Inside the expansive mansion, noises loud enough to make ones ears bleed vibrate and bounce of the walls, much too fitting for the horrors and joys of Herman Westergaard's virtual video game.
Outside, the silence is unwelcome and unsettling. Not a single creature stirs in the night, not a single neighbor - excluding Kuzco - is around to hear the chaos of the game. They are all tucked safely away in their beds, hardly concerned about the lack of cellphone service. There is nothing to alert them of the terrors happening so close to them, nothing to show them a few innocent people are in danger.
Not even Lottie's shrill, booming voice splintering the dead air reaches their ears. Nope. They are all unaware.
It's completely unnerving, wandering a rich neighborhood with a movie star and his happy-go-lucky assistant. Even a single cricket would lessen the tension. Lottie has seen enough horror movies to know quiet neighborhoods with pretty girls are where the killers and demons are drawn to. Kuzco doesn't exactly inspire safely, and if anything does happen, she'll be more than happy to sacrifice Wiggins.
"Is this the house?" Kuzco studies a gated driveway, the words "Westergaard" scrawled across the top of the gate in harsh, twisted iron bars.
Lottie places her hands on her hips, glaring into the dark shadows the mansion itself is hidden in. "Is this the house Herman Westergaard owns? Where my Hansy-bear, who also happens to be a Westergaard, was lost?" Her sarcasm is so thick it could be cut by a knife.
Kuzco purses his lips, nudging the closed gate with a foot. It doesn't swing open, leading him to assume it's locked and there's no point in staying. "Well.... Is it?"
Growling, she smacks the back of his head, shaking the bars of the gate. "HANSY, IF YA'LL ARE ALIVE IN THERE, IMMA COMIN'!"
Kuzco squeaks and fiddles with his hair, fishing his emergency comb out of his coat pocket. "How many times have I told you not to touch my beautiful hair? Do you know how long it takes to get this shine? WIGGINS!" He snaps his fingers, summoning his assistance forward.
Wiggins pulls free a bottle of hairspray from his bag, coating Kuzco's perfect hair while simultaneously shielding his employer's eyes with his hand own.
The gate creaks and and groans under Lottie's shaking, but the door does not open. She screams into the night, kicking at it with her heeled shoes. She doesn't know how much longer she can survive without her wonderful fiancé. If something were to happen to him, she would never be able to move on! Nobody could fill her heart with as much joy as her Hans!
Well.... Sven could. Once upon a dream. But he lost his chance.
"Would you quiet down?" Kuzco shoulders past her, examining the front yard of the mansion beyond the bars. "You're giving me a headache. Wiggins, aspirin."
Huffing, Lottie sinks down to her knees - or attempts to, going as far as that tight dress with let her - and considers her options. She could make Kuzco hop the fence and scout the area for Hans. She could find one of those payphone used in those really old movies to call the police and report this tragedy. She could go a shopping spree; to calm her nerves, of course. This has been an incredibly stressful night for her.
While she's contemplating, a dark shadow moves around the far wall of the mansion, creeping nearer to the gate. It darts behind bushes, keeping a watchful eye over it's very human shoulder.
Lottie stirs, hopes brightening. She watches as she/he/it maneuvers closer and closer, no doubt coming straight to her. "Hans?" She asks straightening back up. "Is that you?"
The figure moves away from the darkness and steps into the light of the moon, body much too curvy to be a man. But not all hope is lost, and Lottie's face lifts with glee.
