Joseph and Chris Visit the Stauf House

By Joe

Summary: The first of a 16-part series. In April 2001, two young boys explore Stauf's mansion from The 7th Guest.

Prologue

This story is based on a computer game known as The 7th Guest. Trilobyte, a gaming company, created the game, and Virgin Interactive published it in the early 1990s.

In The 7th Guest, Henry Stauf, a bald man with brown hair at the sides, was rumored to be the cause of deaths of children in Harley, New York. An orphan boy, Stauf grew up in a place known as Vincent's Orphanage. The priests were fed up with Stauf's lying, stealing, and violence. As a young adult, Stauf spent some time at a reform, but he soon decided to give up and leave. He lived in the streets of Harley. He begged passer-bys for money. Most of the time, policemen would beat him every time he did such a thing.

One night in the forest, Stauf's life changed forever. He dreamed of a doll. In addition to that, some voices from his head ordered Stauf to build the doll. Stauf gathered the materials he needed and made the doll. He went to town and showed the doll to a bartender. The bartender said his daughter would like to have the doll. In return for the doll, the bartender provided Stauf food and shelter. Stauf was also given a workplace in an empty room of the bar. With time, Stauf dreamed of more toys and dolls. The voices in his head had greater influence. Stauf sold more and more toys. Eventually, he constructed dozens of dolls, puzzles, and toys. He sold them in a store he opened called Wonderworld and Toys. It was conveniently located in Harley by the Hudson River. The "Stauf toys" became very popular with the children. Nearly all the children in Harley purchased Stauf's merchandise. "A Stauf toy is a toy for life," people said.

But a dark side to the story was entangled in the plot. The children who owned a Stauf toy soon became ill with a virus that could not seem to be cured. Doctors failed to identify the virus. Not long afterward, Mr. Stauf shut down his store with no explanation for his sudden action. Stauf had seemingly disappeared without a trace for several years.

It wasn't until 1931 that Stauf's presence was unearthed again. Stauf mailed six invitations to a party at his elegant mansion. The invited guests all accepted the invitations, and on October 31, 1931, all six guests entered the mansion of Henry Stauf. It was believed that a seventh guest also arrived, although he was not invited. None of the guests were seen or heard from again. Stauf himself was never heard from again. His travel agent claimed he went on a cruise of the world and just disappeared, although nobody was certain that claim was credible. Most importantly, the mystery of the seventh guest was baffling to everyone. Perhaps nobody would ever know what happened that night. That is until two boys named Joseph and Chris entered the Stauf mansion and investigated the ruins of the mansion.

Joseph was 11 years old, but his 12th birthday was rapidly approaching in May. Joseph was short, and his height was only about 4'6" and weighed about 80 pounds. Joseph had short brown hair. He once had a bowl cut, but he got a Caesar cut as the barbers called it, which was similar to a buzz cut, although some hair was left longer at the front so it could be gelled either upward or downward. Joseph got the Caesar cut because it was too difficult for him to maintain his bowl cut. More importantly, though, he didn't think he looked very good with his bowl cut.

Chris was 8 years old, and he was due to turn 9 in August. Chris was also short, but he was similar in height to Joseph. Chris was a little bit big-boned, as well. Joseph was but an inch or two taller than Chris. Chris had short blonde hair and had a buzz cut.

Joseph and Chris both lived in the growing town of Fayetteville. Both lived near each other. They lived on two different streets that were connected by Seay Road. Joseph lived on Greenfield Circle, and Chris lived in Asbury Ridge. Both neighborhoods were composed of upper-middle class residents, although Asbury Ridge was built more recently, and Greenfield Circle had started to show its age.

The boys went to the same school, as well. Both boys went to Spring Hill, which was a nice school that was only about 5 years old. It had a shiny red roof and a cheerful atmosphere. It was surrounded by lots of fresh green grass, and it had a parking lot in the front. To the left, there was a bus loop for the buses to park. Behind the school was a soccer field and a playground. At the front of the school to the right, there were several white trailers, which were used for extra classrooms.

Joseph was in the 5th grade and went to Mrs. Sandy Choisnet's class. Chris was in the 3rd grade, and he went to Mrs. Tammy Brown's class. Both Joseph and Chris were very intelligent. In addition to their education in the standard classes, they both went to Mrs. Martie Johnson's enrichment class at different times of the day. The classes were held in a trailer, which was among several other trailers located on the front of the school to the right.

Joseph and Chris rode bus #203 in seat 6a. Despite the fact that the boys were very similar to each other, they had lots of trouble getting along. Chris was more laid-back and calm, but Joseph was wild and out of control. He was primarily silly around Chris for some reason. Joseph often clamed Chris's head arm in his arms and yelled, "Chiefie, chief…CHIFE!" Joseph also wanted Chris to play stupid games on the bus. Sometimes, he would get Chris to pretend that the two of them traveled back in time and met woolly mammoths that could talk and drink orange soda. Other times, he made Chris pretend that the two of them were two men called the Spaceboys, who were men that traveled in space and had adventures.

As one could imagine, Chris was very annoyed by this nonsensical behavior, and he really had a lot of patience to put up with Joseph. Sitting next to him wasn't pleasant, however. One day, the bus driver of bus #203, Mrs. Mann, told Chris he could sit in seat 7a, which was the seat directly behind the current seat. Eager to move from Joseph, Chris moved. Joseph, however, got lonely after a while, so Mrs. Mann said he could sit with Chris in seat 7a. Chris groaned and moaned when he found out that Joseph was going to sit with him again.

A friend of the boys, Tanner Sims, who sat across from seat 7a, noticed one Friday afternoon that the boys had trouble getting along. He wanted to come up with a way that they could be friends with each other. Then, he indirectly dared them to stay at the Stauf house, which was conveniently located on Greenfield Circle. Joseph was eager to do so, and Chris reluctantly agreed.

The next day, Joseph and Chris entered the Stauf mansion. Upon entering the house, they forgot all knowledge about Stauf and his mansion. They aimlessly solved puzzles that laid around the house over a course of several days. While they spent time at the property, they met former tenants of the building, "Old Man" John and Bob Carmichael. Both had a story to share about the frightening events inside the house. That didn't keep the boys from wanting to solve the mystery. Finally, after solving many puzzles, they reached their destination, which was the attic. There, they solved the final puzzle, and before entering another room in the attic, they discovered the secret of the seventh guest, and they remembered everything they did before entering the mansion. The boys entered the back room, and they saw Henry Stauf himself sitting in an old wheelchair, and they watched with horror as he tried to devour Tad. Tad finally broke free from Stauf, and Stauf was seen sinking into the floor. The boys thought that they had beaten Stauf and solved the mystery. However, they were not even close.

It turned out that Stauf still resided in the house, and he chased the boys out. Instantly, Joseph and Chris took dramatic action. They called the police and hired scientists, priests, and all sorts of professionals to invade the Stauf house in an attempt to beat him.

Stauf was not beaten until Joseph and Chris pretended to play Spaceboys. They dug out Stauf's coffin and flew in their ship. They tossed Stauf's coffin toward heck, and that temporarily stopped the haunting. Joseph, Chris, "Old Man" John, and Bob moved into the Stauf house and fixed it up. They felt that Stauf had been defeated until the night they played cards in the attic when mysterious things suddenly occurred.