The room was filled with uneasy silence, the kind that drapes itself over a group of people too proud to admit they're scared. Aaron, the most vocal of the group, had spent the last ten minutes trying to convince everyone that they were in real danger, but his warnings fell on deaf ears.
None of the seniors—Jessica, Sam, Mike, or Olivia—took him seriously. They believed Aaron was exaggerating things to cover up his own fear. After all, wasn't that what the haunted house was designed to do? Create fear where none really existed?
"You're just overthinking it," Olivia said with a smirk, adjusting her jacket as they walked down the dimly lit hallway. The others nodded, a little too eagerly, to show they weren't afraid either.
Aaron shook his head, but kept quiet, glancing nervously around. He could feel something was off, even if the others couldn't. The creepy background music that played through hidden speakers had shifted tone—it now had a strange, unsettling rhythm to it, something almost familiar but he couldn't place it. A faint metallic sound clinked in the distance, almost like chains being dragged.
Jessica, always the boldest of the group, laughed and tossed her hair over her shoulder. "Aaron, if you're scared, just stick behind me. We're all grown-ups here." With that, she stepped confidently into a side room.
Aaron hesitated, looking over his shoulder. The hallway behind them stretched into darkness, the lights barely illuminating the path. The shadows seemed to shift and move, as though something was waiting just beyond the edge of visibility.
"We're splitting into groups, right?" Mike said, ever the optimist, his voice echoing through the room. He followed Jessica with a spring in his step, acting like this was some sort of game. "The sooner we find the exit, the sooner we get out of here."
Sam, a more laid-back guy who never took things too seriously, shrugged. "Yeah, this place isn't all it's cracked up to be. Honestly, I thought it'd be scarier." He trailed behind Mike, already growing bored.
Olivia and Jessica seemed more interested in chatting about a new crime drama they were watching, comparing it to the haunted house. "Honestly, I think watching Criminal Minds is scarier than this," Jessica said, walking ahead into the room, where dusty furniture lay strewn about.
The eerie sound of something clattering in the distance echoed down the hall, but none of them seemed to notice. Aaron, however, did. He froze, his heartbeat quickening. "Did you guys hear that?"
"Hear what?" Olivia asked, barely turning around, already engrossed in her exploration of the next room. "Aaron, you've got to stop letting your imagination run wild."
Aaron glanced back again, still hearing the faint chain-like sound. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was following them. He quickened his pace to catch up with the others.
Inside the next room, Jessica stood at the center, grinning. "Look at this creepy doll!" she called out. A small, burnt doll sat in the middle of the room, its face charred black and its eyes missing. "This thing must be part of the whole scare setup, right? It's kind of lame."
Sam moved closer and nudged the doll with his foot. "It's just a prop. They're trying too hard with this stuff."
Aaron grimaced. "Maybe we shouldn't touch it. You know how these places work—touch the wrong thing and you might trigger some kind of event."
Jessica rolled her eyes, picking up the doll. "Seriously, Aaron, you're way too paranoid." She glanced at the doll's face, noticing the melted plastic and tattered clothes. "Still... it is pretty creepy."
Sam, meanwhile, examined the doll more closely, finding a zipper along its back. "Let's see what's inside," he said, unzipping it. As he pulled the zipper down, bits of shredded paper tumbled out, littering the floor.
"What the hell?" Mike picked up a piece of the paper, squinting at the scrawled writing on it. "It says, 'You will all die.'"
The air seemed to grow colder as they stood there. Jessica frowned, her bravado faltering for just a moment. "Okay... not funny. That's just part of the act, right?"
Olivia laughed nervously, but her voice lacked confidence. "Yeah, totally. It's just part of the experience."
Aaron could barely breathe. His gut told him they needed to leave now. He shifted uneasily by the door, watching as they continued to dig through the paper.
Suddenly, Jessica stopped, holding up another scrap of paper. "Wait, there's more." She squinted, reading aloud: "I know someone's hiding in this house. I don't know if they're under my bed or in the closet, but they're watching. I told my parents and my sister, but they're too distracted to care. Tonight, my dad checked all the doors and windows before going to sleep. I don't know what they're scared of, but I'm sure someone's hiding in my room..."
Jessica's voice trailed off as the realization of what she had just read sank in. Sam snorted, brushing it off. "Come on, it's just another scare tactic."
"I don't like this," Olivia whispered, stepping back from the group. "Can we just go to the next room?"
Aaron nodded, backing out of the room with them. He couldn't stop glancing at the walls, his senses on high alert. That sound of chains... it was getting closer.
Mike tried to lighten the mood. "Come on, everyone. Let's keep going. We've only been in here for ten minutes, and nothing's happened. We'll find the exit and laugh about this later."
But Aaron couldn't shake his fear. "We need to stick together. Something's following us—I'm serious."
Mike laughed and patted Aaron on the back. "Man, you're really letting this place get to you. There's no such thing as haunted houses. These sounds are just props, controlled by the staff. It's all fake."
Aaron opened his mouth to argue, but then they all froze. The clinking of chains was unmistakable now, and it was coming from right behind them.
"That's not part of the setup," Jessica whispered, her eyes wide as she turned toward the sound.
Mike scoffed. "It's one of the actors. Relax."
"No," Aaron insisted, his voice barely above a whisper. "That's not a person."
Suddenly, Mike's phone rang, startling everyone. He pulled it out, holding it up to record a video. "Let's document this, guys. We'll show everyone how lame this place really is."
But as he framed the group in his shot, his hand began to tremble. Something wasn't right. He counted seven people in the shot, but including himself, there were eight figures in the frame.
"Wait... what?" His voice cracked, and the phone slipped from his hands, crashing to the floor.
Jessica stepped forward. "Mike? What is it?"
He didn't respond. His eyes darted between the group and the hallway behind them. "Guys... we're not alone."
The group fell silent, and that's when they all heard it. The chains weren't just a sound effect—they were real. And they were getting closer.