Chapter 1
Hanna pulled her long red hair back into a ponytail as she wrinkled her nose in annoyance, a mask for her unease. “Really? We’re going to try to play that stupid game?”
Luca smirked at her as she brushed her long blonde hair over her shoulder. “Scared?” she teased, no doubt a taunt.
Hanna rolled her eyes. “No, I just think it’s a waste of time.”
Adjusting her glasses, Yumi glanced out the window into the darkness of the night. There was little for her to see, though. They were in a cabin in the middle of the wilderness on a moonless night. It was pitch black out there without the ambient light of a bustling city.
“There isn’t much else to do,” Yumi said as she turned her large brown eyes in Hanna’s direction and shrugged. “Just something to past the time.”
Hanna still wasn’t pleased or convinced. But she had little say in it when bubbly and somewhat airhead Katie butted in.
“Oh, come on! It’s just a game!” Katie practically bounced excitedly on the spot.
Even Lucy, the tomboy with boundless energy was more than willing to sit herself down on the floor in anticipation. “Yeah, it’ll just take a few minutes and later we can brag to the others at school.”
Hanna internally lamented at her predicament. All she wanted was to spend a few days of summer with her friends. Hiking through the wilderness, swimming in the river, talking about boys and school. No one mentioned attempting to play a supposedly haunted and cursed game.
But she supposed Lucy and Katie was right. It was just a silly little game, and they could brag about it when they returned to school in the autumn. Especially to the boys.
“Alright, but just this once,” Hanna relented.
Luca shot her another smirk. “As if you had choice,” she once again taunted in the guise of a joke.
Hanna said nothing, though did grit her teeth in annoyance. With an audible sigh, she sat herself down on the floor of the cabin. In the lounge and dining area. All the furniture – that they could move – was pushed aside to allow for the five of them to sit in a circle on the floor.
Luca, however, didn’t join them right away, instead she focused on closing the doors that led into the room. It was part of the preparation for the game. Their task was to keep the doors closed at all times – no matter what – until sunrise.
Yumi also took a moment to light several strategically placed candles, offering them a low golden glow of light. Adding to the slowly becoming eerie atmosphere.
“What are we supposed to do exactly?” Lucy asked as she already began to fidget.
“I’ll get to that in a sec,” Luca replied as she locked the front door, giving it a tug to ensure that it was truly closed.
With both tasks finished, Luca and Yumi finally joined them on the floor, completing the circle. Everyone sat cross-legged as they waited for Luca, who in turn took a moment to look through her phone, to pull up the site that had the rules for their cursed game.
“Ok, first, we need to all hold hands,” Luca began, “and I’ll read the incantation. After that, if the summoning worked, we have until the light of sunrise to survive the night by keeping ‘him’ out.”
“Him?” Katie repeated.
Luca shrugged. “Just ‘Him’. Someone or something summoned through the ritual.”
Ritual? Hanna really didn’t like the sound of that. She still didn’t object, instead simply taking Katie’s and Yumi’s hands in hers. She swallowed back her rising anxiety as Luca began to read from her phone.
In the darkness of the night, where shadows fill our sight,
We summon thee, oh darkest one, He who we cannot out run,
Prowl from the after world, from the shadows you will unfurl,
Though you wish for invitation, for our own salvation,
You cannot enter, our tormentor,
With this test, we will be blessed,
Do not enter,
Do not enter,
Do not enter.
Hanna felt her heart rate increase to an uncomfortable level. The incantation made her feel uneasy and skittish. She felt Katie tighten her grip on her hand, indicating that she was also uncomfortable. But neither said anything as the silence that fell upon them felt heavy. Like a dense, invisible fog.
It was also uncomfortably silent. Only the wind rustling the leaves of the trees outside.
“…So, what now?” Lucy asked in a quiet voice, but successfully breaking the silence. And whatever trance everyone was in.
Luca continued to smirk, seemingly satisfied with something, as the five of them released their grips on each other’s hands. “We wait.”
Hanna rolled her eyes. “Wait for what?”
That earned her a snort from Luca. “For a door to open or for their to be a knock at a door.”
Hanna frowned. She wasn’t super knowledgeable about the legend. She wasn’t interested in such things, unlike Luca. But she did know a little bit. The part where they had to keep the doors closed at all times. If they open on their own, close it immediately. If there was a knock at a door – any door – don’t open it and ignore it.
Basically, they had to remain in the seating room until sunrise. If the game was true, of course.
Damn, if they were really going to go through with it, they should have brought in something to sleep on. There was no way she was going to sleep on the floor!
The sudden hoot from an owl outside made Hanna jump, which in turned made both Katie and Yumi startle as well, earning the three of them a sneering laugh from Luca and a wholehearted innocent one from Lucy.
“Oh, shut up,” Hanna spat, her attention on Luca, who continued to smirk at her.
Knock.
Anything Luca wanted to say – or sneer – at her disappeared when a sharp, tangible knocking sound was heard. She furrowed her brow and turned her head in the direction of the noise and Hanna followed suit. Their gaze fell on the door leading to the bathroom. Silence reigned as they all stared at the door in anticipation.
Knock.
Another tap. Like a knuckle to wood. From the bathroom door again.
Hanna felt inexplicably cold as she shared a quick and nervous glance with Katie.
Was there something in the bathroom?
