Transcripts of Defectives

Chapter 1: Ryder

School seemed to drag on sooooo slowly – I mean, it usually did, but today it felt like it was only doing it just to antagonise me because I had plans later.

But end it did and I have decided to skip to the part where we arrived at the mansion because there is literally nothing else for me to tell you apart from the fact that we met up and took the bus together and that's just filler.

Everyone in the town knows about the mansion – it's been a popular haunt of ghosts for the past few years, so there were always Ghost Hunters situated around the building, but in recent months, the sightings have flowed and ebbed to practically nothing.

Ghost Hunters still watch it regularly, though there are times when no ghost hunters are around due to the fact that:

a) there are no hauntings at the mansion

and

b) there are hauntings literally everywhere else.

It's not hard to spot the mansion – it positively towers on its place on the grassy hill, and absolutely reeks with the energy of ghosts. (I told Cosmo this once, and he thought I was just crazy, though Florence seemed to understand what I meant.)

It's in a terribly dilapidated state now, and always has been since the first owners moved out.

Rumours have it that they were chased out by a ghost or were possessed into leaving. Either way the house is now in ruin, with plaster falling off to reveal the greyish bricks and some of the shattered windows hastily boarded up with planks, others still retaining some glass shards which cause an eerie howling noise as the wind rushes through them.

It's really quite atmospheric.

Hunter didn't seem to think so.

"Ryder, this place gives me the creeps." He whispered, as if he spoke any louder, he would alert some unknown phantom force of our presence.

"I know." I whispered back.

Now I felt really bad for dragging my friends along, specifically Hunter, especially given that I know how afraid he is of ghosts.

"Look," I said gently, turning to him. "You don't have to join us if you don't want to. I know that ghosts scare you and it was selfish of me to ask you to come – it's not too late to turn back."

Hunter groaned with a roll of his head. "You make it sound like we're the protagonists in one of those horror films." He said with a shaky smile.

But he didn't leave.

We were at the massive-ass gate now, the metal having been tarnished and rusted over the years, causing come of the once elaborate details to fall out of focus.

We all stood and stared at it for a moment, and I won't lie to you when I say that a few second thoughts did cross my mind.

But I stepped forward regardless.

The gate was ancient and creaked loudly with the wind. I ran my hand over the rusted metal, allowing my fingers to hitch on the flaking paint and the indentions created by years of weathering.

I gave it a tentative tug, and it screeched loudly as it scraped along the stone pathway leading up to it's door, yet the massive lock in the centre didn't give way. (To be honest, I don't know what I was expecting – I didn't think any of this through)

"Ok, so not in through the gate..." I murmured to myself.

"We could climb over the wall?" Florence suggested.

I turned my gaze towards the brick wall surrounding the perimeter of the building. We certainly couldn't climb over the iron spikes, and the columns were a bit too high for us to get over.