Akbar and Akash

The white stucco villa that belonged to the ‘No Trespassing’ sign was worth at least fifteen million dollars.  Too bad the ghost that resided inside lowered the property value down into the hundreds of thousands instead.

The tales of the ghost got scarier and gorier with each retelling until finally it was said that the walls of the villa dripped with blood, and guts hung from the crystal chandeliers.  Shrieks of terror echoed down the hallways.

Akbar and Akash Van Laar stood outside the haunted villa with their good friend Thomas Webb who leaned against the rock fence.   The twins were lanky and dark, while Webb topped six foot four inches with white blond hair and pale skin.

“Your fifteen minutes are over,” Webb said, sitting on the edge.  “You haven’t even made it inside yet.  Are you calling the dare off?”

“Not hardly,” Akbar muttered.

“We’re being watched,” Akash said.  He tilted his head towards a copse of trees at the end of the cul-de-sac.   “Besides, the fifteen minutes starts once we step foot inside the house not for how long we stand out here staring at it.”

“Well, then, let’s get this show on the road.”  Thomas surged away from the wall.  He sauntered over to the front gate which he pushed open with the flick of one hand.  “The sooner we’re done here, the sooner we can get over to the pool hall.  There are fools just waiting to be parted with their money.”

Akbar and Akash glanced at each other, and they rolled their eyes.  They both knew that Webb wanted to go by and see his girl Shelby.  Together they moved forward through the gate.  They didn’t wait to see if Thomas followed them.  It took them a few minutes to walk up the long walk to the front of the villa.   The three young men walked up the stairs that led to the front porch.

Webb let out a gasp when the front door swung open in front of them.  He hadn’t expected that.  “What is going on here?”

Akbar shrugged his shoulders.  “Guess the ghost is lonely and wants some company.”   He and his brother strolled through the front door like they owned the place.

To the right was a big room dominated by a fireplace.  The walls were grey marble veined with apricot.   There were no blood or guts in sight. 

“Well, there’s one rumor shot to shit,” Akash chuckled.

“So, now what?” Thomas questioned.  “Should we just stand here for the next fifteen minutes until we can leave again?”

“Might as well.”  Akbar shrugged.  “This looks like a pretty nice place.  Maybe we should talk father into buying it for us, Ash.”

“It’s pretty cheap.  I can live with a ghost if you can, Bar.”

The two dark haired men moved off into the room to the left that was dominated by yellow walls, white pillars, and the gut free chandeliers.  The room had no furniture, but that didn’t detract from the beauty.

“This is pretty anticlimactic here,” Webb grumbled.  “I was hoping for at least a moan or two.”

“The night is young,” Akbar chuckled.

“How long have we been in here now?” Akash asked.

Akbar swiveled his wrist to glance at his watch.  “Not even five minutes yet.  Let’s look around.”  He dragged his twin towards the door at the other end of the room.  “There’s bound to be something interesting here.”

Webb reluctantly followed behind his friends.  He shivered with feelings of uneasiness and reluctance.  His gut told him to run out of the house as fast as his legs could carry him while his head said to stay with his friends.  He stepped through the door that Akbar and Akash had just disappeared through.  Webb found himself in an empty hallway.  “Guys?” he called out in a thin, uncomfortable voice.

Akbar looked over his shoulder past Akash.  “What happened to Tom?”

Akash turned to glance in the same direction.  “He was right behind me.  Where the hell is he?”  He stepped back to the doorway of the room where the twins had just been with their friend, but it was empty.  “Okay, that’s weird.”

~~*

“Guys, this isn’t funny,” Webb said.

“You know what they say, bro.  You have to dive deep in the ocean, but it also means you’re swimming with a great white.”

Tom Webb whirled around to find the source of the voice.  “B-Ben, is that you?”

A chilling laugh echoed through the hallway, making Tom shiver in panic.   He jerked open a door next to him, and he bolted into the room, slamming door behind him.  The room was bare of all furniture and adornments except for the pentagram painted on the floor.

~~*

“Where did that come from, Ash?”  Akbar glanced around when he heard the laughter.

“I don’t know, Bar.”  Akash pointed down the hallway towards a green door.  “It sounded like it came from there though.”

Akbar grinned.  “Shall we?”

“We shall.”  Akash flung his arm over his twin’s shoulders.  “Once we’ve solved this mystery we can go find Webb.”  He pulled Akbar towards the sound of laughter.

Akbar pushed the door open, and he and his brother stepped through.  They found themselves in the middle of a graveyard.  The sign overhead read ‘Restfield Memorial Cemetery’.

“Where the fuck are we?” Akash muttered.  He glanced around trying to get his bearings.  “We have to still be in that house.”

Akbar nodded his agreement.  “I think we are.  I think the house is trying to scare us.”

“I doubt it’s the house.”  Akash shook his head.  “I bet it’s something else.  Too bad Uncle Ali isn’t here.  I bet he’d be able to figure it out.”

“Yeah, he’s pretty cool.”

“Well, let’s figure out what’s going on then.  The sooner we do the sooner we can find Webb,” Akash suggested.

Akbar looked around the cemetery.  “Seems innocuous enough.  I think we’ll be okay as long as the Vincent Price voiceover and Michael Jackson don’t show up.  Only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

Akash snapped his fingers.  “That sounds familiar.”

“It should.  Franklin D. Roosevelt said it during his inauguration speech.”

“No, you idiot.”  Akash rolled his eyes.  “I bet a fear demon has possessed this house.”

“A Gachnar?” Akbar asked.  “Aren’t those a bit too small to change whole landscapes like this.  I’m pretty sure they don’t build graveyards inside houses.”

“No.”  Akash shook his head slightly.  “Bigger than a Gachnar.  A Gachnar at full power.  It’s a Feardorcha.”

“A dark man.  Are you sure?”

“You have a better explanation?” Akash grunted.

Akbar sighed.  “Not really.”

~~*

“Thomas-s-s-s!” Ben’s voice hissed.  “Help me!”

“Ben, I can’t find you.”  Webb stumbled down the hallway.  “Why did you ever come into this stupid house?”

“Why did you-u-u?”

~~*

“Well, how do we vanquish a Feardorcha, Ash?”

“I really wish Uncle Ali was here,” Akash said.

Akbar pulled a cellphone from his pocket.  “Ah ha!”  He opened the phone, and he pushed a button.  Nothing happened.  “Well, cruddypuckers.  It must be out of network.”

Across town, Ali Hassib answered his phone.  He heard his nephew’s voice across the line.  “Akbar!  Akbar!” he said, but it was apparent that the boy was unable to hear him.

“Guess we’ll have to figure out how to defeat the Feardorcha alone,” Akash said.

“RoseSeri!” Ali yelled out.  “Ash and Bar might have a problem.  Any idea where they went?”

“They’re out with that Webb boy.”  RoseSeri came into the room.  “What’s wrong?”

“Akbar called.  He couldn’t hear me, but I heard him.  The phones were acting up.  Apparently he and his brother have run into a Feardorcha.”

“Here in Ferris Springs?”

Ali nodded.  “You know, my dear, we really should consider moving to the Hellmouth.  I have a feeling there’d be so much less trouble there.”

“You could be right,” RoseSeri agreed.  “Should we go rescue the boys?”

Ali shook his head.  “They’re old enough and smart enough to figure out how to defeat a Feardorcha by themselves.”

RoseSeri nodded.  “But, just in case, I’ll call their father and the others.”

“I’ll gather some weapons and do some research.”  Ali tossed his phone aside, and he rose to his feet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

“I guess that means Webb’s caught in his own version of terror.”  Akbar looked around. 

“Wonder what good old Tom is afraid of.”

“No clue, but I say let’s find the door out of this damned place.  We need a flippin’ Magic Marker.”

“What would we do with a Magic Marker?” Akash asked in a confused voice.

Akbar chuckled.  “Well, brother dear, if it was really magic we could use it to draw a door.”

“Oh, never thought of that.”  Akash patted around his pockets.  A delighted look crossed his face.  “Ah ha, Bar.  I have just the thing.”

“What’s that?”

Akash pulled a strangely colored stone from his pocket, and he presented it to his twin.  “We’re some of the very few natural born Penhuibin ever.  You know, Uncle gave us this to bring out our inner angel.”

“You are a genius, my brother,” Akbar chortled with a grin.  He patted down his own pockets until he found his own stone.  Then, the two brothers squatted down close to the ground. 

Together they chanted, “We are Akbar and Akash from the clan Ezot.  We call upon Avalokitesvara, the Mistress of mercy and compassion.  Bring us forth, and show us what we’re really meant to be.”

In the twins’ hands the stones glowed brightly, and a streak of golden light pierced the boys’ bodies.  They threw their heads back until two swirling, pulsating entities shot out of their bodies into the air for a few seconds.  When Akbar and Akash relaxed the entities returned from whence they came, and their eyes glowed purple for a moment.

“Wow, what a rush,” Akbar muttered.

“You said it, brother,” Akash agreed.   Climbing to his feet, he glanced around.  “I think I see the door over there.”  He held out a hand to his twin.

“Uncle never mentioned we’d see past magical enchantments.”

“It’s pretty awesome, isn’t it?”

Akash nodded while he and his brother escaped the cemetery.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

“Ben, where are you?”  Thomas started to open the doors that lined the hallway he was stumbling down.  He let out a startled gasp.  “Is that you?  You look like that Pinhead guy from Hellraiser, dude.”

“Thanks a lot, dude,” Ben replied.  “I’ve been trapped here for five years while dressed like this.  Idiots made me wear this damned costume when I came in here, and once I got in here I couldn’t take the fucker off.”

Thomas glanced around the room.   “How did you survive?  The place looks pretty bare to me.  What did you eat?”

Ben’s face changed slightly when his blunt teeth changed to sharpened points.  “All the unsuspecting idiots who wandered in here.”

Thomas rolled his eyes.  “You can’t eat me, bro.  That’d be cannibalism.”  He pulled his lips back to expose his own sharpened teeth.  “Now, I’m sure Ash and Bar will figure out how to get us out of here.”

“They’re here too?” 

Just then, a shockwave of magic flung the brothers to the floor.

“Didn’t I tell you?” Thomas chortled. 

“Are you gonna tell them why I survived and what we are?” Ben asked suspiciously.

“Of course not.  They don’t need to know.  I love a well-kept secret,” Thomas said, amused.  “Now, let’s go find our way out of here.”

Within minutes, Thomas and Ben meet up with Akbar and Akash.  The two sets of brothers grinned at each other when they saw each other.

“Well, look who you found,” Akbar said when he saw Ben.  “Got yourself trapped here did you?”

Ben shrugged.  “No biggie, really.  What the heck happened?”

Akash shrugged in return.  “No biggie, really,” he echoed.  “Just a Feardorcha.  It was easy to vanquish.”

As the four boys strolled out of the house to confront the boys who had dared the twins to enter the formerly haunted house, Akbar paused to say, “So, Ash, are we still gonna ask father to buy this place for us?”