The Haunting (Or: Ghost Is Literally A Ghost)

Night Five (III)

With newfound spirit you dared to sit in front of your laptop again, scrolling the forum to ensure yourself that what you planned on doing was sane and also to find out if you were in danger.

"Great, I'm a haunting expert now", you said close to midnight, attempted humour being the only thing that kept you grounded after all the new input.

From what you had gathered, you should be safe, at least according to some random ghost enthusiasts on the internet.

You took a deep breath, wandering up and down the room a few times before coming to a halt in front of the light switch.

Candles were still going strong, windows were closed. The only natural light came from outside, the clear sky allowing the full moon to tint the room into a silvery hue, a stark contrast to the yellow flames.

"Might as well call a werewolf while we're at it", you scoffed.

Another sad attempt at downplaying how scared you were, and when you finally switched off the ceiling light, it was too late to turn back.

Your office chair now rested against one of the walls, so you could see the entirety of the room and the hallway behind the door.

Would the ghost be limited to using doors? Probably not, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

With slightly shaky knees, you sat down, the half empty mug of tea on the desk next to you cold and stale by now. If you survived this you would need something stronger anyways.

A sudden, loud noise made you jolt in your seat right after you sat down, your heartbeat picking up until you realised that it was just one of the shutters in the strong autumn wind outside.

Calm down.

Your senses felt heightened by the sheer exhilaration of conducting this kind of seance, even if you didn't fully believe in it. Every noise could be a sign that it worked, no change in temperature should be ignored.

If you weren't scared, you would probably even follow the cold spots that seemed to be alive and moving in this house.

You propped up your feet on the edge of the chair and hugged your knees for a feigned sense of security. Attentive eyes flickering to your left and your right, then the same procedure again.

The candles flared up as a gust of air hit them, and you quickly diverted your attention to the spot, but nothing happened.

In fact, nothing happened at all.

From time to time, you dared to let your gaze shift down to your wrist to check the time.

After thirty minutes, the tension in your lower body ebbed down, followed by your shoulders and neck relaxing shortly before one o' clock. Your mind stayed alert for at least one more hour, but then you slowly started feeling pathetic.

"Did I actually think a ghost would appear in my living room?", you scolded yourself, pinching the bridge of your nose.

You didn't even notice the usual creeping shivers that had made you feel like being watched the nights prior. It was like the ghost didn't want you engaging, now that you actually started coming to terms with the possible haunting.

Maybe it felt exposed or just liked messing with you.

Or I'm slowly going insane!

"Fine", you muttered, tapping your fingers on your thighs.

If the ghost didn't want to talk to you, you might as well do something else. Your watch told you that it was half two, and you rolled your eyes at yet another night with barely enough sleep.