Disclaimer: I do not own the Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst series. This is an AU of that universe. This was inspired by The Basement Chronicles by SilveRanger on AO3. I highly recommend you read that as well, even though it is not related to this story.

-------

The next morning, presumedly, Charles returned. Maddie only knew that Rose had stayed with her the whole night when she felt her vanish in a quick cloud of fog when the door opened. The memories of what had happened and where she was crashed into her full force, and her mood was immediately dampened. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes groggily, she did her best to pay attention to what Charles was jovially telling her, which, apparently, was that he had finished her new room and he was ready to take her there. He would show her around as they made their way.

Everything about this proved to be more horrifying as she was led deeper into this labyrinth. Because that's what it was. Charles took them down so many corridors that all looked the same before they reached what looked like a main atrium. An elegant statue that she usually saw in churches overlooked the foyer, torches mounted on either side of the archway. The torches illuminated words etched into the stone on either side of the statue:

Together, in death, our hearts will beat as one

Maddie shivered at the statement, wondering how much it hit home. She didn't know if there were any other spirits besides Rose in this place, but from what the ghost mentioned, there most certainly were. She doesn't know why they were still stuck here, but she knew that it had to have been something that Charles had done. She feared the day he would do the same to her.

Beyond this main archway, more essential rooms were housed on either side of the massive stone hall. It was reminiscent of a medieval dungeon, if it weren't for the homely additions. One room held a kitchen, another a parlor. Yet another held the dining hall, and Charles explained this was where they would all meet for dinner every evening. They moved further into the tunnels, the stone giving way to packed dirt walls. It solidified for Maddie that she truly was buried underground.

The tunnel eventually gave way to a massive cavern, and it was here that Maddie began to feel deeply disturbed. The setting was meant to be a replica of a busy downtown street bustling in the 1920s. Except, it wasn't the 1920s anymore and it wasn't bustling. It occurred to her that this was all built for someone specifically, to emulate living a life outside this constricting "home" into a cheap illusion, a façade. The blue sky being replaced with the brown dirt walls of the cavern didn't help matters.

"This was for Rose and my eldest daughter, Emma," Charles explained, presenting the twisted scene with a flourish, as if showing off an art project. "After I relocated them down here, they missed the simple joys of going out into town to the salon or stopping by the local flea market. The things that women tend to enjoy occupying their time with." This disturbed Maddie even more, because this suggested that Charles didn't kill his family before moving them down here, they had been alive, cut off from the outside world. Just how long had they been trapped here? And "relocating" was a generous term to use for his family instead of saying he imprisoned them.

They moved on, further along into the depths of this elaborate maze. Maddie had long since given up trying to memorize the route, but she could at least remember her way back to the main atrium. Soon, they emerged into another large cavern, this one containing a small house in the center. It couldn't be any bigger than a cottage. A sandbox and a few playground accessories were situated in front of it. It looked like it was meant for small children, children like her. She wasn't sure if she was meant to feel comforted by that, or more on edge.

Charles took her by the hand and led her into the cottage. There wasn't much to it inside: only one hallway holding three rooms. One was the bathroom, which contained a small washtub and sink. Charles explained that water would have to be drawn from the pump outside for her to take a bath. Maddie remembered seeing that. She didn't know how he got running water down here. Maybe there was a well nearby? Perhaps this was useful information to save for later.

Another room had its door shut, an odd and elaborate looking puzzle fixed to it. Maddie had no idea what its function could be besides a lock. Charles noticed her staring at it and he was slightly eager to explain. "This is the twins' room," he said, "Gwendolyn and Charlotte. They're twelve, which means," he leaned down to lightly boop her on the nose, "that you're the baby of the family."

Maddie didn't want to be a part of this family. But she refrained from voicing her thoughts out loud. She didn't want to get slapped again, or worse. Although, she had figured that the bedroom was for one of Charles' other children, what with the twin girl reliefs adorning both sides of the lock. At the end of the hall, the last door on the left, the room left ajar, the relief of a little girl with angel wings was fastened to the wooden surface. It didn't take a genius to figure out that this was her room. She suppressed the tingling up her spine at the realization that this was premeditated. Thankfully, there was no complex puzzle lock on her door. Not yet, her mind supplied.

The room was small and unassuming, a bed with a multicolored quilt against the wall to her right and a wardrobe to her left. One singular window was framed in between the two commodities. Although, there was nothing much to see outside of it besides the brown walls of the cave. Her tomb.

She mentally shook herself. She wouldn't survive very long if she kept thinking like that. She moved into the room, gently settling herself on top of the quilt on the bed, perusing what would be her new world. Charles stood in the doorway, observing her. "Do you like it?" he asked. Maddie didn't meet his eyes. "It's nice," she replied. She knew it would be something the madman would be satisfied with.

Charles clapped his hands together, delighted. "Wonderful! I knew you would. Now, there are clothes for you in the wardrobe. They may be a bit big for you since they're hand-me-downs from your older sisters, but I'm sure you'll grow into them. I suggest you wash up before changing. Afterwards, you may do whatever you like until dinner. I'm sure your sisters are around here somewhere. Just don't break anything and don't disturb me while I'm in my study. Understood?"

Maddie nodded, settling into getting used to having her life dictated from now on. "Do you have any questions?" This time, the girl did shift her gaze towards him, her blue eyes dull and weary. "When are you going to kill me?"

Charles frowned, making his way into the bedroom. "Kill you? I would never." He reached out to stroke her cheek affectionately. She did everything in her power not to pull away, knowing that the man wouldn't appreciate it. The gesture still made her skin crawl. "What on earth would ever make you think such a thing?"

Maddie didn't know if she should say this; she might get Rose in trouble. But she couldn't go without knowing. "Rose said that you killed her."

Something dark flickered in front of Charles' face before disappearing, replaced with a scowl. "I did not kill her," he said in a low, dangerous tone. "Despite what they say they are not dead. Not in a traditional sense anyway." He continued to rub his thumb against the girl's cheek, as if to comfort her. It did quite the opposite. "They are just... living in a separate plane than us. It would be confusing for someone as young as you to explain it. And I had to do it because they were dying from their own mortality." His expression morphed into something gentle again, and Maddie didn't know if that was better or worse. "I'm still trying to find a way so that our bodies are impervious to decay. When that happens, we'll all be closer as a family." He leaned down to plant a kiss on her temple, something that her mother would do before she went to bed at night. She didn't like it when Charles did it. "It'll be something to look forward to." He smiled, the smile of a predator. "And that means you've already met your mother. That's great! I knew she'd love you!"

He left then, keeping the door open. The entrance to the cottage opened and shut, the sound of his footsteps echoing until she couldn't hear them anymore. She knows she should be doing what Charles instructed her to do, but her limbs were locked in place. It vaguely occurred to her that the world around her was being sucked into a vast void. Her breath was stolen from her, as if something was drawing out all the oxygen from her lungs. If she could just breathe, she could think of a way to get out of here. Was that even possible? It wouldn't be if she didn't breathe. Why couldn't she breathe? Just breathe-

"Maddie!" A set of firm, cold hands violently jerked her shoulders, snapping her from the spiral she wasn't aware that she was drowning in. Blinking, she was greeted by the concerned face of Rose filling her vision, the spirit searching her eyes. She seemed to calm when she saw Maddie blinking, and she let out a small, relieved sigh (despite having no lungs to contain air). "Are you alright, little one?"

Was she alright? She didn't think so. Her cheeks were cold. It took her a moment to register it was because they were wet. She didn't know she had been crying. She wiped her eyes, dispelling the remaining tears. "Yeah," she offered weakly, standing up from the bed. Rose didn't press her on the obvious lie, and she was grateful for that. She instead opted to occupy herself with going through this wardrobe.

The closet contained many day dresses, the old-fashioned ones that Maddie saw on TV sometimes. In the drawer below this were several pairs of tights and other underclothes. Shoes were set off to the side of the wardrobe. Maddie settled on a plain white dress with light-pink trimming, picking out the garments that would go underneath it. She laid the outfit out on the bed before heading for the bathroom to grab the metal bucket beside the washtub. She carried it out to the water pump next to the playground. She wasn't sure if she was strong enough to work the pump, but she somehow managed. Once it was full, she returned to the cottage to fill the washtub. She had to repeat this a few more times before the tub was full.

The water from the pump was cold, and Maddie didn't know how she was going to heat it up. There was no stove nearby, and it's not like Charles would let her use one anyway. Sighing, she resigned herself to a cold bath, using the soap and washcloth set out for her to rub herself down. Once she was finished, she toweled herself dry, wrapping it around her middle to move back to the bedroom. Thankfully, the dress and stockings weren't too hard to figure out how to put on. The last thing she wanted was for Charles to help her get dressed.

The chill from the bath had started to fade as she pulled the dress over her head. She looked down at herself, wondering what Sadie would think if she saw her in this. She might say she looked like she jumped straight from one of their history textbooks. The thought of her friend brought on that dampening void again. She immediately shut it from her mind. It wouldn't do to think about her life outside. She would do that once she escaped. Something that might become easier since she's sure her mother would've told the police she was missing by now.

A light giggling out in the hallway caught her attention. Tentatively, she peeked around the doorframe to see what was there. Two girls, dressed in blue dresses similar to hers, stood side-by-side, hand-in-hand, in front of the locked bedroom door. The sight reminded her of something an older classmate had mentioned, a scene from an old horror movie. Maddie was too young to watch horror movies, but from what the classmate described, this looked similar. What was it called again? "The Shining?" Something like that.

The girl on the right giggled again, her curly blonde hair bouncing on her shoulders. Maddie noted the transparency of these girls; so, they were spirits too. "Hiya!" the girl who giggled called, waving one of her hands. "My name is Charlotte." She gestured to the girl beside her, who was an exact copy of her. "And this is my sister Gwen." Gwen wavered slightly in her wave, squeaking out a quiet "Hi." She was definitely the shier of the two.

"It's been awhile since we had anyone staying down here besides ourselves," Charlotte continued, bypassing her sister's lackluster greeting. "Mama said that Father brought you here. What's your name?" Maddie blinked a few times before she realized they were expecting her to answer. "Uh, Maddie," she said. Charlotte beamed. "Nice to meet you, Maddie!" She gestured at the living girl towards the front door. "We were just about to go outside to play. Wanna come?" Maddie hesitated only for a moment before following the ghost twins out to the playground. They huddled around the toys in the sandbox, as if this was a routine they had done hundreds of times before. Considering they were spirits, they most likely had.

"We like building sandcastles and playing knights and princesses!" Charlotte exclaimed. She turned towards Maddie who was approaching, looking over the different toys in the sandbox. "What do you like to play?"

Maddie sat down on the edge of the sandbox, watching the twins' spirits begin setting up imaginary castles, despite the fact that they couldn't really touch anything. "I like to play pretend," she answered. Charlotte's smile grew wider. "Great! We can play pretend princess rescue! Do you wanna be the knight, the princess, or the dragon?"

The corporeal girl felt her lips pull up in the beginnings of a smile. "The knight. I always wanted to save people. Like a superhero!"

Charlotte giggled. "Knight it is, then!" Maddie then, with her real flesh-and-blood hands, made sandcastles from the plastic buckets scattered in the sandbox. Once finished, with Charlotte as the princess and Gwen as the dragon ("Why do I have to be the dragon?!"), Maddie pretended to be the knight to save Charlotte. They repeated the scenario over and over again so that each had a chance to play a different role. Maddie found herself laughing along with the other girls, having as much fun as she would have if this were the schoolyard back home. She tried her best not to think about it.

Too soon, the tinkling of a bell sounded from the edge of the cavern. From the mouth of the cave entrance, Maddie could see Eric standing there with a handheld bell, one that he had rung to get the girls' attention. "Time for dinner!" he proclaimed jovially. Maddie dismissed the slightly demeaning feeling of Eric having to ring a bell to summon them, like they were servants or cattle being called in from the meadow. Nevertheless, she brushed herself off as best she could (something the twins didn't have to do because of their intangible nature) and hurried towards the main atrium. "Be sure to wash your hands before sitting at the table," Eric reminded her as she passed. She nodded, the pleasant mood she had built up by playing with the twins already dwindling.

Maddie washed up in the kitchen before making her way to the dining hall. The table itself was very obviously set up for six people but there was a new seventh place arranged where Charles was just finishing setting down that evening's meal. There was another full plate at the head of the table with one just like it on its left. The rest had plates and knives and forks and the like set, but there was no food. She could think of the reason why.

Because of this arrangement, it was easy for Maddie to take the full dinner set-up near the end of the table, opposite the head. That is where Charles took his place. Eric sat to his left. Soon enough, Rose entered and took her place on Charles' right, looking as though she wished to be anywhere but here. Maddie couldn't blame her. The twins followed soon after she did, practically tiptoeing around their father before seating themselves. There was one spot still empty.

Another woman walked in then, another spirit. As she crossed the threshold into the room, she took one look at Maddie and froze, as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Then she cast a ruthless, scathing glare towards Charles, clearly wanting to say something to him, but refraining, knowing the consequences. Charles himself beamed at the sight of her. "Ah, there you are, Emma. So nice of you to join us."

The woman, Emma, didn't reply, taking the last empty spot next to her mother. She looked like a much younger version of Rose. This also confirmed that Charles and Eric could see and hear the spirits as well. Maddie didn't think that was a good thing.

"Now that we're all here," Charles began, "let us begin." Everyone held out their hands to grasp, Emma and Gwen reaching for hers. She wasn't entirely sure what was going on until she took those frozen fingers in her own and Charles began to lead them in saying grace. She had never done that before, and it felt weird, but she kept silent. Rose looked like she was being forced to hold onto something particularly foul, and Charlotte acted like Eric's hand was burning her. She felt for them, she really did.

After concluding with "Amen," the family was free to dig in. It was pot roast, something that she had had before. But it wasn't nearly as good as how her mother made it. There were mashed potatoes and green beans to complete the meal. The spirits, who did not need to eat, just sat in silence as the living tucked into their meal. For Maddie, it would've been fascinating in a way, a mix of the dead and the living coexisting with one another. But in this particular circumstance, the tension was thick enough to make her stomach churn. She continued to eat, regardless. She didn't want to know the punishment for refusing to eat dinner. And, growing up, she was instilled with the lesson to eat everything that was on her plate. She did this even if she felt full.

Charles glanced over to Rose. "Now that we have a new addition to the family, she should at least learn the basics of cooking and cleaning. I trust you to handle that." Rose glanced briefly over towards her husband as if she just realized he was there. "Of course, dear," she replied.

"Were you planning on telling us about this 'new addition,' Father?" This came from Emma. Her tone had so much background loathing to it that Maddie was shocked that it didn't kill Charles right then and there. The madman wiped at a corner of his mouth with a napkin, flippantly brushing off her discordant attitude. "I told Rose and Eric about it, but I thought it would be a pleasant surprise for you children." He levelled his eldest daughter with a glare of his own. "Was it not?"

"You know, abducting people to drain them is bad enough. But this? I didn't think you could sink any lower." Charles didn't seem perturbed by this, probably because this was a regular occurrence between father and daughter, but Maddie was coiled up for the moment when Charles would snap. Gwen and Charlotte had died at a young age, so they were easily scared into submission. Emma, however, was similar to the older secondary students that Maddie knew back in Blackpool. Slightly rebellious because they were dissatisfied with their current circumstances. There wasn't much that Emma could do to her father, but it didn't seem to stop her from talking back.

Charles continued like he wasn't insulted by his own child. "No one will miss those vermin," he said. "But Madeleine is not like them. She's special. She is part of the family now, so I expect each and every one of you to welcome her and treat her as such."

"Yes, Father," the twins said in unison, robotic and monotonous. Emma hissed low through her teeth but made no further argument. She made her feelings clear, but she knew that she could do nothing about it. Down here, it seemed Charles' word was law, and Eric was his right-hand man.

The three corporeal beings in the room eventually finished their meal. Charles asked her if she liked it, and she said yes. If she hadn't liked it, she still would've said yes. She helped him and Eric clear the dishes from the table for them to be washed, even the ones that weren't used. Charles appeared to be adamant on maintaining this façade of a living, happy family, even though most weren't living and nearly everyone wasn't happy. It was like a dance you had to perform carefully, taking extra precautions not to step a toe out of line. Maddie swallowed hard. She wondered if she would be able to keep up.

The older family members were dismissed to their own devices while the younger ones were told to get ready for bed. Albeit the twins didn't need to do anything for that, nor did they need sleep, but Maddie had to, and they didn't want her to be alone through all of this. Once she was back in her bedroom in the cottage, she slipped into her pajamas provided for her, a pure white nightgown. As she climbed under the old quilt and settled on the rickety mattress, Charles suddenly appeared in the doorway.

"Would you like me to read you a bedtime story?" he asked. Maddie loved bedtime stories, though she was reaching the age where she was getting too old for them. Regardless, she didn't want the memory of her mother or father sitting on her bedside reading from a book as she was lulled to sleep to be tainted by this man. So instead, she plastered on the most pleasant smile she could muster, knowing full well it appeared fake. "No, Father, that's okay." She hoped the title would make him leave faster. "I'll be able to get to sleep just fine."

Charles smiled back at her, pleased. "Goodnight then, my little angel." She returned it just before he shut the door, leaving her in the semi-darkness, the only light filtering in through the window from the flickering torches outside on the cave walls. She tried her best not to imagine the walls collapsing and burying her alive under several feet of dirt. No one would be able to find her if that happened.

Her anxieties and fears were quickly dispelled at the appearance of Rose, materializing by her bedside. She pressed a caressing hand to her forehead. Maddie relished the contact, despite it being ice cold. The dead woman took up her lullaby once more, the melodic sound drifting around this tiny room. Maddie sighed, curling underneath the sheets and quilt, imagining that it was her mother singing. It worked well enough, and she was fast asleep.

If she had this every night, perhaps she could survive this.

-------

Author's Note: This is where I think it's interesting where an innocent child is forced to live in an environment where she coexists with spirits. At least the spirits are friendly and compassionate. Making friends with the dead can be quite intriguing.

The Master Detective will make his appearance soon! Stay tuned!

Praise is appreciated and constructive criticism is encouraged.

See you next time!

-The_Mayflower