step on a crack
Mabel.
Mabel was a beautiful old apartment building, on the corner of 51st and Queens. She embodied classic Jacobean architecture - I especially adored the sixteen pilasters adorning her façade. She was painted in a riot of colours, and she had a wild, lush rooftop garden, behind her parapets.
She was also secretive, aggressive, and vicious. The few eyewitness reports we'd managed to dig up, from before the Haunts had become public knowledge, told of her literally chewing up any intrepid explorers; their bones would be found on her street the next morning, with giant teeth marks and the marrow all sucked out.
Mabel, in fact, had been one of the key reasons why the city had decided to cordon off the Haunts. "A clear and present danger", they had said. Too dangerous to even condemn; you just knew they would fight back somehow.
And here I was, a hundred and twelve years later, standing at her door.
My headset crackles. "What're you waiting for?"
I take a breath. "This is the threshold, right? Once I step over, Mabel notices me, and there's no going back. Either this entire dumb project of ours is a success, or she chews us up."
Rob laughs, rich and deep even over the headset. "Where's this 'we' coming from? You're the one doing the whole 'recklessly dangerous' thing, and I'm all safe and snug in the car!"
I frown, not that he can see it. "Ass."
"If it makes you feel any better, there's no evidence in the reports that Mabel cares about the threshold. I'm fairly sure there are... yep, two cases of her reaching across it, in non-abnormal situations. She probably started imagining what you'd taste like as soon as you stepped onto her porch!"
"I hate you."
I could hear the jerk smiling. "Love you too, dear."
I take another breath...
.
...and step in.
"Talk to me, Zoe. I'm blind out here."
Right. I swing the flashlight, low to the ground to avoid any surprises. "Okay. The corridor's pretty normal; there's a guard's office right here at my side, and two apartments ahead, next to the spiral staircase up. Sweeping the office now..."
I slowly bring my flashlight up, and even though I'm half expecting it, I give an involuntary gasp at the illuminated skeleton, clad in a guard's uniform.
"You see something?"
"A skeleton in the guard's office. Really, Mabel? You're better than that. This is old hat, girl."
I don't really want to, but it seems a sensible precaution; I reach out and attach one of the RFID tags to the side of the skull. "Tagged it."
"Marking it as Bogey One. You really think she's going to reuse elements from this early?"
"There's no way we're getting through this on theory alone. Mabel has tricks up her sleeve, I guarantee you." There's nothing in the rest of the office, so I close the door behind me and seal it shut with quick-set plaster. "Moving on to the first apartment."
The apartment is clear, as is the other one on this floor. They're simple, and spartan - a kitchen, a living room, a bedroom, arranged to maximise blind spots - and yet, nothing. "I think she's biding her time."
Rob's frowning; I can tell from his voice. "There's only one trope that fits - the Chekhov triple lull. I didn't expect her to be this predictable, though..."
'Ugh, your names. Seriously, 'Chekhov triple lull'? Why would you even..."
"Hey, if you're going to be the brawn of this operation, then allow me the privileges that come with being the brain."
I roll my eyes, and finish sweeping the staircase area. I'd been deliberately distracted doing so, giving Mabel the perfect opportunity to break her pattern - but still, nothing. Hmm.
"Staircase, clear." Rob would know what that meant. "Heading up to second floor."
"Hmm. Expecting bogeys?"
"Of course."
I smile, and I know Rob is smiling too.
We go upstairs.
Predictable, predictable, predictable. Mabel tossed some skeletons at us at the top of the stairs, some intermittent sheet ghosts in the apartments on the second floor, and then even Chekhov triple-lulled the ghosts up to the third floor landing. Even as we gave her every opportunity to show herself.
"Honestly, I wasn't expecting to be disappointed."
I nod. "And we're at the third floor! Mabel's ... I have no idea why she's going so easy on us."
"It's almost as if she's pretending to be a badly constructed fake haunted house. And - sheet ghosts and skeletons? Forget theme, forget violating the laws of physics, we get sheet ghosts and skeletons?"
"I wonder if she's not taking us seriously. Or ... Mabel could just be shy."
A pause. I continue my sweep of the third floor, finding nothing interesting whatsoever.
"That... is certainly a thought."
I smile, picturing his vaguely intent face. "It'd explain a lot, wouldn't it?"
"We have nothing suggesting a Haunt can be shy, or, indeed, any emotion other than 'wants to eat you'. But we don't have much to begin with, and there's enough variation in how they operate... yea, she could definitely be shy."
"Mmm. So, how does that change how we approach her? Do we -"
"Zoe? Zoe, you there?"
I'm shaking, slightly. "I just finished sweeping th-this floor. I've reached the st-staircase."
"Zoe, she only has three fl-"
"Three floors, I know! Mabel's getting comfortable with us!"
"Wait, a legitimate supernatural - a whole extra floor?"
"Staircase is clear. I'm heading up."
"Zoe, be-"
"careful yes I will be careful but seriously, Rob, Mabel is finally talking to us!"
I step up, carefully testing each step before taking it. The dark gloom gets thicker and thicker; my flashlight seeming to emit less light the higher I go.
"Finally! So we have some thicker darkness, and I'm fairly sure this staircase is taller than the others..."
"Infinite staircase?"
"Can't really tell; I can't cut through this darkness."
"That's going to be a problem. See if your flares work?"
"They won't." I don't know why I'm so sure. "I've reached the landing, anyway. It's even darker; I'm barely getting any visibility. Just a single corridor, I think. No doors."
Rob's not happy, I know, but this is important, dammit.
"Still nothing. Just corridor, and corridor, and corridor. I'm getting closer to something, though, I can feel it."
"Zoe, how wide is the corridor?"
What an odd question. I turn my flashlight towards the walls... towards where the walls should be. "Uh."
"Zoe, this is really, really, very important. Do you see any walls?"
"I... don't."
"Dreamscape. Get out of there, now..."
I've swung my flashlight around already, but I didn't really need to; I could tell. "The staircase is gone."
A thump, like a head hitting a car dashboard, over the headset. "Zoe..."
I laugh. It's about all I can do, at this point, trapped inside the Haunt we come to save. I'd slump, if I had anywhere to slump on.
"Zoe, please..."
I shake myself together, and begin walking again. "Nothing for it, then."
"Heading f-for the lure?"
"May as well, right?" I pause. "Talk to me, dear. Please."
I can hear his voice catching in his throat. "Of course."
"Hey, remember when we thought she'd reuse Bogey One?"
"That's how she got us, I think."
"Lulled us - me - into a false sense of security, even as we were expecting her to lull us into a false sense of security. Mabel's clever as hell."
"The dreamscape's been empty, right? Ever since you got there?"
"Yup." I nod. "Just me, my flashlight, and the black everywhere. And that tug I feel towards the lure."
"I've just been wondering... if she's trying to say something. If she is, the metaphor is clear: it's about being alone, in the dark and void, right? And she's definitely one of the older Haunts, and not one any foolhardy kids would poke around in, either..."
I smile. "Except for us." If Mabel had intended to talk about being alone, she'd messed up in leaving me my headset. Though I didn't dare say it aloud, as we still didn't know if she was listening in or not, and I couldn't risk my one connection to Rob that way.
Hm. A ... wind?
"I'm getting some wind, picking up. From the direction I'm headed."
"A wind? Any windows, exits, pinprick sunlight, anything?"
Oh, Rob. "Sorry, dear. Just wind. Stronger, too, as I keep heading to the lure. It's getting kinda hard to walk..."
"That could mean you're on to something! Counterwinds are, metaphorically, a barrier that the origin doesn't want to acknowledge as a barrier."
"It... could." I push forward, through the wind, now at gale-strength. "Mabel really does seem to want to keep me away from it, whatever it is."
"And it's not a wall, right?"
"It..." I'm struggling, through this freezing wind, and there's nothing to grab a hold of. "It may as well be!"
"How close are you?"
"Very..." Grit, suddenly. The wind is now full of grit, making tiny painful cuts on all of my exposed skin, and I have to close my eyes and duck my head. "Very close now!"
"▮▮▮▮▮oe! Can yo▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮!"
No. Oh no. Not that, Mabel, anything but that.
"You're breaking up, Rob!" I push into the wind. Goddammit, Mabel, no. Please, leave me my Robert, please.
"▮▮▮▮an't▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮! She's▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮"
"Rob!" I yell, clutching myself, forcing myself to keep stepping. "Rob!"
"▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮"
"You asshole, Mabel! You couldn't leave me this one thing, could you?" I drop to my knees, but some impulse keeps me moving, out of sheer bloodymindedness if nothing else, now. "I know you're fucking alone, and I know you want to chew my bones or whatever, but couldn't you at least let me die in peace!?"
No response. Not that I was expecting one, but it'd have been nice.
"Fuck... off, Mabel." I'm barely crawling, now. "Fuck off. We could have helped you, you know. We wanted to help you!"
The winds pick up, if anything.
My tears are flying, away, into the wind. "Goodbye, Robert." My limbs are dead, dead weight, and I can't tell if I'm even moving them, any more. "Goodbye, Mabel."
And, just like that, the wind stops, and I am there.
"In breaking news, 506 Queens Boulevard, the former Haunt known as 'Mabel', will be opening its doors to the public for the first time in over a century. This marks the resolution of protracted legal proceedings in which Zoe Martin, the first person to step inside a Haunt in living memory, argued extensively that the Haunts can be reasoned with and integrated into society. We go live now to..."
Mabel was a beautiful old apartment building, on the corner of 51st and Queens. She embodied classic Jacobean architecture - I especially adored the sixteen pilasters adorning her façade. She was painted in a riot of colours, and she had a wild, lush rooftop garden, behind her parapets.
She was also secretive, aggressive, and vicious. The few eyewitness reports we'd managed to dig up, from before the Haunts had become public knowledge, told of her literally chewing up any intrepid explorers; their bones would be found on her street the next morning, with giant teeth marks and the marrow all sucked out.
Mabel, in fact, had been one of the key reasons why the city had decided to cordon off the Haunts. "A clear and present danger", they had said. Too dangerous to even condemn; you just knew they would fight back somehow.
And here I was, a hundred and twelve years later, standing at her door.
My headset crackles. "What're you waiting for?"
I take a breath. "This is the threshold, right? Once I step over, Mabel notices me, and there's no going back. Either this entire dumb project of ours is a success, or she chews us up."
Rob laughs, rich and deep even over the headset. "Where's this 'we' coming from? You're the one doing the whole 'recklessly dangerous' thing, and I'm all safe and snug in the car!"
I frown, not that he can see it. "Ass."
"If it makes you feel any better, there's no evidence in the reports that Mabel cares about the threshold. I'm fairly sure there are... yep, two cases of her reaching across it, in non-abnormal situations. She probably started imagining what you'd taste like as soon as you stepped onto her porch!"
"I hate you."
I could hear the jerk smiling. "Love you too, dear."
I take another breath...
.
...and step in.
"Talk to me, Zoe. I'm blind out here."
Right. I swing the flashlight, low to the ground to avoid any surprises. "Okay. The corridor's pretty normal; there's a guard's office right here at my side, and two apartments ahead, next to the spiral staircase up. Sweeping the office now..."
I slowly bring my flashlight up, and even though I'm half expecting it, I give an involuntary gasp at the illuminated skeleton, clad in a guard's uniform.
"You see something?"
"A skeleton in the guard's office. Really, Mabel? You're better than that. This is old hat, girl."
I don't really want to, but it seems a sensible precaution; I reach out and attach one of the RFID tags to the side of the skull. "Tagged it."
"Marking it as Bogey One. You really think she's going to reuse elements from this early?"
"There's no way we're getting through this on theory alone. Mabel has tricks up her sleeve, I guarantee you." There's nothing in the rest of the office, so I close the door behind me and seal it shut with quick-set plaster. "Moving on to the first apartment."
The apartment is clear, as is the other one on this floor. They're simple, and spartan - a kitchen, a living room, a bedroom, arranged to maximise blind spots - and yet, nothing. "I think she's biding her time."
Rob's frowning; I can tell from his voice. "There's only one trope that fits - the Chekhov triple lull. I didn't expect her to be this predictable, though..."
'Ugh, your names. Seriously, 'Chekhov triple lull'? Why would you even..."
"Hey, if you're going to be the brawn of this operation, then allow me the privileges that come with being the brain."
I roll my eyes, and finish sweeping the staircase area. I'd been deliberately distracted doing so, giving Mabel the perfect opportunity to break her pattern - but still, nothing. Hmm.
"Staircase, clear." Rob would know what that meant. "Heading up to second floor."
"Hmm. Expecting bogeys?"
"Of course."
I smile, and I know Rob is smiling too.
We go upstairs.
Predictable, predictable, predictable. Mabel tossed some skeletons at us at the top of the stairs, some intermittent sheet ghosts in the apartments on the second floor, and then even Chekhov triple-lulled the ghosts up to the third floor landing. Even as we gave her every opportunity to show herself.
"Honestly, I wasn't expecting to be disappointed."
I nod. "And we're at the third floor! Mabel's ... I have no idea why she's going so easy on us."
"It's almost as if she's pretending to be a badly constructed fake haunted house. And - sheet ghosts and skeletons? Forget theme, forget violating the laws of physics, we get sheet ghosts and skeletons?"
"I wonder if she's not taking us seriously. Or ... Mabel could just be shy."
A pause. I continue my sweep of the third floor, finding nothing interesting whatsoever.
"That... is certainly a thought."
I smile, picturing his vaguely intent face. "It'd explain a lot, wouldn't it?"
"We have nothing suggesting a Haunt can be shy, or, indeed, any emotion other than 'wants to eat you'. But we don't have much to begin with, and there's enough variation in how they operate... yea, she could definitely be shy."
"Mmm. So, how does that change how we approach her? Do we -"
"Zoe? Zoe, you there?"
I'm shaking, slightly. "I just finished sweeping th-this floor. I've reached the st-staircase."
"Zoe, she only has three fl-"
"Three floors, I know! Mabel's getting comfortable with us!"
"Wait, a legitimate supernatural - a whole extra floor?"
"Staircase is clear. I'm heading up."
"Zoe, be-"
"careful yes I will be careful but seriously, Rob, Mabel is finally talking to us!"
I step up, carefully testing each step before taking it. The dark gloom gets thicker and thicker; my flashlight seeming to emit less light the higher I go.
"Finally! So we have some thicker darkness, and I'm fairly sure this staircase is taller than the others..."
"Infinite staircase?"
"Can't really tell; I can't cut through this darkness."
"That's going to be a problem. See if your flares work?"
"They won't." I don't know why I'm so sure. "I've reached the landing, anyway. It's even darker; I'm barely getting any visibility. Just a single corridor, I think. No doors."
Rob's not happy, I know, but this is important, dammit.
"Still nothing. Just corridor, and corridor, and corridor. I'm getting closer to something, though, I can feel it."
"Zoe, how wide is the corridor?"
What an odd question. I turn my flashlight towards the walls... towards where the walls should be. "Uh."
"Zoe, this is really, really, very important. Do you see any walls?"
"I... don't."
"Dreamscape. Get out of there, now..."
I've swung my flashlight around already, but I didn't really need to; I could tell. "The staircase is gone."
A thump, like a head hitting a car dashboard, over the headset. "Zoe..."
I laugh. It's about all I can do, at this point, trapped inside the Haunt we come to save. I'd slump, if I had anywhere to slump on.
"Zoe, please..."
I shake myself together, and begin walking again. "Nothing for it, then."
"Heading f-for the lure?"
"May as well, right?" I pause. "Talk to me, dear. Please."
I can hear his voice catching in his throat. "Of course."
"Hey, remember when we thought she'd reuse Bogey One?"
"That's how she got us, I think."
"Lulled us - me - into a false sense of security, even as we were expecting her to lull us into a false sense of security. Mabel's clever as hell."
"The dreamscape's been empty, right? Ever since you got there?"
"Yup." I nod. "Just me, my flashlight, and the black everywhere. And that tug I feel towards the lure."
"I've just been wondering... if she's trying to say something. If she is, the metaphor is clear: it's about being alone, in the dark and void, right? And she's definitely one of the older Haunts, and not one any foolhardy kids would poke around in, either..."
I smile. "Except for us." If Mabel had intended to talk about being alone, she'd messed up in leaving me my headset. Though I didn't dare say it aloud, as we still didn't know if she was listening in or not, and I couldn't risk my one connection to Rob that way.
Hm. A ... wind?
"I'm getting some wind, picking up. From the direction I'm headed."
"A wind? Any windows, exits, pinprick sunlight, anything?"
Oh, Rob. "Sorry, dear. Just wind. Stronger, too, as I keep heading to the lure. It's getting kinda hard to walk..."
"That could mean you're on to something! Counterwinds are, metaphorically, a barrier that the origin doesn't want to acknowledge as a barrier."
"It... could." I push forward, through the wind, now at gale-strength. "Mabel really does seem to want to keep me away from it, whatever it is."
"And it's not a wall, right?"
"It..." I'm struggling, through this freezing wind, and there's nothing to grab a hold of. "It may as well be!"
"How close are you?"
"Very..." Grit, suddenly. The wind is now full of grit, making tiny painful cuts on all of my exposed skin, and I have to close my eyes and duck my head. "Very close now!"
"▮▮▮▮▮oe! Can yo▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮!"
No. Oh no. Not that, Mabel, anything but that.
"You're breaking up, Rob!" I push into the wind. Goddammit, Mabel, no. Please, leave me my Robert, please.
"▮▮▮▮an't▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮! She's▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮"
"Rob!" I yell, clutching myself, forcing myself to keep stepping. "Rob!"
"▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮"
"You asshole, Mabel! You couldn't leave me this one thing, could you?" I drop to my knees, but some impulse keeps me moving, out of sheer bloodymindedness if nothing else, now. "I know you're fucking alone, and I know you want to chew my bones or whatever, but couldn't you at least let me die in peace!?"
No response. Not that I was expecting one, but it'd have been nice.
"Fuck... off, Mabel." I'm barely crawling, now. "Fuck off. We could have helped you, you know. We wanted to help you!"
The winds pick up, if anything.
My tears are flying, away, into the wind. "Goodbye, Robert." My limbs are dead, dead weight, and I can't tell if I'm even moving them, any more. "Goodbye, Mabel."
And, just like that, the wind stops, and I am there.
"In breaking news, 506 Queens Boulevard, the former Haunt known as 'Mabel', will be opening its doors to the public for the first time in over a century. This marks the resolution of protracted legal proceedings in which Zoe Martin, the first person to step inside a Haunt in living memory, argued extensively that the Haunts can be reasoned with and integrated into society. We go live now to..."