"Hey, this the mansion hotel of Baron Anthony, right?" Mart asks, shining his flashlight at the wooden door. "Because I hope this is the right place. I got shit I needin' to be doing if this ain't it!"

"This is the place, Mart," Percy groans, finally wedging t"Hey, this the mansion hotel of Baron Anthony, right?" Mart asks, shining his flashlight at the wooden door. "Because I hope this is the right place. I got shit I needin' to be doing if this ain't it!"

"This is the place, Mart," Percy groans, finally wedging the door open after struggling for a few minutes. "There is only one mansion in this county with the century's largest disappearance of people. if another mansion were around, it'd probably be on the google search."

I chuckle as Mart and Percy pointlessly argue over something on google and shake my head while I gaze at the mansion's dark entrance, gulping from the lack of light inside. "E-Eug, wa-wanna shine a light?"

"What's there to be scared of?" Eug chuckles. "It's just an old house, doesn't even have a basement around the entrance!"

I still felt uncertain about doing this; however, I got no choice in the matter - looking at Eug's grin.

"I hate you."

"Nah, too much love to hear!"

"SO MUCH HATE!" I shout, my fists clenching hard enough to stop the shivering; however, it quickly returns as I approach the entrance and sigh. "Why isn't the flashlight going past the entrance?"

I asked, taking one step inside before the floor shook underneath me and gave way.I couldn't scream as I fell into the dark in shock.

However, it was only a nightmare as I woke up with a gasp. I had no idea how long I had been asleep, but judging by the car driving on dirt, I knew we were extremely close to the haunted mansion I wanted to avoid.

"Jeez," Mart's voice exclaimed, sounding surprised as I collect myself. "Should we drive you back home?"

"No," I swiftly decline. "No need for that." I yawn before stretching my arms while I finish my sentence. "Eug's GTA 2 driving skills woke me up from my beauty sleep."

I chuckle before our illustrious driver gave a sarcastic laugh. I could tell he's glaring at me from his, uh, mirror thing, shit. I forgot what we called the thing. "Want me to stop the car?" He questions with a smile. "I got no issue letting you walk there if you don't feel confident in my driving skills."

An alarm flashes through my eyes as I look out the window, staring into the endless night that devours the trees and blinds the moon. A shaky smile stilled on my face when I look back at Eug and raise my hands in surrender. "N-Nah, too cold," I hesitated, preferring to remain indoors for many reasons I am totally not afraid of regarding our trip! "I-I'll keep leeching off your gas money instead of walking through the cold night!"

That got the others to laugh, lightening the mood in the car while Eugine changes gears while my "taxi' starts travelling uphill.

The change in gears and the terrain made the ride bumpy while I lean back on my seat and let out a quiet, shaky sigh, hiding my feelings for the dark and the haunted mansion.

'It's just an abandoned mansion,' I thought, watching the car drive through the forest. 'No need to be scared of a place infested with rodents.'

I thought, unconsciously gripping the armrest of the door, looking out the window and stare into the endless darkness with faint silhouettes of trees dimly shined by the waning lights of our passing car.

'The car is a safe haven for everyone,' I thought, ignoring the light devouring darkness that hangs around everywhere. 'There are only trees and some wild animals everywhere.'

I mentally process, doing my darndest to keep calm and avoid needless panic. 'After all, we have the internet,' I thought with a smile. 'As long as there is a signal, we should be all righ-'

"AAHHHH!" Someone screams beside me.

"AAUHHHHH!" I scream back, panicking as I clutch my chest while my heart roars in my ears. "W-What happened!?"

I needlessly panic, my body buckling in fear while my ears burn; however, instead of fear, they glow from hearing laughter from the boys; I felt my cheeks burn bright alongside my ears, aware that everyone now knows I am on edge from the forest alone.

"Gah! I'll spray all of you with my hose once I get home!" I snapped without thought, multiplying their laughter, a smile cracking on my lips. "I will scare you all-!"

"What the fuck!?"

"OOP!"

"HOLY SH-!?"

"OH, GOD!?"

Collective screams came from everyone as the cracking sound of dirt roared into the air. I don't know if the others follow, but I braced myself for impact by clutching Eug's car like a child clinging to their parent's leg when wanting a new toy.

I pray hard for the car to stop skidding, hoping it wouldn't fall over; however, I had no idea why we stopped either.

A creak would follow from the car, stalked by a tense silence, a stillness in the air as our breathing choked all sound.

I had no clue what was going on; however, the car didn't feel like it was tipping over, and I didn't see Eug hitting anything. However, the car wasn't straight, and that scares me worse than ever.

Unfortunately, fear was something that didn't go through the passenger seat. "What the hell was that!?" Percy shouts, sounding pissed as all hell at Eugine. "Where the hell did you learn to stop a car like that?!"

Considering he didn't bring up the whole GTA joke we had going on, I know for sure; he is very much pissed the hell off.

Mart looked at me before trying to calm the rowdiest of us four. "H-hey, Perce, maybe Eug-"Percy aggressively looked to the back row from the passenger seat. "We stopped at nothing, you idiots!" Percy pointed out, revealing that there was nothing in front. "I was there! Eug was driving, and he suddenly swerves the damn thing to a bloody stop!"

I look to Mart after Percy shouted and...was honestly lost on what made Eugine stop in the first place.

I spoke up in place of Mart, who grew timid...Which is ironic since I'm the one scared shitless right now. "P-Percy, maybe he stopped, and...whatever was up ahead moved?"

"He wasn't close to anything!" Percy refutes. "He just upped and stop-"

"GUYS!" Eugine shouts, startling everyone. I had no idea how long Eug was trying to get our attention, but it seems long enough as he was panting. "Look, through the window."

He asked, looking lost for words.

Mart rolled his window down to lean out the door and seemed genuinely shocked.

I was lost as Percy says "What the hell' for the third time and decide to take a peak between the two seats.

I couldn't believe my eyes at what I'm seeing. "Th-this is a joke, r-right?" I asked nervously, my hands growing numb at the building in front of us. "Y-you pr-probably hit the wrong coordinates and brought us elsewhere, r-right?"

My voice cracks as I was still in shock. "This-this is supposed to be a haunted mansion, th-this is a hotel?"

"T-then why are we on edge?" Percy points out, looking lost for words. "I-I'm with Jake on this," Percy supported me. "Th-there is no way someone would build a hotel on top of one of the largest mass disappearances of the century. We probably hit the wrong coordinates on the GPS, right? Everything needs to be mapped precisely...right?"

Eugine didn't reply to Percy, nor my words. Instead, he changed gears and slowly drove the car forward, the haunted mansion growing closer with every passing second.

I didn't know how slow Eugine drove nor how long it took, but the GPS voice confirmed our destination.

"Arriving at. Mansion Hotel of Baron Anthony."

Why the hell are we at a mansion that looks like the newspaper clippings we found? Why the hell does this place look brand new?

It was scarier when the man who looks like the century missing baron himself approaches our window. "Good evening, dear gents, and welcome to the opening of my Mansion Hotel," The look-alike introduce himself, speaking in an older English tone. "My name is Anthony Von Columbia, and I welcome you as dear guests."