m******e Mansion

Chapter 10- Sunday: Round Three

    "How long has it been, Nathaniel?" Kadince asked. Nathaniel brought up his hand and checked his watch.

    "Well, it appears to have been twenty minutes now," He answered.

    "Maybe we should go look for them," Miranda suggested. Over the course of the last twenty minutes, we had all been nervous. We had been hoping that they would both come back safe and sound. Klarissa would come bursting through the door with Lidia and they would tell us that it was all fine and we could go home, but the more minutes passed the less we thought it was a possibility.

    "Yeah, we could split the remainder of us up. Three of us could stay here, and the remaining three could go look for them," Mark suggested.

    "That sounds like a good idea, but who's going and who's staying?" Caspian asked.

    "I'll go," Kadince volunteered.

    "No, you should stay here. You'll be safer," Lewis told her.

    "What? Just because I'm younger it's safer for me here? Klarissa is my sister, in case you've forgotten. I want to go look for her," Kadince replied, clearly offended.

    "Exactly, you're her little sister. So if you were to go out there and something happened to you, she would never forgive us," Mark tried to reason with her.

    "No matter what you say, it's not going to change my mind. I'm going and that's final," Kadince said. She was as hard headed as her sister. Maybe even a bit more.

    "Fine, I'll go to make sure you're okay," Caspian said, stepping forward.

    "That's two people. I'll go as well. So you three will stay here and see if O.F. decides to say anything else.....also if something happens to us," Mark mumbled the last bit to himself.

    "You're gonna want this," Miranda offered while reaching her arm out to give Mark her flashlight. Mark took it from her only to give it to Kadince. She quietly thanked him and walked with Caspian to the door.

    "Now, unlike our Little Lady, I'm not going to give you a time frame. I don't care how long it is, don't set foot outside this door until we come back with Lidia and Klarissa, got it?" Mark questioned with an authoritative tone. Lewis, Nathaniel, and Miranda nodded and Mark turned to face his small group. Kadince turned around and gave a small smile and wave to those remaining then turned around and opened the door. Caspian walked out first, followed by the ginger, and then Mark. The green-eyed male shut the door behind him and they were off on their journey to find the two missing females.

    Kadince turned on the flashlight in her possession and they began walking. All that was heard was the sound of their footsteps in the silent hall. They had all been carefully looking around for any signs of the girls, but to their avail, there were none.

    "So, uh Mark," Caspian said with a devious smirk while Mark made a grunt of acknowledgment," Do you really have a crush on Klarissa?"

    "She is a very fine and good-hearted woman," Mark replied while looking straight ahead, a blush starting to dust his cheeks.

    "You didn't answer the question, Marky Boy," Caspian said playfully.

    "I'd rather not. And her little sister is here-"

    "Yeah, Mark. I want to know if you like her or not. Because honestly, I don't really like you that much. I'd rather have Caspian as a brother-in-law," Kadince stated in a matter-of-fact manner.

    "Ouch, that's gotta hurt," Caspian said with a prideful look in his eyes.

    "I do, okay?! I've had a thing for Klarissa the past few years now! Is that alright with you guys?" Mark had finally lost his cool in all the years they'd known him. His electric green eyes were glowing with anger, and that caused the others to immediately quiet down.

    "I'm sorry, man, I didn't mean to make you upset," Caspian said in a regretful tone. Kadince kept walking with her head down in shame. She may not have liked Mark, but making people upset was something she hated doing.

    "Whatever, let's just get to the kitchen and find them," Mark grumbled, obviously still frustrated. They had finally reached the stairway and Kadince took the first step down. Everything was deathly quiet, a little too quiet. The group just shrugged it off and descended down the steps. When they had reached the bottom a putrid metallic scent hit them in one big wave.

    "Ew, what's that awful smell?" Kadince asked in disgust while scrunching up her nose.

    "That, Kandi, is the stench of blood," Mark answered.

    "How would you know what blo-"

    "While it's usually funny to hear you two squabble, I think we should be worrying about what's happened to your sister and Lidia," Caspian cut the ginger-haired girl off. What could have been a heated argument quickly turned silent and they moved quickly towards the kitchen. The smell had gotten stronger while their concern had done just the same. With wide, frightened eyes, Kadince put her hand on the handle only to have Mark move her to the side. The green-eyed male twisted the handle and they were met with the aftermath of round two.

    Upon seeing all the blood, Kadince screamed before Caspian could place his hand over her eyes. Mark closed his eyes and faced his head to the side. He had a pained expression on his features before he looked straight once more and stepped into the room. After Kadince had stopped screaming, Caspian had lead her into the room after removing his hand.

    On the table was half-eaten food and glasses that were empty. One could only guess that before their deaths the two girls had been given food. Near the fridge was the real disruption. Blood was pooled around the floor, and there was also blood splattered on the door. There were bloody fist marks as if someone had been beating on the door from the outside. All that was left of a body was a single hand, and after inspection the group had concluded it to be Lidia's. 

    "Something terrible happened here. One could guess that Lidia was on the outside of the door, so Klarissa must have been on the inside. I don't think either of them are alive" Mark said painfully.

    "But that wouldn't make much sense. There are pairs of fists banging on the door, and it's obvious that one hand has been removed from the owner," Caspian concluded.

    "The hand could have been chopped off afterwards," Kadince added.

    "Also, if you look at the edges of the door there seems to be more blood. And, "Caspian spoke while gently picking up the hand," the bone appears to have been broken before it was cut."

    "So you're saying that Lidia is inside that room?" Mark inquired in a doubtful tone.

    "It's only a theory, but that's what I believe. It's what the signs point to anyways." Caspian replied.

    "So what's happened to my sister then? Did she just disappear into thin air?" Kadince asked.

    "Well, going off of what Caspian has said, your sister could very well be alive. If you look closely at the blood there is a single disturbance in the shape of a shoe. Then, if you look at the flooring, there is the occasional drop of blood leading to," Mark paused while walking towards a wall," here."

    "So what does that mean? She couldn't have walked through a wall!" Kadince exclaimed. She was getting flustered at the boys' roundabout ways of speaking.

    "She could have if it was a secret passage," Caspian answered while smirking at Mark, "I don't think she herself walked, though. I believe she was taken."

    "Bravo, gentlemen. You two make a fine pair of detectives. What you assume is correct. The Little Lady was taken by none other than me-"

    "WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU TAKEN HER, YOU BASTARD?!"

    "Now, now, Kadince. Is that any way to speak to someone who is in the possession of your beloved sister? Don't worry, no harm will come to her in my care. But if one of you decides to come look for her, I cannot guarantee your own safety. Besides, we have another round to play, and Kadince, you're going to be the star! Picture this, you get to choose whoever gets to lose in this round. You have all the power. How does that sound?"

    "I'D RATHER DIE THAN BRING DEATH TO ANOTHER!" Kadince shouted in reply.

    "Hahaha, your feisty...just like your darling sister....but it's funny you should mention your death. It's either you choose someone to eliminate, or I eliminate you. So I'd choose wisely if I were you. Let's have a little bargain here, huh? Just to raise the stakes. If you can pick someone that I myself want dead and trick them into waltzing to their own death, I'll give you your lovely sister back. If not, I'll keep her here with me and you'll never see her again. I would quite like to keep her with me as my own."

    "You'd better not lay a hand on her or I'll-"

    "You'll what? Kill me? I'd like to see you try. And I've already laid a hand on her. Two actually. Boy, let me tell you is her skin soft. Her hair is just like silk, and her lips....hahaha....but you wouldn't know that now would you, Marky Boy? I think she's taken quite the liking to me. When I came to rescue her from a bloody death she was all too happy to come with. She held my hand like a lifeline and later we-"

    "SHUT UP!!! YOU'RE JUST A FILTHY LIAR!! SHE WOULD NEVER LIKE SOMEONE LIKE YOU!!" Mark yelled into the air.

    "Hahahaha, you are quite fun to tease. You'd never know what type she likes. She may not even recuperate your feelings, ever thought about that? Me and her are destined to be....ahhh, I can see it now."

    "You and her will never be together! He may not know what type she likes, but I do. I'm her sister for f***s sake! She would never like you, and as much as I don't like Mark, I'd rather have him with my sister than you any day!!" Kadince retaliated.

    "I think that's enough chit chat for now, little Kadince. Keep in mind who runs this show. You've got a decision to make, and I've got my beautiful angel to get back to. As for you, Mark, I'd watch your back. No one ever knows when one's own death is around the corner."

    With that final dark message, the intercom clicked off leaving the three of them seething in anger. 

    "Just who the hell does that prick think he is?" Mark questioned, gritting his teeth.

    "I just want my sister back!" Kadince shouted, "I don't want anyone dead, I just want her back..." she choked out at the end. Tears were starting to well up in her eyes. Caspian pulled her into a hug and started whispering to her.

    "What?!" She yelled, wrenching herself away from his hold, "No! I'm not giving you up to that bastard!"

    "It's okay, Kadince. I'll sacrifice myself for her. I'm fully prepared to. Mark and I are in the same boat when it comes to feelings, regardless of whether mine have been around for longer, I'd be willing to do anything for her to come back. I'll give my life for her. I don't want her to spend the rest of her days with that sadistic f**k. She deserves better," Caspian ended while glancing at a surprised Mark.

    "No, we'll sort this out when we get back to the rest of the group. I don't want you to die," Kadince stated.

    "Maybe we should see what happened to poor Lidia behind that door. She did have a camera right?" Mark asked to which Caspian nodded his head. Caspian walked back to the door near the fridge and took a deep breathe before opening it. Mark had already put a hand over Kadince's eyes so no scream was heard when they witnessed the gruesome sight of Lidia.

    When the door opened a light clicked on revealing a bruised and bloodied Lidia sitting in the corner with her head down. Blood was pooled around her body, and it was fair to say she died of blood loss. Caspian walked over to take the camera off her multi colored head, and when he lifted her head up her eyes appeared to have been scratched out of their sockets. Keeping his lunch down, he managed to remove the camera. As they suspected, she was missing a hand. They were also correct in thinking it had been broken. Mark inspected the side of the door noticing the retractable blade to further back up their theory. Kadince had been left in the kitchen facing away from the gruesome sight. Lidia's body was covered in scratches and cuts, as well as multiple bruises. Out of respect for their former leader and friend, they laid her body down, closed her lids, and crossed her arms over her chest. They took her missing hand and placed it on her wrist. She looked surprisingly calm and peaceful for the first time in her life.

    The couple exited the room and took Kadince through the kitchen door. They walked in silence back to the photo room, most likely mourning the loss of their friend. When they walked back through the room they were met with the disappointed faces of Lewis, Miranda, and Nathaniel as they saw the two girls still missing. Once they had explained everything, Caspian pulled out the camera so they could see the last moments of their former friend, Lidia Wren.

                                                       ~                              ~                                ~

    It was slightly depressing watching the scene play out, but I had seen it all before. The first death is always the hardest for the group. I could understand it, I still had a sliver of humanity left. What confused me was that Lidia's bracelet was missing from her wrist. It was there one second, and then gone the next. I'm sure it will turn up later so I can add it to my collection of trophies.

    I think my angel is just sleeping at this point, her breathing has steadied and she seems calmer. She should be waking up soon. I want me to be the first thing those beautiful blue orbs see when she awakens. One day, I'll be the only thing they see. I can't believe how gullible her sister is, though. Does she honestly believe I'm going to give this gorgeous being back? Here I thought I was the crazy one. 

    My good man Xavier had arrived with Klarissa's clothes a little while ago. Once she wakes up she can clean herself of the others' filth and her true radiance can shine. I can't wait for that moment. I had somehow found myself kneeling in front of her once more. I was subconsciously stroking her face with a caring look adorning my features. I was so zoned out I hadn't even noticed her sparkling eyes open until she released a scream and had violently jerked herself away from my touch.

    "WHERE AM I?! WHO ARE YOU?! WHERE'S LIDIA?!?!" My little lady screamed out.

    "All in due time, my dear. All in due time. But I think you deserve to know my name. So let me introduce myself. I am who you've been referring to as O.F. My real name, however, is..."