[Y/N] - Your Name
[M/N] - Middle Name
[L/N] - Last Name
I
["Talking"]
["SCREAMING"]
["Whispering"]
["Thinking"]
* - Translated directly from Italian.

And the hype to write continues!

I am writing this on the same night of the day I've published the last chapter, "The Calm Before The Storm", and this really just goes to show how fucking happy I am with the results of both myself, and the support from all you people! As promised on the last chapter, things are going to pick up a bit now, so I hope that you're ready, my friends! As usual, do let me know your thoughts on the chapter and overall story.

Love you all, and let's get right to it!

[==========================]
-> [ARTISTS / SERIES USED]
- lilredbeany.

<<<<<< I >[---]< I >>>>>>

Ashlyn: ["... What do I do?"]

Doubt. The very indecision between belief and disbelief. It may involve uncertainty, distrust or lack of conviction on certain facts, actions, motives, or decisions. Doubt can result in delaying or rejecting relevant action out of concern for mistakes or missed opportunities. To question whether "yes", or "no" in its simplest of terms — But, the girl found herself in something far greater than agreement or discordance.

Her hands fidgeted around, moving from rubbing her palms, to locking her fingers, but her eyes were unmoving, glued to the ground and staring deeply at it while her mind went through all sorts of scenarios, and places. Quietly wondering how to get out of the situation she found herself in, her feet bounced anxiously while her teeth gritted every so often — Sighing out in frustration, the girl's thoughts returned.

Ashlyn: ["This is getting out of hand. No, it was already out of hand before"] She could practically feel the eyes burning on her mind as she thought ["Why is he relentlessly bothering me? I've made it obvious I want nothing to do with it yet he is here at my house — And he said he called Y/N, too!"] Ashlyn once again groaned in exasperation, her leg bouncing even harder now ["Are they doing this on purpose? Y/N doesn't seem like the type of person wants to be here, so I think he may be tricked. Should I just tell him to leave me alone? At this point I don't care if I sound rude"] Anxiously-exasperated, all the girl could do was still lose herself in her thoughts, leaning forward further ["I mean, what kind of guy shows up at your house and doesn't even ask in the first place?! It's been a total of 9 Hours since I've met the two, but I'm certain at least one of them will ruin all my peace!"]

Ashlyn sighed in irritation.
Ashlyn: ["I've been here for too long"]

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Elio: ["Do you wish for me to accompany you, sir?"]*

Y/N reached forward to the passenger's seat, pulling up the glovebox and from it taking his stiletto switchblade in hand, and storing it closed into his pocket. Shaking his head slightly he put out the cigarette on his mouth, exhaling the smoke out of the open window. All the driver/butler did was remain still with an ever-present gentle smile on his face, watching Y/N put away the rest of the cigarette in the car's trash.

Not yet done, the boy reached into the glovebox again, fidgeting his hand around for a while before taking a Brixia 1911, and loading a magazine into it. He also put it away, this time on his waistband. Meanwhile, Elio went around the car, opening it for Y/N who hopped off, prompting the scarred man to shut the SUV's door behind him. Looking around for a moment, Y/N noted only a few houses, spread rather far apart.

Y/N: ["Sounds like a quiet place. I would trade that whole house for it any day"]

Elio: ["Would you like me to await outside with the car, sir?"]*

Y/N: ["No, it's alright, I'll walk back home after. I need to clear my head"] Y/N turned to face a bit to the side, noticing the graveyard of school buses ["Do tell me, what could you find about them?"]*

Elio: ["Not much on such a short notice, but enough. Both parents, Mike and Emma Banner, are ex-military who recently retired to live a quieter life"] Y/N hummed, as if telling the man to go along, but he just shrugged instead ["This is all I could find on a surface level. If you wish to, I could dig a bit deeper and message you anything else I find to be of interest"]*

Y/N: ["No, that'll do. Thank you, I'll try and be home by 9"]*

Y/N gave the bowing man a nod of appreciation before making his way towards the door. Every step he took, he could not take his eyes away from all of the rusted, old, and no-longer-used buses. Silently wondering what was the purpose of that place, why was it here, and if anyone took care of it, and how. So many questions that he'd leave unanswered for now, as he made his way to the door and knocked on it.

A few seconds later, the one who opened the door was Mike — A tall man with a rather muscular build, and warm green-emerald eyes with short, spiky brown hair. He looked at Y/N, and their eyes locked. Instantly, Y/N could tell that this man would be quite the trouble should he mess up, so all he did was draw breath to speak. He went silent, however, when Aiden sprung to his feet on the background, waving at him.

Aiden: ["Hey dude!! Took you long enough!!"]

Y/N: ["I am only 2 minutes late you idiot"] Y/N thought with himself before clearing his throat ["Hi, I'm Y/N L/N. I'm a... Friend... Of your daughter, here to discuss our group project"]

Mike looked at him for a moment — A nice face, but cold, dead eyes. No matter how deep he looked, those indigo irises carried nothing in them. His face was a mixture of both serious and nonchalant, as if he paid no attention to anything around himself, but, at the same time, nothing ever escaped his radar. A warm smile broke through Mike's lips, however, as he stepped to the side to make way for Y/N to wander in.

Mike: ["Yeah, Ashlyn told us about you!"]

Y/N: ["Did she now? Fuck, I knew she was staring. Only good things, I hope"] Mike laughed nervously while making his way inside along with Y/N, who stopped on his tracks for a moment ["Only Aiden and Ben. Two adults, likely their parents... I was not called here to discuss the project, was I?"] Y/N waved them hello while approaching and pulling himself a chair to sit down ["Shit, I need to talk to people? Might make use of the gun I'm carrying and turn it on myself"]

As Y/N sat down, he shot the adults a side-glance — Aiden's father had wavy hair, just like his son, but in its original color of black instead. Equally-colored eyes, which matched the bags around them, which was not hidden, in the slightest, by his glasses. Meanwhile, Aiden's mother was a kind-looking young woman with wavy brown hair that fell down to her shoulders, but she too, looked rather tired.

As he sat down, all eyes were on him — "Fuck. Fuck. Shit. Fuck." was all he could do, curse inside his own mind while doing his very best to maintain a rather serious face, and the usual cold of his eyes. Deciding it was best to break this little awkward silence once and for all, even at the cost of him having to talk to people, Y/N extended his hand to shake the hand of Emma, Mike, as well as the hand of Aiden's parents.

Y/N: ["I'm Y/N, nice to meet you all. I've met your son-"] He faced Aiden's parents ["And you daughter"] Then turned to face Ashlyn's ["At school today. We're in a group project together. There's three others with us, but..."] He dragged out his sentence, shooting a glance towards Aiden, who met his frosty eyes with a warm smile ["I suppose they couldn't come. What a shame"]

Aiden's Father: ["Oh, you're L/N. Aiden was telling us about you"]

Y/N: ["Why is everyone suddenly so interested in me? At this point I might risk going back to Italy"] Y/N hummed in a feign-interest, nodding in accordance with the man's words ["Did he now? Well, I seem to be on most people's radar as of late, but I guess that comes when you're new in the city"]

Emma: ["Ashlyn did say you are new. Plus, you've got a bit of an accent"] This caught Y/N attention. Still, his features were unchanged ["Sounds like European, right?"]

Y/N: ["And here I thought I was doing a good job at my pronunciation. Then again, I should've expect that someone like her would notice — No point in telling them the whole ruth, though"] Y/N hummed and nodded, both as a thanks to the glass of water that Mike presented to him, and affirming the woman's fake suspicions ["Yeah, I'm Irish. My parents travel for work often, so my older brother and I moved here. We're living in the center of the street, though after hearing how quiet this neighborhood is, I might move"]

Ashlyn: ["Hopefully not"]

The girl thought with herself as she walked down the stairs, catching everyone's attention, much to her dismay. As she walked down, her eyes landed first on Y/N, who shared the same look of misery as her — Tired, exhausted one would say, and wanting to be anywhere but here. As they moved to Aiden, however, he gave her a very warm, and equally-wide smile, closing his eyes in an almost-too-happy manner.

Ashlyn: ["Why do I feel like he is planning something?"]

Y/N: ["He definitely has something in mind. This guy's tricky"]

Aiden's Father: ["Sorry for coming on such short notice, though"] The man's smile opened just like his son's as he faced Emma and Mike ["Aiden told us Ben, him, Y/N and your daughter have been fast friends, and so we wanted to come and introduce ourselves-"] The man was cut off by both of Ashlyn's parents coughing and wheezing rather violently in surprise ["Oh my, are you two alright?"]

Emma: ["Y - Yeah, sorry"]

Mike: ["Ahem. Don't mind us, go on!"]

Aiden's Mother: ["We're happy to see Benny and Aiden fitting in. We move around a lot"] Y/N and Ashlyn silently listening on, both sharing a look of, "When will this end?" ["So Aiden's always been homeschooled, and even for Ben, it's been a while since he's gone to public school"]

Mike: ["Oh, that's exciting. Are everyone treating you well?"]

Aiden: ["Yeah, and we're very excited. Especially with the field trip"]

Ashlyn: ["Wait, is he...?"]

Y/N: ["Ah. That explains it, then. He called me because I am the only other person Ashlyn has interacted with. He sits a bit behind her, so he must've seen her staring at me"] Y/N thought with some of his thoughts now relieving themselves at the thought of this being over soon ["As much as I share your pain, I still see no reason why I shouldn't side with him. You going means we may do a better project, so we get better grades"] Sipping from his water cup, Y/N then wiped his mouth clean ["Means I am out of school faster"]

Aiden: ["I thought it'd be fun for Ashlyn to come along, too. Right, Y/N?"]

Y/N: ["Yeah. I hear that Savannah's a beautiful place with quite a rich history"]

Ashlyn: ["WE'RE BOTH ANTI-SOCIALS, SIDE WITH ME!"]

Y/N: ["Sorry, Ashy. Consider this an investment. Thanks. I'm gonna be owing you one after this"] Y/N continued to think and so, turned to face the girl who stared right at him, to which he gave her a small shrug with closed eyes ["Nothing personal, of course. It's just that the sooner I get out of school, the sooner I can go and life my own, alone life"]

Emma: ["What field trip?"]

Aiden's Father: ["Oh, you don't know? The kids have a history project on Savannah"]

Mike:: ["Ah, right. Ash was talking about that when she came home"]

Aiden's Mother: ["Their teacher also planned an overnight field trip to the city, and-"]

The rest devolved into adult small talk and chatter, of which the three youngsters absented themselves from, for the most part. Only every couple of minutes would either Ashlyn or Y/N spark up to say something, rarely a full sentence, before it degenerated back into them being quiet — Was it a competition, Ben would've won a golden medal. Y/N silently wondered what was up with him, and all of his silence.

Minutes went by, and all Y/N did was keep while commenting something here and there. Aiden was, by far, the one that talked the most — Often pulling either Y/N or Ashlyn, sometimes even both, into the conversation. Of course, he was only met with a quick reply, and it ended there. As the clock ticked, Y/N soon found himself out the door alongside the Clark family, as Aiden handed to Ashlyn the permission slip.

Aiden: ["Here. In case you decide you want to go"] Emma waved goodbye to Aiden's parents, while Ashlyn picked up the paper ["It was nice meeting you, Mrs. and Mr. Banner"]

Y/N: ["It was a pleasure. Hope to see you there, Ashlyn"]

Mike: ["Did you come alone, Y/N?"] The man asked, which prompted the boy to look at him ["It's quite a walk to the center of town. If you want to, I can give you a ride"]

Y/N: ["I appreciate the gesture, but I need the walk"] He tapped his own forehead with his index knuckle ["I just got a few things I need to sort out that need thinking, you know?"]

Mike: ["Yeah, I get it, we've all been there"]

Goodbyes and wishes later, Y/N found himself on the road, putting on his earphones and lighting himself a cigarette while on his walk. Ashlyn and her parents went back inside, with the girl sitting on the sofa and exhaling in fatigue — Equally, her mother fell back-first against the other sofa, sharing the same exhaustion as her daughter. Mike, likely the only social person of this family, sat by her side with a smile.

Mike: ["That Y/N one is a bit weird, but they were all nice"]

Emma: ["Ugh, I thought it was never going to to end..."]

Ashlyn: ["Dunno about you guys, but Imma go get ready for bed"]

The girl stood up and walked off with a bit of a tired rhythm to her step. Putting away the pink paper of the permission on top of a counter, the girl went up the stairs to her room. Her father, worriedly, picked it up, staring at it for a brief moment, and reading through the thing. Humming curiously before he turned to face his wife — Emma smiled, and nodded along as if she could read what her husband was thinking of.

Without thinking much about it, Mike went upstairs a few minutes later. Ashlyn, now done with her shower and dressed, picked up her phone to scroll through it, which is when two knocks at her door caught her attention. Humming as a way to let Mike know he could come in, he did so. Now dressed for bed, Ashlyn had her hair unbraided, and looked up towards her father after he had opened the door.

To see her in a rather interesting pose.

Mike: ["Hey, trooper. Mind if I come in?"]

Ashlyn: ["Sure..."]

Mike: ["You know... I think you should go"]

Ashlyn: ["On the field trip? Why?"] The girl sat on the bed near her dad, throwing him a confused look ["You know we aren't actually friends, right? I've had maybe two conversations with Aiden"] Ashlyn's eyes wandered to the ground, remembering the few moments in class ["And barely even only one with Y/N, and it was all about the project, and Ben hasn't even spoken to me... Or anyone in school, from what I've seen"]

Mike: ["Well, all friendships start somewhere, right?"]

Ashlyn: ["But I don't want any friendships..."]

Mike: ["How do you know?"] He gave her a patient, and warm smile — A total contrast of anything that even resembled Y/N ["You can guess that you won't like something, but you never actually know until you try, right?"]

Ashlyn: ["Like when you made me try pickled eggs...?"]

Mike: ["Could've used a better example, but at least you know for sure you hate them! ... But listen, I can't, and I won't force you to go..."] The man wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling the girl closer with surprising ease thanks to their difference in height and muscle, holding Ashlyn in place and rubbing his knuckles on her head ["I do think it's a good idea for you to experience things before you hate them, though!"]

Ashlyn: ["Agh, quit it! Cut it out, cut it out!!"]

Goodnight kisses and hugs were exchanged not many minutes after when both Mike and Emma went to bed, but not after teasing Ashlyn even more, of course. Laying against the bed, she had her eyes glued on the paper sheet — "You should come too!" written by Aiden, and a "<- 👍" by Y/N were written on it as well. Sighing, Ashlyn turned to the side, putting the paper down, and losing herself deep in her thoughts.

Ashlyn: ["It kinda irks me that he had this planned out. I feel like I'm losing if I give in and go..."] She rolled on her bed for a while more, every-so-often staring at the paper sheet in her hands, clutching it even harder ["But dad really wants me to give it a shot"]

Unable to sleep, all she did was roll around for a bit longer. Turning to the right, to the left, laying on her back and on her chest for a while, never once finding a comfortable spot within the confinements of her mind. Finally picking up that paper sheet again, the girl gave it a long, hard look, practically burning a hole through the thin sheet of paper with how hard she stared — It didn't take long for her to reach a conclusion.

Ashlyn: ["I don't want to"]

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Aiden: ["I'm so happy you decided to come!"]

Ashlyn: ["I'm sure you are..."]

Some sweat dripped off of her forehead, silently regretting her actions and bashing herself for this stupid decision — She avoided all forms of contact with him, and only kept looking around. People gathered around the school bus, all sorts of students who stuck close to their group of friends, who they shared their semester project with. Having been tossed into a group of strangers, look is all Ashlyn could do.

Her own group of weirdos, where the only two (mostly) normal ones were the twins, doing what siblings usually do — Arguing. Logan was isolated from everyone else, always looking around nervously but never too far from the main group, much like Y/N, who stood by himself rather far away, just watching. Arms crossed, leaning against the wall and everything, just waiting for the moment they'd need to go.

Ashlyn: ["I can't believe I actually gave in..."]

Thomas: ["Alright everyone, start filing onto the bus! We'll leave in t minus five!"]

Ashlyn walked in, followed by everyone else of her group, all who sat on a single line of seats — Tyler and Taylor side-by-side, Ashlyn and Y/N, Ben and Logan, then Aiden. The twins were using their cellphones while Y/N kept his arms crossed with eyes shut and Ashlyn laid her head against the wall. Both Ben and Logan read, while Aiden took two seats for him to lay on, involuntarily scaring off anyone with his crazy-big smirk.

Thomas: ["Okay everyone, I'm sure you already know, but I'm going to go over today's schedule one more time"] The man looked at his wrist watch, always keeping that warm smile as he did ["It takes eight hours to get to Savannah. In about four hours, around noon, we'll stop to get something to eat"] Some of the students messed around — Somehow, one even had a hammock to lay on ["Once we get to Savannah, you and your groups will have two hours to eat, go on tours, look at historic monuments, explore the area, good off, etc, etc. After, we'll all meet at the bus and heat up to the motels"] He motioned to the side, where two other teachers were, both rather older than him ["Everyone who has a phone has added Mr. Lee's, Mrs. Sarah's, and my number. Let's get this show on the road!"]

Ashlyn: ["I'm not used to someone sitting beside me. It feels uncomfortable..."]

Y/N: ["Shit. Why did I have to voluntarily seat at the side of someone else...?"]

In perfect sync with each other's minds, the two of them thought back to how they ended up in this scenario — Y/N wanting to sit at her side, because both were the quiet type, so maybe they'd share some comfortable silence. Ashlyn would refuse it, she even immediately felt tempted to deny him, but thought back to her father wanting her to push herself, and ended up giving in. Safe to say, it wasn't comfortable at all.

Y/N: ["Her being cute doesn't make up for how awkward this is"]

Ashlyn: ["So far, I don't like this, at all"]

Aiden: ["You two wanna try it?"]

Their thoughts and silence were both interrupted by the crazy-smirking blonde leaning over his seat. Ashlyn, who sat with both of her feet up in the chair and leaning against the window, turned to the side in order to face Aiden. Y/N did so as well, his eyes still unmoving at him presenting his Rubik's cube to them. Without saying anything else, Y/N just turned his head to the side, and closed his eyes once again.

Ashlyn: ["I'm not a big puzzle person..."]

Aiden: ["It'll be a good way to pass the time"] He opened his bag, full of all sorts of puzzle toys ["And I got plenty to choose from!"]

Y/N: ["Why the fuck do you have so many...?"]

Aiden: ["You just gotta make all the sides into one single color"] He fidgets around, or rather, speedran the Rubik's Cube — 0.04 seconds ["Like this! See?"]

Taylor: ["Ah! Can I try one?"]

Taylor peeked over her chair, kneeling on it and turning around to face the master of puzzles, who happily shared his bag full of them with her. And such went the entire trip — Taylor trying puzzles, Tyler on his cellphone. Ashlyn watched astonished how quickly and precisely Aiden finished his puzzles, while Logan and Ben read silently on the backseat. Y/N kept his eyes closed most of the time, and never once spoke up.

Long hours later, where they kept on what they were doing, sleeping, or snacking on some stuff Y/N managed to sneak into the bus, they had arrived. Removing his earbuds and listening to the sound of the wheels of the bus coming to a halt, Y/N rolled his stiff shoulders already, finding himself stumbling with some difficulty to walk thanks to how long he was sitting — Still, he did not compare to Ashlyn, who...

Ashlyn: ["Eight hours was a lot longer than I thought it'd be..."]

Y/N: ["... I feel like I should ask if she's alright..."]

Thomas: ["Alright everyone, don't go too far out. Make sure to be back here at five, and if anything happens, call us immediately!"] The teacher spoke up to get everyone's attention, but most students did not register his words ["When everyone is back, we-"]

Ashlyn: ["This place is... Rather creepy"]

She looked towards an old, abandoned house not too far ahead, recalling a few memories of hearing about this place being an "actually haunted" house or something. She did not want to pay it much attention, but she could not help but keep looking at its details — Old, abandoned, taken over by nature again. It really looked like the sort of place that would be haunted in something like a movie or a game.

Aiden: ["Hey, Ashlyn. You coming?"]

Taylor: ["We haven't eaten since we stopped for lunch a couple hours ago..."] The girl mused as everyone followed then along — As usual, Ashlyn and Y/N were last in the group ["Maybe we can get some food and talk about to do while we eat?"]

Tyler: ["Sure. What do y'all say?"]

He turned around to face the rest of the group, who agreed — Or nodded along in the case of Y/N, Ashlyn and Ben. First stopping at a restaurant where Y/N paid for everyone's meal, then a carriage ride around the city, also sponsored by Y/N. Finally, they stopped by various old places in the town, where Logan would note down everything they discussed, while the rest would brainstorm what to do next.

Even Aiden, who, in the aforementioned old places, would be climbing them, or shoving his head into a lamp open by the bottom when they visited a lamp shop of some kind — Y/N didn't know, he just went along in hopes they'd let him be quiet — He still helped. Later, when resting down in the park, Taylor got everyone's attention by excitedly pointing at a stall of face paintings, which the rest reluctantly went to.

Later, Y/N sat on a bench, resisting the urges to light himself a cigarette in front of everyone. He had a face painting in the shape of a little skull on his right cheek, similar to Ashlyn who stared at her own phone to see her white-colored, musical note paintings. In the same fountain she sat, Aiden and his golden-colored painting reached inside the water to steal all the coins that people had thrown in there.

Ben, with his mustache painting, slept while leaning against the aforementioned water fountain, while Taylor and Tay — With matching tattoos of equal design and color, just different sides of their mouths — played around with Logan's camera. The young boy with a blue heart painted on his cheek, worriedly tried to ask Taylor to give his camera back to him, which the girl didn't do because she was too busy with bothering Tyler.

Ashlyn: ["This... Isn't as bad as I thought it would be"] She thought, staring at her own face on the cellphone, and her group of friends ["We only have forty minutes left..."]

Taylor: ["I guess we should probably head back in 30 minutes, then!"]

Woman: ["Excuse me!"]

The voice of a young woman sparked the interest of the group, who all turned to face her — A youthful girl in her mid-to-late-20's, sporting short, black hair, and greenish-brown eyes. She wore a plain red shirt with dark-brown jeans who lacked as much detail as the aforementioned. She looked embarrassed, as if even approaching the group was something like a source of embarrassment for this poor, young girl.

Woman: ["Would you be interested in a tour of the Sorrel Weed House? A group canceled their tour last minute..."] She gave them a rather friendly look, but something made both Ashlyn and Y/N narrow their eyes ["So, now we have some empty spots if you guys are interested? It's only five dollars a person, too!"]

Taylor: ["Wait, really?!"] She excitedly spoke with stars on her eyes ["This place is supposedly realll haunted! We gotta go!!"]

Ashlyn: ["Is it really allowed to allow random people to take over a reservation like this?"]

Tyler: ["Eh, sure. I don't care"]

Aiden: ["I'm in!"]

Woman: ["Than, right this way please!"]

Y/N walked alongside the rest of the group, entering the place and looking around. As if they could feel each other's equal distress, he and Ashlyn shared the same sort of serious look — Cold and careful. Y/N handed $35 to the woman, paying for everyone's entrance, and before they could say anything, he hurried inside. Though, he still looked around, something felt wrong. A strange feeling in his own ever-clutching gut.

Y/N: ["... This doesn't feel right"]

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THEY ARE JUST PHANTOM NOISES.

THEY AREN'T REAL.

Ashlyn could remember well the memories of her when she was young — The constant buzzing on her words, the noises that seemed to come out of nowhere, and vanish just as mysteriously. No matter how much she tried, those red waves of doubt and uncertainty would always carry on around her, always present, always whispering words that she could not comprehend, and never, even at night, leaving her in peace.

Ashlyn: ["Real or not, it still sounds so unpleasant..."]

She mused with annoyance, walking into the place with an exasperated sigh of fatigue from the long, boring day that was spent mostly sitting in one place. Alongside with everyone, but a bit further behind the group, she walked side-by-side with Y/N. She shot him a quick glance, but to her expectations: Nothing — Y/N was still as cold and unfazed by everything around him, but still seemed to keep a keen eye on everything.

Ashlyn: ["Well, whatever. It'll go away soon, anyways"]

Tour Guide: ["Welcome to the Sorrel Weed House! So, this is the foyer. Most things in the house are original, with the exception of the furniture and the wall paints"] Mostly-yellow, save in a few spots where it deviated to a strange marine green tone as they wandered around the place ["This is the Francis Sorrel library, and the man you see in this portrait is Robert E. Lee. Lee Was a dear friend of Francis, who visited the sorrel house quite often"] Y/N looked up at the painting, humming in some strange mixture of amusement, but also the lack of surprise or interest ["In the winter of 61 or 62, just before the great war, general Lee used this room as his office. As far as spooky activity goes, this room seems to be the most calm"] Everyone wandered around the place, poking in a few areas and watching carefully for any sort of interesting occurrence ["Not to say that there isn't any ghostly activity in here, but out of the entire house, I-"]

RING! RING! RING!

Tour Guide: ["Ah... I'm so sorry, this is my emergency phone. I have to get this"] The woman, hurriedly and with visible concern, pulled her phone out ["I'll be right back. Feel free to continue looking around if you want, but please, please don't touch anything!"]

Tyler: ["Well, that's super professional..."]

Logan: ["I-I don't think that's professional..."]

Tyler: ["I was being sarcastic"]

Taylor: ["Eh, an emergency is an emergency"] She shrugged with a smile ["It'll be more fun to explore on our own way!!"]

Logan cheered her on in the background, and so, they got to it — The second floor was rummaged entirely, looked at from all sorts of poses, angles, and shots, but nothing. The first floor wasn't any better, but it was, indeed, a bit more interesting with a few mysterious, old things here and there. The group was getting ready to leave, was it not for a sudden whistling catching their attention, courtesy of the quiet Y/N.

He tilted his head to the side, not even saying anything as he motioned towards a staircase that led downstairs. Taylor, excitedly, was the first one to go down, followed right after by Ben and Aiden. Tyler followed suit with Logan at his side, and then finally, Ashlyn went down after sharing a rather fast glance with Y/N — The last of which, stood behind to go on the rearmost end of the group as he seemed to do.

Ashlyn: ["It usually stops by now... Why are the sounds getting louder?"]

The red waves kept on coming, raining down on her as if they were long, sharp nails grinding against a chalkboard. The girl uncomfortably hugged herself for a moment, but then reached towards her ears — Rather tightly, her fingers pulled away at an earplug on her, well, ear. Removing them only made the sounds come out even louder, each ticking moment seeing like they were whispering more and more to her.

Ashlyn: ["Taking out the plugs isn't helping either..."]

Tyler: ["Why is she wearing earplugs?"]

Aiden: ["Ah, I thought they were wireless earbuds?!"]

Ashlyn: ["OW! They're earplugs..."] The girl winced at how loud Aiden spoke up ["I wear them because of my sensitivity to..."] Her entire body went cold ["Sounds...?"]

Aiden: ["Oh, my bad. I thought they were for music"] He did not seem to notice what she did ["You know, like the ones that Y/N always have?"]

It glared right into her soul.

Ashlyn: ["Calm down, calm down, they can't see it..."]

She breathed in and out, trying as hard as she could to regulate the speed in which she inhaled and exhaled — All in futile attempts to calm herself. The others, save for Y/N and Ben, remained talking amongst themselves, seemingly unaware of the creature which stalked them from the back of the room. Ashlyn stared right at it, feeling her heart beating so loudly and quickly, it felt like it would burst out her chest.

Ashlyn: ["You're only imagining it because of the phantom noises. It's not real. It's not actually there, it is all in your head..."] The monster still stared right at the girl, with its smile widening more with each second ["Just ignore it, and then it'll go away. It's fine!"]

Taylor: ["Oh, that room looks pretty cool!"] The girl smiled, but soon, her eyes dropped to worry ["Hey, Ashlyn... You alright? You look pale"]

Ashlyn: ["... I'm fine. Damn, almost cracked there"] The girl put on her earplug again, turning to face both Taylor and Y/N ["They said that auditory hallucinations are possible, but never anything about visual. I'll just avoid it until we leave. Hopefully, it'll be gone by then"] The girl resumed walking alongside the rest of the group — Or she would've had, were they walking at all ["But it's hard not to be bothered when it looks so blasted terrifying. Is my imagination really this morbid? Maybe if I confront it, it'll disappear like facing your fears or something?"] She raised a thoughtful hand to her chin, wondering about her own questions, and oblivious to everyone else who had gone quiet ["What if it is real... Nah, Ashlyn. Don't be stupid... Hum, the others are awfully quiet-"]

And she soon found out why.

Y/N: ["Ashlyn..."]

Everyone looked terrified, all to certain degrees. Taylor hid behind her older sibling, both shaky hands covering her face of horror. Tyler stood in front of her, but also shook at that terrifying sight. Though he smiled, Aiden was sweating hard, and Ben seemed frozen in place — Logan's hands trembled while clutching his camera, and Y/N's arm reached behind, as if he was ready to grab something from his back pocket.

Y/N: ["Behind you..."]

<<<<<< I >[---]< I >>>>>>

[Published in - 02/22/24]
[Word Count - 6.000]

Wow, I really am on a fucking roll, huh?

Back-to-back chapters like this, one after the other. I guess that speaks volumes of how hyped up I am to write this story — Something worth noting is how I wrote this entire chapter while running on a cup of coke, two cups of coffee, and a total of 30 minutes of sleep, on the same night that I published the last chapter. Do let me know if the quality of this chapter took a hit because of how quickly I made myself write it.

But, as usual, I hope you enjoyed, and let me know what you think! <3