Owen...Owen...

I heard a voice...it was barely audible, but since it was the only sound in this black void, I knew it was there...

Owen...Owen...

I wanted to answer the call, but my eyes wouldn't open and my body wouldn't move...I felt like I was floating...

Owen...

A vision suddenly appeared in the void of nothingness. I saw an angel...

It was very close, and I could see that our eyes were the same colour.

After that, it disappeared instantly...

If only I could remember what it looked like...

Owen...

Whoever it was, it made me feel safer...

I wish it was still here with me...

Owen...

Come back...

...Owen!

...

My eyes immediately shot open as I heard my mother's angry voice coming from above. They seemed to be looking closely at some kind of weird black and white pattern. The floor that I was lying on was surprisingly comfortable. I must have been lying on the carpet or something...

I didn't even remember why the hell I was here. I was dragged into an abyss of skulls, but then everything became black and I ended up here.

That dream...was it Alyssa's doing? It must have been. It certainly wasn't a nightmare, so I didn't see why she would do something like that.

As usual, she thought it would be fun to humiliate me in front of my family. Then again that happened plenty of times before her arrival anyway.

"What are you doing on the floor?" she asked angrily.

As usual, I felt powerless as she was towered above me. Dammit Owen, compose yourself.

"I...I..."

She sighed, which fortunately interrupted since I had nothing to say for a response.

"You know what, I don't even care anymore. I'm too busy to be dealing with the likes of you."

She then stormed off, almost stepping on my fingers. I couldn't help but wonder if she tried stepping on them on purpose.

I wondered what she was so busy with. It was like the only rest she ever got was when she slept.

Sadly, someone else was looking down on me as I tried mustering the energy to get back up.

"Why on you on the floor?" Claudia asked in a slightly mocking tone.

"I...I tripped."

Claudia just walked past me, almost stepping on my poor fingers. Fortunately I managed to get them out of the way even with the little energy I had.

"...Wait." I asked as I almost managed to get up.

Claudia did that annoying groan of frustration that she loved to do whenever I bothered her. Unfortunately now that Thomas is gone I can't mention her ex during an argument to drive her to tears.

"What?"

"Why is our mother so busy anyway?"

"New housemaid."

Hearing that, I was feeling both down and excited. Honestly, since we moved into this place, I loved all the housemaids that worked here, I always had fun talking to them and they were usually very nice. Some of them were pretty old, others were around my age.

My mother never kept the same ones for long though. Ever since a certain "accident" long ago my mother was always afraid of them breaking and stealing things, so they get fired from the slightest mistake that they make. Not to mention that they're generally treated like scum by Claudia and my mother.

That's just typical of rich people, to look down at those who are less fortunate.

I really did hope that this one would be as nice as the others. Then again being overworked by someone like my mother would definitely put anyone in a sour mood.

My favourite was Bertha. She was always so friendly and we shared similar viewpoints so we talked frequently. She hated her name because she said it made her sound fat, but she was very tall and slender.

"What happened to the other one?"

I never told either of them that I actually befriended most of them. It was easier for me to pretend that I had the same thoughts as my mother: that they were just tools used to serve their master, and that they weren't actually people with feelings, hopes and dreams.

"She died."

The way she said that, without any sign of sadness at all, offended me a little.

"How come?"

"I don't know. Why do you care?"

I couldn't help but frown a little.

"Just curious, that's all."

"Whatever."

I quietly sighed from relief as she left. The last thing I needed was her getting into my personal business.

I was rather excited to meet the new maid, honestly. Then I wouldn't be alone. I bet that Alyssa would find a way to ruin it though.

Just the thought of it made me shudder uncontrollably.

I sighed as I walked towards my bedroom to think. This room was pretty much my safe place, and my mother knew that because she always used it against me. One time I wasn't allowed in there for a whole month.

As I did what I always did, which was collapse onto the bed and let the soft mattress come into contact with my body, enjoying the warmth and comfort, my mind kept buzzing with thoughts on how I could approach this situation.

I needed more information on Alyssa somehow...

Surely there was someone else who knew about her. Then again I doubt they would still be alive if they did.

Maybe if I searched the library I could probably find some clues as to who or what she is.

I was surprised that I didn't come up with that idea sooner. The library was a nice place when I needed to relax sometimes. Claudia never even set foot in there, until my mother put a computer in there. Now it's just another thing that both of us fight over. How fun.

Thankfully those two should be occupied so I could try and use the computer in peace. I wouldn't be surprised if she was using it now just to prevent me from doing it.

I was proceeding to walk out of my bedroom, but somehow I couldn't help but be really afraid of the outcome. Not only because of the fact that I really wasn't in the mood to interact with my mother or my sister, but Alyssa could be anywhere...

Oh well, I had to try.

I opened the door, looking both ways to make sure no one was there. My mother was talking on the phone to someone, and I honestly didn't know or care who she was speaking to.

Claudia also seemed to be talking to her friends in her bedroom, maybe now was my chance...

I quietly made my way towards the library which was on the first floor of the house. I swear, this house was so unnecessarily big, it was so easy to get lost in.

Fortunately I didn't run into anyone on my way, and I finally made it. The door had a strange symbol on both sides, they resembled four wings with an upside down triangle in the centre. It looked rather old as well. I wondered how old this place actually was...

I opened the door and I was once again treated to what seemed to be the largest room in the whole mansion. Everytime I entered I was still amazed by how spacious it was.

It took ages for the housemaids to clean this place. One time, one of them demanded a raise as soon as she laid eyes on this colossal room. She was fired immediately.

There were countless dusty bookshelves everywhere, filled with old books that I found to be very fascinating. Some of them were just old and possibly obscure novels. Others were very mysterious and archaic written in a language that I didn't recognise.

Maybe it had some kind of hidden meaning...if only deciphering it was possible. Or I could show them to someone with enough resources to discover what they meant. My mother would probably think I was being stupid again if she found out, so I immediately erased the idea from my mind.

Thankfully the computer was where it always was, not harmed or stolen in any way.

I turned it on and waited it to boot up like usual. It was so silent that I could only hear the sound of my own breathing and the computer booting up. It was always rather creepy to me, the silence made me feel like I'm being watched. The fact that I could possibly be watched right now made the experience only more unsettling.

After what seemed like an eternity, it was finally ready to be used. I wanted to hurry up and get info already, for some reason this room was colder than usual...

I opened the browser, and quickly typed a few things like "alyssa ghost", hoping that I would find some answers. I found no leads though.

Maybe if someone knew about this ghost and warned my mother about it before we moved here I wouldn't be in this mess.

I really didn't expect any answers this way anyway, and I knew that the only option to ever achieve my goal was to type in the name of the mansion.

What was it...it always seemed to slip my mind...

I spent a few short moments just sitting and staring at the screen trying to figure out the name of this place.

...

I finally remembered!

It was called Lumina Mansion, I thought.

I typed that frantically in the search bar, excited to finally figure out the truth.

As I pressed enter, however, no results came up. In fact, nothing showed up at all, it was completely blank. I kept trying to refresh the page and press enter repeatedly on the search bar, but nothing changed.

I had a pretty good idea on who was behind this...

After about five minutes of no luck, I gave up. I was just going to do it once more, and then I would be done.

As I refreshed for the last time, one result did come up. There was no description beneath it, it simply said "click me".

...I couldn't help but laugh out loud as I saw that. Did she really think I would click something like that? Did she think I was that stupid?

Suddenly, I felt something...

My hand, that was firmly grasping the computer mouse, started to experience excruciating pain, it was if my hand was being stabbed my multiple knives over and over again.

I tried removing my hand from the computer mouse, but it was as if I was permanently glued to it.

Resisting the urge to cry and scream loudly from all this pain was a very difficult thing to do. I tried turning off the computer with my other hand, but by doing that the room around me started to dissappear...

I was terrified, but the feeling of the white hot pain was much more prominent.

The only thing I could do was do what the link told me to do...

I tried moving my mouse towards the link, but the arrow and the link were so far apart, and the pain made it difficult to make precise movements since I was flailing my hand around everywhere.

I had to very slowly move the arrow to the link, trying to distract myself from a pain that I couldn't endure. Time was running out, the room around me kept disappearing rapidly, and it wouldn't be long because the entire room was seemingly erased from existence.

After what felt like an eternity, the arrow finally came into contact. With all the strength I had left in my hand, I clicked the link before it was too late.

After that, the computer immediately shut itself down. Everything stopped after that, the room stopped disappearing, and my hand was no longer feeling any pain. It was like the whole thing never happened...

I was very disappointed that I couldn't get any information on the mansion or Alyssa's past.

I couldn't help but smirk a little, since Alyssa showed signs of vulnerability. She's obviously trying to hide something, and the fact that she went to such extreme lengths to stop me from figuring things out proved that.

I think I needed a new plan though...

Claudia suddenly burst into the room, taking me by surprise.

"Owen, get off the computer, now," she demanded.

"Fine, go ahead."

Without expressing any gratitude at all, she shoved past me and turned on the computer. I really wasn't in the mood to fight since I was exhausted after what happened.

Admittedly, I couldn't help but wish for her to suffer through the same thing as I did.