[29.3] OoOoOo! Spooky Spooky!

After sneaking up to the house, I looked around to make sure no one noticed us. Luckily, everyone went out of their way to ignore this house because of all the rumors surrounding it. I tried the door, but it was locked, so I used magic to force it open. I took a deep breath to make sure there was no magic inside that could hurt us.

"Does it smell bad?" Felix followed inside after me and sniffed, "I don't smell anything."

After he stepped into the house, the door slammed shut behind him.

We both slowly turned to look at the door.

I gulped, "Did you… Did you close that?"

He shook his head, "I didn't…"

"Should we… Should we check to see if it's unlocked?"

Felix forced on a smile, "You can."

I shook my head, "No, no. I insist you check."

"No, that's okay. You're better at magic than me. You check."

"No, no. You should check. You're the man."

He frowned slightly, "You just said that being afraid doesn't make me less of a man."

I nodded, "Yes, I did. And I meant that, but now I'm scared."

He took a deep breath, "O-Okay. Here I go-"

His hand shook as he slowly reached for the knob. I held my breath and dug my fingers into his arm as the suspense built up inside me. Before he could grab the knob and try to turn it, it started jiggling on its own.

"AAAAAAAAAAH!"

We both screamed and darted off to two different sides of the house. As I sprinted, I soon found myself in a hallway with several doors, covered in cobwebs. In a panic, I threw open a door and ran inside. However, I froze once I realized I was in an identical hallway.

My face twitched, "Uh… Um… What?"

I turned around and went to return, but found that the door was suddenly gone.

I gulped.

Great. Now I'm completely separated from Felix and I have no idea where I am.

*BANG*

I jolted from the sudden noise.

…Let's just keep walking, shall we?

I quickly hurried forward, past the furniture covered by dust and blankets. Each step I took caused the floorboards to creak and moan. As I entered the next room, I noticed a curtain covering a window. I let out a sigh of relief, "At least there's a window to escape out of."

I ran over to it and pulled the curtain.

My blood chilled.

There was in fact a window.

However.

Everything outside of the window was pitch black.

…And it wasn't dark due to nighttime. Instead, it was dark because the outside world didn't exist.

I took a step back, "That's… Unsettling."

As I stared out of the window, I heard creaking footsteps come from behind me.

I gulped and slowly turned, "F-Felix?"

The footsteps stopped as if hesitating.

I… I don't think that's Felix.

I spun around and rushed through another door. Once again, I watched as the door I came from disappeared before my eyes.

Seriously?! What the hell is happening in this house?!

I forced myself to keep walking.

*CRUNCH*

Did I… Did I just step on bones?

I looked down slowly in fear.

To my relief, it was only broken glass.

I pinched my eyebrows together in confusion and followed the trail of broken glass to another window. Although the outside was still pitch black, the window had been broken as if someone smashed it open. Judging from the glass on the ground, it was someone breaking in and not out.

I looked closer and was shocked to see old bloody handprints on the wall and floor as if someone had crawled in. I noticed a piece of green fabric on a broken piece of the window pane.

I looked at it closely, furrowing my brow.

It looks like a badge from a child's outfit...

There's a symbol on it…

It's like the one the Headmaster gave me when I was a child, but the insignia is different.

So it belongs to an established family in the Odalis Kingdom?

Ah. But it's ripped so I can't really make out which family it belongs to.

…Is it a bird?

A dog?

Just what kind of animal is that?

I heard a bump in another room followed by a pitiful, small squeak.

That sounded like the voice of Felix!

I immediately dropped the fabric and threw open the door, trying to pinpoint which room I heard Felix come from. As I walked through the rooms, I whispered urgently, "Felix! Felix, where are you?"

I paused when I heard sniffling and peeked under a nearby table. Underneath, Felix was trembling as he held his knees.

I blinked in disbelief, "Why are you hiding under this table?"

He looked at me with watery eyes, "M-My body is very scared of this place… I-I can't move."

I knelt down, "I saw old bloody handprints on a broken window. It looks like someone was desperately trying to get inside…"

He cried out, "Are you trying to help or make things worse!?"

I forced on a smile, "Ah... Sorry. But have you seen a ghost or a person?"

He shook his head quickly, "I-I don't think there's a ghost here…"

I let out a sigh of relief, "Oh good… For a second I was concerned-"

"-I think there is a monster."

I froze.

"A… A monster?"

He nodded, "Y-Yeah. Like a wolf, panther, bear, and lion all combined into one..."

My face paled, "So all of the known predators combined into one creature?"

He nodded slowly, "Yeah… But it's more of a shadow creature than any of those animals."

Awesome.

Just awesome.

He looked at me timidly, "It's pretty scary, isn't it?"

"I'd rather not see it face to face, I will just say that." I grabbed his hand, "So let's get out of here before it eats us."

He allowed me to pull him out from under the table. Together we held each other and forced our feet forward. We both held our breaths in fear as if waiting for something to pounce on us from the darkness.

I threw open the next door which opened up to a basement. As we hesitated in front of the door, eerie footsteps echoed off the walls, coming towards us from another room.

I gulped, "I thought you said it was a monster and not a ghost!"

He whispered back, "I didn't hear footsteps before!"

I looked down the terrifying stairs with unease, "If we go back, we will definitely encounter the ghost. If we stay here and hide, we might get caught… But if we go downstairs-"

"-Who knows what will happen." Felix finished the terrifying thought for me.

We both cast a look at each other before forcing ourselves to go downstairs. Luckily, the basement was illuminated like the rest of the house, so it wasn't too hard to see. However, mangled tarps hung from the beams, giving little to no visibility about what lay ahead. Each time we pulled back a tarp, we expected the monster to jump out and rip us into shreds.

But it never happened…

Instead…

We came to a stop at a brick wall.

I whispered, "We have to turn around! It's a dead end!"

We both slowly turned back.

…However…

Calm footsteps slowly marched towards us.

Felix and I clung to each other in horror, looking in the direction of the footsteps.

Felix gulped, "C-Can't you use m-magic to m-make it go away!?"

I wanted to cry, "I-I can't even move to grab my wand! I'm useless!"

Felix whimpered, "A-Are we going to die?!"

As the footsteps grew closer to us, I held my breath.

Come on brain!

Think magic!

M-A-G-I-C!

Oh my gods!

I can't think!

I'm going to die in a dirty old basement!!

The tarp has slowly brushed the side…

"AAAAAAH!!!!!!" Felix and I both screamed at the top of our lungs as the ghost pushed aside the tarp hanging from the ceiling and walked through…