It has been one week since Thomas first showed up, and he hasn't made an appearance since. Thank goodness.

Claudia has been really quiet. She rarely interacted with me or my mother, and she looked so distant and lifeless.

Whenever the three of us were in a room, she would sometimes give me a glare that said:

"Don't tell her."

I couldn't resist it at first, but then I decided not to. If only our mother would just find out by accident. Either way, I wouldn't let this go.

I occasionally saw cryptic messages painted with blood again, something I still wasn't getting used to. I had to be on guard constantly, staying awake almost all night to make sure that she wasn't lurking anywhere. Fortunately it was the summer holidays so there was no school to worry about.

It was difficult defending yourself against an all powerful entity without your family knowing about it.

...

I then heard that voice. That familiar voice that sent shivers down my spine...

"Hello there, Owen."

It was her...

"Hehe...did you miss me?"

I frantically looked around my bedroom to find out where she was. Just as I thought, she must have been invisible.

"So, I guess you're here to play another "game" with me, huh?"

She giggled.

"You know me so well."

Once she said those words, the ground started to tremble for a while, and I ended up falling onto the ground, hearing Alyssa's laughter as I did.

Then, it stopped.

A shillouete of Alyssa materialised into the middle of the room. I couldn't make out her appearance, but I could tell that she was a young girl considering her height.

I tried punching it out of frustration, but the moment I made contact with it, it disappeared, then materialised into the middle of the room again.

"Using violence to achieve your goals and letting your anger guide you...just like Thomas."

Did...did she just compare me to Thomas? How could anyone make that comparison? I was nothing like him.

"So...you know about Thomas then?" I asked her calmly.

"I see all, Owen."

"Then you should "see" that he's the one who deserves to be haunted, not me."

"Hmm? And why is that?"

I sighed, feeling an intense anger flow through my veins.

"Because he's hurting Claudia."

My anger only increased once she giggled again.

"You forget one important detail."

"...And what would that be?"

"Claudia loves him," she told me in a singsong voice. "She's even more detached from reality than you are right now. How pathetic."

"Then why don't you help her?!"

She didn't reply.

"Why can't you use your powers for good?!"

There was still no reply.

"Tell me!"

"It's because I don't need her."

"What do you mean you don't need her? Are people just puppets to you?"

"In my world, they are."

I had no words. Whatever Alyssa was, she was a heartless being who needed to be stopped.

"So, you're not going to help me save Claudia then?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

She began laughing as if I told her some kind of hilarious joke.

"You'll be saving Claudia by yourself...if you're able to survive."

I then heard a loud scream coming from the other side of my bedroom wall. It was Claudia's voice...

"Claudia!"

Alyssa continued her insane laughter as I tried calling out to my sister.

"She can't hear you, you know. It won't be long before her time runs out..."

"What have you done to her?!" I screamed at the shillouette, starting to panic. What is she doing to her back there...?

"You'll find out very soon...let's just say that her heart isn't in the right place."

Damn you...

"If you really want to save her, then you'll need to play some more of my games."

"Just as predictable as ever I see..." I muttered to myself.

My bedroom door opened by itself, and on the other side there was seemingly endless corridor. This one had blood on the walls and skeletons on the floor, it seemed like something you would find in a bad horror story. It was still incredibly unnerving though, especially with the eyeballs who were crying blood.

There was no way out, so all I could do was explore this haunted corridor. The moment I left the door behind me closed, and Alyssa's laugh echoed from the other side.

This time I had no one to help me, and I had no weapons...this must have been a game of survival.

I walked down the grotesque corridor. The only thing making a sound were my footsteps and my heavy breathing. The stench was invading my nostrils, and I thought I was going to throw up because of that and the awful sights that this corridor had to offer.

As I continued walking, I started to hear noises. It was the sound of a beating heart, and it wasn't my own. It was much louder than it would be for a regular human.

What made this more disturbing was that the large eyeballs that were glued to the walls around me started blinking.

Other than the grotesque aesthetics there was still no sign of danger. Or at least, that's what I thought at first...

I saw a message written in blood on the floor.

It only said one word...

Run.

Run? Run from what?

At that very moment I heard footsteps that were gradually getting louder and faster...

I didn't hesitate, I ran as fast as I could.

I didn't look back to see what it was that was chasing me, but I could tell that the creature was huge and that it was getting closer.

I tried running as fast as I could, but I was too slow to outrun it, and it got closer with every second. I could tell that it was the end...

As I ran, I started...falling?

The corridor and the monster behind me disappeared, and instead I was falling in a twisted dimension. The sky was covered with crimson red clouds, and the stars were still visible behind them. There were giant blocks everywhere that were attaching and detaching themselves from each other at will.

It was so beautiful yet so unnerving...Alyssa had more powers than I thought.

I wondered how long I was going to fall, terrified that I would land on one of those blocks or get crushed by them.

But eventually I saw a large portal of light that was getting closer, was that my destination?

Being blinded by the light, I waited as I continued falling into it, hoping that what was on the other side wouldn't be so bad...