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So it has officially been 30 minutes and the double-demons buckets are already nearly full. They managed to make friends with 3 other kids that were also out trick-or-treating, they decided to stick together so now I'm stuck with 5 kids! Urgh.

"What's up there?" Millie asked pointing up the hill where the old abandoned house stood.

The three kids they'd picked up stared at her in shock before they began to whisper.

"That's the haunted house, it's full of ghosts" The first one said.

"Nobody ever goes up there, they say if you do, you'll never return" Said the second.

"I heard the house comes alive at Halloween" The third spoke, making me roll my eyes.

"Cooool" The twins responded, simultaneously. They were all rumors, none of them true. The truth was, it's just empty. Nobody has lived there for years. Or so that's what I heard but that's too boring so people make up rumors to make it more exciting.

"Let's go!" What?!

Before I could react all 5 kids were running up the hill towards to abandoned house.

"Millie, Michael. Stop! You're not allowed up there" My yelling proved pointless and they kept running, no sign of them stopping anytime soon.

"Crap!"

Following after them wasn't as easy as I thought, the hill really did a number on me and by the time I hit the top I was completely out of breathe. I was so out of shape. Maybe I should participate more in gym.

The kids stood a good distance away from the house, staring up in awe. I know I said the rumors weren't true but the idea of going anywhere near the house gave me the chills. This is the closest I've ever been and chills ran through me. It was finally getting dark and it would be time for the kids to head home soon but they continued to stare up at the old building, none of them moving or talking, just staring.

"Come on, guys. We're not supposed to be up here"

"I'm going to knock" Michael said, taking an uneasy step towards the giant building.

"Please don't" I didn't know what to do, they clearly weren't going to listen to me.

"Michael, be careful. Hold my hand, I'll come with you" Millie said, taking a hold of her brothers hand.

"Guys, I really don't think this is a good idea" I said, taking a step towards them.

"It's okay, Lucas. You stay here, we got this"

What?

I watched nervously as they stood in front of the house and rung the doorbell.

After a couple minutes went by, I tried again.

"It's empty guys, nobody has lived there for years. The rumors are all lies."

The kids looked disappointed as they turned around ready to leave.

*Bang!*

We all stood in shock, staring at the building. It definitely came from inside but nobody has lived there for years...

*Bang!*

The children screamed, running as fast as they could back down the hill. Taking in the building, it looks empty. The windows were all covered so there was no way of looking inside. What was that? I took one last glance at the building before following after the kids, heading back down the hill which was a lot easier than going up.

The twins clung to me when I reached the bottom of the hill, the other kids running home to their parents.

"Listen guys, don't tell my mum we went up there, okay? We're not allowed up there and we'll all get in trouble"

The both nodded, quickly.

"Can we go home now?" Millie asked, still clinging to my arm.

"Sure" We made our way back into the warmth of the house, my mother rushing to greet us.

"How was it? Did you have fun? Did you get lots of candy?" And just like that the twins forgot about the abandoned house and went about telling my mum about all the fun they had, leaving out the business with the house.

After mum mouthed a thank you over her shoulder, I headed upstairs to finally do what I've been waiting to do all day.

Stepping into my bedroom, I pulled off my hoodie and threw myself onto my bed.

I couldn't stop thinking about the house, the noises were definitely coming from inside. The question was, who was in there? Maybe the place IS haunted, maybe the rumors are true. Heh, yeah right. Anyway there's no point getting curious over the place, it's not like I'll ever have to go back there. again.

Okay, so what movie should I watch firs-

Knock, knock, knock

"Come in?"

"Lucas!" Millie stood next to my mother, tears running down her face as she whaled and screams. She told her? Oh no...

"Lucas, Millie lost her hat, she said it was near the hill. Could you go retrieve it for her please?" -GULP- near the hill or near the house?

"Please Lucas, it-it was near that place we found" More tears. Crap! It was near the house. I don't want to go up there on my own, especially at night! Crap! What am I going to do? I freaking jinxed myself!

"Uh can't I go get it in the morning? I really just want to spend the night watching horror movies"

"It won't take long, sweetie. Millie really loves that hat"

"Please, Lucas!" More tears. Crap!

"Fine!"

"Thank you, honey"

"Thank you, Lucas" *sniff*

I pulled my hoodie back on and heading back outside into the cold.

"Okay, calm down. You can do this, just grab the hat and go"

Taking in a breathe of air, I put on a brave face, filling myself with determination and strode up the hill towards the house. The breathe left me when I reached the top and I keeled over, taking in several breathes and trying to regulate my breathing.

"Yeah, definitely need to participate more in gym"

I stood up right after I regained my breathe and took slow, weary steps towards the house. No, Lucas. You were supposed to do it fast, like a band aid. Grab it and go. I could see it, sitting on the front porch, directly in front of the door.

Why am I so scared? Okay deep breathes, you can do this. It took me way too long to get to the front door but I made it, I bent down and picked up the hat and stood back up. I don't know what I was waiting for but whatever it was, it never happened.

*Bang!*

Crap! Who is that? I don't know what came over me but all of a sudden the fear was gone, nothing left but curiosity and fascination. And like the idiot I am, I knocked.

Nothing.

I reached for the door handle. What am I doing? Turn around and go home, now!

*Bang!*

No! Someone's in there. What if they're hurt and banging to try and get someone's attention? A cry for help.

I turned the door handle....locked? Um? This isn't how it's supposed to go....it's supposed to be open, right?

You watch too many movies, Lucas!

I guess I'll just leave then?

*Bang!* Crap! I can't just leave. What if someone really does need help? I'll never forgive myself.

Getting around to the back of the house was harder than expected, the grass was overgrown so I tripped way too many time than I'm willing to admit. But I finally made it and now I stood in front of the rotted back door. Here goes nothing.

I twisted the handle and the door opened with ease. All of a sudden I felt nervous again, my hand was still on the handle and I contemplated backing out and just going home, pretending I didn't hear anything.

No! I had to do this. Slowly I stepped foot into the house, it was cold. I kept the door open as a safety hook, that way I had an easy way out if need be. I walked further into the house, the lights were off and it was hard to see. I didn't like that, I wanted to see where I was going. Starting my search for the light switch, it wasn't easy and I tripped and stumbled all over the place but I finally found a switch.

*click* Of course it didn't work. I decided to go with plan b and pulled out my cell phone, turning the flash light on. Okay, now I could see, it wasn't as bright as I would have liked, but it was better than it was previously.

Should I call out? The bottom floor appeared to be empty, so I made my way to the stairs. They didn't exactly look super stable but they'd support my weight. The place was really dusty and old but there was furniture scattered around the place, so it looked like people lived here previously.

I stood at the bottom of the stairs, using the flash light on my phone to see up them but I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Taking my first step, the stairs creaked...loudly.

*Creak...Creak...Creak* Crap! Okay I'll call out. Hear goes....

"Hello?"

Silence...

*Creak...Creak...Creak* My heart was beating a mile a minute but I kept going, climbing the stairs with every creak until I was stood at the top. There was a bathroom to my left and a hallway in front of me with several doors on the left and right. Taking slow breathes I started to descend down the hallway, deciding to check out a door on the left first, the closest one to me. But when I reached the door it was locked.

I tried a few other doors but they were locked too, I finally came upon a room on the right that opened. It led into a room with a double bed, in the room was a dressing table with a wardrobe, I didn't search around though as I didn't want to pry. Something caught my attention, though. Sitting on the dresser was a photo frame, a picture of a man and woman smiling brightly, between them was a little boy with blonde hair, smiling just as brightly. This must be a family photo, a husband and wife with their son. I wonder what happened to the-

"What are you doing in here?"

Now, I'd like to say I calmly turned around and explained I was making sure nobody was hurt because of the banging. But instead I did a 180 spin so fast I think I nearly gave myself a concussion and the words? that came out of my mouth sounded a little something like this.

"AAAAAH AH YU I HUUUUUU BUU FAAA OL"

The boy in front of me stared at me in confusion but he looked kind of irritated but he didn't LOOK threatening.

"Are y-you a g-ghost?"

"No"

"Okay and you're not hurt so I guess I'll just be leaving now"

"What are you doing here?"

"I-I heard banging coming from inside, I J-just wanted to make sure nobody w-was hurt" Crap! Why am I stuttering so much? I just need to get out of here and go home as fast as possible.

The boy didn't say anything just turned around and walked out of the room.

"Hey!" He didn't turn around so I followed him, he stood outside of the first room I tried to enter, which was locked.

"Weren't you leaving?" He turned around to look at me, his face once again covered in irritation.

"What are YOU doing here?"

"I live here"

"YOU live HERE?"

I heard him sigh as his hand reached up to rub his temples. I really shouldn't be annoying him but he got me curious. How could he possibly live HERE?

"Yes, now please leave"

"But...you can't live here"

"And why's that?"

"Uh, no offense but this place is a dump"

"Look, it's really none of your business, now can you please just leave?"

"S-sorry, are you busy?"

The flashlight on my phone wasn't doing the best and since I didn't want to shine it directly at his face it was kind of hard to make his facial features out properly.

"No"

"Then why do I have to leave so soon?"

"You said you were leaving" Good point.

"Well maybe I changed my mind"

"Do you always barge into people houses and demand you stay?"

"No, actually this is a first"

"Nobody ever comes up here, how did you even hear the banging?"

"My cousin dropped her hat on your front porch when I took her trick or treating earlier, she ran up here out of curiosity. I came up here to retrieve it"

"So she was the one that rang the doorbell?"

"Yeah...you didn't answer"

"Why would I?"

"Uh..."

"Nobody ever comes up here remember, they think this place is abandoned"

"But it's not..."

"No"

"How do you live in a place like this?"

"Your parents are probably wondering where you are, you should leave"

Sigh, he has a good point there but for some reason I found myself wanting to stay and talk to the new, mysterious guy.

"Okay, I'll leave. But before I do you have to tell me your name?"

"Huh?" Even in the dark, I could see the clear confusion on his face.

"Your name?"

"Uh...Jasper"

"Nice to meet you, Jasper! I'm Lucas."

With a smile I turned around and walked back down the stairs and exited through the back door, making my way back home. I'll be back, Jasper. Just you wait.

I finally got around to snuggling up in bed and watching horror movies, mum gave me the candy that was left over so I stuffed my belly full while indulging in my favourite horror movies, using my pillow to cover my face at the overly scary parts. It was a good night and I ended it with scary movie so I had a bit of comedy with still a scary theme, that way I'd be able to sleep. I ended up passing out half way through the movie but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get Jasper out of my mind that night.

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