Charlie's POV
My twin and I were still sat on his bed still trying to figure out if what we had just seen was a ghost.
Eddie" It has to be ghost"
Charlie" I mean what else could it be?"
Eddie" Why don't we get someone else's opinion?"
Charlie" What about Patricia?"
Eddie*makes a face*
Charlie" Maybe not, sorry, what about Mara, she also lives in our room"
Eddie" Okay, come on then"
We head back to my room, Patricia is sitting on the bed reading a book and Mara is on her laptop, Eddie sits down one side and me the other.
Mara" Oh hello"
Eddie" Me and my twin need you to decide whether this is a ghost"
Mara" Really, couldn't you have waited till tomorrow or something"
Charlie" Well live in the same room so"
Mara" Fine, show me"
Eddie presses the play button and Mara sighs and then it pops up.
Mara" What is that?"
Eddie" We don't know I mean look at it"
Twins" It has a face and everything"
Patricia then comes over and is adamant that it's not a ghost.
Patricia" Come on its just the light bouncing off the camera"
Charlie" Yeah with a face"
Patricia" Look, get real, Ghosts don't exist, look just delete it"
She then tries to press many buttons and my brother stops her.
Eddie" What are you doing?"
Patricia" I'm telling you it's not a ghost"
Charlie" Yeah well, no one asked your opinion"
Patricia" Weasel Twins, or should I say Sweetie Twins"
-Kitchen Room-
Fabian's POV
Patricia finally comes into the kitchen and Amber asks loudly,
Amber"Where have you been?"
Nicholas, Nina, and I shush her. We can't have Victor or Vera finding us.
Patricia" Guys, we have a problem,"
Alfie What?, Another one? We're at capacity."
Patricia"Guess who made an appearance on Joy's old video footage? "Senkhara."
Well there is not good, I thought only Nina and Nicholas could see her, apparently not, as she has shown up on the camera.
Amber"I would not have got that,"
Nicholas and Nina"Patricia, are you sure?"
We all look at the twins.
Nina" What?"
Patricia" Please don't tell me you guys do that weird twin thing that Eddie and Charlie do"
Nina pulls a face.
Nina" Sorry"
Patricia"Look I recognised her from my dream. You know, when she stamped me? And The Twins have already worked out that she's a ghost."
Alfie "What?"
Nicholas"What, but she is, isn't she?"
Fabian"Yeah, exactly why we don't want to broadcast it If The Twins go snooping, they might find out something they shouldn't, not to mention Victor and Vera might find out. "Look, you have to talk him out of it. Just, um, tell them ghosts don't exist."
Patricia" Don't you think I tried that"
Fabian"All right, well, tell them it was Jerome messing around."
Patricia" Charlie is dating Jerome she is bound to ask him"
Fabian"Fine, just tell him pretty much anything apart from the fact that it's the ghost of Tutankhamen's murderer hanging around for a mask."
Patricia" Don't you think I've also tried that, They just spent the last two hours trolling through the discs voluntarily."
Amber"Voluntarily, Okay, that's bad."
Patricia"And they have shown it too Mara"
I sigh and exchange looks with Nina and Nicholas.
Nicholas" Neither of them are going to let this go until they get answers"
Patricia" And Nina wants to write article about it"
Nina" Of course she does"
Charlie's POV
Since we had shown Mara the footage we now had to involve her, we had made our way downstairs, Mara holding her laptop while Eddie and I held some equipment, we were going to see if we could catch some ghosts on camera.
Eddie "So...do you believe in ghosts, Mara?"
Mara"I'm a journalist, I believe in the truth, whatever that turns out to be... Right, the video was shot from here through there, but I figure if we set up in the corner, we can get the whole living room and the dining room as well. Yeah?"
Charlie"Does this still count as 'human interest?'"
Mara"Absolutely. I never said they had to be alive."
Eddie"Right."
Eddie then makes his way towards the kitchen.
Mara "What are you doing?"
Eddie "What? Every stakeout needs food."
Mara"Afterwards, Eddie. Set up the equipment first. I'm not writing this article on supposition and conjecture."
Eddie"No, I was thinking more like chips and dip."
Mara"Eddie!"
I glared at Mara, who made her queen of the world, where does she get the audacity to boss my brother around.
Charlie" It's okay Eddie, you set up I'll get the snacks"
Mara" No Charlie, I need you to set up as well, come help your brother"
Charlie" Mara, I'm not sure who made you the queen of the world but we showed you the footage, so you want to stop bossing me and my brother around"
Mara looks taken aback at my sudden outburst.
Mara" Sorry, Sorry Eddie"
Eddie" It's okay"
Mara" Okay first we need to review the footage again"
Nicholas's POV
My sister and I as well as the others make our way along the tunnels. Patricia is still going on about The Twins and Mara, mainly Eddie.
Patricia"Who does she think she is? I'm the one who orders him to work before he eats, not her."
Nina"They are just ghost hunting"
Amber" Ghost Hunting is kind of romantic,"It brought me and Alfie together. Isn't that right, Alfie?"
Alfie"Yeah, don't worry, though. It also tore us apart."
Patricia "Oh, thanks."
Fabian sets the music box mirror on the first hand and the glass coin on the second. The beam bounces and makes a half-circle, and so he sets the goblet from the kitchen on the third hand, and it does the exact same. The beam doesn't quite reach the fourth hand, though. Three reflectors, three to go.
We celebrate in excitement we were getting oh so much closer to our goal.
Nina"It worked!, Well, I guess we should do it during the day when there's more light. Guys...the moon is moving."
Nicholas"What?" I ask, watching her walk to one of the walls. There's a gold moon and sun attached to it. I noticed it before but didn't think much on it considering the zodiac.
Nicholas"Are you sure it's moving?"
Nina puts her ear next to it.
Nina"It sounds like a clock."
Fabian"Yeah, yeah, it's moved. Look," Fabian confirms, showing us his phone. The photo he has taken was now completely different.
Fabian"The moon's going to eclipse the sun."
Patricia"What happens then, we lose?"
Nina"Whatever happens, it means we have to find all the reflectors, and fast. What have you got so far?"
Amber "What's this one with the mutant lollipop?"
Nina "That's the symbol for child,"
Fabian"No, doll, symbol for a doll, like dollhouse?
Nina" The riddle doll." The one from the attic I accidentally broke the first night back, the one with the tears of gold riddle! "It had glass eyes. It was in the attic, and then Victor took. I think...but not the face. The face broke off when I dropped it."
Amber"Uh, hate to rain on your parade but was that right before Trudy chunked everything that was in the attic?"
Nicholas "No, if the eye's been trashed, then there's no way we're ever gonna finish the task."
My sister starts to panic and it's understandable we have a ancient spirt on our backs
Fabian"Look, we'll ask the dollhouse first"
Fabian tries to reassure her.
Fabian" We can't have lost one of the reflectors. If we have... "Then we'll panic. Plan?"
Nina"Plan."
Patricia "I can hear voices from in there."
Amber"It's The Twins and Mara," Amber informs. "This must be the living room.
Charlie's POV
Eddie and I are sat either side of Mara still looking at old footage and discussing how we could get some new ones.
Mara"What are the conditions?"
Eddie "Well, most are found in attics or cellars. Fail."
Mara"What's second?"
I look at Eddie he too has the same thought.
Twins"They only come out in the dark."
We both walk over to the light switches to turn them off. Mara doesn't look so sure.
Mara"Is that a fact?"
Eddie"How can a million movies be wrong?"
Charlie" Eddie's right, come on Mara"
Mara"Well, you better stay close, I'm scared of the dark."
I sit down the other side of Mara and then we hear something it sounded like a human shouting
Twins"What was that?"
The twins and Mara sit there now a bit afraid.
Mara "It sounded like it said 'turn the light back on.'"
Eddie"Uh-huh."
Mara"So turn the light back on!"
Charlie"You want to do what it wants?"
Mara "It's what I want, too!"
Eddie"Okay...do you believe us now?"
Mara "Okay, but we don't have to be here though, right? The camera's running. We can check it in the morning."
Eddie"In the morning.
Charlie"Good."
Nina's POV
After managing to make it past the camera we headed upstairs to mine and Ambers Room.
Alfie' Real smooth Trixie, why did you do that?"
Patricia"Sorry, guys, "I just don't know what came over me."
Amber's mouth drops open and she points toward the wardrobe we've locked the dollhouse up in, exclaiming.
Amber"The dollhouse!"
The wardrobe, while still locked, looks like something gold is glowing on the inside. The dollhouse must be giving us another clue!
Nina "Please, Sarah!"
I run towards the wardrobe, unlocking it
Nina"Please, Sarah, tell me that the doll's still here."
I open the dollhouse and we crowd around. The figurines, which were last seen in the kitchen, are now hanging out in the entrance hall downstairs.
Fabian"The entrance hall,"
Nina"Come on,"
We both head downstairs and there is one Jerome Clarke standing in the doorway.
Jerome"What has to be here somewhere?"
I go to explain then realise I don't have to explain myself.
Nina"My...nothing. "Where are you going?"
Jerome"Nowhere, Just a casual stroll 'round our beautiful rambling grounds."
Alfie"Dude, it's a little late for an evening stroll," Alfie points out.
Jerome"I agree," "Which is why I can't spend another second speaking to you people. Good night."
Jerome's POV
I ran across the wet grass it had been raining the night before. I entered library and it looked like Jasper had been waiting for me. He was all anxious.
Jasper" Have you got it?"
Jerome" No, sorry, but I have got something, your collector will be interested in"
I hand over the doll to Jasper and he looks at it weird until I show that it has the name Sarah on it.
Jasper" Okay, well, this might do"
Jerome" And listen to this"
I pull the string and the doll speaks.
Athenaeum is the place to look.
Lift the wings to find the book.
Hidden in this book of old, Water of life and tears of gold.
Jasper" Oh, yes, He'll be very interested in this"
Jerome"Are you meeting him here?"
Jasper"No, jepwoods heath.
Charlie's POV
Jerome, my twin and I are crouched behind a wall with a bikes on the floor.
Charlie" This is crazy, I can't believe we are here"
Eddie" Me neither, I mean I never thought I would be staking out, let alone with my twin sister and her boyfriend"
Jerome" Shhh, I hear something coming"
We all peep over the wall and see a car, then we see Vera hop out of it.
Charlie"Vera, I knew it"
Jerome" I can't believe it"
Eddie" Charlie always said"
But then a hooded figure follows her.
Jerome,Eddie,Charlie" What?"
Collector" What? I don't see a Dollhouse, are you incapable of completing one simple task?"
Jasper" I need an assurance from you that Trudy is unharmed"
Collector" She is safe for now, where is the Dollhouse?"
Jasper"It's coming, but it takes time, Meanwhile, I've got this"
Jasper holds up the doll.
Vera" Where did you get that?"
Jasper" It belonged to Sarah Frobisher-Smythe, and it plays a message.Listen"
Collector" I don't need a doll.I need a Dollhouse!"
Meanwhile, Eddie, Jerome and I have tried to get a closer look and Jerome trips on something. All three of us then lean back against the wet stone wall.
Vera" What was that? Have you brought someone with you?"
Collector" You better not have"
All three of us are now pressed up as close as we can do the wall, the indents of it digging into our backs. I then feel Jerome squeeze my left hand and Eddie squeezes the right hand. We can just see Vera in the outline of our vision. I am breathing very heavy and I can feel my brother and Jerome doing the same.
Story Notes
So a lot happening in this chapter, The Twins are ghosting hunting with Mara while also helping Jasper and Jerome with the collector, Sibuna try to figure out how they can get The Twins and Mara off focus from Senkara and still sort out the reflectors.
Authors Notes
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