Ivan had been warned not to play the game, but he did not listen. Everyone knew it was nearly impossible to scare the giant Russian, but still, he had to be warned.
"It's black magic," stated Arthur, "It should not be dealt with, or there might be consequences."
"He's right, "said Lukas, "you might get hurt, or worse."
Ivan just smiled. "You should know by now, little ones, that nothing scares me."
Arthur and Lukas shared a worried look, but did not say anything else. It would've been useless.
At the end of the day, Ivan went straight home, not bothering to say goodbye to the others. Once there, he looked up on the internet the game he was about to play. He typed in "The Hosting Game".
"Let's see now…a small, empty room with no windows, check, a clock, pen and sheet of paper, check, check, check." He smiled to himself.
As night fell, Ivan began his game.
He made sure to turn off all sources of noise and all the lights in the house, except the one in the hosting room. He entered the room to leave the pen, the sheet of paper and clock in the hosting room and then went toward the furthest point in his house from the hosting room, which was at the front door.
"Now I can really start…"he said to himself.
He left the front door and made his way towards the dark living room. "I will be ready soon."
Next, he went in the guest room. "I will be ready soon."
There weren't many rooms in the house, so Ivan finished this rather quickly. After going into the two bathrooms, the kitchen, his room and then both of his sister's rooms, while repeating 'I will be ready soon' in each one, he returned to the hosting room. This particular room had no furniture, since Ivan and his sisters had recently bought this house. It also had no windows, so it was perfect for this game.
He made his way towards the pen, paper and clock on the floor and began writing:
"You are invited to a gathering hosted by Ivan Braginsky. It takes place at 9:30. Bring your friends."
He places the sheet of paper in the middle of the room and goes to stand in the doorway. Once he is there, he turns, facing the hosting room, and says "I am ready. You may come in." He then turns of the light in the room, leaving the house in complete darkness. He then turns around and exits the room, making sure there is only a little bit of space between him and the doorway. He stands with his back towards the room and takes out his pocket a box of matches. He takes three matches out and starts counting from one to ten. At ten, he lights the first match.
Ivan expected it to light up immediately, but instead, it doesn't. good thing he remembered the rules of the game, so he drops the first match and immediately strikes the second one.
Again, Ivan is disappointed to see that this one did not light up as well. He drops it and immediately strikes the third match.
It doesn't light up.
'Uh oh', Ivan thinks to himself. This could only mean one thing: uninvited guests.
He drops both the match and the box on the floors and starts running towards the nearest light source, other than the one in the hosting room, which was in his own room. Just as he was about to turn the light on, a sharp pain courses through his arm. It was the one that had been reaching out for the light switch. 'Something doesn't want me to turn the light on', he thought to himself.
Just as he reaches for the light switch, he hears a voice call out his name.
"Ivan…Braginsky…" Ivan stops, frozen with fear. The voice is cold, harsh and absolutely terrifying.
"Ivan…Braginsky…" He shouldn't turn around. He knows he's not supposed to. Otherwise, something bad might happen. But he can't stand still like that. Curiosity was killing him. He had to turn around…he wanted to…but he was scared.
His curiosity got the best of him. He turned around and was surprised to see a man. He had been expecting a terrifying ghost or a demon of some sort. But it was a man.
They in silence for a while, which gave Ivan a chance to study him. Heavy black boots, black pants, a coat which was also black, black gloves, a small, black top hat with a red ribbon and a white ribbon, strawberry blond hair and…ruby red eyes and fangs?
The eyes and the fangs were enough to make Ivan turn around and start running. He ran down the stairs, past the kitchen and toward the front door. Just as he was about to touch the door knob, the familiar pain from earlier ran through both his arms now. He winced in pain, but still managed to get his hands on the door knob. He immediately regretted it, for it was extremely hot. He looked at his hand, and saw with the help of some moonlight, that is was completely red. It burned terribly.
He turned around, hoping to find a new way out, only to see the same man from earlier once more. The man's ruby stare was so intense, Ivan could feel him stare into his soul. The feeling scared him, so he headed for the back door. Once again, pain shot through him, but this time, it was different. It wasn't just the arms, it was his whole body. Ivan collapsed onto the floor, while letting a cry of pain escape his lips. He turned on his back, facing the ceiling. And once again, the red-eyed man appeared before him. He was smiling evilly at Ivan now. It sent chills down the Russian's spine.
Suddenly, Ivan began feeling very warm. Then he began feeling extremely hot, much like his hand felt after touching the door knob. He looked back at the man, whose smile was even bigger.
"Thank you for your invitation…" said the ruby-eyed blond, "Farewell…" those were the last words Ivan heard before his body began to go crazy. He started coughing up blood and he felt as if he were being torn apart. He looked down at his chest, only to find the blond man with a rather large knife in hand, cutting him up and smiling insanely.
And that was it.
He had been torn apart and left to rot in a pool made of his own blood and guts. This was how His sisters found him the next morning. They both soon moved out of the house which had filled them with such a painful memory.
And which had left the ruby-eyed blond man with a very happy one.
Happy late Halloween everybody! This is my first horror fanfic, so be gentle, please. I'm not really that good at it. Just so you know, I didn't invent "The Hosting Game." I got it off a website. This stuff probably isn't real, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Your mind can play tricks on you. If you're curious to know about it, type in Google "The Hosting Game" and click on the link that says .com.