haven’t seen him in a while. I heard he’s resocializing?” She asked, curious about her far off friend.
“Mhm” Marcus mumbles, nodding her head.
Klara’s eyes drift to the book Marcus had set aside. It was a hardcover with many pages, similar to an encyclopedia. It piqued her interest. The top read “Art During World War I.” Her eyes immediately lighted up as she thought back to the lecture that had interested her this morning.
Noticing her interest, Marcus spoke up.
“I got this book from the library the other day. Vertin, Joshua and a few others came up to me last week, asking me to join them in exploring an old manor in a far corner of the city. Apparently it belonged to a noble family of known artists, and i wanted to see if i could gather some information on them.” Marcus explained. She fidgeted with the gloves on her fingers as she continued speaking.
“The others seemed willing to go, to be honest i’m not too sure if i want to come along but uhm.. i still wanted to read up on them a little. I think Joshua kind of recruited the others into his bidding, because he believes the place to be haunted or something. I mean, the property should be closed off, i don’t know how they’re gonna get in anyway..” Marcus stammers, seeming a bit nervous about explaining possibly illegal activities to someone else.
The whole explanation has Klara wondering. Now that was quite interesting. Maybe she could join them? It wouldn’t be the first illegal thing she has done anyway.. That could be the same family the professor mentioned, and she was always for new experiences. She decides to ask a few more questions so she can decide.
“Hm, Joshua.. you mean the guy who calls himself Horropedia? I know him. He majors in filmmaking right? I’ve chatted with him a few times. He is a quite eccentric person. He roped the Vertin into his cause? That’s kind of funny..” She chuckles lightly thinking about how that conversation happened. Vertin was known for having her acts of mischief so perhaps it is not surprising that Horropedia recruited her.
Marcus nods to confirm her thoughts, and waits for her to continue.
“Since you don’t want to go, how about i do instead? I can tell you about anything interesting i see, and that way you won’t have to wander in illegal property or get eaten by hypothetical ghosts.” She suggests, much too enthusiastic again. Marcus hums, thinking.
“I think that would work, since you’ve already met Joshua and Vertin before, and i’m too nervous to go…” She states, then grabs the book she had set aside.
“How about i tell you what i learned then? I’m sure it’ll help make the trip more interesting.” Marcus adds, her voice slightly more cheerful. She was glad to share knowledge, and she knew Klara would always listen.
With the book on her lap, the timid girl speaks up again.
“It’s not much, but better than nothing i suppose..” she mumbles.
“Horropedia told me the manor belonged to a noble family called the Dittarsdorfs. I read that most of the family was artists and that was why they were known. The family’s last members lived around the time of world war one, and they all died young.” Marcus pauses and thinks for a few seconds, skimming over the weathered pages she had went through previously. Seeming to find what she was looking for, she brings her head up again to continue.
“The family didn’t leave too many things behind. A part of the manor was burned down and damaged, their possessios were either lost or broken down since no one took care of them after the family died.” Klara’s heart stings a little hearing this. There were probably so many great things left behind or gone completely. It was a place for a family, it withheld memories, history, but it was abandoned.
“I believe a part of why the family’s dead or possessions were never taken care of was because the world was facing a bigger crisis at that time, but i also read that the family was believed to cursed at some point. I doubt that’s true, you know how society is and was.” She hesitates stating the last part, not exactly sure what was fact.
Klara was listening intently, watching the quiet girl look back and forth between her and the book she had open. Everything so far just made her more interested. She wanted to learn more about the family’s members. She decides she should do some more research on her own later. Maybe when she gets back. Collecting her thoughts, she asks Marcus a question.
“If they were all artists, was there any work of theirs that was popular? Or is still here atleast?”
“Yes actually! It’s in this book and where i learned a bit about their family from. It was all in that entry.” Marcus replies, then flips a few pages in the book to find what she was talking about. She finally pauses at a page, then shuffles closer to Klara and turns to book towards her direction. Her fingers point at a picture of a painting, in the middle of the page she had opened.
“This painting is the one in best condition. Nothing else was salvageable. It’s called ‘The Salvation’.” She informs, lightly handing over the book to Klara so she can inspect the painting.
And inspect she does. The painting consisted mostly of a gold color, accented with black and some red and blue. There was a big golden circle right in the middle, followed by smaller circles and spirals all following eachother dotted around the painting. It felt like the painting drew her in the more she looked at it. It was a weird feeling. Like unease, but also a strange calm. It made her thoughts wander, thinking about what the meaning could entail. It probably looked even more interesting in person. Especially the gold color. It looked mesmerizing. She hums in thought, then hands the book back to Marcus silently.
Feeling anxious from the silence, Marcus shrinks into herself a little. She burrows in her scarf, hiding half of her face. Realizing her anxiety, Klara quickly gathers her thoughts and tries to reassure Marcus. She had helped her a lot after all. She had nothing to worry about.
Klara smiles softly, then lightly pinches Marcus’ soft cheeks in teasing.
“What are you all worried about again hm? I was just thinking, no need to get all nervous! You helped a lot you know, i learned more thanks to you!” She chirps, cheerful as always. She lets go of Marcus’ cheek when she lightly giggles in response and pushes her hand away, seemingly flustered. Sometimes Marcus reminded Klara of her own little sister. They both had similar mannerisms.
“Of course Klara, happy to help!” Marcus replied as she smiled, not hiding in her scarf anymore.
They spend some more time chatting and catching up, as they didn’t get to see eachother too often. When it was time to part, Marcus gave her Horropedia’s number and told her she would be informing him about Klara taking her place, and that she should text him later. Klara agrees, setting a reminder so she doesn’t forget. After giving Marcus one last hug, she departs to head to her voluntary work.
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Klara jolts awake at the sound of her reminder going off. She slowly picks up her head from the desk she had been dozing off on. When had she fallen asleep? Was the day really that tiring? She groans, her palms digging into her eyes. She checks the time to see it’s almost 9 pm. Her roommate should come back to the dorm soon. Then leave again. She always came back around this time only to leave once more. She swears she never saw her actually sleep at night. She was starting to think she was roommates with a vampire or something. Or perhaps you could call any college student that from how they behave.
Pushing the random thoughts away, she checks her phone to see that her reminder had been a bit useless and Horropedia had already sent her a message. She brushes away the sleepiness in her eyes before clicking the notification.The bright light of the phone makes her eyes squint at first. She lowers the brightness setting and takes a look at Horropedia’s message.
—Hello miss klara! I heard you wanna swap with marcus, to be honest i had picked her cause i thought her knowledge would be helpful for us! But since you volunteered, i’ll allow for a change. You are quite knowledgeable yourself. I’ll text you more details later, you better not back out like marcus!
The message read.
Huh, this guy was kind of obnoxious. She thought. She supposes she already knew that from talking to him a few times, but it was even obvious in text. Well, she was not one to judge. She was happy to be joining. She quickly types out a response, having been late to seeing the message already.
—Thank you for having me! I will not disappoint, you can be sure :) I’ll await any further information
That was good enough, she supposes. She wanted to put her head down on the desk again and fall asleep, but she had some work to get through. Sighing, she pulled herself up and decided to get something to eat first. Just as she was about to leave the dorm, her aforementioned roommate entered. She almost bumped into her, quickly stepping back.
“Semmelweis? You’re early today. I thought you wouldn’t visit the dorm today at all.” She jested, looking her up and down. The woman had her long hair tied up today, it suited her.
“Well thanks for the concern, Klara.” She replied, her tone neutral.
“I ate outside, and got some food for you too.” She says, shoving a plastic bag into Klara’s hands. Well this was convenient. She smiled.
“Oh! Thank you. I owe you one.” Klara takes it, setting it on the desk she was sleeping on previously.
“You’re fine.” Semmelweis replies, before drifting into her own corner of the dorm.
They don’t talk much after that. Klara sits at her desk to eat her takeout, then remembers she had told herself to research the Dittarsdorfs more. She decides to do so as she gets through her meal.
Then she could work on any assignments she had left. Satisfied with her plan, she sets up her laptop infront of her and looks up the family name.
A few things came up. Mostly stuff about the painting Marcus had mentioned. She finds out that the artist of this painting was Theophil Dittarsdorf. He was the eldest son in his generation. He had died in the fire that damaged most of the manor. She went through a few different sites and some intailed that there was a theory he started the fire himself, thus committing suicide, but it was also said that he had died from a gunshot wound. The fire had also apparently burned all his other works. Like Marcus said, only ‘The Salvation’ had survived. There was a lot of different information.
Digging a bit deeper, she found out that Theophil had two sisters. His older sister had died very young and his younger sister had lived a bit more than him. Scrolling down, she is met with a picture. In the picture, a man who she assumes to be Theophil from the descriptions, sits in the middle of what looks to be a cafe table.
Next to him, a gentle faced young lady sits. She had iridescent eyes that resembled the many pearls adorning her white dress. Klara’s gaze lingered on her for a bit. She wasn’t sure why. Something was captivating about her. Her gaze, it looked like she was not quite present yet she still had a polite smile on her face. Almost dreamlike. There was also another man standing next to them. He had a young looking face, and blonde hair. He had a small smile on his face as well.
The small text below the image read, ‘Theophil and his sister Isolde with a director.’
This must be Theophil’s younger sister then. Curious, Klara searches her up this time. She learns that she was a famous opera singer, but not too long after the death of her mother and brother, she had went completely insane and killed herself. So the internet said. Klara wasn’t sure how true it was. She had found less information about Isolde then Theophil. There wasn’t much positive word about Isolde overall. It felt strange when Isolde should have been a lot more popular than her brother. From what she read atleast…
Her food was long finished and discarded as she kept researching. She didn’t really find anything new. Mostly the same stuff kept coming up. Oh well, she could always ask Horropedia later. He probably knew interesting theories atleast, even if not facts. She checks the time, surprised to see almost two hours had passed. When?? She exclaimed in her head. She closed the tab after, deciding she has dug deep enough. It was getting late anyway. She still had some work to do.
Looking around, she finds that Semmelweis had left. She hadn’t even noticed. Was she really that immersed in her research? She had barely realized the time that had passed as well…
Sighing, she gets up to stretch a little then sits back down. She had slacked off enough. She didn’t want to be berated by her professor tomorrow. Atleast the weekend was close.. She tried to motivate herself. She could relax after.
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She infact, couldn’t relax after. The evening of the next day, Horropedia had sent her a message saying he decided that they should be going to the manor this weekend, since apperently, that fit the other’s schedules best. What did he mean by ‘others’ anyway? She had thought it would only be him and vertin.
Despite complaining a little, she was still excited to go and see the place. The research she had done the night before had made her even more intrigued, and she wanted to learn more. So she was both happy and annoyed about Horropedia deciding so quickly. Well, if this was what fit best, she would go along with it. It wasn’t that much trouble. She will just have to rest later. She sends a quick message to Horropedia, asking for the location they would be meeting at. She remembers to ask the time later on as well.
He doesn’t reply quickly, probably trying to get through assignments if she had to guess. Since they would be busy on the weekend, she supposes she could try to finish some of hers too. Sighing, she picked up her laptop from the desk and moved to her bed. She rested her laptop on her lap, and leaned against her pillow. Even if it wasn’t actual rest, she could atleast have less aching limbs like this.
She tries to get through a few essays she had left unfinished, but her thoughts keep wandering back to everything she had read the previous night. She wanted to know more. Everything she had read just made her more curious. There was never anything too specific about their deaths.
Maybe as Marcus said, people didn’t care enough to linger on it. Those decades were a brutal era after all, still it made her feel bad. Especially that youngest girl, Isolde. She barely had any proper information about her. Other than stuff tied to her career. How terrible it must have felt, to watch your family die one by one. Though maybe in some way, that was freeing. She wasn’t sure what exactly brought the thought but despite her kind smile in various pictures, Isolde never seemed truly happy. It didn’t reach her eyes. Even through a simple picture she felt that. Even more so when she was photographed next to her family.
A notification sound brings her out of her muddled thoughts. Realization dawns that she was psychoanalyzing pictures of a long dead person. Wasn’t she assuming too much? Her brain wasn’t catching up with her thoughts. Maybe she needed a break. She looks at the still very much incomplete essay infront of her, and leans back on her pillow. She stares at the ceiling for a short while, then picks up her phone to check who had messaged her.
At last, Horropedia had sent her a location and time. She had guessed they would be going late, because they were technically trespassing and also morning ghost hunting probably didn’t exist, but she hadn’t guessed they would be meeting up nearly at midnight. Did it need to be that late?
She sighs, simply sending a confirmation message.
She sets her phone and laptop aside, then gets up from her bed to take a break. She would be working for a while.
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That night after falling asleep, Klara has some strange dreams. She doesn’t remember them too well. They were very hazy, but she remembers hearing someone singing. It had sounded so close yet so far, almost distorted. She couldn’t make out her surroundings at all. There was barely any light around. Like she was walking in a void. Truly dreamlike. Other than the strange darkness, she had seen a young lady infront of a strangely blurry mirror. She had very long hair that she was brushing through very slowly, almost like she was tired. For some reason, she hadn’t seen herself in that mirror. And the soft voiced lady’s face didn’t reflect well either. Most likely because it was a dream.
In another part of the dream, she remembers walking on glass shards left on the ground by what looked like broken mirrors, judging from the many strange broken reflections she struggled to recall. Aside from their glass, even their frames were bent and worn. She could hear them crunching under her feet.
She chalks up the weird dreams to her subconscious trying to scare her about ghosts. Giving up on remembering any more of said dreams, she rolls out of bed. She goes through her morning routine and gets dressed. She decides to go out to have breakfast today. Some air would do her good. As usual, Semmelweis wasn’t in the dorm. She hadn’t heard her enter at night either. She had wondered if she could ask her if she knew anything about the family as well, but she didn’t get to catch her.
She probably shouldn’t think too much about them anyway. Collecting her phone and wallet from her desk, she does a last check of herself on the mirror. Her reflection was clear, unlike that eerie dream. Satisfied, she leaves the dorm.
Throughout the day, she runs through stuff she might need with Horropedia. She wanted to make sure she was prepared, even though she heavily doubted there’s actual ghosts. You could never be so sure. Plus, even without ghosts it was still going somewhere far and that needed preparation either way.
Time passes quickly, and eventually she finds herself waiting on the meetup spot Horropedia had sent her. She was early, so no one had showed up yet. Horropedia had mentioned aside from Vertin, someone else would be coming with them. He had said she was an expert on ghosts or something. Which was exciting. Klara loved meeting new people, and hoped the girl would be nice as well. From what Horropedia said, she was probably around Vertin’s age. Most of Vertin’s friends were from her school. Atleast as far as she remembers.
After some waiting, Horropedia shows up with a car. They would probably be going to the manor with it. He greets Klara with an enthusiastic smirk which could also be described as mischievous.
“Hey there Miss Klara! Glad you could make it! Are you excited? I sure am.” He speaks up, his tone was playful. Klara could see he was certainly happy about having roped more people in to his strange outings. Klara reciprocated with a smile as well, then spoke with a confident tone.
“Hello my friend! Of course i was gonna show up, what did you think? I’m very curious how this will turn out!” She replies, trying to reflect Horropedia’s playfulness.
As they converse, Vertin and the other girl show up together. Klara’s gaze first shifts to the other girl. She had her dark poofy hair up in a ponytail and there were colored glasses on her head. She had a lot of gear strapped to her back. She wasn’t even sure what most of them were. Vertin seemed mostly bare of carry ons. Maybe she let the other girl carry instead. The girl runs up to them first, Vertin slowly walking up behind.
“Hi hi!! You’re Klara right? I heard about you from Marcus! I’m An-an Lee! You can call me An-an!” The girl enthusiastically greets her. She spoke quite fast, and it was a bit hard to catch up. Klara liked her energy though.
“Hello! Very nice to meet you An-an! I didn’t know you heard about me!” She replies quickly, trying to match her enthusiasm.
“Even Sir Vertin here told me a bit about you!” The energetic girl exclaims. At this, Vertin comes a little closer and waves in greeting.
“Hello Miss Klara.” The young girl gives her a small smile, polite as ever.
“Good to see you again Vertin! And you don’t need to call me Miss.” Klara responds, and Vertin mutters an ‘okay’.
“Have you all finished your greetings? Shall we go?” Horropedia cuts in, spinning the car keys on his fingers.
“Yup!!” An-an Lee speaks up, jumping and skipping to the car. She seemed the most excited to go.
“I can’t wait to post about this on my page!” She exclaims with glee, making her way over to the car. She gestures for Vertin and Klara to follow her. Klara pushes the last of her doubts away, and walks up to the car. Vertin follows behind her.
Vertin and An-an Lee sit in the back of the car and Klara sits at the front with Horropedia. She wasn’t sure how much she trusted Horropedia with driving, but she didn’t trust herself too much either as she had gotten her license recently so she supposes she will have to deal with it.
With everyone on board, they take off.
On the way there, Horropedia tells them some stories about the family. Most of which don’t seem too true, but they are intriguing at the very least. He goes on about how the family has been haunting the place for a century, how people who drive close by could hear singing from the broken down manor. Klara guesses he was telling these just for fun to spook them off, but they only seemed to make the girls in the back more eager. She does think that the singing part would be scary in the middle of nowhere.
“Speaking of the manor being a century old, other than hypothetical ghosts, are we sure it’s safe to walk around in there? What if it crashes on top of us or something? I doubt anyone’s maintained it.” Klara speaks up in interest, wanting to be sure they’ve considered such a thing.
“No worries Miss- i mean Klara, I know about the place. So long as we’re careful and don’t go in certain places, we’ll be fine.” Vertin responds to her query. She was leaning to the front of the car by gripping the back of Klara’s seat. Klara turns her body slightly towards the back as well, to converse properly with the girl.
“You’re a strange kid, Vertin. How do you even know about the place well? Even Horropedia seems to be relying on conspiracies.” She replies and covers her mouth as she giggles.
Vertin responds with a small giggle as well.
“People do find me strange, yes.”
“Well, do you know anything concrete about the ghosts then?” She asks the girl.
“Hm. Not too much, sorry. There’s something i heard that maybe Horropedia heard as well. The youngest daughter, Isolde is apparently the main ghost. Atleast the one that was seen most. She was seen to be mostly kind and caring, but not always stable. So she isn’t entirely safe. I don’t know if the others show up much. Maybe they’ve moved on? Maybe something else.” The girl does a little shrug at the end of her sentence.
“Where do you get your intel missy? It’s impressive” Klara questions lightheartedly. Vertin did know a lot of people, and many people knew Vertin. It probably helped.
“The pros of knowing a lot of people i suppose.” Vertin confirms her thoughts with a smile.
Klara’s thoughts linger on what Vertin had mentioned. What would seeing such a ghost be like? She wasn’t sure how much she believed in ghosts so far, so the thought brought a strange eerie feeling.
“Do you think.. we’ll actually see her?” Klara wasn’t sure why she specified her exactly. Many people had died there, surely it wouldn’t be just her.
At this, An-an Lee jumps to the conversation.
“Unless they’re a trickster spirit, ghosts don’t show themselves a lot. So it’s not too likely that we’ll see her consistently. I’m sure we’ll catch a few glances though! I have a lot of special equipment with me for it!” The energetic girl exclaims confidently.
An-an’s confidence makes Klara realize that she hadn’t yet come to terms that there might be actual spirits there. She hadn’t really had such strange encounters in her life, and she wasn’t sure how it would be if she were to actually encounter supernatural things. As a human being, the unknown made her uneasy.
The uneasy feeling brought from her small realization makes her go silent for a bit. Vertin seems to notice, staring at her in a way as if to say ‘everything alright?’. The girl’s gaze isn’t too visible in the low light of the car, but it still makes her feel better. Vertin was a mature kid, so much so she sometimes forgot how young she actually was.
Klara smiles back in confirmation. It would be alright, she’s not alone. It would be an interesting trip. It wasn’t an opportunity that would show up often, she should have her fun while she can.
She joins in on the girl’s conversation again, more lively this time. Horropedia also makes some remarks here and there. He shares more eerie theories and rumors, joking all the while.
Eventually, they reach their destination. Horropedia says they’ll have to park the car a bit further, then walk. Klara guesses that the car could be too much of a giveaway that people are here, so they shouldn’t just leave it at the front.
With the car parked, everyone hops out one by one. Horropedia leads the way, checking his phone. An-an skips behind him eagerly. Vertin and her walk around the same pace, following after the two.
Vertin hands her a flashligh and Klara smiles, thanking her. She switches it on then points it forward. She can see the light reflecting from the equipment on An-an’s back. The girl turns back to tell them to hurry up. Vertin huffs out an amused sigh, then speeds up. Klara catches up as well.
When they reach the manor, Klara is amazed, but also quite spooked. The night sky and the chill air made the estate seem really eerie, despite how grand and pretty it looked. It was a bit out of shape, though that was not surprising for a century old place that was damaged already. Klara stares at the building for a while before the others call her to go inside.
Burying the last of her doubts, she follows them inside. The door creaks behind them in the most cliche way possible, and for a second she expects it to slam shut. It thankfully doesn’t, and she breathes a little easier.
She hears the oohs and aahs of her friends before she turns her head from the door to also look around, and lets out a small gasp of her own. Despite looking quite creepy, the place was extremely pretty. Every part of the enterence seemed so carefully decorated, despite not being in the best condition. A little way from the enterence was a lounge. There were large couches that seemed fancy and comfortable despite their aging. She spotted a piano in the corner. It looked quite elegant. She wondered if it was still playable.
Looking up, she noticed a large chandelier. Despite looking beautiful, it made her concerned on how safe it was here. She decided to not pass under it to be sure. She warned the others as well, dragging them to the side with herself.
“Hmm… where here would have the most activity..?” An-an Lee wonders outloud, spinning and looking around. Her eyes seem to shine as she gets an idea. Klara feels slightly concerned.
“Oh i know, how about we go to where Theophil burned! Surely he hangs around there!” The girl seems to have already approved this plan on her own, and turns towards the large stairs at the end of the hall. Before she can enter the hall, Klara stops her.
“Hey hey- isn’t that the most damaged part of the estate? Are we sure we want to do that? I mean i’m sure they’ve fixed it around a bit but still. Maybe it shouldn’t be our immediate choice?”
“Relax Klara, we’ll be fine! This isn’t my first time, don’t worry we’ll be careful! Plus, starting from the top is easier. That way we’re more alert for the bad parts.” The dark haired girl explains, and Klara doesn’t refute again. An-an and the others were more experienced than her, so she guesses she could trust them. Hopefully.
“Alright.. but don’t rush..” she replies in slight defeat. She was simply concerned for their well being. She knew despite being older, Horropedia wasn’t too responsible so she would be the parent around here. The girls were young, and she wanted to make sure they would be alright.
An-an beams a large grin at her, showing her genuinity and excitement. She then gestures the others to follow her.
“See, if this were a movie, after this would be where everything goes wrong!” Horropedia teases in a low voice, as if speaking up is going to alert ghosts.
Klara elbows him lightly, rolling her eyes.
“Oh shut up, if anything you would probably agitate ghosts the most.” She replies, a small grin on her face.
“You wound me Miss Klara!” Horropedia exclaims, lifting up his hand to wipe away a fake tear from his eye.
“Besides… you know spirits always go for the inexperienced ones… you better watch out.” He giggles, lighty pushing Klara back in return for the elbow.
“Yeah yeah..” Klara mutters, deciding to end their banter for now.
They reach the end of the hall, and climb up the stairs. She tells them to be slow and careful, lest anyone fall through.
They make it up to the top floor safely and are met with a long corridor horizontal to the stairs. It streched from the east to the west of the house. There were many doors along the dusty walls. Vertin points her flashlight to both ends of the corridor, trying to pinpoint where they should be going. The others look around a bit as well, but stay close to the stairs, having not decided what they should be doing yet.
“I think Theophil’s room should be that way? But it might be a bit far.” Vertin informs, looking back at her friends. This place was quite big, and the pitch dark didn’t help.
“How about me and An-an go right and you two go left?” Horropedia suggests. Klara is immediately not too fond of this idea. Splitting up always goes wrong, doesn’t it?
“If the room is not your way, just come back here and go right.” He adds, seeming confident.
The others don’t seem too opposed to the idea.
“You got it boss!” An-an says, seeming cheerful even in the darkness.
“We’ll be in the same floor anyway, it’s fine” Horropedia reassures. He pushes up his glasses, staring at them expectantly. Vertin seems to be alright with the idea, and Klara guesses being with her would make it better.
“I’m fine with it. Miss Klara?” Vertin replies, then turns to her. She had called her miss again. It was polite but it made Klara feel old.
“No need for miss, silly. And.. i suppose it’s fine since we won’t be completely alone.” She answers reluctantly, fidgeting with the flashlight in her hand.
“Alright then! See ya later!” Horropedia exclaims, already turning on his way to the right of the hall. An-an gives them a thumbs up and waves at them before following behind him.
They watch them leave for a few seconds, then turn left to their own way. Klara leads, not wanting something to happen to the younger girl. Even though Vertin is probably more experienced than her in strange things like this, she can’t help but worry. The girl doesn’t seem to protest though, and follows along with a light smile on her face.
They walk along the corridor while making stops for rooms along the way. As they make their way along different rooms, she hears a strange sound. It sounds far away, but it sounded like singing. It was muffled by the distance, and quiet like humming. She had thought she was imagining things at first, as it wasn’t too clear but the more they walked, the more she could hear the sound.
“Hey Vertin… do you hear any singing..?” Klara asks in a timid voice, almost whispering as if whatever’s singing is going to hear them. She felt like the more she thought about it, the louder the sound got. Was she going crazy?
Vertin turns to her, then pauses. There is quiet as she tries to listen and hear anything. Klara was starting to get goosebumps.
“I think i can hear something, but it’s really faint. It’s probably from downstairs.” The girl states, making Klara even more anxious.
“Uh.. you sure? It sounds closer to me..” She mumbles, looking around at the same time.
“Maybe you just having an affinity for these things Klara.” Vertin replies, trying to reassure her in her own way but it only makes Klara more on edge.
She pauses, listening again. She tries following the voice to see if it will get any clearer. Vertin trails behind her, checking any rooms they pass by. She makes an abrupt stop when she hears something crunching beneath her feet. Looking down, she sees broken mirrors, strawn about the floor. The scene is eeriely familiar, and she gets hit with a wave of deja vu. Didn’t she dream about this? How strange.
When she points her flashlight at the ground, it reflects from the broken pieces. She could almost see herself in the broken reflections. The singing sounded close, she kept walking and walking. The light crunching sound accompanied her every step as she made her way over. She had long forgotten Vertin behind, overgoing her promise of seemingly looking after her.
She followed the trail of the broken mirrors until she was close to the end of the corridor, where she could see a room with big open windows. The windows rocked back and forth lightly from the night breeze. The sound was distant. She walked over the bent frame of a mirror to make her way over, when she heard the floor creak under her hurried steps. Suddenly, before she could move back, the damaged floor gave out under her.
She let out a yelp in panic, not even having the time to react properly. She felt herself hit the ground, limbs already aching in pain. She couldn’t protect her head well and she could already feel the headache setting in. Who even makes their ceiling this high? How far down did she fall? It certainly felt like a lot. Klara complained still lying down, not having recovered from her fall. Her flashlight had fallen out of her hand, and most likely off now, as the room was quite dark. Great. She hoped it wasn’t broken. She winced slightly while rolling to her side to push herself up.
She managed to sit up. She searched around where she was sitting, trying to see if the flashlight fell close by. She only found debris that fell along with her, thankfully not on her. The impact was enough pain already. Trying to crawl around searching for the flashlight seemed useless. She could heardly see, her limbs hurt and she felt so dizzy from hitting her head. It also didn’t help that the only light that could make her search easier was the moonlight coming through the windows. Which was barely anything. She let out a defeated sigh, pressing her palms into her eyes.
She was starting to feel panic set in, which was worsened by the fact that she just realized the previous singing sounded even closer. Like a few rooms away almost. She let out a shaky exhale, then inhaled again. It was fine, that was probably… her right? Vertin had said Isolde was alright, she wouldn’t do anything malicious. Vertin said so, she better be correct. She usually is, but thinking logically at present was hard for Klara.
She stood up with some difficulty. She held onto the wall for support as she walked out of the room. She could barely see anything. Her eyes weren’t adjusting to the absolute darkness. She may as well be blind here. The only thing she could register was the texture of the wall she was holding onto, and that eerie singing. Her head hurt, her ears were ringing slightly. It was almost like she could hear her own heartbeat.
She looked into the darkess, with the little light coming in from the windows she could make out that this was probably a large hallway. The woman’s soft voice echoed through it. It was quite beautiful, almost enchanting despite how haunting it was in this setting. She tried looked around, feeling quite lost on what to do. How big was this place? She turned her head back to the direction of the voice, feeling the urge to follow it again. She had chills all over her body, like someone had dropped a bucket of cold water over her. But despite it, she followed the voice. She was too creeped out, but also too curious to leave this place without seeing nothing.
Though reluctant, she kept up the pace. Maybe she should have sat down for a bit longer, as her head felt quite heavy and she had a limp but she kept on moving. The song sounded closer and closer each door she passed, and eventually she arrived at the room she was sure the sound was coming from. There was a dim light coming from behind the door. The door looked strangely normal compared to every other room in the mansion. It was ajar, allowing a peek inside.
She held the doorframe to steady herself, then opened the door enough to pass through it. It creaked just slightly as she opened it. Then suddenly, the singing stopped. The immediate silence was chilling, making her tense up. She looked around then saw a dark haired young lady sitting infront of a vanity, staring directly at her. There was a delicate comb in her hand. Her stare being the first thing to see the moment Klara had turned around, was quite surprising to say the least. It made her jump back slightly, tripping over something she didn’t see behind her yet, almost falling down. Her heart was beating so fast, she could hear it thundering in her ears. She didn’t know what she was expecting, but she wasn’t expecting someone this visible. This real.
She felt so dizzy, her legs hurt and she was shaking slightly from everything combined. It was challenging to stand. Despite everything, she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the lady. Her body was telling her to leave, but she was stuck in place. She watched as the lady’s expression changed. She looked a bit worried. She stood up, making her way over to Klara.
Klara, half leaning onto the wall, wasn’t sure if she should take a step back. This was Isolde for sure, she looked exactly like the pictures she had searched up. Though her eyes seemed more hazy and distant. Like a clouded sky. She was even more beautiful than any of her pictures. Klara would have lingered on that more if not given her current circumstances. Her white gown almost glowed against the dark background, giving her an ethereal look. While Klara was busy taking this in, Isolde had made her way over.
She reached out an arm, as if offering support, having observed how Klara looked like she was going to fall over with the slightest breeze. Well this was certainly a first impression. She barged into this lady’s room, without permission, and was looking like she had taken a beating. Before she could open her mouth to attempt to redeem herself, Isolde spoke up. She had such a kind and lovely voice, which would be expected from a lady like her, but it still surprised Klara.
“Are you alright Miss?”