The Haunted Schoolhouse

As per school tradition, each year the students were allowed to express themselves with a variety of different extracurricular activities. Normally, the first years went out of their way to set up extravagant events in order to impress their seniors, while the older students enjoyed the unique experiences and coached the younger students in how to grow and succeed in school.

Janus and Lila barely needed their resonance to come up with their idea.  At once, they thought the same thing  

A haunted schoolhouse.

They both had a clear memory of playing Hide and Seek in the old school in Benin, and this was just taking that concept to the next level.  So, with a bit of work with the school staff, and a fantastical announcement to the student body via magical pamphlets, the Terrowin Terrors once again found themselves in a dark building, playing ‘hide and seek’ with their victims…

—

Marco took his girlfriend’s hand.  He was in his last year of finishing school, and prided himself on his manliness and ability to face fear head on.  Of course, he had never actually had the opportunity to test these things, but he knew deep down in his heart he could handle anything.  So when he entered the main hall with his girl at his side, he wanted nothing more than to show his stuff!  

“Let’s go Anna…”  He squeezed her hand.

“Anna?” an unfamiliar, masculine voice asked.  “Who’s Anna?”  Suddenly, his hand was empty, and he was alone…

Lila was eagerly awaiting the festive All Hallows’ Eve. If anyone had to guess black was her favorite color, it wasn’t but she wouldn’t tell them that. The only people who knew were Myrri and Janus. While the other students were trying to get attention or show others success… Janus and Lila decided on a ‘Test Your Courage’ type of situation.

It took no time at all to get a few of the professors to agree to it. Though it was cheating that they happened to know two of them from outside the school. Terra and Sophia, now proudly married, were professors at the school. “Well… As long as no one gets hurt.”

“Only their pride… and if they panic too much,” Lila promised.

–

Anna had a hold of Marco’s hand and she merely blinked. Screams started to erupt and a giant black bird was chasing her throughout the building. There were tears as she could not find the exit.

“Where are you going, Anna?” The bird was gone and replaced was Janus and Lila holding hands at the end of the corridor. “Please… play with us.” It was in sync. It freaked people out on a normal day but today it was horrifying. The lights went out and the twins were gone from sight.

Anna let out a scream as she found her way outside. The line of people waiting to go in was amused by it. Marco ran outside screaming next.

“You fucking bastard,” Anna yelled as she slapped him across his face.

Lila was dying watching from the window. “Oh, that was a good one. Janus, the next people are coming. Myrri… That Rachel girl still hasn't figured out how to get out… She's crying downstairs."

Janus was really feeling himself today. He and his sister were in prime form, and it showed. While Lila was chasing Anna around, Janus was manipulating the darkness around Marco, bouncing himself between the shadows and laughing maniacally. “Run while you still can!” His voice boomed. Surely enough, right as he darted out of the room, Anna came running in with Lila right behind.

Which of course, led right up to the moment that Anna slapped Marco. Perhaps they weren’t going the last the year

“What a trip,” Janus said with a wide grin on his face, sipping on some water.

Myrri sighed, “I’ll go get Rachel. And don’t forget, if anyone has issues, call me immediately. I don’t want someone getting hurt.” While he wasn’t exactly thrilled to be a part of this, he had volunteered his services just to make sure that the twins didn’t go too far with their little project.

Janus smirked as the next one walked in; he seemed ready to ‘fight.’ “Oh, we have a badass on our hands,” the twin said with a gleeful tone. “Don’t go near him Lila…mind games only. Let’s see…guide him towards where we set up the mirrors?” That seemed like the safest bet. Myrri wandered off to go escort Rachel out, and left the twins to do their thing.

The idiot brought a knuckle duster in. Every time there was some event like this, there always had to be one person who tried to ruin it with violence. Well, of course, it was time to use that violence against him.

“Hey, hey, dear sister,” Janus cooed as his visage appeared behind the cocky boy. “He’s got a weapon.”

“Oh no, dear brother,” Lila mirror, appearing innocently in front of him. “How terrifying…”

Neither of them seemed worried. Their voices went in perfect monotone harmony. “The scary boy and his scary toy need to be punished…” The room went pitch black. Moments later, the lights were back on and all the badass boy could see were mirror reflections of himself. Tall and small, thin and fat… though the deeper he wandered, the stranger they got.

One had him as a handsome prince, another as an old crone. Another showed him as a beggar, and another as a jester advising a king. The boy was getting annoyed, though.

“Show yourselves you Terrowin brats!” he demanded, smashing one of the mirrors.

“Oh no,” Janus said with fake worry. “Dear sister, he shouldn’t have done that, should he?”

Lila giggled, “Oh no, dear brother, he really shouldn’t have…”

The room filled with fog as the darkness grew around him. The slightly less badass boy could barely make out images circling him. The shadows lurked about, and the silence started to become deafening.

“You woke it up…” Janus said with a smile as he appeared on top of one of the mirrors, leaning against the air casually. “The darkness that lurks in the mirrors.” His smile faded. “Nothing can save you now.” He disappeared in the shadows. Suddenly, tendrils erupted from the ground, wrapping around the boy. “Poor, poor boy…you will die here, lost and alone…”

Lila moved some magic around and whistled low to her brother. This troublemaker was going away for a long, long time. “Bye… Make sure you writeeee.” Lila stood over the hole he dropped in and she waved as the hole slowly closed. “We’ll come to get you… Eventually.” And so they left their badass in the basement that they conveniently left locked on the outside. It was pitch black so he would have an interesting time in the dark.

Neomi came wandering in through the door.

“Oh, this will be good,” Janus went to go fuck with her and Lila stopped him.

“Not my roommate… She gets the normal experience.”

“What?! That’s no fun, Lila.”

“Normal. Experience.”

Janus relented and a groan came out of his lips as they popped up in the darkness holding hands. “Oh… Neomi…” They started the creepy twin thing and Neomi gave a little jump more from their sudden appearance.

“OH!” She let out a chuckle. “Is this what has everyone so scared?”

Lila looked at Janus. Janus looked at Lila. “This is all your fault, Lila.” Neomi was way too used to how they were acting. “Okay, Neomi you made it through. You can go.”

“Wait!” Neomi called out shyly. “I made some sweets. I couldn’t find you earlier so I thought this was the best way to do it.” She held out a red silk bag with some candies in it. “I already gave Myrri and Lila theirs…”

“…He got a special bag.”

“Well… You said he liked red,” Neomi blushed a bit. “Is that okay?”

“Yeah… It’s okay.” Lila squinted at her and knew she would have to work double time to make sure Janus couldn’t sink his teeth into her. She was too good for Janus.

“Oh, thanks,” Janus said as he took the chocolates and smiled at her. It was a shame that Neomi was off limits, otherwise he might have asked her out right then and there, but he could easily see Lila’s look, and let the thought slide. “I’ll enjoy them at another time, though,” he said, tossing them at Myrri. “Can you put those in my bag? The next pair is coming in and we have to keep going.” He winked at Neomi, “An artist never rests…”

Myrri sighed, “The boy in the next pair is scared of water, so…do what you will with that.” He was going to kick himself for enabling them, but even he had to admit that this was fun.

—

From the outside, students saw the next pair run out as a wave of water crashed against an invisible barrier, dissipating as it hit the night air. If Janus and Lila were to get any reputation after this night, it would be as master illusionists. Fire, heights, bugs, and snakes were the next tricks in order, and all were executed with precision by the terrors.

“We either need to reset or call it after that last one,” Myrri said as he wrinkled his nose in the hall. “I think the last one pissed himself.”

“Oh he definitely did,” Janus said with a laugh. “I made sure of it. I’ve never had so much fun imitating a giant serpent. I should use that one more often.” He glanced to his sister. “Shall we call it for the night, Lila?”

Lila saw the wink and saw how Neomi reacted to said wink. “Oh. No, you don’t.” Lila escorted Neomi out. “He’s not your type Neomi.” The sister patted the girl on the back. “Just trust me.”

“Oh, alright Lila,” Neomi giggled at the sister but took her words with caution. She was thankful for Lila looking out for her.

–

Lila had fun with all the illusions and the grandeur of it all. “Yeah, Janus got that one good…” Lila sighed a bit. “Is this about the shit he said during the second period the other day?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Janus said nonchalantly.

“Uh-huh…” They closed the haunted house down and Lila shut the doors so they could all walk back together.

“…You guys… Where did you put the violent guy,” Myrri stopped and looked back at the building.

“What violent guy?” Lila asked sweetly.

“Yeah… I can’t remember what you’re talking about,” Janus cooed in response.

“Lila…” Myrri got that look in his eyes as he came over to her. He took her hands and put his lips to her ear. “Where is he, Lila?”

Lila shivered. Myrri had learned real fast how to deal with her shenanigans. “Basement.” She blurted out.

Janus facepalmed, “You are a traitor Lila.”

“I CAN’T HELP IT! HE DID THE THING!” It made her weak in the knees.

Myrri scoped out the basement and came back up, “Okay but he wasn’t there.”

Lila had her arms crossed and she was refusing to look Myrri in the eyes. “Okay, so he left.”

“He definitely left,” Janus responded with his sister.

“Lila…” Myrri had to figure out a different way to get his girlfriend to talk. Several gentle kisses later and Lila was like a puddle to him.

“Oh. My. Goddess. You’ve turned my sister against me,” Janus snapped.

“He’s in the basement of the boy’s dorm,” Lila blurted out soon after sheepishly.

“Thank you, Lila,” Myrri kissed her forehead and Lila sighed. Myrra had figured out how to read her chaos pretty well. At least he had figured out how to get through it.

Janus was disappointed in his sister. “I have been betrayed…” He made a dramatic pout, and huffed as he turned his head away. “So very, deeply betrayed…”

—

Family Visit Day

Janice was a nice girl. In fact, out of the many that Janus had dated, she was almost perfect. Well, other than the name, but it was something he was getting used to. But today was a special day for her. Today was the day that she was going to meet some of Janus’ family, and that meant preparing for the worst. She had heard rumors of what his family was like from Lila and Neomi, and it gave her pause.

Of course, Janus assured her that it wouldn’t be a problem and that everyone would love her. So, when the whole family came, Janus introduced her to everyone who had decided to come that day.

Which, oddly enough, was Lucas and Ezili with a few of the younger ones, including Camille.

“Sorry, it’s been a chaotic week,” Lucas said as he set Camille down to run to her brother. “Mom and Dad said they’ll come visit tomorrow when they can, but Camille couldn’t wait to see her “bestest brother ever”,” he said with a smile. “It was hard to tell her no.”

“Camille!” Janus said with a smile as he swooped her up in his arms. “It’s good to see you. Have you been getting my letters? And here, I want to introduce you to my girlfriend. I think you’ll like her. Her name is Janice…though it’s spelled a little differently than my name.”

Janice cleared her throat, “H-hi Camille! I’ve heard so many good things about you. It’s a pleasure to meet you!”

Camille was standing in front of Lewis and Simone with a pout, “But I don’t want to wait until tomorrow to see JanJan! TODAY IS OUR SPECIAL DAY!”

She was rarely a brat about anything, rarely did she act spoiled… But when it came to Janus she turned into a red-eyed beast. Simone relented with allowing Camille to go with one of her older brothers or sisters… IF she got them to agree. It took her no time at all to convince Ezili and Lucas that this needed to happen.

“I’m going to die if I don’t see JanJan today,” was her final argument. It was meant with silence and some sighs as her hair got rubbed.

“Alright… Get ready,” Ezili smiled up to Lucas. “We can take you to go see Janus.”

Lucas picked Camille up once she was ready and they were off. Once her eyes set sight on Janus she got really excited and bounced until Lucas let her down. She ran for Janus with her arms extended and even a little jump, “JanJan!” She yelled up at him.

“I’ve been getting all of your letters,” Camille looked appreciative of the fact he had been keeping his promise to her recently. Once the girlfriend was introduced Camille got quiet. This was what her brother was settling with? Camille put her arms around Janus’s neck and stayed close to him.

“Hi…” Camille narrowed her eyes up at the woman. She was unusually shy around Janice. “JanJan… You said I could go to class with you today.” She began to bounce again as she tried to ignore the other woman’s presence.

Lila and Myrri were herding Damond and Remy around the campus. Teagan was with Ezili but she had opted not to attend class. It was much more fun to be outside. Damond and Remy wanted to see what horrors were inside the building.

Camille on the other hand… Was put next to Janus in class and she got out her bag and got out paper. “I’m just like you JanJan!” Her voice carried and the other students looked at her.

She was fucking precious and the family resemblance could be seen quite easily. Camille got out her pastels and chose a blue as she wrote, not scribbled, her name across the top of the paper. “I can write my name now.” It wasn’t the nicest handwriting but Camille was scrawled across the top. “Mommy has been teaching me how to write my name.”

Everyone else had older siblings with them. Camille being so young had some understanding from the professor. Janice was sitting on the other side of Camille and every so often Camille would pull her paper and hide it from Janice when she looked over.

“Everyone can have their siblings introduce themselves,” the professor was ready to start now.

Once it was Camille’s turn she popped her head up from her paper and stood up on her chair. “My name is Camille Terrowin. I’m five years old. JanJan is my favorite brother and I have like five-hundred siblings. I have a bird named Blanc and a giant dragon plushie named Philip. I’m learning how to play the violin and I started school this year. I know how to write my name now too… See?” She showed everyone her name on the paper.

Everyone was smitten with Camille as Janus helped her sit back down.

Once Camille was sat down, Janus ruffled her hair and congratulated her on her job well done. This wasn’t the first time that the class had heard of Camille, so they all knew she existed. Seeing her in person though solidified her adorableness to the class, and just how protective Janus had to be over her.

Janice was happy that her boyfriend was enjoying having his sister visiting, though she couldn’t quite understand why the little girl was so shy around her.


If only she knew…

Class ended and Janus found himself leading both Camille and Janice into the library. It was probably the easiest place for the three of them to exist while getting some work done. At least, Janus was going to try. “I’ve got homework to do. Do you want to help Camille?” His little sister lit up at the idea of helping her older brother with his important homework.

Lila said that she would try to round up the twins, and see if Neomi wanted to join them to study in the library as well. It could be a whole get together!

“See this Camille?” Janus asked as he pointed out a complex math equation. “This is what I’m working on. It’s a really hard question,” he commented as he started to work out some of the basic parts of the math. “Have they started teaching you math?”

Janice smiled, “I’m sure she knows something. She seems like a very smart girl!” she wanted to try and break Camille out of her shy shell. “It’s that right Camille? Your brother doesn’t need to worry too much about you.”

Camille was in heaven being with Janus and being praised! She sat next to Janus in the library and looked around. “This library is almost as big as ours,” Camille exclaimed as she looked around at it. Sure the bookcases were taller but Simone being a lover of books had a pretty large family library.


“Oh… Wow…” Janice was shocked at how rich the Terrowin family was.

“Nah… This one is smaller… Bigger than the second library though,” Janus replied as he ruffled Camille’s hair.

She had her pastels and paper out to draw but when she looked over at the math problem she made a face. “JanJan?” She looked up at him. “Can you wait to do these?”

“Why?” Janus looked at his little sister with interest.

“Because if you do them you won’t be able to read my letters anymore… Can you wait until I can write in big people's words? Because if you do that math you won’t be able to read my letters because you won’t be a kid anymore.” Camille bobbed her head with what she said as Lila came up and ruffled her hair.

“Nah, your Janus will always be able to read what you send him even if he does his homework,” Lila winked at her as she helped Damond and Remy get a spot at the table. “Okay, you little heathens… Tell your brother what you did in chemistry.”

“So if you add the green liquid to the goop… It explodes,” Remy laughed.

“BOOM,” Damond laughed even harder. “But then all the adults start yelling and Lila was upset at us for playing with it.”

“Myrri and I took our eyes off of them for two seconds,” Lila ruffled their hair. “Banned from chemistry and you have to explain to Mom why.”

“Aww… Do we have to?” Damond whined up at his older sister.

“Explosions mean parental conversations,” Lila had lived out her own conversations about explosions and now it was their turn.

Neomi made her way over with a redhead. “Sorry… We were helping clean up the chemistry room a bit more…” The girl with Neomi had to be about ten or so. “This is my aunt Tamara.”

“Oh… She is one of Gram’s kids,” Lila made the connection immediately. “The red hair is a direct giveaway.”

“My name is Tamara,” Tamara spoke up. “I just wanted to see what a finishing school was like. I go to school in Kurayo.”

“Isn’t it always dark there?” Lila asked curiously.

“Yes, that’s why my brothers didn’t want to come. They aren’t a fan of sunlight and we just went to Sularia not that long ago… So they are all sun’d out.” It was amazing how polite Tamara was compared to Damond and Remy. It was almost like they weren’t the same age.

Janice looked at the going ons of the Terrowins and their friends and felt out of place.

“The answer is definitely five hundred and sixty-two,” Camille who was now standing on top of the chair looking over Janus’s homework.

“…You don’t even know how to read yet.” Lila joked at her.

Camille puffed her face out. “One plus one is two LILA. I know how to do math! I’m a very good student!”

“You can’t even write the number five hundred and sixty-two,” Lila teased Camille more.

Camille raspberried her lips at her. “I CAN WRITE ONE, TWO, THREE! HOW HARD IS FIVE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-TWO?!”

Janice tried to calm Camille down, “Maybe JanJan can help you with learning how to write it?”

Camille stopped what she was doing and calmly put her pastels down. “JanJan,” Camille spoke loudly for the entire library to hear. Everyone was looking at the five-year-old on the chair now. “I don’t like her. She needs to go.”

Lila made a face and whispered to Janice, "Only she can call him JanJan. Not even Mom is allowed to call him that." This was about to end very badly for Janice.