Haunt You

4. Hope to (Not) Die

     (7:32 PM)

     "You do realize that this challenge is like...twelve hours now, right?" Will tapped Dan on the back as he clutched the box.

     "Even better!" the singer turned around to grin madly.

     Sometimes I wonder how I agree to these things...Will thought.

     "How long do these things last?" Kyle asked the drummer, pointing to both sources of light.

     "The head lights last for eighteen to thirty-six hours, and the flashlights last for fourteen until you have to charge them," he explained.

     "And don't use your phone as a light source unless your flashlight or head light stops working," Dan instructed.

     "Well, my phone's nearly dead," the keys player showed the 31% sign to his band mates.

     "Thirty-one percent is not nearly dead," Will tutted.

     "Stop bragging how your phone is always at one hundred percent!"

     "It's not!" Will yelled with whisper. "Why don't you stop complaining about yours?"

     "Fine," Kyle crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.

     The day was becoming dark now, and the band had decided, well, mostly Dan, that they should head inside and explore the place before it got too dark and eerie to move around. The lead singer was very excited to see what would happen during the dark hours, while Kyle didn't look forward to staying in the place during the demon hour. However, Woody was the type to try out these things for fun, hence him being the one who willing brought the flash lights and head lights. And Will? Well, he was neither on Dan's side of adventure nor Kyle's side of conserving, he was that guy who didn't really know what the definition of fun was.

     "Aye! Look at the kitchen!" Dan pointed to the rusty and cobwebbed filled room.

     "Aww, no fridge!" Kyle joked.

     Of course, the thirty-one year old singer took that too seriously.

     "Duh, back then, they didn't even invent a fridge yet!"

     "You think I wouldn't know that?" the keyboardist scoffed. "You're not the only dude who took history here."

     "Whatever," Dan shook his head, moving away to another area of the dark home.

     "So, when should we play with the Ouija board?" Woody brought up another, more interesting topic.

     "Three o'clock," Dan said with ease. "That's when spirits are most active."

     "How 'bout we don't do that?" Kyle tried to persuade his best friend.

     "Are you chicken?" Woody made a cheeky grin.

     "N-no! O-of course not!" the keys player scoffed. "What makes you think that?"

     "That interview with VEVO, when they asked who'd be more likely to get scared," Dan casually kicked a pile of dust by his feet.

     "And that Twitter Question and Answer where a fan asked who's the one that gets scared easily?" Will cocked an eyebrow.

"Stop it!" Kyle hissed, his vampire teeth making the sound more enhanced than usual.

"Feisty and sexy," Woody laughed.

"Take a picture of me!" an idea suddenly hit Kyle's brain. "Let's show the fans how badass we are!"

With a few chuckles and laughs here and there, the lead singer finally managed to keep in his giggles as he pulled out his indigo-cased phone from his pocket. Kyle then proceeded to find a place to stand by, deciding on a vintage oil painting of Dracula, doing the sexiest pose he could think of. And as Dan raised his arms to snap a quick photo, Will and Woody couldn't help but stare in fascination at the bony side of the singer, seeing how detailed his tattoos were. It almost looked real to the two of them, and the string of plastic bones that hung from Dan's shoulder added to the sound effects whenever he moved around.

"Got it!" Dan smiled.

"Ooh! Lemme see!" Kyle excitedly pranced up to Dan.

"What's that?" Woody peeked over the singer's shoulder, using his index finger and thumb to zoom in on the top right corner of the picture.

"I...don't...know..." Dan nervously looked up at the painting, then at his screen again, trying to find out what the bright light was.

"Looks like an orb or something," Will squinted at the ball of light.

"Why's it red?" Kyle also pointed out.

"That's weird," Dan tilted his head. "There's no source of light that's red- ohhh, my head light," he realized.

     "Ah, makes sense," Will nodded with satisfaction.

     But there's nothing for his light to reflect off of...Kyle bit his dry lip, then licking the chapped skin to avoid the jagged texture.

     "Mate, imagine that you had to sleep here for the night," Woody cackled. "I'd be scared shitless if I was alone."

     "Well, all we can do is hope not to die," Dan smirked.