Don't Go in There

The wind howled a sad tune in the forest, leaves rustled as the gust picked up them up and moved them ever so gently.  It was nightfall here as the moon was bright in the sky, lighting up the area that appeared to be a dense forest.  Despite the light of the moon, the forest appeared to be very dark and visibility was at a low here.  

However...

Following a worn dirt path would lead you to an old house in the middle of the forest.  Weird, isn't it?  Laid with bricks and old wood, the house appeared to be a very old one that clearly was built in a time that was long ago before technology.  What was even weirder was looking at the windows it appears to be candles lit inside the small house.  It seems like there was some sort of residence there which raised more questions than answers.

Rumors have it that the house belonged to a witch that was put on trial back in the old days when prosecution of witches were common.  Of course as what always happened to many witches, the witch was burned to death for her 'supposed crimes'.  Its been said her spirit still haunts the forest and the house and maybe... just maybe tonight she is back in her home.  

There is only one way to find out, will you go into the house?

A young fox child no greater than nine moved through the forest. The boy heard of the rumors surrounded of the woods and the house, however he didn't really mind them. The child was more concerned with the fact he was given a note from his aunt about her last message to him as of late saying that she had sought to buy the land and was checking out the area to inspect the premises. The child knew that she had a thing for the occult, but knowing her she would have invited him over to her new house once it was purchased.The kid walks through the windy fall weather as he hummed while going down the pathway towards the forest.

The wind picked up a bit, one could say it felt cold now, almost ominous. 

The house itself seems unmoved but definitely had a weird vibe about it.  There was definitely something not right with it, something was off.  Candles were still lit in the house, unwavered from the gusty winds outside.

As one got closer to the house they can notice a few more details about it up close.  For a house of its age, the bricks that made the structure seemed very sturdy.  Ivy ran on some of the sidings of the house that gave it an in-tune with nature feel.  The roof with was made of wood seems to be in excellent shape despite the houses age, someone has been clearly caring for it.  Windows, there was only a few and oddly the uncovered windows that didn't have curtain were dirty and gross. The only thing that could be seen through those were the lit candles and the end tables they were on... nothing else.

Outside the house the pathways dotted with small cobblestones seemed to be in good shape. Even the front yard section of the house appeared to be kept, no tall grass and various items seem to be stored properly in locations.

Other than that, for a house of its age, it was in good shape which might prove more that SOMEONE was living in there.

"Ooh! Man, it's getting kinda chilly around here, even for a fox like me!" The child said as he proceeded through the forest and shivered slightly.

As the child approached the building he began to feel a slight feeling as if something wasn't right. He couldn't place his proverbial finger on it, but then again he was always used to some sort of bizarre feeling when around his dear aunt.

"Hmm, looks like aunt Amanda has settled down in there." The child said as the only logical reason for the home being in such a touched up shape and having candles in the window was that his own aunt had supposedly done some renovations, at least in the child's unassuming mind that is.

"Heh heh, that's my aunt. She wastes no time sprucing up her home. I think it's called 'ocd' or something she has." The child rather naive child said as he walked upon the cobblestone pathway up towards the entrance while ironically admiring the vines and the wooden roof.

((ooh, halloweeny, I like it. Hope you don't mind if I join!))

Meanwhile, not too far away, a warm, orange light moved through the trees. This light originated from a certain hedgehog, who held a flame in his hand as the frosty grass crunched under his boots. It was a cold night, almost... Supernaturally so. At least, that's what he thought, as he journeyed through the dense forest, occasionally shivering in the chill night air. A thick cloud of white regularly came out of his mouth as he walked.

He had recently finished up on an... Adventure, of sorts, and realised that it was much too late to make it back home without collapsing in exhaustion, and so, he was looking as best as he could for some form of accommodation.

Soon enough, he reached an old wood and stone house. Its age was easily seen, as some of the windows were rather grimy, and bits of the wood were missing, presumably rotted away, not to mention the vines that twisted upon the the wooden roof. However, the garden looked pretty well-kept, with the grass cut to a decent standard, and a cobblestone path that looked pretty new led up to it. The actual bricks in and of themselves were rather sturdy, and the building looked like it could stand another hundred or so years before needing repairs. At least, that's what the hedgehog thought.

Candlelight flickered through one of the windows, throwing out a small patch of light in the near-darkness. The hedgehog sighed a breath of relief. This meant that someone was in, potentially. He began walking up the stone path, before noticing a small child stood on the path "um, hello?" The hedgehog called out, in a non-threatening manner, to avoid frightening the child.

As the child approached the entrance of the house it seemed that the candles appeared to have suddenly go out all at once when they got closer.  It was very bizarre that all of them went off at once.  Was there more than once person inside the house or was there more to this.

Noting the entrance, it was a strong, yet sturdy door that no widows on it.  Its handle was a black iron handle that was strong enough that it would remain attached to the wooden door with any amount of force.  There was no peep hole nor a mail slot in the door that would allow one to look into the house before entering.  However one last thing that can be noticed... the door was unlocked.

The house awaits, the door is unlocked, do you step forth?

"Oh,hey! You must be one of the people who helped aunt Amanda with this house right? Nice! I like what you guys have done with the place for her. I'm sure she likes it!" the child naively complemented towards the certain hedgehog.

Just then the child noticed that all the candles in the building went out. He swore he felt something, unnerving just then, however he thought this would be of his aunt's doing. It did however perplex him why or how she was able to blow them all out at once.

"That's strange, can't she see me from out here? Hmm, she maybe busy or something. However why blow out all her candles?" The child asked himself as he approached the door.

"Hmm, looks like the door is unlocked.She must be expecting me.I'm going inside to meet her, you want to come with?" He said as he put his hand on the doorknob.

The child that stood on the pathway spoke to Caen, clearly not startled by his presence. He presumed that Caen was helping out his aunt, who he insinuated owned the property before them. Caen scratched the back of his head "uh, well... Not exactly. You see, I'm-" the hedgehog was cut off by a loud, howling gust of wind. All of the light within the house flickered out of existence. After the wind died down, the door creaked open, as though it was invited the pair inside.

Caen stumbled back, very clearly unnerved by the events that had just unfolded in front of him. The child, however, acted quite naïve, presuming that their aunt had not spotted the child. He very clearly wanted to go inside, and asked the hedgehog if he was to follow. Caen replied with a 'u-uh... Sure!" Before following the child.
'damn,' he thought 'I should just say sod this and get as far away from here as possible, but... There's a kid, I can't abandon him! What the hell am I getting into, now...?'

If one opened the door they could see what was inside the house.

It appeared rather dingy, the walls and floors seem to have not aged well as they seem to be covered in stains, dust and other things that did tell that the house was in fact very old.  The furniture in the house while not looking nearly as gross seemed to be old but for the most part, kept and not dust covered.  

Walking in the two figures would be greeted by a small lobby like area that seemed to have a mantle that was decorated with various old antiques.  Looking up at the mantle you could even see on the wall was a hand painted portrait of a young feline lady in a red dress of the old days.  Was this many the witch that lived here in that painting?  Who was that?  Unfortunately there was nothing on that painting to indicate when it was painted or who was on there. 

To the left of that room was a living room but all that could be seen from that room is the end table near the one of the couches that had a glass plate with candles of different sizes on it.  To the right appeared to be an old office, that which was in rough shape from the door that hung off the hinges. It appeared to have old papers, books and other objects all over the floor and the most part, a mess.

What can be seen from the mantle room and the living room was those candles they saw by the windows of those rooms. A bit of smoke smoldering from the wick of them, indicting they were just put out moments ago.

The child unassumingly opened the door and then proceeded into the household. However once he did so the young man found that it was completely opposite of what he expected from a purchased estate in his relative's name. As he moved around his head the fox boy quickly realized that the place was an mess.

"Huh? Something's wrong. My aunt Amanda would NEVER leave a dump like this unattended. She is obsessed with making everything nice and tidy. I mean look at all this old stuff! She would have cleaned this all up and stored it someplace safe if it was worth something." The child replied to the hedgehog as she moved around and explored the front lobby.

Eventually the youth came upon the painted hanged up on the mantle. However he tilted his head slightly and made a face of confusion as he had never seen this persona before. He then turned and faced the hedgehog with a rather confused look upon his face.

"Also who's this? Some Mona Lisa person? I've never seen this lady before, does aunt Amanda have a housemate?"


"Man, for a home builder you sure didn't do so well on the inside." The child said over to the hedgehog.

The hedgehog followed the child inside, coming into the dusty lobby. Stains lined the floorboards, and the wallpaper was ripped and peeling away in certain places. On the mantlepiece in the room was a variety of old-looking items. China statues, and the like. A painting hung on the wall, and the child referred to it. He didn't seem to recognise the person portrayed within the painting. Caen shook his head "I can't see a damn thing," he muttered, before holding up his hand and summoning a flame. He ensured to keep it well away from anything flammable, and scanned the light across the frame, looking for some form of plaque to identify who this was, or who painted it. However, he couldn't find anything.

Caen turned to the child "I told you, I'm not a builder. I just wanted to find a place to sleep for the night. I was hoping that whoever lived here would let me, but it looks like this place is abandoned." He looked into another room, struggling to see anything in the darkness "Are you sure this place is your aunt's?"

It seemed to be eerily quiet in the house, only noise that could be heard time to time was the wind that would pick up the leaves outside that made the noises.  Otherwise the house was silent, not even a shuffle of a mouse could be heard in the home that appeared to be devoided of any life.

While the fox and hedgehog explored the dark house, upon entering the room the atmosphere changed rapidly.  It was... definitely not a good feeling and it could be felt at both their very cores.  That feeling, the feeling was aggression and rage in the air of the home now. Emitted from within all parts of the the small house now it spread and grew worse.  The focus of the feeling however was in the very room the two stood in.

The hedgehog's flame that he bear suddenly went out on him and seem to be unable to resummon, there was some force that was preventing him from doing so.  Oddly the house's temperature also seemed to rise to an uncomfortable temperature, it felt like a warm summer day.  Again the focus of the sudden heatwave was coming from the room they both stood in.

"LEAVE." they both heard roar through the entire house as it echoed within.  The voice was rather harsh and raspy but can tell two things: it was definitely a female's voice and that it was not of one either of the two knew.

"Now that you mention it, this doesn't look like a place my aunt Amanda would live in..However I think she bought the property, so um..."

The child was immediately cut off by all the negative energy going through the room. Suddenly the child's worries was confirmed, never would his aunt let a household stay with so much negative energy flowing within it. She would more than likely try some archaic or occult ritual or something of the sort to let her humble abode be filled with the unknown, but rather tranquil feeling of nature. The darkness and pure malice within the room caused him to get very nervous. As this happened the hedgehog may notice something odd about the child, he would start shrinking and gradually becoming smaller and smaller.


"Waah! That is defiantly not my aunt Amanda!" The child said as he began to shrink even more.

((Sorry in advance! I'm shy and new and want to join as this looks interesting, is it still open to join?))

((I believe it is, but the ball's in Knux's court on that one))

"This place really gives me the chills, metaphorically and physically," Caen muttered, almost inaudibly. He seemed to be mostly ignoring the child's ramblings, and continued looking through the house, entering a different room and holding the flame aloft to throw out some form of lighting in the dark and chilly forest. That is, until it went out. Caen begun to panic, trying his best to resummon the flame, but could not. That's when the room began to rise in temperature, to an incredibly uncomfortable level, especially in all the wintery clothing Caen was wearing.

"What the hell is going on in here? Did someone just turn up the heating?" Caen walked into the doorway, calling out in the darkness "hello? Anyone her-"

Caen was cut off by a loud, booming voice. It appeared to be female, although age was hard to discern. It told the pair to leave the property now. The hedgehog reacted out of instinct, drawing his two blades and getting into an attack stance "who is that? Show yourself!"
The hedgehog looked over at the kid, who appeared to be shrinking in size, something that Caen had come across before, and told him to get behind the hedgehog.

(Court. )

(Hey, this is a really cool rp. Is it okay if I join in? I would appreciate it definitely.)

((@CheverTheShrimp and @ShadeTheHedgehogIsJoey, you guys can join if you can find a way to logically stick your characters in the RP?  Also I apologize for super late reply, personal life has been busy.))

A rather audible laugh seem to roar through the home as the hedgehog yelled out for whomever it was to show themselves.  Of course they were not going to give into to just a weak demand.  The laugh seemed to drag on for a while and it though appeared that they were not going to see who lived here.

Instead though the temperature in the house seem to grow steady and increasing and that laugh soon became roaring laughter.  They grew strong and as they continued that the hedgehog and fox could notice little flame start to pour out from underneath the floor boards and grew larger around them as they laughed.  It could be noted that there was in fact no basement in the house and where the flames were starting from did not make sense. Eventually the laughs stop but the flame shot up in intensity, almost much like a flare up.


"LEAVE OR PERISH." the voice once again roared out but in a much stronger voice that seemed to almost rip through the two.

"Gah!" The now miniaturized fox let out as he saw the flame.

The child wanted to flee, everything in him told him that it was dangerous to be in this room, especially with the fire and heat. However, he knew know that something bad must have happened to his aunt and he had to find out just what fate had befallen her. The now miniaturized fox mustered up what little courage he could inside for his aunt's sake and then reverted back to normal.

"W-where is my aunt Amanda? I-I won't leave until I know what happened to her!" the child brazenly let out to the house's spirit.

"Hey uh, hedgehog guy. Maybe we could put out that fire? I mean if we don't our gooses are cooked." The child stated.

(Thank you Knux, I hope I too can find a way to slip my character into the story. And sorry if this is too much, I was hoping to be able to set up the characters and their sub-plot quickly.)

~~~ Two hours earlier ~~~

Happily, two Mobians were wandering through the forest, far away from the house, the wind at this time was calm and only tickled their skin, the temperature was mild, almost warm. The sun poked through the tall trees but not through the big jackets the Mobians wore. The Mobians were practically unrecognisable because of the jackets but the huge bags they hauled on their back didn't help either. 

The ground was damp and slightly mushy but the wellies the pair wore triumphed and stopped the mush from seeping into their feet. "Stop," one of the travellers said to the other, looking around, "set it up here," without a sound the other Mobian stopped and took their bag off. The Mobian looked through their bag and took parts of the tent out while the Mobian who had spoke did the same. 

They had brought both their parts out and now began to build the tent, with ease. Not too long after that, the two had settled inside the tent taking the rest of their supplies out the bag and placing it somewhere in the tent. With shelter, the pair had no need for the big jackets and so took them off, revealing their identities.

One of them was Sparkles Scent, a famous inventor and "ghostbuster". She preferred to be called either Sparks, Sparky or Spark and was only called Sparkles by her close friends and family. Sparky had been wanting to investigate these woods for a while but never had the opportunity or resources, until now. She was a white mouse with pink features; eyes, ears, lips, nails. She had large whiskers and always wore a red beanie hat that hid her hair because of a birth problem causing her to always have a cold head. Sparky was also the one who spoke outside the tent.

Today, she was with someone, a temporary assistant. The assistant was largely unknown person, who came from strange circumstances. Sparky, right now, was the only one to know his name because only she needed to know his name. The assistant was a black and blue creature, half-mutated into a monster, he had a green eye and a blue eye and had 7 fused back quills. The assistant was one that few people knew, but one who also had, abilities. His name was S-

A laugh echoed throughout the hallways, as flames began to emerge from between the floorboards. Now, this would usually not panic Caen so much, as normal flames would simply not be able to touch him. However, he believed that if an supernatural force, such as a ghost, were to be manipulating the flame, he may come to harm, not to mention the child that was growing smaller by the second. A thin pillar of flame nearly singed Caen's face as it shot past him, as the same voice told the two that if they would not leave, they will perish.

Now, at this point, Caen would normally grab the child and run, however he and the child both thought that if his aunt was supposed to be here, she may have been kidnapped or brought to harm in some way. Caen was not willing to abandon anyone in need, even if it meant that he faced his very end.

Caen ran out of the room, looking for something to throw over the fire. In a small kitchen, he spotted a metal bucket in the darkness. He ran into the room, picking it up "I presume the taps won't give out any water," he muttered "perhaps I could use this to snuff the flames." The hedgehog ran back into the room, covering the largest flame he could see with the bucket "get blankets, coats, anything that can cover the flames!" Caen shouted to the child as he unzipped his jacket.