Dead Inside and Out

Mina, Jackie, Lily, and Fiona have been the best of friends since they were babies. At least, that is what all their parents say. The four girls have been inseparable, which sometimes drives their families crazy, especially older siblings. Through parents divorcing, loss of other friends, deaths of family, bad grades, heartbreaks, and all the ups and downs, they have supported each other. Starting high school was great for the girls; they got all the same classes and even joined the same clubs. This Halloween was unexpected, and it would change these young ladies.

Jackie’s parents got divorced a few years back, and now she lives with just her mother and older brother. Her mother works as an HR trainer and travels around the country regularly. This is the first Halloween that she has been gone for, as she loves celebrating Halloween with her children. With Jackie’s brother, Tanner, in charge of the household, she knew how to get what she wanted, so she called her Mom. Now, the girls would stay for Halloween, and Tanner would have to go with the girls trick-or-treating to make sure they stayed safe.

Halloween day arrived, and the girls made sure to wear their matching outfits, Disney Princesses. Jackie as Belle, Mina as Snow White, Lily as Elsa, and Fiona as Merida. They go from house to house as everyone does, saying hello to their neighbors and enjoying the candy they get. As they walk by the abandoned house on their street, they hear a crash as if something fell to the ground. The girls look at each other, wondering what that sound could have been.

You see, this house isn’t like you would necessarily imagine. This house is only a couple of decades old; it isn’t crazily worn down. It is painted a pale blue, and overall looks like the kind of house people would want to live in. The only issue with this house is what resulted in it being abandoned.

Three years ago, a happy little family lived there. A husband and wife with a four-year-old son and a 13-month-old daughter. They were the happiest family you could ever meet, until it suddenly ended. No one knows what really happened; there weren’t any signs that anything was wrong, but no one had seen the family outside of their house for nearly a week. You could see shadows through the windows, showing that they were going about their day-to-day.

Lily’s mother was friends with the mother of that family, and she had tried to call her to chat, but she wasn’t answering her phone. She went over to their house, hearing their voices as she walked up to the door. She knocked, and everything went quiet. She waited a couple of minutes, then knocked again. This time, the door slowly opened. Peeking in, she didn’t see them, so she crept inside while calling out to them. It didn’t take her long to come across the scene of nightmares. They were all on the floor of the dining room, surrounded by their own blood.

The police investigated and came back with some confusing answers. They had been dead the entire week that everyone thought they were just staying inside. They had all been stabbed to death, but the weapon could not be found. The case went cold, but questions still remained. Who killed them? Why did everyone see and hear things in the house, even though they were dead? Yet, the police couldn’t answer those questions, and everyone would be left in the dark.

Tanner looks at the girls, seeing the fear in their eyes.

“Ha! You little scaredy cats. If that scares you, why are you even out on Halloween night?” He says, as he laughs so hard the girls can barely understand him.

Jackie quickly snaps back, “Please, you nearly bolted home.”

All the friends nod as they grin at him, showing confidence, even while shaking in their shoes.

That is when Tanner grins back at them, “Why don’t we all prove just how brave we are? Let’s go inside for the night. The last one there by the morning is the bravest, and if you all somehow stay through the night, I will admit that I was wrong about you being scaredy cats.”

The girls glance at each other before Jackie responds, “We can do that, except we want to add a little bit more to it. If we all leave before the sun comes up, we will each buy you a new video game. If we all stay through the night, then you admit that you were wrong and buy each of us our favorite Starbucks drinks two times.”

They glare at each other, waiting for the other to break, but after a few minutes, Tanner sighs, “Fine. That works for me.”

They all go inside, ready to face whatever may happen, but they don’t expect much. The house smells like no one has stepped inside since the investigation. Mold is growing in window sills due to the humidity. That humidity hits them like a wall as if it has been waiting to escape. The dust is easy to see floating around the room, and it is so heavy, Lily starts sneezing like she has an allergy to it.

It doesn’t take long for things to happen. Random noises would come from different parts of the house. Groans, screams, whisperings, creepy music, bangs, and crashes. From the second floor and the basement, the sounds ring out as if it were a welcoming committee.

Items start floating and zoom right towards them. It doesn’t matter what the item is, pillows, pictures, coasters, toys, plates, cups, whatever light items are nearby end up in the air. Everyone dodges the items that come their way. Dodge to the right to avoid the pillow, then get down to the floor to avoid the sippy cup. Though they get hit by some of the items, as there are so many, they can’t keep up with the pace.

It feels like forever, though only ten minutes pass before everything calms down. They all sigh, chuckling as they release the tenseness in their bodies, glad that it has finally stopped, but then they hear a woman's voice say, “I will make you pay.” The voice turns into the loudest scream they could imagine; it sounds like it is right in front of them. They all run out the door screaming. Mina trips and hits the ground, but scrambles back up and hurries away from the house she fears more than anything else.

Tanner turns back to look at the house from the sidewalk, all four girls standing behind him, gasping for air and shaking in fear.

Lily freaks out, “What just happened? Am I having a nightmare?”

Jackie tries to deny what happened, “Ha, that was funny. Which of you planned this? Tanner, of course. Nice job bro, but you even scared yourself with that one.”

Tanner yanks his phone out of his pocket, furiously types, and sends a message.

“Those idiots! How did they do that? That was too far.”

The girls glare at him, fire shining in their eyes. Mina is the one who speaks up.

“What do you mean? Did you plan this? How could you?”

That is when they hear laughter like someone just told the funniest joke ever, and see Tanner’s five friends coming out the door.

“That was hilarious! They screamed so loudly - Mina even tripped!” They discuss happily.

The moment they get close, Tanner demands, “What was that? I thought you guys were only going to make some freaky sounds.”

The girls all start yelling at the six boys, scolding them for being so cruel. Fiona pulls in everybody's attention.

“How did you even make things fly? Where did you get the recording? That was too far!”

Tanner’s friend Will is the one to respond, “I didn’t plan any of that. I was just making some of the banging sounds. Which of you planned those things?”

Everyone shakes their head and replies, “Not me.” Everyone freezes in place, processing what happened. They slowly turn to the house. They see the curtains in the living room move. “I’ll make you pay!” They hear the woman’s voice again, causing them to run away, swearing to never walk by that place again.