The Mansion of Trials and Trials

Rest

I held the ball more tightly and went to see Mel, giving him the ball. Looking at him closely, his gray eye was more beautiful than I expected. Next to him, was a tray of obols. Staring at me, he wrote something in his sketchbook.

​「​(^​O​^)​」​

"Congratulations." He said and passed me one metal coin. I flipped it over. One side had a symbol of an odd, strange looking flower. It looked just like the flower outside the Mansion I saw earlier. And on the back was a symbol of a rowboat. What a strange coin. Why is there a symbol of a—

Interrupting my thoughts, Mel hit the papers on his sketchbook to grab my attention. He wrote something again.

"Be careful."

"........huh? Careful? About what?" I asked, I didn't quite understand what he was talking about. Mel remained silent. He didn't reply.

"Nothing. You can keep the ball." he said as he flipped to the next page, "Who knows, maybe you will need it in the future." He insisted that I took the ball. Whatever that meant. I did as he told and put the bag of obols inside my inner jacket pocket and my pocket watch inside the pocket on my pants. Puppet spread her arms.

"Attention, Wanderers! I now declared the first trial, The Beginning Draw, is over! The remaining number of Wanderers is 29. The next trial will be held tomorrow at twelve o'clock. Please arrive here, at the entrance hall on time. May all Wanderers follow me so I can introduce you to your rooms."

"Lastly, I congratulate you all for finishing the trial."

∞∞∞

Following Puppet, upstairs from the hall, was a long corridor of portraits. Portraits and portraits. Paintings of men and women from left to right. Young and old. Rich and poor. Beautiful and ugly. Observing them, they recalled my memories of going on a school trip to the art gallery. The paintings never interested me. They were boring, dull and looked imaginary. But surprisingly, the paintings in this Mansion looked....real and eye-catching. In other words, the paintings were looking at us.

While walking, I peeked at one of the paintings which was just behind me. Her eyes were moving, following us like predators, hunting for food. I immediately turned my head. But my eyes matched up with a nobleman. He blinked his eyes and smiled. I was shocked that I didn't scream. As I glared longer, the colors of the man turned dark and dim. Sudden shades covered him. Shades of black human figures. The Shadowpeople. They guided through the walls, twisted and turned, following us, of course. I could see their mouths moving. They were talking to each other, I believed, in their own shadow language. Some were laughing and giggling. They are always laughing, wonder why?

"AHHHHHHHH!" a male voice cried suddenly from the back, "DON'T HURT ME!" I turned around. Inga fell on the ground with his face turned pale. He pointed at the painting.

"What's wrong?" Brian asked, he covered his ears, "Don't shout. My ears hurt."

"THE PAINTING! THE PAINTING! IT'S MOVING!!!!" Brian rolled his eyes.

"What's wrong with that?"

"Why can you be so calm?! Paintings don't move! This is ridiculous!"

"Oh, come on," Brian pushed his glasses, "We saw tons of ridiculous things already today. Don't be surprised by just a moving painting."

"He's right." Vera agreed, "If you continue to scream on everything you see, you can't survive in this Mansion."

"What are you guys talking about? Isn't it normal for scary things to be scary?" Keira questioned, "Not just the paintings, the Shadows totally freaked me out! I mean, why are they watching us? Puppet, can you do something?"

"Oh, you'll get used to it eventually. They're all over the Mansion. You can't escape from them." Puppet explained. We're being watched by the Shadows. I guessed Puppet is trying to warn us not to think about escaping from this Mansion. We can't escape from their eyes.

"Are you kidding me?! I don't want to be spied on inside my bedroom. How can I sleep?!" she argued.

"No worries. They won't enter the Wanderer's rooms. As long as the room is locked, you will be perfectly safe there." Puppet stopped walking suddenly.

In front, was an antique, well-decorated elevator with ornament patterns. I looked up. A metal clock hand pointed at the letter 'G' on the floor indicator, ground floor I presumed. The letter 'G' was then followed by the numbers 1 to 6. Looks like this Mansion only has six floors. Or at least this elevator only goes up to the sixth floor. Puppet pressed the button and we went in. It was wide, more than twenty-five square meters. There was still space after carrying thirty-one people. The floor was covered by a plain, smooth carpet and sidewalls were also pleasantly decorated with artistic wooden carvings. No matter if it is the elevator or the entrance hall, the owner who owns this Mansion must indeed have a sense of art.

Interrupting my thoughts, the elevator stopped moving, we went out. Puppet turned around.

"My dear Wanderers, this is the third floor where your room is. Please check your room key to know which room you are allocated. Beware that if you lose the key, no replacement will be given. There's a map of the Mansion near the elevator on the third floor. Feel free to look at it and explore the Mansion. You are allowed to use any facilities and resources in this Mansion. The next trial will be held tomorrow at twelve o'clock. If you have any questions, just call my name and I'll be there. Salutations and have a good night." Puppet bowed and disappeared.

"Good night?" Keira rolled her eyes, "I think I'm going to have nightmares." She walked away, so did the others. We were all tired. I stopped by, looking at the map on the wall. There was a braille map next to it too.

This Mansion had in total six floors. The entrance hall on the ground floor. Lounge and infirmary on the first while the dining hall and the kitchen on the second. The third was the guest room floor. As for the other floors, they were all printed with question marks. I wonder what is on the other floors?

With more questions, I gazed at my room key. Room 428. The third floor was split into two opposite corridors. Room 401 - 420 on the left corridor. Room 421 - 440 on the right. I walked right, of course. Passing the wall of numbers, I was alone. Unlike others, my room was quite far away from the elevator.

Room 428. The numbers were printed on the wall with little dots below. Braille language again. The door lever handle was odd, curved like waves. Fancy decorations. I ignored them. My feet were about to collapse, I had too much for today. I inserted the key into the keyhole. The door was unlocked. I grabbed the handle and opened the door.

The room was absolutely normal. White sheets, lamp, table and chairs. Closet and sink. Wide space and decorations. Like a five star hotel, except for no windows. There was an alarm clock on the nightstand near the bed too. I threw the key on the nightstand, set the alarm and lay down on the bed. It was surprisingly cozy. Soft as feathers with a pleasing scent of lavenders and lilies, signs of spring. The smell calmed my nerves. I closed my eyes.

∞∞∞

When I was six, the windows on the bus shattered, chunks of metal got ripped off.

I fell down from my seat.

Screams came along with cars with red, blue lights and ambulance sounds. Everyone was shouting. My mother hugged me tightly. I could feel her body temperature as warm as the summer sunshine. But some unfamiliar faces in blue clothes pulled me out and dragged me away. Mom didn't do anything. Neither did Dad. The next day, I was being sent to my relatives. I asked them where my parents were. They didn't answer.

Days and months. I switched from places to places, families and families. My final relatives took care of me well. Gave me everything that I needed, anything that was necessary. I didn't have any financial problems, medical issues or emotional trauma from the event.

But my relatives didn't like me.

And I didn't like them.