by S.J. Drew
done.
"Yeah, well, given that we're weirdness magnets," Leah said, "I think our current approach is probably the best."
Nora sighed. "So it seems. Well, we'd better go have a talk with Zac and Dina."
They went to the castle and found Zac in the office. "Are you going to join my game this afternoon?" he asked Leah.
"If they don't mind, I'd love to," she said.
"You're such a geek," Nora sighed.
"That means 'yes,'" Leah said brightly.
"You know, when you say it that way, you sound like Maryann."
"Well, I do spend a lot of time with her."
"Ladies, we had other business. Zac, I think I may have figured out what's going on with your haunted castle. Can you follow me?"
He looked confused, but got an assistant to cover the phones. Isabella gave him a brief tour of the Great Hall and gallery and finally returned to his office. "I don't know whether to be proud or angry," he said. "Probably both."
At that moment, Dina appeared with Mark and Carrie in tow. She looked angry, and they looked sullen. "They were both in the tool shed," she snapped.
"Kids," Zac said, "I know what you've been doing."
Dina looked puzzled and the twins suddenly looked guilty.
"You've been rigging up the castle to make people think it's haunted."
"What?" Dina exclaimed.
The twins stared at the carpet.
"I found the motion sensors, and the mini-fans, and the speakers, that you hid in the suits of armor."
"Wait, what?" Dina said again.
Zac turned to his wife. "They put motion sensors in the suits of armor that would trigger either a puff of cold air or a ghost noise. I think they were also messing with the breaker box."
"That's why the lights went out," Dina said. "And that's why you've been in the tool shed. Kids, that's very dangerous! Why did you do that?"
"Because haunted castles are more fun, and get more business," Carrie said. "This place is like totally spooky, especially at night."
"We didn't even have to add creaking noises," Mark said. "The floors creak enough. And a bed and breakfast is just lame."
"Who told you that?" Dina demanded.
The twins looked at each other. "The other kids," Carrie answered vaguely.
"You know, since this place isn't haunted, if we say it is then that's false advertisement," Zac said.
Mark snorted derisively. "Yeah, like you can prove a place isn't haunted. How'd you figure it out, anyway?"
Dina and Zac looked at each other, then the band members, and back at each other. "Because we pay attention," Dina finally answered. "You two have been up to something for quite some time, and we knew this place wasn't haunted. It was just a matter of time."
"So it's lame again," Carrie sighed.
"Listen, kids," Zac said. "We appreciate your initiative. But you can't go behind our backs like this. You can't ditch your chores. And you really shouldn't mess with the tools and the wiring in this place. You could get hurt."
"We're sorry," they muttered in unison.
"So you're going to have to be punished," Dina continued.
They whined a bit.
"But I think we should have a family discussion about the business. You give us some ideas, and we'll see what we can do, as a family, to act on them, okay?"
The twins looked at each other. "Maybe," Mark said sullenly.
"Alright, well, we'll talk later. Zac?"
"Right, Darth Pater is on it."
The twins rolled their eyes.
"Come on, kids," he said, and the followed him out of the office.
"Thank you so much," Dina said. "I'm afraid one of them would have gotten hurt. I'm sorry they've been such a bother."
"No problem," Leah said. "But I feel like I'm missing some obvious joke about meddling kids. Oh well."
"I hope the rest of your stay will be less eventful. Hey, were you still interested in playing in Zac's one-shot this afternoon?"
Leah looked at the other two, who nodded slightly. "Sure!"
"Alright, then I'll get you a character sheet and get you rolled up."
"We'll go check on Stephanie and Maryann," Isabella said.
The rest of the weekend was uneventful, but pleasant, and while neither Nora nor Maryann were quite themselves again, they were feeling much better.
The Lyrics:
The sun set long ago
It's the middle of the night
Oh, no here he comes again
The ghost of the black knight.
He appears like clockwork
Charging down the hall
And making so much noise!
That ghost has such gall!
Refrain: Oh, no it's started again
It's really such a hassle
The ghosts are such a pain
Living in a haunted castle.
There's the sound of bagpipes
Coming from the keep
The Scottish ghost is playing
And I can't get any sleep!
What's with that Highlander?
Why can't he leave me alone?
I suppose I should be grateful
There can be only one.
Refrain:
Why is the drawbridge wet?
What's that splashing the water?
You've got to be kidding me!
Now I have a moat monster.
It's kicking up ugly muck
Hopping around like a toad
And I have to clean up the mess.
Hey, monster, hit the road!
Refrain:
Sure the tourism is nice
But the commotion doesn't cease
I wish they'd just go away
So we could all rest in peace.
Refrain:
Track 8 - Uncanny Valley
The Interview:
Nico: Okay, so why did you choose a synthpop backing for clearly creepy lyrics?
Lenore: We liked the juxtaposition.
Belle: The key is minor.
Jana: Yes, but the beat is so, well, upbeat. In fact, it starts to speed up at the bridge.
Lee: Yeah, like someone's trying to run away from something.
Jana: Ah, of course. So even the synthpop beat serves the purpose of making the song extra creepy.
Anna: Well, what do you expect from the uncanny valley?
Nico: Okay, I get that. The video for this song is shot like a horror movie.
Lee: That was absolutely the idea.
Jana: Do you think you'll draw from the horror genre in the future?
Belle: I think we've shown we'll draw from any genre. We've used horror before.
Nico: Usually you have a twist on horror, though.
Anna: Well, to be honest, some of us are more squeamish than others and don't like horror too much. So we put a twist on it to make it less horrible.
Jana: So you're saying one or more of you is afraid of the dark?
Anna: Oh, no, not the dark. Just the scary things that could be in it.
Lenore: Everyone's afraid of something. Actually, the uncanny valley is a term used to describe something pretty much everyone finds at least creepy if not frightening.
The Story:
"I don't like these costumes very much," Maryann said as she and the rest of the members of Nevermore and the Ravens got ready for their show.
"Why not?" Leah and Nora asked in unison, as they were the main costume designers.
"Jinx!" Leah added.
Nora rolled her eyes.
"I guess it's not the costumes so much," the redhead explained, straightening out her crinkled black tulle skirt. "It's really the make-up that gets me." They had made-up their faces to be nearly completely white, including their lips, and even covered up their eyebrows. They used black eyeliner to draw in the outline of an eye quite a bit bigger than their own eyes. "It's just, well, creepy, is all I'm saying."
"I've do
ne research on the crowd," Isabella said. "I think these costumes will play well here."
"I know, I know," she sighed, staring at her now unfamiliar face. "Still creepy."
"I agree, Maryann," Leah said. "Maybe we should play at less creepy places."
"Hey, the Dark Chambre isn't my type of club," Isabella said, "but we all know how Mr. Rafel is."
"Yeah, yeah," she sighed. "He gets us the jobs, but he doesn't get us."
The club seemed barely lit, even for a nightclub, and the band understood why Isabella had suggested such stark white make-up. It actually made their faces stand out against a black backdrop, although a lot of the detail of their dark costumes was lost. But the show seemed well-received, and the band mingled a bit after they were done playing.
A tall, wiry, good-looking young man with old eyes and something of a cat-like cast to his features walked up to Maryann. "Hey," he said.
"Hey," she replied, blushing slightly under the heavy make-up.
"Good show."
"Thanks."
"Lordy," Isabella muttered.
"My name's Sinclair."
"I'm Anna."
"Of course you're not, but that's fine," he said, with a slight exotic, refined accent. "Come on, let's dance."
"Okay!"
They disappeared into the crowd.
The other three shook their heads.
"What is with that girl?" Nora sighed.
"Like moths to a flame," Isabella murmured.
"You know," Leah said, "for all the hell we give her about picking bad guys, she really doesn't. I mean, yeah, they can cause us trouble, but none of them have ever drugged her drink or anything like that."
"That's true," Nora said grudgingly. "They are trouble, but not that kind of trouble. Speaking of which, Isabella, is this one trouble? I don't have a bad feeling or anything, but still."
"There's something strange with his aura," she said, and subtly cast a spirit sight spell on herself. "It's almost...fey...maybe?"
"Oh how I love dealing with fairies," Leah replied dryly.
"He's not a fairy. His aura is just, well, a little sort of fey as far as I can tell."
"He looks like a cat to me," Nora said. "I mean, he makes me think of a cat."
"Fairies and cats have many of the