Sterling's Mansion III

	The archaic front doors groaned as they pressed inwards, slamming behind them as soon as they were all in. Cassy produced the map and began folding and flipping it to orient herself, puzzling over it as Amy whispered out her papers’ contents, stopping often to sound many of the terms out. With repeated crinkles of the map Cassy grew increasingly frustrated, unable to even place herself at the entrance on the floorplan she’d been given.
	“Well, we’re off to a great start already. This map is bunk,” she sighed. She wadded it into a ball and threw it across the small foyer.
	“Simply phenomenal,” Avery chimed in. “Very cool, thanks Sterling!”
	“Girls,” Amy shouted. “Did you know that the ghosts here can’t just be captured with the, uh, the uhhh, the vacuum?” She failed to remember its stunning brand name as she flipped through one of the thicker manuals. The two looked between themselves and Amy, their utter disinterest growing.
	“Thank you, Amy,” Cassy said. “Like I said, the map doesn’t work right - can *you* help us find our ghosts?” Avery rolled her eyes. Amy was ready to descend into another spew of lore and the intricacies of ghost hunting before a melodious tune began to carry through the air, the gentle play of a grand piano tinkling crystal-like through the air as a trumpet joined in and guided the melody. Cassy and Avery froze in surprise, were they human a cold shock would be running up their spines, and Avery made a mad dash for the door which refused to budge under her assault.
	“That must be the twins,” Amy shouted giddily, racing up the stairs to the second floor.
	“THE WHO,” the other two screamed as Amy disappeared upstairs. They sprinted up after the blonde nandroid who was now skipping down a central hallway, the music growing louder, fuller. Amy sat outside a door as she waved the other two forward, the three piling up to peep into the dark room beyond.
	“The flashlight,” Amy whispered. “Turn it off first, okay?” Cassy complied as the three slipped inside to the pitch black room, the music filling the room as an invisible duet played off of each other in the dark, the trio stumbling over themselves onto a ill-positioned couch.
	“Amy, please, please be the one to tell me this is fake,” Avery said.
	“Not at all, Avery - the Sinclair twins were always playing music for their mother, and were the talk of the town in their day,” Amy returned, pointing to a passage in one of the brochures. “They were an excellent duet act and played across the state.” Avery’s head fell flat into her palms.
	“You’ve gotta be joking dude, this isn’t real.”
	“I assure you ghosts are very real, Avery! Don’t be rude, just listen.” As the three returned to silence the room lightened just slightly as two translucent blue shapes coalesced seated at and standing beside the piano. Amy smiled as the two came into focus in the dark, a dapper gentleman blowing away at the trumpet as his sister’s fingers graced the keys delicately, meting out the notes as the two gently played alongside each other. The sister swished her hair.
	“We’ve company, James,” she said. He continued warbling away at the trumpet, nodding to his sister as the music crescendoed to a boisterous resolution. He lowered his trumpet, panting.
	“Nice to meet you,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “You’re very thin for humans, aren’t you?”
	“We’re robots, sir!”
	“Robots, huh? Didn’t figure I’d be around long enough to see them but,” he started, swiping a hand through his torso repeatedly, “here we both are. Speaking of which, why *are* you all here?” The uncomfortable question hung in the air for a moment as all the robots looked at between themselves, two of them not even able to process what was happening in front of them. Amy opted to shatter the atmosphere as she pointed to Avery’s backpack.
	“We’re here to catch you, mister and missus!” The other two recoiled in shock as the cat was out of the bag, now, and it was up to them to salvage it. Avery put her hands up defensively as Cassy shook her head in disagreement.
	“Not like that, not like that at all! You see our, uh, our employer,” Avery began, “has come into possession of this very, very fine property - a beautiful home you have, really. And he’s a believer in the supernatural, evidently, so we’ve been sent here to, well, collect you guys up?”
	“Well Billie, what should we do with these crude rapscallions,” James smiled.
	“They don’t seem too dangerous, Jim. Maybe it is time to go, even after everything,” his twin returned. She turned to the robots, continuing. “You three, however, need to listen to our favorite piece to play, it’s the least you could do if you’re evicting us. It’s a shame mother isn’t here to provide the vocals, though. It was her favorite.” The two twins shared a somber glance before arresting themselves wordlessly, arms at the ready and trumpet raised. As they began their final duet Cassy began to feel the melody in her mind, an innate memory of the melody and lyrics falling into place. She swelled with anxiety at interrupting them, but stood defiant of herself as she walked over. She walked joined them to form a trio, flanking the wide-eyed twins as she broke into song, her voice sounding through the room as the piece came together. Verse after verse she continued the slow, nostalgic piece, its mournful lows made sweet and tender as Cassy sang, coming to the final verses:
	“I'll be seeing you
	In every lovely summer's day
	In everything that's light and gay
	I'll always think of you that way
	I'll find you in the morning sun
	And when the night is new
	I'll be looking at the moon
	But I'll be seeing you…”

	The twins continued their playing for a bit, little tears tickling their cheeks as the song slowed further and they stopped. A weighted silence fell onto the room again.

	“I think it might be time to let go of this place, Jimmy,” the sister said. “I just wish Mom could’ve been here to see you play.”
	“Yeah, sis… yeah. It’s time to go,” he said, his breath ragged. He chuckled a bit, collecting himself. “So, uh, how we doing this, ladies?” His voice cracked. Amy signed to Cassy to turn her flashlight on, and she shone it through the twins to their surprise, highlighting a bright blue core bobbing inside them.
	“Well that’s certainly new, eh Billie?”
	“It tickles a bit, doesn’t it?”
	“That it does,” he said, smiling. The twins stood up and embraced slowly in the middle of the little parlor, squeezing each other tightly as Amy nodded to Avery in turn, manual open in her lap. The deafening roar of the vacuum tugged at their ghostly hair and clothing as they swirled inside the machine, the lights flickering on in the room as they disappeared with an unceremonious pop. Avery and Cassy stared, dumbfounded, at each other as the room sat silent. Amy sniffed as she stiffened her lips, rising to join her companions.
	“There’s more ghosts out there. We’re not done yet.” Holding the manual she took charge as they left the room again, searching for the mansion’s next inhabitants.