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"Wait Vivi, don't leave me here!" Arthur cried as he rushed out of the van. He headed towards the door of the strange house where Vivi and Mystery were already waiting.
"What's the matter Arthur? I thought you didn't want to go inside a spooky looking house?" Vivi asked with a smirk.
"Well, um, I can't let you go in there alone!" Arthur said, trying to save face.
"I'll have you know that I can take care of myself." Vivi said, puffing out her chest. "Besides, I won't be alone! Not when I got Mystery here with me! Isn't that right, boy?" Mystery wagged his tail and barked in reply. Of course he knew that Mystery would keep her safe, but that wasn't what he was worried about. Something about this place felt familiar.
"Even so, I don't want you going in there alone, okay?" Arthur said. "At least humor me here, Vivi."
"You're such a wimp, Arthur." Vivi said, opening the doors. Deep down she wanted to say more, but those words would only lead to uncomfortable silence and she knew it. The three of them walked inside, being greeted with darkness. Strange, they had seen purple lights coming from the windows when they had stopped. What happened to them?
"Oh well, guess there's no one home!" Arthur said. "Looks like we'll have to call a tow truck or something, so let's just go back to the van and-"
The doors shut behind them. "Vivi, was that you?" Arthur asked.
"No, I didn't touch the door." she said.
Out of the corner of Vivi's eye came a small purple flame. It crossed in front of them, making it's way to a candle. The candle lit up, setting off a chain reaction as others lit up on their own. Before they knew it, the chandelier in the grand foyer lit up. Arthur and Mystery began to fear about what could be in this place, but Vivi's eyes just lit up with excitement.
"Oh my gosh, did you see that, Arthur?" she asked. "I think we've found a genuine haunted house! Isn't this exciting?"
"Oh yeah, the best..." Arthur said, feeling a shiver down his spine.
A glow could be seen from the helmet of a suit of armor. The eyes seemed to glow on a set of paintings. They just had to break down in front of a haunted house! It couldn't be anywhere else in the country! Arthur hated his luck. A set of small purple ghosts appeared in front of them.
"Ooooo! There's even little ghosts!" Vivi said, about to jump for joy. "They must be here to greet us!"
"I dunno, Vivi. In most cases, ghosts don't normally come to greet people that enter their haunts!" Arthur said.
"Oh come on, Arthur. These little guys don't look like they could hurt us!" Vivi said. More ghosts appeared beside them; it wasn't long before their grins turned malicious. "Um, maybe you're right..." she said, her smile dropping. The three of them ran down the nearest hallway. "So what's the plan?"
"Simple, we keep running until we find out whatever's tying them all here!" Arthur said.
"That's your plan?!" Vivi shouted out.
"You got any better ideas?! Cause I'd love to hear them!" Arthur said.
A suit of armor came to life in front of them, swinging it's sword back and preparing to attack. "Duck!" Vivi yelled. The group ducked, narrowly avoiding the swing of the sword. They slid on the floor. "Is everyone okay?" Vivi asked as they sat up. "Oh my god, Mystery!" Arthur turned and saw that the head of their canine companion appeared to have vanished. He was ready to scream, only to see the dog's head pop back up in seconds.
"Don't scare me like that!" Arthur said. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"I think that's the least of your worries right now." Vivi said. The paintings on both sides of the walls began to move, their eyes staring back at them. They jumped out of the frames, laughing at the group. Arthur and Mystery shot up and went into Vivi's arms.
A painting of a woman reached for a cord that came down from the ceiling. She pulled it down, opening a trapdoor lying underneath their feet. They fell through, finding themselves in a strange tunnel that felt like it went down for ages. As they descended, Vivi and Mystery saw mirrors by each of them. They turned to look in their respective mirrors; Vivi saw her eyes blanked out as if they weren't there, while Mystery's mirror cracked as soon as he looked into it. After they passed the mirrors, Arthur began to descend further and faster then the other two.
"Arthur!" Vivi cried out, trying to reach for him with no luck. He fell out of their view, separating the group.
Arthur continued to fall for a moment, before landing down on the ground. "Ow!" he said. He looked up from where he fell, waiting for Vivi and Mystery to join him. But they didn't come. What happened? They all fell down the same way, why was he all by himself in...where did he end up anyway? He looked forward, seeing a large coffin standing upright. At first he paid no mind to it, he was more concerned with trying to find Vivi and Mystery. A moment later, the door to the coffin slowly opened.
Inside was a skeleton with no lower jaw or neck, and wearing a tuxedo. A golden heart hovered beside it, moving to it's own beat. It looked down at the heart, a sad look in its eyes. "So...this is how I look now?" it asked. Its voice seemed to echo, and something about seemed familiar. But Arthur was having a hard time placing it. The skeleton's eyes became angry, and it turned to face Arthur. "You. Funny to see you here. I thought you wouldn't go into a haunted house even if you were paid." It addressed him. The voice sounded masculine, Arthur could tell.
"Erm, how do you know that?" Arthur asked.
"Oh, I know a lot about you, Arthur." The skeleton said. He floated towards him, landing a few feet away. "After all, it's you that I hate the most!" He pointed at Arthur, a glare in his eye.
"M-M-Me?" Arthur asked, pointing at himself. "B-But what did I do to you? Do I know you?"
"Don't you recognize me?" The skeleton asked. "I suppose my new appearance might make me hard to recognize." He closed his eyes. "In that case, I'll just have to jog your memory!" His eyes opened, revealing glowing purple pupils. The torches on both sides of him lit up with purple fire. He turned his head, conjuring a pompadour made of fire. "Does this ring any bells?"
Arthur stood up in shock, his whole body shaking. It couldn't be! "L-L-L-L-Lewis?!" he shouted out. "Listen, you don't understand what happened back in the cave! I can explain everything!"
"I don't want to hear any of your excuses!" Lewis shouted. "All I want from you is your death!" Arthur couldn't reason with him. Lewis rarely ever became angry, and when he did you could only hope you weren't the one who angered him. There was no other decision for Arthur, he had to run for his life.
He found himself scampering down a hallway, fleeing from the spirit of the person he once called his best friend. The ghost was hot on his trail, relentlessly following after him. The hallway seemed to go on forever, wasn't there anywhere he could hide?
"Wow Mystery, I can't believe the fridge here was fully stocked!" The voice of Vivi came from down the hall. "And that it'd all still be fresh, too! This place isn't so bad after all!" Arthur ran through the kitchen, no idea how he managed to get there in the first place.
"ViviMysteryyoushouldstartrunninglikerightnow!" he shouted out to them as he ran by.
"Arthur?" Vivi said, looking away from her sandwich at her running friend. "What are you talking about?" She turned back to where Arthur had came from, noticing what he had been running from. A ghost was heading their way. "You know what, I'm gonna agree with Arthur on this one. Forget the sandwiches and run!" Vivi and Mystery dropped the giant sandwiches and ran, not bothering to look back at the ghost. "Arthur, what did you do?!"
"I don't know, man, just keep running!" Arthur said. The three of them kept going down the halls, going through doors and doors as the ghost followed after them. No matter how many doors they went through, it felt like they couldn't get the ghost off of their trail. Just how big was this mansion?!
They passed a large picture frame, but Mystery stopped in front of it. This one wasn't like the other paintings, it showed something different. It showed the events of that night in the caves, the night that Lewis died and Arthur lost his arm. Looking at it, Mystery began to understand everything. Something about this place had seemed off from the beginning, but now he knew why. If things got out of hand again, he'd need to intervene again...
Arthur continued running, only to find himself at a dead end. "Are you kidding me?!" he shouted, turning around to face Lewis. "Look, dude, I'm really sorry about what happened! Please just let me explain!"
"I don't want excuses, Arthur!" Lewis shouted. "I'll never forgive you for what you've done!" He rushed closer, ready to take his vengeance.
"NO!" Vivi screamed and ran in-between the two of them. "Don't hurt him! Arthur is my only friend left! I already lost one person, so don't take away..." She looked over at the ghost, getting a good glance at him. She didn't know what to say, this didn't make sense! It couldn't be... "...Lewis?"
Lewis stopped and froze in front of her, a look of longing on his face. "Vivi..." he said, hovering there in front of her.
"Lewis, what's going on?" Vivi asked. "Why are you chasing Arthur? You two are best friends! He tried to save you! So why are you trying to hurt him?"
"Vivi, you don't know the truth about what happened..." Lewis said.
"What are you talking about, Lewis?" Vivi asked.
"I..." Lewis said. He couldn't find the words he wanted to say. The heart floating beside him moved closer towards the girl, enchanting her.
"What is this?" she asked, preparing to take it into her hands. Just as she was about to grab it, she felt something grab her and pull her away. She turned her head to find Arthur pulling her away. "Arthur, stop! That's Lewis back there! We can help him pass on!" she said, though her words were ignored.
"Believe me Vivi, he doesn't want to be helped!" Arthur said.
Vivi turned back to look at Lewis, a heartbroken look on his face. "Arthur stop! Lewis!" she shouted, reaching out towards him.
"Vivi!" Lewis called back. The heart at his side fell to the ground, turning blue and cracking. He felt outraged. Arthur was taking everything from him, including his one chance to be with Vivi again. He couldn't let this happen, not again. His rage grew and grew, manifesting through his fiery hair. "ARTHUR!" The fire spread through the hallway, following the Mystery Skulls as they ran out of the mansion.
As they reached the door, the fire burst through the door. "Still think he wants to be helped?!" Arthur said. He pushed Vivi into the van, Mystery following behind him. Without even thinking of looking back, he slammed the door and managed to start the van. He slammed his foot down on the gas and drove away.
Standing at the window was Lewis, watching as the van drove away with the only chance of peace he could ever have. He glanced down at the broken heart, opening it to reveal a picture of him and Vivi. Taken back when he was still alive. He failed. His only chance to tell Vivi the truth, and he failed. Maybe it wasn't worth it, Vivi was tough enough to handle things on her own and she was bound to move on, if she hadn't done so already. He had no reason to stay here. "Vivi, I'm sorry..." With a broken heart, Lewis vanished, taking the mansion with him. There was no further reason for it to stay after all.
The only thing that remained in the empty patch of land was a broken locket shaped like a heart.