Teresa

"Teresa?" I couldn't believe it.

My best friend who had gone missing all these years, was standing right in front of me.

I hugged her, "Teresa you're really here!"

She was trembling in fear. Her body was coloured in bruises and scratches. Her tattered clothes barely kept her warm in the bitter weather.

"Come in." She ignored my excitement and simply tugged me inside.

My smile faded and I hesitantly walked in. The room was dimly lit. A strong stench of blood and faeces made me scrunch up my nose.

"Teresa, what happened? Talk to me!" I cried.

"I need your help. A demon took away my soul and is keeping my hostage so it can feed off of me. I need to escape!" Her eyes teared up.

I blinked a few times.

"Do I look like a joke to you? Do you have any idea how hard has it been without you and here you are, playing pranks on me-"

Suddenly, all the blood from my body drained as I heard an animalistic growl.

"Stay still." She whispered. "It's right behind you."

I could feel something breathing down my neck. I felt a cold chill run down my back. I slowly turned to look at it but to my surprise, nothing was there. 

"We need to get out of here!" I exclaimed. 

"That's impossible." She informed.

"What do you mean?"

"There is a seal that covers the whole property. If you try to walk past the seal, you could die."

My stomach churned at the thought of being locked inside a haunted house with a demon. My brain started projecting horrific images that made me shudder.

"But," she paused. "There is a way."

I held her hands, "How?"

"I found a Black Magic book that will help us out. I have prepared everything based on what was written, but I lack one ingredient."

"What is that?" I asked in anticipation.

"Blood of a human with a soul."

She was talking about me.

"As long as you are getting out of here safely, let's do this." I held her hands.

She smiled hopefully.

"I must warn you about something. The screams or shouts you hear outside the house, they are just illusions created by the demon to lure you." She warned.

I gulped and nodded.

She led me out the door. My ears fell witness to one of the most horrific voices I have ever heard. Some screamed, some called out my name, some gurgled in pain.

"Ignore it." Teresa ordered.

She pulled me into the backyard where everything was set up. Fire was lit up in a shape of a star. Symbols of goats and cats were made through ashes. Bones and skulls were assembled on each side of the star.

"If this works out perfectly, we need to go to that ice-cream shop we always wanted to go." She blurted out.

I looked at her.

"What? There isn't much to eat in this house, okay?" She said sternly.

I laughed, "Okay idiot. Let's start this now."

I sat down beside her. She began reading from the book and poured oil into the star which caused the fire to monstrously erupt, almost burning me. She added bones into the fire, watching them wither into ash.

Suddenly, her chanting stopped.

"W-what happened?" I asked.

"I forgot the herbs in the house. Stay here." Teresa said before running towards the house, leaving me in utter chaos of the screams.

Wanting to distract myself from this trauma, I picked up the Magic book and started reading the contents.

I couldn't understand most of it. The weird symbols and text made my eyes hurt. Thankfully, there was a little passage in English at the end.

If revenge is what you seek,

You must remain meek.

Use the Book of Magic,

To create something tragic.

Put their blood into the star,

And watch their sanity go afar.

Today, when you flee,

You will be at glee,

As you will watch them suffer and die.

I turned around only to see her staring at me with a smirk.

"Y-you lied?" I stuttered in fear.

"Obviously! I actually lied about everything- the demon, the voices, the seal. It was all me!" She bragged.

"Why?!" I screamed.

Her smiled faded into a scowl. "Ever since you told everyone about me having a crush on Blake in school, everyone started bullying me to the point where I had to run away!" She cried.

"Please tell me there's a better reason than this. You know I did that because I wanted you to be happy." I said, "We can talk this out."

"It's too late now. I practiced witchcraft so I could make you suffer." She said as she raised her knife, walking towards me. 

"No thanks." I pushed her and ran. 

"You can't run from me!" She screamed.

"Watch me, witch!" I said.

I swing open the rusty gates and ran with all the energy I had. As I left my bike inside, the only thing I could do was run and shout for help. The roads were empty and foggy, I could barely see anything.

Suddenly, a car appeared in front of me, almost crashing into me. I looked at the car.

"Mom!" I screamed.

"Honey, what happened?"

Ignoring her, I just sat in the car and banged the dashboard, "Just drive! She noticed my fear and immediately made a U-turn, taking me away from the house.

"What happened, baby?" She asked in concern.

"Just take me home!" I screamed.

With the exhaustion piling up on me, I drifted into a deep slumber. I didn't realise that until the car stopped suddenly. My eyes fluttered open. 

The mansion was right in front of me.

My breath hitched. "Mom! Why are we here?"

But I got no response from her.

"Mom?" I turned back to see something horrific.

Teresa was sitting on the driver's seat, staring at me.

"Ready to suffer?"