It's All Hallows' Eve, and you're gearing up for the most eventful night of your life. While young children are out trick-or-treating, you've made your way to the one house people always skip. It's the abandoned mansion, rumoured to be haunted.

Dared by your friends to spend a night in the haunted house, will you survive the night, or will you uncover the truth behind the rumours?

A chill ran up his spine, a shudder gradually following behind as he stood across the street from the old, creepy Mansion. It had to be ten times scarier at night, especially on Halloween, where every house had decorations that lit up their property. This one had nothing but darkness, surrounded by dead and dying trees, the gate was chained shut with just enough space between them thanks to one of the hinges being busted.

Deakon swallowed and tightened his grip on his bag strap, taking a deep and shaky breath at the thought that he had to stay in that place overnight. He had been reluctant, he had made it clear that he didn't like the place and that just seemed to hype his friends up into daring him to spend a few hours there, until Dawn. What a great bunch of friends he had. He needed to reevaluate what Friend actually meant.

"You scared, Markain?" he shot Levi a dark look, the one that originally suggested that he stay here and made the others join in on daring him.

"No!" Deak snapped back defensively, hiding his lie rather well for what it was worth. He looked back towards the building, tension building in his muscles as the time grew closer to Twelve. They were out far later than they should and, unfortunately, the boys had seen to it that they all had a good alibi as to why Deakon wouldn't be home that night, using the excuse that they were having a sleep over at each other's house, when they were staying at Levi's. What could go wrong...?

"He's totally scared!" another of them blurted and laughed, the others joining in and one of them slapped his shoulder as he practically choked.

"No, I'm not!" he shot back and quickly glanced up and down the street before stepping out onto the road, keeping an eye out for cars along the way. Forcing himself to keep going, Deak stepped onto the curb and headed for the gates, taking his bag off to get it through first.

"See you later, Deakon!" one of the others called out as he slipped a leg between the gates, slowly shifting his body through the opening.

"Don't get killed by Ghosts!" Levi suggested unhelpfully and Deak paused to send a glare their way. Did he forget to mention that the mansion had rumours of being haunted? "Don't forget to take pictures! We want evidence!" he added and the boy huffed, continuing to get between the gates until he tumbled to his hands and knees inside the property.

He climbed to his feet, brushing himself off and reached for his bag, sliding his arms through the straps after retrieving his torch from a side pocket. Deakon swallowed nervously, hearing the laughter in the background grow quiet and farther away. Looking behind himself one last time, he rolled his shoulders and reached for the strap of his backpack, gripping it like it was his lifeline.

"I need new friends," Deakon muttered to himself as he stepped hesitantly and reluctantly towards the building, aiming the torch up the closer he got. It stood high, a good three floors, but even then, the trees were higher, shadowing the place with how unkempt the property had been for so many years. It only added to the cliché, horror movie look.

He reached the porch and climbed the rickety, old steps, feeling them bow under his weight, creaking from age. He was quick about walking up to them, not wanting them to break beneath him. He practically skipped until he reached the door, kicking himself because it meant that he had to spend a few extra seconds inside the building when he could have wasted them climbing the porch steps and hanging around outside.

Deak shone the torch on the door and he reached out hesitantly, gripping the handle shakily before turning it and nudging the thick, flaking wood. A moment later, he felt like he was actually in the cliché horror movie. The door creaked and the rusted hinges scratched together, the sounds being so eerie that they went right through him and made him visibly wince and grimace, the tension tightening and worry rising.

He took a deep breath and groaned to himself as he forced himself to take a step inside, pausing to direct the light around the area ahead of him and around the entry way. He swallowed thickly and took another step, and then another and another. His fear became prominent, Deakon flicking his light this way and that as he reluctantly inched farther and farther into the foyer.

BANG!!

Deakon snapped around with a loud yell, everything directed behind him at the door, his fear having grown tenfold as he stared at the now shut entrance. He quickly darted over and grabbed the handle, turning it and turning it, but it didn't open. It felt stiff like it was being held from the outside.

"This isn't funny, guys!" he yelled, immediately blaming them because it would be something that they were sick and twisted enough to do.

He pulled and kicked at the door for almost half an hour after it had shut and locked, Deakon feeling more angry than scared. He felt adamant towards this being some big prank rather than it being a haunted house dare.

The boy ran a hand through his hair and turned around to face the foyer, scanning his surroundings before turning towards the room to his left. He headed towards the doorframe and peeked inside, glancing around for anyone or anything, just in case, and then stepped into the... living room? A couch sat in the corner of the room, a turned over coffee table broken in front of it.

He directed the light around and saw the boarded up window, immediately darting over to it and removing his bag from his back, dropping it a foot away. He climbed up onto the sill and punched at the wood, pressing his shoulder against it to try and force it off, but it didn't budge. He tried ramming his body against it with as much power as his position would give him, still getting nowhere. He growled under his breath and climbed down, grabbing his torch from where he had been pushing at the wood and directed it into the room, wanting to find something that could help. He flashed it passed a doorway rather fast and his heart skipped when he thought he saw something, directing it back to the doorframe—

"AAAGH!" Deakon shot back, his body harshly landing against the wall, his head following, throbbing immediately. "Who are you?!" he asked with wide, scared eyes staring at the disheveled woman standing across the way, a decent distance from him, his free hand reaching up to his head to cradle the aching area.

The woman watched him, her head tilted oddly in question. It seemed like she had been analyzing him in some way, eyeing him with interest.

"Homeless," she replied after a long moment, and to say that her voice was eerie, it would be an understatement. So light, so soft and almost like a mother whispering to her baby as it fell asleep. "Don't be scared, I won't hurt you. I heard you yell at the door and came to see... what was going on," the voice drew a shudder from him, ease not coming to him at all. Though she did seem to have some truth to her words. Her clothing seemed very... homeless-y.

"My friends dared me to stay here and they locked me in," he explained hesitantly, his own tone shaking slightly as he inched towards his bag and swiftly slipped it onto his back.

"What jerks," again, her voice came out too soft and almost too creepy in a higher pitch compared to the girls he actually knew. Outwardly, she seemed rather small in her baggy clothes, sleeves hanging over her knuckles, worn leggings tucked into mid-calf high boots, looking rumbled, scuffed and messy. She seemed like the stereotypical loner girl at school.

"I know right?" Deakon straightened up slightly, noticing some life enter her movements as she stepped into the room, a sway to her step like she had been wearing heels. Looking at her figure, he'd place her at about Twenty-One or Twenty-Two, five years older than Deakon.

"You can hang around with me if you want. How long did they say the stay would last?" she inquired, her fingers entangling at the base of her waist, seeming as uneasy as Deakon felt.

"Overnight. 'Til Dawn," he replied truthfully, gradually becoming less defensive considering that she didn't seem like a danger to him. She was actually about his height, if not a tad shorter. He didn't feel like underestimating her, but her appearance made him think that if a fight broke out, he would have the advantage.

"You can play in here until then if you'd like?" she offered with her strangely high pitched voice. He watched her carefully, internally debating on it for the moment. A thought crossed his mind that maybe she felt lonely and simply wanted company, that being the reason that he started nodding in affirmative to her offer.

"Okay," he smiled slightly, happy that he also wasn't alone in this terrifying building. Though it felt less scary with her being there as well.

"Welcome to Darkwood Mansion," she tilted her head with one of her own smiles, long brown hair falling to the side. That didn't sound spooky at all...

*

Deakon chuckled and grinned as he chased after the surprisingly fast young woman, leaping the busted island in the centre of the kitchen to catch up with her. He had been close to tagging her when they reached a corner and she suddenly vanished after turning it. As he himself reached it, he paused, perplexed for a long moment before he felt his back being patted, turning to see her smoothly round the tabletop he had jumped, a smile on her face. The light coming in between the boards on the windows only made her seem brighter and he could really see her features with it casting over her—

Light coming in between the boards?

Deak paused mid-step, frowning at the windows and seeing the light casting through all of them. Had he really been playing Hide and Seek and Tag until Dawn reared its head?

The boy stared, feeling a tad disappointed since he had been having that much fun to the point that he had lost track of time. His friends would be coming to meet him soon if they weren't already out there unlocking the door for him.

"Until Dawn," her voice ghosted over his ear, Deak drawing his gaze to his side to see her standing there, having approached without him noticing. It was almost as if she floated or made no sound when she walked at all. "Hope to see you again soon,"

"Guaranteed I'll be back," he smiled softly at her, watching as she gave her own much like the one she had had after tagging him. "Haven't had this much fun in a while," he disappointedly headed back into the living room to retrieve his bag, throwing it over his shoulder. He stepped out and strode towards the door, glancing over his shoulder at her with a rather sad smile.

"Bye," she whispered, still smiling at him. This wasn't meant to feel as sad as it was. He reached for the handle and opened the door, the light blinding him for a moment before he adjusted. Deak walked out of the building, hearing his friends cheer from across the road.

"Dude, you actually managed to stay the night?" one of them yelled in surprise. Deakon shook his head, ignoring them in favour of waving towards the girl inside, but—

He frowned in shock, eyes focused on her transparent outline before she disappeared right before his extremely wide eyes.