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“We’re going where now?!”
Keonhee stared at Ravn in disbelief. The group had gathered in the living room, closely huddled up. Ravn had called them there with a crazy idea.
“There’s an abandoned farmhouse not too far from here,” the oldest repeated. “I heard there are ghosts there.”
“Are you crazy!?” The tall boy exclaimed. “Why would you wanna go looking for ghosts?! Don’t you know they can e-eat you?!” His voice wavered as he cried.
“Cmon, it’ll be fun!” Hwanwoong insisted. “It’s been a boring week, we need a bit of fun.”
The others hummed in agreement.
“Besides, we don’t even know if it’s actually haunted.”
Keonhee gulped. He had a bad feeling about this. But everyone seemed enthusiastic about it, and he didn’t wanna ruin the fun for them.
“Okay then,” he said a bit reluctantly. “When are we going?”
“Tonight!” Ravn announced. “I already prepared all the equipment.”
---
Ravn threw on his jacket and stuffed a flashlight into his pocket. He watched everyone else prepare themselves, making sure they’re warm enough to battle against the cold night air.
“So I left the EMF reader to Leedo, spirit box to Seoho, cameras to Xion, UV lights to Hwanwoong, and the journal to Keonhee,” he noted.
“What are you bringing, hyung?” Xion asked.
The older smiled and patted a large box tucked under his arm.
“It’ll help us later on.”
No one dared ask him anything, even when he led them to a white van.
“Rented this from a friend, it’s gonna help us,” he explained. Inside were computers and screens displaying charts and graphs.
"Wow this has everything," Hwanwoong whistled. He looked at the monitors which were off for now.
"These are connected to cameras," Ravn explained. “So later we can monitor ghost activities from here.”
“So… someone’s gonna have to stay behind?”
“Of course not! We’re all still going in!”
---
This is either gonna end well, or horribly wrong
Ravn led the group to the house. The hinges were almost completely off so he took no care in kicking the door down.
“Is that even a good idea?” Seoho flinched.
The older shrugged and continued walking, turning on his flashlight as they stepped in. The house had a heavy and eerie feel to it. Every step caused the floorboards to groan under their weight.
“If this floor breaks and kills us all I'm coming back to haunt you, hyung,” Xion said as he treaded carefully passing the cracks and holes.
“We need to figure out which room has the most ghost activity first,” Ravn hummed, peering into each room. He seemed nonchalant running into cobwebs and even getting a spider on his head, despite the slight flinch the others did.
Keonhee screamed as he felt something move and brushed against him when it was just a large cobweb.
“Coward,” Xion scoffed. But no one missed the way he edged closer to Leedo and squeezed his arm.
“Why are we doing this again?” Leedo asked.
“ Why not?” The cat-like man replied.
“If something happens to us it’s on you, hyung.”
He paid no attention as he stepped into what looked like the master bedroom. He started walking around, directing his flashlight to every nook and cranny before a smile formed on his face.
“I feel like this would be the place,” he announced, crouching on the floor and placing down the box he was carrying. The members soon realized what it was when he unsheathed it.
“Where in the world did you get an ouija board?”
“A pawn shop downtown.”
This man is unbelievable.
“Are any ghosts here?” he spoke into the ouija. Everyone watching it intently despite hoping nothing happens.
After almost two full minutes the planchette shifted slowly, slowly, until it landed on the YES. A cold gust of air passed by, sending shivers down their spines
“Okay we’re leaving,” Keonhee whined as he tugged on one of the member’s sleeves. Unfortunately, Ravn seemed to rejoice with this.
“Looks like we’re on the right track.” He looked at them in glee.
He beckoned them over, soon getting them to circle around the board.
“Are you gonna hurt us?” Keonhee blurted out. He didn’t expect the planchette to move once again, forming the words MAYBE which made him squeak.
“I think we should check around the room again with the stuff we brought.” He reached a hand out to Leedo and Seoho to ask for the equipment he gave them. After switching them back on he gave it back to them and got up, scanning the room.
Keonhee almost cried when he felt something fly right past his eyes. It was a small orb that disappeared the moment he caught sight of it properly. He stared at Ravn for pity, but he seemed to be paying more attention to the UV light, checking the fingerprints he found on the walls.
Seoho held the spirit box awkwardly, listening to the annoying static as he paced awkwardly around the room. It was when he reached the worn-out mattress he heard a soft “hello” from the box making him yelp and the box flying into the air, luckily landing on the mattress.
“I-It said something,” he stuttered. Leedo was quick to pull him to his side and lead him away from the place. Ravn went over to that corner to pick up the spirit box but paused when he heard a soft giggle come from it.
“I want out,” Seoho whined. “Can I just go to the van?”
“Same here,” Keonhee chimed in. Oh how unfortunate they were, the door suddenly slammed shut. And when they tried to open it won’t budge.
“Just perfect,” Hwanwoon groaned. “You owe me boba for a month, hyung!”
Ravn held up his hands in defence. “It didn’t mean to go like this!”
Everyone has gone into panic, one holding onto another. Heck, they didn’t even notice writings appear on the Journal that Keonhee dropped.
The air soon got heavier, colder, like a presence among them. First, the book and ouija board got upturned and the journal flying across the room.
“Ravn hyung what have you done?!”
Ravn looked around in panic. This was not what he intended. He just wanted to test their guts and have fun. He should’ve known better, he thought.
Just as he tried to gather the stuff that flew around, a figure — no, TWO figures — appeared before them. One took the form of a large, white, woman, face gaunt and cold. The other had a silver glow to her, a gentle smile on her stiff face.
“We didn’t mean to bother you!” Ravn exclaimed. The two ghosts only got closer and closer, the silver one reaching out and grabbing his face. It was like a bucket of ice water had just been dumped on him. Ravn froze in place, paralyzed by fear and the hold she had on her.
The white woman sucked in a breath, air filling her nonexistent figure. It dawned upon him almost instantly.
A banshee.
“Girls! Calm down!” A voice came from a crack in the wall. Surprise surprise, there was a hidden door. A man, age perhaps close to them, emerged from that invisible door. His clothes seemed way too casual to be someone who lives in a creepy house like this. And he's human (or at least takes form of one).
The two ghosts stopped their aggression at his presence, stepping back and floating to his side. He stared the group of six down, gaze stern yet laces with curiosity.
"Now what are you lot doing here?"
In an instant they all turned to Ravn, expecting him to answer for them. After all, he was the one who dragged them there.
“I heard this place have ghosts and I wanted to take my friends to check things out,” he explained as calm as he could.
The mysterious man stared him down, his eyes trailing from him to the others, to the objects sprawled around the room.
“For “check things out” you sure have a lot of equipment prepared,” he remarked.
“I’ve… had most of them for a while,” Ravn shyly admitted. “I’ve always wanted to go on some sort of paranormal investigation with friends. I’ve seen a lot of people do it on TV and stuff. Guess it didn’t go the way I planned.”
So that’s why he was so eager to do this? The others looked at Ravn in a mix of disbelief and pity, but no words were uttered.
The man hummed. “I see.” He turned to the two ghosts, who now have left his side and were quietly floating around the room. The silver ghost crept closer to Keonhee, touching his shoulder which made him yelp. She giggled before flying off again.
“I understand your wishes, and I won’t stop you from doing this in the future. But I do ask you to do proper research on where you’re visiting and take account of many outcomes.”
Ravn’s head snapped up hearing his words. And here he thought he was gonna get an earful and all that.
“So next time be more careful and play things safe when ghost hunting, okay?”
The six nodded in unison, like a bunch of kids getting advice from their teacher.
“Now before I send you out, I think a proper introduction is in order.” He gave them a bow and the ghosts did too, much to their surprise.
“My name’s Kanghyun. I’m the owner of this place and these two are my friends,” he gestured at the ghosts.
“This beauty right here is Minji, she’s a bit shy but she’s nice, and a bit mischievous.” He gestured to the silver ghost, who was now hiding behind his shoulder, contrasting to her scary person earlier.
“And this is the White Banshee Witch, she’s a bit mean but I promise she doesn’t bite. She only screams!”
Yeah… they don’t wanna cross paths with her again. Ever.
“It’s very nice to meet you three,” Seoho finally chimed in. “We do apologize for the trouble we caused.”
Kanghyun waved his hand, chuckling.
“It’s no big deal, it’s not like this is the first time I had to deal with nosy kids.”
“Anyways, I feel like you should head out now. Unless you’d like to stay for dinner?”
They didn’t even wanna know what that meant and politely declined, about to go and pick up their stuff until Minji came over to Keonhee with their stuff all gathered up. She dropped them in his arms before disappearing again.
---
“Looks like Minji had a thing for you,” Hwanwoong taunted.
Keonhee shivered at the thought and shook his head. “I don’t wanna think about it.”
The rest of the ride home was some bickering and mostly sleeping. Ravn drove them home with a small weight in his stomach. He knew he was gonna have to sort things out with them in the morning and a lot of making up was in order. But for now, he’s gonna enjoy the night air and be thankful they’re all still alive.
