Chapter 1 - Expected Occurrence
A pair of eyes slowly opened. With blurred vision, they scanned the room, finally stopping at the spinning ceiling fan. Enil sat up in bed weakly as the rays of the morning sun grazed his face.
He stretched lazily with a yawn, twisting some joints. His room looked as if a burglar had broken in and rummaged through everything. The couch was torn open, with foam scattered across the floor.
"Did I sleepwalk again?" Enil asked himself with a sigh. He scanned the room before starting to tidy up.
He gathered the scattered foam, placed it back on the couch, and cleaned up the rest of his mess. It took him an hour and a half to finish. He glanced at the clock; it was already past nine.
He headed to the bathroom, showering as he tried to recall last night's dream. Out of the bathroom, he glanced at his muscular reflection in the mirror and grinned slightly.
Then he noticed the wall clock again and frowned, "I'm late for school... again."
Enil stepped out of his mansion. His parents had bought this house for him before they left to travel the world. He was against living in such a big place, but his parents insisted on buying him the best.
He looked at the garage, wondering if he should take one of the cars today, but after a moment, he dismissed the idea. Those cars attracted too much attention, and he hated being the center of it.
Suddenly, thunder rumbled, and soon a heavy downpour began. Luckily, Enil always carried an umbrella, or he would’ve been drenched. Shielding himself, he walked slowly to school.
---
Classes had already started when Enil arrived, and his teacher didn’t look pleased to see him standing in the doorway while the others sat with notebooks open.
"You're late again, Mr. Darkenston," his teacher, a beautiful woman, scolded.
"Sorry..." Enil muttered, moving towards his seat.
"Oh no," she stopped him, "you're not going anywhere, young man."
"Why?" he asked.
"This is the sixth time you’ve been late this week," she replied.
"Sixth?" Enil raised a brow.
"You were late for my class twice yesterday," she added, her eyebrows raised.
"Oh," Enil nodded, remembering he’d almost missed her class twice.
"So, that’s detention for you. Meet me in my office at 3 p.m.," she said with a sarcastic smile.
"Yay!" a group of students cheered. They were Enil's friends.
"Why are you guys so happy?" Enil asked, confused. "Don’t tell me you’re also in detention?"
"Yep, we are," they replied in unison.
"Ugh!" Enil pouted, annoyed.
---
Time flew by, and Enil and his friends soon found themselves in the principal's office. Not wanting to be disturbed, the principal sent them to the library with an additional task: they had to reorganize the bookshelves.
The five of them, Enil included, started working that afternoon. It took hours, but they finished before six. The principal was still busy in his office, buried in paperwork.
"Shouldn't we be going?" asked Ron, one of Enil’s friends.
"Nah," Theo replied. "Let’s wait until the principal’s done and ask him for a ride home."
"Smart," Larry nodded.
Timmy, another friend, noticed Enil staring out the window and walked over.
"Enil, what are you looking at?" he asked.
"Just a house," Enil replied.
"A haunted house, you mean," Samuel added.
"Haunted?" Enil turned to face him.
"Yeah, didn’t you hear the story?" Sam asked.
"What story?" the others asked.
"Don’t tell me none of you know the story of the White Ghost?"
"A what?" Theo chuckled. "Another urban legend."
"I'm not so sure about that," Sam replied. "You know I’m into stuff like this, right? I’ve done my research on that house, and I’m telling you, it might really be haunted."
"And what makes you think that?" Enil asked.
"I looked into it, and over the last sixty years, fifteen people have gone missing in that house. The story goes that they went in but never came out," Sam explained.
"You’re just trying to scare us," Larry shivered.
"Believe what you want, but I’d advise you not to go near that house," Sam warned.
Enil kept his gaze on the house. He felt drawn to it. A voice kept ringing in his head, urging him to visit. With each passing second, it grew louder. Enil wasn’t sure anymore if the voice was in his head or if he was actually hearing it.
"Enil, no!" Samuel warned as if reading Enil's mind. "You’re not going."
"I don’t know, I just feel drawn to it," Enil replied.
"That's what you say whenever you see a cemetery," Theo laughed. "It’s like you have a death wish or something."
"Believe it or not, he actually visited that cemetery," Samuel blurted out.
"Are you serious?" Larry exclaimed. "At night?"
"Yeah, I went with him," Samuel replied.
"And what did you see?" Theo chuckled. "A ghost?"
"No, something worse," Samuel said in a creepy tone.
"What?" they asked in unison, all except Enil. The pouring rain, rumbling thunder, and flashing lightning created a foreboding atmosphere.
"Your great-grandfather's ghost," Samuel replied.
"Shut up!" Theo threw a book at Samuel, frowning.
Samuel dodged, still laughing, as the others groaned in irritation. For a moment, he had them hooked, only to reveal a joke at the end.
"So, are you going to visit the place?" Theo asked Enil.
"Yeah, he’s going," Samuel answered for him.
"I won’t," Enil shook his head.
The others left with the principal, but Enil stayed behind to read. They warned him not to visit the haunted house, and he promised he wouldn’t, though he planned to go.
He grabbed his backpack and umbrella before heading toward the haunted house. He crept cautiously through the dark forest. The downpour wouldn’t stop, and the thunder drowned out his hearing.
The closer he got to the house, the farther it seemed. "Is this some kind of trick?"
He continued moving toward the house, but it kept moving away from him. Frustration was building. Even his watch seemed to have stopped. He pulled out his phone, but the screen wouldn’t turn on.
"What is going on here?" Enil asked himself. "Maybe I should just go back."
Turning back, he froze. The trees behind him looked deformed, almost as if they were waving at him. His eyes couldn’t penetrate the darkness, not even when the lightning flashed.
For some reason, Enil felt that if he stepped into the darkness, he’d lose his life. Only someone like Enil, who had never been quite normal, would get such a feeling.
He could swear he saw shadows moving through the darkness—shadows that wouldn’t be visible unless you studied the darkness closely. Heart pounding, Enil moved toward the haunted house.
He walked for three more hours but still hadn’t gotten closer. The forest was growing increasingly eerie. Rain was falling, but it made no sound.
Am I losing my hearing? He snapped his fingers but heard nothing.
Panic set in, and when he turned around, he spotted a dark shadow racing toward him! Without hesitation, he started to run toward the house!
The sound of rapid footsteps filled the dark forest. Muddy footprints formed on the wet ground, and if someone looked closely, they would see another set of footprints close behind. But Enil was oblivious to it all; he couldn’t hear the sounds, and he didn’t see the footprints. All he did was run!…
