C/B- Night One- The Black Grounds (Sub-Chapter One)

“The Black Grounds… On the day that I came back to this place, Illysia Grounds was all gone. I don’t know what happened that day but it’s rumored nowadays that if you ever step foot on the Black Grounds, you will never make it back out…”

Gabrielle shuttered at the thought of what the reason might have been. He was too busy at the same time, looking onto the sight of Illysia Grounds; how it used to be filled with numerous amounts of inhabitants just waiting for the day of their celebration.

The small servant houses used to be made with broad strong oak wood but now, Gabrielle noticed that the wood had been eaten away by age. The streets of this town were empty obviously; there weren’t any visible movements that could be seen by his eye. He felt his heart sink when he then viewed the Kiryu Mansion. What used to be strong and decorated with beauty was now decrepit and seemed like death.

“Gabrielle…I want to see Cecile and Cecilia again…” whispered Gabriella.

Gabrielle was truly afraid of stepping back into his past from 10 years ago. He could feel that there was a dark sense of “evil” lingering within the borders of this now forsaken town.

“Please Gabrielle…” spoke Gabriella again.

Gabrielle was hesitating again but it didn’t matter. Gabriella had already started ahead and began heading towards the winding path that lead to the Black Grounds. Gabrielle was afraid he would lose her again if he stayed put so he tried to follow her down the twisted path down the hill.

He was quite surprised that he actually was able to catch up to his sister at this point; he had suddenly now grown accustomed to her disappearances. The two of them reached a steep slope on the path and Gabrielle tightly grasped his sister’s hand to help her down. The grasp was tense; not only because Gabrielle cared about Gabriella’s safety, but also because he feared what remnants would be remaining in Illysia Grounds.

“Gabrielle…There’s something on the ground,” said Gabriella. Gabrielle glanced downward only to realize that the warning had come too late. He ended up tripping over of what seemed to be a black bag with a woven lily patched up on the top side of it. Their grasp was still held and Gabrielle ended up pulling Gabriella down with him. They landed somewhat gently on the ground without any injuries in the fall.

“Gabriella…Are you ok? You’re not hurt are you?” Gabrielle asked. But he didn’t get a reply as Gabriella had begun already ruffling through the contents of the bag they had stumbled on. She had easily broken the seal off of the bag and had reached into its main compartments.

“Gabriella, what’s wrong with you? You haven’t been the same ever since this morning! Please tell me what’s wrong…” exclaimed Gabrielle. He was worried about Gabriella now; not that he wasn’t worried about her before, but now, she was acting as if some mysterious entity had possession of her.

“Gabriella…Please stop! Let’s just get out of here…” But Gabriella acted as if she didn’t acknowledge the words. Gabrielle was getting a little irritated now but kept his temper contained. He reached out and attempted to pull Gabriella away from the bag that she still, was rummaging through.

But right before he even touched her shoulder, he was stopped by a jolt of weakness. It was the same feeling; that indescribable feeling… His thoughts ran back to the time he saw that blood-stained shoulder; Gabriella looked somewhat familiar to that ghastly figure he had seen and he was afraid that somehow, she would reappear. At the same time, he felt as if he was being afflicted in the mind for just existing in the Black Grounds and had a slight urge of insanity being purged in his mind.

Gabrielle only stood there, transfixed in complexity of what he should do. But that didn’t need to be his problem now; Gabriella broke the town’s uneasy silence with her findings.

“Gabrielle! Look at this!” she exclaimed.

Gabrielle then snapped from his trance and then began to straighten up so that he could see what Gabriella had uncovered. She had in her hand what looked to be a notebook with the initials, H.A. inscribed on it. It also had the words “Studies” written in larger font by five times than the initials right above it. Gabrielle was perplexed on what the initials stood for but was intrigued on what was inside the notebook. Two newspaper cut-outs and a photo were placed right on front of the first page of the notebook. Strangely enough, that page was the only clear one while every other page seemed to have been blotted out by a black, with an extremely small red tint, ink spill. As Gabriella quickly skimmed through the dozens of inked pages, Gabrielle could see small traces of words in the back of the black ink. Notes perhaps but the pages were all too difficult to read anyhow.

After flipping through the lengthy notebook, Gabrielle removed the news cut-outs and began to read them aloud.

“

10/21/98

After the strange disappearance of Illysia Grounds, it was considered that the local towns send private investigators in to find out the reason behind this mystery. But with so few trained people in private investigating, there has only been one candidate that will have a chance of solving this mystery.

His name is Brian Janes and at the age of 23, his career has been strongly set. With the large number of people questioning on the disappearance case, he is going to be paid a grand total of $2.3 million dollars if he can bring back evidence of the reason of Illysia Ground’s disappearance. He is now beginning his expedition today right at the spot where Illysia Grounds seemingly vanished.

However, with the reward being extremely large, other people in the vicinity have also attempted in this mystery; all who have never returned to their families at the same time. All the reports of the disappearances have all been cases of inexperience; therefore, we advise that no one should leave towards the site. There are dangerous things occurring there and it is best to leave this case to professionals.

“

Gabrielle shuddered at the thought that he was tampering in somewhere that no one seems to escape from. Gabriella however, was listening intently but at the same time, flipping through the notebook again. Gabrielle looked at the second cut-out and began again.

“

11/5/98

Brian Janes, the private investigator that was sent in just over a week ago, has suddenly lost contact with officials. Many fear that he might have disappeared along with the town while trying to search for clues. There have been few messages from him that Illysia Grounds still stands where it does; buildings and so forth. He even says that he is staying in one of the old, broken houses for awhile.

But after just two days after his arrival, he hasn’t replied through any means of contact. Teams of officials have recently been sent in to recover Brian and now outlying towns across the state are beginning to hear rumors of Illysia Grounds.

However, the search for Brian has recently been suspended due to the lack of clues that were gained during the large investigation. This case is to be closed by the end of next week.

Even though the reward has risen to $4.1 million dollars now, officials still advise civilians to keep away from what will now be known as, “The Black Grounds.”

“

Gabrielle finished and then went silent for a moment.

“So all of the people who ventured here…disappeared?” Gabrielle was shaking with quite a bit of fear but Gabriella was still on the ground examining the photo of Brian and another woman. She kept staring at the photo while shifting her head back and forth as if the people in the photo were people she recognized.

“Lets get out of here Gabriella…It’s obvious that it’s not sa-”

Gabrielle was interrupted by a large chill in his spine when he suddenly realized that two translucent figures were standing several meters behind where Gabriella was sitting. Gabriella still didn’t understand Gabrielle’s body language as he stood there silently gaping. Gabrielle eventually shook off the feeling of fear enough to bring up his finger and point in the direction of the spirits. Gabriella immediately spun towards the direction and saw them as well; this wasn’t just some delusion. But it didn’t matter whether they knew or not; the figures slowly strode towards them in a slumped over position with their arms hanging over.

At some point the two figures stopped in mid-step and suddenly began to acknowledge the presence of Gabrielle and Gabriella. The figures now were in enough of a plain view to acknowledge their shape and features; the twins recognized who they were instantly. Cecile and Cecilia from ten years ago…

“Cecelia! Cecile! What happened to you?” burst Gabriella, breaking the dead silence. Gabrielle feared on what to say as the two of them were now oddly, easily distinguishable; Cecilia had black hair while Cecile had bleached white hair. He had remembered on the summer of their very last meeting, both had black hair. And now, ten years later, they’ve reappeared as the same as they looked ten years before; only with longer and strenuous straight hair. There was definitely something strange going on here. It had only been a few seconds before either of the Kiryu twins moved. Actually, it was Cecilia who made the first movement.

She cocked her neck swiftly sideways; like how a hand of a clock would strike each new second. But as she slowly cringed her neck sideways, Gabrielle and Gabriella could hear a small rattling/cracking sound that melted their stomachs. By the time the neck was pulled about 20° left of where her neck was originally positioned, she suddenly stopped, making a large crack on the last movement. Her head now was pointed in the direction of Gabrielle and even though her face was covered with her thick black hair, he could feel the tension of her eyes staring deeply into his own.

“Lucian…? Is that you…? Why did you leave us…?” That came from Cecilia and Gabrielle stuttered from hearing her hoarse voice. At that moment, Cecile began shifting her head towards the direction of Gabriella, still in the same slump position, only with a straighter back posture. She didn’t make a sound as she raised her neck upward a little, revealing her dry lips.

“Why do you kill…?” Cecile spoke softly. She stopped as if she didn’t understand her own words and paused for a bit. Gabrielle and Gabriella were fearfully confused of what to say at that moment. Cecile’s head was still facing towards Gabriella and she then spoke again.

“Why do you kill…?”  Cecile spoke again, only this time having more emphasis on her words. Gabrielle and Gabriella were now petrified; they both didn’t understand the twin’s questions.

By then, the twin spirits were acting restless and they began to slump back into their original positions; but only holding on to straight backs.

“They won’t speak Cecilia….” Cecile’s head looked towards Cecilia.

“They won’t move either Cecile….” Cecilia’s head looked towards Cecile.

“What should we do Cecilia?”

“Let’s go Cecile …Mr. Kurosowa will be glad to know Lucian is back…”

“Heehee….I really hope so Cecilia …He’s been awfully quiet lately…”

 The rest of their muttering was unheard of as at that moment, the twin spirits turned around and “glided” towards the nearest door in town. It was impossible to tell whether they walked or not since they wore long black (now gray) gowns. They vanished at the doorway, only to leave a few words and airless giggles in the air that kept Gabrielle and Gabriella frozen. Gabrielle was the first to recover. He slowly moved himself and mindlessly began treading towards the doorway where the twins vanished. His thoughts trembled as he got near but a new-grown curiosity seemed to emerge within him as he crept closer to the house.

But when Gabrielle reached several feet from the house, he stopped in strange anxiety. Gabriella, who had followed his lead, has already risen and was trailing right behind him. When she noticed that he had stopped out of fear, she placed her right hand across his right shoulder.

Gabrielle took this comfort and he began to feel a bit more courageous. Gabriella then strode toward the doorway and entered the old house; her “hand” still on Gabrielle’s right shoulder. The hand receded backward when he realized that Gabriella was ahead by several feet. Gabrielle was startled and quickly glanced back to see where the arm had come from; but only to see empty air. He knew that spirits were at work here so he cautiously stepped backward towards the doorway. Gabrielle finally spun back around when he reached the inner doorway and followed Gabriella right down the narrow hallway. On the way down through the hallway, a pair of undead eyes were watching the twins through a bar window...