Belle was standing in front of a door with bloody handprints on it. He frowned at the door. He didn't think it was very creative, but one look at the proud Regina made him bite his tongue for fear of inspiring her anger.
"Well? This room is one of my best. I captured an entire family and have been making them live in a haunted house over and over again. Every time they die, I simply bring them back and erase their memories. The ghost in there is quite strong, so do be careful." She cackles with glee as she shows off the door.
"Right…what about the item I'm supposed to get?" Belle asks. His two companions have unamused looks on their faces, and knowing how trigger-happy those two can be, Belle aims to have Regina hurry it up.
"A dress, my favorite one in fact, good luck." She giggles before disappearing with a pop as the door opens with a creak.
"Well then, I'll be back soon." Belle sighs, waving goodbye to Luna and Avery. They both scoff, but Luna manages a shy wave. Avery simply glares at him till he walks through the door. The room he walks out into is the front room of a house.
There are stairs in front of him, slightly to his right, and a coat rack to the side. A place for shoes is at his left, and there's a hallway to the left of the stairs. Two other doors led to the living room and kitchen, respectively, from what he could see.
"Mom! We're going to be late for school, hurry up!" A small voice calls out.
"You don't have school, you're out for break, remember!" Another one shouts.
"Oh, right." The first voice chuckles. There's the sound of rushing feet, and then someone is hurtling down the stairs, tripping at the last moment. Belle rushes forward to catch the child before they get hurt.
"Oh, thanks…wait, who are you!?" The child, who has short brown hair and was wearing a dinosaur t-shirt, hurriedly backs away from Belle after thanking him.
"Uhmm…I heard you guys were having a…problem? I'm here to solve it." Belle blinks, cringing internally at his horrible lie. The kid stares at him for a second before breaking out into a huge grin.
"We've been asking for help forever, I can't believe you finally showed up." The kid grins, grabbing his hand and leading him to the other room.
"Mom! Mom! The help finally arrived! This guy says he's gonna help with our ghost problem!" The kid shouts, and Belle covers one ear with his hand at the sheer volume of it.
"Nathan! Stop shouting! What are you talking about?" The woman appears around the corner of the kitchen as Belle and Nathan step through. She has brown hair tugged into a side ponytail and a cup of coffee in her hands.
"Look, look! Remember when we called that ghost company for help? They finally sent somebody!" Nathan exclaimed, waving Belle's hand up and down in excitement.
"...Huh? I could've sworn they said they weren't going to send anybody…well, whatever. Thank you so much for coming." The woman walks over and grasps Belle's other hand gratefully.
"Uhm, sure, what's the problem?" Belle asks, a bead of sweat running down his face. He expected fighting ghosts, but talking with this family that has apparently been trapped in here for quite a while was making him nervous. He wasn't prepared for the awkwardness of just appearing in a stranger's house like this.
"Right, right, so recently we've been having a few problems. Like objects being thrown around, lights flickering, and seeing figures around the corner. It's gotten worse, too. The other day, Dan, my husband, got scratched while sleeping. It's been tearing us apart." The woman sobs into her hand.
"It's okay, I'm here to help." Belle comforts her, though he doesn't know how much he can, considering he was trapped in Regina's mansion as well.
"Leanne? What's happening?" A male voice asks, heavy footsteps descending the stairs and trudging into the kitchen. A man stands there, short black hair and glasses, a broad frame, and a slight stubble. This must be Dan.
"Oh, just that someone has finally come to help, our ghost problem is finally over." Leanne waves her arms excitedly.
"Yeah! I can go back to sleeping on my own!" Nathan shouts.
"Haha, I'm sure you can, bud." Dan ruffles Nathan's hair as he approaches Belle.
"What's your name? I'm Dan." He introduces, sticking a hand out.
"Belle." He replies, shaking his hand.
"Is there anything you need to set up?" Leanna questions.
"Nope, I just have to wait for the ghost to appear, I guess." Belle shrugs.
"Alright! Can you play with me while we wait!?" Nathan asks, wide, innocent eyes glancing up at Belle.
"Uh…sure." He sighs as Nathan grabs his hand, dragging him up the stairs. Nathan shows Belle his toys, and they play until it gets dark outside, only having a small break for lunch and dinner. The family starts to get increasingly more paranoid as the day goes on, and now that it's night, they're almost quivering in fear.
"Sorry, I know we haven't been the best hosts, but this whole ghost business is really frightening, and nobody has helped us yet," Leanne reveals, tears at the edges of her eyes. Belle feels a pang of sympathy run through him. If he gets out of here, he has to convince Regina to let them go.
Belle takes Nathan's abandoned room as the family all head into the master bedroom to try and get some sleep. Belle stays wide awake, his hands clutched around the axe, listening for any signs of movement.
It starts around one in the morning, an eerie scraping sound outside the room. He tiptoes to the door, swinging it slightly open and peering through into the darkness of the hallway. He doesn't see anything, but when he glances at the ground, he spots faint scratch marks that get closer in tandem with the noise.
When the scratches move past him and toward the master bedroom, he sneaks out of the room, following behind them as quietly as he can until the door to the master bedroom opens. He waits as the figure creeps in, waits until the scratching stops at the edge of the bed, and waits until he sees the slight flicker, revealing its form, before striking out with the axe.
The ghost lets out a scream and dodges at the last second, its neck only getting halfway cut off. The family wakes up with a fright, but Belle doesn't notice as the ghost starts rushing after him and he's forced to dodge a scratch of its nails.
The ghost continues chasing after him as he backs out into the hall. He has to defend with the axe as it bounces off the walls, trying to scratch him with its nails. The ghost looks…dirty, with unkept shaggy brown hair and a ruined and ripped nightgown. Belle can't even see its face, but its screams and the force behind its attacks are enough to keep him on his guard.
He had already scouted around the house earlier, having found the dress, he could've just taken it and left…but he felt guilty leaving the family to their endless torture. So here he was, maybe he was regretting it just a bit.