“They’ve been in there a while.” Asaga and Mifuru were stuck waiting for their turn. “Do ya think they’re all right?” He asked her.

“We’ll find out once we’re done with our own turn.” She replied. As much as it pained her to wait and not know what would become of Rame. She took solace in the fact that everything in there was fake. Juuto did an over-the-top job of hammering that into their heads. So once they reunite at the end of this, things should be fine.

“Speaking of turns.” Kunitoki checked his watch. “The two of you should be heading on in there.” As much as Asaga didn’t want to do that, he put on a brave face and walked in with the girl.

Inside, the first room they entered was a dark gloomy experience. Webs covered the whole area, and their only light was of the few candles that were placed on a dresser-like table. Already, he could feel the chills run up his spine as the room was somehow colder than the outdoors. A nice effect achieved with simple a/c.

“Are there… G-g-ghosts here?” Asaga asked Mifuru, as he slightly stood behind her in fear. They weren’t friends, which was why he also didn’t care about using her as a shield. He considered it payback for what she had a hand in leading to back on Enatis.

“According to some books I’ve read.” She replied. “Ghosts are just part of their folklore. But to assume that they truly exist seems a bit immature.” The girl didn’t fall for the trick that were set here, as she began to lead them through the narrow and dimly lit hallways. There were multiple paths, but she chose the one that ran straight down the middle.

A shame that their powers were so weak here. With how dark it was, she would’ve normally used her ability to see in the darkness to aid the two of them. Though she’d probably get scolded by Juuto for failing to understand the point of a display like this.

As they walked, their first scare occurred. It was of a woman, standing just in front of them with her hair to hide her mysterious face. They both stopped, but Asaga was the one that was still shaking as they stood before her.

“What d-do you… You reckon we… We should do?” He shakily asked her, afraid that this girl standing before them would pounce them.

“She’s just an employee I assume.” Mifuru responded with no change at all to her tone despite their situation. “Let’s just walked through her.” He wasn’t for that plan at all. But if he didn’t follow his companion, then he’d be trapped in here all by himself. Steeling his resolve, the two of them approached her, and moved aside to get past their obstacle.

Nearly hyperventilating, Asaga made the mistake of taking a glance at the girl whose face was hidden by her hair. Prompted by his actions, she screamed out at him, revealing what was hidden before. The makeup for her face showed a grotesque melted face, as if she had fallen in a barrel of acid, scaring her.

“Ahh!” In fear, he ran to get away from the girl. As a result, he also ended up toppling over the girl that was in front of him.

“Calm down.” She commanded him, as the two of them laid on the ground. Thanks to her, he stopped his yelling to turn around and see that it really was fake. The person playing the ghost took a moment to look at them. Mostly to take in the hilarious and cute position they were laying in, then she turned back to face down the hallway as was her job. “Like I said, it’s fake. Now could you please get off of me?”

“I-I know that.” He put up from her. “It’s just an act that’s all.” He lied to try and save face.

“Not a bad idea if you wanted to get real close to her.” The ghost girl broke character. To her, she just assumed that they were a couple, since they went in together. “It’s kind of cute to make her feel a little strong.”

“Cute?!” Asaga took offense at the statement. “You’re misunderstanding miss. I would never consider trying to a make beast like her feel better.”

“Hehehe.” That was the only response the girl gave him before she got back to her job. Without knowing the truth, she believed that he was being a tsundere towards the quiet girl in a maid outfit.

“Let’s finish this so that I can return to the mistress.” Mifuru didn’t want to waste time with idle chatting, so she pulled him away from the scene.

They walked down the hallway a little more, until they reached the end. It appeared that the ending room was the kitchen. There were to other doors that seemed to be ending points if one were to take the other routes. An interesting idea to give everyone a choice in the fear they were going to be put through. Especially so that people will want to line up to see what else this haunted home had to offer.

“Great, looks like we’re almost done.” Asaga was able to breath a sigh of relief at the sight of the place. Though, even if it was almost done, they did have to appreciate the effort towards making the place look creepy.

A bunch of plates and bowls were strewn across the floor. The table cloth on the dining table was disheveled and chairs were messed about as if a ghost had thrown them around. The center piece of it all had to be the knife stuck to the wall. Streaked with blood along the edge, with drops falling from it.

“I wonder what they used for the blood on this.” Carefully, the man took a moment to check it out. He was scared, but things seemed to be calm for now.

“You raise a good point.” Mifuru followed up with him. It looked really real, and there was even some cloth that was pinned by it. “The man who runs the place really knows how to pay attention to detail.” That was something she really respected, as someone that made sure that not a speck was out of place in her own home.

“Okay, well let’s get out of here.” He was getting more and more filled with dread the longer they stood here. The sooner they left, the better.

“You’re right, let’s not keep them waiting.” With that, they walked out the door to the back. It was damaged as if someone kicked it out. The door knob was laying just outside. They just couldn’t believe the lengths that Kunitoki went to really selling the look of this house. He must’ve really cared about giving a good performance.

“Where are they?” He asked when they got outside. Juuto had promised to wait for them, so they should just be standing here. It wasn’t like they were easy to miss with those silly costumes on.

“Odd.” Mifuru was perplexed at this. “Where could they went?”

“Maybe they went to the bathroom? Or they could’ve went to grab a bite without us.”

“If you’re insinuating that the mistress would soil herself in fear, then you’re sorely mistaken.” She took that first statement as a bit of an insult. “And I doubt that Juuto would leave without us just for some food.” Though she did figure that Rame’s appetite might overtake her patience.

“They’re just suggestions. Doesn't hurt to look for them there, right?” She couldn’t argue with him on that, so the two of them went to look for their friends. But, where were they?

***

To understand what happened to Rame and Juuto. One must begin at the start of their own haunted house tour.

The two of them entered the gloomy room. It seemed as it did to Juuto from the one and only time he had ever stepped foot in here. That was years ago. However, Rame was a little more uneasy about the whole situation.

“Which… Which way do we go?” She asked him, while quietly making sure there was no distance between the two. He could feel the girl’s trembling hand grabbing onto his wide costume. This was awkward to move in such a tight space, but they were going to have to make do with it.

Kind of funny to him, especially after that bit of bragging she did earlier. It was a weird contrast to see that this girl was apparently a demon lord of another world. Despite everything that’s happened, he could’ve easily forgotten that fact when he was with her.

“I went down the middle last time I was here.” He pointed down the main hallway. “Let’s go right then.” The man wanted to give both of them a new experience. Though he doubted that the one down the middle was the same thing that jumped him last time.

And so that’s what they did. In it, they found themselves in another room, the study it appeared given the multiple bookcases. However, there didn’t seem to be a way through here that wasn’t the way they came in.

“I see.” Instantly, he realized that this was supposed to be a puzzle. That was different than the one he went through last time. Was the different hallway choices lead to different types of fear? “I don’t know if you have these things on Enatis, but I think we need to pull out a book to reveal a secret passage.”

“Wow, that sounds really cool.” Rame checked to see if they were safe, which appear to be the case. So she lightened up just a little bit.

This puzzle wasn’t going to be hard at all. After all, Juuto knew Kunitoki fairly well. So it wouldn’t be difficult to figure out the correct book to pull. He scanned through the book shelves to find it, then once he did. The man pulled it slightly out, which spun out a section of wall to give them their exit. However, once he did that, it also opened up another wall which revealed an axe murderer. An actor axe murderer, of course.

The man yelled at the two of them. Going after them, he gave a strong swing at Rame. In utter fear, she screamed at the top of her lungs and squatted down dodge the attack. For a little while, she just sat there whimpering in fear. That is, until Juuto tapped her on the shoulder.

“Um, we should get going…” He said to her. She looked over to the person with the axe who was now just standing there. He had on a hockey mask, so you couldn’t see his face. However, it was clear that he was done with his job of spreading fear, as he gave a friendly wave.

“R-right…” She slowly got up in slight embarrassment over her pitiful display. The two of them walked out of their exit and were on their way to the next place. She didn’t say anything at first, because she didn’t want to admit what she was about to tell him. “Um… Could we stop by at the bathrooms when we’re done here?”

“...Sure.”

It didn’t’ take long to get to the next place. This passageway lead them to the end of the ride, which was the kitchen. It seemed that this place wasn’t nearly as scary compared to the rest of the house. The table cloth was neatly placed, and it was set with plates and bowls.

“I guess we’re done here.”

“Thank goodness.” Rame breathed a sigh of relief that she was done with this place. Somehow the horrors of this world filled her with fear more than anything back on Enatis. Even if they weren’t real.

However, the fear wouldn’t be ending so soon. While standing in the room, he was checking out everything lined up around the place. It looked as though the exit was at the door he stepped up to. It was lightly decorated with some dark shadows, but to Rame, it was the beacon of light and freedom to her.

“I guess this is-” He was about to open it, when suddenly a knife went flying from the table straight for his head. There was little time to dodge, but just enough for him to move out of the way. Just not fast enough, as the blade ran across the cheek of his face. Giving him a bad cut, as blood ran down to his chin.

At first, he thought this to be another one of the haunted houses tricks. Which if it was, he was going to have a strict talking to with Kunitoki. Because while an impressive display in which he had no clue on how to achieve. This was an absurdly dangerous stunt that would get someone killed.

However, his troubles would continue as the plates and bowls went flying at him as well. That would’ve been rather painful, if it wasn’t for Rame’s intervention. She used a little bit of her magic to shield them the attack.

“Huh? You’re not scared?” He asked her, shocked about the sudden change of heart.

“This is magic.” She responded, to which he immediately understood exactly what as happening here. It was that guy again.

“We gotta get out of here.” With one strong pull. Juuto ripped himself free from the knife that was pinning his costume to the wall. While there was a fair bit of damage that caused it the top part to no longer cover his head. That was the least of his worries.

Rame kicked open the door to get the both of them free as quickly as possible as a chair came flying. Just in the nick of time, they were outside before any more damage was able to be inflicted on them. Unfortunately, outside was no safer. As they ran into the one who was the cause of all this.