41Hello readers. :) Here is another update. I would like to apologize to Prime Emily. I told her I would update long ago, but something came up. I have a very good excuse actually.
I had eye surgery in my left eye a week back on Friday morning. I had a detached retina, it was an important surgery, because time was ticking and the longer you wait the more of a chance you have of losing some or all vision. I would like to put some awareness out to you folks who are near sighted. If you ever see anything odd, like flashes or dark floaters (shapes) in your vision, I want you to go to the doctor immediately. Head for an eye specialist, if you head for an emergency room they will charge you and just send you there anyways. What happens, is near sighted people have longer eyes than other people. As we get older our retina is stretched as the eye grows. Usually older people, around fifty years old, will experience this, but it is not unusual for it to happen to kids as young as six years old. I was fortunate to have caught mine before any permanent damage happened..my vision has changed a lot and I have a mild cataract (it can be fixed with surgery, no big deal) , but I still have vision and that is all that matters.
Please be safe everyone! Take care of yourselves. As readers and writers you need your eyes. Now enjoy this story and be sure to spread this around. I wasn't aware of this before my surgery, and I was very close to waiting a few days to see if it 'cleared up'. If my mom hadn't of talked me into it..I could very well had lost sight in my left eye.
Enough chatter, enjoy!
The two brothers stepped into the entryway, Luigi freezing up as they stepped into a long white hallway. There was a vase lying shattered on the floor, a small table resting on its side. Mario stepped over the broken glass and moved around the table. Luigi followed, swallowing his fear as they continued forward.
It was dark. Shadows seemed to stretch out from sharp corners, and Luigi couldn't help feeling a shudder of unease as they stepped into a large room. It was expansive, with doors to both sides and a lounge like area at its center. A short staircase led up to a higher level of the room where more doors could be seen.
This room was also destroyed. What looked like once beautiful works of tapestry, were in ragged shreds on the floor. Luigi reached down to pick up a piece of cloth, rolling his thumb over a fine needle work image of a rose, the thorns jagged and black. Overall the room itself seemed to share a sort of romantic theme, which the man found odd. He didn't realize that Egad enjoyed such elegant decorations. It also didn't have the lab-like quality he had expected.
The two brothers moved past a turned over sofa, and stepped carefully over rolled up red carpet. Luigi almost tripped over it and flinched as his hip hit the center table that was still resting on all feet.
Mario stopped at the foot of the staircase, one shoe stepping up onto the deep red carpet leading upward, his eyes staring up at where it led, "Let's check upstairs first."
"Why?" Luigi stepped behind Mario, nervously playing with his cap in his hands.
Mario narrowed his eyes, "There's blood on the wall."
Luigi paled and turned his gaze upward. He gasped as he saw the portrait hanging up above them, so large it was easily seen from the bottom floor. It was a picture of a toad woman with a kind smile on her face, her hair set in rich brown braids that curled out from under her cap. Luigi imagined that she had lovely eyes too, that fit with her smile, but it was hard to tell.
The pictures eyes had been gouged out, and blood was painted around her face, and dripping silently to the floor.
"I don't think I can do this." Luigi felt nausea rise in his chest, pressing a hand to his mouth.
"Egad needs us Weegee." Mario said, "If there's any chance he's still...alive, then we might still be able to save him. We might be able to get some answers."
Luigi swallowed, his mouth dry, and sat his cap back on his head. He knew Mario was right, but he couldn't help feeling afraid.
He missed the good old days, where all he had to worry about was whether a koopa shell was going to fly out of nowhere and knock him over, or the possibility of running into a stray piranha plant in the woods, "Alright, let's get this over with."
00Oo00oo00oo00
"Do you think they're okay?" Ada was beside herself with worry, unable to take a seat without feeling the need to run to the tall window in Peach's large resting room.
Everyone else was sitting on a couch or leaning back in an armchair, watching the toad girl as she moved to stare out the window again.
"Please, relax Ada." Peach asked the girl again, "I'm sure they're fine."
"You don't know what it was like out there." Ada turned to stare at the princess, who couldn't help looking away from the toad's trembling form, "I thought we were all going to die."
"But we didn't." Benny stood up from the couch, "Look at us Ada, we're fine!"
"For how long?" Ada sniffed as she brushed a tear away from her face. She wasn't sure why she was feeling so emotional. For some reason, she couldn't relax. No one could change her mind, "Ugh, if I had went with them, I wouldn't be feeling this way. It's worse not knowing."
"How do you think I feel?" Daisy said, "Luigi is my boy friend, I can't help but feel freaked out by all this, but I have faith in him. I have to." The human stood up out of her seat and crossed her arms.
"Everyone please, sit down and I'll go see about fetching us some tea." Peach straightened the gloves on her hands, "Anyone have preferences? Iced or hot tea?"
"I would love an iced. With sugar." Daisy gave her a small smile from her place on the sofa, "Please. And any of those little cookies you always make would be splendid as well."
Ada sighed and moved to sit by Benny who scooted to make extra room for her, the koopa giving her a comforting smile, which she couldn't return. The toad looked at Peach, "I would love some please. It might help me settle down."
"Lovely." Peach smiled genuinely and moved to the door and she turned to nod at them, "Everyone just sit tight, I'll be back soon. There are books at the back of the room near the fire place if anyone is up for any light reading."
Soon the princess was gone and there was silence, the only sound the soft swish of the fan on the ceiling.
Benny glanced at the large book shelf to the back of the room, "Light reading? Those books are huge."
Ada shrugged lightly, leaning back into the plush sofa, head sinking into her chest, "I'm too tired to read. I'm considering taking a nap, maybe that will knock some stress out of me." She sighed, "I'm afraid I'll have nightmares, so it probably isn't worth it anyhow."
"Would you like to rest up stairs?" Daisy asked, "If you're worried about bad dreams, I can suggest a sleeping pill. Those usually make me too tired to remember much about dreams."
"Maybe later." Ada said, "Right now I think I should wait up for Luigi and Mario."
Benny was meanwhile at the book shelf, scanning titles.
His eyes caught a bright red binding and he pulled it off the shelf, "The secret to vegetable Gardening. Yeah..."
"What'cha doing?"
He jumped a bit at the voice and turned to face the speaker, dropping the book on the floor in the process. The koopa calmed down when he found it was only Mia, the small toad, blushing lightly as she looked up at him, "Oh, hello Mia."
"I'm sorry." She apologized, bending to pick up the novel. He took it from her with a 'thanks', "I didn't mean to scare you."
"It's okay." Benny said kindly, "How are you feeling?"
Mia smiled, the smile barely reaching her eyes, but she didn't seem as pale as before, "I'm better I think. I just took a short nap upstairs."
"Ada is thinking about doing the same."
"It's hard to sleep though." Mia sighed, "After all that has happened."
Benny nodded, unsure of what to say, and finally just tucked the book back into place, "Well, I was going to try reading something...but I don't know what."
Mia's eyes seemed to lighten up, "Really?" She looked at the books lining the shelf, and reached for a small one with blue and white binding, "I love reading, I didn't think about it. Might be a way to get my mind off everything."
"I like westerns." Benny admitted, "But I doubt there are any here."
"I don't know." Mia smiled, "We can check. I'll help you look."
The koopa smiled, "What do you like to read?" He asked.
"Everything." Mia smiled and made a face, "Except horror. And gross stuff you find in crime books. Forensics. I don't like too many details like that."
"I agree." Benny said, "How do you feel about autobiographies?"
Mia squealed happily and he blinked in surprise at the sudden show of emotion, "I love them. Non fiction is my favorite genre. I love to learn about other people."
She scanned the title of the book she pulled out and tucked it away and pulled out two more, "These are how to books...maybe they are sorted by shelf."
"Let's look."
From the couch, Daisy watched with a smile as koopa and toad began chattering away, pulling books from the shelf. She thought it was cute how they were getting along. Ada noticed too, turning to look to where the princess was staring.
"That's good." Ada said, "Mia seems happier."
"Yeah." Daisy agreed, smiling, "I'm happy to see her smiling. The poor little thing wouldn't talk much earlier this morning. She just sat real still and wide eyed." Daisy frowned, "It's a shame she had to go through all that. She seems so sensitive."
"She is." Ada replied, "I was surprised my boss wanted to take her along."
The door creaked open and they both turned even though they already knew who had entered from the clack of heels. Peach had a pitcher of iced tea in her hands, a few toads lining up behind her with serving plates covered in glasses. Second toad had a tray of cookies. One held a pot of what appeared to be sugar, "Here we go. Fresh tea for everyone."
Benny turned, "Great! I'm parched." He turned to smile at Mia, "Let's go get a drink."
"Okay." Mia smiled, following after.
00oo00oo00oo
Luigi followed Mario upstairs, the steps beneath him creaking as he traveled upward to the second floor. He tried hard not to look at the ruined portrait as they walked by, but couldn't help glancing. He shivered furiously as the eye-less toad girl smiled at him from the wall, a smudge of blood under her nose.
The man hurried after Mario who was heading for a hall to their left, where many doors lined the dark walls.
Luigi really hadn't paid much attention, Mario had pulled out a small flashlight and a beam of light scattered shadows as they walked, and he was calmed by the sudden appearance of light. The shadows still clung to the ceiling, but it was better than nothing, thought the shadows they left behind them seemed to press into their back.
He had a huge urge to open a window or pull back some curtains, if there happened to be any in the hallway, but it turned out to hold only doors.
They stopped at the first one, to their left, and Mario tried it without hesitation, his brother stepping back as the door flew open.
Nothing. Empty. As he flashed the light around, the room appeared in normal order, nothing in a state of disarray, a bed with blankets neatly folded atop, a dresser sitting in the corner, clear top. This was possibly a guest room, clean and ready for use.
They moved onto the next and found it was in the same safe-state.
Soon they were leaving this hall and heading across to the far right one, and immediately had results. Mario bent down at the start of the hall, and picked an item off the ground.
"What is it?" Luigi asked.
Mario turned to face him, and held up the broken top of a champagne class, "It's a glass. Its still got some liquid trapped inside. He must have dropped it when he was escaping."
Did he escape? Luigi wondered. He hoped so. If it wasn't for Egad, he would have never been able to save Mario on his own. He was also a quirky fellow but very kind.
"Let's keep to this hall, stay behind me." Mario started forward and Luigi followed.
00Oo00oo00oo
Ada couldn't help feeling a sense of calm as she took a long drink from the glass in her hands. Leaning back into the couch cushions with a soft sigh. The atmosphere had improved considerably and everyone was chatting and occasionally, laughing as they gathered around the table at the center of the room.
Mia was sitting next to Benny, a smile filling her small face, a cup clasped gently in her hands. A book sitting open on the table in front of her, "We looked forever, but we finally found one."
"What's the book about?" Ada asked, placing her cup on the table top.
"It's about one of the old wars, it's from the view point of one of the ladies in the kingdom." Mia said, "It's really lovely. It's an autobiography."
"I've been reading between the lines." Benny admitted, "It really isn't a bad book. I was looking for one myself, but didn't have much luck."
"I like to enjoy a good book once in a while." Peach said, "I'm afraid I've been too busy of late to catch up on my reading however."
"I don't like reading." Daisy said, "Just give me a good movie."
There was a knock at the door suddenly and everyone looked as the door slowly came open and a toad peered in, "Hey, everyone."
"Hello Toad." Peach greeted, "Is there something you need?"
He stepped into the room fully, looking uncomfortable, "Well, I can't find Toadette anywhere. She's usually helping out in the kitchens but cook tells me she hasn't seen her since this morning."
Peach frowned, "That is so unlike her." She stood up out of her seat, "Everyone, please excuse me."
They watched as the princess left the room with Toad. Ada's eyes lingered on the door as it closed. For one moment she felt a sense of unease, but it quickly left her as the group began chattering again.
00Oo00oo00oo
Toadette had left her room at seven in the morning to get an early start on her day. She had plans to help the cook, Ema T, with a new recipe to surprise the princess. Peach's servants always loved to please their ruler in ways like this, to show their constant support for her. It was also near time to celebrate Peach's birthday in a few weeks, so giving early gifts pleasured the toads to no end.
"Good morning Ema." Toadette said as she walked into the kitchen, pink braids swinging behind her as she walked, a bright smile on her face.
"Morning." The toad at the oven slipped off her mitts and turned to smile at her, "I just made a batch of oatmeal cookies for a snack later. I'm just about to start the cinnamon rolls for breakfast, want to lend a hand?"
"Of course!" Toadette skipped over, "What do you need me to do?"
"Can you head down to the storage room and fetch me a tub of icing? Any color will work, but I know the white icing should be on the shelf at the far wall. Near the cake supplies."
"Okay, I'll be right back." The toad girl left the room and started down the hall. She reached the wooden door at the very end and pulled it open. There was darkness in front of her, and she patted the wall to her left. She felt a switch and started downward when the light flickered on.
The steps creaked as she started downward, and she imagined the sounds as music, humming under her breath as she walked, feeling just as merry as she did every day.
Toad seemed to be impatient where it concerned her over enthusiastic personality and her abundance of energy, but Toadette didn't really care. She just wished he'd stop being so serious all the time. Toad was the complete opposite of his sister and it was a wonder the two really got along. They fought a lot but never in a way that was overly stressful and when they were happy together, they felt they couldn't be happier if they tried.
Toadette smiled when she remembered Toad's own birthday party, two months back. She had made him a collage of pictures of the two of them. She had remembered feeling so surprised when Toad had started tearing up over it.
Today the two of them planned on having a picnic with the other servants in the garden, and she planned on helping cook create a few treats for her brother. He loved Ema's potato salad and her macaroni-mushroom casserole. Toadette herself was fond of them as well.
"Icing, icing." The toad girl reached the bottom of the steps and looked around. The room was dimly lit, shadows painting some of the walls. Shelves were lined up everywhere and a big freezer sat against a wall to her right. She knew exactly where to go and headed to a sharp left past shelves all filled with neatly stacked boxes.
She reached the far wall, and found the shelf with the cake supplies. She found the large top of icing in a white container at the bottom shelf and reached to pick it up. When the toad stood up she turned to leave, and then she noticed something odd.
Toadette frowned at the small window above her, to her right. It was cracked and she side stepped when she noticed glass littering the floor near her feet, "Oh my..."
The toad girl took a few steps back, staring up fearfully at the window. It was small, but something bigger than a toad could still slip through. She imagined some sort of wild animal in the shadows with her, and she blanched.
Toadette took a deep breath and told herself not to panic and went at a calm walk back towards the stairway. When she reached the stairs she smiled a smile of relief. She had just started up the first step when the lights flickered.
Then went out completely.
The toad girl screamed as she was cast into darkness, quickly moving upward to escape the dark. She was halfway up the stairs when she felt a cool grip on her back, the feel of sharp nails against the flat of her back, taking a solid grip of her shirt.
The tub of icing hit the step with a dull sound and it rested there.
There were no other sounds, but a deathly quiet took residence in that room.
Hope you liked this chapter. :) Poor Toadette haha, do you guys think she's still alive? Do you think she's dead? We'll find out next chapter, but count on the next one being a bit darker. Leave a review and let me know what you thought about this chapter. See you next chapter. ^^