Stone Castle

the role you play

Jo stood out in the balcony that connected the west wing to the main building. Looking down over the banister she stared at the plants. It was merely the beginning of summer and they were starting to brown. Her eyes made their way to the other building and she felt something inside her soul. It was terrifying to look at. Once a beautiful piece of construction, now hidden away for its dark past. The body count they say was beyond counting... 

For a moment Jo felt she could smell the decaying flesh but that couldn't be so. It was foul, she covered her face and crept closer. The wind blowing in from her right hand side she used the sleeves of her sweater to keep it out of airway. Pressing a hand to the door she pushed and she used great force, completely unnecessary for the door was cracked already. According to her knowledge the place had been bordered up years ago. The last freckle of sunlight faded into shadow as she slipped past the veil into the west wing. 

You would expect cobwebs, or dust... but no... it was as though someone had come in prior to her being there, and cleaned it out themselves. The smell got worse. She got ever so closer to what she figure was causing it. Part of her thought: 'Maybe its a dead cat. Maybe it got stuck.' Another part of her was frightened. 'What if something had happened.' She feared the worst. What if Cody did come home?

Beyond a busted piano, surrounded by clawed picture frames and wooden chairs that sat around a glass table covered in a fine thin cloth she saw a box. She could hardly stand the smell was so putrid. With shaky hands she pried open the top of the box. "Don't." she heard a voice behind her and jumped. She turned to see James. Though the boy vanished upon her looking at him. She turned back around to continue opening the box and instead saw him standing before her. "If you find out what's in there it won't be good for you." He said reaching out a hand to graze her shoulder. She felt his touch and closed her eyes. 

"Why do you keep appearing..." Her voice a broken song. The piano began to play so calmly and gently. She turned her body and rested her back against the box. He leaned over her shoulder and pressed his lips to her neck. "You're driving me mad." She rolled her head over to touch his. He snickered and when she turned around her had vanished once more. The music stopped. She was alone. She placed her hands upon the box and like clockwork the piano started playing itself again. Something in this house wanted her to find it... Why was it James who kept trying to protect her? Was he protecting her?

She laughed, this was her story, she was going to write it. Digging her fingers into the cracks of the box she pried it open. Looking inside she saw a ladder. That ladder led down to a floor below. A room she figured was closed off for the staircase was merely a few feet away from her. She hopped over and took one last look around before climbing down slowly. Of course she wasn't stupid. She shut the lid casually and quietly. knowing that no one would know she was there if they saw it was closed. That is how they get you.

She reached the bottom and looked around. She saw a flickering light at the end of the tunnel. As she walked one turned into two and eventually she realized she was following torches that went out as she got to close. The ones further ahead igniting with every step. The music was louder down here. The piano was what led her forward. She had played this part before. It was like someone had watched her movie. 

She reached the end of the hall. It was an open room with candles everywhere. They weren't working. She saw hanging from the ceiling a body which she could not make out. Most of the flesh had been stripped and the head hung low. She looked over to the piano and saw a figure sitting there. "Josephine..." He whispered as he played on. She simply stood there. A mixture of terror and uncertainty flowing through her chest. He turned around. Carlos was no longer there. This was someone else. 

The Latinos' body moved as though he were attached to strings. He was dying. Something in him was getting strong. "You should listen to your friends when they try to warn you." He played without looking at the keys. "You remember Eriq." the body began to move and Jo screamed. How could he possibly still be alive. He at last stood to his feet but the piano continued to make music on its own. He crossed the room to stand behind Eriq. "You and i have a lot in common Josephine." Carlos didn't call her Josephine. He barely spoke to her at all. He was the nice one. Everyone knew that.

"Terrence." Jo said the word like a curse from her lips. He smiled at her with his crooked face pouring out through Carlos' complexion. "This story has barely begun." He laughed a wicked laugh. "You can't save anyone... not even your beloved Kendall..." He pulled from a table a sharp tool. Which he then used to sink into Eriq's back. Eriq did not scream, he did not cry. He was at his wits end awaiting death like a midsummer nights dream. 

"Matilda... she didn't love you." Jo spoke slowly as not to upset the beast. He stopped dissecting and looked at her. He breathed harshly and his eyes grew angry. "Yes she did." He spat. "She did love me!" He swung his arm, the tool in his hand injecting into Eriq's neck. Jo gasped as she watched him take his last breath. Terrence began to laugh. His laugh getting more and more violent he stepped closer to her. "Kendall... didn't love you. James didn't love you... Lucy doesn't love you." Jo stepped backwards slipping on some rocks and catching the piano to hold herself up. "Lucy... loves Kendall." He straightened his back and sighed looking at Eriqs body. "just like Mildred loved Capernicus." 

Jo took off down the hall. She turned at every corner attempting to get back to the ladder. Something told her she went the wrong way and before she knew it she was right beneath the main building. She came to a halt at another room seeing Jessie strapped down in a chair screaming at her through the gauze in between her lips. Jo fell to her knees and dug at the ropes around her wrists and ankles. A vibration from her pocket. She reached in to pull out her phone. The caller ID was from California. She answered it.

"Hello?" She asked quietly. "Jo... i have some bad news..." It was Ms. Diamond. She was crying and her voice was cracking. "I had been meaning to call you... he left you something." The last line a whisper. Jo understood. "What is it Brooklyn?" She asked. She needed to hear it from her. "James passed away a few nights ago... they don't know why. He slipped away in his sleep?" she didn't sound convinced. Jo began to shake. "Send help!" She pleaded. "What?" Brooklyn asked. "We are at the Stone Castle in Bora Bora..." She whispered. "there is someone trying to kill us." She hung up the phone. Carlos snickered from the door frame and Jo simply began to cry. Her crying became a harsh sob and her sob became a demonic laugh she looked up into the eyes of Jessie and whispered. "I will have him once more." 

Carlos fell to the ground his skin pale and cold as ice.