Gengar

Chapter 1

Day slowly began fading to night, the sky growing darker and darker with each passing minute.

As dusk approached, you grew more and more excited to take your new ghost-hunting equipment out for a spin and go on your very first paranormal adventure. You've been binge-watching Buzzfeed Unsolved lately, so it was only natural you ordered some gear to investigate whether ghosts existed for yourself. The three pieces of paranormal equipment you ordered were an EVP recorder (or Spirit Box), a camera that monitors temperature fluctuations, and a durable flashlight that does NOT turn off and on. You wanted a flashlight that would stay on throughout the entire night, just in case. Besides, the whole flickering flashlight thing was never compelling to you anyway.

You planned on investigating this old abandoned building about an hour from where you lived, which was rumored to contain paranormal activity. You purposely waited for this very specific night—the grand Jupiter and Saturn conjunction—to explore. For some reason, you believed the planets had something to do with extra-dimensional activity, and if you didn't get any evidence, at least you'd get a view of the beautiful night sky.

As soon as the clock hit 9:00 PM you picked up your backpack, swung it over your shoulder, and went out the door. There was a pep in your step as you excitedly hopped in your car, flipped your headlights on, and began driving. As an appropriate way to set the mood, you played Corpse through your car speakers during the drive, turning the volume as high as it could go. You spent the drive thinking of how you would record yourself during the investigation: should you record it live on Instagram, or pre-record it and make some edits before posting? You weren't quite sure yet, but you were excited to bring home some new content regardless.

You finally pulled up to the building, hearing the gravel under your tires as you turned into the abandoned driveway. When you turned your car off, the sudden silence and darkness startled you for a brief moment. Without your headlights, the building appeared much more ominous—the soft glow of the moon washing over it in a pale bluish light. You shook off the feeling and reached in your backpack, taking out your new flashlight. You flipped it on, and got out of the car.

Before walking inside the building however, you decided to take a moment to admire the night sky. Saturn was a clear, yellowish beacon among the stars, taking your breath away as you admired the view. You couldn't help but want to take a picture, so you reached in your pocket and took your phone out. Holding your phone up with one hand, you watched the screen intently to make sure it was a clear photo. You tapped the screen a couple times to focus on the ringed planet, and... snap! Perfect! You quickly went to open the photo to check the quality, excited to see the result.

However, as soon as you opened the photo, you let out a sharp, loud gasp and dropped both your phone and flashlight. You stumbled backwards and fell, your heart pounding loudly in your ears.

A moment passed before you quickly snapped your head up to scan the area of the sky where you took the photo—but nothing was there. Your breath still heavy, you slowly got up and hastily went for your things. As soon as you picked up your phone and flashlight, you ran back to your car—your heart still pounding as loud as ever. You locked your car doors and sat in silence, taking a moment to catch your breath. Preparing yourself to unlock your phone, you opened the photo one more time with shaking, reluctant fingers.

Right in the middle of your screen, taking up almost the entire photo, were two large, sinister red eyes—staring dead at you.