"Hey buddy, wake up! Greg!"
A deep voice boomed, jolting Gregorio awake. He felt a persistent tapping on his shoulder, and when he opened his eyes, he saw the blurry outline of a man standing above him.
"Uhhh..." Gregorio groaned, struggling to make sense of what was happening.
As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, the figure slowly came into focus. It was Fredo, his longtime friend and fellow adventurer. Overcome with emotion, Gregorio shed a tear and threw his arms around Fredo, seeking comfort in his friend's embrace.
Fredo had been Gregorio's best friend since primary school, despite living in a different city. They had been inseparable until life took them on different paths. But now, seeing his friend in such distress, Fredo knew he had to be there for him.
"Greg, how are you?" Fredo asked, holding his friend's shaking shoulders. Gregorio didn't respond, still sobbing and crying out his pain.
"I need you to listen to me, buddy. Come on," Fredo continued, trying to inject some humor into the situation. "Look, my shirt is all wet. What did you do?" His attempt at a joke failed, but he didn't give up.
Finally, Gregorio sat down on his bed and began wiping his tears away. A small smile crept onto his face as he faced Fredo.
"I... I am great. Thank you so much for coming," Gregorio said, still sniffling. "I don't know what to do anymore. I have nothing... I have nothing." Another tear rolled down his cheek.
Fredo pulled his friend into a tight embrace. "It's okay, don't worry, bud. I'm here, okay? I'm already here." He held on until he felt Gregorio's sobs subside, making sure his friend knew he wasn't alone.
As they hugged, Fredo's father came to the door. "Hey, Fredo, I need to get something from your sister Jennet. She needs my help with her school today. Just text me if you want to go home, okay? I'll be right back." With a nod, Fredo's father closed the door, leaving the two friends to comfort each other.
While hugging, Fredo noticed that the surroundings were in complete disarray. Broken vases, shattered furniture, and other debris littered the house, as if a typhoon had passed through.
"Yo! Your house looks like a bowl of noodles with all the grossest toppings ever," Fredo said, pointing at the destruction.
"I'm sorry. I really needed that," Gregorio said, his voice heavy with sorrow.
"Hey, wait. I forgot something inside the car. Wait here." Fredo realized he had left something important in his father's car and hurriedly rushed out, leaving the door wide open.
While Fredo was outside, Gregorio remained seated in silence, lost in his thoughts. As he sat there, he felt an urgent need to relieve himself and headed to the bathroom.
Unbeknownst to Fredo, his father had left to pick up his sister from school. When Fredo returned to the house, he realized that he had forgotten to close the door. However, when he tried to open it, he found that it was locked. This confused him because he distinctly remembered leaving the door open when he went out. As his anxiety grew, he called out to Gregorio to open the door, but there was no response.
"Greg! Greg! Open the door," Fredo yelled, but there was no response.
He tried again and again, but there was no answer. Fear crept into his mind, and he started to worry that something might have happened to Gregorio.
"Greg!!! Hey Greg!! Open this!" Fredo shouted, frantically trying to force the door open. He used his body weight to try and push it open, but the door wouldn't budge. He began to think that Gregorio might have hurt himself or was considering suicide.
Desperate to get inside, Fredo tried a different approach. He peered through the window, but he couldn't see anything due to the red curtains covering the entire view. However, he could make out the shadows of furniture and figures in the room.
Fredo's anxiety had been simmering for days, but it reached a boiling point as he gazed through the window and witnessed a horrifying sight. A shadowy figure of a girl stood before him, illuminated by the light inside the house. Fredo's mouth opened in shock, and his body froze as he felt an overwhelming sense of fear and dread. His hands turned cold as he stumbled backward, unable to tear his gaze away from the window.
"Help!" he screamed, his voice cracking with fear. The shadowy figure grew more aggressive, glitching and moving in unnatural ways. Fredo fell backward into a nearby bush, covering his face in terror. His heart pounded in his chest as his mind raced with dark thoughts.
Suddenly, he heard Gregorio's voice calling out to him, jolting him back to reality. Fredo opened his eyes to see his friend standing over him, looking concerned.
"Hey buddy, wake up! Are you okay?" Gregorio asked, his hand outstretched to help Fredo up.
Fredo nodded, still in shock from the traumatic experience. He impulsively hugged his friend, seeking comfort in his embrace. Gregorio was taken aback at first, but soon realized how shaken Fredo was and hugged him back, comforting him.
As they sat in the living room, Gregorio could no longer ignore the strange occurrences happening in their home. "I've been having nightmares since we moved in, but I never thought much of them," he confessed to Fredo. "But lately, I've been hearing voices. Like yesterday, at the bench outside, I heard a little girl's voice saying something I couldn't understand."
Gregorio filled up a cup of water and handed it to Fredo. "And then she said, 'Hermana, Hermana,' which is very weird and keeps bothering me."
Fredo listened intently, still feeling uneasy. "I saw a little girl in my dream, and I saw her here," he said, pointing around the room. "But after I saw her, she went crazy and glitched all over the place."
Gregorio's anger flared up, and he let out a loud breath. "Did she say anything, like a word or a phrase?"
"None. Just her figure," Fredo replied, still sweating. "And I saw her standing here."
Without warning, Fredo got up and ran away, laughing maniacally. Gregorio ran after him, feeling annoyed by his friend's behavior.
"Bud, stop," he said, panting as he caught up to Fredo. "This isn't a joke. I need to know what's happening to me."
Fredo stopped in his tracks, his mind racing as he tried to recall everything. "Wait, what did she say to you?"
"Hermana, Hermana," Gregorio repeated, his voice shaking with fear.
"Hermana?!" Fredo exclaimed, his eyes widening in terror.
"Why?"
"Come here. I will show you..." Fredo rushed to the bedroom of Gregorio and frantically opened his laptop. "Look..." He typed "The Hermanas Family" into the search bar and clicked the first link that came up. His eyes scanned the page, absorbing the ominous text and eerie photographs.
Fredo zoomed in on the texts and read aloud, "The Dark Tale of the Hermana Family has been passed down for generations. The story has become more terrifying and disturbing inside this mansion. This is where the family..."
"Wait, bud, stop," Gregorio interrupted, his voice trembling. "I don't think we should be reading this."
But it was too late. Fredo continued to read, his voice becoming shaky as he spoke. "This is where the family was killed by a witch out of jealousy. They were poisoned with a sweet potion that was laced into their food. The entire family was found dead, lying on the big table. Some say they were killed by gunfire, while others claim that the family members turned on each other..."
Suddenly, Fredo stopped reading, his eyes widening in terror as he stuttered out, "Someone... someone is..." He turned the laptop towards Gregorio, revealing a reflection of a little girl standing behind him.
Gregorio felt a chill run down his spine, but he couldn't bring himself to turn around and face the unknown presence behind him. Fredo's fingers shook as he tried to say something, but his words came out in stuttered fragments. "There's someone behind you," he finally managed to say, his voice barely above a whisper.
Gregorio remained frozen in place as he felt the cold presence of the little girl behind him. Fredo was still in shock, unable to take his eyes off the laptop screen. The air was thick with a sense of impending doom.
Suddenly, a siren blared outside the house, shattering the eerie silence. The boys screamed in terror and ran outside, their hearts pounding with fear.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" they cried out, their voices filled with dread and panic. The ominous presence of the Hermanas Family continued to linger in their minds, haunting them long after they had left the house.