Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Project Zero ❯ 1st night: Part one ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter 2

1st night: Part one

~*******************~

Hello, and welcome to another chapter of Project Zero. Okay, let's just clarify things, if you haven't read my profile, then you should know that I need one review per chapter to update. Just one. I don't need that many, and I don't see a point in continuing if no one reads it. With that said, here we go.

~******************~

It has been two weeks since my brother entered the mansion in search on Mr. Gabrief. Two weeks since his disappearance. I hope he's all right.

__________________________

Lina stood just before the small bridge. Her long, flaming red hair was pulled into a high ponytail to keep off of her neck. She wore a blood red shirt and a milky white jacket that was zipped about halfway. She had a black miniskirt and knee high black socks. On her back, her red backpack sat, and in her hand she held her flashlight.

She scanned the area with her crimson red eyes. "Zel…"

From the moment she entered, Lina had a bad feeling about the mansion. She couldn't describe it. She just knew something had had happened in that place.

She walked up the few steps into the first room. She thought she saw a flash of light behind the screen. She walked over and looked behind it, having to push it slightly to see. The room suddenly felt very cold. She froze. It was happening again. Voices, many voice. Talking, moaning. She squeezed her eyes shut, concentrating hard.

"Go away," She whispered. She dropped her flashlight. It hit the ground with a loud BANG. "Please, go away," The voices slowly died down to a mere whisper.

Lina took a deep breath, calming her nerves. She then knelt down to pick up her flashlight. Wait; there was something else other than the smooth wooden floor. It was soft, and felt kind of like paper.

She lifted it, careful not to tear it. It was written in Mr. Metalium's handwriting! It must have been a piece of his journal! She read through it carefully.

Sept. 12

Now there's another rope! And another rope…!

Lina cocked her head, slightly confused. She shook her head and stood up, placing the paper in her backpack.

She opened the sliding door and stepped through. The floorboards creaked and moaned as she walked along the hallway. When she reached the mirror, her flashlight shimmered on something on the floor.

She knelt down; it was a camera! It was the same camera Zelgadis had had when he entered the mansion. But what was it doing here? She reached out to take. The minute she touched the camera, reality melted away.

Zelgadis ran down the hallway. His breath was shallow and his legs ached. Arms pure white in color jetted out of the walls, reaching for him. He looked behind him, was she still following him? He didn't even notice that he had dropped the camera.

Lina pulled back her arm slightly. What was that? "Did… did something happen to my brother…?" She looked up; she thought she had seen a woman in the mirror. She grabbed the camera. Beneath it was several sheets of paper. She lifted one and shined her flashlight on it so she could read it. It was written in Zel's handwriting.

Mikumoru Mansion was once the home of a large landowner that controlled vast areas of land. They also say that the site held some special significance that had to do with the Shinto Rituals of the region. (I couldn't find any detailed books on the Shinto Rituals, though.)

The last master of the Mikumuro family (I later found out that they were also called Seilloon) massacred his entire household. Later, a family that tried to live there disappeared. Because of incidents like these, no one visits the mansion today, and it lies in ruins.

Maybe that's why there are no accounts of the Shinto Rituals, or why the exact location of the place isn't recorded anywhere.

Sept. 24

I have had a bad feeling ever since I came to the mansion. I'm leaving notes in this notebook just in case anything happens to me. I've got to find Mr. Gabrief and the others fast… I hope it's not too late!

Lina sat there, a little shaken up by what her brother had written. She lifted up the next piece of paper; this one was in Mr. Metalium's handwriting.

Aug. 20

Mr. Gabrief needs some background material for his next work. There's a book about Mikumoru Mansion by a certain folklorist, and I'm supposed to find it.

Aug. 22

I can't find the book. But I did some checking on the folklorist. I found out he moved into Mikumoru Mansion to do research on it. But after some certain event, he and his whole family disappeared. I couldn't find the book, but I did find an article from that period about it. It's a small missing persons story, but it might be helpful as background material.

Lina placed that one with her brother's paper, then lifted another paper up. It was, once again, from Mr. Metalium's journal.

Sept. 10, 11:00 AM

It looks like the earthquake last month and the murders in that village are all connected to Mikumoru Mansion somehow. I bet this is all going in Mr. Gabrief's next work; he's really into this subject matter! His output rate should be good.

Sept. 10, 4:00 PM

The entrance door is broken. When in the world did that happen? It won't open; I'll have to find another way out.

Lina picked up the next piece of paper. This one was in Mr. Metalium's hand writing as well. So the earthquake and those murders she had read about were all connected to the mansion? How bizarre…

Sept. 11

I haven't felt very well since two days ago. Actually, more like when Sylphiel took my picture. What in the world this rope in the photo mean?

Lina picked up the last piece of paper; this one seemed different than the others, like it was written in a hurry.

Sept. 10, 1:10 PM

There seem to be a few devises in this mansion that are engraved with old characters. When I asked Mr. Gabrief about them, he said they corresponded to numbers. I understand the first few, they're the old characters for the numbers 0 through 3, but I don't get the rest. They're characters that have the same reading as the numbers 4 through 9, but mean something different.

I guess each one has a special meaning, I'll figure out the rest later.

Lina stood and placed the papers in her backpack. This was very interesting, but what did it mean? She had also found an article about Mr. Gabrief's disappearance, but it didn't tell her anything new.

She walked down the hall to the large door and opened it. Carefully stepping inside, Lina got the chills. She walked up towards the staircase. Then, walking up the stairs, a ghostly white person seemingly appeared. He walked up.

"Zel?" Lina hurried up the stairs, but by the time she reached the top, the figure had vanished. She shook her head. "I must be hallucinating,"

She walked back down the stairs and headed to the dressers. Searching through them, she found a piece of paper in Mr. Gabrief's handwriting.

Plot of my next work

-Gourry Gabrief

A series of murders in a country village. Dead bodies turn up one after another. Murders that resemble cruel Shinto Rituals of legend in the area. The acts of a man swore to revenge, and the strange correlation between those acts and the folklore.

The man is gradually more and more influenced by the legends. The work will be the story of this man, proceeding in parallel with tales of the local lore. Records of the past turn up after an earthquake. The story gradually blurs the boundary between the present and the past.

July 24- About Mikumoru Mansion

Mikumoru Mansion is known as the home of a large landowner that controlled this region. But they say it was originally the place a shrine was built for performing a certain Shinto Ritual, passed down through the generations.

But the people of that time kept the ritual a deep, dark secret. They were even forbidden to say its name aloud. Today, almost no account of the ritual exists, aside from a smattering of folklore legends.

Lina scratched her head. If he ever did publish that work, it would be an instant hit. She shook her head. She picked up an old newspaper article. Bringing the flashlight up again, she read it.

The earthquake the other day destroyed all five mirrors (The Holy Mirrors); which were artifacts kept for centuries in the five shrines. These mirrors represent the five gods' protection over this region.

Most commonly known for "The Five Gods Festival" held every 10 years, when all five mirrors gather in one shrine.

The priests of this shrine hope this isn't a bad omen.

Lina shook her head. How odd. The five mirrors being destroyed right before Mr. Gabrief's mysterious disappearance. She sighed. This was very strenuous on the brain. She headed up the steps once again; maybe she could find something upstairs.

Upstairs was simple. There was a wooden door on the far wall. She walked over to the door and tried it. Locked.

"It's locked, but I hear something on the other side," Lina said, pressing her ear against the door. "Is somebody in there…?"

Lina pulled away from the door. She shook her head; she would have to find a key. She walked slowly back down the stairs, and then froze. The room became very cold. Through the support beams of the balcony, she saw a man that was ghostly white walk through the screen that leaned against the wall.

She rushed down and stood in front of the screen. There had been no feeling of danger; the room had just gotten very cold. She turned to leave, but stopped. There in front of her stood a little girl, a pale white girl in a kimono. It seemed like Lina was looking at her in black and white. She had shoulder length dark hair, and was slightly chubby, though not by much.

The girl approached Lina. Lina's heart raced and her breath became forced and shallow. The girl stopped in front of Lina, and extended a pale finger. She pointed at the camera in Lina's hands, and then moved her arm so she was pointing at the screen. Lina followed the girls hand and look at the screen. She looked back, but the girl was gone.

Lina's breath returned and her heart slowed again. "Should I take a photo?"