The Malevolent Manor [IO]

Remnants of tales. Footprints. Mere remains and vestiges. Mikaela followed those leaking fragments one after the other, trying to grasp at the illusionary shadows that befell him. For a time, it felt like chasing ghosts. Few wanted to do with such a cursed, foolhardy endeavor. It was challenging to continue tracing the lines onto the next point. Mikaela stands now at the foot of a narrow incline, where a rough, jagged pathway leads him to the end of his journey. The destination ahead was something he was looking for. Time was of the essence. The grounds seemed to be untouched and grown from time; however, it doesn't appear that the surrounding elements of the woods themselves dare not claim it. He moves his feet, one foot in front of the other, up through the winding path that laid before him- bypassing the fortitude that was the gates. The atmosphere gave off a sinister aura as this place looked corrupted by a curse. Symbols and walls alike were weathered and worn.

Mikaela passes over the few stone steps the lead him to the first set of doors. He pushes through them and shuts them softly behind him as he slips quietly inside. Immediately, he notes how cold this place is. As this place is so cursed that it lost any resistance to the unsavory elements beyond them. The frostbitten air hung around him like a fog. This place has seen death he could tell just by the air that begin to occupy his lungs. The thin parchment that still lingered over the windows offered little protection from the radiance of the moon.

This place was strange, it seems like an eternity of neglect but even the paper windows remained intact. However, a fire must've broken out as the wooden corridor had scorched walls in front of him. The ashes that remained on the ground were the only thing that seemed to give this place life. Besides the ash, it seems that it is absent of any type of creatures. Human. Animals. Even there are no cobwebs he noticed as he made his way through. Even though there's no sign of upkeep, there's no sign of decay either.

Upon entering the first room, there was hardly any objects in it. No furniture, well, maybe a table or two. Maybe it was from thieves raiding this place; however, takers rarely leave place so pristine when they abandon it. Shaking his head, he needed to get back on track and find what he came here look for. He was so close. The knowledge was just in his reach. In his annoyance, he started brush his hand along the wall, hoping to find some sort of lever or a free panel as the room was halfway consumed with darkness.

In his searching, he finds what he was looking for. Sliding the door along its tracks. Into the doorway, he found himself in another corridor. He steps through the square archway. However, being so fixated on what he was looking for, he was unaware of the light footstep coming in his directed as all his senses blocked out the sounds and vibrations that came.

[528]

Ever since the night in the graveyard with Asahi, Kato had been having weird dreams. Some would call them nightmares but they seemed more than that. Almost like images being projected into his head. They always seemed so strange and eerie, and he woke up in the mornings feeling extremely strange, but try as he might he was never able to remember what was going on. For a few moments right after he woke up he felt like he could remember but the memories slipped out of his brain like sand in an hour glass. It would be easy to chalk it up to having nightmares after taking his first life, or maybe even side effects to his curse mark, but he knew deep down that he would know the difference. He knew the difference between dreams, nightmares, and HD TV being forcefully projected into his brain when he was sleeping. 

His suspicions were even more confirmed when he came across the house. He had never seen this huge manor before in his entire time in Tanbo and it seemingly popped out of nowhere. Yet, when he passed it for the first time, it was as if it had always been there. It seemed both familiar and completely unknown to him all at one time. It was like Deju Vu but if the Deja Vu was a metaphor for a building that popped out of nowhere and seemed to call to him as he walked past it. He was not sure the EXACT definition of Deja Vu but he was almost certain that wasn't what it was. Which is what made him decide he needed to investigate the manor despite all the alarm bells going off in his head telling him how stupid it was to go into the building. 

But, he was a ninja of the Tanbo Village, and when shenaniganry was afoot he owed it to the people of Tanbo to check it out. So that was the long winded explanation as to why Kato found himself in the creepy old building, by himself, walking around aimlessly looking for any sort of clues. Was there even a clue or was he just slowly going crazy? That was always something that could be happening. He had not given it much thought until he was walking through an abandoned building that creaked suspiciously loud like he was stepping on a super high pitched man every five steps. 

The building seemed exorbitantly larger on the inside than it did on the outside. Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him, and he still had not ruled out the idea that he was crazy. He toyed around with the idea that he was in his own house walking around and his father was simply watching him from the kitchen wondering how much sake he had drank that day. But with every step he took he realized that thinking he was crazy was not going to get him anywhere. He was in this situation and he had to deal with it. 

Which is exactly what a crazy person would think. 

As he was walking along, lost in thought wondering how expensive seeing a shrink would be, a door at the end of the corridor he was in opened. Kato, being extremely manly and not afraid of anything, let out a loud squeal and ran to the closest door trying to get in. It was not until he had displayed how unafraid he was that he recognized the person who had stepped through. "Mikaela?" He said trying to play off the fact that he had just screamed and tried to run. He cleared his throat before he spoke again. "What uh.... what are you doing here? I was just.... exploring. You know, checking out old buildings and such, its what I do." He was, of course, lying.

WC: 643

When one runs a business that is centered around phantom forensics, Ghost galivanting, Obscure Oni inquiries, etc et strange cliental was something one accepted as part of the job.  After all, those visited by spirits when they were not naturally entuned often times did not come off better for the experience.  It was because of that when the stranger came into his office, he had answered very few questions.  Rather he had asked important things such as, yes where is the house, O you are paying in cash?  the meeting had been one of his shortest, and he already had half the pay day in his pockets.  One could hardly argue with that.  So, he had gotten dressed, and rushed off towards the address he had been given.  Maybe if it was a lucky night, he'd be able to collect the whole payday and hit up the bar for some late-night karaoke and buy the place out.  They were modest dreams, of a man with modest taste, but hey we don't judge.  

He was currently dressed in his unique Oni Busting gear.  This included a burlap sack brown jumpsuit that zipped up to his throat.  Heavy leather black boots, a solid black belt, and a picture of an ugly red Oni with an orange X overtop of it.  A backpack hung from his shoulders holding all of his ninja material, and his ninjato strapped to the side.  Oni Busters Inc was the business name and the cute seamstress had been given full creative license in the making of the uniform.  So here he was.  He wasn't sure it fit....in fact it seemed inspired from a different time, but he didn't judge where inspiration came from.

He arrived at the home, and though he felt it had always been there......he couldn't quite recall i having ever been there.  His own journey had gotten him there before nightfall.  Before the calls of ghosts and ghouls would pull in their victims.......yes that sounded great Asahi thought to himself.  A pen moving across blank paper as he made his way into the mansion.  Poetry had been working out, but for his business he wanted to write it out so it could be a play some day.  For some reason he felt like individuals sitting in a theater watching Oni Busters was bound to sell out at the next arts festival.  

So it was that Asahi had made his way into the home.  Carefully looking around, he'd found it to seem much smaller on the inside than he had originally guessed.  Though he sought out spirits, he found none.  Deciding his best option was to wait for nightfall, he moved to one of the tables.  Ducking under it he allowed the tablecloth to obscure him from site.  If he couldn't sense them during the day, he would sneak up on them at night........He hadn't meant to fall asleep, but after underestimating how far away nightfall was it happened.

So he slept, until a large shout woke him up.  Jolting awake, he sprang to his feet, arms reaching for his blade that was not in its normal spot.  His head unguarded collided incredibly hard with the table sending it tumbling across the room, filling the entire mansion with a loud crash.  This crash was only drowned out by the volume of his next 17 swears.  Finally pulling himself together he took stock of the situation.  Rubbing his head vaguely, his hand came away with a minor amount of blood. 

"Kato....Mikaela?  What the hell are you two doing here?"  He would ask.  Also taking note of the opening that one of them had found.....he wandered how he had missed it, but quickly rationalized it could only be open at night.....surely that's why he hadn't found it.....right?

TWC - 629

The loud crash made Kato jumped but he did not want to appear scared so he turned on his heel and put his hand on his chin pretending to inspect the wall as if it was his plan the entire time. His eyes noticed Asahi and, to be honest, it made him feel a lot better. But then he began to wonder why he had come here. Was this all connected? It seemed a little too convenient to the plot that Asahi and Kato had both been drawn to the same super creepy house at the same time, on the same night, after what they had been through in the graveyard. 

But, they were both asking questions, and at least Mikaela had given an answer. He was looking for something. But what? With the way he was keeping it mostly to himself he doubted he would just give up the answer to Kato so he decided not to press the issue and figure out how he could explain why he was here on this particular night. "Well," Kato said as he followed in line behind Mikaela as they began to descend to the basement. "The honest truth is I have no idea why I am here. I was sort of just drawn to the place." He neglected to mention that he had been having visions. He felt like maybe that information might make him seem crazy. Which, to be fair, the jury was still out on that. 

It was dark and Kato went to activate his Sharingan but, something happened. Specifically, nothing happened. His eyes did not change whatsoever. Though he could not see his eyes he could tell the difference when his Sharingan was active and not. He knew that his bright blue eyes had remained bright blue and not red as they were when his Sharingan was active. Knowing that it was not working made him take pause. What the hell was going on? Should he tell them? What would they say? What the hell was going on with this house that effected his use of his super dope eyes? 

Luckily, however, Mikaela had found a way to light up the room and the light pouring in made him feel better. None the less, he was worried, and he reached up to slightly touch at the bottom of his eye lids as if trying to prod them to life. Poking things always seemed to work. But as they continued to go down the stairs he felt like he was being pulled down there. Unbeknownst to Kato, Mikaela felt something was off, and yet Kato felt like whatever he was looking for was down at the bottom of the stairs. 

When they entered the room and the dead girl was spotted, Kato felt a sickness building in the pit of his stomach, and he fought back the urge to retch. "Shit she stinks!" He covered his nose but continued to look at the girl and the same thoughts crossed through his head about how she could have gotten this way. Kato approached the girl and looked her up and down, trying to find any sort of clue as to what had happened, and it took him a little longer to see what Mikaela had seen, the blood smeared words above the bed. His eyes went wide and then the lights went out. 

"Nobody panic!" He shouted the words mostly for himself than the others in the room. It was no longer helpful to him to silently reflect. He found himself backing up in the room until he backed into someone. He assumed it was Asahi so he uttered a quick "Sorry." Before he felt long fingers reaching up his arm. They were cold. Too cold. Like dead person cold. What the hell? "Who the fu...." Kato did not have time to finish the sentence because a loud screech echoed from whatever was in front of him that made him cover his ears. The lights in the room began to flicker and then a concussive force seemed to smack him in the chest and send him flying across the room. 

Unfortunately, he landed in the bed on top of the body, and this caused Kato to panic. He had not been on top of a body or around this amount of blood, well, ever. He yet out a yell and he wriggled in the bed until the lights finally went out again, for a few seconds, and then when the lights came back on the body was gone. There was no blood. There was no body. In fact, the room seemed relatively normal. As if nothing had been in there in the first place. "Guys, what the hell is going on here?" Kato asked, no longer caring if there was fear in his voice or not. 

At this point in the story, Kato had yet to uncover the marking on his chest. A small white and glowing handprint had formed right above his bellow button from the impact he had received earlier. And it was beginning to spread. 

WC: 1491

Still rubbing his head he made his way to the pair. He noted the lack of emotion in Mikaela, it struck him as odd given their last interactions. Still, he wasn’t one to judge and there had been a question asked. Kato was the first to answer, his words coming without great confidence. He spoke of being drawn to the place, the senju stated they needed to find something. Neither was very specific, at odds with their purposes the blonde samurai would smile, his hand moving down from his head. Stained with a scant amount of blood he would casually wipe it on the wall. “Well to be honest I was laid to come here. Some creepy old lady was paying me to look for ghosts or haunts of some kind. Though I haven’t picked up on anything just yet.” He’d give a light shrug before beginning to move about the room looking around.

Asahi watched as the other two moved about. The darkness causing him to miss the flicker that went across Kato’s face when his Sharingan didn’t activate. He did notice the illumination that the senju had brought about. “You must have had a bright idea!” He’d say jovially before following his companions down into the basement. The two of them where in the lead with Asahi several steps behind. Had anyone stayed just a bit longer they’d have seen the spot he’d smeared his blood on the wall become clean. As though the house had simply drank up the crimson.

Moving down the stairs he maintained a several step distance from the other two. Glad that he did his blue eyes widened slightly. Behind Kato was a tall figure. It wore an all black suit, with a tall black hat. What bits of flesh he could see was only in the figures hands, and they were as white as a corpse, fingers impossibly long as they curled around Kato’s arms. He thought he heard the boy speak but it was as though it was from a far away place. Moving forward he reached back trying to get into the bag, he had only a small chance to register the dead body in his peripherals as he approached a small brown bag in his hand. He raised it up, ready to smash it on the figure, before everything went sideways.

Perhaps it had been the proximity, or the fact the figure had moved backwards without knowing Asahi had been there, but either way the samurai turned oni buster feinted as it moved through his body. Normally spirits moving through you caused only a chill, but some had more substance, more power and if one wasn’t ready it could cause no small harm. In Asahi’s case he was lucky that a minor blackout was all he had to endure.

Getting to his feet, he looked around at the now sealed off room. Kato seemed worse for ware, and he didn’t blame him. He wasn’t sure how he’d gotten over there, but he was starting to get some idea. At the unnecessary question from the Uchiha, Asahi would clear his throat, an attempt to get ahold of the situation.

“Well lads, I’d say we are each in……very big trouble.” He took a seat, cross legged on the ground rummaging and organizing several objects. As he worked at making three small piles he continued speaking. “I’d say we are in the presence of a class 4, 5, or if we are really doomed, 7 entity.” His voice was calm though his hands shook a little. One might assume fear, and though the situation was admittedly not ideal, he was a little excited. Malevolent spirits were in truth very rare. Sure they got the blame all the time, but in his expierence finding one was not a commonplace, and now…..well now he had a chance to put some theories to the test. It helped that he hadn’t heard the ominous proclamation that they would all die, or experience a spectral fist to the the gut.

“Alright boys……take these.” He’d push the piles towards them, while retuning his own to his pockets. He handed off 2 bags to each of them one brown and one blue, along with a single spirit tag. “The blue bags are rosemary, the brown is a special concoction. If you see anything evil looking throw them at it. But best be careful once it bursts that’s probably about the best we can do. The tag….that’s for warding you’ll know it’s no good when it burns up.” As he talked now he took a large container of salt forming a circle around them. His voice quavering but now obviously with excitement. Given the circumstance it was easy to assume he was a little mad.

It would be about this time that if the duo had begun investigation, given Asahi’s obvious distractions, that they would notice the lack of doors in the room, and the growing chill. Should they attempt to step outside the salt circle Asahi would give a “I wouldn’t do that just yet.” Warning. If it was ignored they’d begin to feel an itching moving over their skin.

TWC - 1490

Of course, Kato would be yelling 'nobody panic' when he was definitely in panic mode by the sound of his shaky ass voice. If Mikaela wasn't moderately concerned about the given situation they were in, he would give Kato a disgusted look. Thinking of looking at Kato, it seemed he found a new friend. Well, someone that looked like he was piggybacking off the Uchiha. Mikaela was only able to notice this by the flickering lights. Given the situation: slamming doors, flickering lights, dead bodies, sinister blood writing, and now some sort of entity. By any given eye, the were probably fucked *and not in the good way*. Well, it seemed that Kato's new friend had enough of his sorry ass and yeeted him across the room. Instead of trying to catch Kato flying through the air like a ragdoll, he decided his best bet was to take cover.

"Whew, that was a close one," Mikaela huffed as he raised back unto his upright position. Now, where is Asahi in all this chaotic mess. The redhead almost forgot about the charismatic male because of the entertainment that was happening before him. Well, it wasn't hard to find him, considering he was speaking to them, telling them they were in trouble. Damn, if he didn't know that all ready. Considering the things that were happening, Asahi decided that now was the time to rummage through the garbage like an animal. "Wow," we got Asahi play build-a-toy in the corner, and we got Kato trying to take a nap with a corpse. A corpse. Where did the corpse go! Kato was on the bed, but the corpse was gone. "What.." apparently Mikaela was so dumbfounded he can only say one-word sentences now.

Next, Asahi built some types of items for fighting off these apparitions. Interesting, it seems appears he knows what he's doing, but he could just be as crazy as this massive house. Taking the bag and listening to the instructions that Asahi was giving them, it seemed almost a play out of a horror book that he read some odd years ago. What had Mikaela got himself into as he saw the elder blond start a stream of salt around them. "Uh, so what is this for?" The Senju question as he begins to think as he starts to walk forward with Asahi stating that it isn't a good idea. "So, is this supposed to block the apparitions from getting us? How are we supposed to get out?" Ask as it seemed Asahi is now the most knowledgeable one of the group, especially dealing with the tangible. Well, is he? Maybe this is just a hoax, and they are just sitting ducks at this point. Only one way to find out.

Investigating the room, everything looks normal now. No writing on the walls, no body, and apparently no way out as it now lacked doors. "Asahi-sama, if I remember correctly, you're a sensory type. Do you think you find a way out of here?" He questions, given the fact that he knew from the mission they went on is when he learned that fact. If Asahi complied and found some sort of way out of this room, they could act accordingly. Not knowing how Kato's Sharingan is defected, he would ask, "Can't you use your Sharingan and see something?" Mikaela was getting bossy at this point, but the duo was better at sensory type things then him. Next thing, his thoughts were disrupted by whole room shaking, thing falling off the shelve. An ear-piercing scream came along next making Mikaela retract to hold his ears. Next thing, a black pit begins to form on the wall, looking like black mold that has been there forever. Long, sharp fingers begin to emerge from the wall, placing its hands on the wall, pulling itself forward.

[TWC: 1,992]

Kato was not as cool, calm, and collected as the other two as they seemingly both just got down to business and tried to find their way out. Meanwhile, Kato sat on the bed, rubbing his chest and trying to figure out what the next course of action for him was. The most obvious answer, to him at least, was to sit around and panic while the other two figured out what to do and he would just piggy back off of them. However, the more he thought about it, the more he realized what a pansy ass he was being and decided he needed to try and remain level headed. They were all in the same situation and they were able to keep themselves cool so Kato had to at least pretend he had some backbone. 

Removing himself from the bed he grabbed the two bags and the tag that Asahi had handed over to him and gave a curious look about the levels Asahi had told them. "Ghosts are real?" Kato managed to say as he put the items that Asahi had handed over onto his belt. Under normal circumstances he probably would have reacted differently but considering the fact that he had just been launched across the room by a spectral being that had disappeared he felt like he was merely stating the obvious at this point. "That is just wonderful." He sighed and then he answered Mikaela. "My Sharingan does not work down here. I cannot sense anything, not even your chakra signatures. My eyes just turn red like this." He demonstrated his point by turning the Sharingan on and his bright red eyes came to life before he turned it off again. 

From the moment he had stepped inside of the circle the little marking on his chest had begun to activate and it was not until he had been standing there for an extended period of time that it began to burn and Kato noticed it. Thinking it was simply his curse mark he pulled open his robe to get a glance at it before he let out a yelp. "Asahi! What the hell is this???" Kato fully opened his robe and bared his stomach showing the white hand print on his stomach. "Does that thing own me or something???? What does this mean? Get it off!" Kato tried to used his hands to rub the mark off but, of course, it proved futile. 

TWC: 1901

While the other two continued to move about and panic and give orders accordingly, under his breath Asahi was recounting prayers to the Kami.  It was in an older version of their language; one he'd often read in books that were meant to ward off spirits.   In truth, he wasn't sure if it would work, or not.  In all his time true evil entities had never crossed his path.  As he had spoken to Yamato about, the likelihood was actually quite rare.  Most spirits and apparitions could be categorized as grumpy at the worst and downright aloof at the best.  Now however, there seemed to be a lot more going on.  "It keeps bad things out yes, and we don't stay in it forever."  he would say with just a hint of exasperation at the red heads tone.  Tempers were running high, as their situation was not a very pleasant experience.  His calmness usually a great strength was being overshadowed by.....actually excitement if he was honest with himself.  It wasn't that he was upset at the situation or Mikaela, but rather that he was being interrupted at his work.  "Just give me a moment, everything is fine, I am certain I can find our way out.  There is nothing to worry about......this is........so unique.  Try to enjoy yourself.  Think of it as."  He'd gesture around while still pulling items out of his bag, "A tough mission or something.  The shinobi way I don't know."  His words came quickly as several more spirit tags came out of the bag.

While he did this and muttered, he just barely heard the realization that Kato's sharingan was not working, and he no longer was able to sense chakra.  This pulled him from his work, and he looked at the lad.  Really looked, his blue eyes might not be as piercing as the Uchiha's kami given gift, but they had their own power about them.  Unlike anyone else in the room, Asahi's spiritual attunement was highly sensitive.  Had it been a bell it would have begun ringing nonstop since they hit the basement, and now along with the ringing he could smell....no taste......no....it was something else.  A sixth sense that one could not describe just as it was difficult to describe a taste or smell to someone who had access to neither.  Something was on or in Kato, and it wasn't a good thing.  

Before he had time to really react in anyway two things happened rather quickly.  First Kato began to panic.  Then he stripped, and a dark sore was seen.  It was spreading even as he watched.  Secondly, behind him as if spurned on by this dark growing spot, a second spot began to grow on the wall as the room shook.  Long white fingers gripping the edges, attempting to pull something through.  "Kato.....my darling....."  He would say in his softest voice, while placing his hands on the boys shoulders.  Should he not look at him he would shake him violently.  "KATO, I want you to know.....this part.......well.....its not going to be pleasant.  I need you to....eat your paper."  He said it very matter of fact, and took the spirit tag he had originally offered Kato and pushed it into his mouth before clamping the boys jaws shut not allowing him to spit it out.  The paper would burn slightly, but Asahi would wrestle the boy with all his strength to make sure the deed was done.  As he did this he would shout to the senju.

"Throw those bags at that thing!"  HIs words were fast and loud, a white smiling face beginning to just barely peak from the hole.  If he was able, he would sit on Kato still attempting to force him to swallow while he reached out and searched.  "The door is still there!  We gotta go boys!"  He'd point to where the door had been.  He wasn't sure how he knew it was there, but it was as though someone or something had whispered it into his ear.  Malevolent or not, sometimes you had to take a chance.

Should Kato have eaten the paper the black spot would stop spreading, should he not it would continue to grow, the paper getting hotter the longer he kept it in his mouth or throat.

TWC 2205

Mikaela squinted his eyes when he heard the tone of voice that Asahi was speaking to him. "Sorry I'm not in depth with the working of ghosts," the Senju said coldly towards the elder blonde. 'Wowwwww' was all Mikaela could think as we got an Uchiha who can't use his Sharigan to his left, and we get.... this guy who's becoming a rude ass. "NO! They're not real, we're in a fun house that has murdered bodies, slamming and disappearing doors. Not to mention that fuckin' creature that is crawling out of the wall." Mikaela loudly said in response to Kato's question, pointing at the wall where long, black arms coming out of it. If it wasn't for Asahi speaking that way to him, he possibly still would've been mellowed out but now we don't know.

Events took a turn for the worst it appears, as Asahi told them to enjoy themselves. ENJOY THEMSELVES! Now Asahi turned super fucking weird, and Kato is losing his mind, screaming. Mikaela feels like his head is about to explode from everything that is happening around him. Turning to see what Kato is screaming about, he saw he opened some of his clothing. A light scarlet shade flooded Mikaela's cheeks as he looked Kato up and down, 'Well, maybe being here isn't TOO bad,' he thought to himself. 

The next thing broke Mikaela out of his fantasy when the room started to rumble. If it wasn't one thing, it was the other fifteen things going on simultaneously, looking around the room he saw another creature with white fingers trying to pull itself through. Like things couldn't get any worse, no we're having another guest amongst there mix. Turning around, he saw Asahi wrestling Kato trying to shove something in his mouth and not in the good way. Mikaela was to stun to even speak, what is wrong with these people. "What...what are you doing." Mikaela managed to say slowly walking towards them. From what Mikaela could see, he was trying to get a piece of paper in Kato's mouth but like dog, he wasn't cooperating.

Now, Asahi is yelling at him to throw the bags and like a good, obedient boy, he did as the blonde shinobi said threw the bags with all his might. Then he heard Asahi to run for the door. Not question him, he took off into a dead sprint at the door. He was not going to be last, trying to get out of this room. Opening the door, he ran into the large corridor, only to be met with a wall on his side. Next thing he knows, he's sliding down the wall. "What's happening, oh god, the room is spinning!" Mikaela shouted as he tried to stand but the room begin to pick momentum. Oh god, he felt sick from getting thrown around. He was trying to concentrate his chakra to hold on to some sort footing, but he just slipped off like it was liquid.

"Oh my..." his voice abruptly stopped as he fell through what seemed like a door and landed on the ground with grunt. Rubbing his head, he slowly stood up "Where am I," looking around the room hoping to find either the bipolar Asahi or the Sharinganless Uchiha.

[TWC: 2,750]