(Take off of X-Files "The Ghosts Who Stole Christmas")
Directed by: Zelgadiss Greywords
Written by: Wryn Greenleaf
Staring: Gourry Gabriev and Lina Inverse as: Themselves (who else?)
Silver Cat Inn
Somewhere in Twin Valley
10:15 p.m.......
"Gourry...hey, hey Gourry!!!" Lina shakes the swordsman awake.
"Eh?" Gourry gazes up at Lina with sleepy eyes. "Hey, what are you in my room for? Can't you sleep?"
Lina ignores him. "I heard about an interesting place...you'll want to hear this." She paces back and forth.
"Will I?" He rises and sits on the edge of the bed, then blushes, realizing he is only wearing his boxers with the pink hearts. He pulls the bed sheet over himself. "Y-yes Lina?"
"An old mansion..." Lina starts.
"Why would that interest me for?"
"Shut up and listen..." Lina glares. "It's called Thornberry Manor and it hasn't been inhabited for over two hundred years. There is said to be riches stowed away deep within one of the rooms. No one has even ventured inside to find this treasure. It is estimated to be in the millions, the millions Gourry, just think about it!" Lina all but jumps out of her skin. "Want to know more?"
Gourry replies tiredly, "There's more?"
Lina continues cheerfully, "The mansion is haunted by the spirits of a man and a woman, two lovers who took each other's life so they could forever haunt the mansion and stay with their riches."
"All that for material items? Strange people." Gourry yawns. "But what has that to do with us?" (as if he doesn't know)
* Gourry to Director. "But I don't know!"
(Director: "Forget about it!")
Gourry, "Sorry!" *
{now back to the story....}
...where were we? Ah, yes...
Gourry yawns. "But what has that to do with us?"
"You numskull! The riches we could take for ourselves. Think about it...people are too scared to enter the mansion because of its history. That means the riches are ours for the taking!"
"But what about the ghosts?"
"Oh come on Gourry, that's just a tale and besides, even if it is true, ghosts can't do anything to us..."
"Err, well...what about the time you let loose all those spirits from...uh what was that town again?"
Lina knocks him on the head. "Gourry, that's not in the script!"
(Director puts his hand to his head. "Just work with it now...")
Lina shrugs. "Um...that was different, hey, you can remember back that far?"
(Director ~sweatdrops~ "Okay, moving on...")
Lina continues, "Anyway let's go!" Grabs his arms and pulls him out of bed.
"Lina, I'm not dressed!" Gourry blushes.
"Oh! Eh heh heh, sorry." Backs away and slips out the door. "I'll be waiting for you outside the inn."
Gourry shakes his head. Running around after a treasure in a mansion at night, where the spirits of the dead lurked, wasn't his thing. But he wouldn't let Lina go off on her own, he was her guardian after all.
Minutes later the two adventurers are seen taking off down the road to Thornberry Manor. The mansion, covered in thick vines and other foliage towers broodingly over them like a black shadow.
(Director: "Que the creepy music..." ~sighs~)
Upon reaching the entrance, Lina tries the handle. To her surprise, the tall door swings wide open, with a nerve twitching creak.
"Huh, that was loud enough to wake the dead..." Gourry comments thoughtlessly, then shudders at his own words.
"Don't get scared now." Lina tells him and tiptoes inside.
Gourry hesitates and then follows. As soon as he enters, the door slams shut behind them. The swordsman jumps. "Li-Lina...that was only the wind, right?"
"Sure, sure Gourry..." Lina smiles and rubs her hands together. "Let's start looking...no time to waste.....Gourry, hey!"
Gourry has moved to the door and is fighting with the handle. "Lina! It's jammed or locked...did you do anything?"
"What are you talking about?" Tries the door. "Weird, and it opened so easily before. Must be something wrong with the hinges. Don't worry, we'll find another way out."
Gourry sighs. "Okay then...lets look." They pass through a spacious entryway. A large crystal chandelier hangs over them. On its own, the cord attaching the chandelier to the ceiling begins to fray. Nothing short of a miracle, Gourry senses danger is upon them and grabbing Lina by the waist, takes off down the hall into the parlor, just as the chandelier hits the floor with a loud crash. Shards of crystal fly in all directions.
By now Lina is pounding on Gourry's arm and kicking like a child. "Let go of me, what's the big idea?"
"Sorry Lina, but look." Points to the smashed chandelier.
"Oh!" The sorceress is speechless.
"What were you saying about the ghosts being only a tale?"
"Gourry...it was just a coincidence. There are no ghosts, I'm quite sure. It's just an old abandoned mansion, with treasure hidden inside..."
She takes his hand, leaving the room and leads him up the stairs. "Let's try the upper rooms first, okay?"
Gourry nods. "All right." Then to himself, "I've got to shape up." What kind of protector would he be if he turned chicken? He sighs and puts his hand to the sword. If there weren't ghosts out to get them, then someone must have followed them in and is trying to scare them out. Yeah that was it...well, it wouldn't work.
Reaching the second floor, they stop. There were two separate wings.
"Which one Lina?"
"Let's split up, you take the hallway on the left, I'll take the right..."
"Oh no...I'm coming with you." Gourry laid his hand on her shoulder.
"What, are you still scared?"
"No, not for myself anyway. I don't want to leave you alone in a strange place. Even without the ghosts, there could be danger."
"Oh for heavens sake...fine, then lets take the right hall." Lina sighs and leads on.
"It's really dark in here...Lina? How about a light spell?" Gourry pulls at her cloak.
"Yeah, I was just going to cast one."
A glowing ball of energy materializes in her hand and she tosses it into the first room, which looks to be a study of some type.
They step cautiously inside. The room is richly decorated, with bookcases alongside the wall next to them, reaching the arched ceiling. A large fireplace in the middle of the farthest wall is surrounded by a coffee table and two comfortable chairs.
"Are you sure we're alone in this place?" Gourry questions staring at the fireplace.
"Eh? Why?"
"Look, there is a fire going, well there was..."
"The remains of one...hmm." Lina folds her arms and thinks. "Well perhaps someone does live here...but I never heard about that."
A shiver runs up her spine just then, as the wooden planking under her feet vibrate and a moan echos about the room. "Uh...Gourry." She pulls at his arm. Both back away and watch the floorboards carefully. Yes, they were moving. One last loud pound is heard and then silence.
"Maybe the owner of the mansion is trapped underneath?" Gourry suggests. Lina nods and they drop to the floor and start pulling up the floorboards that surprisingly come loose without much effort. After removing about 10 of them, they gasp at what they see.
"L-Lina...they are..."
"I know." Lina wipes her forehead. "They are dead...and decaying."
"No, not just that...look at the woman."
"What about her?"
"She's wearing your outfit and the color of her hair is same as yours."
"Humph," Lina folds her arms. "So, look at the man Gourry, he's wearing your outfit too and............oh!"
"They're us!" Gourry chokes.
"What could this mean?" Lina muses.
"That the ghosts don't like us trespassing...Lina let's get out of here." Gourry grabs her by the shoulders and begins to drag her from the room.
"Gourry! We can't let ourselves be intimidated. That's what they want, whoever they are."
"The ghosts Lina!" Gourry answers.
"Not necessarily!" She snaps back. Pulling free she returns to the fireplace. "Yeah, that's all they are." She tries to convince herself. "Just fakes, I wonder who made them, Gourry...it's just a nasty trick. Did a good job though, didn't they?"
Gourry shakes his head. "Lina...I still have a feeling something's going to happen to us if we don't leave right now."
As he speaks, a waltz begins to play throughout the manor. "Where's that coming from?"
Lina wonders the same. "Someone is here and they'll be sorry when I find them...for frightening us."
"But Lina, we are the trespassers."
"Gourry, no one lives here..." Lina silences him and then starts looking around for hidden compartments. "I wonder where they would have hidden the loot?" She stops at the fireplace and begins pressing on all the bricks.
"Perhaps we should try the kitchen..." Gourry butts in.
"What? The kitchen? Now is not the time to think about food." She kneels down, feeling for an out-of-place brick.
"No, Lina. Search the kitchen for the riches..."
"Wah?" Lina blinks.
"A childhood friend once told me his uncle kept his family jewels in a hidden safe in the kitchen."
"Okay." Lina gives him a weird look.
"Don't you get it? Who would ever think of looking in a place like that..."
"Yeah I get you..." Lina stands. He might be right, not about the kitchen, but the fact that what they were after was probably hidden somewhere so obvious that it could be easily overlooked.
"Okay, lets try the entryway..."Lina begins again, but is startled into silence as the door leading out into the hall slams shut; a small click, as of a lock being turned, is heard.
"Lina!" Gourry chases the redhead to the door as she pulls furiously at the handle.
"That does it.....FIRE..." Lina yells. Gourry drops to the ground and covers his head. "BAAAAAAALL!!!"
Nothing happens; all is silent. Gourry lifts his head. "Lina?"
"My, my magic...I couldn't cast my spell." Lina is shaking angrily.
"Well, maybe that's because this mansion is haunted after all." Gourry's voice rose in frustration.
"But that shouldn't effect my magic, should it?" She turns, her face red. "Hey, what about that door?"
"Oh," Gourry hadn't noticed it when they entered. "It must lead into the next room."
"Yeah, come on..."
Passing through they are suddenly aware, before they reach the middle of the next room, that it has an uncanny resemblance to the one they left.
"Uh, this is weird." Gourry remarks.
"You're telling me." Lina laughs nervously. "Hey, it's not uncommon to have identical rooms..."
Gourry interrupts. "And identical corpses too?"
"Huh?" Lina gasps. "But...but, we just left the room. This isn't happening."
"For the hundredth time, let's get out of here..." Gourry pulls at her.
"Not without my riches we're not."
"Lina, this is getting stranger and stranger...we might not be able to make it out of here..." Gourry is angry now. "Listen to me."
"All right lets go..." she sighs. Passing through the previous door they head for the original door, still locked.
Gourry looks around for another route of escape and his eyes fall on yet another door. "Hey, I don't remember that one before..."
"Huh, neither do I....oh well, let's try it." Lina can't think of any other options for the moment.
"Ugh!!!" The sorceress pulls at her hair. "The same room! Again! What the hell is going on here? I'm getting really, really ticked off!"
"Well, how about I take one door and you take the opposite. Then we'll know for sure if we keep entering the same room."
"Gourry," Lina marvels, "you're making sense. That's scary."
"I know."
"All right lets do it. See you on soon!" She runs to the opposite door and swings it open, not without glancing back at her guardian. Waving, she disappears inside.
Gourry enters through his door with a sigh. "Lina?" He calls out into the room. "It's vacant.....hey,Lina?" He returns to the door but it won't budge. "LINA!!!"
*To be continued.....^_^*