Old Prophet sighed in dejection. "I think it is best we leave this topic for tomorrow and get some sound sleep."
"Are saying that you will allow us to sleep in your house?" Duncan asked in doubt.
Old Prophet glared at Duncan. "I don't give a crap if you even choose sleep on the very damn floor your filthy feet are touching."
"How generous of you,Oldie." Bella smiled at Old Prophet.
Old Prophet pointed a finger at Bella. "You–"
"Me." Bella tilted her head as a playful was planted on her lips.
Duncan rubbed his forehead when he heard the exchange between the two.
Am I the only grownup in the room?
Old Prophet gritted his teeth. He then stood up from his rocking thonet and stomped towards the entrance of the basement.
Bam!
The sound of the door of the basement being slammed reached Duncan's ears. "You just had to irritate him."
Bella shrugged "Being irritating is part of my personality."
She then turned to look at the door. "You should probably lock the door."
Duncan blinked a couple of times as his eyes, DreadCurse stared ahead."Why?"
Bella scratched the back of her head in embarrassment. "Let's just say that my earlier expedition to the upper floors was not a smooth one."
"Smooth?"
The memory of how Bella opened the door for them flashed in Duncan's mind.
Duncan then gulped. "How bad is it?"
Bella coughed. "Pretty bad."
Just as Duncan was about to inquire further about the type of trouble he had gotten himself in, a voice boomed throughout the house.
"I WILL SKIN THEM ALIVE EVEN IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!"
"Yep, we should probably close the door for our own safety."Bella shrugged her shoulders.
With that said Duncan made his way towards the door with the wooden stick in hand.I hope he calms down by tomorrow or else we are toasted.
******
Far above the haunted house, somewhere within the sky of the city of Ashton, a cloaked figure floated as he gazed eerie house right below him.
The grey cloak fluttered with the wind, more than half of the figure's face was hidden under the cloak's hood.
The lower part of the figures face was visible for the world to see. The figure's mouth curved into a smirk. "I wonder what the fellow has in store for us. The very thought makes me excited. But it does not surpass the excitement that I am going to get when both the divine gods and the fallen gods realize what has transpired today."
The figure shook his head.
That was when a sound, a sound from somewhere far away reached the figure's ears. It whispered of one word but the authority that the single word carried was irrefutable.
"Return."
The figure sighed. With a wave of his hand, the space around him shimmered. The figure spared one last gaze at the house and flickered out of existence.
******
"Wake up sleepy princess." Bella shook Duncan who was currently sitting on a wooden chair with his head rested on a table.
Duncan said in a sleepy voice. "Just one more second, no one more minute please."
Bella smiled and applied a little push on Duncan's body. The push while simple by Bella's standards, it was quite different from Duncan's perspective. Duncan ended up being toppled from his chair.
"Oh, sorry about that." Bella wore an apologetic look.
A groan left Duncan's lips as he got on his feet. He shook his head to get rid of the remaining sleepiness.
Duncan turned to face the direction that he assumed Bella was. "I have a nagging feeling you did that on purpose."
"Oh my, your new eyes did not fall off, how interesting." Bella rubbed her chin.
A thought flashed in Duncan's mind.
New eyes?
That was when it struck him that Bella was talking about the two black orbs that replaced his true eyes or as how Old Prophet called them DreadCurse. Duncan felt neither uncomfortable nor pain due to their presence.
How strange.
"Don't you feel uncomfortable or afraid when you look at...my new eyes?" Duncan asked with a sense of discomfort present in his voice.
There was a stretch of silence as Bella stared at Duncan's face, more accurately his eyes. "The first time I saw them really freaked me out but I have already overcome my fear of them. In fact right now they seem beautiful, far more beautiful than those scary grey eyes you used to possess."
Duncan had to blink a couple of times even though he could not see.
Did she just say that my current eyes are beautiful?
Duncan shook his head to get rid of the thought. "You are weird."
"Oh, the pot calling the kettle black."
"What do you mean?" Duncan asked.
"It means that worthy of calling someone creepy while you possess weird eyes."
"But you said they are beautiful." Duncan wore an expression of disbelief.
"Yes, I did. But now they look weird."
"What is the difference?" The look of disbelief on Duncan's face grew more prominent.
"The difference little Danny is that I said that your new eyes are beautiful as in the past but right now I find your new eyes really weird."
Duncan rubbed his forehead. He has been so regularly since he walked into this haunted house.
Bella shrugged. "To water it down for your little mind, my personal preference simply fluctuates regular."
"But it has been mere seconds to a few minutes since you said that my new eyes are beautiful." Duncan glared at Bella, at least the position he presumed she was.
"That is what I mean when I said regularly."
"Does such a creature even exist?" Duncan asked with disbelief present in his voice.
"Yes."
Duncan inquired. "Where?"
Bella puffed her chest. "She is right before you."
Duncan grumbled.
It is really a haunted house. It's just that instead of ghosts this place is haunted by idiots.