Chapter 005: There's Something In Here With Us

***

Things only got creepier since the photos and the branch.

More weird noises started going off in the hours following it—bangs and creaks and groans, and something that sounded almost like fingernails or something much, much sharper scraping across the walls. It was an old house, but the noises... they didn't feel entirely right, and no matter how Emmy, Ben, Quinn and Sasha walked around the house and saw nothing supposedly supernatural or even natural to explain it, Emmy still felt a sense of... weirdness, around the noises.

It didn't help that each minute, each hour, that ticked by, it had grown gradually colder, enough that her friends were beginning to feel it, and along with the growling, Emmy could hear noises apparently neither of her friends could hear—noises that felt almost like whispering... voices.

That unnerved Emmy more than anything, because it brought back memories as a kid, memories of nightmares and fears of shadows and hiding away before gradually knowing it was all in her head, it wasn't real, they weren't real, the voices weren't real and they were gone—

But had they? Because Emmy was hearing them again, and it was injecting fear into her bloodstream with each whisper, each rasp, that she was desperately trying to keep at bay and not freak out her friends anymore than they were already being freaked out. Fear that was intensified by the growling.

Growling that didn't sound human.

Along with the noises and the chill, the prickling was near-constant along Emmy's skin, as from the corner of her eye, it was like she could almost see something in the shadows, before disappearing and revealing nothing there. It was probably her freaked-out imagination, making monsters out of shadows and growling and voices out of nothing, but Emmy could feel her cynicism being slowly chipped away with each hour, each noise, each shadow, that passed, helped by the photos of herself and Sasha—the photo of Sasha she knew she couldn't possibly have imagined, that further cracked away at her cynicism of the paranormal.

Because it had to be wrong. Morrow House... it couldn't really be haunted. Ghosts didn't exist.

Right?

Eventually, a few hours after the Scooby Gang went in and they wandered around, Emmy, Ben and Quinn found themselves back in the living room. As they stood there, something banged against the wall, causing them to jump and see nothing.

"Probably just the creepy old house doing creepy old house things," Quinn reasoned, but her skeptical expression did little to hide the fear cracking it. 

Emmy swallowed, before she said, "Hey guys, I... I think we should take the camcorder out again."

Ben and Quinn looked at each other, but didn't argue as Ben lifted the camcorder up—Sasha had given it to him a few minutes ago—and handed it to Emmy, who turned it on.

As the red light blinked, Emmy swallowed back the fear, the prickling and cold, and started speaking as the camcorder started recording.

***

CAMCORDER VIDEO FOOTAGE 002

12:35 AM, MAY 28TH, 1987

EMMY

Is it on? Okay it's on. Uh, it's been four hours since we went in, and, uh... things are getting kinda creepy now.

She glances around, an uneasy look on her face, as she hands the camcorder to Ben. He keeps it focused on her as Quinn gives Emmy a look.

QUINN

Define creepy, Emmy. This house has been creepy the whole night.

EMMY

Well, it definitely didn't feel half as creepy as it did before!

She takes a breath, recollecting herself, giving an apologetic look at Quinn.

EMMY

I'm sorry Quinn. This house... it's got me really freaked the fuck out. I shouldn't have yelled at you.

QUINN

It's okay. I mean, I feel the same. It's... it's really fucking creepy.

Emmy bites her lip, eyes darting down, before she speaks again.

EMMY

Anyway... it felt okay the first couple of hours or so. And then... I don't know. It just feels off now.

QUINN

Off? What do you mean by off, Emmy?

EMMY

I... I don't really know. Just that it does.

Quinns scoffs, turning around as she tilts her head back, red ponytail following the movement, as behind the camcorder, Ben looks at Emmy.

BEN

When you mean by "off", off as in... this place might actually be haunted?

Emmy grows quiet as Quinn turns back. They're all quiet before Quinn gives out a laugh. It's more nervous than she likes it to be.

QUINN

That's stupid, right? It's probably creepy and giving Emmy her off feeling because of the murders and Harold Morrow going insane. There's no such thing as ghosts and demons, right? Right?

EMMY

I don't know. But guys, it's been getting colder, right? And we've all been hearing those weird noises. My photo, and Sasha's... they didn't look right. And, I've been hearing growling for the past three hours now.

BEN

Growling? 

Emmy nods.

BEN

Why haven't we heard it?

EMMY

No idea. Maybe I'm just lucky.

She gives a weak attempt of a grin, but it's more grimace—a tell of how nervous and uneasy she feels

QUINN

It's an old house. Old houses make noise. The shadows probably made the photos look weird. And with the growling, Dylan and Sean and all those dickheads are probably outside trying to mess with us or scare us. Well, if they're listening, it's not fucking working you douchebags!

EMMY

I know, but... it doesn't feel right, guys. That growling... I know I'm gonna sound crazy, but it didn't sound human. It feels like there's something else here, with us. In this house. And...

Emmy pauses, before her face fills with determination.

EMMY

I know we agreed to spend the whole night in here, but maybe we should leave. 

BEN

I second that. This place has been giving me a weird feeling for the past couple hours now, and I'm not gonna get murdered—ghosts or otherwise.

Quinn bites her lip, thoughts racing as she tries to cling into skepticism, that it's an old house and ignore some instincts inside her screaming to get out, that her friends are right, that Emmy is right—there's something off about the house, something that isn't right, and they should all get the fuck out of here before it might be too late.

Quinn gives out a sigh, making her decision.

QUINN

Okay. Let's get out of here.

Quinn turns, before she freezes.

QUINN

Uh, guys, where's Sasha?

Emmy and Ben freeze, as all three wear the same look of realisation: They haven't seen Sasha since they entered the living room a few minutes ago.

BEN

Shit, we need to find her, we—

A bloodcurdling scream cuts him off.

The trio freeze again as the screaming rings out in the otherwise silent house, sounding uncomfortably close and yet disturbingly distant, and full of primal fear and agony. The trio's faces make it clear how spine-chilling it sounds to them, much less to those watching the video and hearing that scream.

And just as sudden as it starts, it cuts off.

Emmy, Quinn and Ben stand there in the ringing silence left behind from the scream, faces full of shock... and fear.

BEN

That... that can't have been Sasha. Right?

QUINN

I-I don't... maybe? 

BEN

Oh God, we need to find her. Emmy, come on, we need to go and find her. Emmy? Ems?

Ben and Quinn turn to Emmy, who is standing there as if frozen, eyes wide.

BEN

Emmy? 

He shakes her, but Emmy doesn't move, still frozen.

QUINN

Ems, this isn't funny. Are you okay? Ems? Emmy?

Emmy still doesn't respond, not even when Ben shakes her again and Quinn snaps her fingers in front of Emmy's wide eyes.

BEN 

Emmy! Ems! Come on, Emmy, talk to us! 

QUINN

Emmy, you are scaring me and Ben the fuck out! Just say something! Emmy!

BEN AND QUINN

EMMY!

Emmy doesn't respond. But she does move as, slowly, she turns to the wall.

***

The voice were screaming in Emmy's ears.

They hadn't stopped since she heard that awful scream—it couldn't be Sasha, Sasha was okay, she had to be okay—a cacophony of screams and shrieks that had Emmy want to desperately slam her hands over her ears as the prickling across her skin now felt like an unending wave of pins and needles, and it was so loud.

The pins and needles feeling sharpened and Emmy wanted it to stop, make it stop, make it stop, make it STOP—

Then, through the cacophony, a voice, female and full of fear, pierced through it.

Listen.

Through her confusion, Emmy did. And through the noise, through the screams and whispers, she heard it.

Wallpaper tearing.

Dread filling her, pins and needles and goosebumps crawling all over her skin, Emmy slowly turned to face the wall—solid and still, with no tears or cracks.

But the noise, the feeling, said otherwise.

***

BEN 

Emmy, what's going on? 

Emmy doesn't say anything as she stared at the wall, flashlight harshly lighting it up. It looks normal, unassuming, but fear flickers over Emmy's face.

QUINN

Emmy, this isn't the time to creepily stare at the wall, tell us what the fuck is going on.

She grabs Emmy's shoulder, and her friend jostles slightly. She let out a ragged breath, before, finally, she speaks.

EMMY

We need to go. Right. Now.

BEN

What? Why?

Emmy swallows, before she whispers something, almost too low, yet the camcorder still picks it up.

EMMY

There's something in the wall.

Quinn and Ben stand there, obviously confused as the wall looks normal, the camcorder showing it just as much as the three teens stare at it, flashlights shining upon it.

Then the flashlights flicker, and the camcorder footage starts glitching—right as the wallpaper begins to bulge out.

The camcorder jostles like Ben—and therefore Quinn and Emmy—have taken a step back, but it's hard to guess with how erratic the glitching is as the flashlights keep flickering in out and the wallpaper bulges outward in a more discernible shape, as now the sound of static accompanies the glitching and the shape almost looks like a clawed, elongated hand—

The screen whites out in static.

When it flickers back in, a horrifying sight is revealed.

Something stands before the horrified teens. The glitching footage makes it hard to tell, but it looks like a humanoid, blackened shape, taller and thinner than any human should be. Its elongated arms hung low by its sides, spikes jutting out from its arms and behind its backward-facing legs, with clawed, elongated fingers, and quills quiver behind it, running down it's spine. Blackness seems to drip off its body, melting into shadow as it lifts its spiked, quilled head, exposing a formless face with only two distinct features—eyes black as voids with a tiny pinprick of red in the centre, and a mouth full of sharp, jagged fangs.

The creature snarls, and lets loose a terrifying shriek as the camcorder and flashlights glitch out in a confusing scramble of electricity and static, and despite the glitches, despite the bloodcurdling shriek of the creature, Emmy's fear-strangled voice comes through clearly.

EMMY

Run. RUN!

There's no need to be told twice as they run out of the room just as the monster lunges forward, down into the hallway. The screen keeps glitching and—

It goes black.

***

Hehehehh... welcome to the horror >:)

Yes, the haunting has now officially began!!! These three have no idea what they're in for. And that scream... any hopes for Sasha's fate?

Also, what do you guys think of the monster so far??

Next chapter should be soon!

Please read, comment and vote!

GhostWriterGirl out!