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Chapter 3: Dark as night, Twice the blight

(Aimee)

Aimee quickly rushed down the stairs, her mind on autopilot. "The Narrator? Here? Why now?" she thought while making her way to the first table and began looking over each one. "Which one? Which one? will save us? Save Cam?"

Aimee had learned a while back that if she only glanced at an object without looking at it directly, she wouldn't retain the knowledge of what the object was. Unfortunately, Aimee couldn't use this method at the moment. She needed more info than just a picture. "Which one? Which one?" Aimee thought while she continued running from object to object.

She eventually noticed that Cam was standing beside her. He was saying something, but she couldn't make it out through the haze of data she was processing.

"Aimee?" Cam asked concerned.

"oh yeah. Um, my mother told me stories about the narrator...he's a powerful multiplanar being that can alter reality and has a penchant for helping travelers. She said his warnings should never be ignored." Aimee said trance-like, her hands never ceasing in their roving of items. Her mind couldn't focus over the din of so much information, then he touched her. Warm caring hands, obviously male but very soft caressed her hands and began rubbing warmth back into them. "Whose hands are these? I like them. Wait Cam is with me. These must be his hands. No, no, no." This thought brought her back out of her mental shell in time to hear; "We're going to get through this, right?"

"Wrong. Cam, there was one thing I left out of the story. Whenever The Narrator appears, death follows." Aimee said as tears began running down her face. Cameron wrapped his arms about her neck, trying to comfort her.

"This isn't right, I'm confused. How could I like cam? He's holding me...maybe he likes me too?" Aimee thought in the warm embrace of Cameron's concern. "We can't sit here all day. I still need to find out what happened to my mothers." Aimee says while gently unwrapping Cameron's hands from her neck, her cheeks slightly blushing a bit.

"Yeah, your right." cam said as he turned and lead the way back up the stairs. It had just occurred to her, but she hadn't even looked at what object cam had placed in her hands. A wooden croquet mallet rested loosely in the grasp of her left hand. "I guess Cameron is expecting trouble?" She thought.

When they got to the imposing doors of mahogany they didn't slow down, but quickly turned the latch and went in. "Finally," Aimee breathed when they walked across the threshold. "This brings back so many memories." Her body sagged a bit, the weight of the memories she was carrying weighing her down. "I can't focus on 'that' right now. I need to focus on just finding my mothers."

Cam hadn't noticed the turmoil brewing on Aimee's face and thought all was well. "Hey, who does the cleaning around here? This table is extremely dusty!" he said, raising a dust caked finger to prove a point.

Aimee glanced over at Cameron's location and then away as she caught a flash of memory concerning the right hand tiny drawer table. "My mothers usually keep the place pretty squared away." she said while wandering over to a table near the front door. "Whoa! I can't believe they still have this old thing. Cam, come look at this."

Cam turned around quickly while closing the drawer with a guilty look on his face. "Uh, what is it?" he said while moving closer for a better view.

"look, I can't believe they still use it. This is my family's guest book." Aimee said with a nostalgic look on her face.

"Aimee, I don't want to come between you and a book. But uh, aren't you getting a bit carried away?" Cameron said with an incredulous look on his face, almost as if this was a shocking side of Aimee he hadn't seen before.

Aimee was about to ask cam to shove it, when she got to the end of the book and saw the latest entry. Her face fell, and her hands shook. "Cam!" she whispered loudly.

Cam peered over her shoulder while they both read the page.

Write your name down, and your life will be spared once. Recorded at the moment of signing. Sign twice and death will surely follow.

A small list of names filled the lines below...........

Alyx Aurora Claira Corbin Jake Aurora Dorian Fairlove Dennis Rowan Natalie Fairlove Sylvia Fairlove Jennifer Scizor The Narrator Nancy Bristol Randy Akers

A dark smudge was carried across the last name making it impossible to read.

"What does that mean?" Cam asked as he began scanning the room, keeping an eye out for the ominous narrator.

"I don't kno-" Aimee started to say when the double doors on the left opened slowly. An animal howl was heard coming from upstairs. *ARAWGHHH*

"Let me guess? We have to investigate?" Cam said with a sad smile on his face.

"You know it!" Aimee replied with fake enthusiasm. She eased closer to the nearby open door with the croquet mallet ready in one hand. "We'll hit them low, and then we'll hit them in the noggin."

Cam readied himself, quickly following Aimee into what looked like a dining room. The dinning room was lit by a roaring fire on the east wall. The table was set for ten. A glorious meal was set out and still steaming. The place at the end of the table was pulled out and facing a plethora of windows. Each one was a different shape or size.

The room was odd to say the least, but the oddest thing by far would have been the man sitting in the chair facing the windows silently. He was wearing a long dark traveling cloak, a black bowler hat, and leaning on a blackthorn walking stick. As far as Aimee could tell, the man was unaware of the newcomers. He didn't acknowledge their presence at any rate.

Cam looked over at Aimee with a questioning look. "You know this guy?"

Aimee shook her head. She wandered closer to the odd stranger. On the walls to her left, a couple of paintings adorned the walls. "Um, sir? Who are you?"

"Who I am is not of your concern. You should instead be concerned with who you are." The man said giving the two a sideways glance.

"A name please, I'm getting tired of our questions being ignored." Cam said impatiently while reaching his hands into the pockets of his jeans nonchalantly.

"Don't mind my friend, he can be testy sometimes." Aimee speaks up, trying to smooth over cam's barb. "What we'd like to know is if you have seen my mothers. The women who live here."

"The girls are mine! You'll never see them again. You're not even playing the right game." The man laughed manically, getting up and walking out the dinning room door.

"What, how dare you!" Cam yelled as he ran forward to grab hold of the strange man and force him to answer their questions.

"Cam, wait. We don't know what he is capable of." Aimee said quickly to no avail. Cam didn't listen, charging straight at the man. He just about got his arms within punching distance when the dinning room doors slammed in his face. "Rawrrg!" Cameron yelled. He banged his fist into the door. *Thud* The door was yanked wide as the sound of laughter and another door slamming signaled the man had ventured deeper into the house.

Aimee walked forward and placed her hand gently on Cameron's shoulders. "Cam, we need to calm down, and-" She tried to say when cam shrugged out of her hands.

"That guy knows something about your mothers! Why aren't we after him?" Cam shouted as he whirled around.

"He said girls cam, not women. He's up to something, and I don't know why he's in my house, but we need to think calmly about this, okay?" Aimee tried to console her friend. "If we start ambushing every person we find, we'll never learn anything." Aimee continued as her grip loosened on the forgotten croquet mallet clenched in her shaking hands.

The mallet clattered as it struck the floor, blue sparks shivered about its head and then laid still. Cam reached down cautiously and plucked it up by the handle. The mallet appeared normal to both of their eyes. "Here," he said, giving the weapon back to Aimee. "Apparently you're right. We don't know the rules yet in this 'game'. Shall we continue?"

Aimee led the way back into the foyer. The Chandelier reflected a glitter of moonlight on the stairs leading up into the deeper parts of the mansion. A lone rose rested in a vase beside the staircase. In a corner beside the exit door say a jar of glowing silver water. It's glow reflected with the chandelier as well, creating a shimmering veil of glittering light draped over the entire room. "It's so beautiful." Cam said with an awed expression.

"Your gay is showing." Aimee said with a grin on her face as she took in the splendor. "I have to admit it's pretty dang beautiful." she thought.

"Bi, not gay!" Cam retorted.

"uh huh, come over here for a second." Aimee said from in front of the guest book. "I think we should sign it. I'm dedicated to my task, how about you?" Aimee said while signing it. She was hoping cam would leave, but at the same time she knew without cam...her mission would be almost impossible.

"Look, your name!" Cam said excitedly. Aimee's written name glowed brightly upon the paper and then dimmed.

"Your turn..." Aimee said while handing cam the pen.

"I don't know if this is a good idea." Cam said while picking up the pen and signing his name too. The name glowed as well, and then also dimmed. The sound of animal laughter echoed from the upstairs of the house, raising the hairs on Aimee's neck.

"So, um yeah. Let's leave, and come back in the morning." Cam said in a panicked voice. He moved quickly to the door and grabbed the doorknob to wrench it open. A sharp pain hit his hand when he made contact with the door and ran up his arm, causing him to wrench back. "Ow! Holy Bandersnatches. That hurt!"

"Cam, you okay?" Aimee asked, coming over to see what the matter was.

"Trust me when I tell you, the door is not a viable option." Cam said while gripping his pained arm.

"good. Your fine." the girl replied as she gave him a sharp kick. "How could you think of leaving?"

"I, I, I wouldn't have left you. I was seriously hoping if leaving was an option, that I could convince you of it." Cameron replied.

"well, it's not. You should know that I'm not leaving until I find my mothers." Aimee stated very tersely and forced, heading for the stairs.

"Ugh, I'm sorry Aimee. I want you to be safe. This place is becoming less and less by the moment. I'll try to watch out for you from now on." Cam said while winking and bumping her hip with his. He passed her and sashayed up the stairs.

"was that flirting? Cam doesn't usually flirt, ever. Maybe he's growing up?" Aimee thought, following behind her friend. "Hey, cutie butt bi-boi."

It was in this split second that the unexpected occurred. A cold hand fell on her shoulder.

"Ready to end your fruitless existence? Here let me help you." A familiar man's voice whispered. Aimee caught a glimpse of polished steel in the corner of her periphery. She knew she had only seconds to act before her death was assured. Aimee whirled around, ready to meet her death head on.

Cam was still slowly turning around by this point. "Aimee, what about my cute butt?"

In that instant Aimee reached out during her whirl to grab hold of the man's hand and attempt a retaliation. Instead of a male assailant before her, she caught only open air. A black bowler hat was on the step below.

"Cam," She whispered softly at first and then stronger. "Cam! I was just attacked! Well, not really..but he had a knife. I think he was the man from earlier. He left this." Aimee tried to explain while pointing behind her on the stair.

"I guess we're not in Kansas anymore..." Cameron said glumly as he took in what his friend just encountered and the unmistakable bowler hat the gentleman was wearing earlier.

"Don't look like that." Aimee said. The girl tossed the bowler hat behind her and marched up the stairs past cam. "C'mon, we won't get anything accomplished if we don't get a move on."

Cam grumbled while following her to the door on the far left of the second floor landing. The door had a name emblazoned on a brass plate. " Jake."

"This is my uncle's room. He comes by and stays from time to time with my mothers. My mother Claira really doesn't like him all that well, and always kept an eye on him when he was here." Aimee replied to cam's silent question.

Aimee tries the doorknob and finds it locked. "Locked. oh well, C'mon. I want to show you my room!" Aimee left Cam staring at the door, as she headed to another door on the far side marked " Aimee."

(Cameron)

"Hmm, I have a key around here somew-Aha!" cam mused and exclaimed when he found the key in his deep jeans pocket that he took from the downstairs table.

"Well, a quick peek couldn't hurt right?" he said as he eased the key into the sturdy door's lock, gave it a turn, and opened the door. Beyond the door was blackness far as cam could see. "Hello? Anyone here?" he called to the darkness. Suddenly a strong hand snatched him inside by his shirt as the door eased quickly closed.