Chapter 2

A truck was speeding towards them. Sean, who saw it, quickly swerved to the right, causing the car to collide with a tree. Luckily, no one was injured, only Sean's car bumper was damaged. As they were still trying to calm themselves from the shock, someone suddenly knocked on the car window. It was a man.

"Oh, god! Are you okay?" he exclaimed with concern as he saw them stepping out of the car.

"Yeah, I think... is someone hurt?" Max asked.

"No, I am okay," Luna replied.

"Yeah, me too," added Elly.

"I am... I am so sorry, guys! I didn't mean for that to happen. I don't know why suddenly it felt like something was controlling the steering wheel," the man apologized.

"It's okay, Sir. We are fine," Eiden said.

"Great. I just want to make sure no one got injured. Glad all of you are fine. It looks like your car is damaged, do you need a tow truck?"

Sean looked at his car, "No, I think it's just the exterior.”

The man gave them his phone number and asked them to contact him if anything happened before he leaving them.

"I told you, there's something wrong with that house! All of you refuse to listen to me!" Luna glared angrily at her friends.

"Wait... wait, why are you blaming us?" Tania asked.

"This was your idea and Eiden's, right? Both of you dragged us into a big fucking trouble!" Luna's eyes were filled with fiery anger.

Unable to contain her anger upon hearing that, Tania reflexively slapped Luna. Everyone was taken aback!

"Shut your fucking mouth up! This is not only me nor Eiden. We all agreed to explore that house. Besides, if you don't like it, why did you have to come along, huh? No one invited you, nerd girl!" Tania blamed.

"You don't need to blame us. Besides, we didn't see anything in that house, right? You're being too dramatic and making things up, Luna. Just stop imagining things!" Eiden added.

"That's enough!" Elly shouted, "Luna, please. It's not entirely their fault."

Luna looked at them, especially Tania and Eiden, in disbelief, with a mix of pain and anger. She shed tears. No one stood up for her.

"I am enough with this bullshit!" Luna ran away from them.

"Luna!" Max shouted, trying to chase after her, but was stopped by Tania.

"Let her go. She is freaky!"

Just then, a taxi appeared, and Luna hailed it and got inside. Seeing that, a mix of emotions overwhelmed the rest of them.

"Alright, guys. Let's go home," said Sean.

They got back into the car and headed home.

Upon arriving, Eiden took out the cassette from his bag. As the security instructed them to leave and one by one their friends exited the room, he quickly put the cassette and the player back into his bag without anyone noticing.

"Terrifying, 1934." Eiden flipped the cassette and read the singer's name, "Anne Steward" and the composer “Jack Miller”.

Eiden shrugged dismissively. He put the cassette into the player and started playing the song. The lyrics sounded strange with a difficult-to-understand meaning, but the melody was quite captivating. Nothing seemed strange so far. Until it reached the end, and suddenly the lights went out.

"Oh, shit!" Eiden cursed.

He grabbed his phone and turned on the flashlight. Unbeknownst to him, a terrifying demon figure stood behind him.

The door suddenly swung open with a loud bang. Startled, Eiden quickly turned towards the door. There was no one there except darkness outside.

"Who's that?"

"Corriene?"

"Elise?"

Eiden guessed. He thought it was his mischievous siblings. Eiden approached the door and looked outside. There was no one and it seemed deserted. Perhaps everyone was fast asleep and unaware of the power outage.

Eiden closed the door, and as he turned around, that's when he saw the figure of the demon. Its eyes were glowing red, with its entire body covered in blood. Its sharp teeth emitted a foul smell, and it had two black horns on its head. It grinned at Eiden.

He froze in place. His body trembled with fear. Sweat started pouring down. His heart felt like it was being slammed. Tears began to fall.

The music player started playing on its own. Eiden looked at the player, and when he looked back ahead, the demon had vanished.

Eiden breathed a sigh of relief, but he was wrong. It was still there!

The door locked itself, and the flashlight on his phone suddenly died. Eiden was startled and before he could react, a pair of hands grabbed his legs and made him fall.

"Aaaaaaa!!!"

Eiden screamed loudly as the unseen figure held his leg and lifted him into the air, then slammed him down onto the floor.

He felt pain all over his body. Eiden gripped the edge of the bed. He knew where the door was. With all his strength, he crawled towards the door, but the demon wouldn't let Eiden do it.

Eiden's body suddenly flew and crashed into the wall. He groaned in pain.

"Mom! Ahhh!"

Eiden tried to stand up. The lights flickered on and off rapidly. He didn't want to waste the opportunity and immediately ran towards the door. Eiden pounded on the door loudly.

"Mom! Dad! Corrine! Help!"

Eiden's body was lifted into the air again, but this time it was different. His eyes widened, his pupils turned white, and his mouth hung open. His muscles began to tense, and he felt an excruciating pain throughout his body. He screamed, but something held back his voice. Eiden was thrown forcefully onto the floor.

His eyes slowly returned to normal, and the pain gradually subsided. Eiden stood up slowly. The lights came back on, functioning normally. Just then, the door opened.

"Eiden, what's happened?" Corrine asked in panic.

Instead of answering his sister's question, Eiden looked at Corrine with confusion.

"Nothing."

Corrine snorted in frustration. "You're such an asshole. Earlier, you were screaming for help, and now you say 'nothing.' Your prank is tacky!"

Corrine walked away from Eiden, grumbling to herself. As she descended the stairs, Emily's baby walker suddenly made a sound.

"Oh, hell!" Corrine ran down the stairs and turned off the music on the baby walker. Unbeknownst to her, something terrifying was staring at her from the darkness.

After closing the door, Eiden lay down on the bed. It was as if he had forgotten what had happened just moments ago.

Eiden's phone rang. He picked up his phone, which was lying on the floor. It was a message from Sean.

[Dude, Luna is missing!]