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Every year for All Saints Wake, festival goers entered the “Haunted Mansion” attraction in Gridania to have a grand old time getting scared for laughs and feeling brave for making it through. The attraction had specters and ghouls, poltergeists and spirits, cackling witches and strange little mammets that were a little too lifelike, and everything else that went bump in the night.
Alphinaud hated the haunted mansion. He’d been dragged into it far too many times for his liking, and his fear of ghosts always made it much harder for him. His fear had never abated, either, despite people (namely Alisaie) insisting he wouldn’t be scared of them anymore if he faced them head on. This year, he was determined to avoid the mansion at all costs.
…Or so he thought, when suddenly Alisaie took hold of his arm and hustled him into the line. “Alisaie, please. Don’t make me.”
“I can’t do this without you, Brother!” she pleaded. “And Urianger is busy.”
He felt a little envious that Urianger had somehow managed to avoid getting roped into this. “Fine… but you owe me.” He finished nervously, eyeing the entrance that they were rapidly approaching.
“What could be worse than all the things we’ve already faced?” she pointed out, but that didn’t really help him.
“It’s not a matter of it being worse, it’s just that I’m afraid of everything in there and I wasn’t afraid of the enemies we’ve come across.” But now it was their time to enter. The rules were no hitting the actors or props, no use of weapons, no summons (so he couldn’t even call upon his carbuncle for comfort!), stay on the path, etc etc. Alphinaud swallowed thickly and tightened his grip on Alisaie’s hand. She squeezed in return.
It started off as expected. The inside was dark, with barely enough light to safely navigate. The twins walked carefully, Alphinaud gone mute while Alisaie made comments every now and then. After the first two or three scares, he started to relax. If what was coming was like that, then he could make it through this and badger Alisaie into getting him a candy apple for his troubles.
They came to a sweeping set of stairs and climbed. The path split left or right; Alisaie chose left, and the two of them walked past soft lanterns lighting the way every few steps. Curiously, they began to see sheets of paper as well. “Best not step on them,” Alisaie said, stretching her leg to avoid three sheets at once.
“Why is there paper on the floor?” Alphinaud wondered in a whisper. “It might make someone slip.” He noticed images on the paper, sad ones of crying children and things that looked like black doors. It was fairly ominous, perfect for the atmosphere of the haunted mansion. Not so perfect for Alphinaud’s fear tolerance.
At the end of the path was a door. The twins approached cautiously, but stopped in puzzlement when they saw it was shut. “Are… are we supposed to open it?” Alisaie wondered.
“I thought most of the attractions either had doors ajar or curtains,” Alphinaud said. “If the door is shut, we should leave it alone.” And yet, why have a path go down this way if it was just a hallway with paper?
“I’m going to see if it’s locked, and if it is, we can leave.” Alisaie sounded resolute; they’d already come this far, so Alphinaud didn’t see the need to stop her. Maybe the door was shut because whatever was inside needed the warning. His stomach clenched as he hoped it wasn’t something that was going to jump out at them.
His sister grasped the handle and pressed down on the latch. To their trepidation, it was unlocked, and after a heartbeat, she pushed the door open.
Immediately their hands went to cover their eyes, as it was bright white inside the room, hence the shut door. While their eyes were adjusting, they could hear curtains fluttering, but felt no breeze.
“Wow, this year’s mansion really has all the stops,” Alisaie commented. The room was quiet and still, as if trapped in time.
“This year?” asked an unfamiliar voice.
The twins screamed.
The other voice screamed.
Blinking to try adjusting faster, Alphinaud fumbled for the door handle behind them while Alisaie raised her fists. Even though they knew they couldn’t hit the actors, it didn’t stop her from acting to defend them before they escaped.
“I’m not going to hurt you.” The two of them finally realized a girl was talking to them and froze.
Alisaie lowered her fists. “We know that’s part of the job, but you’ve done it now, so we’ll just be leaving!”
“Wait.” Alphinaud stood straight. “It wouldn’t be a very good scare simply to blind customers and have a cast member say something when they do. Her response was not a ‘scary’ one either.”
The girl had not moved from her chair at a table in the center of the room. She looked like a ghost—pale white skin, light blonde hair, a small white dress—but she hadn’t tried scaring them at all, not like the other actors in the building. “I think you two took a wrong turn,” she said, clutching a notebook or something to her chest.
Alphinaud and Alisaie exchanged a glance. So they were meant to turn right after all. “Our apologies,” he said, “we did not realize this place was off limits.” He was rather proud that his voice barely trembled.
The girl frowned. “You said, ‘this year’s mansion,’ yes? But… but this mansion has been abandoned for a long time.”
Oh. Now I’m scared, Alphinaud thought, feeling the blood drain from his face.
“We’re leaving now. Goodbye!” Alisaie shoved her brother out the door and slammed it shut behind them. “Come on, I want to put distance between us and that room.” She snatched his hand and weaved between the pieces of paper on the floor, still careful enough to avoid stepping on them.
“I told you I didn’t want to do this.” Was that a ghost? An actual ghost?
“That’s never happened before,” she shot back. “I don’t know what that was, but it wasn’t part of the normal haunted house.”
They heard the door open behind them, just as they were about to reach the stairs. “Hello?” called the girl, making the twins practically fly down the staircase.
By unspoken agreement, they did not dally much longer in the attraction, and made it out in less than ten minutes after that encounter. Warm air greeted them and Alphinaud sank to his knees. “Thank the Twelve,” he muttered, staring up into the trees. The rest of the mansion had unnerved him, but nothing was quite like whatever had happened upstairs.
Alisaie gazed back at the building and gasped. “Brother! Look!”
“I’m almost too frightened to—” But his comment was cut off by his sister shaking his shoulder, so he got back to his feet and looked up.
The girl was standing at the window, right about where the room was. One hand was pressed against the glass. The other began to wave when she saw them.
“Does that mean she’s real?” Alphinaud asked, hesitantly waving back.
“Real enough.” The twins froze when, in the blink of an eye, the window disappeared and was replaced by a much smaller, more ornate one. “Oh. No, they must have some sort of illusion on the building…”
“Or ghosts are real and I never need to be dragged into a haunted mansion again?”
Despite it being an earnest question, Alisaie laughed as if it were a joke and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “Oh, you’re not getting out of it that easily, Brother Dearest. Now come on, let’s go get candied apples and pumpkin cookies.”
Alphinaud sighed, disappointed he would be forced to do it again next year, and followed her for their yearly treats. The girl in the white room lingered in their minds, but neither mentioned her again.