Inside 863

Chapter 12 | 2/9/2021

I sprinted down the halls of Red Base. I shouldn't have agreed to this, I thought. I should've listened to DJ. As I ran, I tripped over seemingly nothing. I saved the camera I was holding instead of my face as I hit the hard, wooden floor. I tried to scramble to my feet and run, but it was too late. Fear flooded the entirety of me as I heard a sound like a gale coming towards me from behind. A ghostly shriek rang in my ears as a biting cold feeling came over me. It was too dark to tell for sure, but I swear there was a choking mist surrounding me. This was a baaad idea, I thought.

Earlier that day, Carey, Jared, Dakota, DJ, Aiden, and I had been in a heated argument about if Hi5 was haunted or not.

"Ghosts aren't real. Hi5 can't be haunted," Jared claimed.

"I dunno, dude," said Aiden. "What about those ghost videos? Are you saying that was fake?"

"Yes, yes I am," said Jared. "Matthias is a smart man and a stunt like that is something he is totally capable of."

"Yeah, Jared's right," I agreed with the unagreeable man. Carey, who was on the other side of the argument, dared, "Well, if you really think there are no ghosts at Hi5, then I dare you to stay here overnight and find out."

"Me?" I asked.

"You," Carey confirmed.

"Fine, I will. And I'll prove to you there are absolutely zero ghosts at Hi5," I said confidently.

"I don't think this is a good idea, Payten," warned DJ. "What if there are ghosts?"

"The point is that I'm proving there aren't. I'll even record it so you guys can see," I said.

"Matt can't know you're staying here overnight," Dakota pointed out.

"I'll just stay until twelve then leave," I said.

"Then the alarm will go off. And you have to stay until at least four since that's when the witching hour is," Carey declared.

"Fine. When everyone else is leaving today, I'll hide under some stairs or something. I'll stay overnight, then around when people start coming in again, I'll come out and no one will ever know," I plotted.

"So, it's a deal?" Carey questioned, her eyes narrowed at me. I looked to Dakota, who shook his head furiously. Oh, come on. What's the worst that could happen? I asked myself.

"Deal," I concluded, ignoring Dakota. "I'll see you tomorrow morning at eight." Dakota didn't understand that I couldn't look weak in front of Carey.
Tonight, Carey would see that Payten Holloway should be treated with the utmost respect.

Now, I lay trembling on the floor like a coward. The mist had passed, and now all was silent at Hi5. I couldn't bring myself to get up, or even move at all. I fell in and out of a tormented sleep for the rest of my twenty-four hours at Hi5. I startled awake when I heard the door to Red Base open from just around the corner. As fast as I could without making any noise, I crawled away to somewhere where I could hide, half-blind since I had just woken up. I took the staircase that was located where whoever had walked in just now was not. I hid under my desk in my office and waited for Dakota or Carey. A few minutes later, Carey opened the door to our office. I crawled out from underneath my desk, startling her.

"Payten!" she squealed. Wow. Did she really just call me by my first name? And YES! I scared her, I thought.

"How'd it go?" she asked. I wasn't sure how to answer. Should I admit I was wrong? If I did, Jared would be wrong too, so maybe she wouldn't say "I told you so."

"Well...." I started, then gasped. Frantically, I searched around the office for the camera, but it was nowhere to be found.

"What is it?" Carey prodded.