IDV - A Coin's Two Sides - Freddy x Norton

8- Trap

   Once the sun had set, the moon was finally fully visible, shining through the windows of the manor and gently lighting up the darkness.
   Freddy exited his room and made his way to the main area, where he had seen the gold. Sure enough, it was still there, the moonlight reflecting off of it as if to tease how much worth it had.
   However, the pieces were too small to be worth much on their own. Freddy would have to collect it all in order to really profit off of this night out. And, of course, when you want something, someone has to come along to stop you...

   "Out of the way!" Freddy was shoved to the ground, allowing the hushed speaker to run past him. Of course Kreacher would be here too...
   Freddy brought himself back up as quickly as he could and ran to catch up to the thief. The dirty roach of a man was carefully picking up the gold when Freddy threw himself at him.
   The two men felt the need to stay quiet, so their scuffle wasn't the most exciting event in the world. This led to pitiful tactics such as grabbing hair and even pinching. Quite the pathetic fight, and neither man was getting any gold thanks to it.

   A figure passed by the two, catching Freddy's attention and making him pause. Kreacher took this opportunity to slip out of Freddy's grasp and pick up the gold again, letting out a disgustingly hushed snicker. Freddy didn't try to stop Kreacher, for he was to focused on the newcomer.
   Norton had just passed them. He had come for the gold too! Freddy thought to himself that he should have expected all of this, but had no plans. He didn't want Norton to see him wrestling a dirty thief, so he begrudgingly let Kreacher have his "victory".
   The big question on the lawyer's mind, however, was why the prospector completely ignored the fight, and didn't even pick up any gold? He had simply walked past them.
   Freddy got up off the ground and watched as Norton got further from view. He was following the trail of gold bits. Makes sense, Freddy thought. These probably lead to a bigger bunch of gold.
   He didn't want to have to fight Norton for gold, however, not only because of his feelings but also because Norton was definitely stronger than he was. But it was mainly the feelings...
   So, Freddy decided to follow Norton in case he did find any treasure he could maybe share, while also stopping to pick up gold pieces, in case he didn't get any from where Norton was headed.

   The lawyer had lost sight of Norton, but was certain the prospector had followed the gold trail, so he wasn't too concerned. He just continued to follow the trail, slowing himself down by picking up bits of gold.
   After a while, Freddy reached end of the trail and noticed Norton standing there. The lawyer looked up from the ground and saw that the end of the trail led to a completely dark room, which Norton was staring into silently.
   Something seemed... off about the prospector. He was completely still, staring into the dark void of the mysterious room. His face held no distinct expression, but definitely not one of disinterest like usual. The man was just completely... frozen.
   Freddy looked back and forth between the room and Norton. He could easily enter it before Norton did so that he could get a head start on whatever treasure was hidden in there, but started to feel concerned about Norton. He was concerned in a more disturbed way than a caring way, however.

   "...Are you okay?" Freddy asked cautiously. Norton jumped at the sound, and slowly turned to look at the lawyer, keeping his expression the same.
   After a pause, Norton nodded, not very much but still sharply. "Y-yeah..."
   Freddy raised an eyebrow at this, confused. "So... have you looked in that room yet?"
   Norton slowly turned back to the room. "...No." He stated.
   Freddy looked at the room awkwardly. "Uhm... I could go in first... if you wanted?" He offered.
   Norton looked at Freddy and, after a moment, nodded. The lawyer did a soft shrug and entered the darkness.

   It was very dark, but after a bit of letting his eyes adjust, Freddy noticed a table in the middle of the room. He stepped towards it, and noticed a fairly large pile sitting on it. After reaching out to touch the pile, he identified it as a pile of golden treasures.
   "Jackpot," Freddy whispered to himself. He thought back to Norton, who was standing outside the door. Should he usher him inside? Bring some treasures back to him? Keep all of this to himself? He did earn it himself after all.
   However, he heard the sound of footsteps, and turned to see someone walking towards him. It was Norton.
   "There is gold on this table," Freddy explained to Norton.
   The prospector stood awkwardly before finally saying "Ah. Okay."

   The two stood awkwardly next to each other, both thinking about whether or not they were going to split it but neither speaking up about it. Suddenly, a strange sound was heard behind them. Freddy turned to look at the source while Norton jumped closer to the lawyer, almost grabbing onto him but stopping himself.
   "Oh, dang it..." Freddy muttered angrily. "I knew I recognized the sound of an oversized roach scuttling on the ground..."
   "Kreacher doesn't see any roaches!" The thief stood up from his crawling position. He had made the strange noise by quickly crawling into the dark room. "In fact, he can't see anything! It's dark here!"
   "Well, there's nothing here, so go away." Freddy called out.
   "Then why are you here?" Kreacher questioned.
   "Because I like it here." Freddy stated matter-of-factly.
   Kreacher didn't seem to believe that, and walked over to the center of the room with the others. For some reason, he took a huge sniff.
   "Kreacher knew he smelled gold here!" The thief gasped. "It's mine!"
   "We got here first!" Freddy argued.
   Kreacher blinked. "Who's 'we'?"
   "Me," Norton spoke up finally. "...and... Freddy."
   Kreacher let a weird noise of surprise escape his mouth. "There's someone else here!!! I didn't even notice!!! How did he get here?!"
   Freddy looked at Norton, then looked back at Kreacher. "...Also, of the two of us, I actually found this treasure first."
   Norton gave Freddy a light glare that nobody noticed. Before he could say anything, however, the door suddenly shut, encasing the room in complete and total darkness.

   The door had made a loud slam once it shut, causing everyone in the room to jump. Freddy and Kreacher turned to look in the direction of the door, while Norton simply covered his face. He whimpered while Kreacher ran towards the door. Freddy was torn looking between the two.
   There were sounds of door rattling and banging. "It's locked!!!" Kreacher yelled.
   Freddy groaned at that news, but looked at Norton. His eyes still needed to adjust to this deeper darkness, so he couldn't really see Norton, but heard him groan as well, though the prospector's groan was a lot more anxious than the lawyer's was.
   Freddy cautiously put his hand on Norton's arm, causing him to get a bit startled. He didn't move an inch after realizing it was a hand, however. He simply stood still, shaking.
   Freddy wasn't sure how to react. Clearly the prospector was scared, but why? This was a potentially dangerous situation, however he had seen Norton contain hunters before. He never froze up like this. Was it the darkness? Most adults wouldn't be this scared of the dark. Something was up.
   "...Are you okay, Norton?" Freddy asked softly. The prospector stiffened a bit at being addressed, but didn't respond.
   "I can't find my way back, can you talk a little louder for Kreacher?" The thief piped up from across the room.
   Freddy let out an angry sigh. "I don't want you near me," he called back.
   "Thanks," Kreacher began making his way back to them.
   Freddy shook his head and looked back at Norton. He really wasn't sure what to do with the prospector.
   As soon as the thief made his way back to the lawyer and prospector, the three men felt a strange presence. Before they could figure out what they felt, a feminine yet hissy voice came from seemingly nowhere.

   "Welcome, you filthy money grabbers, to your punishment!"