Haunted & Hunted

On one of your travels, you come upon a desperate and wealthy hawk who offers you a lot of money for making his property free of ghosts and malevolent spirits. 

The house in question is located in the outskirts of the city, far away from the preying eyes of the everyday folk, built three centuries ago. Tragedy has struck the family that built it and all that was left was an uncle and his beloved niece.

He's a bit skimpy on the details and a bit superstitious, but through some slips of the tongue, all of this seemed to happen right after his own niece accidentally took her own life by falling down a flight of stairs. Her room and belongings were left intact, as no one dared to even cover the furniture up with blankets.

What were the others so scared of?

Lights that flicker, whispers that come from the walls, cold, pained breathing from behind one's shoulders and rooms that are never the same. Or at least, that's what the old geezer tells you.

Since she was the only family he had left, the whole haunted house business is secondary to him. The question is, will you help him?

Liela looked at the hawk. "Wow, that's a lot of money you're offering..." "Yeah, it's enough to fix the hole in the wall and then some, master." Lillith added on, giving a big smile. Liela thought about the offer some more. (Hmm... getting rid of ghosts. Guess if anyone would be able t do it it would be me. Maybe they're nice ghosts.) She gave a small smile and looked at the hawk. "Sure, we will take your offer." Lillith started to laugh. "Yeah, we will be done before you know it! We're not afraid of ghosts at all. Right master" Lillith gave a nudge at Liela. "Yeah, not afraid of ghosts." She gave an awkward laugh.

The hawk's sad face lit up, with a smile that went from one cheek to the other. The two of them seemed capable and even experienced. Perhaps they'll really get it done before the day's out.

"Well then," he started. "I suppose I should at least lead you to the house, shouldn't I? Oh, my feathers, forgive me! Where are my manners?" But, before he could do just that, a third would-be problem solver appeared out of nowhere and one wouldn't be surprised if she was one of the ghosts that haunted the place.

Her attire, a bright red hoodie and jeans, weren't the main reason why the white fox seemed off, but the way she walked and the way she stared at him were. The eyes seemed empty.

Then, as if her presence alone couldn't be more unsettling, she also did not utter a single sound and instead, held out a small paper that stated her intentions. Whether she just refused to speak or was mute was up for debate.

"Would you mind if I offered my help as well?" the paper read. "I don't care about the reward." The hawk scratched the back of his head, but did not give an answer. He then looked to the other two for their opinions.

Lillith felt something odd about the girl."I hear ghosts are one of the most dangerous of monsters. Able to possess others and intangible to the living." Lillith gave a glare at the girl. "Hey lillith that's not the type of things to say at a time like this!" Liela turned to the girl."Don't listen to her, she's just trying to make you doubt your decision. I'd be glad to have you come along and help... miss umm. What's your name?" Liela's looked curious.

The fox hastily scribbled yet another piece of paper. "Katherine, but calling me Kit is fine if you prefer shorter names." If Lillith was right and ghosts could possess living creatures, there was nothing for her to worry about, as she wasn't really alive.

Although she wished she was.

"I suppose I shouldn't turn away help when it's offered for free, now should I?" The fox bowed politely. She was glad she was given this chance.

The hawk then proceeded to silently led them to the property. From the outside, it looked like any other mansion. Many windows, several floors, a single, large door.

"The hell is she getting this paper from?!? " Lillith didn't stop giving kit a glare. She didn't trust her at all. "Well it is nice to know you katherine. I am Liela and my little friend here is Lillith." Liela and Lillith both walked silently behind the hawk until they all made it to the masion..It certainly looked like a mansion to Liela. "I've seen better" 

"Just go through this door right here and come back out after you're done," the hawk proclaimed. "You'll be rewarded handsomely. That is, the two of you; the third one's doing it for just a good feeling, am I right?" Kit's eyes just glared at him, the same way a predator looks at its prey. She wasn't yet angry, but what she hated more than anything else was when people misjudged her modesty for a weakness and the hawk kept hitting that note.

Hopefully, the three of them will get along as the day goes on.

"Alright, I'll see you later" Liela waved to the hawk goodbye and went inside the mansion. Lillith followed looking around. She started to make fake ghost noises. "OoooOOoooHHhhhH. I'm GhOSt aNd I'VE coMe to KiLl yOoooOUUuuu" "Hey Lillith stop that. You might offend them!" "Offend them? What are you offended?" Liela stopped walking for a moment. "No" "Than I think we are fine"

The fox followed closely behind and could only smile at their antics. It was nice to go somewhere with someone for a change, even if said location was supposedly creepy and whatnot. 

The inside of the mansion was dimly lit and the whole place was a mess, with broken furniture, destroyed chandeliers, torn paintings and for some reason, neatly stacked chairs. There was a kitchen to he side and the infamous staircase to the other side. 

To better see in the dark, she turned on her emergency lights, then quickly turned them off again, hopefully before the two girls noticed. Bluntly put, they made her look like a Halloween decoration, creepy glowing eyes and all.

Despite how quiet the place was, she couldn't help but feel a feeling of dread, like someone was watching them, analysing what they were, what their next move would be.

With a quick paw gesture, the fox notified the two that she was going upstairs.

Lillith saw a change in light for a moment but as soon as she turned around the light was gone. "Did anyone see that?" Liela gave a confused look. "See what?" "There was a light! I swear on my life!" Liela looked at Lillith before laughing."Oh, I see what's going on. You're trying to scare me. Well, that's not going to work." Liela then noticed that Kit wanted to go upstairs."Ah, of course! We have a job to do. Come on, Lillith ,unless you're scared." Liela started to go up the stairs. "Hey, I'm not scared. I know what I saw!"

The sound of something scraping along the floor was heard and before any of them could reach the upper floor, someone decided to drop a large drawer down the stairs. As it fell down the stairs, it opened and various kitchen utensils came flying at them, now turned into deadly projectiles.

Without hesitation, Kit jumped in front of Liela to protect her.

Liela and Lillith both saw the random drawer suddenly go down the stairs. Lillith started to run down the stairs."Mean ghosts mean ghosts!". Liela in the other hand stayed exactly where she was until Kit went in front of her in a protective way. "No, I will be the one to protect you!" Liela grabbed the fox and used her intangibility to make them both intangible. The drawer wouldn't be able to even touch them in this state. "Do not let go of me you hear!" Liela looked very serious.

The fox did not let go and was now in debt to Liela. 

The drawer itself and well as its contents eventually hit the floor with a loud crash. What followed was a loud, slow laugh that resonated within the house. The paintings stitched themselves back together, the broken lights lit up and all sorts of bugs started crawling from the top of the walls.

Something red and sticky also appeared on the steps of the staircase.

Lillith backed away a little as the house seemed to have a mind of its own. "This is really bad!" "I AM NOT SCARED OF YOU!!!" Liela sounded confident but her body was shaking a little holding Kit very tight. She'd only seen this type of stuff in horror movies. "WE JUST WANT TO TALK AND WE'RE NOT LEAVING UNTIL YOU DO!" "YEAH!"

The fox hugged her to calm her down, hopefully to some effect.

"Leave this place," a mysterious, booming voice said. "Leave... leave...." The lights started flickering and shadowy figures started to appear at both the staircase and in the room it was in. The ground shook violently and the paintings fell down on the ground.

Then, dimly lit silence as everything turned back to normal. A lullaby started to play, a calming song that was in stark contrast to what happening just a few minutes ago.

Liela felt the hug of the fox. "I'm ok... I'm f-fine" "Did you see all those shadows? This is no normal ghost or well at least, one that will be reasoned with." "No, it just doesn't want us here. Just wants to be alone..." Liela finally lets go of Kit and started to go upstairs, getting a little grossed out from the sticky stuff on the steps. "I don't know what this is but I'm not going to leave ya hear ghost!" "WE ARE GOING TO FIND YOU ONE WAY OR ANOTHER COWARD!" Lillith followed her master.

There were no more scares or violent pranks pulled on them, thought the sticky thing was unquestionably either thick blood or strawberry jam. If she was braver and wasn't worried of it clogging her delicate internal workings, she would give it a try.

She followed the girls up the stairs, but halfway, she found herself unable to move. Her servos started going haywire from the sudden stop and a noticeable buzzing emitted from her joints. This wasn't the first time this happened, but this time, there was no electronics scrambler nearby. 

Now she remembered – ghosts had the habit of causing odd behavior in machines. Flashlights would turn off, cameras would short circuit, lights would turn on and off at random. She should have thought this out better.

To the outsider, it looked like she had suffered a stroke.

Liela finally made it upstairs. She looked down at her boots. "Oh great, now I have to wash them when I get hom-"" Uhhhhh master? "" Yes? "" Is our friend over here supposed to stop moving and make the noises of the bee? " Liela looked away from her boots and turned to kit..Liela let out a gasp and quickly ran down the stairs. A choice she soon regreted because she slipped on the sticky stuff and started to fall down the stairs. She swiftly stopped herself from falling by levitating a couple inches from the ground. She was literally right infront of Kit. "That was a little too close" Liela could hear the buzzing noise coming from Kit. Liela started to shake Kit franticly. "Hey can you hear me? Blink of you can understand me?"

The shaking had no effect and Kit continued to be stiff as a board, her limbs continuing to disobey her. A few more minutes and the gears will become wheels and she'll never move again. But how was she supposed to tell them what to do?

Well, desperate measures called for desperate solutions and she transferred all her processing power into controlling her right arm, temporarily able to move it again.

With it, she showed Liela a post-it note that read. "It hurts so much. Hit the back of my head." A laugh came from upstairs, the ghost undoubtedly behind all of this. "What's the matter? One of your toys broke?" What followed was the sound of metal scraping metal, a horrible screeching noise.

Liela waited for a response. She didn't know what to do in situations like this. Luckily for her kit got one of her arms and showed her a post it note. Liela had read the post it note out loud. Before she could do anything, the ghost haunting the house made a remark. Than there was an unbearable noise that made Liela cover her ears. Lillith did the same but jumped behind Kit and hit the back of her head hard. "YOU'RE THE ONE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS.GHOST. WHY DON'T YOU STOP THIS! "

Kit eyes went completely dark and steam went off from her arms and legs. The horrible screeching had stopped and the system was restarting. Kit decided to ignore the damage report and instead continued the boot sequence as usual, even though her subroutines recommended repairs.

When her eyes were switched back on, they briefly flashed the colour yellow, signifying that the unit was damaged and would not perform up to par. Exhausted, she took a deep breath and leaned against the stairs' railing, eventually sitting down.

Maybe she should have stayed out of this.

"Because it is what you deserve for entering my domain, disturbing my home, bringing both living and unliving into the world of the dead," the ghost replied. "Your eyes deceive you and an illusion fools you all. I have already won." A careful eye would notice how all the windows and doors simply ceased to be, how the stairs were lowered down to form a hallway.

And this was just the beginning.

(She's a robot eh? Guess I should of known) Liela was glad.the noise stopped but only for a moment. The ghost was just playing with them all. "YOU HAVEN'T WON UNTIL I'VE TOLD YOU YOU'VE WON." Lillith wasn't saying a word. (It knows exactly what we all are..I didn't even know ghosts like this even existed anymore. Thought they were all hunted down)" We should have not come here. It's probably going to trick us all into causing our own deaths!".Let it play its little games. As long as it doesn't make us see people or posses you two we will be fine. " Lillith started to walk." And how are you so sure he won't posses you? He seems like a pretty powerful ghost. "

"Do any of you have mobile phones?" Kit held out yet another scrap of paper, her last. "I'm tired of speaking like this." Numbers alone sufficed, as she could send messages via a built in transmitter. The range was abysmal, but for one building, it was enough.

As for the threat of possession, she felt something try to penetrate her security firewalls and alter a few very critical files, namely the behavior, but she repelled long enough for Liela to reset her and purge the intruder. But there was something which she feared – there were several parts of her programming which she had turned off, but with enough tinkikering, could still be turned back on...

No, she shouldn't think like that. All three of them are getting out of here unscathed, no matter what.

"A.phone? Uh sure...just don't barrack it please. I really like that one. " Liela pulled out her phone from her pocket. Giving it to kit." How come you can't talk? Was that never a feature gi 'em to you? ".Liela started to follow Lillith walking down the hallway.

That wasn't what she had in mind, but whatever. Still better than nothing.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Long story short, I was supposed to be the first in a line of servant bots," she showed her the screen of the phone. "Next thing I know, the project was over and I woke up in a junkyard, unfinished and half-broken. I never got a voice chip." That was as short as she could make it without boring everyone. The rest was in her diary.