Haunting

“I’m telling you, horror movies just aren’t scary anymore!” I say, giggling as we walk in through the door.

“Come on, you can’t tell me that there weren’t a couple jump scares in there that got you.” My friend Lizzy argues. “I know for a fact I felt you jump.”

I sigh, “Yeah, there were a couple scenes that got the jump scare factor, but a scary movie has to be more than just loud noises in quiet moments to make you jump. There has to be an air of creepy throughout the whole thing and movies nowadays just don’t have that.”

Lizzy rolls her eyes at me, “You think about these things too much.”

“I just like my movies to be good.” I point out.

She shakes her head, and then she takes off her jacket, throwing it on the couch, before going to the fridge. I take her coat from the couch and hang it up, like usual, and then take off and hang up my own coat. I’m about to sit down on the couch to turn on the TV when Lizzy gasps.

“What is it?” I ask her, walking over to the fridge.

She backs away from it, hand covering her mouth, and I look inside with curiosity. What I find is a fridge full of rotten food. The pungent smell makes itself clearer now and I cover my mouth and nose as well. I close the fridge door in disgust and turn to Lizzy with confusion in my eyes.

“Well that’s… odd.” I say.

“Odd? Abby, food doesn’t go bad within the span of an hour-and-a-half movie.” She points out.

I nod, feeling a little uneasy. And then I look around the rest of the house. All the food on the counter is rotten as well. And for the first time I see the stack of wooden chairs in the living room.

“Has that always been there?” I ask as I walk toward the chairs.

“I didn’t notice them when we walked in.” Lizzy admits.

I take a moment to look at everything. And then I feel even more uneasy. There’s something wrong in this house, somethings changed. A chill runs down my spine and I gulp down the first signs of fear rising in my stomach.

“Does something seem… off to you?” I ask her.

“Besides the stacked chairs – do we even own this many wooden chairs? and the rotten food, no, Abby, nothing feels off.” Lizzy says sarcastically, crossing her arms.

I look at everything more carefully now, focusing on the tiniest details. After a moment it hits me.

“Everything’s out of place.” I say.

“What do you mean?” She asks, looking around herself.

“I mean, nothing is where it’s supposed to be. It’s all shifted to the left, don’t you see it?” I can notice it perfectly now, everything just an inch to the left and it’s driving my mind mad.

“Ah.” She says after a moment, “I see it now.”

“Is this a prank, do you think?” I ask, turning to look at her because I can’t look at all the messed up furniture anymore.

“You think someone broke into our house and moved all the furniture slightly to the left and replaced all our food with rotting ones?” Lizzy asks, then thinks about it, “Actually that does sound like something Brayden would do…”

I shrug. I leave the room to go check the windows and after exploring our two bedrooms and the bathroom I find nothing except for all the furniture in Lizzy’s room stacked on top of each other in a corner and all the clothes from my drawers taken out and hung from the ceiling. I walk back to Lizzy with confusion.

“I don’t think anyone broke in.” I tell her.

“Then how did they do this?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Someone had to have broken in.” She says.

I shake my head, “All the windows are locked.”

“Was the door locked when we came home?” She walks over to the door, opening it to determine if she can find any sign of a break-in.

“I used my keys to unlock it when we got here.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive.”

She closes the door, and then looks around the house. I can feel her unease mirrored in my own body. Lizzy folds her arms around herself now, feeling the chill that has made its way into our home. We stand in silence, that odd feeling drifting over us. It’s strange, yes, but there has to be a logical explanation.

“Do you think-”

“We’re not being haunted.” I cut her off.

She closes her mouth and eyes me out of her peripheral. “I’m just saying.”

“Ghosts aren’t real.” I state, more so for myself than her, because I know she believes in the supernatural and right about now I’m starting to as well.

“Should we call someone?” She asks.

I can’t stop the smirk that comes to my lips, “Who’re we gonna call?”

She rolls her eyes at me again, “That’s not what I mean.”

“I think at the very least we should leave.” I decide, grabbing my coat and throwing hers at her, “I don’t want to be those stupid people in horror movies that stays at home while weird things happen around them.”

“I agree.” She says, and pulls her coat on.

She follows close behind as I head to the door. When I open it I’m not expecting anything to jump out at me, but that’s exactly what happens. I can’t stop the scream that escapes my lips, my body jumping backward in an attempt to distance myself from the thing in front of me. But my fear is short lived after I realize that there is no danger at all.

There’s a man in a suit with one of those costume wolf heads on. And I’m ashamed to say I know him.

Brayden takes off the mask and laughs, Lizzy laughing along with him, and I glare at the both of them.

“Jerks.” I mumble, continuing on my way out of the apartment.