Chapter 1 - The News

"Amy! Where are the papers!?" yelled out a woman who looked as though she's just seen a ghost. A girl with bright pink hair turned her way, "What papers?"

"You know! The one for the haunting article!"

"Oh, right! Here..."

Amy gave her the pack of paper, and as she handed it to the her, the woman sighed, "I'm surprised they haven't made you editor of the paper yet."

Amy gave a smirk, "Well... This high school won't allow a mere junior ruling their turf! That's why they only make seniors with decent grades an editor. "

"Are you sure it isn't because they think you're a complete whack job?"

Let's pause for a sec. What that lady meant by 'whack job', she meant ghost fanatic. Ever since I was a little girl, I've always liked the paranormal. Nothing thrilled me more than ghosts, or even a simple poltergeist. That's why my place in the paper is the 'Haunting's Section'; the reason we have a place like that in the papers is because our school is haunted. Sights of two men dancing in the lunchroom shocked readers today, and since it kind of sets them away from work or pressure for a while, fear takes over, and that's what's so great about that section of the school paper. Anyway, lets fast forward a little to where the whole thing really begins...

"Amy... Lets go!" murmured Rouge with a huff. Amy looked from her work, gawking at Rouge's outburst. "What? Go where?"

"You know where! You have heard the news, right...?"

Amy bit inside her cheek; there was never a time in which she hasn't heard the news… "What is it?"

Rouge released a scream, "Oh, my God! You haven't heard!?" Before Amy could make a reply, Rouge neared her face to Amy's ear, "Its about the missing students..."

"Rumor has it that five students went into that old graveyard's house for some weird party they decided to throw, but they never came back! The school's offering 20,000 dollars to whoever finds them!"

Amy nearly jumped off her seat; 20,000 dollars!? "Are you serious!?" She nearly shouted in shock. Rouge covered Amy's mouth before she said anymore, "Shhh! Will you be quiet!? Sally and I are planning to go over to that graveyard and search for them— You in?"

Amy immediately nodded; Rouge's removed her hand from Amy's mouth, "Okay! Meet up with us at Sally's house. We'll talk about it more there."

Amy watched Rouge leave the newspaper room; she smirked to herself, Wow... 20,000 dollars! This could definitely boost up my place in the paper...

She jumped from her chair, her arms raised in excitement, "YES! Alright!"

After a few minutes up, Amy felt the eyes on her, and she sat back down, embarrassed, yet still excited.

†

"Alright. This is the plan..." started Rouge as she slammed her cup of hot chocolate down on the table. Sally flinched from the slam, and Amy merely stared at her. "... We go to that graveyard on Saturday, but in order to do that, we need a map of the place; Amy, you get the map to the graveyard from the principal. You know him better than the two of us since you're always on his good side." Amy gave a nod; Rouge turned to Sally, "... And you: you're going to get a camera and be my assistant. Since you have a phone, we'll use it in case of an emergency if we get lost! The graveyard is a big place, after all. Our main goal is to reach the grave house that's deep within the graveyard. Sally, that's when you come out of being an assistant and become the retriever: you are going to go inside the grave house, and look inside. Me and Amy will stand watch for anyone trying to steal our mission. Alright?"

"Uh... Um... Rouge?" asked Sally nervously, "I don't think... I can..."

Amy looked at the poor soul, then sighed. "I'll go."

Rouge sighed, "Fine. Okay—I don't care. Then it's settled: Amy is the retriever, and we're the guards, got it? We meet up at Livingston Park, at 12:00 in midnight."

†

As Amy came out of Rouge's house, she swore under her breath, for the plan was far complicated than what it was supposed to. She felt the chilly wind breathe on her face; she relaxed her shoulders, and breathed into the air, listening to the birds chirp as she did. At times like this, it made her want to hug mother nature for all this peace. She continued to walk until she heard a rustle on a near-by tree; she turned, seeing that it was merely a bat. She watched the bat fly up high in the sky, then land on the house in front of Amy. Her eyes widened at what she has seen.

It was the graveyard, where those two students were missing. Amy began to sweat, but as soon as she turned to leave, bats flew out of the broken windows from a house that was hidden in the graveyard. She blinked from the sight, and her vision suddenly turning hellish: the sky turned from its healthy blue to its blood thirsty red, and black smoke surrounded her like fog; this frightened her. She turned to run, dropping her books behind her. She ran, street to street, trying to escape from the horrible vision she seen, but when she blinked, everything was back to normal—no red sky or fog anywhere. She ran back, regaining her books. She paused, looking up at the house in front of her. This house had something wrong with it. Luckily, it was merely a hallucination...