Chapter 14

Back in the real world I had played a few horror video games. They generally involved you getting trapped somewhere with bad lighting, needing to explore your surroundings, and needing to find a way out. As far as I know, ‘The Fortuna Circle’ game was supposed to be action fantasy, so what the heck was up with this house?

From the entryway we had the option of going through some pocket doors to the right, up a staircase that definitely wouldn't take us to an exit, or more doors on the left. 

“That's probably just a room over there," Fenton pointed at the pocket doors. “Let's start there." 

We all continued to stand there for a moment longer, none of us wanting to take initiative. Finally, Kendrick sighed and stepped forward. He hesitated, his hand above the handle.

“Do you think he knows how to open it?" I whispered. 

Kendrick let out a nervous laugh, then he pulled the doors open. 

Before stepping inside, we all crowded around the doorway and peeked in. It looked like a mini library. On the left were floor length shelves covered in books and nicknacks. There were a few wingback chairs that framed a large window. And no secret mini library would be complete without a large wooden desk. 

“Oh, I want to live here. Fenton can we move in? I think it might be on the market," I said walking into the small room.

“You want us to live in this haunted house?" He snickered.

“I will live anywhere that has a library," I laughed sitting in one of the large chairs. 

Fenton and the others walked into the small room and started looking around. Leon wandered over to the desk and started opening drawers while Kendrick looked behind a few pictures that were on the walls. 

“If this is like any other game, then one of these books probably leads to a hidden passageway," Fenton mumbled while pulling a few of the books off the shelves.

“...If this is like any other game then some of those books probably have hints for beating the game,” Leon said, staring at the shelves. 

“Wait, do we have to actually read the books or do we just magically know them?" I asked.

Everyone in the room turned to look at me, “What? You guys know I've been living under a rock, why are you so surprised that I wouldn't know?" 

Fenton’s mouth dropped open and he backed away, moving towards the doorway. His reaction seemed a little much.

I looked over to Kendrick and Leon, they were slowly moving towards the doorway too.

"Faust, get over here now,” Fenton whispered.

Kendrick was at the doorway now and pulled out his sword.

I had the sudden realization that they really weren't looking at me. From behind me I could hear a soft, ‘tink’ ‘tink’ ‘tink’. It sounded like something sharp on glass. ‘Tink’ ‘tink’ ‘tink.’

I stared at Fenton who was now frozen in the doorway staring at whatever was behind me. He was holding out his hand and whispered, "Slowly.”

I sank gently out of the chair and crouched on the ground. Without looking back I started slowly crawling towards the doorway. Behind me, I could hear a creaking. The glass sounded like it was cracking, I started scrambling and tripping over my own feet to get to the doorway. I plowed into Fenton taking him off of his feet and carrying him back into the entryway. 

Leon and Kendrick slammed the pocket doors shut as we heard a crash coming from the library. There wasn't time to think, we all started running down the nearby hallway and ran into another room. We slammed the door shut and looked around us. The room we had run into was empty, there wasn't a single thing in it. So there was no way to barricade the door.

I was still holding onto Fenton while we all stared at the door to the room. We were out of breath and shaking. Kendrick stayed close to the door sword ready.

“...I’m…going to go out. I'll try to kill it,” he said.

"Kill it? We don't even know what ‘it’ is?” Fenton hissed. "Monsters don't normally leave their locations like that. If that monster can get in the house it's probably strong. Did you even catch what level it is?”

"...No…I didn't even see a monster tag for it,"  Kendrick whispered.

Monster tag…normally those are displayed above the health bar. That's right, there was no health bar. What was that thing then?

Leon had been quiet, “That probably means it's above our levels. In some games if you can't see the health bar then they’re too strong for you. So you need to avoid them." 

“Avoid it? We're locked in this house and it broke in. How are we supposed to avoid it?" Fenton screamed. 

“Sh shh! I squeezed him. Let's not tell it where we ran off to," I whispered.

“What do you want us to do? Fight it or avoid it? You need to make up your mind," Leon growled.

"What did you say?” Fenton turned to look at Leon. 

Instinct told me to hold on to him. I wrapped my arms all the way around Fenton. "I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it, we’re all just a little flustered,” I laughed, not because anything was actually funny though.

"No, I meant it. You said don't go out there, now you're saying we can't avoid it. You keep saying no to things without having any ideas.” Leon squared his shoulders and stared Fenton down. 

Fenton’s eyes widened, I don't think he expected this from Leon, I know I didn't. “Like you're throwing out any ideas! You're as clueless as the rest of us. So stop coming at me," Fenton yelled. 

“Shh shh darling, your voice…" I cooed. 

From the hallway we heard a cracking sound. It reminded me of wood splitting. We all froze. 

Kendrick took a light inhale and breathed out through his mouth. He slowly slid towards the door and held the handle. He bared his weight against the door and waited. 

From the other side we could hear it. The slapping hands and feet crawling along the floor. We could hear the wooden planks groaning under its weight. Then suddenly, it stopped. 

We stood there for probably ten minutes before any of us could say anything. 

“I'm just going to check," Kendrick said. 

“You sure about that?" I asked.

“We really don't have a choice," he sighed. “We can't stay here." 

Kendrick slowly turned the door knob, stopping every few seconds to listen for any changes. He put one foot in front of the door, inching it open agonizingly slowly. 

When the door was open a few inches, he leaned over and peaked out. 

We all held our breath. 

He stared for a minute before opening the door more. He slid his head out and looked around. 

The coast must have been clear because he opened the door all the way, and stepped out. 

I didn't want to go out there, but, honestly, if someone was going to, it would probably be better if it was me. I let go of Fenton and tried to silently pad after Kendrick. We slid quietly down the small hallway and looked around the empty entryway. The door to the library had been ripped off. One door was hanging loose. I tried peering up the staircase, but I didn't see anything. Not even a sign that it has been there. 

A voice whispered behind me, “The window!" I jumped and clutched my chest. That sneaky little goblin!

 "Fenton, don't scare me right now. Window?” I whispered back.

“The window where it came in, maybe we can get out?" Fenton looked hopeful.

We slowly made our way back to the library, watching the stairs for signs of the monster. Kendrick had to completely rip off the door that was now in the way, which he did a little too easily. 

Upon entering the room, we stared at the window. We had all heard it break. The sound of glass shattering and falling everywhere. Yet, in front of us, was a perfectly intact window. 

Kendrick went up and tapped on the glass. "I could have sworn I heard it break…" he whispered. He tried to open the window, but it wouldn't budge.

“Can you break it?" Leon asked. 

“Stand back," Kendrick took his sword and held it like a baseball bat. He aimed and beat the window with it a few times. 

Each time we could hear a shattering sound, but each time he pulled his sword back the window was intact. It wouldn't break.

“Maybe if we just run into it we will come out the other side?" I suggested. 

“You go ahead and try that," Fenton scoffed.

“So, things can get in, but we can't get out…” Leon mused. "There must be a trick to getting out.”

"...We probably have to beat the boss, right?” Kendrick asked. 

We all looked at each other. 

“Well, this sucks," I said.