The Soulmate Guide

Chapter-9

Wait. What?
I froze then and there. My face became red like a tomato. Every muscle of my body twitched. I became so awkward, I wanted to leave the damn ground, run up to my room and lock myself up.

"Blake, Say something atleast." Rachel burst out laughing.

"Aww. Look at him. He's blushing like a little baby," Ethan giggled as he showed me an empty beer bottle.

"Truth or dare? Jeez, you nearly killed me. That was so stupid." I spoke with a lot of difficulty as I adjusted to the reality.
"Damn. I loved that awkward face expression of yours. All your over-confidence drained dumbo." Leah smirked as she moved her hand through my dark brown hair strands.
"By the way, Blake. Why on earth are you so dressed up today? All good brother? At least tell me" Ethan mocked me and they all laughed.

"Very Funny. Now can I leave? I have my history class, you see." I made a cringy face at them as I made my way to the first floor. I couldn't think of anything else. Leah's words echoed in my mind.

Come on Blake. It was just a dare. A petty dare. Nothing else.

I convinced my mind. The final assessment scheme had already been given. I couldn't stand a chance to come second. I had to concentrate. I took down my notes and listened to the professor very attentively. After it got over, I clutched my supplies and headed to the cafeteria.
"Glad you came buddy." Ethan waved at me. They all were sitting at the table as though discussing something very important.

I made my way to the table they were sitting on and joined them in the conversation.
"Okay. Now since we all are here, let's make a plan. Let's hang out tonight," Ethan spoke seeming pretty excited about the fact.
"But where should we go?" Questioned Rachel.
"We can hang out at a pub." Suggested Ethan.
"No. Let's go on a dinner. All of us," James and Stacy chorused.
"We can rather go on a movie night," I gave the idea.
"We can have a story-telling night," Leah spoke softly.

We all became quiet at the idea.

"Story-telling? What is that?," I asked pretty confused at the absurdity of the idea.

"Well. We can put up a tent on the terrace, sit with a flashlight and some snacks and narrate horror stories." Leah spoke sheepishly.

"That is absolutely brilliant!" We all cheered in unison.
"It has to be at my place, 11pm." Ethan spoke enthusiastically.

"Hey folks." Fiona chimed in.

She sat down at the table.

"Not gonna include me in your hangout plans tonight?" She smirked.

"Eavesdropper! Just kidding, you can absolutely join. 11pm, my place," Ethan chuckled.

"No need. I was just joking. I am not idle you see. I have my modeling competition in Brazil. I won't be back until next week. Just came to give the news," She replied.

"Wow. All the best Fiona," Leah wished her sweetly.
"Yeah I need it. It's really stressful these days. By the way , how would you know? I don't think you have been to a modeling competition before?" Fiona said giggling.

I felt like Leah was offended. Sure enough, the statement was not very polite. I gave a Leah a 'Don't mind' kind of look and broke the awkward silence.
"Make sure you keep texting Fiona. See you later." I dodged the topic.
"Yeah. I must go now. Lots of packing is to be done. Bye guys," she  waved and walked away.

That day, I went home pretty excited for the night out. Horror genre has always fascinated me to a great extent. I couldn't wait and as soon as the clock struck 10:30, I sneaked out of the house in my night suit and drove to Ethan's place. It was raining heavily, the perfect weather for a perfect night. I felt pretty odd driving the car in my night suit but I didn't care as long as I knew I would enjoy myself to the core. I rang the doorbell.
Leah opened the door.
"You're late. Everyone's already here. Now come in quickly," She spoke.

"Hi guys," I spoke in loud voice but everyone shushed me.
"We are trying to create a spooky atmosphere," Rachel spoke trying to concentrate.
"Can we light candles?" James asked terrified.

James is a very sensitive guy. Like a mumma's boy. He values his life pretty much and he is very superstitious.

"No, not all!" The three girls in the room chorused.

Since it was raining, we couldn't put up a tent on the terrace. So we all wrapped up thin blankets over our heads and switched on the flashlights of our phones.

Suddenly, Leah started to laugh.

"What?" I asked her shocked.

"Your blanket features dolls and fairies," She laughed hard.

I narrowed my eyes at Ethan.

"Why have you given me this? " I asked him annoyed.
"Sorry brother, you came late. There were none left so I fetched one from my little sister's room," He said giggling.

"Okay. Can we come back to the main subject please?" I asked them in an irritated tone.

"Let's begin." Rachel smirked.

"Long ago, a man went on a trip with some of his friends in a vast jungle. But alas! He was lost. He could not find a way back to his friends. It was dark. Very dark. All he could see were the long tree vines entangled to form creepy hurdles in the swampy way. He felt helpless. Suddenly, someone tapped his shoulder. He turned and..."

" And? " I asked Rachel, terrified. She was walking all around the room and her tone was haunting.

" You wanna know? " she gazed at me with her emerald eyes. Suddenly, she became quiet and started staring at the window with wide eyes. Eyes filled with terror.

" What happened? "Leah spoke with beads of perspiration on her forehead.

"I saw something...near the window", she stammered. Her face appeared pale in the flashlight.

We all tried to switch on the lights but the electricity... It was gone.

"Hush. Are you sure there are only six of you in this room? " Someone whispered in an eerie voice.
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