The Haunting

Twelve

Quinn

Me and Alex stood there, frozen.

Judy was floating in the air, with her neck twisted backward and her face facing the ceiling. The holy crosses hung on the wall were turned upside down, as if it was done purposefully. When I was finally back to my fully conscious state, I started screaming at the top of my lungs. Alex started running to go get April, whilst I stood there, watching the awful scene.

Mom heard my outcry and came sprinting towards me. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped at the inexpressibly appalling scene. Doris and Lisa also scampered towards us and were as dumbfounded as us. Finally, Alex came back with April, and once April entered Judy's room, she was hoisted and tossed at the wall with an indescribably fast speed. Me and Alex ran towards April who was growling in pain but didn't seem so anguished. All she did was stare at Judy suspiciously.

"Stop it, Laura! This isn't how we should be dealing with the unfinished business!" April yelled. I was utterly bewildered by what April had just said, and also at the name she mentioned. I'm now aware of the fact that Judy is possessed, and no matter how much I refused to believe it, what is happening now is ascertaining it.

"No!" The voice inside Judy shrieked so loud that my ears felt like exploding. Mom, Doris, and Lisa were thrown outside the room and the door was shut. I watched subconsciously as Judy hovered over to the window and realized that the creature possessing her body was attempting to throw her out the window.

"No Judy!" I screamed as I ran towards her to save her before she falls out the window but I was pushed back with an unseen force. April pulled out a large cross and pointed it at Judy. Judy started let out a blood-curdling scream before she was dropped to the ground and the bedroom door was unlocked. I ran over to her as tears continued to stream down from my eyes ceaselessly. I wanted this to be a nightmare, a very terrible nightmare I would later wake up from.

"Wait, wait. What had just happened? What's wrong with Judy? And who is those?"

I looked behind me to realize that it was dad. My heart skipped a beat as I realized how difficult it's going to be to elucidate it to him, as he also didn't get to witness what had just happened. Judy got up and clutched her head, her face looking completely normal like before. It was like whatever was possessing Judy was refusing to let dad see, and I now noticed it is intentional. The spirit is trying to make us look like maniacs in front of dad.

"Dad, they're ghost hunt-" I began but he interrupted me midway through the sentence. I could see his face reddening with rage as he eyed April and Alex in repugnance.

"And you dared to bring them here without my permission or even my knowledge? You should've at least informed me before you decided to bring some strangers inside my house!" Dad yelled at me and I didn't dare to say anything, just waited for mom to defend me. I peered at the ground in embarrassment.

"Are you serious, Eric? You heard the commotion inside the room and the screams but you're still insisting on disbelieving?" Mom shouted at dad as she entered the room. I watched as mom stared at dad with anger and frustration, while he refused to stare at her directly. "What else can we do to persuade you that your daughter is possessed? Huh? Call the ghost and ask it to show itself?!"

"Well, at least, you should've informed me instead of leaving me completely clueless about something as terrible and serious as this," dad said, sounding much more calmer than before. He crossed his arms and seemed remorseful of his outburst.

"How can we if you're spending all your day outside the house? You're always outdoors and we never have time to sit and talk with you. You don't even let us call you when you're in work, and when you come back you just go to sleep. Then how could we have possibly informed you?" mom said, and I noticed the tears begin to form in her eyes. April and Alex watched my parents argue with a shocked expression, but they couldn't speak. Lisa and Doris was stunned and they both stood outside the room.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been so stubborn," dad apologized. Mom seemed to calm down a bit but she still remained somewhat exasperated of him. Unearthly silence fell upon us and lasted for a few minutes before April walked over to us and whispered.

"Judy is in danger, and we have to do something about it as fast as possible," April whispered, trying to keep her voice as low as possible so that Judy won't overhear.

"What are we supposed to do?" I asked, overly concerned. I'm just so worried about Judy, I'm scared that something bad might happen to her. That thing dwelling inside her body looks unmanageable and I'm dreading the probability that April and Alex wouldn't be able to eliminate this immoral creature.

"We have to eliminate the thing inhabiting her body before it gets worse," April kept whispering. My heart skipped a beat and my eyes widened a little. "She has been haunting me since a handful of years, longing for revenge. We have to rescue Judy before she takes complete control of her, and in order to achieve that, you'll have to follow my steps, okay?"

April's eyes implied how dangerous it's going to be, which heightened my fear. Though we were all baffled by what she had said, we still nodded and didn't ask anything. All the questions are going to be answered soon anyway.

Lisa

Sitting on the swinging bench in the courtyard, I gazed at the mirror.

There she was, standing behind me. The smile that used to be on her face was no longer there; she was honestly grimacing angrily. I didn't want to keep looking at her, but for some unknown reason, I couldn't put the mirror aside. It was strange how the mirror attracted me and made me unable to leave it even if for a second. She continued to hysterically mouth things that I couldn't understand even if I tried to follow her lip movements. I tried to close my eyes but they wouldn't. I no longer wanted to see her, so I decided to tell her.

"Go away! I don't want to see you," I nearly shouted. She stayed immobile, as if she didn't hear me. I began breathing faster when she began approaching me, modifying into a completely different girl, the rage plastered across her face intensifying at every step. "No! Stop! Go away!"

She stopped approaching me but she was already right behind me. I could hear my heart thump in my chest, which was the only sound that filled my ears. I breathed in and out rapidly as my eyes remained fixed on her, fearing what she was planning on doing as a punishment for me shouting at her. She bent down and began whispering something to me before she pulled me underneath the ground with her.

"Roses are red, so is your blood."