|| 5X FEATURED ||
When four local kids get trapped in an old house that wails and laughs, their only way out is to play four enchanted mind games.
*****
In the quaint town of Brook...
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Alfred jolted up with his head high, allowing the piercing sunlight strike through his face. Like he was stuck in some weird limbo, he didn't squint, he didn't flinch, he just remained deadpan.
Though his full length mirror was far ahead opposite him, he didn't notice his reflection. If he were still in his room or in some underground isolation center, he didn't know. His consciousness scattered into oblivion.
He had appeared ten times paler overnight and his eyes dilated with something more grim. And now, from where he sat still, he had begun to burn up.
Mild sweats trickled down from his temple and his forehead. He didn't even know he slept as everything just slipped by in a blur. Maybe he slept with his eyes open, or he was unconscious rather than asleep the whole time. His eyes were tainted with some shades of pink, and they were wide, like his head had been submerged underwater for days with a bass speaker booming through his ears.
He was all doleful, and then started to drool as he blinked his eyes slowly and painfully. Like he was trapped, he didn't move an inch, his duvet halfway across his body. He just sat upright in bed, waiting for the heavens to open, and the angels to reach for his soul. Maybe when they did that he'd be fixed and freed from the creepy horrors he was currently trapped in. And maybe that would restore his sanity.
The birds were now tweeting outside like nothing ever happened there and everything was just fine. Fine weather and a peaceful environment as usual. Only one bus had noticeably zoomed past, and for the past three minutes, nothing else had sufficed. Not even businessmen going to work either by busses or their rides. Or even kids who'd decided to bike to school instead of taking the bus. Or lazy dog owners who'd rather roam the streets and walk their dogs than chill at home. Nothing of the sorts had happened at all.
The air around there smelled like fresh coffee beans and woodsmoke, as some fine lines of oily mists now hung in the clear sky filtering the sunlight. There wasn't the usual chatters, laughter, honks and vehicle sounds that he was used to every morning back in Tecumseh, Oklahoma. Here, everything was as towny as can be.
"Morning sunshi... oh my!" Edith dashed to his bed. Her eyes obviously not believing what she just saw. "What happened?" "Oh my God!" "What happened to your face!?"
Alfred hesitated trying to process his environment with gloom all over him. The hesitation was involuntarily, as he still hadn't gained control over himself yet. Maybe what he needed at the moment was the external nudge from his mom which now he was finding it hard to respond to.
He felt the whole world collapsing on him and his feathery soul was trying to fight back. It was as if he was still sleeping, but fully awake at the same time. It took him almost a minute, and after huge mental fights out of desperation, he realized that someone else was in the room with him.
He turned right, and then slowly dragged his gaze upon his mom for a second. On seeing that it was who he knew, his brain cells then gave a second chance, and this time he uttered the first thing that came to his mind.
