Dancing with the Dead ✔

Chapter Nine - Three Ghosts and a Lady with a Pan

What were you thinking? What can a freaking pan possibly do? There was a knife right in front of you and you took a freaking pan?

It's not just a pan. It's a frying pan! I'm sure it can knock a grown man unconscious. Or at least I hope so. Besides, the knife was a foot away. This pan, however, was within arm's reach.

Sure. Continue telling yourself that.

I let out a long sigh. As much as I hate to admit it, Evil Me is right. I should've taken the knife instead of this stupid pan. I can only blame my bad reflex for this.

But, regretting the stuff that already happened won't save me. There is no more time to go out and take the knife. If I make any move right now, there's a chance whoever is out there might hear me. The only thing I can do is wait, hope that whoever out there won't enter this room, and hold on tight to this pan.

I tighten my clasp on the pan as my hands begin to tremble. I can hear my own breathing keeps getting faster as I close my eyes, wishing this nightmare to be over soon. A nightmare in the house on the haunted hill. All this time I've always wanted to star in a horror movie, though it would be fun. As it turns out, it's not so fun anymore when you're the lead, is it?

Well, at least this island can hide me from that man. I hope.

"Uhm, Miss?" I turn my head towards the little girl sitting beside me.

"What are we doing here?" Jude says, tilting his head a bit with confusion filling his face.

"Uhmm..." I ponder my thoughts for the right words to say. "We're playing hide and seek! See, this is my hiding place, you two should find one for yourselves, and John will come and find us," I whisper.

"Ooh! We love playing hide and seek!" June says before storming off to God-knows-where.

"June, wait up for me!" Jude's voice trails off as he follows his sister.

"Let's hide in the woods!" June's voice can be vaguely heard.

I breathe a sigh of relief. At this point, it's better to get rid of them for a while before their questions cause me to accidentally blurt and alert the man outside.

Meanwhile, I can't help but wonder who might visit this house. The fact that the whole town is too afraid to step foot in here leaves me with three possibilities. One, some crazy teenagers looking for a dare, which seems harmless; two, the owner of this mansion, who probably will get me in trouble for trespassing; three, the boogeyman.

That last one will probably be the death of me.

I can't see the door from here since the rest of the island is blocking my view. It's been 2 minutes and 35 seconds since I hide here and the squeaking sound of the person's shoes is still far away. Thinking they might not choose this room as their destination, I decide to peek slightly to the door. The door is still closed, but my eyes widen as I notice something else.

Fresh traces of my muddy footsteps clearly stand out among the thick dust on the floor. I retract myself underneath the island immediately after seeing the evidence I left. I glance at the bottom of my sneakers, only realizing how they are filled with mud caused by my long walk in the woods.

Shit!

I close my eyes and lean against the island, trying to calm myself to no avail. Death, huh? Even though my life was crappy before I came to Casa Nova, not once have I ever thought of death as an option. But what if this is it? What if I'm about to die in the hands of some unknown creature? Well, I guess there are worse ways to go. Eaten by piranhas is one.