3rd Person, General

The tension could be felt within the room. Darkness engulfed the classroom, swallowing the two beams of lights that hovered above a desk. Equipment, while off, gave off the eerie vibes of the possibility of anything happening within moments due to the age and condition they were in. For a moment, it almost sounded as if there were the weak footsteps pacing in the hallway. The girls that had heard each footfall were positive that they were figures of their imaginations. They each ignored it, their attention focused more so on the honey tinted eyes that were staring them down."The woman claimed to her husband, 'But it's true! I saw a man with no eyes staring out the window. I wouldn't lie to you, why would I ever lie?'. The man continued to insist, 'That's impossible, one with no eyes can't get around on their own! Much less look at you! I'll prove to you that there is no such man outside.'"

Opening her eyes, she saw her three friends huddled up against one another, frightened by her tale. It was another one she construed herself. "The lady continues to insist going outside is dangerous and to call the police. But her husband refuses to listen. When he puts his shoes on she grabs him by the arm, tears in her eyes, and begs him not to go. 'Please, don't! I don't want anything to happen to you, so please, don't go looking for him!' Something in her knew, if he went out, he wouldn't come back the same."

"'What's the worst that can happen, dear, as it is a blind man? Surely, nothing serious can come of it. ' Putting on his coat, he sees his wife's tear-stained cheeks accompanied by a fear-stricken expression. He ignores it. He determines that he will make her feel better by proving her tale false. Without another thought, he opens the front door and goes outside."

One of her friends was shivering, yet trying to act brave. But the bronze eyes could see it, just by the tears pricking the pigtailed girl's eyes, and the light jerking of her fingers, that she was concerned for the married couple in the story. And it wasn't surprising, as the narrator did her best to make it as nerve-wracking as possible.

"As soon as she had heard the door click shut, she goes over and to lock it. There are three locks. The knob, deadbolt, and sliding latch. Surely her husband would knock when he realizes the door is locked. There is no other way inside. She would be able to answer, after peeking through the curtain to the porch.

"It is silent for the first few seconds, then minutes. As time passes, no sound can be heard, not even the cicadas that are usually noisy during this time. The woman grows more and more fearful. She worries for the fate of her husband, but she is much too terrified to go out herself. Ten minutes of pure, uninterrupted, silence finally enables her to act. She needs to do something, regardless of her fears."

Placing her hand on the table, nowhere near where the lights of the miniature sticks, the author kept her gaze on her three friends. "Quietly, she puts on her sneakers, so worn in that they make no sound as she walks. She gets her coat; a deep shade of red that in itself could've been mistaken for blood. Despite her mind screaming at her not to go, but to stay within the safety of her home, she ventures outside for the sake of her husband. She starts to unlock the first of the three locks. Slowly, she takes the key in the slot and turns it. She takes a breath, reassuring herself that things are alright."

"But as she touches the deadbolt, there is a knock and a voice sounds from the other side. 'Dear, could you let me in? There was no need to lock the door like this.' She instantly recognizes it as her husband's voice. With a sigh of relief, she leans against the wooden barrier separating her from the man she married. He is right there, on the other side of the door. All she needs to do is open the door. After fumbling with the two remaining locks she reaches for the doorknob. The cool metal burns against her fingers as she begins to turn it and-"

"She shouldn't open it!" The girl in the middle, the one with pigtails said, her grip tightening on each of the girls next to her. The one speaking smirked. They were falling for her so easily, and it took no effort on her part. Quietly, she drummed her fingers on the table.

"But she does she open the door for him, her gaze cast downwards. But then, as her eyes move from her husband's feet to his chest, she realizes something is wrong. There is a shade of red on his coat... And that stain grows as her gaze heightens. Something deep inside told her to not look at his face, but she couldn't stop herself. And what she sees is-" She interrupted herself by slamming her free hand on her desk, making all three girls jump. One of them even squeaked out in shock. "That his eyes are gone! He has a sickening smirk on his face. His empty eye sockets are oozing red, and he raises his hand. In his palm sits both of his missing eyes!"

There was a whimper... Blinking, she noticed that they were all trying to speak, but they weren't quite sure of what to say.

"She jumps, and she takes a few steps back, her pupils dilating. he screamed. And just as she does, the body of her husband transforms into a ragdoll and falls to the ground. His limbs were unnaturally contorted and his neck was bent at a sharp angle... In that moment she knows she must go to the police, but first, she needs to get the door shut, to prevent whatever had killed her husband from harming her children."

"Oh no, not the kids!" The short-haired girl on the left gasped in shock, fearful for those children. But, even so, the tale-teller continued. "But the door does not close. No matter how hard she pushes on the door, with one hand, with two, it doesn't budge from its place. Her breath quickens, and she thinks she hears a breath in the distance, making her all the more fearful. No matter how hard she tries, the door won't close."

"The next instant she can't move. Her entire body is stiff. Fear itself wrapped around her like a snake squeezing all life out of her. Slowly, her gaze moves from the door to the outside, and all she can do is," once again, the female slammed her hand on the desk, "scream! For what she sees is enough to drain all color from her. The man from before, his eyes missing, yet he is staring into her soul. And as time passes, that face got closer, and closer, until they were nearly touching. All she hears is the clump clump of shoes banging against the floor. Then, without warning, the black lips on the face part and a howling cackle echoes in the woman's ears.."

"What happened after that, Mai?!" The look on her face went somber, as she shrugged.

"Who knows? The child who saw ran back upstairs before they could see. But they did say one thing, about what happened."

"And?" "And?!" "W-what did they say?..." All three of the girls spoke up, wishing to know about what happened afterward.

"There was a gruesome scream a few minutes after they went back to bed, and then silence until morning. When they went downstairs; Both of their parents were gone. But they knew, they felt watched for those days they were by themselves, fearing the same fate as their parents." Smirking, she moved her hand off the table, as she listened to them responding to her.

"G-geez, Mai, how do you always manage to find such scary stories like that?!"

The short-haired girl asked, but Mai simply left it without an answer, other than a chuckle, and turned out her light. That was how the game worked. Each person told a story, and then they would turn out their light. When there was one light left, it was meant to represent a ghost, and when they counted at the very end, a spirit would finish. "Isn't it Michiru's turn now?"

"Oh, yeah, it is!" All attention was drawn over to the last light, and the girl holding it.

"Alright, so, who knows about the old schoolhouse?"

"You mean that abandoned building down the path from the school?" One of the other girls asked.

"But it wasn't abandoned, it was being demolished when all the workers suddenly quit." The last storyteller's interest was peaked. Just what could have caused all the workers to quit so suddenly when demolishing? It looked like most of the building was still intact!

"But why would they quit?" The thought burst from pale lips paired with those familiar brown eyes the moment she thought it..

"Supposedly, it was because of a curse." Silence filled the room for a moment, as the current storyteller composed herself. All the other girls were both tense yet understanding of the still aura.

"There were a lot of accidents that happened in the old schoolhouse over the years. A lot of fires and mysterious accidents, some that managed to even kill some people. A student died in an empty first-floor storage room mysteriously one year, and another year, a teacher committed suicide on the second floor."

It wasn't the worst story Mai had heard by any of the others, but she had to admit, it wasn't nearly as freaky as she had expected. Even so, her lips parted in the genuine wonder of how true any of this was, and if she could possibly use any of these tales in her next story.

"And shortly after the school closed, they found a child's dead body under the hallway floorboards." Despite how uneventful that was, the simple fact of such a thing made all the girls listening shiver.

"When they built the new school building, they tried to demolish the old one." The one speaking paused for a moment as if to add tension. "However, all the workers ended up ill or in accidents that left them unable to complete demolition. On top of that, equipment would stop running, permanently.."

Mai tilted her head at the thought, once again curious about if any of it was true or not. It sounded realistic, and if it was, then it was something she surely never heard about. But considering everything, she wouldn't be surprised if that was the case either.

"Then, when they began work on the west wall, the roof collapsed and killed everyone on the first floor. That was what stopped the demolition for the first time."

She heard someone gasp, and when she looked, the other girl was biting her lip, distressed by what she had heard.

"But last year, they started the demolition project again, so that we could build a new gymnasium. But the same things started to happen again. One of the drivers that had been going to the school to collect the rubble went off the road and ran over some kids on the volleyball court. And then… One of the girls that pass by the schoolhouse on the way home says that she can see a face from the second story window, staring at her, begging to be let out."

That was made Mai inhale, not enjoying the way that was worded all that much. Spirits were so odd to her… She couldn't find herself able to understand them all that well, even though she wrote stories about them all the time.

"I'm turning the light off now…"

That made them all force themselves to relax before an entirely new sense of anxiety settled.

There was a long moment of silence, then the counting finally started.

"One…" The first girl to tell a story spoke out, gripping the desk she was in front of slightly.

"Two…" Was the second girl, who has then shakily taken a breath, and closed her eyes.

"Three…" Mai then spoke out, holding her light with a bit of a grip, but still gazing around in hopes she could see what was happening.

"Four…" The final girl spoke, clenching her teeth and stiffening.

"Five."

Hello, I'm Maiumi, and thank you for reading the first chapter of my first in-progress writing project! I have plenty of other stories I hope to get to publish someday, but for now, my focus will be on this one, until I get it finished. And considering how long I expect it to be, following the series with its own sidetracking and side stories, that means that this will likely take a good while. So I hope you stay with me as I try to post chapters in a timely matter!