I'm not your Hero, I'm your King

Chapter 18 - Exploring the castle of the dead

A/N: Sooo yeah, I'm back and also too late. Sorry for that... I just hadn't the time to upload this chapter :/ BUT I made an important announcement on my profile, so make sure to check it out! This will be the last chapter for a little while, I want to write the next chapters and publish them when I'm ready and satisfied with them. It will probably take a little while 'cause I don't have much time right now. For more information, you can read my announcement :D I hope you like this chapter, if so feel free to vote^^

Valerie's pov.

Everyone talks loudly and Paulina and Star scream in excitement, but everyone falls silent as soon as they hear a familiar voice echoing through the entrance hall.

"Welcome to my castle!"

We all look up to the Ghost boy who floats a few meters above us. I still can't believe that this jerk is a King. He ruined mine and many other lives, he doesn't deserve to have so much power. What is a king doing in the human world anyway?

A quiet murmur goes around and he clears his throat before he continues:

"We will guide you the rest of your tour home. Please follow me."

I look to the others, they actually follow him. Sam nods silently to Tucker, I have no idea what he said but they are pretty reclusive anyway. Danny's death was hard for me too, I couldn't believe it when they declared him dead. I have no idea how Sam and Tucker must have felt after their best friend died. It must be really hard for them...

I miss Danny a lot. We weren't so close, but we were good friends for a while. I know something was definitely wrong with him, everybody knew that. He always ran away from... something. He was always daydreaming, he failed tests and got bad grades, he was always tired and slept in classes and sometimes he came to school injured.

All of this began after he had this accident.

I wonder what really happened, he never told us. I know he had the accident at home, that's why I don't trust Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, but I don't know any details. It must have been really bad because he was in the hospital for quite a while.

*

We all follow the King into a room that looks like a living room, there is a big couch and a fireplace. On the walls are some bookshelves and curtains decorate the big glass windows. This place looks pretty familiar to the living rooms in our world and I suddenly wonder if the Ghost King was a human once too.

"Please wait here, I need to talk to Mr. Lancer and Mrs. Fenton." He says and looks at Maddie and Lancer. Weird, his eyes have something... dark in it. The look on his face looks disgusted for a second, it's so brief it's barely noticeable. Did I imagine that?

"What do you want from us, Ghost?!" Maddie asks and stands in a defensive position. Lancer looks way calmer than Mrs. Fenton.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you." Inviso-Bills eyes glow for a moment in a venomous green and he adds: "I would already have done so if I wanted to." After that, he smiles innocently as always and walks to the door. A butler opens it for him.

"Please come with me, we need to talk somewhere else."

With these words, the three leave. Jack is still unconscious and lies on the Couch.

The rest of the class just stands there awkwardly and nobody really knows what to do now. Dash is the first one to say something.

"Do you think we can look around? This castle is huge, there are probably many rooms we can explore."

"Do you really think this is a good idea? We don't know anything about this place. What if the Ghosts are watching us?" Kwan says and I nod in agreement.

"Yes, it's too dangerous to walk alone through these walls. We don't know which traps are hidden in this castle."

"But we can try and find out." Star replies and Paulina nods.

"Let's go, guys, we don't know how much time we have left to explore!"

"Are you guys sure? What if the King finds us and we all get punished? Maybe we will never get back home..." I say unsure about this and the others groan annoyed.

"C'mon Val, we'll get home later. Do ya wanna come with us?" Tucker asks me and I nod slowly.

"Okay, I guess. Let's go."

Sam, Tucker, Tony, and I turn left as we leave the Living room while the rest of the class turns right. I wonder what kinds of rooms we'll find.

The first two rooms we entered looked like normal living rooms. The second one was full of coloring books and crayons. Nobody asked questions, we all assumed the king has some weird hobbies. He probably lets his inner child out in this room, a few plushies had been laying on the couch too.

The third room looks like a gym. There is a lot of sports equipment and everything is tidied up just like the first room. Looks like he forgot to clean up the mess in the second living room.

In the next room is a cinema or something. There aren't many seats, just a few really big armchairs. We tried them out, they are really comfy.

"What do you think is in the next room?" Tony asks and I shrug.

"Maybe a playground or something?" I chuckle slightly and Tony and Tucker laugh with me. Sam was quiet the whole time, she talked sometimes and I think I didn't hear her talking so much like today in the past days - or weeks. Maybe she's daydreaming, but I don't know for sure. Tucker noticed her look too and nudged her slightly. Sam looks at him with a questioning look.

"Huh? Sorry, I was distracted." Sam rubs the back of her neck but Tucker waves it off.

"No problem, are you alright?" He asks and she nods.

"Guys, here's the next room." Tony says smiling and tries to open the door, but fails.

"What? This door is locked too! The last one was already locked." He groans annoyed and Sam says:

"Maybe we should check out the other side where the rest of the class is."

"You're probably right. C'mon, let's get back."

As we walk back to the living room we came from, I hear a chuckle from seemingly nowhere.

"Did you guys hear that too?" I ask confused and Tucker nods.

"Yeah, but I don't know where it came from." Then, another chuckle. It's too high to come from a boy. Or is it from a child? I don't know, but it's kind of creepy.

"Should we check that out? Maybe it wants to tell us something." Tony assumes and we all look at him.

"I don't know if that's a good idea, to be honest... We're gone now for half an hour or so. We definitely should go back. The King, Mr. Lancer, and Maddie could be waiting for us already." Sam replies and I nod agreeing.

"I think that's a good idea. If they aren't there, we still can explore the castle further."

We all walk silently next to each other through the empty hallway. This place looks so... lifeless. What an irony to say this. It's the castle of the Ghost King himself, what did I expect? No one is around, the only sounds we hear are the footsteps echoing through the halls and our breathing. Nothing else. How is the Ghost kid able to "live" here? I would probably go insane in all this loneliness.

As we walk closer to the door that leads to the first living room, I hear voices from the other side of the door. Are they already back?

Tony opens the door and suddenly 9 pairs of eyes look directly at us.

"Ah, you finally arrived."