Ghost•l.h.

pinky promises

It was impossible to miss the house. It stood prominently at the end of the street; a blind person would have even felt its presence. The music that Calum had turned on was the only noise in the background.

We stared at the structure with wide eyes as he parked the car right in front of its gates, which were as half as tall as the house itself. The gates looked like black metal, and there were patches of rust splattered on it, like an artist accidentally flicked spots of orange and brown onto the beautiful midnight sky.

I immediately understood why everyone was so terrified of the place. It gave off an aura that didn't seem to be normal, out of this world, even. You could already feel it from half a mile away, radiating.

"Well, we're here," Calum said weakly, not once taking his eyes off the building. It looked like he was waiting for something horrible to happen, like he was bracing himself for the worst that was soon to come. "Now what?"

I swallowed my fear. "Now we go inside," I said cheerfully, and the wind picked up around us. Leaves started swirling around furiously in the air, as I kicked open the car door, which was harder than I thought it ought to be.

Calum slowly scrambled out of the car, following behind me in small steps. I glanced upward, taking in the full view. The house was in worse shape from up close. You could see where the windows were starting to slowly fall off its hinges, and where the wood was slightly decayed from the insects that ate away at it.

Behind the structure was a forest of trees, the sunset, a mixture of pinks, reds, and oranges spread across the sky. It wasn't quite as bright as it was before, and more anxiety flooded into my stomach.

"Alma? It's getting late. It's gonna get dark soon," Calum warned, and I waved my hand to dismiss his words.

"We'll be out before then."

"Not if we're dead," he mumbled under his breath, and I glared at him so he'd shut up.

As I walked up up the wooden steps, to get to the main door, the floorboards creeped underneath me. The sound seemed to be trapped in this little secluded area, because it bounced back, ringing ominously in my ears.

Something doesn't want us here. My brain reminded me, and I almost facepalmed at my ridiculous thoughts. Where did that come from? I've never been one to believe in the paranormal.

Once we reached the front door, I reached for the handle.

"Wait!" Calum exclaimed, breaking the silence and nearly giving me a heart attack.

"What?" I snapped.

"I'm scared," he admitted, and I didn't know whether to roll my eyes or to hug him. So instead, I take his hand into mine and hook my pinky around his.

"You'll be alright, I promise," I assured him kindly, and he bit down on his lip, looking at our pinky swear.

"Really?" He raised an amused eyebrow.

"Hey, pinky promises are a legit thing."
Calum scoffed and grabbed my hand instead, walking toward the house with our hands intertwined. I wanted to punch myself for giving him the wrong idea.

I tried pulling the handle, but the door seemed to be locked or stuck.

"Come help me with this. I'm weak," I said, and he chuckled playfully, letting go of my hand. Calum came and stood on the same side as me, putting his hands on the space above mine.

"Ok, on three, ready? One-"

"Three!" I butted in impatiently, yanking the door and it flew open.

"You didn't wait for me to count!" Calum exclaimed, throwing his hands up.

I shrugged. "You were taking too long."

I focused my attention back onto the house, which was now standing wide open for us to explore. Nervousness and excitement pumped through me as I walked in first, Calum following me closely behind.

The inside was beautiful, despite being hundreds of years old. During its time, this must have been a grand place. I didn't quite understand why there were no other houses around it, though.

Coming in, there were stairs that lead to what seemed like a dancing hall, where they would have invited several families every week to come over to drink and pass time. Above the dancing hall was an upstairs, where all the bedrooms must have been. Everything was made of a dark deep colored wood, with large marble boarders and columns running throughout the estate.

Of course, there was the occasional broken chair, and multiple cobwebs, but a little cleaning up and this place could have been part of a nice museum. The only creepy part was the pictures that stood alone on the walls.

I assumed that they were portraits of the people that used to reside here, but I couldn't make out their faces. The pictures were ripped, a giant tear running from the top left hand corner to the right bottom. Pictures with the entire family had multiple of those rips, as if someone had taken a huge cleaver and just had their way with it.

Even so, the pictures were starting to creep me out, so I came back out of the hallway to the place of entrance.

"What are we even here for?"

"Just to look around; don't worry I'm almost done," I said rudely, starting to get irritated with Calum's behavior.

"Okay," he grumbled, shoving his hands deep into his pocket and walking into the hallway, continuing to look around.

I bit my lip in apprehension; I wanted to go up the stairs, but I was afraid to go alone. I felt like I wasn't welcome.

To hell with it.

Before I could step foot onto one of the stairs, I saw a man at the top of the stairs. He looked around 20, and he had a wondrous expression on his face, like if I was the most exotic creature he's ever seen.

"Eva?"

Late update. I'm going to start updating every Friday afternoon