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99hook · 7 months

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Ghost Hunts

Synopsis: You and Hook get more than you bargained for when you decide to go ghost hunting on Halloween night

Warnings: paranormal activity, cursing, mentions of past deaths, fluff and ghosts doing ghostly activities

A/N: happy spooky season besties 👻 thank you to the anon who requested this to me! i hope you love it! also, hook is tyler in this, just so nobody gets confused about that. also i did tryyy to make this thrilling but i think it turned into a comedy imo, i’ll let y’all be the judge! enjoy!

(the title is lame as hell but i couldn’t think of anything else so here we are😂)

-feel free to send me halloween/spooky season requests and ideas you have! gonna be writing for it the whole month of october 🎃👻🧡

Tyler switched the key in the ignition as he stared ahead at a large, victorian style house you’d been telling him you wanted to visit for months now.

He heard you unbuckle your seatbelt and looked over at you, seeing the excitement in your eyes when you looked back at him.

You always talked his head off about this one specific historical attraction, so he took it upon himself to give the owners a call and see if it was possible for the two of you to get permission to privately tour that apparently haunted place.

The right amount of money permitted you both the approval to spend Halloween night there, and just like many of the tourists that come to visit, you quickly found out why it was named one of the most haunted attractions in the country.

———

“Ready?” You grinned, already having one hand on the door handle.

Tyler unbuckled his seatbelt and nodded before he opened his door and slid out the car. He came around to your side to open up your door like he always does, but you were too excited to wait.

He looked down at you with a half-smirk on his lips as he shut your door and grabbed your hand, leading you towards the stone steps that invited you into that not-so-inviting house.

He stopped when he reached the door and turned back around to face you, rubbing his thumb over the top of your hand.

“I know you’re excited, but I just don’t want you to get your hopes up and feel let down if nothing happens tonight. I still think this is just some old ass house that people pay way too much money to come tour because they think ghosts are gonna pop out at them.”

You shot him a look and rolled your eyes. “Well, just for your information, there’s been countless reports of people seeing shadows and all kinds of stuff here, but I know you won’t believe anything until it’s proven, so let’s go in.”

He couldn’t argue with that, so he just shrugged his shoulders before he spun back around and opened the door.

The creaking of the rusty hinges echoed back to you, along with your slow footsteps the second you stepped inside. There was already an eerie feeling lingering through the air, almost as if you were immediately stepping foot in forbidden territory.

Tyler closed the door and looked around at the large portraits aligned on the walls, and he didn’t particularly like how their eyes seemed to follow him when he walked around.

You took a few steps towards a large room off to the side of the entranceway, and Tyler followed behind you. The first thing he noticed was a wooden rocking chair in the corner by a large bay window, and a little rag doll with button eyes sitting on it.

He tried to stifle his laugh, but it caught your attention. You looked over at him and noticed that he was trying to keep a straight face, but failing miserably.

“What are you laughing at?” You asked, following his eyes over to the rocking chair.

“That doll.” He says as he walks over to it. “They really put a rag doll in a rocking chair. They watch too many movies.” He shakes his head as he starts to look around the room.

“And look at this-“ he points up at a set of porcelain dolls sitting on the mantle above the fireplace. “Someone really said, hey, let’s find some of the creepiest dolls ever made and put them on the mantle. Then people will have to believe this place is haunted.”

You shot him a look and waited for him to notice. When he looked back at you, he still had a wide smile plastered across his face.

“Baby, I’m sorry, but I told you what I think. This is just a place for people to make money scamming tourists. I mean, look at all this shit. It looks like a horror movie set, does it not? Who decorates their shit like this?”

“These are items from the first family who ever lived here, Tyler. Remember we read about the family of six who passed away from pneumonia in the 1800’s. This is their stuff.”

“So that family is supposed to be lurking around haunting this place?” He crossed his arms over his chest and you could see the skepticism clear as day on his face.

“They’re not the only ones who have passed away here, Tyler. There’s been people who were working on the roof and fell off. A maid who used to work for the family had a heart attack on the second floor. Not to mention, the fourth floor was used as an infirmary at one point in time too. They don’t even know how many people have actually been buried in the back yard. You’d know all of this if you listened to me when I talk about it.”

He vaguely recalled all of that, but didn’t get the chance to say anything back when the sound of rusty hinges creaking from somewhere above you echoed through the room.

His eyes immediately snapped over to the entryway, recognizing that sound as the front door when he opened and closed it earlier, but it was still shut.

He looked back down at you and the look you had on your face that screamed, I told you so.

“This is an old ass house. It’s gonna make noises.” He says, but you just shrugged your shoulders and headed out that room, over towards the staircase.

“Where are you going?” He calls after you when you make your way halfway up to the second floor. You looked back down at where he was standing at the bottom of the stairs.

“To explore.” You nodded towards the top of the stairs. “You coming? Or are you too scared?” You teased with a challenging smirk that made his eyes narrow in on you, before he started heading up the stairs after you.

The second floor had a heavier feeling the moment you reached the top step. There was an icy chill in the air that immediately made your whole body shiver.

Tyler crossed his arms over his chest and stepped around you, looking for a window that must have been left open.

“It’s cold as fuck up here.” He muttered as he slowly walks around. “The one time I don’t wear my hoodie.”

You couldn’t help but chuckle at that as you passed by him. He turned around when he felt you walk by and watched as you headed down one of the long halls.

“Where are you going now?” He asks as he strides towards you, following you into the last room that you knew was the one that belonged to the maid who passed away in it. According to too many articles you’ve read, she sometimes gets spotted sitting on the edge of her bed.

Tyler searched for a light switch as soon as he stepped in that room, but he flipped the switch three times and the lights didn’t come on.

“That’s great. Let’s just hang out in a dark ass room.” You heard him comment as his footsteps draw closer to you. You can see enough with the dim lighting from the hallway illuminating some of the room.

You ran your hand over the quilt neatly spread over the bed, knowing that it was that maid’s quilt that she handmade. You ignored your boyfriend’s mutters under his breath and tried to appreciate the sentimental value that the quilt, along with many other items in the house had to the family that first lived there.

You felt Tyler tap your shoulder three times and looked back, but that’s when you realized he was standing over by the dresser, messing with his hair in the mirror.

You felt an ice cold chill skate down your spine and instantly backed away from the bed, and Tyler noticed your sudden movements.

“What?” He asked, pausing with his hands still in his hair.

You looked over at him, then glanced at your shoulder where you felt the taps of fingers that weren’t his.

“I felt something tap my shoulder and thought it was you, but you were all the way over there.” You tell him.

He drops his hands and walks over to you with a look of disbelief on his face.

“Maybe you just thought you felt something.” He says as he places his hand on your shoulder and rubs his thumb over it. “Or maybe the roof is leaking or something. This house is old as fuck.”

He looked up at the ceiling and held out his hand, but no water droplets fell into his palm. You managed to shrug it off, even though you knew in your heart that you felt what you felt, regardless if Tyler believed it or not.

You decided to take a few steps back from that bed, taking the three taps as a warning not to put your hands on the maid’s belongings.

Tyler ended up wandering over to the closet for some reason, observing some of the clothes that were still hanging in there after who knows how many years, while you were taking in all of the old photos displayed on wooden shelves on the wall.

One picture in particular caught your attention because you recognized it from one of the first articles you’ve read about the house.

“Tyler, come look at this.” You softly called out to him.

“Come look at this first.” He says from somewhere in the closet. You walked over and peeked your head in, but you didn’t take a step further. If it ruffled feathers for you to touch the maid’s quilt, you weren’t daring to touch her clothing.

“Look up here.” He says as he points towards the ceiling where a wooden square door was bolted shut. You would’ve assumed it lead to the attic, but the house had four floors and you were only on the second one.

Tyler glanced over his shoulder at you with a mischievous smirk, and before he even got the chance to say it, you shut that thought down immediately.

“No, Tyler.” You sternly tell him, reaching out and grabbing his hand. “Don’t even think about it.”

“It’s a secret door, Y/n. How do you expect me not to want to go up there?”

“It’s bolted shut for a reason. Don’t disturb anything here, and as a matter of fact, get out of the maid’s closet.”

He let you pull him towards you but made sure to show the dissatisfaction on his face at the same time. You shut the door behind him and rolled your eyes at the annoyed look he threw on his face.

“Come on, there’s still so much to see.” You say as you lead him out the maid’s room.

There was another set of stairs tucked in the corner of that hallway, but as the two of you were heading up to the third floor, a loud slam stopped you in your tracks.

You both froze instantly, looking over at each other with wide eyes and suddenly rapid beating hearts.

“What the fuck was that?” You barely even whispered. Tyler looked up at the top of the stairs that were only four steps away and held his hand out in front of you.

“Stay here. Someone could’ve snuck in when we weren’t paying attention.” He whispered before he slowly, and quietly stepped up the stairs.

You watched him intently until he reached the top and disappeared around a corner, and then you made sure to listen as closely and carefully as you possibly could.

You could hear his footsteps perfectly, thanks to the creaking of the floorboards, but every sound made you jump. You kept getting an unnerving feeling that someone was behind you, but each time you looked down at the bottom of the stairs, nobody was there.

After a couple seconds, Tyler appeared back at the top of the stairs and you could easily see that he was feeling a little shook up, but he was trying not to show it.

“There’s nobody up here.” He says as he looks back over his shoulder, getting the uncomfortable sensation that someone’s watching him. “But I don’t know what the fuck that noise was either.”

You stepped up the stairs faster than you meant to because that feeling that someone’s lingering behind you kept getting stronger and stronger, but part of you didn’t want to acknowledge it.

You instinctively grabbed his hand when you met him at the top of the stairs and he picked up on that immediately, looking down at you with a bit of concern in his dark eyes.

“You okay?” He asks, and you only nodded even though your stomach was starting to twist into the tightest knots.

You looked down the hall and nearly jumped a whole foot back when you saw yours and Tyler’s reflection in a large mirror at the very end of it.

He couldn’t help but to laugh as you were trying to steady the rhythm of your pounding heart, but he slung his arm around your shoulder and pulled you into his side.

“It’s okay, it’s just a mirror baby. It scared the hell out of me earlier too.” He grins before placing a kiss to your forehead. “Are you ready to leave, or do you wanna keep going?”

You looked up at him when your heart finally started to compose itself and shook your head. This was something you wanted to do for so long, the thought of chickening out halfway through was just simply not an option for you.

“Keep going.” You tell him before you head for the first door that’s in sight.

Tyler’s arm dropped to his side when you brushed past him and he watched you turn the knob on that door, along with three others.

“They’re all locked on this floor. I tried them already.” He says as he looks over his shoulder at yet another set of stairs leading up to the last floor.

“Guess that means we get the pleasure of exploring a creepy ass infirmary now.” He says with a dull tone as he looks back at you.

You walked past him and headed for the last staircase, and upon first glance, it was nothing like all the others.

Tyler made quick strides to catch up to you and just as soon as you placed your foot on the first step, his arm snaked around your waist and pulled you back.

“You can’t be serious, Y/n.” He deadpans when you turn around to face him. “Look at those stairs. They are barely even stairs at this point!”

“I think people go up here all the time though.” You say as you look up at the top of the steps that’s quite literally tempting you, because you know that there’s an old infirmary just waiting for you to explore it.

“Well, not us.” He says as he crosses his arms tightly over his chest, you guessed as a way to hold his ground.

You rolled your eyes and just ignored him, turning around and heading up those cracked and rotted wooden steps.

“Y/N!” Your name gets shouted so loud his voice echoes, but you continued to avoid him until one step in particular caved right out from under you.

Tyler immediately sprung up and caught you right before you could fall straight through to wherever you’d end up underneath those stairs. He quickly brought you back down to the floor before any of the other steps had a chance to snap in half.

“You okay?” He asked when he was able to catch his breath. You nodded and looked back up at those stairs, specifically at the one that was now missing.

“Don’t even think about it, y/n.” He cups your cheeks with his thumb and two fingers and gently turns your head back to look at him. “Thats exactly why I told you not to go up there in the first place. You could’ve gotten seriously hurt, you know that?”

You accepted the defeat and simply nodded, still feeling bummed that you couldn’t explore that infirmary, but the fact that Tyler saved you from what could’ve been a really nasty fall was at the forefront of your mind.

You felt his thumb stroke your cheek and looked back into his softened eyes, about to say thank you for saving you from that fall, but the second your lips parted, the sound of the floor boards slowly creaking caused you both to jump back.

Your head snapped towards the stairs at the other end of the hall and you suddenly felt like your feet were nailed to the floor.

Tyler’s breathing was getting heavier even though he was trying to control it as he stared dead at the top of the staircase, waiting for someone to come walking up.

You reached out and grabbed his forearm, clinging onto him tightly. You felt his muscles tense and he instinctively stepped in front of you, blocking you with his own body in case someone was about to show themselves, but after a few minutes that felt like an eternity, nobody ever did.

He turned back to face you, his eyes wide and pupils dilated as pure fear coursed through them. You stared back at him, unsure what to say or do, and scared to hear your own voice at this point.

There was a moment of silent communication between the two of you, both on the same page it seemed, ready to get the hell out of that house, and the sudden sound of something crashing to the floor right above your heads was all the motivation you needed.

“Nah, fuck this” Tyler’s voice trembled slightly before he grabbed your hand and pulled you down the hall. It was hard to keep up with his fast strides thanks to the large contrast between his long legs and your shorter ones, but that adrenaline coursing through your veins helped you manage.

He kept his grip tight as he pulled you down the hall of the second floor, avoiding looking into any of the rooms with the fear that he’d see something standing there. You kept your eyes on his back for the same reason, and did your very best not to let your sights wander anywhere else.

You descended the stairs faster than you thought you ever could without tripping, and wasted no time bolting right out the front door.

Even though it was pitch dark outside, it was sudden relief the second the you shut that door behind you. Tyler nearly skipped three of the front steps on the way out, and only stopped to catch his breath when he finally reached the car.

He placed both hands on the hood and dropped his head, shaking it. His breathing was heavy and uneven but he still managed to say, “Never again, Y/n.”

You leaned against the hood next to him, watching him nearly fight for his life to calm himself down. You looked back at that house for what you knew was going to be the last time, before you looked over at Tyler.

“I support anything you do, baby. Anything except ghost hunting.” he says as he picks his head up and looks at you.

There was a moment that the two of you just stood there, still shaken up with straight adrenaline running hot through your veins, but after you got in the car and pulled out that driveway, you couldn’t help but to look at each other and laugh.

“That was some crazy shit.” He says through the bellowed laughter.

“I told you it was haunted, did I not?” You raise your brows at him, hoping to hear him admit that you were right, but knowing Tyler, he’d rather do anything but say those words.

“I mean, I still think the house was just old and made a lot of noises.” He shrugs one shoulder. “But if it’s job is to scare the shit out of people, I guess it was successful.”

“You guess?” You deadpan on him, but his eyes are focused on the road. “Tyler, you literally ran out of there.” You teased.

“You’re damn right I did!” He exclaims with a higher voice that had no business sounding as funny as it did to you. “That shit was making too many noises for me. Sounded like the whole damn house was about to collapse on us.”

“Speaking of collapse, I need to call the owners first thing in the morning and tell them about the stairs. We’re probably gonna have to pay for the damages.”

“As long as we don’t have to go back to that house, I don’t even care.” He shakes his head before you feel his fingers intertwine with yours. “Next time you wanna go ghost hunting, we’re just gonna have to sit on the couch and watch it on tv. Sorry baby, but i’m not getting involved again. Not after whatever the fuck just happened back there.”

“I think I got it all out of my system. Until next Halloween, anyway.” You smirk, and he looks over just in time to catch it, shaking his head but he can’t help the smile that forms on his lips simply due to your pure stubborn nature.

“So every Halloween you just wanna go visit some haunted places? Why not go to one of those haunted fun houses or something?” He suggests, “At least there you know what you’re getting yourself into.”

“Why don’t we just go to one of those right now?” You shrug as you glanced at the time on your phone. “It’s still early, and Halloween’s not over yet.”

“After tonight, I’m pretty sure if someone jumped out at me I’d probably end up punching them in the face.” He chuckles as he comes to a stop at stop sign.

He looks both ways before he looks over at you, leaning in for a quick kiss like he always does, and you felt all of that previous adrenaline and wracking nerves suddenly dissipate under his gentle touch.

“Okay” you caved, “Let’s go home. I wanna spend the rest of our halloween another way.”

You felt him smile against you before placing one last kiss to your lips, then pulling away to start driving again.

“Does that mean I get to finally see you in that one costume?” He smirks as he starts to speed a little faster.

You rolled your eyes but couldn’t help the smile before you reached over and placed your hand gently on his thigh.

“As long as you promise not to literally tear it off me.” you teased, but all he did was glance over at you with a look that you already knew far too well.

“You know I can’t promise you that.”

———

taglist: @madhatterbri @730hook @multi-fandom-things730 @willowgreens @shawtys-things @justdamnpeachy @wickedval @730bliss @theworldofotps @madds-97 @gethooked @benjaminka @5secondsofmoxley @adorestar @cypherpart15 @legit9thlunaticwarrior @littlemissbliss06

(lmk if you wanna be added/removed)

#hook aew #aew hook #aew hook x reader #aew hook fic #aew hook angst #tyler senerchia #hook x reader

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noisyquokka · 7 months

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Banshees In The Night

PAIRING - Felix x Jisung x GN!Reader

SYNOPSIS - Haunted houses can be quite the hoot... if you know what you're getting yourself into...

WORDCOUNT - 4.2k

WARNINGS - Established friend-group, a bit of rural exploration, Mild Language, Humor, Mentions of insects/untidy surroundings, Mentions of murder (for the lore of the "haunted" location), no one comes prepared || Let me know if I've missed any warnings!

A/N - Spooky season is upon us and I'm so excited to write some horror and October-themed fics! This one was a first attempt at more descriptive writing and for my first time, I'm pretty proud. And the edit was a little last minute thing I did. Dunno why I did it, but it was fun!! Let me know what you think, constructive criticism is always appreciated!

"Nope! No fucking way!"

"Oh, c'mon." Felix rolls his eyes, pointing at the laptop screen. "Look, it says here the property is fenced in and secure. No big deal!"

You crane your neck so far that you look like a heron fishing on the bay. Jisung snickers beside you, taking a swig of his energy drink. No big deal, he says...

It was just a few days ago when the three of you were talking about exploring a supposed haunted house on Halloween night. You had agreed to this as a joke, but knowing these two, you should've seen this coming. It wasn't a surprise to you when Felix had called earlier, asking if you and Jisung were home and brought himself over. Turns out he'd been doing some research on the haunted locales around town and, much to your dismay, was now trying to persuade you into a night of absolutely no rest at one of the "most haunted houses in the area". You aren't having it.

"You do realize that Halloween is the worst time to do this?" You say, pacing around the living room. Out of the corner of your eye, you see the boys share a glance. They know where this is going. Jisung takes a breath and leans forward, snatching your laptop off the coffee table.

"I seriously see nothing wrong with this..." Felix mutters, resting his forearms on the back of the couch as Jisung moves the cursor across the screen, tapping on the album of photos that's attached to the article with curious eyes. "It's just an old, abandoned house. No one lives there."

The first photo pops up, an older one taken circa 1934. Back then, the farmhouse stood in the midst of the prairie fields, newly erected, the original owners standing before it with pride. It had belonged to a family of six; husband and wife standing at the top of the wrap-around porch while their four children stand on the descending steps. Oldest to youngest, it seemed, their clothes wrinkled from probable horsing about prior to this photo being taken. The farmhouse itself was classic and elegant in design, with its whitewashed clapboard of the time framing the tall, single-sashed windows. The pine bannister lines the edge of the porch until it wrapped out of sight.

"You can't be serious." You mutter, shaking your head as you watch Jisung flip through the album. The house erodes away with every single picture, the hairs on your arms standing at attention. You catch the quirk of Jisung's lips as you turn away.

"What if we spent the entire night?"

He's joking, you can tell just by the tone of his voice, and soon after, he's chuckling. But Felix's eyes widen with a rare excitement. He claps his hands together, reeling back from the sofa and pointing an index finger at his friend.

"That is a great idea!"

"NO, FELIX!"

You're glaring before he's even looking at you. There's a crazy glint in those eyes, something like adrenaline that rushes his veins at the thought of a whole night at such a location. These boys would be the death of you...

"Halloween is the time of year when the v-"

"The veil between worlds is at its thinnest," Felix interrupts in a mocking tone, rolling his eyes, "I think you're watching way too many supernatural movies. None of it's real!"

You turn your head to him, shooting him a look that you're sure could cut if it physically manifested. Maybe it wasn't real. Maybe it was. You sure as hell didn't feel like being the one to find out. In fact, you would much rather spend your Halloween night right here at home, curled up with a blanket and a horror movie marathon.

You lick your lips, setting your gaze back on the computer screen. Felix paced around leisurely, listening as Jisung reads aloud the info on the house's history. Your ears pick up Jisung's voice, vowels that evolve into syllables until they craft into a whole story, but nothing computes.

"English decent...hard-working values... two of four children homeschooled.... ongoing Infedelity... wife took the hatchet from the barn.... murdered her husband... three of the kids... eldest daughter survived by escaping through the second story window... wife was never seen again..."

You stand there with a jittering foot, Jisung's voice fading in and out in a garbled buzz. The words slowly sink in, the air charged with tension. Your eyes drift back to the album. The youngest daughter's expression is unmistakable as she stares straight at the camera, her gaze cold and piercing as a dagger's point.

"Are you serious?" Felix stares at the photo with wide eyes, his lips parted in astonishment before he bursts out laughing. "Oh my god, this house would be amazing to explore on Halloween, are you kidding!?"

You're still in shock. A lump in your throat. Your eyes locked on those pixels that stare back. Dead eyes. Your mind races.

Was it just a rumor? A ghost story spun by bored residents at the time?

Something tells you otherwise.

"Says here it's been vacant since 1998. The last family to live there did some renovations but reportedly left shortly after."

"You're joking, now." You shift your attention to your roommate sitting on the couch, tilting your head with a pointed look. Jisung's gaze finds your pinned pupils for a split second, only to go back to his scrolling without another word. "Tell me you're joking."

Felix's laugh actually triggers you, your fists clenching until your fingernails are leaving indents on your palms. He rounds the sofa to sit beside Jisung, eyes darting across the laptop screen.

"Come on, it'll be fun! Imagine what cool trinkets might be in that house."

"That fucking house has been vacant for TWENTY-FIVE YEARS! Murder is bad enough, but to top it off, the last people renovated only to leave without selling it?" You turn to Jisung again, "Is that on the record? The last owners didn't sell it after reno?"

Jisung searches the paragraph again, double checking what he'd read.

"Yep, they bought it in 1991, made some renovations, but never sold it. They just left."

Felix groans in response, rolling his eyes as he leans into the elder boy's side to get a closer look. Jisung continues his scrolling through the website, searching for any other news stories on the property. Another Google search only returns regurgitated legends of the original family, all with different endings. More dead ends eventually lead to Jisung closing the tab and leaning back into the couch cushions.

You shake your head, crossing your arms over your chest. "I don't feel good about it, Lix. I'm out!"

"Are you serious? It's a fucking house and some old ghost stories."

"And I'm not about to fuck around at a murder sight on Halloween with you two imbeciles! I'll go literally anywhere else on Halloween night, a fucking party if you so insist."

"A party?" Felix scoffs, "That's boring and you know it. Don't you wanna have an adventurous Halloween?"

"I don't want to get haunted or arrested. You will not persuade me into following you along like a lost puppy to some haunted farmhouse!"

—

"I can't believe you talked me into this shit..."

You're stuffing your hands into the pockets of your hoodie, glancing around the dying overgrowth of the wooded area you three currently travel through. Despite everything you'd said two weeks ago, here you stand.

"It'll be fine. They say no one has been seen in or around the house for years! And besides, all those reports of paranormal activity were probably made up for the sake of scaring kids." Jisung says. The flashlight in his hand dips, the LEDs trailing off between tree trunks and the darkness of the woods, dancing from one spot to another as he follows behind Felix. The moon beams an eerie glow from high in the sky, most of the trees barren so late in October, casting shadows that twist and distort against the rustling leaves. It's full tonight, unfortunate for your anxious little mind. Your eyes are already playing tricks on you in the dark of night, shadows peeking their heads out from behind the earthen bark.

"Oh ho hoo, you didn't say that last week, bro!" Felix's voice echoes, looking down at his mobile device to keep the group on track. "That's even more perfect. We'll be the first to explore it in over two decades!" He's practically shaking with excitement, though you're completely numb at this point. And not from the October chill.

Your fingers twitch in their confines, your breath forming in puffs of ghostly clouds in the night. The trees loom over your head like guardians, gangly limbs reaching out to scrape and pull at your hair and hoodie. Others lean against their brethren, uprooted by the anger of storms, their battering of wind and rain. Still, some of them fight for survival, their strong roots piercing deeper into the Earth's soil. You press on through the foliage, the silence of the forest only broken by the muffled sound of your best friends' conversation fading.

"When all this is said and done, you're doing the dishes for two weeks." You say, glaring at Jisung's back.

"I feel like all that hostility in your voice is so uncalled for. I haven't done anything."

You chuckle bitterly, staggering over tree roots that breached the surface of the soil.

"You're right! You haven't made one objection to this stupid idea since Felix brought it up. And to top it off, all that research you did on my laptop? Yeah, I'm now the victim of true crime news stories from the early 1900s."

"Don't you clear your search history every night?" He asks.

"Don't you have your own laptop?" You counter, watching him slow his pace and huff. Part of you feels a little guilty for being so harsh. You know the boys love doing stupid shit; Halloween or otherwise. But after all was said and done, you just didn't feel good about this little trip. Felix turns back to you two, the light of his phone illuminating his face.

"Oh lighten up, Spitfire! For all we know the stories are a load of crap. We're already this far, right? No point in backtracking now. It'd be a shame not to check it out."

"The real shame is the classic horror movies I rented for us that are just sitting on the damn coffee table back home." You grumble, your eyes darting over your shoulder. Jisung snickers ahead, cooing at you.

"Awww, are you disappointed we aren't sitting on the couch, lights off, snuggled under a blanket together?" He teases, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Felix chuckles and keeps walking, looking down every few moments to the GPS on his phone. As you trek further, your spine tingles with electricity. The air in this heavily wooded area seems dead, the feeling of being watched growing like mold spores beneath the leaf litter. It's as if something is lurking just out of sight, just beyond the shadows.

"We've spent almost half an hour in these woods," Felix's words ring out in the darkness, and you realize in your moment of weakness, you'd stopped walking. "If you wanna give up and run home, that's your business. I wanna see this through."

Your feet move again, quickly catching up to your friends with heavy breaths. This place gives you the creeps and you haven't even gotten to the house yet.

"Besides, it's just a few minutes ahead. Look, there." Felix smiles as he points up ahead, the old farmhouse rising out of the dark ocean of those tall prairie grasses. Your eyes are drawn upwards to the thinning canopy of the trees above, mind racing with the possibilities of what you may encounter. And still, you follow behind the boys.

"Have you considered the idea that we might not be the only ones out here?" Your question is accompanied by a hollowness in your throat as you all wade through the overgrown field; invasive Johnson grass swaying with the wind.

"Jason Voorhees isn't gonna pop out and welcome us to the house, if that's what you're asking."

"Funny... I'm talking about real threats, Felix."

"Technically, Jason doesn't live in the woods..." Jisung says. Felix stops walking, turning his attention fully onto his friend.

"Yes, he does."

"No, he doesn't." Jisung replies, and now you've all stopped walking.

"Yes, he does."

"The guy spends half his slasher life slashing around a lake house!"

"At a summer camp in the woods!"

"Near a lake! Boom! Mic drop. I'll humbly take this win, thank you."

"You haven't won shit, it's in the wo-"

"Will the two of you please shut up!" You hiss, eyes darting around the open field. Your feet are shuffling beneath you, unable to shake the feeling of being watched. You look off to that creepy looking house, shaking your head. "It's too fucking quiet to be raising your voices out here, and frankly, I'm already pissing myself without the help of you two talking about some slasher in the woods!"

"Slasher in the woods, see." Felix gestures to you, shooting Jisung a grin. That's what he picked up from your little anxiety-ridden rant? He turns on his heels, the gravel drive just a little bit further. It snakes through the field like a serpent, winding its way up to the old farmhouse. Jisung starts walking ahead, but you don't miss the sound of him mocking Felix's snide remark. You sigh heavily, shaking your head and following close behind.

The gravel crunches under three sets of shoes, the pebbles shifting with every hurried step. You can see the entrance from here with the help of Jisung's light; the dark shadow of a door. You swear there's nothing keeping nature out. The windows are boarded up, the sheets of plywood slowly eaten away by termites and other wood borers over some time. It's bare bones, the exterior of the building left to rot and be reclaimed by the surrounding nature. Somewhere nearby, an owl claims the woodlands with its haunting song.

"That's it?" Felix's tone is drenched in disappointment. His eyes dart back and forth with the crappy light of his cell phone over the Tim Burton-esque husk.

"Why the fuck do you sound disappointed? This house is terrifying!" Your eyes scan the surrounding property, and something dawns on you. "There's also no signs of a secure fence anywhere, like it was stated in the article."

Felix shrugs, his phone's light scanning over your form. "Must've been an older article, then. But it doesn't look that bad."

It looks far larger than it did in the photos online, although you admit it's seen better days. You have yet to notice anything that looks different to the original photos, even if it is crumbling and peeling. Perhaps it was an interior renovation? Jisung's light washes over the building from the porch to the second-story windows, the rickety bannister casting shadows along the disintegrating clapboard. Your blood prickles at the realization that the door was indeed gone, phantom arms reaching out from the depths. It lays on the floor of the main hall, a victim of someone's full-bodied force. The air shifts, it seems. An oppressive static energy that stabs you in the lungs. You swallow, eyes drifting to Felix's shadow a few feet ahead.

"This feels like a terrible idea, Lix. Can we just please go back to mine and Jisung's place?" You're pleading now.

"Come on, it's just a house. There's nothing to be freaked out about," Felix calls from over his shoulder. He's already pressing onward, taking careful steps up the steep and rotting wood stairs of the porch like a sacrifice to the dark maw of this structure. "This is gonna be fun! Can't believe you're backing out after all the build-up."

You try to ignore the anxiety festering in your chest, your stomach. The smell of moisture from the tall grass surrounding you creeps up your nostrils. The place is making your skin crawl. You glance to Jisung, whose expression is a tad cautious now. His eyes dart to you, and in the light of the moon, you swear you can see some concern etching his face. He doesn't speak, just shakes his head and starts toward the entrance. You follow; two more sacrifices to appease whatever horrors lay dormant inside.

The porch groans with every step you and Jisung take, like the wooden boards were protesting you being here. He takes the lead and you aren't about to argue that one, pulling your phone out and turning the flash on with a twitching finger.

"Can't believe we're dumb enough to be walking into the live-action Monster House." You grumble, careful with your foot placement. You step over the door with Jisung's help, covering your nose with your hoodie sleeve.

"Hey, it's not that bad." Jisung says, scanning around for Felix. "We can't leave him here alone."

You scoff.

"One sign of a serial killer or a cult, and I'm sacrificing his Sunshine ass!"

Your fingers flex around your cell phone as you shine it down the main hall. The place looks like it's been ransacked, abandoned furniture turned on its side and litter piled up in corners, scattered across the floor with the help of the winds that seep through the old boards. To the right is the kitchen, simple and small. The cupboards are new, though considerably outdated in present day; old hickory covered in a thick layer of dust and peeled paint. You shine the light up to the weakened ceiling. The plaster has warped, bubbled, and sagged, brown blotches taking over a once pristine eggshell white. You don't like the black growth in the farthest corner where part of the ceiling has fallen, and you're telling Jisung to cover his face before he goes any further.

"Felix! Cover your mouth and hurry up, there's black mold in here!" You raise your voice slightly, but you don't get a response back. Jisung turns to you with a roll of his eyes.

"He's probably hiding somewhere to scare us." He says, heading down the hall. His light shines down the main hall, illuminating dust particles that have been roused with the help of the Aussie that's already exploring around somewhere.

There's a large web that sprawls over the eaten doorframe of the living room to the left, a large orb weaver sitting pretty in the middle of her silken cemetery. You blink at the many insect carcasses she'd captured, no need for further convincing that that room is off limits. You move forward, scanning the other rooms with little interest, but just enough to notice that a few of the house's back windows haven't been boarded up. Or perhaps the plywood has weathered away. The moon light shines through those windows, and you jump at the sight of a field mouse scuttering across the floor, squeaking at your intrusion.

You jump again at the thump of two feet on the landing of the stairs. A flash of cellular light and black boots.

"There's nothing here," Felix says, glancing back through the rickety bannister to the shanty rooms. His light blinds you momentarily.

"You are an idiot!" You release the breath you're holding, glaring at the cracks in the wooden staircase. "Those stairs look about ready to give out under you, get down here!"

Felix rolls his eyes at your scolding, but does as he's told, skipping down the last few steps. He stops on the third one down, a chuckle leaving him.

"I'm telling you, whatever's in this house is just fake stories made up by bored locals. Now-"

Felix's words are interrupted by a loud crash that rattles your bones. Spikes your pulse. You both jump at the sudden noise, Felix almost drops his phone as he turns to look for the source of the sound. It echoes from the kitchen, something like the lid of a stainless steel pot ringing, reverberating over the wood as it dances on its rim. Your throat swallows itself, strangled by an all-encompassing fear. A phantom hand grips your left shoulder. You startle, reeling your elbow up and back.

"Easy, easy!" A familiar voice says, shadow ducking out of the way to save him an elbow to the throat, "It's just me!" Jisung. His voice hushed as his wide eyes glance toward the exit. Toward the noise. You sigh in the slightest relief, because while all three of you have been accounted for, you now know that the noise is someone or something else entirely. The rim stops its dancing on a dime before anyone can speak, like a spinning coin that someone stops with the smack of a hand. All is quiet, only the sound of wind through rotting window frames and the shallowest breaths from three spooked youngins.

"What the hell was that?" Felix is the one to ask, and you're almost surprised to hear his voice shake in the back of his throat. Jisung shakes his head behind you, a small frown creasing his brows. Brown eyes stick to the doorway, waiting for... fuck, you don't know what you're all waiting for.

"We need to lea-"

BANG!!

Something metallic flashes in your peripherals and you can't stop the shriek you let out, bringing a hand up to your mouth. The weapon of choice lays in the middle of the door; a pan lid that rolls around on its handle, a dull rattling on hollowed wood. You all stand still, each of you paralyzed with fear. The loud bang against the wall gives you enough of a jolt to break the silence.

"Now! We need to leave now!" You hiss. "And I'm not taking one step towards that door, so what is our game plan?"

"Finding another way out?" Jisung suggests, his eyes burning a hole through the kitchen's doorframe. Felix shakes his head.

"There's no other exit. All the windows are boarded up upstairs." He whispers.

"Are you serious?" You can't stop the shakiness in your tone, your nerves getting the better of you in this moment of weakness. Whatever the fuck is in that kitchen isn't happy to have guests, and your only way out is past that doorway? You may as well have dug your own graves.

Another flash of movement, something tiny thrown into the adjacent living room. The object vibrates the silk strings of the spider's web and its inhabitant jolts, unsure whether or not to stay in the relative safety of her space or to take shelter elsewhere.

The loud thumping noise returns, this time from upstairs... scratching, clawing, pounding. The floorboards creaking loudly as something large scrapes back and forth across the surface. They keep getting louder, whatever is in here is only getting angrier. Another sharp bang against the wooden walls.

"Fuck!"

"Run!" Felix yells, and he's already clambering down the last few stairs, bolting for the door. "Just run!"

Jisung grabs your hand before you can protest, and the both of you dash through the open maw of the house with pounding hearts and trembling fingers. You take the moisture-laden air into your lungs, squeezing your roommate's hand to ground yourself. Everything is fine. Jisung is doing the same, hunched over with his free hand on his knee.

"What the fuck was that?" Felix asks, shining his phone back towards the house. He's panting too, his confidence completely snuffed out by the weird shit he's just witnessed.

"I don't know, I didn't see anything." Jisung pants as he struggles to catch his breath. He turns to face you as the sound of something falling to the floor is heard from the living room.

"Do we go back in there?" Felix asks, wide eyes on the entrance to the house. The light from Jisung's flashlight cuts through the darkness in patches, moving with every swing of his arm.

"Are you seriously asking if we should go back in there?" Jisung asks. For the first time tonight, you're both on the same wavelength. How Felix could want to go back inside after all of that, you don't understand. Perhaps it's the shock? Or he's got a death wish.

You don't have the chance to consider the choices because your ears perk at the sound of what you could only describe as killer clown laughter, just inside the doorway. A grunt. Growling. More laughter. It leaves your spine ram-rod straight, the hairs on your body all standing on end.

Oh, fuck this!

Now that you're outside, you see no reason to stand here and twiddle your thumbs. You're gripping Jisung's hand like he's your lifeline and bolting for the trees. Back the way you all came. It seems Felix has finally come to his senses as well, breaking into a full sprint down the driveway as he screams for you two not to leave him behind. The house recedes quickly into the distance with no one even bothering to look back to see if you're being followed. All you know is that running for your life is better than death by hatchet or crazy killer clown cults. The three of you don't stop until you're back to the main road and in your car.

Beady eyes peak around the door frame as all three book it, a mask over those eyes to hide their identity. Another head pops out, and a third. All masked up and chittering away as they amble onto the porch, munching on junk food that had been left behind by other explorers.

Raccoons.

The furbearers climb down the steps one-by-one, almost cackling on their way as the trio of two-leggeds scream into the night.

Psst!! If you made it this far, thank you for taking the time to read my work 💕 I appreciate you!

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