[R1999] Short Stories' Collection

Horrorpedia: A "haunted house" trip

PUT THE TICKET INSIDE THE MOUTH

"Put the ticket inside its mouth? Okay, this sounds fun." said Horrorpedia.

The two put their tickets in the monkey mouths respectively. A freak and crazy laugh came from the black holes of their mouth and then, both of them were shifted to a mysterious maze which Horrorpedia called a "haunted house" and were being chased after by various horror characters.

Now they were hiding inside a closet of a random abandoned room and were almost caught by one of the monsters. After watching this and that, touching some items and doing many experiments, Horrorpedia lightly rubbed his chin and drew his conclusion.

"This haunted house is definitely a product of arcanum."

The ghost listened to his words and nodded in agreement.

"I have tried to contact Vertin and even the Foundation before, but the signal was too poor."

Though his words were full of worries, Click could easily see the excitement shining from his eyes.

'Oh, so this was what he actually expected for.' Click quietly thought.

"Don't worry, my friend! You have a horror expert here and I will definitely lead you out of this horrible place!"

Horrorpedia slightly lifted his eyeglasses and made a cool pose that he had in his mind a long time ago.

"Did it sound cool? I always want to have a chance to say those lines out loud!"

Following his lead, not only they successfully avoided the surprising attacks from those "not-so-smart" monsters (in Horrorpedia's comment), but also found the secret paths which were hidden from their sights. Horrorpedia' instructions were trustworthy, however, sometimes he would intentionally cause some dangers to himself because of curiosity. Therefore, Click needed to keep an eye on him so that he could save the man immediately.

"You're one of the greatest supporters and companions I ever have!" gratefully said Horrorpedia, while being held in the air by Click after he activated a spike trap right where he was standing just now.

The ghost photographer quietly let out a sigh.

After escaping from many deadly traps, thrilling chases and solving difficult puzzles, they finally came to the heart of this horror maze.

Horrorpedia quickly took out his gun which was loaded with the special bullets that he had just made. After receiving their own signals from his companion, Click lifted him from behind and floated in the air to avoid the attacks of the monsters below.

"Just as I thought, neither these amateur monsters could fly nor reach this height." Horrorpedia said with a smirk.

Despite floating in the air, he seriously narrowed his eyes and aimed the gun barrel at the red crystal heart. The bullet left the barrel with an increasing speed and instantly, the crystal exploded and shattered into small pieces.

The light from the explosion gleamed on those sparkling brown eyes, small freckles and his joyful expression. Never did the ghost wish he could have an extra pair of hands to raise his camera and capture this beautiful moment.

'Maybe I can drop him and try to take the picture as fast as possible...'

But he immediately gave up the idea.

'That moment will be ruined if I do that...'

At the same time, the illusions around Horrorpedia and Click vanished in the cry of those monsters. All of them gradually lost their fearsome appearances and turned back to their original forms. To Horrorpedia's surprise, those were the familiar faces he had recently met these days in Vertin's suitcase!

"Uh-oh, we were busted~"

The young girl who had two low braids with black and white color let out a giggle.

"We lost but it was so fun!" The twins happily said at the same time.

"Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof"
(I said it was not a good idea from the beginning, but that man had a silly smile like Charlton when he received his favorite birthday gift. So I think my free time was worth it.)

"The puppy said he was satisfied with the result."

The electric voice from a device which had an apple on its screen came out right after the barks of the dog.

"What did you think when you saw an apple wearing a tie being cut into slices? I myself can still feel the goosebumps along my skin."

A gentleman's voice came from a floating apple with a small white killer mask on its side.

From the shadow, the masterminds after all of this, or we could call them the birthday party organizers, finally showed their true identities. The blonde-haired girl with stylish outfits and the long brown-haired girl with the bottom body of a deer walked together to Horrorpedia's spot.

"Blonney and Jessica! Both of you are here!"

"How about our haunted house?" Blonney confidently asked.

"The monsters' behavior was chaotic and easy to guess. The traps and puzzles were old but gold. And especially, the ending was beyond my predictions!" Horrorpedia excitedly answered.

"I will take it as a compliment."

From another direction, the gray-haired girl and the orange-haired girl also showed up.

"Great Vertin and Sonetto!"

"Ms.Tooth Fairy and Madam Z sent their greetings." Vertin said.

"I will give my thanks to them later." He happily replied.

While other people exchanged their feelings and talked about the experiences in this haunted house as well as enjoying the drink and food in horror theme Blonney had prepared, Vertin walked towards Click, who was raising his camera and taking many pictures at different angles.

"Thank you for cooperating with us." She said.

"...That was also my choice, so no need to thank me." He slightly shook his head.

The party lasted till midnight. Everybody chose to rest here until the morning because there was no transportation working at this time. Luckily, Blonney had predicted this situation and prepared all the necessary and convenient things in advance.

Horrorpedia stretched his shoulders and let out a long yawn. He watched the banner that had the words line in the familiar font which was often used for horror film' posters.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HORRORPEDIA

"Not bad." He murmured to himself.

He thought about the decorations of this haunted house, the thrilling experience he had been through and all the new friends he had just met in a short time.

"Not bad at all."

He smiled in happiness and closed those sparkling eyes.

*CLICK*

The ghost photographer just captured an exquisite moment.