Ghost

Chapter 3

I sprinted out of the bedroom and practically launched myself at the closed door.

"Holly!" I yelled, twisting the door handle sharply. Locked. I twisted a few more times, hoping the lock would break down. I banged on the door.

That's when the screaming started. It was the most awful thing I'd ever heard, Holly's voice was filled with fear and agony. She was screaming so loud it sounded like her voice would break in two.

"What the hell's going on!?" Celia ran up the stairs with Alec at her heels.

"The door's locked!" I said, as if that explained everything that had just unfolded.

"Holly! Open the door!" Celia pounded her fist against the shrivelled wooden door, yelling over the unbearable noise.

"Hold still." I heard a muffled voice say underneath all the screaming. It wasn't Holly's, it was a younger singsong voice.

Thunk

The screaming was detailed with sobbing, a painful sounding thunk breaking through it all every couple of seconds like a routine.

Mel and Claire had now climbed the stairs as well, confused and worried expressions on their faces.

"I'm breaking the door down!" I yelled, signalling for everyone to move away as I backed up. I ran towards the door, the screaming silenced seconds before my shoulder made impact.

The door crashed open, revealing an awful scene that was unprocurable to our imagination.

"Darn, she died before I could finish." A younger girl with long brown hair looked at Holly with faux disappointment. And unfortunately, we all understood exactly what she meant.

Holly was lying on the ground, tears staining her cheeks and her left leg unattached from the rest of her. Half of her other leg had a deep chunk token out of it, presumably the part that the girl couldn't finish.

"It's no fun if they're not screaming." The girl continued, and I half thought she was talking to herself until she turned towards us and smiled, "don't you think?"

Mel responded by doubling over and vomiting right by her feet. It was taking all of my willpower not to do the same.

The girl had a hatchet in her right hand that she was swinging around mindlessly like a small child would swing around one of their stuffed animals. It had a sticky crimson stain covering the majority of the blade. It was pretty clear who's and what it was.

"What the fuck did you do!?" Celia was seethingly pissed. The woman had the maternal instincts of a mother bear. And her claws were out.

"Ooh, cranky." The girl wagged her finger at Celia playfully. "All I did was fix her. Her pants were so short I assumed that's where her legs were supposed to end."

The long haired girl was referring to the shorts Holly had worn, they were now stained with her blood and frayed in the places the ax had sliced them.

The girl spoke in a playful, mocking way. The way she enunciated her each and every word made me uneasy. It was like there was a layer of menace hidden underneath her sickly sweet voice.

We were all unable to process what was going on, so we just stood there dumbfounded which I hated myself for. Mel's face had paled significantly and she looked near collapsation. Claire was trembling like a leaf and Alec had to rest his hands on her shoulders to calm her down. Celia was still seething with rage, she was also trembling, but in a more angry, fearless way.

"What the hell..." I jumped, before turning behind me to see Gabriel, apparently awoken from his deep sleep. He was completely shell shocked, sweat beading down his face.

"What the fuck happened here!?" His voice was low and shaky.

"Language." The girl sang, "I oughta wash your mouths. They're are so many dirty words coming out of them.

"What kind of bullshit is this!?" Gabriel ignored the girls banter.

Mel took a step towards the girl, her eyes shadowed with disbelief.

"You..." Her voice was broken, void of her usual cheerfulness. "You're that girl aren't you? Elaine?"

"That's the girl in her story isn't it?" I whisper to Alec.

"Now isn't the time for that occult crap." Alec said loudly. "Holly's dead."

Mel didn't seem to hear us, her eyes were fixed on the younger girl. The girl's playful childish grin morphed into a hostile smirk. Her eyes piercing Mel like an arrow.

"I guess, in a way." The girl who we were now identifying as Elaine said, "let's just say there was something... Appealing... For both of us."

"In a way?" My voice bit through the toxic silence. "Both of us."

"Ah," the girl said, her facial expression going back to the original vacantly happy expression. "I can't say anything yet though, that'd be boring."

Elaine's arm stopped swinging and she let the blade hit the floor, loosely gripping the handle. She moved past us to the door, letting the hatchet drag across the floor behind her.

"Bye bye!" Elaine waved cheerfully, "we're gonna have fun together!"

She exited the room, her chestnut hair trailing behind her. The sound of humming echoed through the hallway, quieting to the sound of nothing, as if she'd vanished into the thin air.