It was a dark and stormy night. The lights flickered, threatening to throw the manor into darkness.

Hanna stared out the parlor window, less interested in the storm than the gloom it gave her.

Beside her on the antique sofa, a crack of thunder had Soohae clinging to Hanna’s arm, bringing a slight smile to the girl’s face.

Soohae was a sweet girl with a beautiful smile and kind nature. Sometimes, however, she could fall into very gloomy moods—which might have been why she was hanging out with Hanna on this particularly gloomy night. There was an unspoken connectedness between them, which gave Hanna a little bit of warmth on such a cold night.

Footsteps tapped down the stairs in the foyer, just beyond the parlor. Candace called out to nobody in particular as she descended the stairs. “So, do we have candles in case this goes out or what?” She said, rounding the corner into the parlor and pointing to a light.

Soohae gave Candace an anxious look, but Hanna merely shrugged a shoulder. “I always have candles in my room,” she replied with a lilt and a wry smile, turning her attention back to the storm outside.

Candace was still pretty new in the manor, but Hanna liked her well enough. Mostly, Hanna just liked to tease people. She had a mischievous side, her moods changing like the tides. Candace was pretty face-value. She said what was on her mind like it was, without hidden agenda or any sort of condescension or animosity. Hanna appreciated her greatly for this directness.

Hanna’s attention was pulled back by a sudden voice. “Really?” Aema said with a hint of amusement, entering slowly through the Northern doorway. Even after you lit your curtains on fire and got a scolding by Sol?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Hanna grinned impishly. “Hey, no one could have predicted that wind!”

With a chuckle, Aema wandered over to Candace and handed her one of several flashlights she held in her arms. “Maybe,” she said. “But most people don’t put the fire next to the cloth in the first place.”

“Who knows! I mean, most things aren’t made to be too flammable anymore,” Hanna countered with a grin and stuck her tongue out at Aema with a wink as she accepted a flashlight.

Aema was like the big sister of the house. She was smart, logical, and when Hanna had come into the house, Aema was already serving as Sol’s right hand. Hanna knew that, as long as Aema was around, there was always someone who would have everyone’s backs. They were a family. Sure, they had started out as strangers, but now they had formed a home. A loving, supportive, sometimes kind of weird home.

The storm was momentarily forgotten, until a large booming crash of thunder vibrated the earth, plunging the house into darkness.

“Yeeeeeeek!” Soohae let out a shriek, and burrowed into Hanna, accidentally sinking her nails into the skin of Hanna’s arms.

“Ouch! Hey, be careful!” she cried out, wrapping an arm around a shaking Soohae.

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“I can’t see!” she shrieked, letting out another cry as a flashlight beam appeared beneath Aema’s face, casting it with nightmarish shadows.

“Want a flashlight?”

A crash of lightning briefly illuminated the room, showing a glimpse of a dark figure standing in the room among them, raising the hair of the girls.

“What was that?” Candace asked warily. “Did anyone see that?”

“Maybe it was the Ghost of Behndral’s Hill!” Hanna drawled spookily, flaring her own flashlight to life below her face.

Candace quickly turned on her flashlight and pointed it in the direction where the shadow had been. A pale face with black pits for eyes stared back at her.

Aema gasped as Candace dropped the flashlight with a surprised squeak of terror. Soohae let out a scream and buried her face into Hanna’s stomach. A nervous chuckle escaped Hanna’s lips just before a quiet voice pierced the darkness.

“Why are we all gathering here in the parlor?” It said. “Or is this a girls’ thing?”

Aema swerved her flashlight beam into the face of a squinting Chaos.

“Okay, you guys have to stop doing that to me,” he grumbled in a quietly disgruntled voice, raising a hand to protect his eyes.

“Chaos, you jerk! You scared us!” Hanna yelled out, jerking a pillow from the sofa and chucking it hard in his direction. He didn’t bother to deflect it, letting it hit him harmlessly with a soft thud before falling to the floor.

“Scared who?” demanded Aema. “You were laughing just now,” she said, her voice holding an edge of suspicion. You.. You didn’t plan this, did you?”

“This has her fingerprints all over it!” Candace huffed, glaring at Hanna accusingly.

Soohae peeked up at Hanna’s face, looking for reassurance. “Who, me?” Hanna asked with exaggerated innocence, batting her eyes at Aema.

“Um, I was just going to get a snack,” Chaos muttered quietly, his brow furrowing as he picked up the pillow, seeming unsure as what to do with it once he held it.

“Yes!” Hanna cried out dramatically, throwing an arm across her thrown back face as if she were Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With The Wind. “My Slave and I planned this!” she cried out triumphantly.

“Um.. I’m not your slave,” Chaos muttered with a frown.

Hanna continued, ignoring Chaos completely. “Yes, we planned it down to every last detail!” she said breathily.

“You can’t plan a storm,” Chaos mumbled exasperated, shaking his head and subconsciously hugging the pillow.

Aema just rolled her eyes. “You could have just said ‘no’ Hanna,” she said dryly. Candace crossed her arms, anger melting away to uneasiness.

“Could someone please come with me back upstairs?” she asked, a slight quake to her voice.

“I’ll go!” Soohae cried out, instantly leaping up from the sofa and hurrying to cling to Candace’s arm.

Hanna inwardly felt a bit of sadness as cold took over the place where Soo’s warmth had just been.

“Good idea! We should move in pairs to be safe,” Aema said, taking the lead. “Chaos, will you help me in the kitchen? We need to figure out how make a decent dinner that you don’t need to cook.”

Chaos mumbled a reply with a nod and started towards Aema, as Candace and Soohae, arms linked, left the parlor for the foyer stairs.

“What about me?” Hanna asked incredulously, snatching the pillow from Chaos as he passed.

He had seemed to forget that he’d been holding it and, glancing at Hanna momentarily with a half-hearted shrug, nonchalantly continued toward the Northern doorway where Aema waited patiently.

“What about you?” Aema asked, raising her eyebrows.

“You’re really gonna leave me all alone? You literally just said to move in pairs!”

“I did?” Aema asked, mimicking Hanna’s innocent act from moments ago before rolling her eyes. “Hanna,” she chided, “You literally laughed in the face of danger. I think you’ll be fine.”

“So, what, I just sit here—by myself—doing nothing?” she grumped.

“Of course not,” Aema said gently, with a reassuring smile. “We need someone to check the circuit breaker box down in the basement.”

Hanna gaped at Aema, mouth ajar, momentarily rendered unable to think. Turning with a smile and a small wave over her shoulder, Aema left the parlor for the kitchen, Chaos close at her heels.

“Unbelievable!” Hanna muttered, still in shock. “And what is he, her lapdog?! Chaos, sit! Chaos, have a treat! Chaos, please don’t pee on the carpet!” At that last one, she smirked, chuckling at her own cleverness before sobering.

Heaving an exaggeratedly disgruntled sigh, Hanna picked up her flashlight and stood, smoothing her skirts with her free hand. “Why do I have to be left to do it alone..?” she whispered.

There was no one to answer her as she left the parlor.