by David Shiels
Moo continued, “We will now film every second of our adventure; nothing will be edited so you will all see everything that we experience, let's do it Ming!”
The girls let out a shrieking battle cry and performed a high five to each other.
They turned around and ventured deeper into the thick blackness, Ming felt fearful from the moment they walked into the forest, but having to maintain a preppy attitude for the audience.
The girls constantly chatted to each other, and the camera, while traversing the woods. This was to keep the viewer constantly engaged, Moo would be the leader of the conversations, usually mentioning potential horrific events that could happen to them at any moment, or quickly acting surprised as if she had seen something in the darkness around her.
One of her favourite actions was to scare Ming, she knew the girl was easily scared so would relentlessly make her jump or say something to make her skin crawl. The audience loved it and garnered her great feedback.
“Oh this mappy is so hard to read Moo Moo! Everything looks the samey same!” Ming jumped up and down like she was throwing a childish tantrum; she was struggling to fathom how to read the map; it was never one of her talents, that is why she was given the role of navigator, people always found her confusion extremely humorous.
“Give it to me, Ming” Moo reached in her pocket and pulled out a small silver compass while taking the map from Moo. She stared intently at both items for a few long moments then began to trudge off; Ming and Trimple followed. “It’s about 10 minutes this way”
They continued their walk, dodging small rabbit holes in the floor, while keeping up their frantic acting. No matter how far they walked the scenery never seemed to change, they could have been walking around the same part of the forest repeatedly and would have no idea they were doing so.
“Quiet!” Trimple whispered as loud as a whisper would let him. He shut off the light to his camera, placing them in a complete black void, the only light radiating from the moon which could be seen shyly through a small gap in the roof of the tree beds.
The girls immediately ceased their movement, their eyes followed the direction of where Trimple’s out stretched finger was aiming, his eyes stuck firmly on the small screen on his camera, the girls, unable to see a thing, shuffled besides him and looked at what he was seeing through the grimy night vision on the camera.
In the distance they could make out two seemingly male figures. They both had one hand each on the legs of another figure behind them, it was a woman; the faint cries gave that much away.
“I hope you’re catching all of this!” Moo said, while keeping her eyes on the live footage.
Ming felt fear bubbling inside of her, slowly rising within her body. She never expected anything to actually be happening in the area, she always assumed that the places they went to were never truly dangerous and were purely used for easy footage. She expected this to just be a simple, small village with nothing eventful happening.
The men quickly went out of sight. Trimple suggested that the girls use their flashlights from now on and he will record in night vision, this would hopefully keep them incognito to whoever was out in the abyss.
“That was so totally awesome” Moo looked at the camera in absolute delight, so ecstatic with the footage they just captured.
“Moo, this looks pretty serious, maybe we should-” Trimple’s concerns were quickly shut down by Moo who gestured ‘not a chance in hell’.
They continued on, now being slower and quieter than they have ever been in any of their episodes when they finally pushed past a large bush and what came into view was something they were expecting but also not quite expecting either.
The mansion they were seeking was definitely real but they had no idea that it would be this gigantic. It was massive, nearer to a castle than a mansion; it had two huge towers, one on each corner of the front, and both looked fit to house Rapunzel. It had small windows everywhere, separated by even larger windows that would peer into more important, larger rooms, but everything was boarded up, obscuring any views inside. The building itself showed it’s age, it would have been white back in its prime years but now maintained a dark grimy green appearance, brick showing underneath, like a person who has pieces of their skin missing, showing the flesh within.
The team were in awe at what they were seeing. Moo quickly ran up the large steps, each step was four times bigger than a normal step, requiring her to almost leap from one to the other. She tried to open the door but it was large and thick, and expectedly, locked. She peered her flashlight into the crack in the door and noticed it was barricaded from the other side.
“We need to find another way in” She ran around to the side of the mansion and found a small window that was barricaded, however, it looked loose; she placed her two hands around the edges, then slammed one leg on the wall and pulled. The wood began to bend like a spoon being pulled from both edges, but her strength alone was not sufficient.
Trimple placed his camera on the ground and ran to help her; the four hands pulled at the wood; whoever had placed them here had not wanted anyone to easily enter the premises. Eventually they heard a snap followed by the boards coming flying off, the force at which they detached from the window caused the plank to smash Trimple in the face, causing a tooth to leave its burrow and land onto the floor, never to be found in the darkness.
Ming ran over to Trimple and checked that he was not severely injured; he was just shaken, his mouth red from where the tooth had been forced out.
Moo however did not wait to see if he was in good health and smashed the window open with a brick laying nearby and climbed inside, without even looking inside first.
Ming, holding her breath, watched Moo vanish into the darkness of the interior, the wait for any signs from Moo seemed to last an eternity.
The Mansion Of The Moon
“Guys, get in here!” Ming let out a huge gasp of air at the sound of Moo’s voice. She helped Trimple to his feet then followed Moo through the small window, avoiding the small sharp pieces of glass which still decorated the rims.
Trimple arrived inside just behind Ming and aimed his camera around the room, the flash now back in usage. It was a large kitchen, in the centre was an elegant workplace and around the corners of the room were drawers and cupboards that were covered in dirt and filth, and...
“Oh my god” It was said by Trimple but inside Ming it echoed even louder, but she could not find the voice to express it.
The walls and everything were covered in blood. Blood of various shapes and sizes, from hand prints, to long thick smudges, to shapes that looked as if a human body had been smashed against it.
“No, no, no, no, no!” Screamed Ming, but a quick hand from Moo ceased it from continuing.
“This is exactly what we came to see!” Excitedly exclaimed Moo, she then walked over to Ming and grabbed her hand.
“But, but, looky at the place, this is too muchy for us to handely” She was now visibly shaking, as if she was in a middle of a city shattering earthquake.
“Look it will be okay, the place is abandoned, you saw all of the barricades, we will look around then leave” She had no intention of leaving for a good while but needed Ming to remain calm, she released her hold on Ming’s arm moving towards the broken window entrance she had made and attempted to push a large wardrobe like structure in front of it. It was too heavy for her to manage by herself so she aimed a glance towards Trimple. He felt just like Ming and knew this place was trouble but quick thoughts of his family made him agree to stay and he helped Moo block the window.
“Now no one will know that we entered, let us explore this wondrous place in peace!” She spread her arms out and beamed a grin towards the camera after just reminding herself that she is here to record a television program. She looked and sounded like a child in a sweet shop.
They walked through the kitchen then into the adjoined hallway; the place was like a maze with lots of small rooms everywhere. The ha
llway was surprisingly thin, it would be easy to get lost inside here. The walls were still smothered in blood, a long trail on the wall that looked like a hand being dragged across it made tears fill in Ming’s eyes.
Moo led the way, followed by Ming in extremely close proximity while Trimple kept his distance to keep clear footage of the girls.
The plan in Moo’s head was to check every single room and every single drawer, she wanted to know exactly what had happened in this place and would not leave until doing so, the blood soaked rooms phased her not at all.
Each room had a very similar appearance; a portrait of a wolf was always hanging over the entrance to every room. Wallpaper was scarce to be seen, and that which was, was either torn or hanging off of the walls. The carpets were old and sticky, the gangs feet stuck for a split second every time they attempted to make a new step and concluded with a sloppy wet sound. There was very little furniture to be seen and the rooms that were furnished by wardrobes and drawers were mostly empty. As they continued to look in each and every room, Moo began to feel slightly disappointed.
They approached a pair of large double doors. The quality of the door was grander than that of anything they had seen so far. Moo pushed the large doors open and inside was something like a treasure trove.
It was full of antiques, drawers and wardrobes and various other gadgets from many eras. The girls scanned their flashlights around the room like mini spot lights zooming around the walls. Ming, now feeling slightly more at ease, distanced herself slightly from Moo and explored the opposite side. She truly had forgotten that all of the other rooms were caked in blood and was fascinated by what she was seeing; she loved old antiques and when younger would often visit antique shops with her parents and this room she was in felt to her like the greatest antique room ever.
Moo was not so quick to forget where she. She moved over to a corner which contained a large circular table; on the table were lots of different camera’s. They were cameras that varied in age and technology, she picked up the ones with a LED screen hoping to view any footage within, but there was no signs of life in any of them. Trimple, an expert on cameras, noticed something on the table and moved past Moo. He picked up a small red camera and examined it through his camera.
“Oh no…” he gasped and dropped the red camera to the floor.
“What’s the issue?” Moo looked confused at the sudden terror that appeared on his face.
“This cam-this camera was created and released in Japan just two months ago, that means that this room has been used at least once since then, and why would that camera be sitting here? it’s worth thousands”
The implications of what he said dawned on Moo before he even finished his sentence
“Ming?! Ming?!” She bounced her flashlight over the large room hoping to see Ming but all she heard was her shriek.
Ming approached a large, majestic wardrobe with golden handles, she knew it would hold upwards of 100 petite dresses. She removed the loose, open padlock on the handles and pulled them wide open, part of her hoping that it would accommodate a portal leading her back to her home in Tokyo.
Inside were bodies: Bodies missing limbs, bodies with disfigured faces, bodies which looked like they had been drained of most of their blood, causing their skin to sag. They had been maintained in plastic bags to preserve their skin from rotting. The suddenness of Ming opening the door caused the bodies to lurch towards her as if attacking. Crushing her.
As the bodies piled on top of her she felt all manners of fleshy body parts, from sagging breasts, to flaccid penis’; No matter where she pressed her hands, there was something to remind her that she was being flattened by dead corpses.
Trimple and Moo ran towards the sound of the commotion, tripping and crashing into all of the obstacles that were in their way; no pain was felt as the urge to reach the point of collision was the only thought in their minds.
They reached the piles of bodies, cuts and bruises now covering the lower parts of their bodies.
Ming was nowhere to be seen.
“Ming where are you?!” Moo shouted as loud as she could, but the question was instantly answered as she heard a whimpering sound ushering up from beneath the pile of bagged bodies. She pushed the bodies on top aside and Ming sprung up from within, hands first, like someone performing a dive.
“I can’t do this anymore!” Ming screamed, the fear constantly swelling inside of her had now reached boiling point; irrational insanity had now made itself comfortable inside of her head. Her face looked distorted and red, her eyes bulged with tears and she was panting heavily. She looked towards the large doors they entered through and fled the scene.
“Don’t you god damn ruin this for me!” Moo shouted as Ming vanished from view.
“Trimple don’t forget to get footage of the bodies, get in close then catch us up” She followed in pursuit of Ming.
Ritual
Ming ran through the blood soaked hallway keeping her eyes to the ground; not wanting to see the cruelty which surrounded her, not wanting to see the blood and put a face to it. She had no idea where she was moving to; she just had a childish inner hope that running would solve all of the problems and she would run around a corner and be back in her home, with her family, safe, looking forward to eating dinner and joking with her parents about her day.
She ran and ran, turning corner after corner, her feet no longer feeling the slight resistance of the blood stained carpets. Her sprint was cut short from a small hole in the floor which her tiny foot clasped hold of like In a vice, causing her to crash hard into the floor, her face firmly placed into the carpet she so detested to be near; causing vomit to expel itself from within her.
“Ming, what’s gotten into you!?” Moo caught up with her, kneeling besides beside her on the floor, she turned her around and propped her up against her thigh.
“I’m not like you Moo Moo, I don’t like all this scary wary stuff, I only did all of this for famey and fortuney, not for the lovey of horror.” Tears and snot ran down her face, merging together with the vomit on her chin, then dripping down onto her Kimono.
“I know you did silly, but the contrast in our personalities is what makes us so good at this, I would never let any harm come to you, nor would Trimple” Moo’s voice was softer than it usually was, losing it’s slightly rough edge. She wiped the sick from around Ming’s face.
Both girls smiled at each other, then tightly hugged, their Kimono’s merging together, the blue and red uniting. The silence brought on by this caused a sound that was always there, but unheard of over their small heart to heart.
“Chains” Moo whispered “It sounds like chains…”
A short distance away, chains could be heard rattling beneath them. Trimple came up behind them, his boots making the sloppy sound on the carpet. Moo put her finger to her mouth, causing him to cease his movement, making him also hear the same sound that caused the girls to be in complete stillness.
“We need to check it out” Moo’s voice was still a whisper.
“No please, no” Ming grabbed at Moo’s collar, pleading with her
“What if it is a person trapped down there and we could help them live? wouldn’t you want that, Ming?” Moo knew how to appeal to Ming’s sense of right, she knew this would give Ming the power to continue on and not force them to leave this place she still deemed fascinating.
Ming nodded, her body too afraid to say the words that would cause them to delve deeper into this mansion of blood.
The girls climbed to their feet, Ming stumbling slightly, her ankle twisted from the fall. She placed her arm around Moo and they slowly walked to the sound of the chains, it getting louder every step they took.
“We need to find the door which leads to the basement” Moo now keeping her voice at an absolute minimal volume, causing Trimple to edge in closer to enable the camera to pick up her vocals.
They rounded more turns, left, then right, then left again, pushing open door after door, but se
eing the same old looking rooms. The team felt like they were in a labyrinth, playing someone's game and getting lost, amusing the person who had created the twisted hallway infested location.
After ten more minutes of playing the game they concluded it by opening a small metal door; it was completely unlike the other doors and contained a chain around its handle. Ahead of them were steep steps leading downwards; at the bottom faint light could be seen which flickered and stirred against the darkness.
“Do you hear that?” Ming stumbled with the words, the fear still taking control of her body.
It was the sound of faint chanting, now mixed in with the sounds of the chains.
Moo instructed Ming to remain at the top of the stairs, and then she and Trimple made their way downstairs, the camera now back in nightvision mode. The steps were thin causing the pair to place their feet sideways as they descended. At the bottom of the stairs was a small landing which lead to more steps leading right.