OKAY IT'S HERE. ARE YOU HAPPY NOW? HUH? HUH?! YEAH I'M TALKING TO YOU; YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!

*coughs* Anyway…here's the long-awaited (for at least one person) story I've been sitting on for a while now. My first horror story with a dash of suspense (sci-fi won't work for what I've got now; c'mon I even changed the title darn it), so be at least a little easy…yeah, no; you can tear it apart if you want. :P

(Is it ironic that I'm posting this on Halloween? No? Okay then.)

Before I start, I need to explain something – this story will be a little different from my other stories by far, at least structurally. What'll happen is that there'll be two different types of chapters – one will be the typical chapters, while the other will be…diary (yes, diary, not journal. There is a difference!) entries, to put it simply, and they'll pop up sporadically – sometimes standalone, sometimes merged. So the diary chapters will act as chapters all on their own on occasion, but they'll be significantly shorter (maybe). Now, don't think of it as a cop-out, because I do have a reason for doing this.

Hmm…this is all for now. As a treat, the first chapter will be a combo! Enjoy chapter 1!

Ch. 1: Rumor Has It

- Journal Entry ~~ –

Year OOOO Month OO Day OO

To Diary from me—

I don't know how much more of this I can handle. I like to think that I'm not going crazy, but that's just wishful thinking by this point. I don't know where to go, I don't know what to do. It's like I've been caught in some never-ending circle of nightmares. Do you think I can ever break out of this cycle?

I have no idea where I am right now. I don't know how long I can stay wherever this is. I've been running for weeks, but they always find me sooner or later. They always do. Every new hiding spot I just pray that they'll take longer each time to track me down. I pray that someone who's not out to kill me will find me and take me somewhere safe.

But I'm just kidding myself. No one will come for me, and I'll never be safe. Not from them. They're everywhere, they're even in the water, the FUCKING WATER. It used to be my safe haven, but not anymore. How much to I have to lose for them to stop?

They won't stop until they catch me, and I can't run forever. They'll get me sooner or later, they want me to JOIN them. They want me to join them so much, I can taste it. That's the last thing I want.

But if it does happen, what'll happen after that? Will I still remember who I am? Will I be some mindless zombie? I'm scared, Diary. I don't want to be one of them. I don't want to forget myself, it's all I've got…and there's not much of it left.

And wherever this is, I can't escape even if I try to leave. This place is cursed. Anyone who walks in never walks back out. Why was I stupid enough to stay here, Diary? I never should've ignored everyone. I probably deserve this. They're all probably giving me eternal "I told you so"s up in the clouds somewhere. I wonder, will they come down from there and laugh at me for being an idiot? I wouldn't blame them if they did. I'd almost prefer that, if only to know that I'm not the only crazy one here.

I don't want to be the only crazy person here. I don't want to be alone. I've got you, Diary, but you never talk back. Half the time I write in here I hope for some kind of reply, but of course there's none. You're probably not even crazy like me even if you could talk back.

I almost wish magic was real so that it could whisk me out of here to where real people are, but if magic was real, then the things chasing me will be from evil magic, right? So they still won't go away. You can't have good without evil, I learned that a long time ago.

That's not the worst part. Death has been staring me in the face this whole time I'm writing this, Diary. I can see him there, he's waiting for me to wither into a pathetic pile of skin and bone that he can cart off to hell. He won't stop staring at me. Why can't he go bother someone else? I'm going to die anyway, why is he even bothering with me?

He's laughing at me now. He's probably reading what I'm writing in here. He's saying that I'm stupid, he says that there's no hope, I'll die here. There's nowhere left for me to run. They'll catch me, and he'll watch as my already brittle mind is devoured by those monsters. That's what he's saying. Death has no sense of personal space. He's coming closer now. He's getting impatient. Stop taking so long, hurry and just give up, he's saying. I'd like to be nice to him and give him what he wants, Diary, but he's being so MEAN about it. Couldn't he be more dignified about this? I mean, I'm going to DIE.

—I said he was impatient, but now that's a lie. He's messing with me. I'm asking for him now but he's not taking me. He likes seeing me like this. I'm pathetic and wasted and broken and dead, and he likes it. He almost wants to let me go just so he can see more of it. Was the world always this messed up, Diary? I don't even know anymore.

You know, I actually never meant to write in you this time. In fact, I never wanted to write in you at all. Writing about all this makes my head hurt and my heart beat so hard I want to stab myself there with this pen to get rid of the pressure. But I have to do it. What if someone else out there is as stupid as me? What if that person comes in here and ends up trapped, just like me? I have to tell them everything. I want them to have the chance I never got, the chance that I never took, and escape before they're caught. Hopefully I won't be one of the ones trying to attack them. That would defeat the purpose of this, won't it, Diary? I just hope that they'll be able to read this if that does happen. My blood keeps getting in the way of the words. But that's okay, only a little bit of it got into this entry, Diary. This one will be the easiest, if anyone ever finds you.

I'll show Death. I won't let him patronize me anymore. They can't assimilate dead people, Diary. I have to do it somewhere where no one will ever find me even if they're smart. It's not like I have any means of escape right now besides this. I just wonder where I'll end up. Will I be up there in the sky with everyone else? Or if the world hates me enough, will I end up in the pits of hell for being a complete moron? Will I be stuck here in this horrible place forever as some tortured ghost? It doesn't matter either way. I'll be dead, it's not like I'll actually know.

I know I wrote all this down, but… I hope that no one will ever find you, especially not him. It'll be for the best…right?

But if somebody does find you, if HE finds you, help me get him out of here, Diary. Please. You can do that, can't you?

Go—

End of Entry

He flipped through the pages of his textbook again.

It was a history textbook, and it was probably the most beat-up brand new textbook owned by anyone ever. It wasn't even that old and the pages were already falling out, half the words were faded, and a third of the pictures had been cut out and pinned up on his bulletin board. The cover was chafed and flaky; just touching the thing would make it rip somewhere. But he just couldn't stop from picking up the book and reading through it over and over.

Meet Ventus Azure, the resident history nut of Zenith. He had always been fascinated by the past, and he loved connecting the historic events to the now. Ancient civilizations, leaps of logic, legendary expeditions, high-casualty wars—he couldn't get enough of it. He would always try to connect those events to the present—how they affected society today, how they will continue to influence their culture, and the fact that every passing day could lead to an entry in one of the history texts in the future. The thought made him tingle with excitement, the very prospect of having a permanent place in the history books to come.

Other kids his age all wanted more of-the-norm and typical jobs of this day and age: teachers, police officers, lawyers, doctors. But Ventus wasn't like other kids his age—he wanted to be a historian. The job wasn't exactly glamorous or well-paying—hell, he probably wouldn't have an easy time living off that profession—but that didn't matter to him. Delving into the past was his passion, his love, his purpose in life. There was nothing else he'd rather do for a living.

Ventus flipped toward the back of the book with the more recent notable events dating back to at most ten years…nine…eight…to the most recent… seven years ago.

He reached the section he was looking for—a section titled Notable Events in (the year was gone because Ventus had accidentally cut it away with a picture he wanted to pin up, but he already knew what year it was). He skimmed to the near back of the section, and read the heading: Ghost Town of the Mysteriously Departed—The Seaside Town Once Known As Sunrise.

Ventus had no idea why, but he kept coming back to this article in the book at least once whenever he opened it up. It spoke of a small port town off in the east whose residents had vanished off the face of the earth without a trace seven years ago. It had normally been bustling with people, boats, and lots of seafood business, but it had all vanished overnight, and scientists from all over tried to figure out what had happened.

That was the most fascinating part of the story—no one who ever went into that abandoned port town ever came back. Not one investigator made it out of the place, and they were never seen again. Due to that, no one ever went near it—it was taboo just mentioning its name. They were convinced that the place was haunted or cursed. After all, why else would such a successful port town suddenly become abandoned in one night with no explanation? Why would any and all who entered since that night never return? Since there was no viable scientific explanation, people immediately assumed that it was the doing of supernatural forces, and it became a local legend, like their own personal Bermuda Triangle.

And though it wasn't the whole reason Ventus was so enamored by this mysterious town, half of it was that he himself was a part of this local legend—the lone runaway from the ghost port town. Everyone assumed that he knew what had happened there, but was he supposed to know just because he used to live there? He'd just been an innocent, ignorant civilian there for all he knew, and the general public was never told all the secrets. C'mon, he'd only been eleven when he ran away; how was he supposed to remember anything important? The state of the town had probably been the least of his worries at the time, anyhow. Even so, the very fact that this town was where he was from was enough to tether his interest (albeit unwillingly). Not everyone got to say that they were part of a local legend.

Due to his involvement in the legend of this ghost town, people teased him, idolized him, or ostracized him—sometimes all three at once despite how odd that sounded. Not that Ventus minded, honestly; he was getting tired of their presumptions about him and he really didn't want to deal with the accompanying drama. Some people were just plain scared of him (which could be inconvenient sometimes), which was so sad that it was almost funny. Ventus was nothing more than a scrawny broken-glasses-wearing bookworm (Kairi told him multiple times that he was better-looking than he saw himself, but he just kept thinking that she was only saying that to boost his self-esteem). He could probably get knocked over by an eight-year-old for all he knew—in other words, he really couldn't do anything to hurt anybody, but whenever he walked around town, the people would immediately shy away from him like he would rip open their necks if they looked at him funny. People and their misconceptions, honestly.

He sighed and snapped the book shut, causing more flakes of paper to blow off the cover and flutter onto his messed-up bed. As much as he wanted to sit here in his room all day reading that little passage over and over with no meaningful conclusion coming out of it, he still had school to attend.

Ventus really didn't like school. Not because the lessons were boring—no, they were actually pretty interesting most of the time. It was the people. Dear Lord, the people. The classes made school days somewhat bearable, but of course he had to deal with the other students. It was unavoidable, troublesome, and really irritating. It was on days like these that he wished he'd run away from a less interesting town.

Reluctantly, Ventus shoved his books into his backpack, grabbed his gray hoodie off the coat hanger by his bed, and dragged them both out of his room. The minute he stepped out of the house, he could already tell that today was going to be unpleasant. It felt as if he had only just left when things got complicated.

He heard a distinctly shrill girl's voice yelling, "Hey, Ven! Wait for me!" from somewhere behind him about five minutes into the walk to school, and he groaned inwardly. He'd left a bit too early today, so of course she was going to insist on walking with him. He usually left his house at a later time so he wouldn't have to run into her (he already had to deal with her for half the school day because she was in three of his classes—including history), but he hadn't been really thinking straight this morning when he'd walked out. He internally cursed himself for being absentminded.

Ventus decided in the end to stop and wait for her, because 1) it would've been pretty rude to ignore her after she'd already noticed him, 2) she would've caught up to him anyway and he'd be trapped, and 3) he didn't want to upset her because nothing scared him more than angry teenage girls. They were downright unpleasant when they were dissatisfied.

"You're out early today, Ven," she teased as she caught up to him. "Special occasion?"

Ventus exhaled heavily. "Good morning to you too, Kairi. And what, am I not allowed to go to school extra early?"

"Hey, I didn't say that."

"But you were thinking it."

Kairi shoved him playfully as they resumed their walk. She was generally a nice person, but she absolutely hated being ignored. She was really pretty, too—with her cherry-red hair and sparkling indigo eyes, she was probably the most popular girl in school among the male population (for good reason). Quite surprisingly, though, most of the girls at their school hated her (maybe because she probably knew she was a looker). Not that Kairi minded; open dislike only meant more attention to her.

Still, that wasn't the worst part. Kairi may be hated by the entire female student body for being prettier than they were combined, but at least she didn't mind that. Ventus himself didn't exactly get off scot-free. As per the rule when a pretty girl hangs out with you, the male student body despised his presence with a passion so strong he could taste it. It was even worse for him because she'd already rejected a bunch of guys who'd asked her out (he didn't know how many; it wasn't his job to keep track of these things), and she was, according to them, "constantly getting all lovey-dovey with that nerd Ventus Azure". Their self-esteem took a huge hit, especially for the guys on sports teams since they were already guaranteed as one of the popular ones like they were some on-campus boy band, and they were losing out to a nerd.

That was the main reason he tried to avoid her, but it was no good. She kept finding him and insisting on hanging out with him no matter what he tried to do to get her to be with someone else, and that behavior came off to the others as being aloof—which only garnered even more hatred from the guys. Even some of the other girls tried to get Kairi mad by trying to flirt with him within her earshot—attention Ventus really didn't need or want—or understood, frankly, because he knew no girl in the school would be caught dead going out with him. He didn't know how their minds worked at all.

Ventus had no idea how the popular people handled this kind of stress. It was a chore just getting up to go to school.

And of course, there was the matter of why Kairi was following him around everywhere in the first place. He didn't want to even begin thinking about that.

But since she brought up the subject every day, he couldn't really avoid it.

"You know, I'd really like to visit your hometown sometime," she remarked as they walked. "I've never seen the ocean before."

"Oh, yeah?" he inquired (hopefully) absently. "There are a million other places you can see the ocean. You don't need to go to my hometown to see it, you know."

"I know, but I want to see it from the place where you grew up," she said kicking a piece of litter on the pavement. "The ghost port town…I still can't believe you actually from there, Ven. It's really interesting; don't you think so?"

"If I say yes, will you drop it?"

"Maybe." In other words, no.

He sighed. "You're such a liar."

Kairi laughed. She had a nice laugh too—yet another reason guys swooned over her.

"You're funny," she countered with a grin. "You're not called smart for no reason, huh?"

"Are you waiting for a clever answer?" he asked. "'Cause I ran out a couple blocks ago."

"Smart, cute, and funny. It's a wonder you don't have a girlfriend yet."

Yeah, it was a wonder, all right—all five-foot-six-inches of it. And it was walking right next to him on this narrow sidewalk.

"Keep telling yourself that," was his only reply.

They walked in silence after that until they reached the school gates, which Ventus was grateful for. He hadn't been sure how much longer he would've been able to distract Kairi from the topic this time, though he was a bit suspicious. Kairi never ended this topic on her own before, and he started wondering what was up.

He was proven right when, once they hit the gates, Kairi stopped in her tracks and abruptly pulled Ventus aside into a crook in one of the pillars where no one could see them.

"Ven, I need to tell you something," she murmured in a low voice to keep the other students from hearing, "but first, promise you'll keep it a secret."

Ventus didn't say anything at first. He already knew where she was going with this, and he didn't like it one bit. He didn't want to promise her anything, and wanted to tell her so.

But the look in her eyes was enough to dissuade that thought.

"Alright, fine," he relented reluctantly. "I swear I won't tell anybody. What is it?"

Kairi looked around furtively to make sure no one was eavesdropping (this might seem pointless while hiding in a crook where no one could see them, but rumors of the two of them were flying around campus already and someone seeing them together in the shadows away from prying eyes would cause a massive uproar), and whispered in his ear, "I'm going to that port town tomorrow."

Ventus had expected no less from her, but he pushed her away regardless. "Are you insane?" he hissed. "You have no idea what's out there! Why would you even—"

"There's a new rumor going around that place," she interrupted him. "Somebody saw a ghost there a couple weeks ago. I want to see it, too."

"Who? Who saw this ghost?"

She blinked. "Riku did. You know, that guy on the varsity soccer team. He told me that several weeks ago."

"And you're actually believing what he's saying?" he asked incredulously. "You know how that guy is!"

"He didn't look like he was lying, though!" she protested. "I'm serious!"

That was a major red flag indicating that this was the stupidest idea ever. Riku Argent was the first guy that Kairi had ever rejected, and he probably hated Ventus more than anyone else in the entire school. It was obvious that he wanted payback somehow, and this was the perfect way to do just that. Kairi was a bit of an airhead, so it would've been easy to convince her of such a lie. And Ventus knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he would stoop that low for revenge. He'd seen it (and had been on the receiving end multiple times).

"Kairi, this is crazy," he insisted. "You're going off a baseless rumor. From Riku, the one guy in school that's out to kill me! And besides, ghosts aren't even real! Even if Riku was telling the truth, he was probably just seeing things!"

Kairi huffed in exasperation. "You're blowing things out of proportion! Besides, he's not trying to kill you; they were only harmless pranks!"

Ventus could not believe how deluded she was. In what world was dropping a basket of shot puts onto his head from the second story a harmless prank?! He'd been admitted to the hospital for a concussion and bruised bones after that incident, for God's sake! And Riku had only gotten off with a suspension! If Ventus had the money (and was old enough) he would've immediately pressed charges against the jerk. If that wasn't Riku trying to kill him, then he had no idea what was. He still had headaches thanks to that incident!

"Kairi, he put me in the freakin' hospital one time!" he snapped. "And, he's got me admitted to the nurse's office all the other times! So excuse me if I don't exactly want to trust that guy right from the get-go!"

Kairi hesitated at that for a moment, but then she somehow found it in herself to continue defending Riku. "Well, it wasn't like he was trying to get you into the hospital that time!" she argued. "It was just an accident!"

"Right, I'm sure he wasn't." Ventus then did his best impression of Riku's voice: "I knew I meant to drop the shot puts on top of him, but I had no idea that I was going to knock him out for two days and nearly break some bones! That part was a complete accident!" He glowered at her. "Face the facts, Kairi. He knew what he was doing when he pulled that move! You can't trust what he's saying!"

"But—"

"Sorry, am I interrupting something?" a new voice intruded, startling the both of them. They both swiveled around to see—

"Riku?!" Ventus exclaimed. He probably should've been furious at Riku for eavesdropping, but he was too surprised to feel angry. "What the—how long've you been standing there?!"

"Relax, Einstein; I only just got here," Riku sighed as he nonchalantly slung his arm around Kairi's shoulder. "I just couldn't help but overhear you guys talking about me—"

"Bet you could," Ventus muttered under his breath.

"—and I want to set something straight here, lover boy," Riku went on as if he hadn't said anything. "I'm not lying this time."

"Don't call me lover boy! And give me one good reason to believe you."

"Our sports manager was with me that day," he said. "And you know how horrible she is at lying, right?"

Ventus bit back a curse. This was definitely difficult to refute. Miss Aqua Paransa was such a terrible liar that she was the butt of many jokes at the students' hands. Which was kind of sad.

"So if I go and ask her about…this ghost," Ventus ventured, "then she'll back up what you're telling us right now? This isn't another revenge game, right?"

"Seriously, dude. How stupid do you think I am?"

"I don't know if you want me to answer that."

"Ven!" Kairi protested, but he ignored her.

"I'm telling you the straight facts, my man. Scout's honor." Riku then stared into Ventus' face solemnly. "And look, I may hate you, but I'm not gonna go and try to actually kill you. That'd ruin my reputation, plus killing you wouldn't be satisfying anyway."

"Wonderful," Ventus said acerbically. "So I'm safe so long as you're a sports star. I'd better start writing my own obituary because I have a feeling it's not gonna end well for me."

"You really are a smart aleck," Riku laughed as he clapped Ventus on the back with a little more force than necessary. "Right to the bitter end. Though I guess it's the only thing you've got, so might as well keep it strong, huh?"

"Well, hey. Guess you're not completely stupid."

"Seriously, Ven; knock it off," Kairi said irritably, shoving him aside.

"What? It was a compliment."

"Well, it still wasn't nice," she snapped. Looking at her angry face, Ventus counted himself lucky that he was single.

He raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, fine. I'll stop."

"You'd better." Kairi then turned to Riku. "Sorry about him, Riku. He gets like that a lot."

"Oh, I know that all too well," he assured her with a quick glare in Ventus' direction. "I'll be going now. See you in English, Kai." Riku then strode away with a half-hearted wave, which wasn't a moment too soon. Kairi turned on Ven the moment Riku was out of sight.

"So, do you believe me yet?" she demanded. She was apparently still miffed from Ventus' "conversation" with Riku. Girls were seriously complicated beings. It wasn't like he had anything against them…they were just unfathomable to him.

"I'll only be sold on it once I hear Miss Paransa's side of the story," he said simply. "And even then, I still think it's a stupid idea to go there."

"Why?"

"Why? Kairi, no one who's ever gone in there ever came back! Who knows what might've happened to them! Do you want to add to the statistics?!"

"That's only because they weren't prepared for what was in there!" she argued vehemently. "If we prepare ourselves properly, then maybe—"

"That's what all of them were thinking when they went in," Ventus countered exasperatedly. "What makes you think we'll be any different?"

"Well, I've got you!"

Ventus was taken aback. "W-wait. What?"

"You're from that town, Ven. And I think that you'll be able to keep us safe from bad things happening to us."

This girl was unbelievable. Why was he friends with her again? "Look, just because I'm from there doesn't mean I'm your personal danger retardant, Kairi."

"But you're the only person who didn't disappear from that place, right? There must be a reason why that was!"

That's only because I ran away from there before all that started, he wanted to say out loud, but he couldn't bring himself to pull up the air from his lungs to speak the words.

"Kairi, listen," Ventus said instead. He placed a hand on Kairi's shoulder and gripped it so tightly he wondered why she didn't complain. "There's a good reason why I ran away from that place, and I don't want my friend to go there. Promise me you won't do anything stupid, you got that?"

Kairi was clearly surprised by Ventus' sudden change in countenance, because she didn't try to argue any further. "Ven…"

"Promise me," he insisted. "It's insanity. Don't even go anywhere near it. Understand? No ghost sighting is worth it."

"O-okay, but…" Kairi looked conflicted and she tried to pry some answers out of him with her penetrating gaze. "But then—why did you run away from there, Ven?"

She still wanted to go. Ventus could see it in her eyes. She was looking for an opportunity to make that excuse—any opportunity, no matter how small, in order for her to twist it to her wanted outcome. Why did she have to make things so complicated for him? Didn't she even fully understand the repercussions of this outing if (when, he corrected himself mentally) things went wrong? Did she abandon her common sense, if she ever had any to begin with? This only made him worry more. He didn't watch horror movies, but he knew enough about the genre to know that the stupid ones (no offense meant to Kairi) were generally the first victims. With her luck, she might be the first to go in the event that they actually went to that hell-on-earth ghost town.

Though he was spared from answering her question when the school bell rang right then, even though it meant that they were both late for class, he couldn't bring himself to worry about anything else at the moment.

"I'll tell you later," he said swiftly. "See you in homeroom."

Ventus then turned on his heels and fled in the direction of the school, leaving her alone at the school gates.

Yep, I've finally decided that my main guy will be Ventus (I haven't written this guy in ages…not since Irreversible, actually. It's been a whole year now, Christ!). As for the diary writer, I'll let you guess that yourself—though it should be easy enough to infer after reading this whole thing. (If not, I guess I'm expecting too much. ^^;) The identity of that person will eventually be revealed, but until then you're still free to guess. :P Who do you think it is? I IS CURIOUS. So tell me in your reviews, 'kay? :3

If you know me well enough, you can probably guess who they are…or maybe not. I just hope you enjoyed this chapter! I know I had lots of fun writing it. XD I'm gonna love writing the diary entries the most! (I'm not crazy I swear.) This is likely going to be the longest diary entry in this story, but…we'll see, won't we?

And don't bother calling out the grammar mistakes in the diary entry, because it is all intentional. Straight from the source, you know! Think of the aesthetics!

See you next chapter and hope you enjoyed the read! Thank a certain David Noklevername for bugging me to write this before next year, and Happy Halloween! :D