The Sleepover

The Villa

Tap
Francis didn't dare look back. He just shut his eyes and ran away.
For a moment, he could hear voices. Voices who would tell him to look back.
Look behind you.
He ignores it and continues on his way.
-------
He walks into the living room. Yao was there, huddled in a corner.
Francis approaches him.
"...Yao?"
He stopped in front of him.
Up close, he was pale and trembling. Other than that, he still looked no more different than when he last saw him.
"Yao, are you okay?"
Yao shook his head.
"Why not?"
His answer almost came out as a whisper. A shaky one, at that.
"Voices."
"Look, Yao, just blow out the candle. You'll be fine."
Yao nods and stands up shakily.
"And Yao?"
He looks back at him.
"Do have any idea where the thumb is?"
He shook his head.
Francis waved goodbye as Yao blew out the candle.
--------
The thumb.
That was what he needed to find.
Francis wearily treads forward, ignoring any movement behind him.
He stops when he sees a tall figure by a bookshelf.
He walks over to it with hope, praying that it would be who he thinks it is.
"Ivan?"
Ivan turns to look at him. "Francis?"
Francis lets out a sigh of relief.
Ivan gestures to him to come forward. "I found this..." He says, moving books away from a certain spot to reveal a hole.
He was curious. He looks at the hole.
Nothing.
"Ivan, what...?"
He felt Ivan tap his back.
He turns around. "Ivan...?!"
Behind him was not Ivan.
Ivan does not have dark black eyes.
You were never clever, were you Francis?
"Ivan" held up his hand and sharp, black claws retracted from the tips of his fingers.
Poor Francis. Dying by the hands of his own friend.
Before he could even react, the monster brought it's hand down to Francis's side.
Was he even your friend?
Gathering up all his remaining strength, he pushed away the monster and ran away, clutching his injured side.
______________
"Hell, they're not back yet." Arthur grumbled.
Feliciano clutched Arthur's sleeve. "Will they be alright?"
"Don't worry, I have emergency numbers from our parents and we could ask a few friends to help."
Just then, Ivan's phone rang.
Arthur went and picked it up.
"Hello? Arthur Kirkland, speaking."
"Arthur? Where's Ivan? He hasn't been picking up...is he alright? Did something happen?" Katyusha, Ivan's older sister asks, concerned.
"He's...fine." He says, glancing at the still figure of Ivan. "Just tired, is all."
"Oh, good." She says, calming down. "Can you tell him that I'm on my way to check on him? I need to make sure he's okay."
"Er...," Arthur says, nervously. "...yeah! I'll tell him..."
"Oh, and tell him I'm going to bring his favorite candies."
"Okay, bye!" He says hurriedly and presses the end call button.
He looks at Feliciano with a panicked look in his eyes.
"Feliciano, we need to snap them out of it. Katyusha might think they're summoning the devil and she's really sensitive about that kind of stuff!"
"But what if they lose a thumb or...," Feliciano gasps. "Die?!"
"That's the problem! What do we do?!"
__________
Minutes passed, and Katyusha was near Alfred's house.
She stopped at the doorway and knocked.
Seconds passed and no one answered.
"I'm sorry." She whispered before she open the door.
___________
Arthur and Feliciano froze when they heard the front door creak open.
"Katyusha's here?!" Feliciano whisper-yelled, trying to contain his fear.
"Ah, speak of the devil." Arthur said.
"Katyusha's not a demon!" Feliciano scolded, lightly hitting him on his arm.
"It's a figure of speech, Feliciano!"
_____________
Katyusha knocked on the door labeled, 'ALFRED'S rOoM' in scrapbook stickers.
She noticed how oddly placed the lowercase letters were.
"...Perhaps they didn't have enough letters..."
No one answered the door.
Maybe they're asleep. Katyusha thought.
She opened the door quietly.
_______________
The pair flinched when they heard the door swing open.