The Trio Series: The Haunted Mansion

"The Haunted Mansion"
~By: Densio
Dedicated to: E.I. and A.G.

PART I

"O, I could play the woman with mine eyes, and braggart with mine own tongue! But, gentle heavens, cut short all intermission; front to front bring thou this friend of Scotland and myself; Within my sword's length set him. If he 'scape, Heaven forgive him too!"

"Awesome, Densio!" praised Aya. That was, what? The 5th time I impressed her. Not that I thought she was being merciful; I just wondered what exactly was she praising me for. I seldom voiced the lines right: every single time I listen to them they sound dead and...well, dead.

"She's right, you did good." my friend Rai said. She had the script in her hands, re-reading my lines...Rai was a little harder to please. She knew as well as I did what my flaws were...But lo and behold! She praised me. That must mean I really did do something right.

I put down the microphone and cleared my throat...I felt a little parched from all that talking. It's definitely not easy playing 4 people, with lines that dont belong to this era. Coming from Shakespeare though, I expected no less.

I stood up from my comfy position and stretched. It felt good to flex my stiff limbs again. "Can I have some water, Aya? I've had enough of this already." I said somewhat hoaresly. Aya was busy editing and arranging the lines.
"Sure. Pitchel's on the table." She said.
I walked over to the long, tan colored table and helped myself to a drink...Refreshing. I wasn't the only one who could use a refreshment though-Rai was concentrating on the script so intently I started to wonder if there was something wrong.

"What's up, Rai?" I asked.

"I can't seem to grasp Macduff's emotions here. It's confusing!" She complained, throwing her left hand up in frustration.
Yep, we were voicing characters from Macbeth. I was Macbeth, Banquo, Ross and Lennox. Rai was Macduff, Lady Macbeth, and the Witch Queen. Aya wasn't that interested in voice acting. She preferred editing and arranging the lines--which she does-- but voiced some minor characters anyway.

"Ugh, why did Shakespeare have to write it like this anyway??" She complained again.
I rolled my eyes at her rant. "Oh come on--This is Shakespeare for crying out loud. And what are you complaining for? You voice the lines nicely every time."
"Only because I undestand them, and the emotions they're trying to convey!" In the corner of my eye, I saw Aya heave a sigh quietly. She didn't always like it when Rai and I squabbled. Though we weren't really arguing just yet, she knew it'd get there if we both didn't stop.

I was going to argue with her again when my cellphone rang. Rai and Aya instantly looked at it, as did I. I picked up my worn out cellphone and saw the number, which means it's not listed in my long list of contacts.
"Who's that?" Rai asked, her stern debating voice dissipating.
"Dunno. It's an unknown number... Should I answer it?"
"Like heck you wont." Aya answered. She knew I was too curious to turn it down.
True enough, I shrugged and hit the "answer" button and greeted the caller. The guy's voice on the other end was as unfamiliar as the number.

"Densio?" He asked innocently in a somewhat smooth, deep voice. Innocent or not, I didn't let my guard down.
"Who's this?" I asked sternly. It's never really a good idea to sound friendly towards an unknown caller.
"Oh, sorry. This is Norvin--I'm a friend of Orville Chiles." He replied. There was a hint of nervousness in his voice...

But that guy he mentioned--Orville Chiles! Better known as "Violin boy" between me and Rai. He was a good friend of mine, and I doubt he'd give my number away for no reason. "Oh, Orville! You should have mentioned that earlier. Yeah, this is Densio. Something wrong?" I asked, this time sounding friendlier.

"Actually, yeah...You see, we have this retreat next week, and we're renting a small mansion somewhere in your subdivision, Sehai..."
'Small mansion'. Interesting. Since when has there been a small mansion in our subdivision? Sehai has a reputation for having some of the finest houses in our city. "small" would be close to an insult when you're trying to describe Sehai....
Of course, I didn't mean to brag. My parents were the ones who chose to live there, not me... "Go on." I urged. He probably noticed my short pause.

"Oh, right. Well, there have been...Rumors that the mansion we're staying in is haunted. Of course, we're not ones to believe something like this."
I scoffed when he said the word "haunted". Are they serious? Rai and Aya noticed my scoff, and I bet that aroused their curiosity.
He ignored my scoff like he expected it. "Orville was more enthusiastic about it than we were, so he decided to check it out some time. He invited us, of course, but we're all busy and stuff, so we didn't go with him. So he went there by himself, and--"

"Okay, okay, slow down a bit, please. So you're saying he went alone?" It was hard catching everything he said. He was talking too fast--so fast I wondered if he practiced his lines.
"Well, yeah. He went there this morning, and he hasn't returned... We tried to contact him, but his phone wouldn't ring."
My amused expression disappeared. This was worrying me a bit... Rai and Aya noticed my expression shift, so they both stood beside me, curious about the conversation.

As soon as they were by my side, I switched the loud speaker on, so we could all listen.
"Yeah? Go on." I said. I kept my voice casual.
"Right, well... Of course, his battery could just be dead. But like I said, he was gone since morning, so he missed all his classes... We still have classes coming up, so...Well, we were wondering if you could do us a favor."

'We' he said. So all of them were worrying, not just Norvin. I imagine they stood by Norvin, their faces crooked with anxiety.
I understood at once what his favor was. "Okay, I'll check on it right away. In fact I'll check it now... What's the home address?"
Aya snatched a ballpen from the counter, and Rai yanked a page out of her binder. They handed it to me at the same time. I scribbled the address onto the page quickly, and I repeated it to Norvin. After giving the "ok", he bid me good-bye and I hung up the phone.

Rai kept her poker face on, but that didn't reach her voice. "What was that about?" She asked anxiously.
Aya's face reflected that anxiety. "Did something happen to Orville?"
My head was still processing everything I heard. Not that I was worried sick or scared; I just thought my mind had trouble catching up to what my ears heard. "Well...Yeah, something happened. Oh, before that..." I strode to Aya's bedroom and got my stuff. Aya and Rai followed me impatiently, still dead curious about what I heard.

"There's a bit of a problem. Not too bad, but enough to get Orville's buddies worried. Including me."
"What happened already?" Rai demanded. Patience isn't one of her strong points.
I explained the situation as briefly as I could, while I gathered my things and stuffed them in my red sling bag. "...And so, I have to go check."

Rai grabbed her brown leather shoulder bag and put her cellphone in it. "WE have to check. Like heck you can go inside a haunted mansion alone."
I rolled my eyes at her remark. As much as I didn't want to admit it, she was right. I was a scaredy cat. In fact, I began to wonder where in my right mind popped up the idea of me going in alone...

"I'm coming too!" Aya announced. Though she too was one with no bravery against the forces of the unknown, she was Orville's friend, and she's the type who'd go far for her friends.
"Then it's decided. We leave when everyone's ready!" I said somewhat enthusiastically.

I checked myself. How could I sound so enthusiastic in a situation like this? Oh, probably because I thought Orville was okay...but why do I get this strange feeling that something just isn't right?

Trie Series; Given by Mistake

The Trio Series:


"Flint, can I borrow your ballpen?" I said, as I grabbed my notebook. We had an assignment to pass this afternoon, and I haven't even started.
Flint put on her navy blue cotton jacket, and tossed me a red pen which she took from the pocket.
"Knock yourself out. If your nose bleeds gimme a call." She teased. She knew I had a bad weakness for numbers; and inspite of the fact that she's trying to help me, I can't seem to get the better of those darn math terms.
I rolled my eyes at her remark. "Yeah, yeah. Hehehe."
As she had predicted, the numbers began to get the better of me, and in no time, I started shooting pleading glances at her.
She seemed to be busy listening to my new mp4; probably playing "Officially Yours" the tenth time. When she ignored my 3rd call, I tossed the ballpen cap at her, which made her jump up a bit in surprise.
"What??" She said, somehow irritated by the abrupt toss.
"I kinda...sorta--"
She caught on quick. "Ooohhh. Okay, I'll help..." She rummaged through her beige colored Nike backpack, and got a sheet of intermediate paper. She folded it in half four times and tossed it to me, which I dropped.
"That's sort of an answer key." She said, as I picked up the piece of folded paper.
"I figured you'd need help, so I asked Anne about your assignment, and I looked into it and--" The snicker I tried to supress escaped from my lips, which cut off her explaination. She raised her eye brow at me in curiosity. "What? Was it something I said? Or.." I showed her the piece of paper before she could finish. As I expected, she jumped up from her comfy position and snatched the sheet from my hands. Her face reddened in embarassment as she re-read what she wrote multiple times on the sheet:
"Rolan Lynn".

~end~

by: OrangeAxel