the stupid dare.
they should've been at somebody's house. asleep. playing games. talking to each other. gossiping.
yet, here they are, walking into an abandoned house— cold, eerie, haunting, unsettling.
"come on, you know sleepovers are not fun until somebody's dead or dying" Ava said, obviously the one who dragged us into this abandoned house for no reason.
nobody laughed, we all just stepped in, walking through the hallway, scared— scared of the floor breaking or somebody killing us, i don't know.
i didn't belong here. nobody did. yet, here we are.
five of them in total.
ava, the one who was always sugar-high on adrenaline and stupid decisions.
jules, always filming— already filming, her phone shaking in her hands as she whispered some lame commentary.
noah, the rational one, the one who'd roll his eyes at everything and everybody.
theo, who made jokes to hide the fact that he was more than scared.
and, lenora— the girl who hadn't said a full sentence since they arrived.
The house smelled like bodies rotting and old, dead, unsettling secrets— the secrets that were never meant to be heard.
And the air was too still, no breeze, no creaks. Just the sound of shaky breath and bad choices.
they settled in the main room, flashlights bouncing off stained walls, the faint moonlight that was begging them to leave.
"why are we even here? this is just stupid." noah said, rolling his eyes, as usual.
"oh noah, shutup, don't kill the fun" ava replied, clearly annoyed. "Alright, truth or dare?" ava added, plopping down on a dust-covered chair like she was still in control.
it started innocent.
stupid dares, lick the dirtiest window, kiss somebody.
stupid truths about ex and lovers, friends and enemies.
Theo would try to scare them every now and then, "oh i felt somebody touching my leg."
noah pretended to be brave, checking the time like he had somewhere more rational to be.
then ava said it.
"let's do something more interesting, i promise it'll be fun. let's hunt ghosts."
wow. as if coming here wasn't enough.
lenora's stomach dropped.
"come on, i'm serious." ava said, pulling out a black device from her jacket pocket.
"it's not real, pfft." noah shrugged
"it's real, i swear." ava annoyingly answered, "my cousin tried it at a cemetery and it SCREAMED."
"ava, no, you're insane " jules muttered.
noah said, "that's completely fake"
theo said, "hell yeah."
and lenora? she was too stunned to speak, she was already watching the black corners of the room as if something was already watching back.
it started.
the emf reader blinked red.
they all laughed, the flashlights flickered— everybody stopped laughing, as if they could already feel the negativity.
"say something. if anyone's here, make a noise" ava whispered into the dark.
nothing.
they waited.
silence.
one knock.
sharp. hollow. from upstairs.
jules gasped-
theo was already on the verge of tears.
"okay, that was probably a racoon." noah said, but his voice cracked.
the emf spiked again. red. then yellow. then green.
something was moving. something that couldn't be seen. but it was there.
ava, obviously, the bravest one.
she whispered again, "hello? can you tell us your name? hello?"
the temperature dropped. their breaths hitched.
and then, the voice — "...where am i?"
the voice came out almost soft. lost. a girl. maybe 13 or 14?
"do you know you're dead?" ava asked.
wow, that was a nice thing to ask.
the voice came again, almost crying.
"dead?what? no, no it can't be— i am not dead"
her voice was breaking, "he... he's chasing me, help me please, he's after me, he's going to grab me, please."
"who grabbed you?" jules asked quickly, as if she was already making up her mind to help the girl.
"he...he.. he said don't scream— he said he won't hurt me... please, please help me."
SLAM.
a door upstairs.
everyone jumped.
"alright, okay, that's enough." noah said.
"she's clearly traumatized, this is fucked up. i am leaving."
the emf blinked again.
another voice. deeper this time.
"help me" another voice whispered. "he's... he's not letting me leave..my body...my skin.. it's burning...help me please.
"my wife... where's my wife... please tell her, i didn't mean to leave, please...i...i am sorry."
a guttural sob. a cry for help. loud. raw.
"the fuck ava, just stop, enough" lenora finally spoke. too tired of this game, she added, "this...this isn't just a game, we have to stop now. i don't care."
but ava, she wasn't listening.
"hey, look it blinked again."
"no for god's sake ava, stop it."
"i can't stop it, i can't switch it off. help me." ava sounded scared, which was unusual.
the device wouldn't turn off. it buzzed in ava's hand.
then a voice came. deeper. somebody who accepted his fate.
"you are all very loud." he muttered annoyingly.
"what about the girl on the left? she scared?" the voice added.
lenora's throat dried. everybody stared at her. she could feel the coldness that was only around her this time. as if the room was exhaling on her neck.
"say something." the voice sounded almost angry. almost amused. "i don't like silence."
noah's eyes widened, "alright, that's enough." he tried grabbing the device from ava's hand.
it shocked him. he yelped. pulling his hand back.
"lenora, please just say something, if you don't it'll pick someone else. please." ava forced her.
finally.
lenora spoke up, "what do...what do you need?" she tried her best to sound brave.
the voice came again. almost horrifying.
"whatever you can offer."
