Ch - 4 Spidewick's Mansion

Late at nighttime of dark, outside Spiderwick Estate, on the outskirts of New England, United States.

A Fading Victorian Mansion solely lit through moonlight. Suddenly, the facade is illuminated by a pair of car headlights.

An old SUV car drives up the long drive, and it slowly stops in front of an old mansion, as headlights shining.

Surrounded by the dense woods, this mansion was constantly giving the feeling of the old haunted house. The lawn in the mansion was covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves, and there were no traces of other human habitations around the entire manor.

As Aunt Helen tells us about our arrival at the new place.

"There it is." She looks at the mansion as she says little double"Pretty much how I remember it"

As she turns towards us, talking about her past to this place, "I was younger than you the last time I was here, Simon."

"Well, it's... big, " Mallory said totally dumbfounded.

"Yeah, so I can get bigger pets here, right, Mom?" Simon asked Helen.

"Sure! Get a cow. Get a whole flock" Helen replied to Simon as she couldn't deny.

"Herd." Simon corrected her.

"That, too. " Helen replied back as she looks through rear view and asks Jared. "What do you think Jared? "

To which he didn't reply so she asked again as she looking at him back seat, "Jared?"

He didn't listen over his earbuds, as he looks down without giving any response.

Mallory and Helen shares a knowing glare as they shake their heads. As Aunt Helen shows little depressed expression with the silence of Jared.

"Okay. Here we go. " She replied as she unbuckle the seatbelt in the car, to get out of it to open the mansion.

Mike felt like to remain quiet throughout the conversation, as he also got out the car to follow others.

Helen and Simon went into the house to check it out, while Mike stood outside of looking at it.

The notifications sounded in Mike's mind: "Ding, you found [The Spiderwick Chronicles] dungeon"

"Ding, New Quest Added!"

[Quest Name: The Spiderwick Chronicles

Quest Type: Main Quest

Quest Description: You have arrived at the Spiderwick Estate, explore the Spiderwick Mansion to know more about it.

Quest Objective: Investigate the "The Spiderwick Mansion"

Quest Reward: Unknown

Quest Penalty: N/A

Time Remaining: N/A]

Mike opened the quest log and looked at the quest description of the received quest. And then opened the Cheat Book to look at the quest walkthrough.

According to the details of the Cheat Book this place was inherited by Aunt Helen from her great-aunt Lucinda, Arthur Spiderwick's daughter.

In 1905, Arthur Spiderwick bought the Spiderwick estate and lived here for 30 years and studied magical creatures.

Later he writes a Field guide about the many Faeries he has encountered. After finishing the Book, he hides it away for fear of Mulgarath, a shape-shifting ogre who plans to use the Book's secrets for evil. But later he was taken away by the sylph after they saved him from goblins, who serve as Mulgarath's army.

And to start the main story of the dungeon, he has to find the Arthur Spiderwick's Field guide and the dungeon will be completed by defeating the Mulgarath and his goblins' army.

[The Spiderwick Chronicles] is a partially enclosed dungeon with no direct effect on the world. Hence it has it no fixed timelines between 1990 to 2010 and can vary according to the activation of the dungeon.

And because of Mike it was activated eighteen years earlier than its correct timeline, but still all small details were corrected by the world itself like it used to happen in the game.

As Mike turned back towards the car, he finds Helen trying to convince Jared. And Mallory was taking out the things from the trunk of the car. So he followed her in getting the luggage out of the trunk.

Picking up his bag to keep it into the house he followed behind Helen. As he returned to get other stuffs, he found Mallory and Jared having an argument while fencing to which he ignored.

After a while, he pulled more things out of the trunk and turned around to return into the house. He found Jared standing alone there as Mallory and Simon have returned back into the house.

"You better come inside the house soon, as who knows what is in the woods." Mike advised to Jared as he rushes back, as the lights of the house turns on.

When he walked in the house, Helen told him that he has to share the room with Jared and Simon. As he took his things into their room and started unpacking.

. . .

A few moments later, Jared walks in the room as he asks, "What are you doing?"

"Ua... Unpacking." Simon replies back as we were sorting out our unpacked stuffs to their new places.

"Why? I told you it was only temporary. " Jared asks Simon with irritation. As he kept the luggage bag down in the room.

"Dad's coming tomorrow, and he's gonna take us back with him." Jared told Simon.

"I know. But what about Mom? " Simon inquired while keeping his clothes in the bedside drawers.

"She can have Mallory, and Mike, he will be here for the next month." Jared said to Simon as he keeps his backpack down by the bedside.

"Come on, Simon, we can't stay here." said Jared as he picks up an old tablecloth from the bed.

"Look at this place. It's the house that time forgot. " He says as observed it and tries to smell as he takes it off instantaneously.

And he throws it back on the bed and said,"And it's got that..."

Simon opens his mice cage as replies, "Old people smell, I know." And checks on them, and closed it back.

"And what's this?" said Jared as he looked towards the window, and reached out with a finger and to touch some white powder like substance spread on the window's stool.

As he licks it and said"Salt. There's salt on the window." As turns back towards the Simon.

"I know. It's on all the windows." Simon replies, as points toward the other windows.

"Yeah, and that's not weird." Jared said as he looks at us.

"I'm guessing she put it there." Simon told us as he moves in front of a family photo on the wall, and we followed behind him.

Jared asked Simon looking at the old Spiderwick family photo with a middle age man on the right side with an adult woman on the left and a teenager girl in the middle"ls that the nut bag and her husband?"

"No." Simon replies as he told, "That's Arthur Spiderwick, you know, our great-great-uncle."

As Simon continues to tell us, "The little girl's the nut bag. I mean, Aunt Lucinda, his daughter."

"She's the one who lived here before they took her away to the..." Simon started hesitating. And tried to speak again "To the..."

"To the nut house." Jared completed his words.

Simon agreed "Right."

"And why'd she get taken there?" Jared questioned with a hidden smile.

"Because she said her father was abducted." Simon replied reluctantly.

"By?" Jared questioned again.

"By faeries." Simon replies in weak voice with embarrassment.

"Exactly." Jared said, "Our crazy aunt stayed here her whole life and never left, ever!" with emotions of excitement on his face...

"That's not gonna happen to me, or you."

"End of discussion." He finally stopped talking as he left for there and laid down on the bed.

While, Mike stood there in front of the photo, as he thought, 'Strange, before this dungeon protected by the game rules. So, only player could access this area. But now this world has become the real world, so other inhabitants of this world will also know what's happening here. And according to the [Clause 73, International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy] the wizards should have erased the magical related things in Muggle world. So, why great-aunt Lucinda's memories related incident, was still there.'

'Right, when this incident happened at that time Scourers and the dark lord Gellert Grindelwald were creating trouble throughout the Wizarding world. Hence, no one had time to take care of it. And after, people took her as mentally ill. Wizards just left things like that.'

'Or maybe this place was so remote that they don't have any knowledge about it.'

'Anyway, what Jared and Simon don't know that she was telling the truth and her dad taken away by the sylph to save him from goblins. And by completing the dungeon, she could reunite with her father.'

. . .

In the kitchen, Mike sat at the dining table with Jared and Simon having dinner. With few candles, loaf of bread and egg fried rice on the table, simple and perfect dinner. As Aunt Helen looks through the kitchen counter, as she asked us, "Has anybody seen my keys? I know I left them right here."

As she looks towards us, "Nope." Simon instantly responded as, she smiled at him with silence.

As she looks back at the counter, looking at the shelves filled with honey jars, and she said, "I guess Aunt Lucinda liked honey with her oatmeal, huh?"

"And tomato sauce." Simon added as he looked towards the small storage room next to the kitchen, with its shelves filled with tomato sauce jars.

Following the direction she walks in the storage room, as she looks into and, she exclaimed with surprise, "Wow."

Mallory enters the kitchen with little annoyance on her face as she questions Jared, "Where is my fencing medal, Jared?"

"Hanging on your bed?" Jared answers with baffle.

"It's not there anymore." She told.

"Well, find the bed, and you'll find your Medal." Jared answered again.

"I'm not talking about the bed..." As she got angrier, as she sat down on the chair by the dining table with an irritated laugh and told him, "You know what?"

"I'm not acknowledging your existence until you bring my medal back."

"Promise?" Jared asked happily, showing that he didn't care.

As they were starting their argument slowly at that moment, Helen enters the kitchen with little disappointment on her face.

While Simon jumped into their conversation"Well, actually, you'd have to acknowledge his existence in order to receive the medal from him."

"Thanks, Spock. You're the pride of the Federation." Mallory said to Simon, as she didn't like his logical joke.

As Helen sits leaning forward on the chair by the wall of the kitchen and demanded Jared in requesting tone"Jared, give it back."

"I didn't take the stupid medal!" Jared replied back with confusion and angry.

Mallory exclaimed with anger"You're such a liar!"

"Conflict." Simon tried to speak as Mallory and Jared roared at him.

"Shut up, Simon!"

"Shut up, Simon!"

As Helen cried out, "Hey!"

"We're not gonna do this." She said with patience while explaining, "New town. New house. New job."

As she stood up from the chair and moved towards us, speaking"This is our new life."

As she stands behind Jared holding him by his shoulder as she continues"Let's not fall into old ruts, okay?"

"I know this house isn't perfect, but we can make it work, if we want to make it work." While taking a frying pan from the table and moves towards the kitchen basin.

She asked everyone"All right?"

"All right, Mom." Mallory replied back to her.

But, as Aunt Helen opened the basin tap, it broke down and her face was drenched all over by splashing water.

"Shut up!" she yells in frustration and took a towel from the kitchen counter while sobbing and dries her face off as she moves to go out of the kitchen. When her phone rings as she reaches to pick it up.

"Hi." She said in low rough voice trying to hide her sad emotion. As she started talking on the phone with someone.

When, Mallory and Simon looked at each other and exclaimed in low volume.

"Dad."

"Dad."

"Yeah, we made it." As Helen continued to talk on the phone, in the room next to the kitchen.

"What's that noise in the background?"

"You know, scratch that. I don't want to know."

"Just because I don't."

Mallory picks up her dinner plate, as stood up from her chair and said, "I'm gonna go look for my medal."

"I'll help you." Simon also stood up with his dinner plate and a loaf of bread and followed behind.

As Mike found that maybe following them will be better choice compare to sit here and listen to conversation between Jared and his dad. Because it's obvious that he going to have a talk with his dad, asking him to come and get him back.

"I'll help too." as Mike followed them.