It was apparent that just being in the room had done something to her, as she never acted like this towards anyone, least of all Hikaru.

-------

Ken woke to a whole different image. He saw his family and friends all dead-- strangled and suffering as tears came down his eyes. "Mom-- Lorraine-- Aoki!" He ran over to them but stopped realizing that there was a cliff between him and them and nderneath there was lava.

"Ha... ha... This is so funny." Said the Ghost Cat, sitting on the girl's lap again. "Seeing then suffer like this. We can even probe their minds and see thier dreams..." He said, looking at the dreams of the survivors of Hanged Child's attack. "But... what do we do with him for failing?" Asked the Cat to the little vampire like girl, looking at the origional Hanged Child struggling.

"P-please! One more chance! I promise I will kill them!" Screamed the Child, still strugling.

Maria stood in the door way of the old house and watched as everyone walked in the opposite direction. After the strange boy had offerered her his shirt for warmth (it didn't do much, but it sure was sweaty...and wet from the rain), no one had paid any heed to her. Almost as if she was just a mere shadow that was visible only be the candlelight reflection. To be honest, she felt a little more comfortable this way. She didn't know these people. They could've all been axe murderers.

But, the longer she stood in that one spot, the bigger the feeling in her gut that it wasn't the best idea to stay rooted for a long time. Yet, another part told her not to move, for she didn't know what lay ahead. She was shivering. And this time, it was not due to the cold.

Against her better judgement, Maria began to take a few steps eastward into what appeared to be a parlor like room. Cobwebs filled all corners and spiders danced amoung them; searching for their next meal. Dust covered the few remaining chairs and the nearby bar area. She walked over to said bar and traced her finger along to collect some of the dust. She examined her now black pointer to try and guess how long the house had been abonded. Of course, with out her equimptment, there was no way of telling for sure. But, there was one thing unusual about the dust.

...It was clean. There wasn't a single trace of food substances or anything other than...well...dust. Maria knew that normally, dust doesn't become clean unless it is left alone for at least 80 years. But, surly, no house could be left alone for that long. Could it?

Suddenduly, a scream rang throughout the house and broke Maria's train of thought. She wasn't sure where it was coming from, but it didn't sound good. She needed to find it's source. Whoever it was, they were in a lot of trouble. Maybe even in a fatal situation. She ran towards the glass double doors. But, they swung shut just as she was about to leave. She pushed, pulled, and banged upon them. Nothing. Scared, she tried for the other entrance. But, once again, the glass doors swung shut and trapped her inside.

Her breath began to shorten as fear swelled up inside her chest. What could possibley be going on. Another scream was heard. This time fainter, due to the fact that the doors were blocking some of the sound. But it was still lound enough for her to trace it's direction. She rushed over to the first set of glass double doors and began to bang frantically. Still, they remained secure.

Maria twired around in search for somthing to break the glass. All she could see that she could lift were some bar stools and her bag. She tried the stools first. But, not even the crushing force of those would break either sets of doors. Her backback had the same effect.

A third scream, Maria tried as hard as she could to break free. But, the doors just wouldn't give way.

"Help! Help! Please, someone! Open these doors!" Maria screamed as loud as her lungs would allow. But, at this point, she was so chocked up by fear, she wasn't sure how loud that really was.

"Help! Help! Someone, help me!"

"Someone's in trouble," she muttered.

-----

Inside the room, there could be heard a child's laughter and a ball rolling on the floor and the child whipsering into the air, "Come play with me."

"Ha... ha... ha" Said the cat in the security room, looking at the screen. "This girl is already so damn scared... Heh... amusing." It siad, licking it's left front paw. "Time for the fun to start!" It said, walking past the stone were The Hanged CHild was on. "Hehehe..."

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