Hey, I know it's been literally FOREVER since I updated this. This is the last chapter of this short-story. Sorry, this ones not as good as the two before. Mostly because I kind of forgot about this one. Well, I hope you find some enjoyment out it.
The lights in the upstairs hallway began to flicker. That made the three remaining people jump. From inside, they can hear the wind whistling and tree branches knocking against the windows. Hanna, Caleb, and Toby stood around in the empty hallway not knowing what to do. The ringleader of their group is missing. The one who made all the plans. The one who was smart enough to figure out what is happening.
Neither Hanna nor Caleb knows what happen to Spencer. They were upstairs looking around while Spencer and Toby walked around downstairs. It freaked Hanna out a bit knowing that the last time she saw her best friend, she was walking down a dimly lit hallway with Toby by her side. Surely Toby wouldn't have let anything happen to her. Hanna knows how deeply Toby cares for Spencer. Those two definitely had something going on between them. From day one, those two were like two peas in a pod. Whenever Caleb and Hanna weren't around, those two would hang out by watching movies together or going out. Hanna doesn't know if they've ever kissed, but she has a pretty good feeling that have. They may have even kissed tonight when they all split up into groups.
"This is bad," Toby gripped his hair. "This is very, very bad."
"Toby calms down," Caleb said.
"How can I calm down? Spencer is missing in case you didn't realize that."
"Well, why did you let her out of your site?"
"I didn't let her out of my site."
"Then what happened?"
"I told you what happened," Toby said. "Spencer and I were walking down the hallway when the lights went off downstairs. I swear I thought I grabbed her hand."
"How long were the lights turned off?" Hanna asked.
"I don't know," Toby sighed. "Ten seconds maybe. The lights flickered in the hallway and that's when I grabbed Spencer's hand. Well, she grabbed mine actually. We were holding hands when the lights went off. When the lights came back on, I was holding hands with a statue and Spencer was gone."
"Maybe there's somebody else in this house who grabbed her," Caleb said.
"God, I told you guys this place was haunted," Hanna said.
"Hanna, this house is not haunted," Toby said.
"Then why Isn't Spencer with you!"
"I don't know!"
"Face it you guys! This place is haunted. There is a ghost living here and he probably took Spencer for trying to steal an antique candlestick!" Hanna exclaimed. The two boys gave Hanna a look.
"We should get out of here," Caleb said.
Hanna nodded in agreement, "good idea."
Toby stood back looking stunned by his friend's suggestion. They can't leave now. Not because of the stupid bet they made. One of their very own is missing. If the roles were reversed and one of them was missing, Spencer would do anything she could to find them.
"Wait," Toby stopped them. "We can't leave. Not until we find Spencer."
"Toby we don't even know where she is or if she just left," Caleb said.
"Spencer is still in this house somewhere. I'm not leaving until I find her. You guys can leave if you want to, but I'm going to continue looking for her. It would take longer doing this by myself, but I won't stop."
Caleb looked at Toby for a long time before saying, "why don't you just tell Spencer you love her already?"
Toby rolled his eyes, "whatever. I'm going to look for her. Enjoy your guy's walk home."
"Toby wait," Hanna stopped him. "You don't have to be here looking for her on your own. I'm staying too."
"I guess that means I'm staying," Caleb said.
Before anyone could say anything else, the light began flickering again and all the doors upstair slammed shut. The three of them jumped and felt a sudden breeze of cold air. Neither one of them knows where that air is coming from. Hanna crossed her arms over her bare shoulders.
"Okay, why the hell is it so cold in here?"
"I don't know," Caleb looked around.
All of a sudden, all of the lights upstairs went off. Hanna screamed and jumped into Caleb's side. She feared that whatever happened to Spencer, would happen to her next. Caleb wrapped an arm around something and hoped it was Hanna. The lights were off for a good fifteen seconds before they came back on. The hallway lights came back on with the same dim, yellow lights that were on before.
The doors to the many bedrooms are still closed. Outside, the wind is still blowing. With all the tree branches crashing into the outside walls, it's sounded like something trying to break in. Caleb stood against the corner of the hall with Hanna snuggled close to his chest. Her whole body felt tense and she's shaking. Her arms are also covered in goosebumps.
"That was scary," Hanna said.
"Yeah, I'll admit," Caleb nodded. "That was a little creepy."
"I'm starting to second guess that option of staying."
"Wait a second," Caleb caught Hanna's hand. "Where's Toby?"
Hanna paused to look around. The hall is pretty much empty aside from the two of them. Toby was just standing a foot away from them before the lights went off. Now, he's not here. They didn't even hear anything when the lights went out. Hanna screamed a and she may or may not have peed her pants a little. Why does everyone keep disappearing?
"First Spencer and now Toby's missing," Hanna shook her head. "Caleb, I'm really starting to think this place is haunted."
"No, it can't be," Caleb said. "The stories everybody talked about weren't real."
"I know. We just brought Spencer and Toby here to scare them and maybe get them to bond a little."
"We should get out of here."
Caleb ran over to the door to the stairway, but it slammed shut. He tried twisting the doorknob and banging on the door, but it wouldn't open.
"Caleb, hurry up and open the door!" Hanna exclaimed.
"I'm trying to, but it won't open. I think somebody locked it."
"Who locked it? There nobody else here!"
"I'm not sure."
"It was the ghost of the man who used to live here. The stories that were told about this house are true."
The door at the end of the hallway flew open and a strong gust of wind nearly blew both of them against the wall. Hanna gasped when her back hit the wall. Once again, the lights started flashing. Following the strong gust of wind, a soft voice started whispering. Hanna shook against Caleb.
"Who dares enter my house?" A low, haunting voice spoke out. The voice sounded like it was echoing through the upstairs. Hanna reached back for Caleb but felt something stone cold. This alarmed her to turn around to see what she's touching. She screamed when she saw that she's touching the arm of a wooden chair. Caleb Isn't by her side. Not him too. Now, Hanna's here alone with the angry ghost. Okay, this ghost is probably more than angry. More like pissed.
"P-please don't hurt me," Hanna begged. "We didn't m-mean any harm. I just wanted to prove to my friends that the stories were true."
"You have no business here! Now, just like your friends, I shall dispose of you!"
"No!" Hanna screamed and pressed her hands together. "Please, please. I'll do anything. I'm sorry for trespassing. It was wrong. I'm sorry for forcing my friends to come here. I'll leave and never come back. J-just give me my friends back and we'll be on our way."
"You broke into my house. I returned the favor by taking away your friends. Now, be on your way before I turn you into a lawn chair to go with my house!"
A bright flash of light lit up the hallway and the door to the stairwell flew open. Hanna scrambled on her feet and ran down the stairs as if her life depended on it. For all she knows, it does. She got downstairs and didn't even bother grabbing her stuff. Not only were the lights blinking upstairs, they are downstairs too. Hanna ran straight to the front door and struggled to get the damn thing open. It took her a few seconds, but she finally got it.
As soon as the door was opened, Hanna fled down the porch steps. She jumped off the bottom step and ran to the end of the driveway. When she got passed the big, black, metal fence, she stopped to take a breath. Right now her heart is beating so fast it feels like her chest is on fire. After a second, Hanna was confused when she heard the sounds of people laughing behind her. She turned around and her mouth hung open at who she saw. There standing at the end of the driveway were Caleb, Toby, and Spencer. And they were all laughing.
"What the…"
"Gotcha!" The three of them yelled together and continued laughing.
"Wait…" Hanna huffed out a deep breath. "You mean, this was all a trick?"
"That's right," Spencer was the first to speak.
"Maybe next time this will teach you not to mess with people," Toby added.
Hanna looked at all of them and ended up hitting Caleb on the chest, "you were a part of this?"
Caleb chuckled, "duh."
"But… H-how? How did you guys do all of this?"
"It was Spencer's idea," Toby said. "She figured since you made all of us come here in order to scare us, it would be more fun to scare the pants off of you instead."
"How did you do all of this? You know with the lights going off and the doors always closing. The piano playing. I even heard a creepy voice upstairs!"
"That was all us," Caleb said. "The other day, the three of us came out here to set everything up. I rewired the lights and had them set to flicker for ten seconds every five minutes. Then, they'd go off for fifteen seconds before turning back on. That gave us each enough time to quietly run downstairs making you believe we got ghost napped."
"And the doors?" Hanna asked.
"My dad used to work for a windows and door company back in college. I put a sensor on all of the doors to shut whenever the lights started flickering," Toby explained.
"What about the voice?"
Spencer held up a megaphone that made her voice sound deep, "that t'was me."
Hanna looked at each of them, "you guys are mean."
"Oh, come on, Hanna," Caleb took her hand. "You know it was funny."
She turned her head away from him and crossed her arms, "I knew it was a prank the whole time. Honestly, I wasn't even that scared."
"Oh, yeah right," they each rolled their eyes and laughed.
"Alright, fine," Hanna said. "I'll admit that you guys got me this time, but I will get you back for this."
"We're just shaking in our own skin at what you're going to do," Spencer joked.
"You should be," Hanna warned. "Because it's going to be big, horrible, and really, really scary! Come on, Caleb walk me home. Spencer's a meanie."
"Alright." Caleb chuckled and reached for Hanna's hand. They walked down the street together leaving the other two alone. Spencer and Toby couldn't stop laughing. That was probably the best prank they've ever pulled on anyone. The reason it probably worked so well is because they came up with it together. At first, it was just going to be the two of them tricking both Hanna and Caleb, but they needed some help with setting things up. That's why they turned to Caleb for help.
"I'm not big on Halloween," Spencer started. "But I think this just marked for best Halloween ever."
Toby nodded, "agreed. This whole plan turned out beautifully. Thanks to you and your smart brain."
"Aw," she nudged him with her hip. "I couldn't have done it without you. You did a great job acting freaked out, Seriously, you deserve an Oscar for that performance."
He smiled shyly, "that wasn't too hard to act out. All I did was imagine how I would really act if something ever happened to you."
She stopped in the middle of the street, "you acted pretty freaked out. I don't understand, why would me being gone upset you?"
"You say that as if you don't already know the answer." When she didn't respond, Toby continued.
"It's because I care about you, Spencer a lot. If something ever really did happen to you, I would do anything I could to bring you back," he paused for a second to look at his hands.
"How much do you care about me?" She asked him.
"Enough to know that I'm in love with you," he responded, still keeping his eyes focused on his hands. When she didn't respond right away, Toby chuckled nervously.
"I know. I know that's probably the craziest thing I've said. You must think I'm stupid and weird…"
He was cut off by a pair of soft, warm lips pressing against his own. Even though Toby was caught off by surprise, he did not waste any time holding her hips and kissing her back. A soft, chilly breeze swept through them causing a shiver to run down Spencer's spine. That may not have had anything to do with the cold. When they pulled apart, she rested her head against his.
"That was quite unexpected," he smiled.
She smiled too, "do you know how long I've been waiting for your to admit that you were in love with me?"
He stepped back and gave her a look, "you knew?"
She shrugged, "I had a feeling, but I was never certain. I kept getting mixed signals from you, but after I saw the way you acted tonight. I still have a problem."
"What's that? You don't feel the same way?"
"No," she bit her lip. "It's just I…" She looked at him, smiling. "I wanted to be the first one to say it."
Toby laughed and took a step closer, "well, too bad, I bet you to it. You should've said something sooner."
"I was literally going to say it ten seconds before you did."
He rolled his eyes teasingly, "oh, yeah right. I think you wanted me to be the first one to say it. Miss. Spencer Hastings, you have had a crush on me for a long time now, haven't you?"
"Well, you've had a secret crush on me too." She gasped when his arm wrapped around her waist and she was pulled against him. He looked her deeply in the eye.
"Well, it's not a secret anymore now, is it?"
"No," she responded breathlessly.
It was the way his eyes kept looking at her so intensely. That's why her words came out so breathy. Right now, Toby is close by and is looking at her as if she was moonlight shining down on a lake.
"I should probably walk you home now."
"Yes," she nodded stupidly.
He kissed her softly before pulling away. His hand moved from around her waist and he reached for her hand. Spencer smiled and laced their fingers together while they walked. This Halloween wasn't too bad. Spencer got to scared her best friend and the night ended with the guy she's loved for a long time finally telling her he loves her too. Today officially marks the best Halloween ever.
Yeah, like I said, this wasn't the best, but people wanted me to finish this. Thank you for the reviews for the first two chapters. I really just wrote it for that class I took over a year ago. Haha. Thanks for taking the time to check this out. Please, if you're feeling nice and have the time, leave a review.
