Until 2:22
Mika let out a loud yelp.
"FUCK YOU, TAKU!" she shouted while running out of the room.
She closed the door with a strong push. Her candle was still lit as she was getting down the stairs, groaning and swearing under her breath. She decided to join Hiroshi downstairs. Takuro could take care of himself. She passed in front of the rooms she explored with Takuro and got down the other set of stairs. She stopped once she was down, trying to guess where Hiroshi would be. She decided to go at her right. She peeked in the first bathroom thanks to the glass on the door and walked to the next bathroom. She opened the door and bumped right into Takeshi. The two of them made a quiet yelp. Takeshi sighed and put a hand on his chest to calm down his fast beating heart.
"Mika, don't scare me like that, geez!" he let out.
"Why are you lurking in such a tiny room? No need to be smart to know it's the worse rooms to go in tonight!"
"You're lurking here, too, as I know," he replied.
"I'm not lurking, I'm looking for Hiroshi."
Takeshi nodded before a memory flashed in his mind.
"Wait, aren't you with Takuro?" he said, raising a brow.
"He tried to spook me and I got mad. I think I'll just hang around here for a while."
He scoffed.
"I'm a bit surprised he didn't team up with Naoki to make a big-ass prank on us three."
"Yeah, you're not with Naoki? Did he try to spook you too?"
"Nah," he said, raising his bag of salt, "I just forgot that here and I was going back to the basement. Feel free to come."
"Sure," she said with a smile.
They fell silent when they heard a whisper. Their candles suddenly blew out. Mika got out her lighter and lit back her candle. Takeshi was knelt on the floor with a match in hand, lighting his candle back up too.
"Mind going somewhere else?" asked Takeshi.
"I'd be glad to."
They headed out and walked to the basement. They both gasped when they heard a loud and sudden sound.
"What was that?" asked Takeshi.
"It's an old mansion; something probably just fell on the floor upstairs," made up Mika to push away her nervosity.
"Yeah, hope so."
"Just thought of something…" she said, getting to another subject, "We could make a joke to Naoki. Let's hang out upstairs and let him freak out realizing you vanished."
Takeshi thought about it for a moment and then smirked.
"Yeah, let's do that."
Naoki opened a door and stared in amazement at the area he just discovered. He took a couple of steps on the red floor and stared down at the rotten boards. He looked back up, the windows at the back leaving enough light for him to see the size of the hall.
"Awesome…" he let out.
He felt a shiver down his spine and turned around, only to find Takeshi walk in with a golden statue in hand.
"Found Stephano!" he exclaimed with a grin.
Naoki snickered and looked back in front of him. Takeshi walked next to him and looked around too. Naoki shivered when the hall turned even colder than a winter night in Alaska.
"Sh-sh-shouldn't w-we head ba-back?" he stuttered because of the cold.
"Why? We just found a whole new area!"
The flame on Naoki's candle began to grow small.
"Wait, hold on," said Takeshi, taking out a black lighter with the drawing of a snake on the side to bring the flame back to life.
"Is that your lighter?" asked the cat-lover.
"Yeah."
"Looks cool."
"Thanks."
Naoki looked back in front of him. After a second, his eyes widened. Takeshi had matches, not a lighter. The blonde giggled and stared at Naoki with a wide smile.
"Slow head…" said Takeshi.
The black-haired backed away and headed to the door leading back to the basement. His candle blew out. He quickly took out his lighter and lit back his candle. He gasped and dropped his lighter seeing the black humanoid form in front of him. He turned away and ran in the corridor at the opposite side of the door. He ran to the left and let his dead candle fall on the floor. He opened the first and only door on his path. He noticed another one just next to him. He swung it open, but stopped. His eyes widened.
A shriek came to Hiroshi's ears.
"Was that Naoki?" he thought out loud.
He stood up from his chair and grabbed his candle. If there was one thing he knew about Naoki, it was that he would never scream like that for no reason. He left his book on the table and got out of the library. He passed in front of the stairs and entered the next door on his path. He found the stairs seconds later. Hiroshi headed in the basement, his candle in one hand and his other hand on the wall. He heard his foot gently tap the wooden floor. He narrowed his eyes, trying to discern a form, but he didn't see anything except a tall thing that made him think of a bookshelf.
"Naoki?" he called out, "I swear, if it's one of those stupid jokes of yours, I'm leaving you down here!"
He walked farther in the wide room until he met with a wall. Hiroshi stayed still for a very short moment to decide where he would go. He turned right and ended up in another room. He was able to distinguish two doors. He sighed. He hated choosing between two doors; especially knowing it could lead him to another long corridor with millions of doors. He went for the closest one that led him to a staircase going up. He got up the stairs and opened the black door that somehow felt different than the other ones. When he ended up in a large hall, he let out an annoyed groan.
"No way am I checking all these rooms," he whispered out.
Though, it would totally be Naoki's type to look around a new area…
Hiroshi took a couple of steps forward. His candle suddenly blew out. He quickly stuffed his hand in his pocket to take out his lighter and lit back his candle. A light shiver passed down his spine and he heard some whispering right in his ears.
"I'll show you something veeery interesting," it said, "Follooow meee…"
Hiroshi yelped and passed his arm behind him, as to backslap anyone near him.
"Naoki!" he exclaimed angrily, "That's it! I'm leaving!"
He turned away but stopped when he heard a familiar voice. The voice was familiar, but the sound was far to be. He never heard his friend sobbing before, but now it was there, real and echoing in this area. He followed the sound that led him in a large hallway next to the staircase. He kicked a small object on the floor. When he looked at the object, he discovered it was a candle. He frowned but shrugged it off and walked to the right. He opened the only door on his path and stepped in.
The first thing his eyes met was a mass on the floor circled by a white circle.
"Naoki?" he said.
The said teen was curled in a ball inside his circle of salt, shivering like crazy and sobbing.
Takuro was staring at the pink wallpaper in the bathroom with the candle's faint light. The wallpaper didn't interest him so much, but staying in front of it was his way to get some sleep. Normally, he was the type of guy who could easily spend a sleepless night, but he felt extremely tired since a couple of minutes. He didn't know if it was the environment or that tiring week that was getting the best of him, but he knew he had to stay awake, even if it meant to let his mind have a break by staring at a pink wall. Mika decided to go explore on her own anyway. He had walked in a room and realized she wasn't there. When he called out for her, she didn't answer him, so he assumed she wanted to explore a bit on her own. He wasn't worried; she liked to have company, but she could take care of herself.
He glanced at the bath and turned toward the door. He noticed a faint light slowly moving from left to right outside the room. Takuro opened the bathroom door and stepped out.
"So Mika, you finally decided to—" he was cut seeing nobody was holding the candle.
"…Wut?" he let out, his tired mind not realizing it wasn't normal for a candle to move around by itself.
The candle faded away when it reached the other bathroom. Takuro put his hand on his forehead and looked at the spot where the candle disappeared.
"What the hell did I drink?" he thought out loud, reaching for his water bottle in his bag.
He looked at the bottle for a short moment and put it back in his bag, promising to himself to not drink in it again. He looked back at the second bathroom for a moment. He froze seeing a dark figure walking out of the wall. Its arms seemed to be two very long scythe blades, slowly brushing against the floor. The form stopped and slowly turned its long head toward Takuro. His candle blew out and a whisper filled his head. The teen's eyes lightly widened and he rushed back in the bathroom. He closed the door with his foot and lit back his candle. He leaned on the door and stayed there for a long moment.
"…That is some creepy shit, man…" he said after a couple of seconds.
Takeshi and Mika were seated in a room upstairs, chatting about random and unimportant things.
"Do you know what time it is?" asked Takeshi out of nowhere.
She shook her head.
"Hiroshi is our time guy, remember?"
"Oh, yeah, right…"
Mika stood up.
"We can go and ask him; I'm tired to be sitting here, anyway."
Takeshi got up too and stretched.
"Yeah, let's go. It shouldn't be too hard to find him."
"I agree," she scoffed, "knowing him, he's seated in another room, waiting for three thirty-three to come so he can go home."
The door swung open right in front of them, slamming loudly on the wall. The room turned cold and the small flames on their candles disappeared. Takeshi quickly knelt down to take out a match. He realized it was his last one when he pulled it out. He lit back his candle and stood back up.
"Mika? You okay?" he asked, hearing her saying fuck repeatedly.
"I can't find my lighter!" she exclaimed.
Takeshi quickly opened his bag of salt and started to let the white powder fall around Mika.
I know the Midnight man can't turn into someone you know, but, hey, I'm the one holding the keyboard!
Oh, by the way Anonymous, I did mean "blench" and not "blanch". They both have different significations (as you probably already know)
I'd never do such rituals! Both the Midnight game and that hide and seek doll ritual. Too much of a pussy XD
So, please leave a review and see you in the next chapter!