Aveline

Chapter Seven - Haunted House

Billy says hi!

"We met at. . ." She hesitated.

"Oh come on! Just spill it already!" I yelled. I was sick of her not finishing important sentences.

"We met at my old house. It was haunted and I only lived there for one month before moving. I was only five, I don't remember much about it. . . only that it was terrifying. After I moved out, no-one wanted it, and now it's abandoned. No-one even wants the land to build anything on. The house itself is 150 years old." Said Blanche, trembling a little. I could tell she didn't like even talking about the place. So I tried lightening the mood.

"Still not as old as me," I joked. I'm 240 million years old. After being turned into vampires, we wanted to get away for. . . um. . .  reasons, so we jumped 240 million years into the past, around when the dinosaurs first appeared. Oliver even got swallowed by one once! That was the funniest thing I think I have ever seen. (I'll put the full story on Inkitt if you guys want. Let me know in the comments if you want a prequel!)

"Sound awful," said George, a sympathetic light in his eyes. I rolled my eyes. Dude, really? Could this get any more nauseatingly sweet? He used to be fun! Then again, he also used to be human. . . Whatever. I hope it's be just a phase.

"I kept on having bad dreams and was out of the house whenever I could be, visiting friends and the like." Explained Blanche. I frowned. That must've been hard for a five year old. Was she lying? Maybe blindly trusting her is a bad idea.

"My Mum told me to explore the house so I wouldn't be scared anymore. And that's how we met. She had snuck into the basement on a dare," she smiled fondly at the childhood memory. I smiled. Other Blanche seems like my kind of person. I had once started the French Revolution on a dare. Big mistake. We almost died about fifty times. But hey, VIVE LA REVOLUTION! Yeah, we ended up joining them. Why not? (That story could go in the prequel, too.)

"She sounds like the kind of person I'd like to be friends with, if it weren't for the whole 'kidnapping my niece' thing," I sighed. "Too bad I'm going to have to kill her." Blanche looked alarmed, but I didn't care. I was already plotting out other BLanche's slow death using the many torture methods I had learnt over the centuries. Some of those were epic. Too bad they stopped using them. I missed the good old days when you could get away with murder if you knew a guy who knew the king. 

"You aren't really going to kill her, are you?" She asked, worry evident in her voice. "What if she's just under a spell?" That would have to be a pretty powerful spell to make her do a behavioral 180. So we either have an old friend of Blanche's or a super-powerful witch on our hands. Pardon me if I don't want a super-powerful witch behind all this.

"If she's under a spell, I'll kill the person responsible for casting the spell." I said, and George sighed.

"Aveline, there's no need for overreaction. Just torture the person a bit, chop off a limb or two, and let them go." Blanche looked at him with a sappy look in her eyes. I snorted. No way was I going easy on them! Full-on medieval torture, here I come! And for once, Oliver wouldn't try and stop me. He could be my assistant!

"You really think it isn't her?" She whispered. Gag. Me.

"I know it wasn't her. I trust in your ability to pick friends," he whispered, an equally sappy look in his eyes.

"I'm going to hurl if you two continue talking," I grumbled. "Or maybe I'll make something unpleasant appear. I don't know yet."

"Oh, I'm so scared." Said George, rolling his eyes. "I can't imagine disobeying you."

"Good," I said, choosing to ignore his sarcasm. "Blanche, mind leading us to the house?

"N-no problem," she said, blushing fiercely. I smirked. She started walking. After half an hour of walking, we were there. 

It was really old, with peeling brown paint and boarded-over windows. Two on top still had glass.

"Blanche, why aren't those two boarded over?" I asked.

"No-one would go into the attic. The reason why. . . I should probably tell you the history of the house first." She said with a resigned sigh. Yay, exposition from a reluctant person. Oh, the joy. Best day ever. I mean, why save my niece when you can have exposition!

"You don't have to if you don't want to," comforted George. Please, don't do it.

"No, it's ok." Sighed Blanche. Noooooooo. Universe, why you do me like this?

"Once upon a time, there was a young countess. Her evil uncle wanted her to marry someone rich, but he was old and ugly and she hated him. So, she fled the country and ran to Canada. To BC, to be more precise. There she found a handsome young man who she instantly fell deeply in love with. But the man didn't love her back. He agreed to marry her for her money, and she had this house built. It was beautiful when it was first built. 

"She wanted to have a family with him, and soon enough, she had a child. It was a beautiful baby boy." She was hiding something.

"One day, the man went up into the attic. He did this quite a lot, so the woman wasn't alarmed. But the baby started crying and wouldn't stop. The woman tried everything to hush the baby, but in the end she gave up and took the baby up to the attic to see his father.

"But the man wasn't who she thought he was. In the attic, she found Another woman living, and her husband kissing the woman. In a fit of rage, she killed the both, and fled the country with her baby. She came back, years later, and had a witch curse the place. Anyone who steps foot in the attic will die instantly unless they had her with them.

"And the worst part? Blanche knows a trick to enter the attic without dying." She finished. I blinked. There was a trick? Why didn't she open with that!

"That is one hell of a history," said George. Yeah, no kidding. But why did I have to hear all that backstory? I have better things to do, like, I dunno, SAVING ELSIE!

"Yeah. It's a good thing we're already dead, otherwise I'd be worried about going in the attic," I joked. Ah, the perks of vampirism.

"You will still die," Blanche warned. "Or be forced to remain asleep forever." I smirked. That actually sounds nice. I'm not a morning person. 

"I'd like to see some weak old witch's curse go up against two of the most powerful vampires in existence." Blanche gasped. Oops. That was on the 'don't say or you're we'll kill you to death' list, wasn't it? Frick.

"Wait. . . does that mean you're one of the princes," she pointed to George. "And you're the lost princess everyone's talking about?" She asked, pointing to me. I scowled. I wasn't lost! I'm the one who loses people and things, not the other way around! People don't lose me, I lose them!

"I'm not lost, I just never accepted the title," I grumbled. "But yes, we are." She blinked.

"Well then," she said slowly. "You might just have a chance." She started walking into the house. 

I turned, following Blanche into the depths of a haunted house.

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Meanwhile, at Aveline's house:

"Urghh," Groaned Henri. "My stomach hurts." She rolled over on the couch. Maybe binge-eating Aveline's Secret Stash of all Things Sweet in one sitting had been a bad idea.