Haunted

Chapter 8: Ready or Not

We stopped for lunch at a Japanese buffet, relieved to finally stretch. Jack immediately came over to me to check on me. After reassuring him that I was okay, he smiled, patted my back, and followed Mark and Signe through the door. Felix, Marzia and I then followed them, but Felix stopped me.

"What's up?" I asked, confused. He grinned knowingly. "Um, are you okay, Felix?"

"Yup. Just a little interested in your interest in a certain someone." I frowned, then growled.

"Marzia! You told him?" I fumed. She smiled innocently.

"I couldn't help it! But he promised to keep the secret. He can help you!"

"I don't need help," I said, calming down. I couldn't stay mad at her: she was just too cute and sweet. "Besides, I'm still not sure. And who's next to know? Jack? Or maybe even Mark?" Felix shuffled his feet at the mention of Jack. "Oh no you fucking didn't!"

"Jack doesn't know, don't worry! Neither does Mark," the Swedish man reassured. I raised an eyebrow and eyed him suspiciously. "I promise."

I sighed, a bit annoyed but glad that Mark and Jack didn't know. The thought had been nagging me for the entirety of the trip. Did I even like him? Normally I would get all shaky and stutter in front of a crush, but I didn't get like that in front of Mark.

When our waitress came over to our table, she asked what we wanted for drinks. But before I could order, the lights in the restaurant flickered and went out. I yelped in surprise, and so did Marzia.

"AHHH!!" The waitress screamed, and I got up, trying to see her in the darkness. Once my eyes had adjusted, I saw that she was no longer standing there. I turned back to the others as they stood up, looking frightened.

The restaurant was completely silent as we all walked around. Something was very wrong.

"H-hello?" Signe called. A soft, deep laugh sounded throughout the building.

"Who's there?" I shouted, trying to sound brave despite my terror. Whoever, or whatever was there laughed again, this time much louder.

"Ready or not..." the voice began quietly, and everyone's faces went pale. "HERE I COME."

I saw a black, smokey figure standing a few feet beside me, smiling, eyes glowing white and dark red. I shivered and, feeling a cold presence, shouted at the others, "RUN!"

We ran through the maze of empty booths and tables towards the exit. The doors were wide open, the midday light seeping into the dark building. The sudden brightness stunned me, causing me to trip over my own feet and fall forwards.

"(Y/N)!" Mark skidded to a halt to help me up as the others ran by, save for Jack, who stopped to look back. I heard a slam and looked up to see that the door had shut on its own. Mark pulled at it, then threw his hands up in frustration. It was locked.

"What the hell do we do now?" Signe exclaimed.

"We're gonna be fine, babe," Jack cooed, comforting his girlfriend with a hug. Suddenly, a huge CRASH sounded a couple yards away, like a waiter/waitress had dropped a metal tray on the wooden floor of the restaurant.

"What the fuck was that?" Felix whispered, protectively holding Marzia close.

"Me." The dark voice immediately answered Felix's question. The crashing sound came again, and again and again until clattering was all that could be heard.

I felt a cold presence beside me again, and turned around to see the smokey figure beside Jack, who was oblivious to its presence. Its long fingers wrapped around his neck ready to choke the life out of him. I jumped and pushed Jack out of the way, sending us both crashing to the ground.

"(Y/N)? What the.." I got up and looked around for the figure. It levitated above us, looking deep into my eyes.

"(Y/N), what are you looking at?" Mark asked shakily. "And why did you-"

"You don't see it, do you?" I interrupted the red-haired man, still looking up at the figure. Its eyes were now bright and blood-red, and they were fixated on me.

"We heard it...but..." Marzia trailed off and looked around, still terrified.

"G-go away!" I shouted at the shadow, lying in a defensive position in front of Jack, but it didn't budge. Whatever this thing was, I wouldn't let it hurt anyone. "I said...I said go! Leave us alone! For God's sake, leave!" It disappeared, and the lights turned back on. All of a sudden, we were back at our booth, and the waitress was still there, waiting for me to order my drink. I looked over at Mark, then Jack, and all the way to Signe. She gulped, while Marzia was pale in the face.

"Ma'm? Your drink?"

"I'll have...just water."

(A/N: sorry if these chapters are either too long or too short, although I doubt you care since they're all here haha...I'm running out of things to put here)