Black Manor

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When Keith's eyes were reacquainted with the light, he spent some time adjusting to it before following Serena's unspoken command. The chair was comfortable enough, but he wouldn't have felt any less uncomfortable otherwise. He sighed; so she did remember after all. "I don't remember the whole story, but I remember the gist. You scammed me, I told on you, you got punished and moved away. I've always wanted to tell you how sorry I am that I did that to you. I mean, you did take a lot of money from me, but...well, I should have broken our deal myself. If I hadn't, you wouldn't have begun to hate me, and who knows where we would be." He hesitated before adding one more sentence, one he doubted Serena would deem important, but one he felt obligated to say. "And Jarrett was not at fault for finding the picture, since that isn't a case where fault even exists."

Keith began to stare at the floor. It did not matter to him in this moment if she was getting out a weapon to murder or torture him. In fact, he would welcome it; he had been in the wrong for allowing her to fall into danger all those years ago. Because of him, multiple people were now in jeopardy of dying or being mentally scarred for life. The top-hatted man's face as he threw up came into Keith's mind, as did Sazael crying in the fetal position. These first few challenges were only the beginning, and he knew that the damage that had already taken place because of a few of his misplaced words was quite possibly irreparable. The tears that he had held back for too long remained in his eyes, not falling down his face or receding. For the first time in years, it felt okay to stop smiling.

Once again, he found it difficult to speak, though the words came to mind easily. Please let the others go. I'm the only one you truly want; the others are innocent. Put me in that room with my worst fear for a day, a year, a lifetime. Just stop torturing the rest of them, please. Sazael, Ryan, Julius, Jarrett...people like them shouldn't have to go through things like these. Free them, and I will work for you if I must, never seeing the light of day or my family's faces again. I will not even send them a letter notifying them of my absence if that is what you wish. If it will make you let them go, then I beg of you, let me do it. But he couldn't say any of that, so he continued to sit there silently, as alone as if the room was empty.
 
Serena leaned closer, her eyes narrowed. Her blue hair fell gently over her shoulders, cascading down her dress in tendrils. "You must be mistaken.. I believe years ago we had made a pact with each other.. You indeed gave me a lot of money; Yet we had agreed to marry. I was trying to take care of my sick grandmother. That money was never for personal gain. That is when they caught the money missing in the vault and your parents asked you what had happened to it..."

She slammed her fist on the desk, glaring at Keith with rage. "You were so vain to think that this whole scheme I worked up was just for you.. I wanted to marry you. But when I was sent away I realized that who I was before was not who I was meant to be. Julius had found me after that. It wasn't long until I convinced him to help me build the manor. So you see.. The only part you play in this is part of the pawns in my game."

She stood, walking over to Keith with a smile. It was heartfelt, though her hatred had already touched her eyes. She ran a hand across his cheek, sighing softly. "I missed you terribly."
 
"Um...what?" Keith tried to remember whether or not that had truly been the case, instinctively flinching away from Serena's touch. But no matter how hard he tried, he only remembered the events as he had told them. "How can that be right? I want to believe you, but...surely we were too young to marry. And besides..." Here Keith lowered his voice; he didn't want to say what he was about to say, but he had to say it. "My parents told me that you must have scammed me, that the money could not have been for anyone but yourself. No matter what happens, I don't see why they would lie to me. So the only assumption I can make is that you're lying to me. If that's the case, please stop. We aren't going to get anywhere if we perpetuate the lies we've told. And I don't think I was vain; I just jumped to conclusions." This whole situation had become far too confusing, and as it became harder and harder to stop himself from trying to be happy again, he forced a small smile onto his face and changed the subject. "In any case, as cold as this may seem, it isn't as important for me to learn why you're doing this as it is to convince you to stop. So please, tell me what besides these challenges will make you let us all go."
 
Serena looked down at her manicured nails, glaring over at Keith. She stood, shaking her head and looking to the door. "Too little, too late." She returned to her seat behind the desk, clicking her tongue slightly as she pulled out a small, old book. The cover was black and torn; The pages were a dull yellow color. She opened a page, nodding and pushing it towards Keith.


My parents are becoming worried for me... They continue to say that Keith is very bad for me. They also wonder where the money has came from.. I won't tell them; Keith would be so upset.

He said we should marry. But that was after he hit his head in the accident at the pond. I'm not sure if he remembers or not.. But I will forever hold that statement. And the money- I wanted to buy a gravestone for my grandmother... She would have wanted that. I scammed Keith out of more money today so I could save it for the house I want to build...

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I'm being sent away now. My parents told me they found out about the money because Keith told them. He promised! He said we'd marry and move away from this place! That accident changed him.. Don't worry.. I'll someday show the world that they made a mistake.


Serena closed the diary, glaring at Keith. "So I scammed you out of a little bit more money than I let on.. So what? But you deceived me.."

Abigale entered, looking to Keith with a frown. "Done yet, Serena?" Serena picked up a bottle from the table behind her, throwing it at Abigale. "Get out!"

Abigale shut the door quickly, her eyes widened for a brief moment.

Serena returned her gaze to Keith, her lips forming a smile of pure evil. "I am over the marriage, though.. What more is there when you control what you want and have prisoners? The pain and torture that will be bestowed upon you will be just enough to settle my nerves."
 
Keith read the writing multiple times over, trying to make sense of it. This Keith didn't sound like him at all. He wouldn't dream of keeping secrets of such a large caliber from his family, and he knew he had been the same when he was younger. Also, what injury? Keith rarely had to deal with anything even remotely eventful throughout most of his life, this imprisonment being an obvious exception. Had he truly wanted to wed Serena and move away, and if so, why would he? He had planned to stay in his family's house until he was certain he could afford a home of his own. The more he heard, the less he was sure what to believe. But one thing was clear: there was no way he could convince Serena to give up on this plot of hers.

When he saw Serena's expression and heard her last words, confirming what he had just thought, something inside of him broke. He got out of the chair and turned to the door. "Abigale, come in and help me, please!" he yelled. Then he walked up to Serena in a preternaturally calm manner and reached for her neck, attempting to choke her, or at least to restrain her. It was then that he wondered: Am I hallucinating right now? Is this feeling of constant and confusing entrapment my worst fear? When I was blindfolded, did Abigale put me in that room instead of this office? A smile unlike any he had ever formed before spread across his face, one that felt both surprisingly natural and painfully wrong. Then it wouldn't hurt anyone if I were to kill Serena here and now, right?

Aloud, he said, "Serena, here's my challenge for you. I'll even give you some options. Fight for your life, or let us all go right now. You can attempt a negotiation with me for a third option if you wish. And you know as well as I do that there's no point in calling for help; everyone in this house is against you but you. So tell me, 'Rena', what's it going to be?"
 
Serena watched the door slowly open as Abigale entered. Her eyes flickered to Keith's for a moment, laughing with an evil charm before lifting her knee. "I like it rough." In one swift motion, her knee caught his genitals. She took this opportunity to wrap her hand around his neck, grinning and shaking her head. "You never were quite bright." Abigale was taken aback by the commotion; She looked to Serena, shaking her head. "We shouldn't hurt him.. He's just mentally ill.." Serena glared at Abigale, grabbing a roll of twine and wrapping it around Keith's hands. She made sure that the twine was digging into his skin before pushing him to the ground. She proceeded to take the blindfold off the desk and cloak his eyes with it; This time she wasn't taking chances.


Abigale pulled Keith to his feet, looking to Serena with pity. This woman's persona screamed for help, yet no one acknowledged it. It was as if Serena was just merely a memory to most people.


Jarrett had looked to Miya, frowning. "Since Keith isn't here.. Miya, you'll have to go next."

After some time, Abigale entered the room with Keith, her eyes narrowed in anger. No matter how evil and mean a woman was.. A man should not try to harm her. She quickly unwrapped the blindfold and looked to him, snubbing her nose at him slightly. She left as fast as she came, locking the door behind her.

Jarrett raised his eyes at Keith's tied up hands. "You must have made someone mad.."
 
Keith had done his best to fight his way out of Serena's grip, but unfortunately, his best just hadn't been enough. As she tied on the blindfold, Keith realized what an idiotic thing he had done. Why had he gotten so upset at her? Was it because he couldn't accept that she had done this to so many people, or was it because she had confused him with talk of a nonexistent past? Either way, he should have had a better plan than just charging at her unarmed. In fact, attacking her in general was such a bad idea. The best thing to do was to ensure that everyone survived this experience as healthy as possible. Fighting the house's owner served no purpose in the end.

Someone helped Keith up (probably Abigale) and helped him walk back to the cells. Keith worked on his smile, attempting to make it look as natural as possible. After a lot of walking, the blindfold was unwrapped, and Keith saw that it was indeed Abigale who had escorted him. She appeared to be angry at him, but she left too quickly for him to offer an apology. Of course, she was right to be mad at him; he was just as upset with his misconduct.

At Jarrett's words, Keith smiled sheepishly, as if he had tripped down a flight of stairs. "Unfortunately, yes. Some of the things I said rubbed her the wrong way, and she was unable to forgive me." Keith groaned slightly; not only did Serena's retaliation hurt, but the cut in his arm had started hurting again. "So...I'm going into that room soon, aren't I? Will I need to be untied when I go in there?"
 
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Miya was very scared of going into that room. All she can hope for right now was nothing will happen to her baby. But not like she had much of a choice. She took a deep breath and reluctantly entered what she thought was a gas chamber. Inhaling the Hallucinogens, she began hearing the cries of an infant. Suddenly, she started feeling contractions. In pain, she began holding her stomach as she ended up on her knees. However, she wasn't exactly going into labor, but started feeling the labor pains. As she got on her side, tears hit her eyes. She then started having visions of what happened to be a parasite strangling her baby as she squirmed in pain, crying as well. "Please...Not the baby! Please!!" She yelled. This vision would fluctuate for the first ten minutes of her being in that horrid room. As the Infant's cries got louder, she too started yelling.
 
Jarrett finally managed to pull Ryan onto his bed; Whatever was in that room seemed to cause him to fall unconscious. He gently tapped on Ryan's face with his finger, frowning slightly. "Uh.. Ryan? Are.. Are you alright? Wake up.." He stood up, looking to the others. A sense of fear came over him; What exactly would be waiting for him behind that door?


Julius stood, grabbing a bottle of blood and opening the door. He sighed, looking over at Sazael. "You must eat. Don't pretend anymore that you're going to be okay... I can see that these tasks have done to you. You must eat. Now." He grabbed the tray, pushing it towards her and frowning. "Come on.. For me?"


Abigale knocked on Serena's office, looking down at her shoes. "Can we talk?" Serena sighed, trying her best to regain her composure. "Is it really important?"
 
Sazael simply stared directly into Julius' eyes, finding them enchanting and pleasing to look at. As he finished talking she replied with, "If you know what these tasks have done to me, then you can understand that I don't have the will to eat." She felt as if she had talked more than she ever did in just that day, which was quite rare for her to speak so much. Her eyes glanced at the tray of food being pushed to her, gently pushing it back.
 
After the visions stopped fluctuating, Miya had a few seconds to catch her breath. She felt around her belly to make sure the baby was okay. She wasn't bleeding or anything and the baby kicked. Soon, she was surrounded by an ocean of blood. Seeing that her greatest fear right now was something happening to her baby, the blood started making her think about miscarriages and even abortions even though she was too far in her pregnancy to have an abortion. These thoughts, which were amplifying her stress, caused her contractions to act up, but still no signs of labor. If her water broke, that would make her worry. She held her stomach as she tried to close her eyes. But the blood made her scream as she started crying, begging to be let out. "Please, let me out!" She cried, attempting to crawl towards what she thought was the door. But since she was surrounded by an ocean of blood. About fifteen minutes later, now she's been in the room for about twenty five minutes. What was next? Soon, she was in the dark again, with dim lights. When she looked around, she saw a hooded figure, she felt her baby kicking. Miya started breathing heavily. The Hooded Figure drew what seemed to be a kitchen knife in one hand and a pair of scissors in the other. It started walking towards her! She tried to back away, but ended up tripping over her foot. Luckily she wasn't seriously harmed. As she backed away, she tried reaching around for the door knob, she started banging on the door as panic overtook her. Although it was obviously just a figment of her imagination, it was very real to her. As the figure began staring down at her, it attempted to stab her in the belly, which made her scream, but it would be blown away and it vanished like mist. Next up, now that it had reached the forty-five minute mark, next up was seeing a demon infant, who started scurrying towards her. Miya shrieked before it disappeared after it attempted to stab her with a pitch-fork. Now she was backed into a Corner, away from the door. Now a few doctors approached her, in scrubs, masks and everything. One of them had a scalpel. Was she about to have a C-Section? That was another fear she had. "God just let me out! I've had enough!!" She yelled across the room, causing the horrid looking doctors to disappear. At the sixty minute mark, which meant that everything was over, she was whimpering in the corner, cradling her belly. The Baby must have sensed its mother's fears and was probably crying and Miya was hoping to calm him down. "Its okay, sweetie...Its over..." She then started crying, tears rolling down her cheeks like a water fall. Though she wasn't frozen in fear, Miya was scared of what was next. She was crying, trembling, whimpering, holding onto her stomach very protectively...Miya was frightened to the bone! Unlike the previous victims, however, she didn't pass out. Not like she could sleep or close her eyes after what she saw...
 
Ryan slowly came to, but then the moment his senses came about him, he threw himself at Jarrett, catching him by surprise with sudden, unexpected strength.

"LET ME OUT!" He yelled, shaking Jarrett's shoulders. "WHY WONT YOU LET ME OUT!?" He pushed at Jarrett with a closed fist, in a kind of stabbing motion, but nothing else seemed to happen. Ryan backed away with a crazed look of terror in his eyes. "Why wont you die!? Why wont you let me die!? LET ME OUT!" He fell to his knees and covered his face, a broken man.
 
Julius stood, opening the door as he heard Miya's faint scream. He groaned, standing up slowly and looking to Sazael. "I'll be back soon." He grabbed the keys from Jarrett, who looked stunned as Ryan began to scream at him. He opened the door that housed Miya, pulling her out of the room slowly. He was amazed at how heavy a woman could feel with a child inside her; He disliked the thought of children. It wasn't that he didn't like them.. He never was able to experience children. He laid Miya on a nearby bed, returning to the closet and looking to Sazael. "I need your help with Miya. Please."


Jarrett was thinking of his own fears; What would he face? Would it be as bad as what Ryan had been through? Since he had been locked in the manor all the tasks had seemed easy. This one made him regret ever leaving his parent's home. He sighed sadly, sitting down on the floor. His blonde hair flopped against his forehead in defeat; What would lie beyond this task?
 
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Now that she was on a nearby bed, she didn't know whether to panic or calm down. The amount of stress that she was experience was beyond horrible for the baby. Miya was just glad that was it was finally over. It was still too early for her to be even having the baby. She'd be damned if she were to give birth right now as well. As she took a deep breath, she tried to relax herself in bed. Her ankle still hurt due to the fact that she tripped though. Because of the position she sat in and what she was leaning against, she started feeling pain in her back, but it went away as soon as she started laying on her side. She stared down at her stomach, thankful that both she and the baby made it through in that horrible room. She slowly started caressing her belly, wanting to let her child know that it'd be okay, just not through words.
 
Taniac stood with her back against a wall, waiting for her own turn. Her eyes scanned the panicked scene. 'Prisoners' coming in and out of the room; going in normal, coming out without their sanity. Her hand, by her side, trembled slightly. No, she didn't fear the room nor what she'd see, she already knew what her fear was. It was her only one and she'd already lived it. She was scared of the nightmare advancing, and what she would end up doing to herself. She gripped the shaking hand with her other, calming the uncontrollable motion.

She frowned at the pregnant woman. It was unfortunate, but she had decided that she couldn't afford to worry about anyone else besides herself. Unless a temporary a team was present, in such a case, she would worry about their team completeing their task as a whole. For now, the mute girl silently wished Miya the best of luck, it's about all she could do.

Taniac had begun to notice small groups coming together, people finding certain interests in one another and forming what she could only assume to be an alliance. She sighed and tapped her booted toes against the ground, wondering what in the hell was wrong with these people, or herself? Whoever, by whatever standards, was wrong in this situation? Caring makes you weak and a potential victim. So why should she ever care for someone? And so her rampant, distorted mind continued to make sense of itself as she quietly waited.
 
Sazael stared at Julius, thinking over his request to help with Miya. She wasn't sure if she could do anything for the pregnant woman, but she could try. Silently and shakily, she stood up. By now, she had mostly gotten over the room experience thanks to Julius, though she'd probably react negatively if anyone were to touch her neck. Sazael walked out of the closet, fixing her hair to cover her still red neck. She walked over to Miya's room, looking at the pregnant woman quietly.
 
Abigale seated herself across from Serena; Her body relaxed slightly, though she was on edge. "What.. What exactly happened earlier?" Serena raised an eyebrow, looking down at her notes. "That man could not accept what happened in his past. He tried to retaliate; I put him in his place. I've seen this many times, Abi. You should know this." Abigale nodded, messing with her necklace slowly. "W-What about Julius?" Serena snorted, writing things down on her papers. "You really should forget about him, Abigale. He's no good to us anymore." Abigale frowned, nodding. "Uh.. I guess you're right. What is that thing you torment him with?" Serena grinned, pulling out the vial of ashes that hung on a chain. "This? Oh-ho-ho.. You must see! It's his beloved's ashes. He cannot leave without it. So he's stuck here. Forever. With.. me."
 
Miya just stayed laying on her side, still gently caressing her stomach. When Sazael came into the room, Miya looked up at her, unsure of what to say. Seeing how Julius had trouble carrying her, she found it very insulting. Back home, her husband can lift her off her feet and he has almost no trouble with it. Hopefully Sazael wasn't planning to do anything harmful to her. As if her experience in that room was horrifying enough. When she made eye contact with Sazael, Miya's gaze locked onto her's.
 
Julius smirked; He could sense the woman's hurt feelings. He honestly could carry her; He was just surprised with how heavy she seemed to be. He shrugged, sipping lightly on his blood before looking to Keith. "You're up, Keith. Snap to it." He cut the twine behind Keith's hands, smiling as he realized that Serena was the one who had tied it. He sighed, grabbing the keys from Jarrett. "I'm in charge now." Jarrett scowled, though he didn't seem to pay much mind to Julius. His fears were endless; Half of them he could handle, though. But others seemed to be more than he could handle. He shivered slightly, looking at the pool of blood. Most of it was beginning to turn coagulated. He snubbed his nose at the blood. He wanted to get out of here. Then again, he didn't. He had nowhere else to go besides this manor. He had been through three seasons of the tasks. Serena surely would not let him go now, would she? He sighed, shaking his head. Julius promised. So it must be true.
 
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Keith, having fully accepted that he was not hallucinating yet, immediately felt the freedom in his wrists when Julius cut the twine. "Thank you," he said, not knowing why Julius was smiling, but not letting it bother him. Then he looked over at the door, feeling a chill go down his spine. Everyone who had entered that room had left with a clear portion of their sanity missing, and Keith didn't feel like losing that any more than he felt like losing his legs. But there was no choice; if the people he cared so much for had gone in despite the consequences, he could hardly say he was too good to enter. Slowly but surely, he walked into the barren room and waited for whatever would happen next.

For a good three minutes, absolutely nothing happened, which was both the biggest relief and the most excruciating suspense Keith had had to deal with thus far. He walked to the other side of the room, examining the wall for no particular reason. He turned around, and to his surprise, the room had changed. It had become the sitting room that he had walked through often as a child, the one that reminded him so much of a library that he had thought it was one for a few years. To this day, he still couldn't tell the difference. His mother and sister sat in comfortable chairs with their backs to him, and Keith called out to them in joy. Whether or not they were hallucinations, it felt so good to see them.

But as he walked toward them, he felt his vision go black and he fell to the floor. He regained his sight in a matter of seconds, but in that time, the room changed completely. There was blood everywhere: the walls, the bookshelves, even a little on the ceiling. Most of it was on the floor, by a bunch of fleshy objects he couldn't quite identify at first. Then it came to him; these were corpses. In that moment, Keith forgot this was a hallucination, forgot that this wasn't happening. He crept closer to the bodies, finally seeing the heads, and he fell to his knees. It was his family on the floor.

Then Keith noticed his self. The front of his body was practically drenched in blood spatter, and in his hands was a bloodstained bayonet, a memento of his father's days in the military. Finally, the truth reached him. Though they meant so much to him, he had killed them both. Even worse, he had desecrated their bodies by taking parts off for seemingly no reason. Memories came flooding back: he had shot his sister in the head first...his mother tried to run...he stabbed her in the back...she twitched on the end of the blade...finally flopped to the floor...he severed his sister's left arm...his mother's legs...his mother's head...his sister's heart...it took so long...

Keith began pounding the bloody floor, not caring how much he stained himself in the resultant splash. He wanted to run, to hide, but where could he go? No matter where he went, the family that meant so much to him was gone forever, and it was his fault. But was it? "SERENA!" he screamed, hoping she would admit to the deed, or at least help him make sense of it. She always seemed to have the answers, even if they were terrible. But it soon became clear that she wasn't coming. He called her name a few more times before falling to the floor and sobbing.
 
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