Hey everyone! Mighty here with a new story! As you probably saw on my profile, a friend of mine is proof-reading Unknown Tale and will beta-read every chapter so no updates until it's all done :) Of course, I'll update the already existing chappies first. So, rest of the OOC babling at the end! Prepare yourself for references!
The midnight game
Until 12:01 AM
Takeshi walked in the cafeteria and looked around to find his gang. He spotted Naoki with his head resting on the table and Hiroshi right in front of him. Mika and Takuro were there too. He took out his cellphone from his pocket and headed to the table. He sat down with his friends and put his lunchbox on the table. Takuro immediately noticed his grin.
"Let me guess, you discovered another horror story?" he said.
Takeshi loved reading horror stories even if he was lightly shivering after reading one. He was also an excellent storyteller; especially with horror stories. Each time the gang would have an evening together, Takeshi had a new horror story to tell.
He shook his head to answer Takuro's question.
"Nope, a horror game!" he said.
"A game?" asked Hiroshi, raising a brow, "Why are you excited about a game?"
"I'm not talking about a video game; I'm talking about a real life one."
"Everybody knows about The catacomb challenge," said Naoki, his head still resting on the table.
"I don't," pointed out Hiroshi.
"You're not counted in everybody, Hiroshi," replied Naoki.
Everyone giggled at the remark and Takeshi opened his cellphone on a web page.
"Just read," he said, giving the phone to Takuro.
The first thing Takuro noticed was the big title in white letters on the black background. It said: The midnight game.
After the gang had read the story, they decided to do the ritual the following Friday. They decided to do it in an abandoned mansion out of town. It was said to be haunted, but, seriously, who was stupid enough to believe that? Besides, no one died in this mansion, so why would a ghost end up there? They all said they were spending the night at Naoki's place and Naoki said he was at Takuro's. They met at the mansion's front door and Takuro kicked the door open with Takeshi's help. The gang got in the mansion and closed the door behind them. Everyone got in a circle in the main hall, right in front of the main door and Takuro got out a flashlight.
"Urgh… Why did I agree to come?" grunted Hiroshi.
"Because you said yourself there was no danger, since things like spirits don't exist," answered Naoki.
"Of course I said that, but it also means we're doing that for nothing."
"You should've stayed home, then."
"I would have if you didn't drag me out."
The gang suddenly fell silent.
"What time is it?" asked Mika.
"It's summer time!" sang Naoki.
Everyone scoffed while Hiroshi took out his cellphone.
"It's half past nine," he answered.
"You brought your cellphone?" said Naoki.
"Well, why not?"
"But it's against the rules to have another source of light!"
"The rules said no flashlights, no lighter as a candle, and no room light; it didn't say I couldn't bring my cellphone to look at the time."
"But there are flashlight apps so it counts as a flashlight!"
"Naoki, it's not a flashlight, it's a phone."
"There are also lighter apps."
"Nao, a phone."
"How about not arguing tonight?" interrupted Takuro, "You are both right; a phone isn't mentioned in the rules but it is still another light. Don't turn it on, unless you want to see the time and we'll make a deal out of it."
The boys both nodded.
"Hey, maybe we should look around," suggested Mika.
"Nah," replied Takuro, "we'll have plenty of time to explore later. Besides, it'll be more fun to discover the whole place during the night. Now, let's check if we have everything."
The gang dropped their bags on the wooden floor and opened them, ready to show the items named.
"The candle," started Takuro with a list in front of his eyes.
Everyone showed their candle.
"A lighter or matches,"
Takeshi was the only one with matches; everyone else had a lighter.
"Sheet of paper, a pen and a needle."
It seemed the whole gang had those three items.
"Finally, the salt."
Mika seemed to be nervously looking for it while the other showed it to Takuro.
"I think I forgot it at home," she said, looking up from her bag, "anyone got a spare one?"
Nobody answered her question, the silence being understood as a no. Takuro shrugged.
"Just stick with me and I'll give you mine if you need it."
She nodded and he put away his list to take out another sheet.
"Ok, let's write our name on the sheet and put the drop of blood on it.
The gang used a needle to prick their finger and let a drop fall on their sheet. They took the pen and wrote their full names on their sheets.
Hiroshi Ryota Ryuuzu
Naoki Kazuya Isamu
Mika Megumi Akemi
Takeshi Rikuto Masaru
Takuro Arata Minoru
They put their sheets in front of the wooden door and sat on the floor.
"I think it would be scarier if we split up," said Takuro, "How about we choose the parts of the mansion we want to explore first?"
Everybody agreed.
"I'd like to go upstairs," said Mika.
"We'll go upstairs, then," replied Takuro with a nod.
"I'll go in the basement," said Naoki.
"How do you know there's a basement?" asked Hiroshi.
"I have no idea; I'll just look for it!"
Hiroshi frowned, but then shrugged.
"I guess I'll take the rooms around here, then."
"I think I'll look for the basement too, unless there's another floor or a set of corridors over there," said Takeshi, pointing at a door in the right hallway.
"Do you think there's a bathroom somewhere around here?" asked Naoki, "I'd appreciate it if there was one."
The group looked blankly at the teen for a moment.
"What?"
"Seriously?" let out Hiroshi.
"Hey! It's normal in life! Besides, I'd rather go now than entering when the midnight man is taking a shit in there."
Everyone giggled.
"Guess you have a point there," said Takuro, "I'll check the left part, Hiroshi goes for the right one and Naoki looks in that door next to the stairs."
"Why me?" asked Hiroshi.
"Because that's life."
Hiroshi sighed and headed in his assigned corridor while the other two were doing the same. Takuro opened the first door on his path and saw the bath farther in the room.
"I think it's the next door on my side," he said to the others.
He closed the door and noticed the glass on the door.
Why put glass on a door close to a bath? Anyone could take a peek while someone's naked…unless the owner lived alone…
He shrugged it off and headed for the next door instead. He found a toilet there.
"Yep, bathroom's there!" he said.
Everyone decided to go so they wouldn't need to go during the night and ruin the thrill. Naoki had also found a door leading to stairs going down so he had found his basement.
"How long until midnight?" asked Takeshi once they were back on the main hall's floor.
Hiroshi checked his cellphone, which showed eleven o'clock.
"An hour."
They nodded and stayed in an awkward silence for a few seconds.
"It's said you'll see your greatest nightmares if you lose the game," finally said Mika to pretty much everyone's relief, "What do you think you'll see?"
"I don't know…maybe Slenderman," answered Takeshi, "The very few nightmares I have are about him."
"Probably those teddies in Five nights at Freddy's," said Naoki, "Especially since I played the game in the dark with quality headphones. What about you, Mika?"
"I don't know; either Jeff the killer or Jack the ripper," she answered, "Pretty much every killer in the world, I guess."
"Honestly, I have no idea," said Takuro after a short reflexion.
"It won't happen anyway," pointed out Hiroshi, "so no need to ask yourself. Besides, you would realize it if you lost the game, since it's your greatest fear. That is, of course, if it was real, because-"
"Yeah, yeah, scientifically impossible, we get it," let out Naoki.
"One last thing," said Hiroshi.
"What?" asked Naoki, already pissed about the science speech he expected to hear.
"Who are you guys talking about? Except Jack the ripper, I have no idea who those people are."
"You're kidding me!? I can understand that you don't know who are the teddies, but Slenderman and Jeff the killer? These are the most know creepypastas!"
"Let me remind you that there is no interest for me in legends, especially if they are shared on internet."
Naoki sighed in defeat.
"I'm not explaining that. Takeshi?"
Takeshi nodded and began to tell the legends. Of course, Hiroshi didn't believe a thing of those legends but still thought it was a little creepy. Takeshi then explained the concept of Five nights at Freddy's and its gameplay. Hiroshi listened carefully even though he wasn't that much interested in the subject.
"Ok, let's read the rules one last time," suggested Takuro, taking out a sheet with the rules written on it, "first of all, let's light our candles."
Everyone took out their lighter (except Takeshi, who got his matches) and lit their candles.
"So," started Takuro, "don't turn on any lights during the game."
"Going to be tough just finding one," added Naoki with a scoff.
"Do not use a flashlight during the midnight game."
The red-haired turned off his flashlight and knelt down to read through his sheet, thanks to the candles.
"Do not go to sleep during the midnight game. Do not attempt to use someone else's blood on your name. Did anyone do that?"
Takuro distinguished with the candles' faint light his friends' headshakes.
"Do not use a lighter as a substitute of your candle; it will not work."
He sighed and then read the last rule.
"Most definitely do not attempt to provoke the Midnight man in any way."
After the recap, Hiroshi took out his cellphone to look at the time.
"Guys," he said, "it's eleven fifty-eight."
Everyone stood up and got ready to knock on the door with their candles on their sheets.
"I'm starting to think this was a bad idea…" quietly let out Takeshi.
The only answer was a quiet chuckle coming from Naoki. Hiroshi had his cellphone opened in his other hand to look at the time. He stared at his phone for the two minutes left before midnight, just to be sure he wouldn't miss the change. Personally, he didn't care that much if the ritual "failed"; he did that only for his friends.
"Midnight," he said when the time on his phone turned to 00:00.
Hiroshi quickly closed his phone and readied himself to knock on the wooden door. Takuro counted with a moderate rhythm so everyone would knock at the same time. That way, no one would get confused.
"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22! Lights out!"
The gang quickly knelt down to blow out their candles and Takuro opened the front door. He waited a couple of seconds before closing it.
"Ok, light your candle!"
Everyone lit back their candles and stood back up.
"Time to explore?" asked Naoki.
"Yup."
I watched Markiplier play the video game and then I looked up the actual creepypasta. The ideas came alone. I don't have an actual plan but I do have the ideas noted and ready to write. This shouldn't be a very long story. I think it will be around 4 or 5 chapters.