Luigi's Arc

Chapter 1 of 4

Luigi's brother was gone, and the dark inside the mansion swallowed everything. One minute Mario had been beside him on the rotted porch. The next, something dragged him through the front door, and the door slammed shut. Now Luigi stood inside the old house, hands out, seeing nothing. He had come here to save Mario. Instead he could not even see his own boots. He took one step. His foot found a hole in the floor. He fell to his knees, heart pounding. Somewhere ahead, wood creaked. Whatever took Mario was still moving in the black. Luigi could walk right into it and never know until claws found his throat. He patted his pockets. No matches. No lantern. Then he remembered the small green friend who had followed him up the hill. "Yoshi," Luigi whispered. "Are you here?" A soft chirp answered from near his elbow. Yoshi pressed against his leg, warm and shaking. The little dinosaur had never liked the dark, but he had refused to wait outside. Luigi felt the leather saddle on Yoshi's back. He remembered something. Yoshi could sniff out anything, even in pitch black. "Find Mario," Luigi said. "His smell. Find him, boy." Yoshi sniffed the floor. He chirped twice and tugged Luigi's sleeve, pulling him forward. Luigi crawled behind him, one hand on the saddle, the other testing the floor for holes. Step by step, Yoshi led him around a broken chair and past a cold fireplace. The blind walk became a trail. Luigi was not stumbling anymore. He was following. Then Yoshi stopped. He growled low. Ahead, two red points opened in the dark, like coals waking up. They floated at the height of a small child. A shadow took shape around them, black on black, its edges ragged and shifting. It made no sound. The red eyes fixed on Luigi. Luigi froze. This was the thing. Not the one that grabbed Mario, but something smaller, watching. It drifted closer, and the air went colder. Luigi grabbed a fallen board from the floor and swung it hard. The board passed through the shadow and cracked against the wall. The creature did not flinch. The red eyes brightened. Then the shadow turned and slid away down a hall, fast, like smoke pulled by wind. Yoshi barked and yanked Luigi after it. Luigi understood. The thing was not attacking. It was leading them somewhere. They chased the two red lights through the dark. At the end of the hall, a door hung open, glowing faint green from within. The shadow slipped inside and vanished. Luigi stopped at the doorway, breathing hard. He could see now. The blind dark was behind him. But what waited in that green light made him wish he was blind again. On the floor of the room lay Mario's red cap, empty, and a wet trail leading deeper into the house.