House of Horrors
Part 1
The ninjas rarely get distress calls involving anything. That is why when a call came in involving a homicide, they were a tad suspicious. In any case, not ones to ever turn down someone in need, Dante and Ubel set off to investigate, even after both Evron and Daeva heeded them not to. All four of them knew how... Off this seemed, what with the mysterious caller pleading for them to come immediately to a place they had never even heard of. Plus, it was Friday the 13th; even the ninjas knew the weight of such a day.
Dante and Ubel arrived to the distant location in record time, both wanting to get the mission over with. Upon touching down, they could immediately feel that something wasn't right, as well as see it. For starters, the entire area was eternally dark and depressing, with thick clouds hanging above, just stuck in one place it seemed. Secondly, whatever foliage that may have been alive at one point, was now dead and rotting and stripped away. Finally, and what was undoubtedly the most important piece, was the worn down, abandoned, and ghostly shell of a house that sat front and center in the realm. The house looked as though it hadn't been lived in nor touched for several decades, at the least. The inky black holes where the windows used to be, now looked like eye sockets, bottomless pits that never saw an end. Because of its drab, gray coloration, the building essentially disappeared into the landscape, and billows of heavy fog wafted in every direction, cutting off visibilty even more. There was a muddy trail that snaked directly to the unwelcoming house, or from, depending on one's perspective.
The two ninjas, both geared up in their respective armor and weaponry, gazed up at the enormous home. They weren't exactly scared, but they didn't exactly feel in complete control either. Ubel glanced over at Dante, his eyes carrying subtle angst in them. He knew there was something wrong with this place, something sinister, and he didn't like it. Dante did his best to calm Ubel by resting a hand upon his shoulder, and giving his brother a firm nod of steely determination. They had a job to do, and the faster they got it done, the sooner they could get out of there and never look back. As such, the godly warriors took out their weapons and headed up the pathway and towards the door.
Upon reaching the splintered and mildew covered door, Dante took point and ever so gently pushed on it with his elbow. At the first couple of inches, the door remained eerily silent, but then, as if it had passed some kind of threshold, a dull and lazy, "CREEEAAAK", rang into the blackness. Dante's eyes shut as he cringed deeply; whatever or whoever was inside surely would've just heard that, with how deathly quiet everything was. Dante shot Ubel a quick look that said, "crap", before they inched their way deeper into the house. Even though it was as black as death itself in there, both ninjas could see just fine; their natural, hyper sensitive eyesight greatly coming in handy for situations like this. Upon entering, the first immediate sensation was the overwhelming stench of blood, and aging mold. The wooden floor was ripped up in large areas, and rotting away, making it tricky to walk across. Dust floated all around, whatever furntiture that was left had been torn apart and strewn everywhere, the walls were peeling. The only sources of light were the glowing eyes of both Dante and Ubel, but even those didn't account to much right now, what with them both keeping their eyes dimly lit to not attract any unwanted attention. To make matters even more eerire, it had begun to shower outside, and picked up rather quickly. Lightning cracked and boomed above, briefly illuminating the entire house, before the darkness reclaimed its position.
Dante and Ubel soon came upon the main stairway that led to the upstairs bedrooms, but to the left and right of them were also two separate rooms that they hadn't checked yet. One room looked to have been used for a dining room at one point, while the other was clearly a kitchen, or it used to be, evident from the grimy refrigerator set laying on its side in the far left corner. Dante turned to Ubel, "I'll take the kitchen on the left, you take the dining room." He whispered. "There's a hallway that separates both rooms from each other in the back. When we're done searching, we'll meet up there, okay?"
Ubel nodded, and they both temporarily went their separate ways deeper into the black abyss. Ubel inched his way through the barren dining room area, his head on a constant swivel as he surveyed every corner and seam. It didn't take too long for Ubel to come to the conclusion that, aside from an overturned, dusty marble table, and some broken glass, there was nothing in there.
Dante continued into the claustrophobically small kitchen, trying his best not to bump into the cabinet and rusted metal countertop that stood on either side of him. His attention was drawn to that old refrigerator that was just lying there in the corner, seemingly untouched for decades. It was the perfect place for someone, or something to have possibly hidden something within. "Ubel, you found anything?" Dante inquired telepathically.
Ubel slowly shook his head, "Nothing here, the whole room has been completely ripped up." He responded and rested Soul Ravager upon his shoulder. "Whatever case of homicide we're looking for, I really don't think it's down here." Ubel gave the room a final sweep just to be sure, and suddenly, something in the far right corner caught his eye. With his brow furrowed, Ubel went over to get a closer look. It was a piece of old, stained paper that was folded up; whatever ink that had been used to write the contents on the other side, had bled through to the back. Ubel raised an eyebrow, "I know I checked this entire room." He thought to himself. Regardless, the big ninja leaned his massive hammer against the wall, cautiously reached down, picked the paper up, and unfolded it to read what was on it.
As Dante came within inches of the broken down refrigerator, he put one of the Jewels back into its sheath so he could have a free hand to work with. Cleching the hilt of the other katana tightly, Dante slowly extended his hand towards the rusted door handle. He wrapped his armored fingers around it ever so gently, positioning his body as far away from it as he could. With a forceful tug, Dante yanked open the refrigerator door, and was met with a rush of putrid smelling blood and flesh. Something fell out of the fridge and plopped onto the floor. Dante looked down at it, and instantly indentified it as a severed arm. The most disturbing part, was that said arm looked almost... Human. Such were extremely rare to see this far out in the multiverse, enough to not even be mentionable. Dante turned his gaze from the bloodied arm to rest of the contents inside of the fridge, and he soon closed his eyes and gulped quietly.
"Ubel, I think I found what we were looking for." Dante muttered solemnly, and forced himself to look back inside. Aside from the arm that had fallen out, inside the fridge was an entire body, carved up into pieces, and jammed firmly in there. Bare legs, feet, a bloodied head with no nose and no eyes, genitals, and whole organs... All packed inside this one refrigerator. Dark red blood slowly began to seep out and puddle onto the floor. Dante took two fingers and dabbed up some of the blood, in order to examine it more closely. "The body has been chopped to pieces, and stuffed inside this old refrigerator. This isn't the work of just some rageful beast, or demon, or whatever. This... This was much more calculative. Something sinster is definitely going on here." Dante said with notable disdain. "The kill is pretty fresh, too, probably not even a day old. Whoever did this is probably still in the house, so watch your back at all times, Ubel." Dante continued internally.
Dante soon looked up from the gruesome scene and furrowed his brow; Ubel hadn't responded back. "Ubel? Ubel, did you hear me?" Dante called out again telepathically. Again, there was nothing, only the unsettling, continous rumble of thunder above. Wasting no time, Dante shut the refrigerator door, dashed out of the kitchen, and shot into the dining room next door. He looked all around, spinning in circles, checking and rechecking again just to make sure he wasn't going crazy, and... His fears were confirmed. Ubel wasn't in there, in fact, Dante couldn't even sense nor feel his energy signature anymore. The ninja prime darted out of the dining room and back towards the entrance of the house, now beginning to yell his brother's name aloud. Dante's nervous and desperate screams echoed throughout the house, bouncing off of the walls, and were seemingly ricocheting right back to him. Dante stopped his calling to listen, for anything, even the slightest pin drop would do. He flinched slightly as the door to the house suddenly slammed shut with a commanding, "CA-CUNK". Dante turned on a dime, his Twin Jewels at the ready for anything... But what he found... Was nothing. There was nothing next to the door, nothing inside the living room, the kitchen... Nothing. There was no sign of life anywhere in the entire house, except him. Suddenly, a single, dull bang sounded off right above him, and then what sounded like muted footsteps followed. The sounds of the footsteps continued all the way towards the edge of the stairs... And then stopped. For several long, and excruciating seconds, there was total silence; not even the thunder outside boomed. Then, as quickly as they stopped, the sounds of the footsteps continued once more, this time heading back slowly deeper into the upstairs portion of the house.
Dante turned his gaze towards the broken down staircase leading to the upper level of the house. His grip on his swords tightened, his glowing green eyes narrowed, and his brow hardened. Slowly, Dante inched towards the stairs, while carefully listening out for anymore noises. He reached the bottom of the staircase and hesitated briefly; he just stared off into the choking blackness that was the upper level. Dante took in a deep breath, held it for a few moments, exhaled, and focused up. He would find his brother, if that was the last thing he did. Dante placed one foot on the rickety step... And that is when he heard it.
To be continued...
