[For Niceandgloomy] Peculiar children

[perfectlyhuman]

When Adam told his parents he made a new friend at the fair, and that she invited him to go to her house, they found it quite sweet that the boy made a new friend, specially one that had just moved into the area. When they saw the rather peculiar car park out in front of their home, Mr. Young remarked how it was quite the flashy vehicle, clearly a vintage job, and planned to talk to the driver about it more than he actually could understand. But when a tall, very tall, pale, sunken eyed man climbed out of it, it's fair to say the wind was easily knocked out of his sails. Furthermore, when the well suited man and the severe-looking woman climbed out of the back seat, Mr. and Mrs. Young really did not know what to make of them.

The men shook hands, and Mr. Young tried not to stare too long at the intimidating driver. Mrs. Young made polite conversation, and while she was quite unsure about letting her child go with these peculiar characters, she soon found they were nothing if not polite, despite their...oddities, and stark contrast with the very peaceful, serene and normal scenario.

Words were exchanged, confusing as they were, address details were given, and invitations for dinner were eagerly offered, sometime, just stop on by. Adam watched the entire meeting go down with absolute delight, and further wondering just how strange the rest of her family must be.


As they arrive to the estate, Adam is entirely fascinated at the sheer spookiness of the spot, as it simply grows stronger the closer they get, even in the bright day light.


The boy stands by the gate, Dog by his feet, both looking up at the mansion. "Wow." He comments genuinely. "It looks like the haunted mansion at the fair. But bigger."

Comments

[niceandgloomy]

Wednesday had not been wrong to assume that her parents would be very interested in the fact that she had returned from a local fair with a potential new friend. After all, it was so rare that they found people who were their type, or who seemed to play the right sort of games. Of course they were more than willing to go and meet with his parents to ensure they did mortgages any more stress than was appropriate - children were such darling monsters, after all.

Her face is impassive at Adam's reaction to the sight of the manor, merely nodding. "We have real ghosts," she said, "rather than under paid minimum wage employees asked to work gruelling hours." She looked out the window. "We're unsure if the grounds are haunted. Mother said the real estate agent did not have such information to hand."

This, of course, was a grave failing.

[perfectlyhuman]

He sometimes wished he could work at the fair when he was older. Maybe be one of those people who work on the inside of the haunted houses. But then he would also want to be an astronaut, or a space explorer, or a wizard, so he'd forget about that quickly.

"The ghosts don't come out, there?" He takes a look around, and easily spots a nearby graveyard.

[niceandgloomy]

"They do, now," Wednesday said. "Now that we've placed some of the family tombs in the area," she gestured out. "Though they prefer appearing in the manor, in the dungeons."

[perfectlyhuman]

"You have a dungeon?" The boy asks, apparently interested. Perhaps the lack of commentary about the dead relatives is telling, but telling of what is yet to be made clear. 

[niceandgloomy]

"That's where the play room is," Wednesday answered. "Would you like to visit?"

[perfectlyhuman]

So far, this place sounds terrifying and weird, and Adam is very into it.

"Yes." He immediately answers, with barely contained excitment.

[niceandgloomy]

Wednesday nods, and turns around.

"Follow me."

[perfectlyhuman]

He certainly does, Dog trotting alongside him, perhaps a little less sure about this whole thing.

"What else have you got in there?"

[niceandgloomy]

"In the playroom?" She thought about it. "A rack, a bed of nails, a set of stocks," she listed, trying to think. "Though the rack may have been moved, it's been helping Grandmama's back problems."

[perfectlyhuman]

He doesn't quite know what parts of this are true and what aren't. Also he's not sure what a rack is. But he really does want to see the inside of the house.

"Are there ghosts in the dungeon too?"

[niceandgloomy]

"Sometims," was the honest answer. "Some of the Cousins come to play."

[perfectlyhuman]

Dog, who's well aware of the existence of the souls of the damned and knows every note of their wails and moans from the pits, still looks a bit unsure about this. For as much as a dog can look unsure.

"Are they ghosts?" 

[niceandgloomy]

"Some are," Wednesday answers honestly. "It depends which cousins we're speaking of."

[perfectlyhuman]

"That's so cool." Adam grins, terribly excited to meet these ghosts and whatever else is around.

Does he actually believe it? Who knows. Probably. But if he does, it's a non-starter, as most things. Though he likes to think he's gotten better at handling that.

[niceandgloomy]

"I think they'll likely be in the Playroom, today," Wednesday said with some thought. "Grandmama said she did call them to come and play."

[perfectlyhuman]

"Can we go see them, then?" The boy asks, grinning.

Dog, on the other hand, is carefully smelling around the room. It doesn't smell like Hell, here, but there's quite a lot of supernatural things afoot...

[niceandgloomy]

Wednesday just nods at Adam. "Follow me," she says. "Carefully." Meaning follow her exact steps, Adam, because the manor held more than a few tricks that tended to surprise visitors to it.

[perfectlyhuman]

Maybe Adam gets the hint. Maybe he doesn't. Still, he follows Wednesday, just barely containing his curiosity and excitement. Dog follows the children, too, sniffing at the air and keeping an eye and an eye and a nose out for any trouble...

[niceandgloomy]

Outside the playroom, Wednesday knocks on the door smartly.

"Is anyone there?"

"Cousin Wednesday, is that you? We're on the rack, come join us!"

Wednesday turned to Adam. "After you."

[perfectlyhuman]

Adam is suddenly even more excited when he hears another voice, just wondering what this new character will be like.

He takes her offer and steps into the room, Dog cautiously in toy.

[niceandgloomy]

The ghosts - a boy and a girl - are over at the rack, and seem to be of similar ages to Adam and Wednesday. They do look surprisingly solid, though at the same time transparent.

"Cousin Edgar, Cousin Hysteria," Wednesday greeted them. "This is my new friend, Adam Young. He's come to play."

"Oh, how wonderful!" Hysteria gave a wide smile. "We so rarely get to meet new people, Mother and Father were always so wary after we were chased by that mob, but I think that meeting new people is just such a delight and one of the best things in the world? Would you like a try on the rack?" She beamed at Adam, having spoken very quickly.

Edgar just nodded. His eyes looked very sunken in.

[perfectlyhuman]

"No, thanks." Adam answers plainly, but the grin on his face is quite obvious. He's looking at real ghosts, and he can't wait to tell Them about this.

"Are you really ghosts, then?" He figures he might as well ask, despite the obvious transparency of their being. "Did you use to live here too?"

[niceandgloomy]

Hysteria giggled.

"How funny your friend is, Cousin Wednesday!" She turned back to Adam. "Yes, we're really ghosts, though we didn't live here originally. Our graves aren't too far, though, so we're able to visit quite easily. We did live closer to Oxford itself, when we lived, but the manor was burned down - that's what killed us," this was added in an off-hand manner. "We think it moight have been Uncle Splurge's new game that cause it but no matter, really!"

[perfectlyhuman]

One can assume that most normal people would have been shocked, or at least put-off by this whole encounter, of ghost children and talking about their cause of death. But not Adam - he's having the time of his life.

"Oh. Sorry about that. But you get to stay here, right?" In this spooky, very ghost-apt manor. "Is he here too?"

[niceandgloomy]

Hysteria shook her head. "Our Uncle prefers to stay in the caves - he says the damp does wonders for him." She looked across at Wednesday. "Have you shown your new friend the caves yet?"

"If he wants to see them, I'll take him," she said, evenly.

[perfectlyhuman]

"What caves??" Adam asks, following right along with ease, as Dog continues to watch on with concern.

The hellhound's eyes are glued to the deceased children, wondering just how these souls haven't made their way upwards or downwards. As far as he knows, these sorts of flukes aren't supposed to happen often, but this whole place smells rather...unique.

[niceandgloomy]

"There are caves attached to the manor," Wednesday said, "they have a bat colony."

Edgar stared back at the hellhound, eyes unblinking. What a nice looking animal it was.

[perfectlyhuman]

"Are they like mines? We have those." Adam comments casually. "We aren't allowed to go in, though. Mum says they're too dangerous."

Dog continues to stare at Edgar, nose twitching idly as he tries to get some sort of scent. There is one, but not particularly pleasant. But, then, he's not a stranger to that.

[niceandgloomy]

"A little," Wednesday said, "though the caves are not as deep as the mines," she added. "They are just as dark."

Edgar reached forward, wanting to pet the animal in front of him.

Hi hello

[perfectlyhuman]

Dog watched the boy's hand reach out, and made a funny sound - not quite growl, not quite a groan, definitely not a bark, because this is just a child, after all. Even if a dead one. What with Hastur's skills in raising hellhounds, and specifically the one to serve his master, consisting mostly of living in a dark, damp, smelly room with the occasional poor sod tricked into stepping inside and serving as the next meal, Dog hadn't actually spend any time with the damned souls in Hell.

"We could go spelunking." Although Adam didn't quite know what that word meant, only that it had something to do with caves, and that people usually wore helmets with little torches attached to them. "Is there anything else down there?" There could be, if he wanted.