[Flashback] Treasure is better (Aello)

[Bob Barton]

Finally! Aello got it that they were supposed to stop playing these cousin games and "that is saying a lot Aello seeing that you get to be on the table as well." Bob was not going to let this little girl get away with calling him a liar, like she was so much better than him after she has been doing the same as well. But then with a daughter like Aello, "I guess your home has to be special" so there was no surprise there and only if "me managing to go there is something you want to happen." Bob had no interest in going there but he did want to see what Aello's father was like. Someone who would encourage his daughter to steal from her brother since it was she was supposed to do by rewarding her with twenty gold mizas.

Bob was not afraid of any old house or non-existant ghosts or Aello and to prove that he would crush her hand, her spirit and anything else he could think of. "It only hurts as much as you want it to" he said as they ran through Zeltiva. Bob could not still quite remember how to get to that house so he had to use the same route his friends took him through. So first they ran to the University where his friends started off. Hopefully they would not run into any of them there. They ran through the university from one entrance to another with Bob ignoring anyone who tried to get his attention. They would only ask him why he was pulling a little girl around so he ran faster when he heard his name.

Then he led her on running through the docks where they first met. "Still raring to go Aello?" What Bob was hoping to accomplish with all this running around was to break Aello's spirit even before they reached the house. A little bit of tiredness should teach her a lesson on why she should not try to make fun of him. Of course after that they finally reached the haunted house in the outskirts of Zeltiva's houses and it was just like Bob what Bob saw earlier.

"Here we are, a house which would get you killed if you are not careful" since it was so old. Just look at it. Long grasses with critters no one would like on them, broken fences where people took the wood from "don't ask me why", faded paint with mold which just looked so ripe and "the door wide open. Actually just opening and closing in the wind so thats how bad his house is. Are you sure you still want to go in Aello?" Bob wondered if there was something he should do first before going into the house. After all he did not want to be held responsible if any mishaps happened to her.

OOCAlright so here is the house, I guess since you are the ghost master you can describe what the ghost does if you want or you can leave it for when they get into the house more. Your choice.

[Aello]

"If you're asking if I'm about to chicken out... much like you seem to be doing Mr. Sweaty Palms, you're out of luck," Aello commented as her arm stretched to its full length. She could feel the skin around her arm pits burn, as her hand turned red, and then lost its color. "We're going to that haunted house whether you like it or not," she went on, as her heart began to beat a little faster, and her breath became harder and harder to draw in. Louder, coming more frequently. What Bob may have forgotten having aged a few years after Aello, was that although the girl was growing tired, she had no interest in stopping. She was a kid ready to live out a small adventure. This was all new, fun and exciting for her. And although she may be struggling to draw breath now, she knew she would have time to catch it before she entered the house, given Bob's state. She knew that she couldn't truly tire until she had been given the chance to explore. "Nothing is going to change my mind about that," Aello went on, as she looked at the place, steeling herself. She pulled her hand away from Bob, and balled it into a fist, as she took a deep breath in through her nose. She held it in her lungs for a few seconds, until they began to sting, at which point, she let it out with a soft sigh. "Come on," Aello commented as she took her first step closer, and then another. Inching her body through the tall grass, which wound up her legs. Tickling her pale flesh. "There's nothing to be afraid of, right Bob?" she asked, as she finished crossing the lawn and made her way through the door, only to find herself in nearly darkened area. As she stood in the doorway, she could hear a couple of mice squeak as they scurried across the floorboards. Aello remained silent, turning her head this way and that. Even though she was new to the notion of life after life, and wasn't so sure this place would have been haunted, a chill shot up the girl's spine. The insides were creepy enough, in the sense that they remained largely unlit. Yet, despite all of this, and her general inability to see everything clearly, Aello could not shake the distinct feeling that she was being watched. That she and Bob, were not quite alone in this place.

[Bob Barton]

Who was "Mr. Sweaty Palms?" Oh it was Bob but Aello can't blame him for that. After all he had to run all that distance while pulling a little girl with him through Zeltiva who was obviously only following him to make his life miserable. She was like deadweight. What was a ten year old girl going to do for him right now? This was a lot like work. Hard work and Bob was not even getting anything out of it. Unless he took it like exercise since he had to run and carry this...heavy thing around with him. But no, exercise was a lot more calming and quieter than her.

All that stress was the sole reason why Bob had to squeeze her hand so hard the way he did. He needed some way to relieve it anyway and being constantly reminded that she was somehow forcing him into that condemned house only gave him more things to relieve so Aello only brought that discomfort to herself. It only gave him more reason to try and get her to change her mind about it despite what she said. Call it what you want, but sometimes Bob's determination worked very strangely.

"Oh there are a lot of things to be afraid of" but only if you are really looking out for them. "Want me to name a few?" or a lot? It could help Aello to change her mind since a ten year old could not be expected to appreciate just how dangerous things are. Lucky she had Bob. A semi-responsible soon to be adult. He could mockingly countdown those things with his hands like "...poisonous creatures hiding in the grass, splinters from the door, falling into rotten floorboards, old furniture crashing on you, the whole house collapsing with you, rabid squirrels... it went right down to the most ridiculous ones he could think of. He had to pull it all out including the "...white rabbits from ha- Do you want me to continue on Aello?" That was one long list. After hearing that even a knight should be a little afraid.

But not Aello, nooooooo. If anything she was more enthusiastic and Bob could only give up and follow her into the house. He must have been imagining too much about how dangerous the house could be because as soon as he stepped foot into it, it can chilly. Cold. Like it did not welcome the newcomers into the house and was waiting for them to leave. Or it could be that "since there is no owner, no one wants to take care of the house?" But now since they were in it where would they go? "Stay here? The basement? Upstairs? You led us here Aello, so you can choose where to go" because Bob wants to choose when they can leave.

And that would be as soon as possible. It was creepy how close Bob was to the truth. In that hall, there were pictures all over. Not the scary ones he described but just as disturbing. The people in them looked like one big happy family. A little too happy. There was something about their smiles which just unnerved him. If Aello was not going to choose, Bob would go forward first beckoning her to follow until they reached the crossroads. Then she would be forced to choose.

[Aello]

"None of that stuff sounds too scary Bob," Aello responded. "And some of it sounds like it's made up... you may be trying to scare me so we won't have to go in this house Bob, but it's not working. It is simply proving how much of a chicken you are." With that, Aello crept forward, slowly. Easing her body onto the loose floorboards, which creaked beneath her step. "Be careful. You wouldn't want to break one of these and sink into the dirt beneath the house now would ya?" Aello asked, as she followed the length of the hall. "Have little wormies squirm through the hairs that line your stinky feet," Aello giggled as she came to the end of the hall. She looked left and right, noticing that the light that trickled in through the dusty glass window just in front of her illuminated two doors- one to her left, the other to her right. Aello shrugged, as she turned toward the door on the left. She lifted her right hand and reached for the knob. She could feel a thin sheet of dust gather beneath her fingertips as she turned it counter-clockwise, until she heard a click. The door swung open, slowly, producing a low creaking sound as it made way for her. "Come on Bob," Aello called, as she crept inside the room. The girl could hear several mice scurry across the dust bison infested floor. Her pupils dilated, as her eyes grew wide, trying to take everything in. She could just make out the shadowy forms of several pieces of furniture by the slender streamer of golden light that shone through a hole in the wood, which covered the majority of a window towards the back of the room. No one wants this place to see the light of day, Aello thought, as she studied the darkened outlines of the furniture. It looked to be nothing more than a table, a chair, and perhaps a bookcase. Or even an armoire. It was difficult to tell in the lack of light. Suddenly, there was a loud crashing sound. It seemed to reverberate off the walls. Aello's heart skipped a few beats before it began hammering in her chest. Her eyes grew even wider as her breath caught in her throat with the sudden shock. That sounded like it was made of glass... a vase perhaps. Or a set of dishes... Aello tried to relax her clenching muscles, as she took several deep breaths. "What in the world did you knock over?" she growled at Bob.

[Bob Barton]

They weren't? Sounded scary enough to him and "you'll never know if any of them are true..." they were just "possibilities" based on what he hoped. If they wanted to talk about something scary that would be what Aello is saying. Is it normal for little girls to talk about these things so casually? Sinking and wormies, "you know it too. So why do you want to risk it?" trying to get her out of the house by her own logic since she wouldn't take Bob's.

Aello, starved for showing Bob how much of a chicken he was however chose to continue on and opened the door to the left. "Mice...you sure you still want to be here?" not that Bob had anything against the critters. He hung out with rats, not animals but the human ones. Like Aello who somehow got him in through her little girly tricks. This was "just a normal house, so can we go home now?" he asked before something really abnormal happened. The thought of falling through the floorboards and having wormies was really eating at his mind. Aello who wanted to say that to keep him here was failing as it had the opposite effect with the overimaginative Bob.

One little "CRASH!" and she was already blaming Bob? Well, "it wasn't me" he answered almost immediately. Actually it was him which was why the answer was already so prepared. Who could blame him? He needed to get something to keep his mind off what Aello told him about earlier and then he saw the bookcase. Books are good. Everyone knows whatever is in them are fake unless they are real but Bob always tried to stay away from the non-fiction stuff.

Something he could not have a pick from here today. It was just so dark and he could barely make out the title of the book. The one he had hiding right behind his back so that Aello could not see, and blame him for the tipped vase. How did he choose a book in the dark? Easy. Just pick the biggest looking book with the prettiest looking cover. Now Bob could not say it was that pretty but the leather was feeling pretty nice in his hands right now. At least if he could not read it yet, he could still toss it at something if they ran into trouble seeing how heavy it was. Still it was surprising to find something like this in an abandoned house. "Don't people normally take all their things when they pack up and leave?"

Unless they didn't! Bob could not get caught for breaking and entering. He did not even want to come in here. Whats worse was being caught with a ten year old girl in this dark place. What if people heard about it? Then all those wild rumors and speculations that people made just to spice up their life will ruin him. No, "we just cannot get caught here Aello if there was someone still living here!" Worried, Bob made straight for the door behind them and tried to turn the handle.

[Aello]

"Well if it wasn't you, who was it then?" Aello growled. "One of the mice, knocking over something that was lying around on the floor?" she went on. It sounded like it crashed into the ground. Not as though it simply spilled over onto its side. "Didn't it sound like a crash to you? With a sound such as loud as that?" Aello sighed. "Just quit lying already and be careful. We wouldn't want to wreck what little is left of the place, or step on a piece of glass when we make our way back out," she finished. The girl fell silent for several moments as her eyes scanned the dark room. From left to right, studying it as though she were reading a book. "Usually, I guess," she finally replied, as she took a step closer to the boarded up window. "Unless they don't have the means to carry everything with them when they leave. Or are forced out for one reason or another, and can't take everything or even anything with them." She paused for a moment as another floor board creaked beneath her weight. "Do you think the family that lived here was overrun by rats?" she asked. Aello waited a moment for Bob's reply, before taking another step closer to the window. She could vaguely make out the sound of him jiggling the doorknob. She stopped moving, and turned her head so that she may look over her right shoulder, towards the door. "Are you struggling with the door?" she asked. "Or are you merely pretending in the hopes of frightening me? In the hopes that we may get out of here a little faster?" A small smile crossed Aello's lips. She knew that Bob was afraid. She could practically smell it.

[Bob Barton]

It was "the mice! You are absolutely right Aello, there could be more hiding all over the place." Why admit it? Then she will ask why and then Bob would have to tell her about the book and then she will want the book and then he won't be able to keep the book. "I am always careful, and I don't lie either. Don't want to miss dinner now do we?" he said with a wink that Aello would not probably see in all the darkness.

Bob did not really care about her explanation after he figured things out on her own. He was not scared, merely cautious. A quality that Aello did not seem to have except only when she wanted something to get at Bob for a harmless mistake like crashing vases which resulted in glassy spikes. Why could she not understand something like this when they were outside? When Bob told her all those things to dissuade her?

"Its...its...locked..." Bob said shivering in his voice. There was no lies there. He really wanted out but the door won't let him. Try as he might it just did not open. He was afraid true, but for good reason. "We only need to get out of the house before the residents come back" unless they already are back, and they locked the door while waiting for the authorities. No! Not because of Aello's stupidity. Bob's own stupidity may be acceptable but not when following another's. Knocking quickly on the door Bob cried out "Hello? We are sorry. Open up and then we will leave and not disturb your house" and hopefully that would be enough for whoever that was out there to let them go.

[Aello]

Aello rolled her eyes. "Really Bob? You're going to attempt that trick?" she asked. "Do you want me to come over there and punch you? Because it will happen. We both know it's a trick. That you can really open that door, but you just don't want to, since you're trying to get even." There was a slight pause, "well it isn't working! You may as well open it and run if that's what you really want. You great big... Chicken!" she hollered, before inching a little closer to the window. Aello kept on making her way closer, until she had finally reached it. She could still hear Bob wiggling the door knob as she bent down and closed her left eye, peering through the thin line in the wooden boards. From where she stood, she could make out little other than a burst of light, and a crumbling stone wall. Figures, she thought, as she opened her eye, and returned to a more natural stance. She turned to glance over her shoulder once more at Bob, "still pretending to struggle with that?" she asked, as she began to make her way back from the window. When she bumped into Bob, Aello stopped moving, and shook her head. "Here, let me do that," she growled, as she swatted his hands out of the way. She then reached for the knob, wrapping her right hand around it. First, she tried turning it clockwise, and then in the other direction. It wouldn't budge. Her eyes grew wide as a single bead of sweat trickled down her brow. Not good, she thought, as a maniacal laugh bounced off the walls. Aello looked anxiously all around her. What the petch was that? she wondered, as she turned the knob again, causing it to click angrily at her, as it stood, relentless. Refusing to budge.

[Bob Barton]

What trick? "There is no trick!" Even if there was it would be a lot more better than this old one. Bob would use something to do with mice to scare Aello and get back at her. The house was just full of them and those won't get him a punch. As much as Bob would like to play his own trick on her now and show who was the chicken, he just can't. The door just won't budge and it was so sudden that he could not think of anything else. He banged on it harder to get the attentnion of whoever it was that locked them right until he was tired of it.

"Hahaha..." he laughed weakly. With nothing else to explain all this, with no one who admitted they were outside Bob would just think up of anything. One of these things was that maybe that by entering they might have accidentally locked themselves in. That could also mean that the key was around. Bob stooped down on the floor and felt around in the darkness hoping to find they key. He felt the cold and damp wooden floor, the soft fabric of the carpet and with a squeal jumped up after feeling something. There were just too many "mice!" in here.

Without the key, Bob fumbled around at the door again hoping to find some sort of an opening. Maybe a loose latch when he felt the top of the knob. Then the sides of the door to see if he could break the door out by the hinges. No such luck and Aello just bumping into him made him jump in shock "Yikes!" Great. After she tried it for herself will she realise just how hopeless the situation they are in truly is.

Bob gave a smirk of satisfaction as Aello struggled with the door just as he did. It was just like he warned her earlier about old buildings like this and now it was time to taunt her with an "I told you s-" What was that? "I told you someone was here, and now they caught us!" he yelled banging on the door again above her in a frantic attempt to get their captor to release them.

[Aello]

A shiver shot up Aello's spine, as she removed her hands from the doorknob. As she drew in another deep breath, trying to calm herself, she looked around the room. But all she saw was the dark outline of Bob's form, and the furniture, same as before. When she breathed out, her breath left a thin trickle of silver in the air. Aello's body trembled once more, as an ice cold blast of air buffeted the back of her neck. "Hey Bob," she whispered. "Your breath doesn't tend to be... cold, does it?" she asked, as several ripples of unease coursed through her system. From head to foot, causing her palms to sweat, and for several beads of salty liquid to appear on her brow. Something is very, very wrong here, Aello thought. We are definitely not alone. Someone, or something, is watching us. It's not just the mice. She could still hear them scurrying across the floor, squeaking as they burrowed under furniture, or slipped through tiny holes in the wall. Another puff of cool air trickled down the length of Aello's neck. A slender finger felt as though it were tracing its way down its length, following the knots in her spine. Its touch was deathly cold. "Bob... that isn't you is it? Your hands aren't cold... they wouldn't feel like that. They were warm before with your sweat. Betraying your unease." Aello gulped. There was no doubt in her mind. Someone was in the room with them. Another maniacal laugh bounced off the walls, followed by the nervous squeaks of several mice. Aello blindly extended her right hand, trying to catch the fabric of Bob's clothes, so that she may pull on it lightly. "Bob... I don't think we're alone... but I don't think we're among the living either. Well... unless you count the mice, which I don't. I think there's a ghost Bob. I think this place is haunted," she whispered, as the cold finger she felt upon her back traced its way back up her spine, slowly, drawing out its cool touch. The way it made Aello shiver. There was a whisper in her ear. Soft, low, far away. The voice was cold, swirling around her ear like the wind. Making her head spin a little. "Right you are little girl," was all it said. "Who... who are you?" Aello whispered, noting that this ghost didn't sound anywhere near as friendly as the one she had met before. OOCSo in case you couldn't guess, the ghost is hovering just behind Aello. I am not sure it has chosen to expose itself yet, so we may not be able to see it. However, since Aello at this point, would have some spiritism exp, however minor, say 1-5 pts, she would be able to sense its presence. Bob, since you have none, I doubt the same can be said of you. You will more than likely chalk this up to the girl's nerves. Also, we can't rp an extraordinarily strong ghost... so this one will probably be able to make the area closest to Aello feel cold. Not the entire room. He should also have novice to competent levels in all the ghostly skills.