Out of the Darkness

14

"So, what I'm getting is that we all had the same fucking nightmare. Is that right?" Sam asked, clearing his throat. I could tell this had him shook. "Guess we should talk about what happened at that house last night then." "There's nothing to talk about. We were all there. It was scary as fuck, and something didn't want us there. End of story," I said, not wanting to relive it. "That's not the end of the story. Don't you want to know more? Don't you want to know who the girls are in the pictures, why you went into some kind of trance, why none of us heard the other calling for us? Then we all had the same dream! Colby, there's so much more to this!" Sam said, excitement coming into his voice, the way it did when he sensed a new story. I swear he'd be a reporter or something if he didn't do YouTube. "No," I answered truthfully. Maybe I was a little curious but that entire thing gave me such a bad feeling. "I don't care. Whatever it was is still in that house. That's all we need to know so that we can stay the fuck away from there." "Finally, one of you has some sense. I agree with Colby," Corey replied. "This one is too much, even for you guys Sam. This is dangerous. I can feel it. This could end up actually killing one of us if we keep playing it's game or dig deeper. Just let it be." I could see Sam thinking about how to get around this, still dig deeper, without us getting in harms way. "Well, I'm just going to do some research because it interests me." "Sam," I said sternly. He looked at me and raised his eyebrows questioningly. "Do NOT go back to that house Sam. It's not worth it. I mean it. That place is just...bad." "Okay Colby. I won't go back. Promise," he replied. I knew he would keep his word so I was no longer concerned with it. "So, you guys still going out tonight?" I asked, looking around at my friends. They all nodded. "Yeah, we're meeting Tara and Kat at the Krac House." That was the name of our friends house, where they all lived together. "What are they doing over there?" I asked. "Hanging out with Cassie. I haven't seen Reggie in a while anyway," Jake answered. Reggie was his older brother, and Cassie was his girlfriend. Both of them were Youtubers, along with the other person in the house, Kevin Langue, a good friend of ours. "Cool," I said, nodding. "You still going that party Corey? I might swing by with Brennen later, if that's okay." "Oh yeah, bro. You know you guys are always welcome. I'll let Tavan know but you know he's cool with it," Corey answered me, nodding his head. "Okay, guess I'll see you guys later then. I'm going to go ahead and head to Brennen's," I said, nodding at them, and standing up. "See ya man." "Be careful." "See ya bro!" They're goodbyes rang out behind me as I walked back into the house, and towards the our huge entryway. The ceilings were so high, since it was a two story house, and the entryway was open. I grabbed my keys from the ring off the wall, then stopped, feeling the hair on the back of my neck prickle. Something or someone was watching me. I turned expecting to see one of the guys standing there. But I didn't. There was no one behind me, just an empty staircase that my eyes followed to the second floor. I didn't see anyone, but it was the strangest thing. I knew there was something or someone there. I don't know how I knew but I did. I felt it. "Hello?" I said, keeping my  voice low in case one of the guys had come inside. I didn't want them to hear me and confirm what I already knew. I was going crazy. I saw something move by the door to my room, causing me to jerk my head back towards that area. It seemed like that transparent white wisp was there for a second, then nothing. Like I imagined it. Maybe I did. I really needed to take a break from all this haunted shit. It was fucking with my head. I turned my back on the staircase, and ignored the feeling of being watched. Just being out of the house cleared my head and made me feel so much better. I needed this break. I let my mind drift back to the doll in my closet as I drove to Brennen's place. I probably needed to get rid of that thing. That would be the safest thing to do. I didn't really think that there was something attached to it, but still. I made up my mind to toss it as soon as I got back home, then pushed it out of my mind. When I reached Brennen's, I knocked and then texted him that I was outside his door. He opened it with a smile. "Yo, what's up bro? I didn't expect to see you today." I grinned and walked inside his home. "Yeah, just thought I'd stop by. Tavan's having a Halloween party tonight. You down?" "Yeah, sure. Just let me get ready," he replied. It took him another hour, but we just bullshitted around and talked about nonsense until he was ready to leave. The kind of conversation that was carefree and I didn't have to think about all of the things that I had shoved away. We took Brennen's car and blasted music to sing along to on the way to Tavan's. "Shit," I said, watching the people pile into Tavan's place. "I forgot to get a costume. It's a Halloween party and I forgot." "No worries," Brennen said, popping the trunk then stepping out of the car. I stepped out and walked around behind his car to see what he was doing. "So, I couldn't make up my mind a couple of weeks ago, because you know we always have multiple Halloween parties to go too. So I just got them all. You can get the entire outfit or you can just grab a mask. Dealer's choice."