The dark, yellowing, worn paper wrinkled in Remmington's hands. The map, at least two centuries old, was bought at a dying antique flea market. The aged map led to a manor forgotten by time, the current destination of a group of four.
"Danny, do you actually see it now? And not another rock face," Remmington looked up from his map at his blonde-haired friend. She was tall, her hair long and straight, she had a beautiful face, and most of all, she was a total lunatic.
Danny (Daniella) had been the one to suggest their first exploration of abandoned locations across Europe. While Remmington had flown in from Canada, Danny and the other two members of the party were native to the continent.
"Yeah, it's the manor. Emmy would kill me if it weren't." She joked, looking at the other woman in the group.
"Hey," Emmy complained jokingly, lightly kicking Danny's shin. Kicking from behind meant her foot struck Danny's calf instead, but it didn't bother the taller girl much as she continued to walk unfaltered.
Emmy (Emmerson) had dark brown hair that was similar in color to Remmington's. Emmy was the shortest of the quartet, fairer than Danny, soft-spoken yet talkative, and the most energetic.
Daxton, the oldest, had short black hair and was too well-built for someone sitting in an office chair all day. He huffed tiredly at the girls' antics. Daxton was the complete opposite of his sister, Emmy. He was tall, subdued, and preferred not to talk, as his voice was loud and rough.
Daxton was here only to keep his sister safe and nothing more, explaining time and time again that he didn't trust her not to get herself hurt. However, everyone saw his smile when he saw all the antique clothing, knowing he had his own reasons to tag along.
As a digital clothes designer, seeing so much classical clothing seemed to reignite his passion after a successful exploration. At least, that's what his sister said over their group chat.
Remmington sighed, wondering how the two energetic girls convinced him to travel again to Europe. "The trees make it hard to see, but it shouldn't be more than another two hundred meters." He was the best with maps, so maybe all their prodding had made him cave.
The forest they trekked through to reach the manor was dense. Over twelve hundred acres under the name of the estate the manor sat upon, over ninety percent of which was said forest and tall rock formations.
The darkening summer sky was predominantly hidden by the forest canopy above. The ground beneath their feet was dry and earthy, with weed-like grass messily decorating the dirt. As a wisp of the manor appeared through the thicket, excitement grew in Remmington.
"I can see it, too; let's pick up the pace." Following Remmington, Emmy was vocal as she annoyed her brother with quiet excitement. Danny looked on in awe as she overtook Remmington's lead.
Remmington watched as she was the first to leave the forest; Emmy ran past his side and quickly ensured she would be the second to view the building. Remmington could hear the groan from Daxton as his feet pounded along the floor as he chased after his sister.
Yet again, Remmington would be the last to their choice of exploration. He didn't mind; they would all see the manor regardless.
Last to leave the forest, Remmington was struck with admiration. The manor was massive, and the old map didn't give its size justice.
"It's so big; how will we explore this whole thing in two nights?" Emmy asked with quiet excitement as she bounced on her feet, whispering as if being too loud would cause the manor to disappear.
The walls were massive, towering above them like giants. Vines grew along the carved stones, and long ago, hardened paste holding each together.
Old windows darkened by dust and cobwebs decorated the Victorian manor. Tall towers rose from many corners of the structure, and the elevated roof was slanted and steep.
Tall wooden doors adorned with iron beads guarded the entrance, testing the resilience of all that came before them. Termite holes didn't appear to affect them, nor did the corrosion from their rusting hinges.
"No clue," came Danny's short response, voice as soft as Emmy's.
With another huff, Daxton walked towards the doors. He knew that Remmington and the girls would be looking on for a few minutes before deciding to go inside. With a pair of black leather gloves he never seemed to remove, Daxton grabbed the iron rungs that hung as handles and began to pull.
Creaking, the heavy wood scratched against the cobblestone floor below. Splinters flew off as the bottom of the doors cracked against the stones. With visible strain, he pulled harder with loud grunts as they slowly inched open.
Despite being the last to arrive, Remmington was the first of the three enthusiasts to recover from his stupefaction. Stepping along the weathered stones of the walkway, he nodded to Daxton. Nodding back, Daxton moved over slightly and allowed Remmington to access the rung of the right door.
As both put all their weight into opening their respective doors, they swung open after reaching a point where the stones were placed lower. Huffing, Remmington, and Daxton rested against the open doors.
"Hey, let's head inside," Danny said, grinning as she spoke to Emmy. Entirely content with using the opportunity granted, she entered the manor first, pulling a flashlight from the side of a large pack.
Each carried a pack; all the bags contained a sleeping bag, a blanket, three days of rations, two flashlights, plastic marking strips in a variety of colors with designated meanings, six bottles of water, a radiation meter, a carbon monoxide meter, medical supplies, a lighter, a miniature stovetop, an electric lamp, and an oil lamp.
The first room was the mud room, an entryway where one would leave their coats and shoes. None would ever remove their boots for safety, but they would do the very least by leaving their coats on the provided racks, cracked and dryer than tinder.
"It's pretty spacious," Emmy stated, observing the old furniture along the edge of the entry hall or between pillars. Small glass tables sat on either side of every couch and chair, and a handful of short bar carts with empty glasses were meticulously placed around the ample space.
"This room is bigger than my entire apartment," Danny commented, looking around slack-jawed. "Honestly, it might fit at least three of my apartments. It's just so bloody..." Trailing off, distracted by a large piece of tapestry, Danny took out her phone and began taking pictures.
"It's something, yeah," Remmington replied. He had stepped in with Daxton, who had already made his way over to his sister. "I'm going to go check some of the other rooms."
Remmington didn't wait for the others; he knew they wouldn't wait for him either. Each member had different preferences and would go off independently to look for what caught their fancy. In Remmington's case, classical music.
He loved the piano and knew how to play over a hundred songs by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Frederic Chopin. Of course, he wasn't limited to these four, but they were his idols. They were the reason he loved music, the reason he was willing to visit Europe.
It was said that Beethoven had played at this manor, and Remmington wanted to see and play on the piano Beethoven played on. Traveling through four other rooms, a secondary and more minor hall split the rest of the manor from the entry hall.
The ballroom followed the secondary hall, which was indeed monstrous in size. It dwarfed the entry hall, large enough to easily fit five hundred people with more than enough room to spare.
The floor was heavily decorated with patterns, significant figures, and emblems. Large pillars held a second floor, and an overhanging balcony led to the chandelier above it all, visibly bigger than the car that used to travel here.
A grand piano was on a round podium in the middle of the ballroom. Remmington could already tell it wasn't the one. It wasn't up to the standards that he was sure Beethoven would have played, so it was likely swapped out for the one sitting in the piano room.
Taking a flight of stairs up to the second floor, he traveled until he came across the third room. The living room, like the ballroom, had two floors. Upon entering, you would begin on the second floor, forced to walk down to reach the bottom floor, where all the major decor resided.
Though more minor, the living room was as imposing as the massive ballroom. A large fireplace sat at the far wall, with a wolf's head framed above and two stuffed grizzly bears to either side. Along the entrance, four identical sword-dawning suits of knight armor stood in front of tall windows.
Oversized lounge chairs surrounded the fireplace, painted portraits and doors lined the side walls, and a fur carpet from the hide of a third grizzly bear lay underneath the chairs. Small wood serving tables, likely to serve alcohol, were neatly positioned between the chairs.
The fourth room was likely a guest room, one of the rooms between the portraits. The fifth and final room was the one Remmington had been looking for.
The piano room, with a grand piano, nearly double the size of the instrument in the ballroom. How one would manage even to move that from room to room would leave many questions to those questioning it.
Remmington was not one of those kinds of people.
His eyes loomed over the piano, and his hand moved out hesitantly. He ran his fingers along the smooth wood, dust piling up as it was pushed with his finger.
Blowing the built-up dust off his finger, he inspected the seat. There was some wear and plenty more dust on the leather cushioned bench. Patting the leather, a plume of particles flew up each time his hand slammed down.
Remmington sat down, waving his arms to clear the floating dust. Taking a deep breath, he slowly lifted the cover, which gave him access to the keys.
Fingers delicately moved over keys, gaining a feel for them. Each was made of finely sanded rosewood, but Remmington could only tell after years of playing hundreds of pianos. Finally letting his breath go, his fingers pressed down.
As sound erupted from the room, a flood of notes surged within the manor. Fingers crashed softly on keys like rolling waves, weaving two of Beethoven's songs masterfully.
Closing his eyes, Remmington could picture the orchestra playing with him as he merged Moonlit Sonata and Fur Elise. Each sound and note rang in his head, the area around him turning into a theater in his mind as he could imagine The Ludwig van Beethoven looking upon him as he played.
It was an incredibly challenging feat played with such precision that he could picture a crowd unable to breathe as he performed. His hands and fingers moved like clockwork, mesmerized even by his own playing.
As he played, his audience arrived. He didn't see or hear them enter the room, but after years of traveling out to abandon structures with them, they learned never to miss one of his recitals.
From the wordless songs came a beauty they were unsure how to describe, drawing them away from their own distractions and desires. The others could almost experience Remmington's extravagant dream as if his imagination spread.
Each member could visualize the world Remmington saw as he played, only captivating them further.
Sound bloomed and spread across their little universe, filling every inch with soft but loud noise.
As his song went on, the shadows of his fingers began to distort. Unseen by any of them, the sound desperately wanted to shift. Before being given the chance, Remmington reached a crescendo that blew the waking darkness away.
Ending softly, Remmington softly lifted his fingers from the keyboard. With another deep breath, he stood and stepped away from the piano. His hands trembled softly, his body overcoming the resonating feeling of piano and soul.
"Ahh, why does your music always make me cry?" Danny asked, wiping tears as she looked at her friend. She was often hit harder than the other two and had more connection with Remmington than the others.
They had bonded over music, mainly Mozart. She was the only other member aside from Remmington capable of playing the piano. She didn't have Remmington's practice and dedication, but she could still play many songs. A number of those songs came from free lessons that Remmington gave her.
Emmy stood next to Daxton, using the corner of his shirt as a tissue, and she wiped a couple of stray tears from her eyes. Her elder brother didn't seem to mind, as he appeared greatly moved. Not to the point of tears, but it was visible on his face.
"I think I've played enough for now. I'll play some more later tonight before bed." Remmington explained as he walked towards his audience. Something about the piano felt Unique. He couldn't quite place his suspicion on the point of interest and wasn't sold on whether this interest was positive or negative.
The sensation struck him somewhere near the end of the piece as if the piano was attempting to suck him in. It wasn't as it usually occurred when his world seemed to shift. It was closer to that of being sucked into the world the piano was creating, as if the piano had a will of its own. Not so much a conscious rather than a directive drawn from someone or something with a deep connection with the instrument.
Remmington's thoughts were distracted by his group, notably Emmy. "I still haven't found any pens; I won't be able to increase my collection at this rate." She whined half-heartedly, lightly slamming her fists on her brother's back.
Daxton looked annoyed, though it wasn't very often he wasn't when dealing with his younger sister. "I'm going to go help Emmerson look for a pen," he said, trying to keep his voice low.
"It's Rare for you to say much," Danny laughed, walking over to Remmington and leaning against him. "Remmy will probably tag along with me since he already found what he came for," she continued.
Remmington shrugged, a minor agreement since he didn't have much else to do til later.
"I thought he didn't like that nickname." Emmy joked back, eyeing Remmington curiously.
"He doesn't," Remmington replied, looking at Danny judgingly. The blonde turned away slightly, whistling.
Emmy laughed, grabbing Daxton's hand as she began to walk out of the piano room. "Don't bore Remmington too much!" She called out, turning the corner with Daxton looking none the happier.
"You did really good this time, Remmington," Danny said, leaning into him a bit more as the siblings left. "How much time did you practice on that one?" She asked, nudging him with her elbow.
"Eight months; I wanted to show it off last time I was in Europe but didn't want to mess it up. Especially since Emmy and Daxton brought their cousin along, it would be a bad impression to mess up in front of them."
"Damn, quite the amount of work for one piece, don't you think?" She replied, finally removing herself from his side. "How many times did you rewrite the sheet to make the mash-up?"
Remmington shrugged, unsure. "Don't know, don't care. What matters is that I completed it. It was well worth the effort, though, especially when I was allowed to play it on a piano that Beethoven played on himself."
Stretching, Remmington extended his arms upwards as his back bent slightly. With a yawn, he let his arms fall back down to his side, his fingers going through a myriad of simple stretches as well. "I know you're dying to look at some more portraits. I want to let my fingers rest after playing. That song is a lot more taxing than it seems."
With a nod, Danny took the lead. As they made their way through the old, dark manor, neither seemed to notice how the shadow of Remmington's finger began to distort.
~~~
"-and there were also a few really cool fountain pens I didn't expect to find. They were embroidered with copper and silver; one even had gold." Emmy exclaimed to the three.
Daxton looked partially content, now holding two new suits in his arms that he would probably hand wash when returning home. They seemed to be his size, which was surprising since people from the past decades and centuries were often relatively short in comparison.
Danny was looking through her photo album on her phone, quietly gushing over the hundreds of new portraits and objects she recorded with her camera. She had also taken a video of Remmington playing the piano in the ballroom closer to when they decided to resign to the living room.
For the remainder of the exploration, Remmington felt odd. The piano in the piano room called to him, almost begging him to play it again. He ignored the feeling, and it died down slowly over the night. Now, it was nearing midnight, and everyone was slowly growing weary.
The feeling grew again as everyone was getting ready to settle down. Emmy, with her seemingly infinite supply of energy, was dying down. Daxton, despite his minor excitement, was tired from driving all day. Danny also became more clingy over the length of their exploration, tending to be a very physical person when tired.
"Dax, can you stay by me tonight?" Emmy asked, an odd look of worry coming over her face. "Something about this place feels... bad. I don't like it. Let's leave in the morning."
Danny looked at her in surprise but quickly seemed to catch her resolve. "If it's you saying it, I won't disagree." She added, looking over at Daxton, who nodded towards his sister.
"I'm not against it either." Remmington agreed, though he wasn't entirely sure what he said was what he felt. No, rather, what was here didn't want him to leave. This only made Remmington more sure of his response.
"I feel like something wants to keep us here, or at least me here." He resumed, his tone serious. "After I played that piano, I felt something weird. I wasn't sure what it was; I'm still not sure, but I don't think it's a good idea even to go back into that room."
This acknowledgment seemed to make the feeling inside him spike. He gripped his shirt as his chest began to burn, a painful roar erupting from his throat. "Shit! Daxton, help him. We need to get Remmington out of here." Emmy cried, rushing towards him clumsily as she dug through her pack for her medical supplies.
As the siblings rushed over, Daxton held Remmingon in one arm and let him lean against him as he walked him over to a chair. "I've got Ibuprofen!" Emmy shouted, audibly straining her throat. Daxton reached, grabbed the bottle, and dropped a small pile into his hand. Quickly pinching two between his fingers and palm, he dumped the remainder back into the bottle.
"Water." He spoke, his voice loud and demanding as Remmington opened his mouth, eyes closed in pain.
"Already on it!" Danny exclaimed, rushing to their side with a bottle of water and handing it to Daxton. Tossing the two small pills into Remmington's mouth, Daxton uncapped the water and poured.
Pulling away, Remmington swallowed, still grasping at his chest. His pinky began to burn as well, undergoing just as much pain, if not more than what he was experiencing in his chest.
"I would like to say let's leave now, but it's too damn dark to travel out in the night right now," Danny complained, rightfully so. Bears and wolves were out in the woods, likely surveying their territory now.
"Danny, stay next to him tonight," Emma demanded, glaring hard at the blonde. "Just make sure he doesn't do anything. If he starts going towards that damn room, do anything to stop him. I don't want some 'The Conjuring' stuff going on."
Danny nodded, quickly grabbing Remmington's hand. Danny's hand felt cold to Remmington, a cold which didn't adjust. Uncomfortable, he tried to pull his hand away, but Danny kept her grip firm.
"You watch too many horror movies, Emmy," Danny quipped, sliding into the chair beside Remmington.
"I heard that," Emmy said with a scowl that dropped into something somber as she looked away.
"Sorry, stressed out. I wasn't exactly expecting Remmington to go all possessed on us like that." Emmy apologized, plopping down in her own chair with a grunt as Daxton sat in front of her on the floor.
"I don't think anyone was," Daxton added quietly, looking down at his shaking hands. He wasn't one for superstitions, but the exhibition before was more than enough to prove his previous misconceptions wrong.
Another groan escaped Remmington, and his body slowly began turning red from the heat it had rapidly started producing. "What's going on?! He's getting really hot; I don't know what to do..." Danny cried in worry, tears beginning to stream down his face as she tried to keep holding his hand.
The heat kept rising incredibly fast, beginning to burn her hand. Her attempt to maintain contact ceased, releasing her grasp from his hand with a yelp. Danny looked down, her hand red and raw.
Reflexes had her grasping her burned hand with her uninjured counterpart, wincing at the pain. Her worried, tearful gaze fell upon Remmington, his body slowly turning a deeper red.
She reached out again, trying to reach him, when a hand grabbed her wrist. She looked to her side, Baxton holding her wrist as he shook her head. He looked just as troubled, eyes shiny as he looked upon his friend.
"What do... He just... He was fine a moment ago... I just..." She hit the armrest, her hand aching as it hit the wood through the chair's cushioning. "Why is this happening!" She sobbed, slumping forward as her hands moved to her face.
Her tears didn't help as pain erupted from her wounded hand, dropping hard to her lap. She hit the chair harder, hearing the wood beneath her fist crack.
Emmy watched this all happen, trying to make sense of it all. Her brother tried calming Danny down, and now Remmington was beginning to look like a tomato. Her mind raced, failing to decipher anything.
Then it started, quiet and shallow, but she could hear the faint traces of it—the scratchy yet smooth sound of a fountain pen. Her head turned, trying to find it. It seemed to suck her in, drawing her attention away from her brother and friends.
Standing ever so quietly as if something in her mind forbade her from making noise, Emmy's body took her towards the room. Her hand reached out, grabbing the hand and slowly turning-
"Emmerson!"
Emmy had never once heard her brother shout so loud in her life. Her body spun, eyes and bleeding red tears she hadn't noticed before. She moved her hand to her face, feeling the wetness and the red liquid replacing her tears. "Daxton! What's going-"
Emmy's voice cut out following the crack of the door behind her. As her eyes rolled into the back of her head, she fell forward with a fountain pen now protruding from the back of her skull.
"Emmy!" Daxton screamed, jumping up and rushing towards his sister, who lay lifeless on the floor, blood trickling from the back of her head. He bent down, cupping her head as he let out a gut-curdling scream, bashing his fists into the floor.
"𝔏𝔬𝔬𝔨𝔰 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢 𝔰𝔥𝔢 𝔣𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔡 𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔣𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔱𝔞𝔦𝔫 𝔭𝔢𝔫" A voice croaked with raspy laughter. Daxton was frozen, his eyes opening wide in pure fear. Slowly, he turned towards the voice to see Remmington now standing upright on the back of the chair he had been seated in.
Danny was on the floor, hunched over, holding her stomach and coughing. Daxton clenched his fists, tears streaming down his face. "Why!" He bellowed, holding onto his sister.
He wasn't sure if he blinked, but Remmington had vanished. Daxton's eyes began to dart around, trying to find where he had gone. His worry was followed by movement, his eyes moving down to his sister as her body shifted.
"Emmy!" He cried, watching her body lift itself. The cry of relief died in his throat as her face was no longer her own. Her eyes were replaced with piano keys, and her teeth were replaced with the nibs from the fountain pens she had loved so much.
"Emmy?..." Daxton asked, tears streaking down his face as he felt something inside himself die. He wanted to reach out, but fear restricted him as her sharp smile curled up unnaturally, and the four lateral piano keys seemingly shoved into each eye socket began to shift in and out.
Daxton didn't know what to do when her body lunged or when his clothes started moving independently. His left sleeve snapped backward and bent awkwardly as a crack rang through the air.
A deathly scream resonated from Daxton as his arm was snapped, his brain trying to work overtime to accentuate his adrenaline as his shirt sleeve proceeded to bend. More sounds of shattering bone echoed through the living room. Daxton's left arm was now painted crimson as his sister's nibbed jaws tore into his leg, shredding fabric like paper and revealing wet, red muscle and flesh.
Vision blurry, and pain the only current sensation he could feel, Daxton could barely make out the sleeve of his mutilated arm slowly making its way towards his neck. Slowly, he felt the wet clothing tighten, airflow being restricted.
He desperately tried to claw at his neck, but his disfigured sister was now biting his other arm. When she had moved from his leg to his arm, or how he hadn't felt it, he didn't know. Darkness began to creep in as Daxton gurgled in a final attempt to breathe.
And then it was black.
A single note was all it took for all the pain in her stomach to disperse. Her head lifted, the world around her distorting and spinning in a cacophony of dark swirling colors and musical notes. Music played quietly in the background, the tone dark, slow, and methodical as she stood.
Danny looked around, mind flashing to Remmington. She didn't know what had transpired; it happened too fast. 'Remmington!' She tried to scream, but nothing came out.
No sound seemed to exist aside from the dark music she had heard Remmington play that night and the odd soft cracking sounds her feet made as they hit the ground, off-tempo and off-key.
Trying to time her steps with the sound didn't work, and she nearly tripped over herself before gravity appeared to shift to keep her upright, further throwing off her balance.
Taking her time to adjust or attempt to, she took awkward steps towards the music. The music became increasingly louder with each step closer, drawing her in like a moth to the flame.
The dark, colorful void shifted in a nauseating fashion, musical notes becoming malformed and merging into silhouettes of disproportionate humanoid figures that cackled and pranced around madly—slinking back from the figures, trying to keep to herself.
She felt the fingers try to reach out to her, to reach her and force her to join their hellish dance that would tear her body apart from the poses that looked nothing less than agonizing. Danny's pace picked up at the sight of a familiar figure coming into view as she got closer.
"Remmington?" She asked without words, looking at the Thing playing the tune on the piano, once beautiful music now chaotic and warped into a deafening blur of deep, dark-tuned notes and a fiendish orchestra that didn't exist.
Danny looked upon It with what she would consider morbid curiosity, the fear that she would feel null under the influence of the devil's song. Its fingers were elongated, and nails protruded several centimeters from Its fingertips.
Aside from the eyes, which were now entirely black with dark swirls of red patterning them abstractly, Its face looked so close to that of Remmington.
"I thought I lost you, Remmy... I'm sorry." She cried, thoughts resonating through the space as black tears streames down her face. It looked at her, smiling with teeth now serrated like a shark's.
"𝔓𝔩𝔞𝔶 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔪𝔢," It demanded, allowing it to almost seem like an offer. Moving to the side, Danny nodded softly. "I won't ever leave you again, Remmy," she smiled sadly, speaking wordlessly as she sat beside it, laying her hands upon the keys.