"You have a problem with my house, Clark?" Shelly teased
They were moving quietly through the dark hallway.
"Where do we search first?" Zo asked
"Are there any stairs?" Fina asked
"Yes. Why?" Shelly replied
"Stairs lead to places" Fina replied
They stopped in front of a dusty spiral staircase.
"No one likes to use the stairs when there's an elevator" Shelly explained.
"If we step on it, it'll move" Fina said "Can it take us anywhere?"
The stairs rose suddenly as if by command.
"I don't know. Shouldn't we say a spell or anything?" Zo asked
Fina stepped on a step and it moved.
"Step on" She said
Zo and Shelly glanced at each other before stepping on.
At the seventh step, their environment changed and the girls held onto each other as they swayed unsteadily.
"Where are we?" Shelly asked, taking in her surroundings.
The whole place oozes darkness and was eerily silent. It was like a house with lots of dark strange doors.
"Aries territory" Fina replied as she glanced at the dark purple walls.
Laughter.
Voices.
A 'shush' sound
Faucet running.
"Where's the ring?" Fina asked
Shelly handed the ring to her.
"What are we looking for?" She asked
"Elevator" Fina replied
Shelly glanced around.
"There's no elevator here, Fin. I don't think anyone has been here for years"
"I am highly certain we are looking for an elevator, Shel. My brain can't seem to turn the thoughts off" Fina said "I think the stairs heard me. I did ask if it can take us anywhere and it took us here. Although I don't know why, but there must be a reason. We search for an elevator first"
Voices.
Laughter.
Screams. Laughter.
They couldn't even describe the place anymore than that as they took in their surroundings again. It looked like a big house with different doors.
The place they stood in looked like a living room. A vacant living room. A vacant house.
"If this is Aries territory, what part of Aries territory is this?" Shelly asked
"It looked like an house. Like someone lived here before" Fina said "I think the stairs do whatever they are commanded. Like- saying the right spell when going to classes. Tossing you out when you say the wrong one"
"I understand. The stairs doesn't just work with spells. They have different routes. I don't think most people knows this. It's like a secret. It's like - everywhere in Elfina isn't what it seems. The castle isn't what it looked like. The castle runs deep" Zo said
"More like we are seeing the part Elfina wants everyone to see. Elfina has invisible rooms. Invisible places" Fina said
"I wonder where every steps in Elfina leads to" Shelly said
They all were deep in thought.
And Elfina has so many stairs- Fina thought.
"What exactly are those voices?" Zo asked
"Ghosts" Fina said "Tyrell said there are dark ghosts too so we have to be careful. Let's look around"
"Okay" Shelly said
They all went different ways.
Voices.
Laughter.
The house was covered with webs. Spiders roamed around, minding their business.
Fina opened a door, entering into a bedroom.
The house wasn't vacant after all- Fina thought
She walked around the room.
There was a small bed, a small drawer, and a- painting on the wall.
Fina moved closer to the painting and looked at it.
It was the same painting with the same date.
July 12th 2018.
She touched the painting and turned but not before glancing at the words underneath.
"The journey ends here" Fina read aloud.
She moved to the drawer and tried to open it but it was locked.
"Move out of the way" Shelly said behind her.
Shelly tried a pin to unlock it but it didn't work.
"Wait. It had a number lock" Fina said
"July 12th 2018" Zo said
Shelly turned the lock but it didn't open.
They tried different codes but failed.
Voices.
Laughter.
Voices.
"I wonder where it's coming from" Shelly said
"Don't say that. I'm already scared enough" Zo said shakily.
"Let's keep searching" Shelly said, standing up.
Fina kept turning the lock until it snapped suddenly.
The lock unlocked.
"How did you do that?" Shelly asked
"12th July 2018" Fina replied
She opened the drawer carefully. "A rearrangement"
"What's that?" Zo asked
"A key" Fina replied
She took the dark key and turned it around her fingers.
The key looked worn and had millipede syymbol attached to it.
"To what?" Shelly asked
Fina shrugged.
"Guess we will have to find out ourselves" Fina replied
They moved out of the room, taking the key with them.
"We've checked everywhere. There's no elevator" Shelly said
Voices.
Screams. More screams. More screams.
The girls glanced at each other in fear.
The scream sound so scared and terrified.
More piercing screams.
Fina, Shelly and Zo rushed to the screaming sound and came abrupt in what they assumed must be the kitchen.
A dark male ghost was stabbing a picture furiously.
There were three normal ghosts in the kitchen looking extremely terrified.
The male ghost kept stabbing at the picture.
Fina didn't even know when she pushed him away but the shock of her being able to touch a ghost made her freeze and she stared at her hands.
The dark ghost was shocked too.