A Criminally Haunted Love

Chapter 7 week 1 day 5

Pov change: bold
Thought: (bold and encircled)
Journal entries: bold and italics
Dream sequences: bold and underlined.

                     Mal pov
When he woke up, unsurprisingly Zoey was still asleep but what confused him was that Zoey's cheeks and nose were slightly red then she whimpered. (She's probably having a nightmare, I should wake her up....this place is already scary enough, it doesn't need to become more so) he sighed and started to shake her shoulders gently.
"Hey wake up." He said, shaking her shoulders a bit more roughly when she didn't wake up immediately, luckily this time she did, and Zoey looked at him with panic in her eyes until she finally calmed down.
"Are you alright?" He asked, he started to get confused when her face became even more red and she wouldn't look him in the eyes.
"Yeah I'm alright." Zoey whispered.
"Ok." He replied. (I'm not going to question it, she probably won't tell me anyway) Zoey nodded her head and got out of bed, he followed after her but waited when she walked behind the folding screen.
"You can come back here." Zoey said, he walked behind the folding screen and up to Zoey and started to tie the laces of the corset.
"Should we read from the journals tonight?" Zoey asked.
"It'll probably be best if we wait to read those journals for a couple of days. If we keep reading them at the pace we're going we'll run out of journal entries to read before the three weeks are up." He said, then smirked when Zoey chuckled.
"Mal can you go back to the other side of the folding screen, I would like to get the rest of my clothes on." Zoey said, he then realized that he had finished tying the laces and now he was staring at her back. He quickly walked back to the other side of the folding screen, as he waited he walked over to the closet and get some clothes and by the time he found some clothes Zoey was walking out from behind the folding screen. Once he was dressed they left the room with video cameras in hand, while they walked past the ballroom he noticed that Zoey started to blush. (Why is she blushing....though it is cute...what)
"Hey Mal." Zoey said, as they walked into the kitchen.
"Yeah." He replied, as he started to cook breakfast.
"Tonight can we go to the secret ballroom?" Zoey asked, he looked at her confused.
"Why, do you think there is something else in there?" He asked, instead of answering.
"No I don't think anything is in there." Zoey answered, and he raised an eyebrow when Zoey blushed and wouldn't look him in the eyes. (If she doesn't think there is anything in there, and all the instruments are out of tune, so why does she want to go there....unless)
"Do you want to dance? He asked, Zoey's blush darkened. (I guess that's a yes) he walked over to Zoey with two plates of food in his hands. He sat one plate down in front of Zoey and the other plate next to her, then he sat down.
"So?" Mal asked, gently grabbing Zoey's face so she was looking at him. (I keep surprising myself...the way I've been acting these past few days are not me)
"I....yeah I do want a dance." Zoey whispered.
"Ok." He replied.
"Ok what?" Zoey asked.
"Ok we can dance tonight." He replied.
"Really?" Zoey asked, he nodded his head and it surprised him when Zoey gave him a small smile.
"Come on let's eat, we've got a haunted mansion to explore." He said, Zoey nodded her head and they began to eat, when they finished he washed the dishes, afterwards they walked to the fourth floor.
"This is the floor with all the fake doors right?" He asked.
"Yeah."Zoey replied, then they walked to the first fake door they read was a secret room. Once they were inside the room compared to the dungeon and playground room this secret room was tame.
"It's a greenhouse." Zoey commented, as they stepped into the room.
"Well it used to be a greenhouse." He replied, as he looked at all the dead house plants.
"Let's just hope we find something in here." Zoey said, he nodded his head and they began their search.
"Did you find anything?" He asked, after a few minutes of searching and not finding anything.
"No, did you?" Zoey asked.
"No." He replied.
"Then we should look somewhere else." Zoey said.
"Why did you want to dance tonight?" He asked. (She must have a reason) as they walked to the next secret.
"No reason." Zoey answered.
"You're lying." He said. (She answered that way too quickly)
"No I'm not." Zoey defended herself.
"So you want to dance with me just because you possibly could?" He asked.
"Maybe." Zoey answered.
"Tell me the truth." He said.
"I am." Zoey replied.
"Do you want to know what I think?" He asked.
"What?" Zoey asked, in response.
"I think you're stressed out and the last time we danced you seemed to relax, so you want to dance again." He answered, smirking when Zoey blushed.
"Let's just go inside the room." Zoey said, that was when he realized that they were standing in front of another secret room.
"Well it wasn't an outright no, so I win." He said, and opened the door like the journal said to.
"It's a sitting room." Zoey commented.
"Why is a sitting room secret?" He asked.
"Hang on isn't this the room where they....." Zoey stopped talking and blushed.
"Where they kissed?" He finished the question, and was slightly amused when Zoey's blush darkened.
"Yeah." Zoey whispered.
"So this is where it started." He said, though it sounded like a question.
"Do you think they...." Zoey stopped talking again and looked down at the floor, her blush returning.
"They did what?" He asked. (She's blushing a lot today)
"Nevermind let's just search the room." Zoey replied, avoiding what she was going to say and started to walk around the room.
"Ok." He replied, confused then started to look around the room. He didn't find anything other than a couple of books, and from what the summaries say one was a romance the other a mystery. (I think these are the only things of importance unless you count that kiss a 107 years ago.....also I'm getting the feeling that something important used to be in here)
"Did you find anything?" He asked.
"No, but I'm getting a feeling that something important is missing." Zoey answered.
"Me too, but whatever it is we're not going to find it in here." He said, Zoey nodded her head and they left the room, while they walked to the next secret room they found the way to the 5th floor.
"Well this is artistic." He commented, when they walked into the hidden room, he watched Zoey nod her head as she looked around what appeared to be a late 1800's, early 1900's painting studio, there was even dried up paint and paint brushes on the shelves.
"You know some of these hidden rooms are not that outlandish, so why would......Mike make fun of them?" Zoey asked.
"He probably saw them pointless." He answered.
"Let's search the room, we might find a self-portrait." Zoey said, and they began searching the room.
"Mal, I've found something." He heard Zoey say a few minutes into their search.
"What did you find?" He asked. (If she has found any portraits I'd be surprised).
"I found this." Zoey said, handing him a piece of parchment, drawn on it was the backyard including the stables.
"Do you think it's important?" He asked.
"No, not really but it's something." Zoey answered, he hummed in agreement while she sat the drawing back down.
"Let's go, we've got one more room on this floor to search." He said after a minute of silence, they checked the rest of the doors to see which one was real and they eventually found it, they knew from the journals that the door led to the master bedroom.
"So this is the master bedroom." Zoey commented, and he looked down at their hands, Zoey had slipped her hand into his hand. (Why does Zoey keep holding my hand....is she scared because she can't possibly like holding my hand, but I'm not going to mention it because I...like it despite how unbelievable it is)
"Let's go inside." He said, and opened the door, the master bedroom looked like Matthew Williams room......competely wreaked. The window was partially broken with blood splattering the rest of it.
"Looks like we won't be finding a bullet." Zoey commented, looking at the window.
"But we might find something else." He said, and slowly let go of Zoey's hand.
"Did you find anything?" Zoey asked a few minutes later of them searching the room.
"A couple of attempted suicide notes, but nothing else." He answered.
"Attempted?" Zoey asked.
"Guess he couldn't figure out what to say." He answered, Zoey nodded her head and started walking to the door but he stopped her.
"Where are you going?" He asked.
"Hopefully out of this room." Zoey replied, quickly glancing down at Mal's hand, which was holding her hand.
"Really, are you sure there isn't anything else in here?" He asked.
"I didn't find anything else." Zoey answered.
"We'll be re-searching everything later, so yeah we can leave." He replied. (She looks really uncomfortable) Zoey smiled softly at him, then they left the room. When they got to the third floor they froze, all the doors they could see were open, and if he wasn't so shocked he would have smirked when Zoey hugged him.
"You've got to let go of me if we want to get to the first floor." He said, this time he did smirk because while Zoey did let go of him, she still held his arm. When they were standing in front of the playground room, they looked to the right and saw that all the doors on that hallway were open as well.
"Why are all the doors open?" Zoey asked, before he could say anything they heard a wailing sound coming from Matthew's room then all the doors on the third floor slammed shut.
"Let's go downstairs." He said.
"Ok." Zoey quickly agreed, they made their way downstairs but at the top of the stairs to the first floor they stopped. They heard more wailing coming from the sitting room and hanging from the chandelier in the foyer was a noose.
"Is this mansion dangerous or just trying to scare us?" He asked, once the wailing stopped and the noose disappeared.
"Zoey?" He asked, when Zoey didn't answer. He looked down at her and saw that Zoey was paler than normal, and her grip around his arm had tightened.
"Zoey?" He asked again, while moving a stray hair from her face and behind her ear. (Why did I do that)
"I think this is just the beginning." Zoey said, looking up at him.
"You think so?" He asked, poking her in her side.
"Yes, now let's go to the kitchen." Zoey replied, giving him a small smile.
"Getting a little brave, aren't we?" He asked smirking, Zoey squeezed his hand, he rolled his eyes and started to walk to the kitchen with Zoey right beside him. Zoey let go of his hand as they entered the kitchen.
"Where did you learn how to cook?" He asked, as they ate dinner. (Why am I curious)
"My grandparents taught me, where did you learn how to cook?" Zoey asked, after she answered his question.
"I was forced to learn......I was the only one to learn." He answered.
"You don't sound too happy about that." Zoey replied.
"I didn't want to learn." He mumbled.
"Why were you forced to learn?" Zoey asked.
"Everyone said that if you're going to be bad, you might as well learn something good." He answered.
"Everyone?" Zoey asked.
"Relatives, now what about you, why did your grandparents teach you how to cook?" He asked quickly, leading the conversation away from him.
"I was watching my grandparents cook one evening and my grandpa asked if I wanted to help and I agreed. That night we figured out I had a natural talent for cooking, so they decided to teach me." Zoey explained, while cleaning their plates.
"Are you glad to have learned how to cook?" He asked, as they left the kitchen.
"Yeah I'm glad I learned, what about you are you glad you learned how to cook?" Zoey returned the question.
"No, but I guess it's a useful skill to have." He answered, as they walked into the ballroom.
"Wait, we really are going to dance?" Zoey asked, shocked.
"I did say ok, didn't I?" He asked, while leading Zoey into the secret ballroom, then he smirked when Zoey blushed and nodded her head, he put both video cameras down on the floor then led Zoey to the middle of the room.
"Ready?" He asked, when he had an arm around Zoey's waist and her left hand in his, Zoey placed her right hand on his shoulder then nodded, he nodded his head and led them into a dance. (It's a little quiet for dancing) he started to hum In The Hall Of The Mountain King, when they slowed to a stop he stopped humming.
"Where did you hear that song?" Zoey asked.
"Would you believe me if I told you I don't remember?" He asked smirking.
"You don't remember or you don't want to tell me?" Zoey asked.
"I don't remember where or when I heard the song." He answered. (It's the truth)
"Alright I'll believe you if you tell me the name of the song." Zoey replied.
"It's called In The Hall Of The Mountain King, now let's go back to the room." He answered, and picked up the video cameras, then handed one of them to Zoey. Zoey grabbed the camera then grabbed his hand, he looked at Zoey in confusion.
"Are you scared?" He asked. (Why else would she want to hold my hand)
"I'm just a little scared." Zoey answered, glancing down at the ground.
"Well I've never delt with ghost before but you'll be alright." He said. (That's the closest I'm going to say I'm going to protect her) Zoey smiled softly and blushed.
"Let's go." He whispered.
"Alright." Zoey whispered back, he squeezed her hand gently and they left the room, but they stopped walking when they saw four shadowy faceless bodies. When one of the shadowy bodies started to strangle one of the other shadowy bodies, Zoey nearly screamed but was able to stop herself.
"We're going to slowly make our way to the stairs ok." He whispered into Zoey's ear, Zoey nodded her head and they slowly and quietly made their way to the second floor stairs. When they were inside their room Zoey sat down on the bed, he walked over to the bed and sat down next to her.
"Mal, I'm afraid this place is going to hurt us." Zoey said.
"Hurt us how?" He asked.
"I'm afraid we won't survive this challenge." Zoey answered.
"Chris said this place only kills couples right?" He asked, Zoey nodded her head.
"We're not a couple." He said bluntly.
"I know we're not a couple but we are digging into this mansions past." Zoey replied.
"Is learning about what happened here worth the danger?" He asked.
"Yeah it is, do you think it's worth it?" Zoey returned the question.
"Yes it is." He answered, and watched Zoey turn off the video camera and put it in it's charger. He turned off his video camera and put it on its charger, when he was done he saw Zoey walk behind the folding screen.
"Mal, you can come back here." Zoey said, he walked over to the folding screen and behind it.
"Are you sure I'm not tying these too tight?" He asked, as he untied the laces of the corset.
"I'd tell you if it was too tight." Zoey replied.
"How far do you think they got in their relationship?" He asked.
"What are you talking about?" Zoey asked, he let go of the laces and pulled Zoey against him, laying a hand on her stomach.
"You know what I'm talking about." He whispered.
"I know....I'm getting this feeling they went all the way." Zoey replied.
"What are you talking about?" He asked, smirking.
"You know what I'm talking about." Zoey said.
"You really think they did that?" He asked.
"I don't know, but would it surprise you if they had?" Zoey asked.
"No it wouldn't surprise me." He replied, then he finished untieing the laces.
"Thank you." Zoey thanked him when he finished unlacing the corset,  He nodded his head and walkedout from behind the folding screen. While he waited for Zoey to finish he got some night clothes, when Zoey walked out from behind the folding screen he took her place and changed his clothes. When he walked out from behind the folding screen, he saw Zoey sitting on the bed and was looking at the engagement ring, he walked over to his side of the bed and got in.
"Do you want to keep it?" He asked, he nearly laughed at Zoey's shocked expression.
"It's beautiful but no I don't want to keep it." Zoey answered.
"You sure?" He asked. (Why am I curious)
"I'm sure, besides it's not actually mine it should stay here." Zoey answered.
"Alright." He replied.
"Do you want to read the journals tomorrow night?" Zoey asked.
"No, we'll just search the fifth floor tomorrow." He answered.
"Then I guess we better get some sleep." Zoey said, he nodded his head and turned off his lamp, Zoey turned off her lamp and they both fell asleep.
                  Mike pov
"What does Mal think he's doing?" He asked.
"What do you mean Mike?" Svetlana asked in response.
"Mal was being kind and gentle." He answered.
"Is that such a bad thing?" Svetlana asked.
"No, but it is weird that Mal is acting like this." Manitoba said.
"He's in love." Vito commented.
"Not this again, he's not in love Vito." Svetlana replied.
"Why do you think Mal's in love, you know he only cares about himself?" He asked. (Why do my multiple personalities think that Mal, who we all know is incapable of loving someone, is in love)
"Mike, he has never acted this way before, he even more or less admitted that he would protect Zoey from the dangers of the mansion." Chester answered.
"Look, I don't think Mal is in love or falling in love, I think he's just trying to be nice." Manitoba said.
"But Mal has never been nice before." He said.
"He'll probably go back to not being nice after this challenge, that's if he's not in love." Vito replied.
"You and Chester won't change your minds no matter what, aren't you?" He asked, Chester and Vito shook their heads no.