The cold autumn wind howled as it blew though the trees. An old stone mansion stood in the middle of the forest, covered in ivy. It had been abandoned for quite some time now, and was beginning to fall apart. A loud creak rang throughout the woods as Relena Dorlian opened the door to the old house, her blond hair shimmering in the moonlight. She was wearing her normal jeans and a blue t-shirt, which matched her eyes. Behind her stood her friends Duo, Heero, and Hilde. Duo was completely dressed in black, which was what he always wore. He had on a black hat to match his outfit, which covered his long, light brown hair. Huddled next to him was Hilde, her small body clinging to Duo's arm for protection. Next to them stood Heero, his unruly mop of brown hair flying in every direction. He rolled his eyes as Hilde gasped when the door opened. "Hilde, you better watch out or else the boogey man might get you!" Hilde whimpered and immediately clung harder onto Duo's arm.
"Heero, knock it off!" Relena scolded, "now are we going in or what?" The three teens nodded and followed Relena into the mansion. One by one they entered, their footsteps echoing.
"Jeese, it's cold in here," Heero tightened his jacket, "so, you think we're gonna find any ghosts in here?"
Hilde's body tightened, "This house isn't really haunted, right guys?"
A snicker escaped Duo's mouth, "Are you kidding? This house is full of ghosts! I'd be surprised if we don't run into one!" Hilde yelped.
"Duo! Don't scare her like that!" Relena scolded. Duo dug his hands into his pockets and grinned.
"I'm sorry, Hilde." They continued on in silence until they reached their destination. It was a large room, filled with old pictures and furniture. Everything was covered in dust, adding to the eeriness of the house. There was a small bed in the corner of the room, a dresser, and a couple of chairs.
"So, uh, what do we do now?" Duo asked. Relena picked up a picture from the dresser. It was of a little girl in a pink dress decorated with flowers, who looked no more than ten.
"Well, we're going to try and contact the spirit of this little girl. She disappeared many years ago from this house. They never found what happened to her. Some believe that she was killed by her mother who went crazy." Relena started to talk in a low voice, "It is said that she still haunts this house and at night, if you listen very closely, you can still hear her laughing as she plays out in the yard."
"BOO!" Relena, Heero, and Hilde all jumped as Duo jumped out at them. He burst out laughing, "Aw man, you guys should have seen your faces! That was priceless!" Hilde sat down on the floor and sighed. "Can we just get this over with already?" Relena and Heero joined her on the floor, soon followed by Duo who was trying to stop laughing. Relena placed the picture on the floor and they formed a tight circle around it. "Okay, everyone hold hands." They grasped each others hands, doing as they were told. "Now everyone be quiet and close your eyes." They each closed their eyes and Relena started to talk, "Spirit, we have come to talk to you. Send us-" Duo snorted. "Duo!" Hilde hit him in the arm, "Shut up already!" They closed their eyes again as Relena restarted.
"Spirit, send us a sign that you are here." They all fell silent as they waited. After two minutes, Duo snorted again.
"This is stupid! Why don't we just all go home? That story is nothing but an old ghost story they used to tell us at camp. There's no-" He stopped abruptly as a loud thud came from the room above.
"W-what was that?" Heero whispered.
"I don't know. Duo? Was that you?" Hilde asked. He shook his head no. "Relena?"
"It wasn't me." They all stared up at the ceiling.
"Maybe someone's up there," Heero whispered.
"Well, there's only one way to find out." Relena stood up.
"Hey, where're ya going?" Duo grabbed her arm.
"Upstairs to find out what that noise was." The three of them stared at her in bewilderment.
"Are you nuts!?" Duo asked, "What happens if there's some kind of crazy, psychopathic murderer up there ready to chop you into a million pieces?" Relena pried his hand from the grip it had on her arm.
"Duo, really, there's no one up there. It's probably just a cat or something. Anyways, aren't any of you the least bit curious to what made that noise?"
"No!" they all said in unison.
"Well, I am and I'm going up there whether you guys are coming or not." With that she marched out the door and into the hallway. The other three sat there in shock. "Relena, wait!" Heero got up and ran after her, leaving Hilde and Duo sitting there alone. They glanced at each other.
"Hey guys! Wait for us!"