If there was one thing Yuma could change about this scene right now it would have to be getting rid of the blue spirit who kept pestering him with questions. He and Kotori decided to check out the haunted house attraction that came to Heartland only once a year. In truth, the girl hated haunted houses, but Yuma promised to stick by her the entire time. But it's not easy to put one's nerves at ease when she can hear you making side comments to your invisible friend.

"So these ghosts live in haunted houses?" Astral asked.

"In stories yeah, but ghosts aren't real," hissed Yuma.

"So when you call me a 'ghost' you liken me to an imaginary being?"

"If it'll make you shut up, yes, you're a ghost."

"Yuma…?" Kotori whispered frightfully. The spiky-hair boy instantly turned to comfort her.

"Ah, why don't we go inside already. And don't worry, I'll make sure nothing happens to you." The two approached the large, wooden doors which opened by themselves. As soon as they stepped foot inside a recording of thunder crashing played, startling the green-hair girl. Yuma patted her back, which comforted her somewhat. Astral looked curious.

"Strange, there wasn't any lightning." His partner rolled his eyes. The group continued down the long, deserted hallway. Cobwebs hung from the cracked ceiling, waving in the breeze. Wallpaper was peeling off the walls. The fake remains of rat bones were scattered across the halls. When they reached the foyer, a small horde of bats swooped down over them.

"Aaaahh!" Kotori screamed, covering her eyes, "I don't like bats!"

"Don't worry, Kotori," her friend grinned, "They're fake." He pointed to a hardly-visible cable where the bats, connected to it by a string, slid down. Kotori caught her breath before saying, "I…I guess we can go on."

"Why are you continuing even though she's clearly scared?" wondered Astral as the other two walked upstairs.

"Because that's the point of the haunted house. It tries to frighten you by having things pop out at you or making loud noises. Sometimes light flashes or furniture move to make it seem like a ghost is in the room."

"But if you know ghosts aren't real and how a haunted house operates, how is it frightening?"

"Because of the unknown." That made absolutely no sense to Astral, but he decided to let it go. The children entered a room full of strange mirrors.

"Oh, look at us," Kotori pointed to one to the trick mirrors. Though it displayed their reflections, they were greatly disproportioned: Kotori was short and fat while Yuma was tall and scrawny. The two went around the room checking their reflections in the other mirrors. Astral gazed at them from above, long ago discovering he didn't have a reflection. But he found this just plain odd. Yuma never had this much fun looking at himself in a normal mirror but looked ecstatic at looking at a disfigured reflection of himself.

Observation Number 47, thought Astral to himself, Humans don't always take interest in reality.

"Hey Kotori, check this out!" Yuma called from one mirror. His friend came to see but triggered a hidden trap, causing the trap door beneath her to open.

"Aaaaaah!" she screamed as she fell into the darkness below.

"Kotori!" yelled Yuma. He raced to the door and hurried downstairs, Astral hot on his heels. "Kotori! Kotori!" But there wasn't any of a response. He guessed Kotori must be in the basement, unable to hear him. He descended a second flight of stairs and entered what he thought was an underground maze. "Kotori, are you in here?" Yuma shouted. But again there was nothing. The boy was starting to get unnerved. "Okay Astral, let's split up and look–" But Astral wasn't with him either. "A-Astral?" Yuma was really starting to freak out now, "This isn't funny! We need to find Ko–"

He froze when a loud scream pierced the darkness. "Kotori!" and he raced down the corridor as fast as he could. First Kotori got separated and now Astral was missing. Yuma had to admit this was really spooking him. There was another scream and Yuma doubled his speed. Up ahead was a wall, splitting the path into two– left or right? Rushing ahead, Yuma was contemplating which way to turn.

"Yuma! Kotori is–"

"Aaaaahh!"

Astral had suddenly came through the wall, which had scared the boy senseless, causing him to cower on the spot.

"Geez, I hate all these fake bats," Kotori grumbled darkly, walking out from behind the wall and straightening her hair. "They keep popping out everywhere. Hey Yuma, are you…" But when she looked to see what was in front of her cowering friend, all she could see was his shadow on the wall. "Yuma…?"

I apologize that this story was short, but there are a number of reasons for that: 1, I was rushed when I wrote this (schoolwork and research classes were, and still are, becoming a slight pain and are taking up my time), and 2, I wrote this a while ago but didn't post it (a Halloween-ish story in early August?). Also, I'm afraid that the stories will be put on hold for a while. Normally I have at least two chapters already written out in advance, but with the increasing amount of study I have to do along with my own personal projects I wish to complete, I have been unable to write down anything and am down to my two reserve chapters. So after next week's update (which is also another chapter I wrote some weeks ago but didn't post) expect a delay in chapter updates. See ya!