"Hyacinth stopped combing her hair. She was scared to turn around to see the woman with long black hair, standing behind her. The said woman had her head down and wore a white dress, her body was unmoving. Hyacinth's hands began to tremble as the lady moved her head to face her–"

"Stop!" Mikaela screamed, her hands over her ears. She was breathing heavily by then. Her friends stared at her.

They were all gathered in a circle inside their homeroom. They had moved the chairs aside and lit a candle in the middle to create the atmosphere like in scary movies.

All the lights were turned off.

Mikaela knew she just made a fuss right now as six pairs of eyes sent their annoyed gaze towards her. But she needed to make Shaun halt from continuing the tale, her imagination had run wild while he was retelling a horror story from one of his readings.

It was friday and a football game was being held at the football stadium of their school campus. Hence, it was open until late.

Their group got bored watching the game and thought of sharing scary stories to kill the time before they each go home later.

Dropping her hands to her side, Mikaela wiped the sweat on her plaid skirt. Their uniform skirt was long enough for her and two other girls in their friendship circle to sit crossed legged on the marbled floor.

Their white blouse had their school insignia on the upper left breast pocket. It was the same for the boys.

"Sorry," she mumbled. "Can we move on to another story?"

"Why?" Shaun scratched the back of his head. "Was it too scary? Or," he narrowed his gaze at Mikaela.

"Did you have a similar experience?"

Mikaela glared at him but didn't say anything. The tension was felt by the entire group though.

Krisha blew out a sigh, saving the situation from getting any worse. She got on her feet and looked at her friends.

"I'm going to the comfort room. I need to pee, anyone coming?"

Mikaela rose to her feet and nodded towards Krisha.

"I'll come with you."

Krisha held out a hand towards her to which Mikaela accepted. The two of them walked out of the room hand in hand.

"Better be quick. I'll think of another story by the time you come back!" Shaun called out after them.

Krisha waved a hand without looking back.

"Sometimes, I think Shaun is just an idiot." Krisha exclaimed.

"Nah, I was being rude." Mikaela admitted.

"On a serious note though, why do you seem so scared? You were the one wanting to have this scary story telling."

Mikaela took a deep breath. She couldn't admit it to Shaun, but she knew she could trust Krisha. They were the first ones who became friends before they met the others.

Dropping her head, Mikaela let out a sigh.

"My sister, Abby," Mikaela lowered her voice. "She's haunting me."

Krisha stopped short, squeezing Miakela's hand. They were close to the comfort room and she really had to go.

"I'm sorry. I really need to use the toilet."

Mikaela perked up, chuckling as she watched Krisha run towards the girls comfort room. She followed right behind her.

"It has been what?" Krisha called out after hearing Mikaela's footsteps come inside the comfort room. "Two years? It's been two years since Abby passed away, right?"

"Yes," Mikaela's soft voice replied.

"I'm sorry." Krisha let out a sigh of relief after she finished urinating. "But what do you mean by being haunted?"

Krisha waited for a reply, but when her friend didn't respond, she frowned.

"Hello? Mika?"

Still there was no response.

Worried, Krisha unbolted the cubicle lock and found Mikaela standing in front of the mirror, her head down.

"Mika?" she called out. Her friend stood still. "Um, you're scaring me. Stop this."

When Mikaela raised her head, her reflection on the mirror had Krisha screaming. A twisted smile was plastered on her lips and where her eyes were, they were left hollow.

"Sorry? You're not sorry Krisha," Mikaela's lips moved, the smile still plastered on her lips. "You were one of the people who killed me."

–

ABBY

My lungs felt tight.

Bubbles rose as I tried to get the girl behind me to let go. I could no longer hold my breath,

Was she going to kill me?

When I was close to losing the last amount of air from my lungs, she finally grabbed my hair, pulling my head back to get my face off the pool of water by the sink.

She made me look at her in the mirror. Only one other girl was right behind her.

"Aw, you look like a fish."

"Why, why are you doing this?"

The girl holding me pursed her lips. She was pretty with her luminous straight black hair. Our school's uniform fit her just right.

After all this time, I still don't know why she took an interest in me.

"Look at the mirror, Abby. Look and see for yourself why I'm doing this." Erin said, the expression on her face turning into a frown.

I stared at my reflection. Compared to her, I looked rather average. A little plump for my age and had a few freckles on my face.

"And yet Brent asked you out on a date! He chose you over me!"

With a little more force than necessary, Erin plunged my face into the water filled sink once again.

"Erin," her friend, Krisha, said. "I think that's enough."

"No!" Erin shrieked. I was on the verge of crying. My resistance from getting drowned was slacking.

I closed my eyes and prayed for a miracle to happen. Somehow in the middle of feeling my chest tightened, a calmness came over me.

The feeling was so strange but I welcomed it. It soothed my worries and gradually, I realized what was happening.

A few minutes ago, I was battling to win against it. But now, the fight is over.