Xiang – Hong Kong
Cheng – Macau
Mei – Taiwan
If you want your favorite song to be ruined for the rest of your life, set it as your alarm.
That was the only coherent thought that came to Xiang's mind as the alarm he had set on his phone went off. No doubt that he still liked Ghost by Mystery Skulls, but after being forced awake by its melody, it just lost its luster. I guess you could say, it was a ghost of its former self. Yep. Pun game still strong. All jokes aside, he took a mental note to change it to just a regular alarm again, so that no more of his favorite songs suffered such a fate.
He rolled out of bed and made his way to the door. Just like clockwork, the rest of his family, sans his oldest brother, appeared at their respective doors. His cousins – Mei, Yong Soo, Kiku and Cheng – all lived together in the same house. Yeah, it seemed a bit crowded at times, but it was nice having them all around sometimes. Unlike right now. Mei, Xiang, and Yong Soo all exchanged glances, then turned their attentions to the bathroom. Like rockets, the three of them bounded towards the bathroom, all needing an exceptional amount of time to get themselves ready.
Unluckily for the two boys, Mei got to the sanctuary first, with a successful slam of the door. Great, they just expended energy they hardly even had in vain. Whilst Yong Soo whined and collapsed on the floor and Xiang slumped onto the floor, Cheng and Kiku calmly made their way downstairs for breakfast.
Yao, the oldest of all of them, had almost not heard them come downstairs, as he was already making breakfast for all of them. "Ah, good morning you two. Where are the others?" he greeted, just like any normal morning. Of course he already knew where the others were, it was just so routine to ask, he felt obligated to.
"Mei got the bathroom today." They said in unison.
"That's the third time this week." Yao said. He was so focused on whatever was on the stove that his sleeve nearly caught fire. He muttered a small 'aiyah' underneath his breath.
"Yao, you must not keep overworking yourself like this everyday. We can cook for ourselves." Cheng spoke up.
"Hai, you should rest sometime."
"Oh please, you act like I'm some kind of old man." Yao laughed, frantically tending to the myriad of breakfast foods cooking in front of him. He set down two plates of food for them and return to the stove to finish off the rest of the food. "Xiang, Mei, Yong Soo! Get down here, you'll be late to school!" he yelled.
Xiang and Yong Soo trudged down the stairs, looking like they had been trampled by a herd of wildebeest. Mei, on the other hand, looked like a she belonged in a commercial, or a Disney princess movie. An undeniably smug smirk came to her lips as she side-eyed them both and walked in slow motion. The two disgruntled faces of her cousins stared back at her. She and Yong Soo took a seat at the table.
Xiang didn't even bother. This definitely wasn't a good start to the day. He didn't want to get suffocated by his family's morning chatter or Mei's smug smog. He just took his breakfast, mumbled a quick 'thank you' and headed out. He wouldn't have cared much about getting to school on time if Yao wasn't getting on his ass about his attendance. Sure he skipped a few classed here and there, but it's not like that shitty school was teaching him anything anyway.
On his way to school, he passed by the old rickety house that was abandoned up until around 8 years ago, around the same time Yao had moved in with them from China. It was amazing that anyone was crazy enough to call that dump home. As a child, he and his cousins would explore that house for fun. He had memorized every hole in the floor, every spider web, and every crack in the wall. But no abandoned house would be complete without a ghost.
"Hey guys, wait up!" Young Mei called out.
"Hurry up, or the ghost boy'll getcha!" Yong Soo called back.
Xiang and Yong Soo navigated through the ground floor while Mei caught up. Xiang hated how dark it was once the front door was closed. He shivered, but tried to play it off as just the draft coming from the broken windows making him cold. He flinched when he heard the crackle of the autumn leaves that happened to have made their way in through said windows. His annoying older cousin saw this and smirked.
"Aw, what is it shorty," he said patting the younger boy's head "you scared of the ghost?"
"Pfft, no way." Xiang lied and slapped Yong Soo's hand off his head. "Let's split up. I'll take upstairs. You and Mei stay here." He ventured further ahead just to get some relief from his cousins' useless chattering. Unfortunately for him, that meant being alone in the cold, dark bedrooms of the upstairs, furthest from the door. His shuddering only increased with the creepy ambiance of the creaky floorboards, each deafening squeak increasing in pitch like the screams of the ghosts begrudgingly roaming the world of the living, searching for an exit to the hellish limbo they find themselves in. The winds howled and the curtains billowed. A skinny branch tapped on the side of the house and rain droplets pounded the roof, creating an ominous knocking sound. But it wasn't until a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder did Xiang find himself scrambling to find the nearest hiding place.
After a little while of cowering, Xiang decided that it would be best to venture back downstairs. With a deep breath, he began to take tentative steps downstairs. All of a sudden, a white blur darted across the ground floor, blowing leaves and dust in its wake. Xiang screamed and jumped back, attempting to get back upstairs.
Echoing from behind him were the shouts of his cousins. He could barely make out what they were saying.
"Let me go…!"
"No…! I …n't wanna…"
Those last sentences ran through his mind as he maneuvered his way through the different bedrooms and into a closet placed way into the corner. He attempted to calm his breathing. Even though he'd never actually watched a horror movie – Cheng said he was too young and would get scared - he was smart enough to know that he shouldn't be making noise. His attempts to go completely still was aided by the fear brought about by loud footsteps heading straight for his hiding place. Xiang closed his eyes and wished for the monster to go away.
His wishes would not be answered.
The closet door slowly creaked open and Xiang froze. 'Like, try to make a run for it!' he told himself, but his feet wouldn't listen. The only movement he dared to make was to tightly clench his fists and brace himself for the worst.
"Xiang. Come on, the new family is coming to start moving in here." Said the new voice.
Relief washed over Xiang as he looked up and saw Cheng. Behind him was Yong Soo and Mei struggling to get free from Kiku, who seemed less than thrilled that he was stuck handling the rowdy little kids. Xiang allowed himself to calm down completely and left the "haunted house" behind.
With his reminiscence coming to a close, Xiang finally brought himself out of his trance. He had been staring at the one house for God knows how long. He might've just stared at it forever, if he hadn't seen the ghost boy looking out at him.
