Haunting Heart.


Chapter 1 - Lost in the Mist.

It was a warm afternoon and the sky was a deep shade of blue on a cloudless day.
We were walking along a desert road, when a motorized wagon appeared up ahead in the distance.
As it approached, we could hear the sound of the steam cylinder engine make several "Pops!!" and "Bangs!!" only to continue for several moments with a low rumbling hum.
The wagon drew closer and eventually pulled to the side of the road.
The driver was a middle aged man with pointed ears and beady eye's, he also wore a straw hat with loose overalls.
He shut off the small engine and adjusted his hat up to get a good look at the passers by.
"Well where might you be heading strangers?"
"We're just looking for a town with fresh water". I calmly answered.
"The closest town is 40 miles west of here. . . I could give you a lift, but I'll have to let you off after 8 miles". The man offered.
After looking him over for a couple of seconds, I was pretty sure that he could be trusted.
"Alright, it sounds like a deal". I replied in agreement.
"The names Argen Grey". The man said with a smile as he tipped his hat forward.
"I'm Felina Nekomura, it's a pleasure to meet you!" My traveling companion exclaimed while bowing her head.
She then forced the back of my head down for my own introduction.
"Eh, Ryou Hayashi. . . It's a pleasure, I guess. . ." I answered with a rather poor attempt of politeness, at which the man laughed with the response.
"You don't have to be formal".
The man started up the motor as Felina and I hopped into the back of the wagon.
Being a dimension created from other dimensions, the environment is not always stable in this world.
There are places where you could be standing in the middle of a desert, and after traveling less then a mile, you could actually be standing on the peek of a snow covered mountain.
There are also many places where the time of day stands still, or changes at a rapid pace.
It could be winter in one location, and a hot summer day 20 feet away.
But the largest concern for all travelers is the countless number of voids.
Several people have attempted in the past to map out all of the locations.
This attempt was partly successful, they did manage to create a map of various safe zones.
However, many of these people disappeared while searching the other locations.
After a long and well considered discussion was held by the survivors of these expeditions.
They created a dimensional map, the contents of which were labeled on a scale as:
Safe Zones, Unknown Zones, and Hazardous Zones.
The unknown zones are places that haven't been explored, while the hazardous zones are places that have either been explored only to find them in such a dangerous state that people are advised not to enter, or all that have entered have never returned.
With that said, I feel that I have described this world as best as anyone could.
Several miles down the road, the engine came to an abrupt stop, and the man turned to say.
"Well, this is as far as I can take you. Be careful, there are many hazardous places all along these parts. . ." He reached in his pocket to pull out a long pipe, after filling and lighting it, he continued.
"And most of them haven't been explored, so don't stray too far off the path". The man said with an expression of utmost seriousness, and concern.
"I'll keep that in mind, and thanks for the ride". I answered to the man while stepping of the side of his vehicle.
"Thank you very much!" Felina exclaimed with a bright smile.
"You take care now!" Said the man.
He started his machine and drove off.
"See‘ya around old man". I said as the wagon slowly distanced itself, the man gave a slight wave of his hand before disappearing from sight.
I turned in the direction the man had indicated as west, and we began are long walk.
After a half hour had past, we started to get thirsty.
I saw a tree 20 feet from the road, so we decided to stop for a quick breather.
"How much water do we have left?" I asked Felina.
"Not much. . . I hope we can find a watering hole somewhere". Said Felina.
"Well, there's not a very good chance of that happening, since I'm sure the old man would have mentioned something about it". I answered.
"Yeah, that's true. . ." Felina answered with a displeased sigh.
"Don't worry about it, we'll find something along the way, I'm sure of it". I said with a slight smile.
Though my actual feelings were quite the opposite.
"Yeah, your right!" Answered Felina with an over dramatized explanation.
After are lying contest had ended, we slowly fell asleep under the shade of the tree.
Several hours later, I awoke to find that dusk was rapidly approaching and fog had appeared all around.
I woke Felina and informed her that we had to get back on the road before we'd loose sight of it.
Unfortunately, the road was already covered in fog, and it wasn't where I thought we'd left it.
"This is bad!" I said while frantically looking in different directions for the invisible road.
"Maybe we should stay here and wait for the fog to clear?" Suggested Felina.
"No, that would be a very bad idea". I answered.
Voids have a tendency to appear around fogy places.
So it would be a far worse decision to remain in the fog then to actually go out and look for the road.
After our search for the road proved to be an utter failure, we decided to go back to the tree, but we couldn't find it.
"Where is it?!" I exclaimed.
Now Felina was starting to panic, so I tried to calm myself down and say something relaxing, but nothing could come to mind.
All of a sudden, I saw a shadow in the distance.
I wasn't sure what it was, but it couldn't have been much worse then where we currently were.
So I started running toward the object while keeping a firm grip on Felina's wrist.
"What is it?!" Exclaimed Felina.
"I think I see something!" I shouted in response.
As we drew near, I could plainly see that the object was in fact a large House that appeared to have been abandoned several hundred years earlier.
The fog mysteriously grew thinner as we approached the structure and stepped up onto the front porch.
It gave me an eerie feeling that we were being watched by something "non-human", which almost tempted me to run back out and try my chances in the fog.
The porch was long and extended to both sides of the House.
I felt more comfortable with the idea of staying on the porch, and avoiding the House's interior.
However, Felina grew evermore curious as the time past, and I eventually went along with her suggestion of exploring the old House.
Felina turned the nob and the door opened with a long creak.
We both entered.


Chapter 2 - Entering the House.

I found that the House was actually much larger on the inside then it had appeared from outside.
The entry was dark, dusty and gloomy.
I also noticed that it had a door to both the far left and far right of the front entrance.
There was a carpet in the center of the room, and directly in front of the entrance, as my imagination had already expected to find, was a large staircase that led to several floors.
Behind this staircase stood yet another pair of doors leading to what I assumed to be the middle of the House.
"What do you think is behind those two doors?" Felina asked with a growing interest.
"The Dragon, what else?" I answered sarcastically.
As I expected, Felina did not find my comment amusing, but only gave me a slightly aggressive look, and became even more interested in finding out what was beyond the two doors.
We advanced several paces, and the front door mysteriously creaked to an abrupt shut.
I ran back and tried to open it, but to no avail.
A large deadbolt extended across the entire length of the door, and it had a small key hole in the center.
The thought that it could possibly manage to lock itself, puzzled the hell out of me.
I finally decided to give up as Felina started for the double doors.
"Hey! Wait a second!" I shouted to her as she pulled the doors open.
However, as I ran across the room, a trap door hidden by the carpet gave way and I fell down a shaft into the Basement.
I gradually managed my self up, though I could feel a slight pain in my southern region from the harsh landing.
The Basement appeared as a dark, yet well furnished room.
The first thing that caught my eye was the large brightly lit fireplace.
After staring into the fire for only a brief second, the realization hit me, that someone had to light it!
Then, as though it were an answer to my greatest fear, a loud creaking sound came from directly behind me.
I turned to see what had caused the noise.
There before me stood a large casket.
I could plainly see that the lid was starting to open from the inside.
But I didn't stick around long enough to see, since I had already begun my marathon run up the stairway.
Upon reaching the top, I opened the door and slammed it shut behind me.
I was now in a room that resembled a rather crudely formed Laboratory.
It might have passed for a Frankenstein film, if it wasn't for all of the shrunken heads and rather bohemian decor.
The room was divided by a long hospital curtain, and I could hear movement on the other side.
"Click. . Snap. . Click. . Snap." The noise went on.
The thought then occurred to me, that maybe I shouldn't have slammed the door so loudly.
I tried to sneak across the room without making any noise.
But as I reached the halfway point, I got a rather good glimpse at what it was on the other side of the curtain.
It was a large guillotine, and as soon as I set my eyes on it.
"Cligg! . . Thling!!" a round object rolled across the floor.
It was too dark for me to see what it was, but I had a good idea.
The door was now in front of me, and I rushed through, closing it with greater care this time around.
I was now in a dark Hallway that had an ornate mirror at one end.
Something about the mirror seemed to draw me toward it, when all of a sudden, I heard a mumbled sound.
"R...u!..." I listened for a brief moment, and this time I could hear it plainly.
"Ryou!!" I was sure that it was Felina's voice, and it came from behind the mirror.
I rushed to the mirror hoping that I could find some way to get to her.
"Felina! Hold on, I'll. . ." But as I spoke, the mirror started to ripple, and I heard a giggling sound come from beyond it.
"Teheheheh!!" I stopped one foot away from the mirror, as the realization occurred, that I must have been tricked.
The mirror continued to ripple more vibrantly then before, and an apparition appeared inside.
"Eheheh! . . . Boo!!" The ghostly figure's appearance was all it took to set me on the move.
After preforming a 180 degree turn, I ran as fast as I could down the Hallway.
I then entered the first door I came across, which led me to the Attic.
The room was typical of any old House's Attic, dusty floor, stacks of books, toys and old boxes lying about.
However, there was one thing in the room that seemed to stand out more then the rest, since everything else was placed far back from it.
It was a large sea chest.
Though I knew it was wrong, I just couldn't keep myself from taking a little peek at what was inside.
Surprisingly, I found that it was unlocked.
The lid popped open to reveal. . . Absolutely nothing.
It was filled to the rim with sand, but after a bit of digging, I hit something solid.
What it was turned out to be an old book.
The cover was written in some strange language that I have never seen before, but could somehow understand.
I opened the book to the first page, and somehow, though I had no idea what words were written, I knew what they meant.
It was as though they were translated in my mind.
I turned to a random page, and started to read.
"The Spell of Eternal Love." Is what the page's title read.
"Thee whom repeats these following words, shall be cursed by having every being of the opposite gender falling madly in love with ye.
The proximity of this spells effect shall end after a 10 hour period has past, though thy curse shall remain for as long as this here book shall be in existence." I read the instructions sarcastically.
"What a bunch of hooey!" I said with a smirk, and went on to read the dreaded words.


Chapter 3 - Dispute.

The once quiet Hallway suddenly burst into a loud clamor, as the door to the Laboratory violently flew open.
This commotion was brought about by two girls in the midst of a heated argument.
"Don't blame this on me! Its Okiku's fault for allowing that intruder to get in! And besides. . . Wasn't it Your room that it sneaked out of?" A girl with red twin tails, wearing a pointy hat and dark purple outfit, rudely stated as she entered the doorway.
But before she could take another step, the other girl grabbed hold of her hair and with lighting speed, and propelled the red head back into the Lab.
This was accompanied by a quick scream of agony and a loud crash.
An instant or so later, the other girl passed through the door while wiping the excess dust from her hands.
"Honestly, such a lack of sophistication is hardly becoming of a younger sister. . . By now, you should know your place". The second girl had a pair of slightly pointed ears, and long lambent purple hair that flowed down the back of her red gothic dress.
The sound of stumbling could be heard as the red headed girl wobbled through the open door.
"Ouch! Hey! What was that for?!" Asked the red head.
"If you must ask, then your too lethargic to comprehend my answer. . ." The response from the purplish haired girl only increased the level of hostility.
In the meantime, the mirror had reverted back to rippling, as it had before, and the ghostly apparition of a silvery blue haired girl, in a light blue gothic dress, entered the room through the mirror.
The other two girls were so engrossed in their battle of wits, that they didn't even pay heed to the newcomer.
"Hey!" Exclaimed the blue haired girl.
But the other two continued to ignore her presence.
The ghost girl made several more attempts to communicate, but all had ended in failure.
This eventually caused her to reach an excessively high level of agitation.
"HEY!!" She shouted at the top of her lungs, causing the room to shake from the surging impulse wave.
"What?!!" The two girls responded while abruptly halting their dispute.
"I caught one!" Said the ghost girl with a childish glee.
"Where is it?!" Exclaimed the red headed girl.
"Behind the mirror". The ghost girl pulled down on a candlestick just to the side of the mirror, this caused the glass panel to pivot and expose a passage that was sealed off from the other side, and so Felina was trapped between the two.
The red headed girl took hold of Felina by the wrist, and wrenched her through the opening.
"Who the hell do you think you are?!" Shouted the red headed girl.
"Come now Medea. . ." Said the purple haired girl, as she tried to reason with the irrational red head.
"Now you know that's not the way we to treat an outsider". The violet haired girl's comment was just starting to make Felina feel a little more at ease, when the girl suddenly turned to Felina, and said.
"Perhaps I should drain every ounce of blood from your physical being?" Her words had a sinister sincerity to them that placed Felina in a state of fear.
But it was moreover the two long fangs that extended from the girls slightly open mouth that placed her in absolute terror.
"Wait a minute Lilith! Don't get in too big of a hurry! I can always use a new test subject. . . while its still living of course. . ." Protested the red headed girl, that was addressed to earlier as Medea.
"This Is Great! Now we can play together forever!!" The ghost girl childishly expressed while embracing a voodoo doll as though it were a teddy bear.
"Okiku, have you already forgotten that it was your lack of responsibility that allowed her in to begin with?" Stated Lilith, the vampire.
This made Okiku, the ghost girl, quite uncomfortable, and so she tried to change the subject.
"Uhh. . . Oh! I just remembered!" Exclaimed Okiku.
"Remembered what?" Asked Medea impatiently.
"There was another one!" Stated Okiku.
"Another what?!" Shouted Medea, all the while growing evermore impatient.
"Another intruder!" Responded Okiku.
"Then why didn't. ." Before Medea could finish, she was shoved aside by Lilith.
"Where did the intruder go?" Asked Lilith.
"Up stair's, into the Attic". Okiku's remark caused the color from Lilith and Medea's faces, to turn a blanched shade of pale.
Without taking the time to explain, Lilith flew down the Hall in the direction of the Attic staircase.
Medea trailed closely behind, keeping a strong grasp on Felina's wrist as she dragged her along, and thus leaving Okiku behind.
This made Okiku very angry, until she remembered that all she had to do was go straight up through the ceiling, which she eventually did.


Chapter 4 - The Enchanted Book.

The Attic door burst wide open as Lilith stormed into the room.
Her intention was to wreak havoc on whomever she came across.
But for some odd reason, she came to an abrupt stop, and stood completely still, as though she were in a trance.
Then Medea dashed into the room, only to halt along side of her older sister, all the while, continuing to keep hold of Felina's arm.
At the same time, Okiku had entered while passing through the floor.
There stood the highly confused Ryou, still holding the book in his hands.
But this is not what the four girls saw, or rather, imagined to see.
Instead, Felina saw him as a knight in shining armor, with a white stallion by his side.
Where Lilith saw a dark lord in a long black cape and rather tenebrific suit of armor, with a red eyed steed as black as coal standing adjacent to him.
What Medea pictured was a knight in a rather goofily colored outfit, that was almost across between Zorro and a musketeer, and his noble steed was a camel.
Okiku on the other hand, saw him as a cartoonish looking knight, with an oddly proportioned horse at his side.
Where the horse came from, why he was there, and where he disappeared to for that matter, is completely unknown. . .
After several moments had past, Ryou snapped back into his senses and tried to apologize for the misuse of their property.
But he accidentally lost his footing and stumbled backward over the old trunk.
To his surprise, the three strange girls rushed to his aid.
"Are you alright?!" Said Lilith as she immodestly held him off the floor.
"Lilith!" Medea shouted aggressively in protest to Lilith's course of action.
"Ah. . ." Ryou tried to speak, but was quickly moved to the other side of the room before he could get a word in.
"You must be tired, please have a rest before you try to speak". Stated Lilith as Medea uncovered and quickly brushed off an old chair, which Ryou was eventually forced into.
To both Lilith, Medea, and Ryou's dismay, Okiku quite randomly appeared out of nowhere, while falling into his lap.
"Okiku!!" Shouted Lilith and Medea in protest, as they dragged Okiku from his seat.
Felina was still standing in both confusion and almost shock from the rapid change in events, as Lilith, Medea and Okiku all battled over Ryou.
As they asked him questions, one would attempt to get close, while the other two would quickly drag her away, as they themselves would try to gain possession over him.
This went on for quite awhile, until Lilith, after being pushed aside, angrily stated.
"Will the two of you leave him be?! Your uncouth actions are making him feel uncomfortable!" Stated Lilith angrily.
"Uncouth?! You were doing the same thing. . ." Medea coolly responded, at which Lilith gave an aggressive glare.
"Uhm. . . Excuse me. . ." Stated Felina as she tried to gather the small crowds attention.
"I'm very sorry for any inconveniences that we may have caused, but we should really be going now".
"Hmm. . . Go where?" Medea asked in a sarcastic tone.
"Uhm. . . Well. . ." Felina tried to respond, but was quickly interrupted.
"Don't speak of such nonsense". Lilith answered as though she were giving the orders.
"The fog hasn't cleared yet. . . But your perfectly welcome to stay here for the night". Said Lilith.
"They are?!" Okiku asked, only to receive a nudge in the gut from Medea.
"Are you sure about that? We've already caused you more then enough trouble". Ryou answered in a reluctant tone.
He was well aware of the dangers of entering the fog, but at this moment in time, he was more concerned with what might happen if they were to stay.
"Oh, your not any trouble". Lilith wore a mischievous expression as she answered Ryou, she then turned and gave a menacing glance at Felina.
Lilith then turned back to Ryou and said.
". . . It would seem that we haven't properly exchanged greetings. . ." Lilith continued to gaze at Ryou as though she were waiting for a response.
". . . Oh! Uhm, my name is Ryou Hayashi, and this is. . ." But before Ryou could finish.
"Felina Nekomura, we're very pleased to meet your acquaintance!" Felina interrupted.
"My name is Lilith Ilmarinen, and these are my two hebetudinous younger sisters, Medea and Okiku. . ." Stated Lilith.
"What's a hebetudinous?" Okiku quietly asked Medea, only to receive a glare in response.
"Okiku!" Lilith called to her second hebetudinous younger sister.
"Hai!!" Okiku quickly responded.
"I want you to escort Ryou to the Master's Chamber, he will be staying there for the night". Following Lilith's instruction, Okiku expeditiously grabbed hold of Ryou by the hand, and the before Ryou could protest, was quickly hauled away.
Lilith then turned to Medea and whispered an instruction that was not intended for Felina to hear, but it made her uneasy by the cheerful reaction she saw in Medea's face.


Chapter 5 - To Drink, or not to Drink?

The conversation between the two conspirators continued on for quite some time.
Felina could only imagine what they were plotting, but the fear she had experienced earlier returned, and at a far greater level.
It was then that Felina realized the conversation had come to a close, and Medea was gesturing for Felina's attention.
". . . Quit spacing out like that". Medea stated with an annoyed stare.
"Oh, I'm very sorry!" Answered Felina.
"Whatever. . . Come on, I'll show you to your room". Medea reluctantly said as she approached the door.
Lilith was leaning against a piece of furniture, and as Medea walked by, they gave each other a slight nod, as though a secret plan had just been set in motion.
Felina felt as though they were retracing their steps, as Medea led her down the stairs and back into the dark Hallway.
Medea then stopped outside of a door, and said.
"This is my Laboratory. . . The Kitchen is right next to it, and you will find your room in the back". Medea pointed to another door a few paces down the hall, right next to the mirror.
She then paused for a moment, and looked around as though she were trying to confirm that they were in fact alone.
"Lilith's room is in the Basement's Wine Cellar, but when talking to her, refer to it as the 'Vineyard Room', or you will be killed". Medea then continued on at a more casual course.
"Okiku's room is the Nursery, which is on the second floor". Medea then pointed upwards.
"And Ryou will be staying in the Master's Chamber, which is on the third floor". Medea ended her brief tour and opened the door to the Laboratory.
"Come with me". Medea stated with a commanding expression, as she passed through the door.
"Do you want anything to eat?" Asked Medea.
"Uhm, no I'm fine". Answered Felina.
"Whatever. . ." Medea unveiled a curtain in the middle of the room, revealing a large guillotine.
Felina jumped back with a shout.
"What's with you?" Asked Medea.
"Tha. . . that's. . . a guillotine?!!" Felina exclaimed in a state of shock.
Medea then looked at the guillotine and said.
"So? I use it as a tool to cut food with. . . You should see what it can do to a watermelon. . ." Medea dazed off with an almost sadistic expression.
"I gave Okiku a smaller version for her birthday several generations back". Stated Medea.
"So its like a. . . giant bread knife?" Asked Felina.
". . . You could call it that". Answered Medea.
Felina started to feel more at ease.
"You sure you don't want anything to eat?" Asked Medea.
"Uhm, no. . . I think I'll be fine for the night". Answered Felina.
Medea then approached her workbench, and started to fiddle around with some oddly formed contraption.
Several moments passed and Felina was about to speak, when Medea raised her right hand and pointed to a door.
"The Kitchen is through that door. . . Leave".
Felina acknowledged with a nod, and approached the door, but then turned to ask Medea a question.
"Uhm. . ." But Felina was interrupted before she could speak.
"You'll find clean sheets and a change of clothes in the closet, if you need anything else, knock on the door". Said Medea.
Felina found a small dusty room in the back of the Kitchen, as Medea had stated.
She then opened the closet door and found a group of sheets that were covered in dust, so she took several of the lower sheets.
After shaking out, and applying the new sheets, Felina crawled into the small bed.
The mattress was ridged and firm, but not entirely uncomfortable.
As the events of the day ran through her mind, two questions kept bothering her.
What were these bizarre feelings that she had toward Ryou? and why did the residents allow her to live, after stating that they were going to kill her?
She then thought of the suspicious conversation between Lilith and Medea, and how Medea had informed her of the locations around the Mansion.
What were they plotting? and should she really trust them?
Though she did not understand the sudden change that had taken place, Felina was sure that if the three sisters had any ill intentions, they would have already carried them out.
Felina tried to dismiss these ideas, and bring about sleep, but to no avail.
It was then that Felina came to the conclusion, that worrying about what might happen will not make matters any better.
As she sat in her small bed, a feeling of loneliness started to sink in, after all, the room had obviously not been lived in for quite a number of years, and Felina knew that in these strange surroundings, there was no possible way for her to fall asleep, and so she decided to take a chance and ask for outside help.
Felina crawled out of her bed, and knocked on the door to the Laboratory, but received no replay.
Upon entering, she found that Medea was not anywhere to be found.
She noticed that the guillotine from earlier had been covered with a cloth tarp, and that the workbench where she last saw Medea, was now cleared, and all of the tools were put away.
This surprised Felina, that the space which appeared so unpleasantly before, was actually well maintained by it's Mad Scientist of a master.
". . . It actually looks. . . clean. . ." Stated Felina.
"Are you that surprised?" Asked a hidden voice from above.
Felina jumped as she came to the realization that a single hammock stood a short distance above her head.
"Oh, I didn't realize that you were still here!" Stated the now quite embarrassed Felina.
Medea dropped down from her suspended bed, and with a slight glare, said.
"Save it. . . So, is there something you need?" Medea asked with a somewhat annoyed expression.
"Well, I was having trouble getting to sleep. . . and I figured that this being a Laboratory, you might have something that could help". Felina said with a slight blush.
Medea's face faded from the cold annoyed look that Felina had grown used to seeing, to an almost overjoyed expression of self satisfaction.
"Oh, so that's what your wanting!!" Medea exclaimed as she ran over to a wall mounted shelf.
After shifting through several glass jars and boxes, Medea returned with a small bottle.
"Here. . . this is guaranteed to make you sleep like a kitten!" Stated Medea while displaying a suspicious looking smile.
". . . Thank you. . ." Felina answered, not knowing how to properly reply.
"Now, make sure that you drink the entire bottle, or its full effect wont work". Medea said this in a slightly stern manner, that gave Felina chills.
After thanking Medea for the medicine, Felina returned to her small room and pondered over the situation.
She wanted to know just what the 'full effect' that Medea had mentioned was, but the thought of what would have happen if she had asked, concerned her far more.
Felina raised the bottle under the light, hoping to find some sort of warning label or ingredients, but all it displayed was a crudely drawn picture of a sleeping cat.
Could it be poisonous?
"Hmm. . . Well, as long as I avoid drinking the whole bottle, then I shouldn't have to worry about the 'full effect'". Felina decided to go ahead and drink from the bottle, but only a sip.
". . . Ghahgh!!! Hihch!!! Chuth!!!" The medicine had a terrible taste followed by a burning sensation, which caused Felina to gag as though her throat were clogged.
Felina dashed into the Kitchen, stuck her head under the faucet, and proceeded to pour water down her throat.
It took her several minutes to cough the bad taste out of her mouth.
"So that's what she was up to!" Felina exclaimed, as she returned to bed.
"Well, at least I didn't drink the full bottle". This time, Felina fell fast asleep.


Chapter 6

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