It was nighttime at the Boys Dorm.
Kim sat in the dark, waiting for the light outside his room to go out. He heard sounds of footsteps in the hall.
And.... flick!
The lights were off. Finally! He thought Mr. Brosham would never go to sleep.
He scrambled over to Harlan, waiting in the dark with him. He pulled a flashlight from his jacket pocket and turned it on, pointing it at the map between them. Harlan adjusted his glasses to get a better look.
"Okay," Kim said, "So here's the plan: If we follow this forest trail down, we should get to the Manor. There we explore the place and when we come upon creepy ghosts and monsters and stuff, you record them... don't forget your camera. And if need be, I bash them. Sound good?"
Harlan sighed, ask Kim folded the map and shoved it in his jacket pocket.
"Not really" Harlan replied "I don't really believe in ghosts and don't wanna see them if they do. What if we get caught?"
"Don't be dumb, ghosts are real. Also, we're not gonna get caught. We'll be back in no time. Any other questions?"
"Yeah, the ghosts thing-"
"Great! Let's go!" said Kim.
He got up and grabbed the long rope they made by tying their bedsheets together. He opened the window and threw it out, where it unraveled and dangled near the grass. He checked if the other end was fastened around his bed frame.
"Start climbing down once I get to the ground" Kim said
He grabbed the sheet-rope, tugged it to make sure it was strong, and slowly climbed out of the window.
His knee bumped the window and it smashed into the wall.
Silence. Both of them were too afraid to make a move. They listened. Did anyone hear that? Did it wake anyone? Harlan looked at Kim, mouth covered eyes horrified. And Kim was too scared to even climb back inside. His arms were already starting to hurt.
He counted till thirty, before he even breathed.
It seemed like the coast was clear. He glanced at the window. Phew, it didn't break. He mimed Harlan to keep quiet and continued his climb down. It was harder than he thought, kicking against the wall with his shoes as he slowly made his way down. And once he was on the ground, he gestured Harlan to follow. Kim could barely see him in the dark.
Harlan took longer somehow, and he was panting by the time he was down.
"You're really out of shape huh?" asked Kim.
"I'm scared asshole. That was so loud!" Harlan whispered loudly, adjusting his glasses.
Kim shushed him "Dude, quiet! they're gonna hear us!"
"If they didn't hear your racket back there, there's no way they're gonna hear this!"
"Let's just go"
They took off towards an iron gate on the side of their little compound. If they just followed the forest trail down, they were gonna end up in the Haunted manor. They crossed the gate and walked into the forest, down the trail.
They pulled out their flashlights to light the trail.
"You can start recording Harlan" said Kim.
"Already?"
"Yep, our journey has begun"
They walked through the dark forest, with nothing but their flashlights. Ah, it's so spooky.
Kim heard and owl hoot in a nearby tree. Trees and bushes rustled in the cool nighttime breeze.
Time passed.
He checked his watch. Hmmm... They've been walking for fifteen minutes, they should've reached by now. And the forest seemed to be getting thicker. This was worrying... It should be fine. As long as they keep following the path, they should get to the manor.
Kim stopped and pulled out his map. He shined his flashlight on it. Hmmm... this is weird. They definitely should've gotten there by now.
"Anything wrong?" asked Harlan.
"Nah, nothing. Let's keep going" Kim replied
It was not nothing. But telling Harlan, would only make him worried.
As he moved forward, he noticed there was a bush in their path. He shined his flashlight on it. And it rustled.
They froze. The bush moved slowly, leaves shaking. He slowly moved forward with his flashlight. Harlan grabbed his armed, trying to pull him around. But what is in that bush. Could it be... a ghost?
He smacked the bush with his flashlight.
CAAAW!
A murder of crows flew out the bushes right at them.
The screamed, and ran away waving their hands around to chase away the birds. The group kept following them. He saw Harlan fall into a bush. He grabbed a fallen branch and swung at them, and it finally flew away.
He went to Harlan panting.
"It was just a crow, no need to be scared" said Kim, knees shaking.
"Yeah, right. You screamed as loudly as I did" said Harlan, climbing backward out of the bush.
"Let's just get this over with" said Harlan. "That was ominous as hell"
"It was just some crow, these ones probably just slept during the day"
Harlan grumbled something about being dumb, but he kept walking. They went on till they came to a clearing with moonlight spilling through, lighting their destination.
The Manor. Haunted and decrepit.
"Beautiful" said Kim. "Keep recording"