Dear Sweet Viola Chapter 3 (A Witch's House Fic)

Attention: The Witch’s House (Majo no le in Japan) is property of the people who initially created this game. This will not be something for the weak hearted. Part of the inspiration for this fic comes from watching playthroughs on YouTube by both PewDiePie and MarkiplierGAME, as well as playing the game myself.

Dear Sweet Viola

Chapter 3: The Halls Of Death (Audio)

The blonde girl reached the top of the steps, and found herself on the second floor. A brief look around told her that something was odd about the floor. Somehow, it didn't seem to match with the floor below. She was at what she was certain was the eastern end of the hall, which seemed to be over the middle of the house, yet the hall she was in extended past the western wall downstairs.

She shook the odd notion off, recalling that the house remodeled itself to suit the occupants needs. This house remained what it was meant to be, so what it looked like was not odd at all. She the proceeded down the hall, stopping at the first door on her right. She could tell there were three other doors in the hall, but this was the first one. It needed to be explored.

She entered the door, and was surprised to find a store room that looked much older and dirtier than the house. She walked down a long hall, briefly thinking it couldn't be that long. Before long, the room opened up, and she saw tons of barrels, a decrepit shelf, an old table, and in one corner, a huge spider web. In the dim light of the room, however, she could see something on the table, and something in the web. Even a brief look up told her there was a structure on the ceiling, but she wasn't sure what it was.

The blonde girl made her way to the old table, moving one barrel in a way that allowed her access to the table. As she was now closer to the table, she could see the paper in the dim light. On that paper was another cryptic note, and she was sure it meant something about this room, and the floor she was on. The note read 'THE SPIDER HAS POOR EYES. HE CAN'T TELL COLORS APART'. The blonde had no idea what that meant, but she did know how small spiders were. Why would someone have to worry about the fact their eyes couldn't tell colors apart.

She continued searching the dark room, checking every shelf and barrel. For a moment, she almost panicked when her reaching in one barrel revealed a long slender thing that she thought might be a snake. Luckily, it was just a rope, but snakes bothered her. Everything about them seemed so wrong, from the way they moved, to the way they could unhinge their jaws to swallow their prey whole. Of course, she didn‘t think that way about the other snake in the house. Again, a smile that didn‘t look quite right crossed the blonde girl‘s face.

She recovered her senses, and then headed over to the back wall, looking at the huge web on it. Right in the center of it was a yellow butterfly. For a brief moment, she thought about the note, and she realized she needed to get the butterfly free. She could even see the thing flapping its wings. Still, she hesitated. The web covered half the wall, and even a brief glance in the gloom would not reveal the spider that made the web. The size of the web also made her shiver, since the spider would have to be huge to make it. Still, she needed the butterfly. She was certain of that, so she reached up to it.

In that moment, she plucked the thing free, and ran back down the long corridor to the door to the previous hall. To her dismay, the door was locked. That told her that she had done the wrong thing. The only course of action was to return the butterfly to the web before it was too late. Unfortunately, as the turned around, the spider that made the web was on her. It was huge, and to it, she knew she was a fly. Before she could even scream, it injected its fangs into her, piercing several organs. The agony was all consuming, at least it was until spider injected its digestive fluids into her. The pain quickly left her, as did her life, as the spider made her its meal.

The blonde blinked her eyes for a moment, and withdrew her hand. If she was going to get the butterfly free, she would need to get a replacement first. With that in mind, the blonde girl left the storeroom and returned to the second floor hallway, again trying to scan the gloom for the spider that made the web. If her vision was correct, it would be huge and easy to spot.

Once she was back in the main hallway, she headed down the hall, passing the black cat again. She wasn‘t sure how it had gotten up there, unless it moved up there while she was in that dark storeroom. As she passed it, she heard it say in its odd little voice, “A decorative cat ornament. Gotcha.” The voice seemed a bit more surreal when she noticed that a nearby suit of armor straightened the spear it was holding, as if it were standing at attention for her.

For a moment, she felt like the armor was doing the right thing. She felt like she was the mistress of the house. She shook that notion out of her head. She didn‘t want to be the mistress of this house. She wanted to be out of it. She moved pasted the armor, and came to two doors on opposite sides of the hall, as well as one at the far end of the hall. She decided to check the door that was on the same side of the hall as the storeroom door first. She then cautiously opened the door.

Inside the room, she found a modest library. Eight book cases stood in the room, each one filled with books. Deciding to check those shelves first, she walked up to first one and pulled out a book. It was entitled The Witch's House Volume 1. Her curiosity peaked, the blonde read the book, but was surprised in only contained one entry.

'Keys do not open doors in the Witch's house. Something else must serve as the key.' The blonde blinked after reading that. The book had told her something she already had an idea of. True, she didn't know why this was, but she knew it wasn't so the house would hurt her. At least, a part of her knew that, the part that recalled what she had done not to long ago.

She put that book back, and moved over to the next shelf. Again, the blonde found a book, but this one was entitled The Witch's House Volume 2. Hoping to learn something new, she quickly read it. 'The form of the house changes based on the Witch's magic.' For a moment, the blonde girl understood what it meant. It was the only reason that the place acted the way it did. A part of her knew that, but as quickly as it surfaced, it sank back into her subconscious.

For a moment, the other two bookshelves in the front row seemed interesting, but she shook her head, seeing nothing more interesting there. There seemed to be better stuff in the back row of shelves, and the blonde ventured to the third of that row. One book there was a scrapbook, and it contained a newspaper clipping. She looked over the newspaper clipping, more out of curiosity than anything else. Some details were smudged, probably due to age, but she did the best she could.

‘XX/XX XX Residence burns down. XX and his wife, XX, were found dead in the wreckage.’

‘Their bodies were found to have stab wounds, so it is suspected they were murdered and the building then set a flame.’

‘Additionally, XX’s only daughter, Ellen (currently 7) has been missing since the Fire. The police’

The article had ended there, and the blonde had mixed feelings. Part of her was concerned, wondering if the lost girl was her friend, or if her friend knew the lost girl. Another part of her, however, felt a slight glee. That part of her imagined that the couple in the article weren’t all that loving to their child, and their fate had been deserved.

The blonde put that scrapbook back, and walked to the far end of the row, the one behind the first shelf she looked at. As she did that, she glanced at the mirror that was between two of the shelves. For a moment, she admired her face, and then for a brief moment, she didn’t recognize the face as hers. As quickly as that hit her, it went away, especially as she shook her head and continued to her destination.

Once she reached her destination, she looked over the shelf . She paused for a moment, thinking that she was being watched. She glanced over at a chair, not seeing someone there. Earlier, she would have sworn the house might have been empty, but seeing the presence of the invisible chef told her that just because a room looked empty, didn’t mean it was. She returned her attention to the bookshelf, and found one book marked A Funny Story. She quickly pulled out the book, feeling the need for a good laugh, and read it.

‘Once upon a time, there was a rich man pulling along a cart full of treasure. His cart had broken down in the woods, but there came a passing hunter and his dog. The rich man pleaded to the hunter to keep a close eye on his cart, to which the hunter agreed.’

‘The rich man went to get a new cart. Meanwhile, the hunter kept watch. Night soon fell, and the hunter grew worried for his elderly mother still at home. So the hunter told the dog to watch the cart and went home to check on his mother.’

‘When the man returned, he saw the dog on guard. So he gave the dog a reward for his master, a silver coin, to carry in his mouth. The dog ran all the way home and brought his master the coin, but the hunter flew into a rage. "I told you to watch the cart, and what did you do? You stole from it!" So the master killed the dog.’

With the story over, the blonde looked at the page again. Part of her was shocked by the tale, and by the fact that she read it aloud. That moment of shock ended when a harsh, joyous laughter came from the nearby chair. It was moving in a way that suggested that some invisible person was sitting in it, and was in a fit of laughter. If anyone might have been in the room, they would have also been stunned by the look on the blonde’s face. There was a smile on it that one could only link with malevolent glee.

She put the book back on the shelf, and headed over to a small alcove that had books all over the floor. Some were even piled up. She also notice a stain on the wall, as if someone had place a bloody hand on the wall, and wiped their hand on the wall.

As she looked at it, she felt certain there was another presence there. She looked at the pile of books, and noticed that some were being moved, similar to the way she had seen people sort books in the library. She stepped closer to the pile, and she heard a voice speak. “Sorting these books isn’t going well. I need something to tie them together with.”

The blonde was certain that the voice was speaking to her, as if it knew she was holding on to something helpful. She knew she was, having picked up the rope in the last room she had been in. She pulled out the rope, and quietly handed it to the invisible presence. There was a slim chance that the invisible figure would have some ill intent with the rope, but she knew better.

In that instant, the invisible figure took the rope, and said, “Are you giving me this?” She then saw the rope get wrapped around the books on the floor. The voice then said “Thank you!” Even as those words were spoken, the blonde was surprised to see on lone book being thrust into her hands, accompanied by the voice saying “Take this.”

She stepped away from the voice, looking at the cover of the book. It was titled Book of Death. She had remembered hearing once that some cultures had a book that was supposed to go with the dead, to help them survive in the life after. She thought it was silly at the time, but here was something that had to be that, in her hands. For a moment, she debated about opening the book. What would be the harm in doing so?

She opened the book, and began reading it. At first, she would have sworn the words were illegible, but the quickly became understandable. She momentarily rubbed at her eyes, feeling an itch start. She also noticed the light in the room was starting to dim. Still, she kept reading. She read a warning that no living being should read this book. She ignored it, rubbing at her eyes again. It felt like she was crying now, and a momentarily glance told her some liquid was on her hands. Still, she kept reading. It was getting harder to do so, as if her eyesight was failing entirely. Soon, she couldn‘t read a thing, and the last action crossing her mind was rubbing at her failing eyes. After that, her body was motionless, all life in it gone as blood stains ran from her now empty eye sockets, giving a crimson hue to her mummified face.

The blonde stopped before she had even cracked open the book. Again, she had a vision of what would happen if she did something extremely dangerous. A part of her knew where the warning came from, and was thankful for it. It made her start to wonder about what had happened earlier, which part of her knew all to well, while most of her had only a fuzzy memory of it.

She then left the library, and went to the door across the hall from it. She paused for a moment, however, to look down the hall. The suit of armor she had passed earlier was now moving away from its spot, away from her as well. Part of her was thankful for that, although that same small part from before knew it wouldn‘t hurt her. She looked over at the other door she had seen, and figured the door was the only locked door in the hall.

She then entered the door across from the library, and entered a small little trophy room. It was the only way she could describe the room, since there were two glass cases in the room. She looked into the first one to see a gruesome head. To her own surprise, she saw the eyes on it open and look right at her. She could even feel malevolence in that gaze, which reason tried to tell her couldn’t be, since the head wasn’t attached to a body, and couldn’t be alive.

She looked into the other case, and noticed a blue butterfly in it. She recalled the yellow butterfly in the spider’s web, and the vision if she had tried to grab it. If she could get this one, she could put it in place of the yellow butterfly. She reached the case and tried to open it. Unfortunately, she found the case locked. She would have to find another way to open the case.

She looked around for a moment, and noticed a hallway off to the right of the case. She walked over to it, looking left and right for a switch. As she did so, she heard something hit one of the glass cases. She dared a glance back, noticing the beginnings of cracks forming on the case that held the head in it. She started to hope that the case would hold until she was able to get the blue butterfly out of the other case.

She moved down the narrow hallway, and after turning a corner, she was surprised to discover a bookshelf. For a moment, she wanted to check the books, but after trying to remove one, she found it was impossible. There was one spot on the shelf. However, that was completely empty. She looked at the book she had just been given, and realized it would fit perfectly in the space. She slid it in, and heard a click from back at the display cases. She must have unlocked the case that the butterfly was in.

She started back through the hallway, and to her surprise, she heard what sounded like a heavy scraping. It was an ominous sound, and the blonde girl could do nothing more than proceed very slowly. Her thoughts even turned to the head that had been in the case. She started to recall that the face on the thing was almost a skull. In that moment, to her horror, she saw it bounce around the corner, and start towards her.

In a moment of complete panic, the blonde was frozen with fear. How could the thing bounce, and how could it move? The scrapping sound she had heard meant the thing should be too heavy to bounce, but it did. Before she realized it, the thing had bounced up again, and as she looked up, it came down on her head. Her world went dark, and she felt something warm in the brief moment she had left to feel anything. The head then crashed through her, pushing what parts of her under it down into a massive stain on the floor, surrounded by the remains of the blonde’s body.

The blonde blinked as the vision passed, but she reacted quickly. She had turned around, heading back to the bookshelf. The hallway was too narrow to dodge that skull, but she felt the bookshelf was her best hope. As she approached it, she looked back to see that the skull was still pursuing her. As she neared the bookshelf, she was glad to see that it wasn’t against the wall. It gave her an idea.

She quickly got behind the bookshelf, and watched as the stone skull got closer to her. She was amazed at its speed, but she felt confident that she could out run it. As it neared where she was, she quickly ran behind the bookshelf, and then out from the other side. She heard the skull bouncing behind her, but she kept running. If she made a misstep, it would kill her. She just hoped it would not follow her out of the room. That thought was on her mind as she reached the door. She was quick to head out the door, and slam it shut.

The second she was in the hall, she heard a loud thud hit the door. For a moment, she stood in horror, watching the door, and waiting for it to break. After what felt like an eternity, she cautiously opened the door she had just came through. There was no sign of the skull that had pursued her. She also noticed that the other glass case appeared to be open.

The blonde looked at the case, and then at the other case. The glass was shattered, and the head was gone. She didn’t linger, since it was possible the head was still in the room, waiting again to ambush her. Once again, that other part of her mind knew the truth, that the skull was no longer there, but she wasn’t going to linger either way. She went back to the other case, and retrieved the blue butterfly.

With that in hand, the blonde knew what she had to do. She left the room again, and went back down the hall to the room the large spider web was. As she went to it, she noticed that the armor had returned to its place. She still didn’t know why it had moved in the first place, but that thought wasn’t important now.

She entered the storage room, and ran down the long hall. It took her almost no time to reach the web. Luckily, the yellow butterfly was still there. That meant the spider that had made the web had not eaten it yet. Remembering the words of the note, she plucked the yellow butterfly out of the web, and quickly placed the blue one in its place.

Once that was done, she ran back down the hallway, and was relieved that she could open the door. Once through, she looked at the yellow butterfly, and watched as it flapped its wings, and flew off. She followed its flight, and was amazed that it made a path to a crack in the wall. She could have sworn it wasn’t there before, but the delicate creature went through it, and out into the forest. As it left her sight, the blonde heard a door unlock.

She walked to the far end of the hall, past the two doors to the library and trophy room. As she headed to that far door, she noticed the cat had left the hall. She had a feeling the feline had already gone through the door. This feeling increased as she opened the door. It had moved on, and gone through this chamber. She didn’t linger either, getting through the room, and starting up the steps. She was careful doing so, since there appeared to be bags of grain laying on the steps.

As she headed up the steps, for a brief moment, the purple haired girl appeared at the base of the steps. She momentarily watched the blonde ascend the steps. As she did so, she wondered if what she was doing was helping, or if the house wasn’t listening to what she wanted. It was important that the blonde makes it to the room. It was the only way things had to go. She then disappeared from the bottom of the steps, her goal set in her mind.