It was a cool yet sunny day. The small clusters of clouds masquing the sun’s light added to the autumn atmosphere. The breeze was cool for once, which complimented the chilly temperature and fresh aroma of fallen leaves. Fall had finally hit come mid-October, and it hit fast. The wind was bone chilling—strong gusts of wind blew throughout the day, which made all of the Haneoka students shiver the moment they stepped outside. With their bare legs exposed, it was difficult not to freeze on the spot!
It was mid afternoon, and so students were beginning to traverse towards the entryway. With their school bags slung over their shoulders, they were happy to finally head home after a long and arduous day at school. Some walked home in groups; some by themselves; others awaiting their families to arrive. The entry was crowded and bustling with many girls, only cooled down by the chilly and crisp breeze.
Himari was standing near the school gates, waiting impatiently as usual for her friends so they could all walk home together. They probably took so long just to annoy her. Moca probably slowed everyone down on purpose, didn’t she? She knew how impatient she was… Her hair had become so unkempt after waiting so long, due to the strong gusts of wind that just wouldn’t stop !!—there were many stray hairs peeking out from her loose pigtails, and her bangs were so uneven.
Himari was becoming increasingly annoyed the longer she waited. Her friends were taking sooooo long to meet her… Which was normal! But, excuse me! You’re taking longer than usual, guys! Geez.
Suddenly, in the cool breeze, Himari heard a distant voice call her name.
“Himari-chan!”
It came from behind her out of nowhere, which startled her a little bit. Just a little bit. She shifted from her position to spin herself around to find where exactly the voice had come from.
She recognized it immediately of course—there was no mistaking such a charming, elegant voice—it could only belong to one person, but…
She’s calling my name!?
“K-Kaoru-senpai!” Himari stammered, shuffling her feet in excitement upon seeing her senpai approaching with the utmost of haste. She wasn’t running! But she sure wasn’t walking at a normal pace either.
“Do you need something?”
Catching her breath after walking at a slightly faster pace than usual, Kaoru let out a heavy sigh. She was very grateful to catch Himari before she left school. Whew.
“I pray that you indeed may hold that something I need, my little kitten. You see, this morning I was tasked with finding actors for the haunted house by the—”
“Oh!!” Himari interjected, bouncing with excitement. “Do you mean the one run every year by students?” Bounce, bounce, bounce.
“Yes, indeed! So you are familiar. I thought as such.” Kaoru replied, a smirk sliding into her expression. “I had recalled hearing your passion for such things before, which led me to you with this in mind.”
“With what in mind?” Himari questioned.
“Well.” Kaoru started, resting her index finger under her chin. “I have been cast as a actor for tomorrow evening’s debut! However, I am in need of assistance…”
Nodding her head in understanding, Himari bounced once again. “I’d love to help, Kaoru-senpai!! What do you need?”
“I require the assistance of two splendid actresses to help in the festivity of frightening the guests. For you Himari-chan, I pray you would fulfill the role of a witch. Your charms and beauty would be perfect for such an appearance!”
Ahhhh???!!!
Himari’s face flushed before she was able to reply. She scratched the back of her neck in embarrassment.
“Y-You think so? Hehe…”
Kaoru nodded in certainty. Himari would be a perfect witch—she was beautiful, sweet, and charming, after all!! She was very confident in her choice, and even moreso now that she wouldn’t have to be completely alone at a haunted house… in the dark… on Halloween evening…
“I know so, Himari-chan.”
Himari looked away and smiled sheepishly, tucking some wispy hairs behind her ear. Kaoru was more the charming one than she could dare dream to be, but she took the compliment to heart. Her excitement grew as she began daydreaming about the ordeal.
“I must ask for one last request.” Kaoru hesitated. “Do you know of anyone who could fill the role of a werewolf?”
“Himari, can you ask next time instead of volunteering me to dress up at a haunted house…”
Despite Tomoe’s most sour expression, Himari was giddy with excitement. She was grinning from ear to ear in anticipation! She couldn’t help but to imagine Tomoe dressed up as a werewolf—the idea made her dizzy with joy. She’d look so cute!
“Please, Tomoe! You’ll look so cute!”
Tomoe grimaced. “I don’t know, Himari—”
Seeing how exuberant Himari was made her heart flutter, but she didn’t like haunted houses… at all . Sure it’s all fake, but the whole ghost thing still squeaked her out since the incident at school. Never again!!
…She couldn’t say no to Himari’s puppy eyes, though. Ever . And Himari took full advantage of that fact.
“Please, Tomoe?” She pleaded, near whimpering. She looked like she was about to cry with how well she donned her sorrowful expression.
Tomoe sighed, admitting defeat. She just couldn’t win against Himari’s charms, could she?
No, she never could.
“Alright alright, you win Himari. When is it?”
Himari grinned, revelling in sweet victory. I’m getting really good at this! I wonder what else I can charm Tomoe into…
One week later, and it was finally Halloween night.
The strong breeze from earlier in the day had finally settled down, which made for a comfortable, chilly evening. The sun had finished setting only seconds earlier, but swiftly disappeared for the evening. The stars had only just begun to grace the dark, clear sky, but they were a dazzling spectacle nonetheless.
“Himari-chan! Tomoe-chan!”
Himari and Tomoe had only just moments ago arrived to meet Kaoru before they heard her call their names. They had planned to meet at the area directly to the left of the building that had been decorated to resemble a haunted house. It was an abandoned building in town that had been bought out for such an occasion, which made it look all the more eerie. Previously such an event had been run in a different location, but town officials had acquired the building for a more immersive experience this year.
In the darkness it looked even more dreary than beforehand, with rusted wood, broken windows, and uneven hinges. The grapevines enveloping the sides of the building also added an element of dread that made it look quite older than it actually was, and well… haunted.
The left side of the building had an empty parking lot that was currently being used by the staff to prep volunteers, hand out entrance tickets, and offer help to any interested parties or curious strangers.
Kaoru wasn’t very difficult for the two to spot, even in a vampire costume. Her hair had been curled into loose ringlets and worn down. Her eyes too looked sharper than usual—the eyeliner decorating them smooth, thick, and acute. Her face was paler than normal, with a crimson layer of eyeshadow adorning the eyeliner above her eyes. Her lips too were painted with a similar shade of red. She wore a very dashing black tailcoat suit to finish: grey vest, red tie, pinstripe dress pants, and pointed dress shoes.
She quickly led Himari and Tomoe to an overhead tent nearby, where a couple staff members were waiting in the light given off by the street lights.
“I shall see the both of you when you’ve finished preparing!”
“Am I done, yet!?”
“Himari stop whining, you’ll only make the wait longer.”
“Huuuuu…”
Though she wasn’t quite finished, Himari was dressed up in her witch costume—which was much more extravagant than she had previously assumed. Tomoe had begun helping her with makeup since Himari wasn’t very well acquainted with the costume variety. She had gotten quite experienced from doing such flashy and detailed designs on Ako for years…
She wore a simple black, v neck pouf dress with short puffed sleeves. It had a high waistline that cut off just below the knee; the back extending farther down than the front. Her legs were adorned in fine fishnet tights and knee-high kitten heeled boots. Other accessories included long, black lace gloves, a large, scrunched up black witch hat—a fake spider decoration hanging down the front—and finally, a wavy light grey wig.
Tomoe on the other hand, had her head draped in a large hood, with dark grey fur and fur ears lining the top. She wore a tattered long-sleeved collar shirt that was smeared with red dye to imitate the look of blood, and grey jeans that had the same effect. She also wore boots but unlike Himari’s, there was no heel. Her makeup was dark and heavy, and a gash had also been painted on one of her cheeks. Her lipstick was bright red to match said gash, and her teeth were fitted with long, fake fangs.
“All done!”
Now finished with Himari’s makeup, Tomoe shuffled herself back a ways to take a look at her handiwork. Her face was really pale, but had very heavy, black smokey eye makeup and heavy liner. She also wore a glittering black lip gloss which stood out substantially due to the colour of her wig.
“How do I look?” Himari asked sheepishly.
Without hesitating, Tomoe gave a thumbs up before replying. “You look as stunning as always!”
Embarrassed, Himari covered her mouth with one of her hands. “H-how can you say things like that, so casually…?”
“In this spot here?”
“Yes, that’s perfect Uehara-san! Stay hidden in that crevice until you see someone approaching, and then jump out and scare them.”
Himari nodded, shuffling even further into the small gap in the wall she was standing in. She had been separated from her friends while they were all taken to different places in the haunted house—each with their own individual location. They were to pop out and scare guests wandering in the house as best as they could. Though it was dark enough to hinder their vision, the staff assured them their eyes would eventually adjust enough to see the trembling silhouettes of visitors when they came close enough.
“Just be sure not to do overdo it. You can follow guests a few steps to give them more of a scare, but don’t make them uncomfortable.”
The staff member that was instructing Himari walked away after that last sentence, mumbling something about allowing guests inside in a few minutes.
The interior of the haunted house was even creepier than the outside—due to the minimal lighting, it was difficult to ascertain a lot of the finer details. It was just dark; really dark. Everything was draped in silhouettes and shadows. There were a number of unhinged and broken paintings and picture frames scattered across the walls, as well as what looked to be random splatters and smears that took the appearance of blood. There were numerous chandeliers loosely dangling from the ceiling, as well.
And was that… a spider web? Wait, is that an actual spider web or a fake one?
“You dare to enter my manor uninvited? Foolish. Prepare to have your blood devoured!”
Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!
Kaoru laughed to herself while watching the plethora of girls take off in fright. It was no surprise that she leapt into the role quickly and efficiently, but evenso she was proud of how easily she could change character. One moment she was a dashing prince on electric guitar, playing only to make the world smile… and the next, she was a bloodcurdling vampire.
Before she managed to sneak back into hiding however, Kaoru heard something strange.
There were many frightening sounds in the attraction, as expected—rattling chains, chainsaws revving, harsh groans, and of course the many shrill screams echoing throughout the entire attraction. But this sound… it seemed really out of place. Kaoru couldn’t pinpoint exactly why—or exactly what it was either—but she deigned to find out.
She walked down the narrow hallway she found herself in; slowly. There wasn’t anyone else in the hallway currently, but when she had taken those few steps away from her previous position, she heard what sounded like a piano playing in the distance. She could hear the melody getting louder while she walked, until she grew close enough to hear it in perfect clarity. It was clear enough in her eardrums that it was as if it was right beside her. But… nothing nearby even resembled a piano.
It could have just been a melody playing over a loudspeaker for dramatic effect, but Kaoru had gone over the effects of the entire house before heading inside. Just, you know, to make sure she wouldn’t be fearful while playing such an important part. Just in case!
The melody grew in volume once more, despite Kaoru not moving any further. What was once a quiet, peaceful tune had grown into a loud and foreboding song. It made shivers run down her spine—her palms now sweating alongside her trembling knees.
It’s probably just the staff adding something at the last minute, right? It’s probably just recorded. That’s the only explanation! It couldn’t be anything else, hahaha—
Just then, a high-pitched giggle echoed throughout the hallway. It sounded like the voice of a child, but there was something so… eerie about it. It didn’t sound like any reverb that could be made.
“You really think so? Do I sound recorded to you?”
At that moment, Kaoru’s entire body froze—a freezing chill quickly running down the entirety of her person. That definitely wasn’t recorded. Oh my god, I have to get out of here—
The piano grew louder; the giggling grew louder; and a sense of dread filled Kaoru’s senses.
A piercing scream escaped her mouth before she immediately began running towards the entrance like her life depended on it. And there was a good chance it did depend on it!
Though she wasn’t attuned to running long distances, Kaoru’s sheer will to get out as fast as possible took over—it was as if her body couldn’t stop if she wanted it to. She was barely able to catch her breath during her escape, but she wasn’t going to let that hinder her.
Before long, Kaoru was racing through narrow corridors, extravagant ballrooms, dining rooms, and everything else you’d find at a haunted house, oky!? —at incredible speeds. She couldn’t and wouldn’t pay attention to any of her surroundings, which included various volunteers in costume attempting to scare her, which of course didn’t work. How could they possibly scare her even more?
Noticing her approach however, was Tomoe. She could tell it was Kaoru from a distance just on her voice alone. She could hear her screaming about something nonsensical between her panting breaths as she ran. It was hard to make out due to how exasperated she was, but eventually…
“Oh my god, oh my god, there’s a ghost! A real ghost! ”
Sure there was a chance it was a joke, but seeing how panicked Kaoru was while running seemed every out of character for her—even if she was in a role, it would make no sense for a vampire to be so afraid of a ghost—
The immediate realization instilled an anxious feeling of foreboding in Tomoe, to which she began to race after Kaoru with chills running down her spine. It was hard to keep up with her, surprisingly? Tomoe hadn’t pegged Kaoru as an athletic person, but she was so fast…
Wait, that’s not the point!!! Is there really a ghost in here?? Tomoe couldn’t stand to live through an experience with a ghost, again. Why is this happening!? Why does this always seem to happen?! Why did I let Himari’s puppy eyes rope me into this? Again!!
Tomoe was situated not far off from where Himari was standing, so it didn’t take long for Himari to hear the commotion. She didn’t pay it any mind at first—assuming it was just another act put on for guests to scream about.
She sighed.
“I wish people would take me more seriously…! They always end up laughing at me instead of being scared… ‘You’re cute!’ I don’t want to be cute, I want to be scary!!”
With Tomoe and Kaoru getting closer by the second, the sounds began to catch Himari’s attention. Those voices… they sound familiar.
“Wait, that’s Tomoe and Kaoru-senpai? Why are they—”
Why are they screaming so loudly? And running? Wait a second, are they saying something about ghosts? This is a haunted house, why would they….?
Oh.
Though Himari tried to get their attention, both Tomoe and Kaoru were too belligerent to even look her way, much less pay her any mind. Her heart racing alongside her panicked thoughts, she watched the two hurriedly zoom past her with sweat dripping down their foreheads.
Before Himari could calm down to admire how they both looked while in such a state, she heard something behind them. She assumed the sound of rattling chains to be a normal part of the house, but…
The chilling and creepy laughter that echoed as it followed them definitely wasn’t.
Himari raced after them without a second thought, her legs moving as quickly as they were able to. It wasn’t long before she too, was sweating vigorously. Luckily she was stationed near the entrance of the place, so she didn’t have to run too long before reaching the outside.
Upon seeing the exit, they all thrust themselves outside and into safety under a nearby tent.
They all collapsed together, panting heavily and trying to catch their breath. Their backs all rested against each other while the sounds of their fear circled between them.
“Did… something happen? Are you all okay?”
Their sudden escape through the entrance drew the attention of the staff, because of course it would. Anyone would wonder at such a spectacle.
Kaoru was the first to say something.
“Th-there’s a ghost in there!”
The staff member only laughed, shaking their head. “Of course there is Kaoru-san, it’s a haunted house…”
“No!” Tomoe chimed in.
“It’s a real ghost!”
There was another laugh, followed by a heavy sigh. “You know, if you just want to go home you can say so without making such a scene.”
“But, we’re not—” Himari interjected, her face still flushed from adrenaline.
“Go on home, girls. Regardless, you’re all tired and won’t be scaring anyone.”
Walking home alone that evening just wasn’t happening.
After changing out of their costumes, Kaoru, Tomoe, and Himari decided to all head home together. Himari had called her parents to let them know she’d be staying at Tomoe’s, but Kaoru…
Would Kaoru be okay?
“Of course! Such a trivial thing shan’t cause me fear—”
“K-Kaoru-senpai.” Himari interrupted.
“You were screaming the loudest out of all of us…”
Kaoru froze, her face turning as pale as the vampire makeup she had donned previously. There’s no dismissing what’s already transpired, senpai.
“Seta-senpai, I’m sure my parents will allow you to spend the night. Let’s have a sleepover!”
Himari giggled, clutching onto Tomoe’s arm from the fear that still gripped her chest. “Please Kaoru-senpai! You and Ako-chan would get along really well, I know it!”
Tomoe nodded, brushing away the lingering anxiety in her stomach. Home was just around the corner after all, and she was sure both of her mothers would have no problem allowing Kaoru to spend the night.
…And she was right! They were all welcomed with open arms.
Once they stepped inside, Kaoru, Tomoe, and Himari found Ako watching something on the TV. She was curled up on the couch in her pajamas, but cast her attention to her sister the moment she entered the room.
“Sis! You’re home!” Ako announced excitedly, quickly shoving herself off the couch after pausing the TV to give Tomoe a hug.
“I thought you wouldn’t be home until really late…”
“Yeah, I’m back! I brought friends.” Tomoe replied, releasing from Ako’s grasp as she turned to both Kaoru and Himari.
“Hii-chan! And um… Kaoru, right? Hii-chan talks about you all the—”
“Ahaha, Ako-chan…” Himari interjected, an anxious apprehension etched into her words.
“Yes, this is Kaoru-senpai! She’ll be spending the night, too.”
Glancing more intently at Kaoru, Ako gasped in astonishment. “Ohhh, so cool! I never thought I’d meet anyone taller than my sister!!”
Tomoe sighed, while Himari and Kaoru giggled.
“It is an honour to meet you, Ako-chan. I am truly flattered to be thought of as ‘cool’, in your eyes.”
Ako laughed, returning her attention to the TV.
“Let’s watch a movie together! Mom said I could stay up late tonight.”
They all nodded, but upon focusing on the TV, the three girls faces went ghostly white.
On the screen was a black and white image that seemed to resemble some kind of strange, unrecognizable figure. It was obvious the picture was meant to resemble some kind of paranormal entity… Like a ghost.
“G-ghost!?” Himari yelped, her gut instinct of clinging to Tomoe taking over—but Tomoe wasn’t any less scared than she was.
“Sorry Ako, but w-we’re all gonna head to my room. This way, Seta-senpai!”
Beginning to hastily follow after Tomoe, Kaoru apologized to Ako before leaving completely—despite the paralyzing fear that gripped her chest once more.
“My apologies dearest Ako-chan, but we are all very tired. Quite tired, even! It’s so fleeting… I look forward to seeing you once morning comes.”
The three girls shuffled rather quickly to Tomoe’s room, leaving a bewildered Ako behind. She sat down on the couch, gazing at the TV.
She blinked. “Is there something scary about a commercial…?”