Ghost's Note: Robyn and Kami were borrowed from my "Demons in the Doorway" fic and are, of course, used here with my permission. And if anyone cares, my sister made me come up with the title. ^.^
Who's Afraid?
By: Hatashi
The big house swayed in the wind as the rain dripped down the paint-peeling side. The yard was grey and dreary and the grass was dead from choking weeds. The drunken fence needed repair and the gate swayed on its creaky hinges.
Three figures ran to the house while the rain seeped into their clothes. Underneath the porch's roof they huddled as one of them opened the door. Running inside, the three dropped their baggage and started shedding their dripping coats.
"That wasn't that bad, now was it," Kento said.
"Yeah right," Robyn replied sarcastically. "Now all we need is some thunder and lightning to make us feel right at home."
As if cued to, lightning flashed near the window and brightened the room. A moment later the loud clash of thunder shook the unstable house.
"Thanks a lot Robyn!" Kami, Robyn's friend, yelled at her. "I could have done without that!"
"Don't yell at me, this isn't my fault," Robyn retorted.
Then they both looked at Kento.
"What?" Kento asked when he felt their gaze.
"This is all your fault!" the girls screamed at him in unison.
"Hey, calm down. I have a great idea. I'll start a fire so we can get warm, okay," Kento said.
The two females backed away temporarily.
Kento whipped back his greyish-blue hair in relief. He got out some matches and tried to start a fire in the old fashioned fire place.
Robyn tried to help him. She wasn't as tall as Kento and her small figure was no match for his broad one, but she spent more time around Ryo than he did so she clearly knew more about starting fires. Soon, she had to kick Kento out of the way so she could get some sort of flame.
Kami's large brown eyes shone in the fire as she watched it rise. She turned and went to sit down on a couch covered with a sheet. Dust rose up and she coughed in irritation. Robyn sat down softly next to her as not to rouse up more dust. Her green eyes scanned the large room as the place momentarily went quiet.
Even with the fire, the room looked lifeless. Dust and cobwebs covered most of the surface. The rain beat down on the broken shutters while more thunder shook the house. Shadows danced around when the lightning flashed. The wind whistled through small holes in the walls and roof.
"Woooo," Kento said softly in Kami's ear.
"Cut it out!" she hissed as Kento sat by her, laughing. "This place gives me the creeps. Remind me again why we're here."
"Come on," Kento told her. "We're here to win ten dollars each."
"Don't you remember," Robyn added. "Kento had to open his big mouth and brag that "we" were so brave."
"Yeah, and we're still gonna show Ryo, Cye, and Rowen what we're made of," Kento smirked.
"It was bad enough that those three started taunting us, but then Sage had to join in," Robyn muttered. "That was the last straw."
"And now where here," Kami sighed. She smacked Kento on the arm.
"Ouch! Why did you do that?'
"Because you couldn't keep that huge hole you call a mouth shut! Even worse, you had to drag us into your stupid plan to earn money!" Kami's voice suddenly went from rage to a whine. "I hate this place. It's cold and scary."
"Don't worry, I'll protect you," Kento said, putting an arm around her. "Old Man Watterson won't get you while I'm around."
"Old Man Watterson, who's that?" Robyn asked.
"You don't know about it?" Kami gasped. "He's why this old house is haunted."
"Haunted? Like ghosts?" Robyn asked skeptically. "Are you just trying to scare me?"
"No, it's true," Kami said seriously.
Kento began the tale:
"Old Man Watterson hated kids. He hated them for hitting balls in his yard, screaming and running past his house, and most of all, ringing his doorbell and running away. He hated it so much he kidnaped a lot of the kids. He took them down into his basement and kept them in cages. And at night he would experiment on them. He was so evil that when he died, the devil himself wouldn't let him into hell. And since then, his ghost wanders the house with the souls of his victims and waits for new ones. Maybe if we're quiet we might even hear the cries of the children still in his basement."
"Oh my gosh, that is morbid," Robyn breathed.
Kento laughed evilly. "And if we're even luckier, we'll be able to hear Watterson drag his chains on the floor and maybe even see him."
Kami screamed. "I want to go home!" she cried.
"Hey, it's okay," Kento calmed her down. "It's not real. It's just a story."
"A-are you sure?" Kami shivered.
"Yeah. I don't believe it's true."
"I do," Robyn admitted.
The two stared at her.
"I remember this story now. Other people have told me they've seen it," she said.
"Oh yeah, like who?" Kento challenged.
"Like Joe Thomas," Robyn replied.
"Joe is a big, fat liar and you know that!"
"Well, what about Billy Randals?"
The room got quiet.
"That's right," Robyn continued. "He not only saw the ghost but he's probably still in this house."
"That's a load of crap!" Kento shouted, the echo bouncing off the walls.
"What did happen to Billy?" Kami asked quietly.
"He just ran away," Kento assured her.
"What's only what the police say to cover up the truth," Robyn insisted.
Kento stared at her and then started laughing. "Oh Robyn, you are good. I almost believed you for a second. But you should know better than to try to scare me."
Robyn scowled at him, but then a noise made her start searching the room.
"What was that?"
Kami starting listening, too.
"But that Billy story was a real good one," Kento went on.
"Sh-h-h, Kento," Kami whispered. "Listen."
"Come on guys, you can't scare me," Kento argued.
"I'm not joking," Robyn hissed.
The three sat still and listened. A long, low howl filled the room. Creaking footsteps walked towards them. Down the hall, small voices gave out desperate cries for help. Suddenly, the fire went out and Kami screamed.
"I'm getting out of here!" she cried, running for the door.
But standing in the doorway was a ghostly figure. It grabbed and restrained her. Kami screamed again. Kento ran to her rescue, but was tackled by another ghost. Robyn still sat on the couch, too terrified to move. No sooner did she snap out of her trance, then yet another ghost grabbed her. Kento was now wrestling with the ghost who attacked him.
A loud, evil laugh sounded throughout the room. It was then drowned out by hysterical giggling. That was from Kento's ghost. He figured out by now that his alleged "ghost" was just a person in a sheet. He lifted it up to discover a thin, brown haired boy.
"CYE!?" Kento shouted in disbelief. Cye, by now, was rolling around in laughter. "Cye, what are you doing here? I'm going to kill you!"
Kento picked up Cye but he had a hard time punching him because Cye was still stumbling around in laughter.
"Who are these ghosts then?" Kami wondered.
Ryo lifted up his sheet to reveal to her his identity. Long black hair hung around his shoulder and flopped into his laughing, blue eyes.
"I bet I can guess who this is," Robyn said, lifting up the sheet. "You're dead Rowen."
Rowen smiled at her to tell her it was just a joke. Robyn tousled his blue hair.
"You should have seen Kento's face," Cye said, still giggling up a storm. "He looked like he was about to pee his pants!"
Kento folded his arms and frowned.
"Don't tell me you guys came here just to make fun of us," he growled.
"Nah," Rowen explained. "We came to earn some money, too."
"Sage bet us we couldn't stay here all night either," Ryo said.
"Speaking of Sage, where is he?" Robyn inquired.
"I dunno, probably meditating somewhere," Rowen replied.
"That was so great though," Cye continued, smiling big. "I've never seen anyone so scared in my life!"
"Yeah, you got us alright," Kami agreed before Kento could open his mouth again. "I especially liked how you made the fire go out."
"Um, we didn't do that," Ryo said uneasily.
A loud, deep laugh ran through the house. Each teenager felt an icy chill run up and down their spines. Chains rattled as they were dragged along hard wood floors upstairs. The floor groaned as someone--or something--walked around carrying chains.
Everyone jumped when a long chain was thrown down the stairs. It rolled slowly to the bottom of the steps. Kami whimpered and grabbed Ryo's arm.
The evil laugh made itself known again. Finally, the fireplace lit up with a gigantic flame.
Six shrill screams arose from their throats as they all raced out the door in a panic. Running through the gate at break-neck speed, the group almost knocked over the fence in their haste.
As they ran down the street still screaming, a tall, lean figure stood in the doorway, leaning against it. Watching carefully with the one eye that wasn't covered by hair, Sage smiled to himself.
"That was just too easy," he said.
Sage slowly walked down the porch steps and across the lawn. One hand was tucked into his pocket and the other dragged a long, rusty chain behind him. He grinned smugly as he thought about all the money he had won. He had shown them all who was afraid.
