The Castle of Forgotten Souls

Rumours

Anna watched in amusement as Chloe stood there, stock straight. She stared at Leah as if she were a deity. She has been on earth for sixteen years, and Anna doesn't think Chloe has ever been this quiet.

Leah shifted her weight from one foot to the other and laughed nervously before slowly inching to the side, away from her starstruck friend. It seemed to snap Chloe out of it as she immediately rushed forward and bundled the girl in her arms. She screamed in a pitch only dogs could hear. Anna stifled a snicker as Leah winced but reached around to pat Chloe on the back. The girl was inconsolable. She jumped up and down, her toes barely touching the ground before she was in the air again. Her face had turned a dangerous shade of red.

"Leah. Oh, my flipping god, you actual goddess. I am in your debt. Forever. I don't deserve to be in your presence!" she squealed before repeating 'oh my god' a handful more times.

Anna chuckled this time at the uncomfortable look on Leah's face as she accepted Chloe's gratefulness. She decided to save her girlfriend from their friend before she exploded.

"Alright, Chloe. Time to let the girl breathe," she had to raise her voice to be heard and pulled Chloe away by the shoulder.

Leah shot her a grateful smile. Anna smiled back but kept a firm grip on Chloe's shoulder, still vibrating with happiness. Chloe fixed her beaming smile and twinkling pale blue eyes on her. She shrugged off her hand and took Anna by the shoulders instead. She shook her while still bouncing.

"Anna! An, my girl, love of my life, my ride or die, do you know what Leah has?!" Her voice was still high but lower than it was before.

Anna laughed, her head tilted back in habit. She smiled at Chloe before deciding to match her energy. She placed her hands on her shoulders and jumped in time with her.

"Halloween party invitations!" she tried to squeal but ended up only having a slightly higher pitch than her usual voice, " The Keane Brothers Halloween party invitations."

Chloe whooped again and nodded so fast that Anna was worried she would get whiplash. Anna heard Leah laugh at them from beside her. She looked over, and Leah was looking at them both fondly with a small smile playing on her lips. Chloe shoved Anna towards her.

"Kiss the girl for me," she teased, bouncing on the balls of her feet now.

Anna rolled her eyes but smiled as she brought the shorter girl in by the waist and did just that. She still hadn't gotten tired of it, not after a year. Anna doesn't think she ever will.

Leah hummed against her lips but murmured to her when they broke apart, " I think she finally lost it."

Anna let out a breathy laugh and whispered back, "It's been a long time coming."

Chloe, who had clearly heard them, squawked her protest. A sharp finger drove into Anna's side, and she jumped away, yelping through a laugh. Chloe pouted at them. Leah patted her shoulder in mock sympathy.

"There, there," she told her. Leah tried to look serious, but the trembling in her mouth gave her away.

"You guys are the worst," Chloe whined before she took out her phone and started typing hurriedly, "Now go and be disgusting on your own time. I need to plan."

Leah smiled at their retreating friends back but sighed, exasperated when she noticed something missing. Again. Anna could only laugh. It was something that happened more than it should. Chloe would get wrapped up in one thing or another and forget about everything.

Leah reached up on her toes and pecked her on the lips, "I'll make sure she doesn't bump into anything. You get her bag. I'll see you in English."

With that, Leah turned around and hurried after Chloe. Anna watched as people around them moved out of the way. People knew to move out of the way when she walked like that. She laughed once more before walking to the Maths class she and Chloe had.

~~~~~

By the time they even got remotely close to the party, the moon was high in the sky. It was on the outskirts of town, only two blocks away. The streetlights had already started to become fewer and farther apart. The three girls walked down the street underneath the blanket of stars and cloudless sky, laughing and joking around.

Chloe skipped ahead of the other two. Her blonde, curled hair reached just past her shoulders. She wore a pink dress that came down above her knees with a slightly lighter pink on the shirt-like collar decorating the v-neck. The glittery pink fabric hanging off her belt swung whenever she threw in a twirl. Paired with the minimum amount of make-up and a small pink bag, she looked the perfect Elle Woods.

Anna and Leah, however, hadn't put much thought into their costume and ended up wearing something similar to what they usually wear. Anna pulled Leah closer as she shivered. The light denim jacket the girl chose to wear did nothing to shield her against the crisp October air. Anna pretended she didn't see Leah try to reach down without notice to tug on her floral dress. It was shorter than how Leah liked it.

"Did you see his face when he realised he did not put on a historical documentary?" Chloe asked, laughter laced her voice. She looked over her shoulder at them with a grin.

Anna grinned wickedly. Leah just laughed softly and leaned against her.

"His face went redder than Miss Holland's dye job. He couldn't even get a proper sentence out," Anna cackled while Chloe shivered.

"Stop. Do not even bring up that horrid thing. I had nightmares for a week. I couldn't even look at Miss Holland."

Leah rolled her eyes but grinned anyway, " Oh, we know, you stayed in the library for every one of her classes that month."

The girls laughed again, too distracted to notice the car slowing down behind them.

Their laughter died when they rounded the corner and caught sight of an old abandoned building on top of the hill outside their town. All girls became eerily silent. Anna felt Leah stiffen beside her. She tightened her hold. She knew Leah had a bad history with that place.

"Freak House," Chloe whispered and stopped walking, "You think everything they say about that place is true?"

Anna and Leah stopped just behind her. All three looked toward the house, not caring about the car slowing to a stop. Leah's voice trembled as she spoke, "What, and you don't? Mark would not have just left. I babysat that kid for two years. He would not have done that."

There was silence for a minute or two. Anna never believed the rumours about the Freak House. It didn't seem plausible. They sounded like something from a crappy movie. There were no records of plans of building it, no records of the people living there. The house just appeared one day in the late 70's. An ornate mansion packed to the brim with wealthy merchants, governors and servants did not just appear out of nowhere. Then there was this major tragedy, but no one knew what. The mansion lost all its glory and became a run-down, ugly thing overnight.

People say anyone that comes remotely close gets swallowed up by it, taken by a hunchback man with eyes like the darkest pits of hell and a grating voice that would make the most vicious of demons run away, screaming. Rumours in the 90s started popping up that he wasn't even human, feasting on the oblivious town folk to regain strength to take over the world. He trapped souls by torturing them to insanity and was slowly building his own unstoppable army.

Chloe cleared her throat, "Anyone else feeling like the house is watching us?"

Anna heard Leah gulp, but before she could respond, a raspy, baritone chuckle sounded behind them.

"That ain't the house, girlies," came the bone-shivering voice.

All Anna saw before she blacked out was a pair of cold, empty, black eyes.