Brave Grave

Chapter twenty-one

The streets of Cedarmills flood with people of all ages dressed up in costumes waiting for the Halloween Decoration contest to begin. Not many people participated this year so it wasn't going to last as long as it would have years ago.

Arden, Lucas, and Marcus walk on the sidewalk with their candy sacks in hand. They didn't dress up this year, but they still decided to participate in trick or treating just for the fun of it.

"So, your mom knows about the game?" Marcus says as he chews on a piece of taffy.

"Yeah, I think Mr. Micheals told her. He was the only other person to know besides us."

"Did she say anything else to you?"

"No, she just asked me if I played it and I told her that I did. That was it. She just sat in silence and didn't say anything else to me about it." Arden replies as he skips the cracks of the sidewalk and silently counts out his steps in each square.

They finally made it to the next house on the street. It was old and dilapidated.

"Let's just skip this house. It looks creepy." Marcus says with a shiver going down his spine.

"Seriously? It's Halloween, we are supposed to do shit that scares us." Lucas utters.

Arden drops his sack and stops in place, gazing at the house in a blank stare.

"Arden?" Marcus knits his brows at the sight and tried to get his attention. He didn't budge.

"Dude, we know you can hear us." Arden stayed frozen once again.

"What the fuck is happening?"

"Arden?!" Lucas raises his tone. "Snap out of it!"

Arden finally snaps out of his trance, finding his friends staring at him in confusion.

"This is his house." Arden says softly. "Gregory's."

"How do you know that?"

"I saw it in a vision. I saw him standing on the porch with his dad, Mr. Micheals." Arden makes his way over to the stairs. Before he could go any further, Marcus grabs his shoulder.

"Dude, are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Just let him go Marcus." Lucas says.

Arden makes his way up the stairs towards the door. He reaches out his hand to open it, but the door slowly creaked open by itself.

Arden takes a deep breath and slowly walks inside of the dark house. The boards underneath his feet creaked with every step he took.

"Couldn't be me." Marcus says quietly while watching Arden disappear into the darkness.

"I'm going in." Lucas says while making his way toward the stairs.

"What? Are you crazy?"

"We can't just let him go inside by himself. What if he starts seeing stuff again and he actually gets hurt or something?"

"Fine." Marcus sighs in distress and follows Lucas to the door. When they entered the house, the door slams shut behind them leaving them in pure darkness.

"No!" Lucas and Marcus scream together and bang on the door in terror. "It's locked." Lucas replies as he tugs and twists the knob.

"I told you this wasn't a good idea! I told you!" Marcus screams.

"Shut up! We have to find Arden."

"How are we going to find him in the dark?"

"I have a flashlight on my phone genius." Lucas switches on his flashlight and shines it in the direction that he walked.

"Call someone so they can get us out of here!" Marcus says clenching his jaw.

"Once we find Arden, I will. Chill out dude."

A sudden banging noise occurs within the house.

"Did you hear that?"

"Arden?" Lucas shouts, hoping he would answer back... he didn't.

"Maybe he's in there." Lucas shines his light on a door that was already open.

Slowly, they open the door and walk inside of the bedroom finding no sign of Arden.

"Check the closet." Marcus says holding his mouth anxiously.

Lucas reaches for the door handle and opens it. Arden was standing inside, facing the wall.

"Arden, lets get out of here." Marcus says with a shaky voice.

Arden didn't answer them. He continued to face the wall and stand completely still. He raises his hand and scratches the wall in front of him with his nails.

The boys slowly back away from him in fear as the light shined on Arden's backside.

Arden's fingers began to bleed from how hard he was scratching the wall. With his own blood, he drew a gigantic V on the wall.

"That was on the casket." Lucas says with his eyes wide in terror.

"What does the V stand for again?" Marcus replies while barely being able to breathe.

The flashlight began to flicker. On the fourth flick, darkness consumes the room entirely.

"Venora." A scratchy voice quietly growls from across the room.

"Turn it on!" Marcus screams to the top of his lungs.

"I can't, it won't turn on!" Lucas beats the back of his phone hoping it would power back on.

The room grew completely silent. The only sound present was the sound of Marcus and Lucas's breathing quiver in fright.

Suddenly, Lucas's phone powers back on. He immediately turns on the flashlight and points it at the closet.

Arden was no where to be found...