>_____<;;

Victoria pulled the tape free from the box she had emptied out. At least she had unpacked half of her things. She turned to look at the dusty room and decided she would dust it out in the early morning, but now she was so ready to call it a day. Walking over to another box she pulled the flaps apart and searched for her night gown. After changing she turned the lamp off and climbed into bed. Her last thought before falling asleep was how much she hated the house.

It was around 1 in the morning when she awoke. Only half an hour had gone by since she’d closed her eyes. Slowly sitting up in bed Victoria stared out into the dark hallway from the crack underneath her door. No one should be up at this time and she was certain that Chorong had turned the lights out when she left. Namjoo wouldn’t be dumb enough to try to sneak out at her age either. But Victoria’s heart was thumping fearfully.

There were footsteps quietly tiptoeing down the hallway, at least that’s what it sounded like to Victoria.

“Hello?” Victoria called out. “Chorong? Is that you?”

Silence.

Victoria blinked her eyes, convinced herself to take a deep breath, and told herself it was nothing. Still feeling paranoid she pulled her blanket over her some more and tried to close her eyes before they shot open again.

There it was again.

Footsteps.

Slowly creaking down the hallway as if in secrecy.

The door downstairs should be locked; no one should be able to get in. Victoria pressed her lips together and sat up again. She was feeling very disturbed.

“Stupid Chorong and her stupid ghosts,” Victoria muttered angry, yet scared.

Gulping she searched for a weapon, any weapon just in case it was a thief in the house. She reached for her phone and searched for the flashlight app she had downloaded a few months ago, but never used. Victoria never thought it would come in handy as much as now.

“It’s nothing, you’re just hearing stuff,” Victoria whispered to herself, “but I’ll just go check in case.”

The last thing she ever wanted was to be murdered in her own home. Gripping tightly onto the little hair straightener she’d decided as a weapon she crept toward the door as quietly as possible. Fear was gripping at and her heart was pulsating so fast. Victoria had never had to deal with any bad guys before and she was hoping tonight’s intruder wasn’t going to be the first, but if it was she hoped it would be the last.

Her hand shook vividly as she reached for the brass doorknob. She couldn’t help, but pause halfway out of horror that she might really have to fend off an intruder.

“You can do this, you can,” Victoria whispered to herself.

Clearing and pulling herself together she suddenly grabbed the doorknob and yanked the door open. Victoria immediately flashed the flashlight back and forth down the hallway.

Nothing.

No one.

“Dark, empty hallway,” Victoria breathed a sigh of relief, “ok.” She nodded and said to herself, “It was nothing. You were just hearing things, stupid.”

Victoria stepped back into her room and just about closed the door when she heard footsteps again. Halting at once she held her breath consumed by more fear than ever. It suddenly hit her that there might really be something in the house or how else could she explain that gust of wind when she entered the home?

If Chorong was right about the ghost she was so going to kill her.

Victoria shut her eyes to ready herself again and swung open her door. A loud scream escaped her and doubled in the hallway with another voice when her flashlight landed on a pale face. They both screamed for about half a minute until Victoria slowly recognized the ghost as Chorong, who was just peeking her head out the doorway.

“Urgh…what the hell are you doing!?” Victoria screamed as she stomped out into the hallway and shook her sister angry from being so easily terrified.

“What the hell are you doing!?” Chorong shot the question back.

Victoria withdrew her hand hastily and wiped them against her sweats as if she’d dirtied them. Actually she was just embarrassed to admit that she’d been so easily scared out of her mind she’d taken it out on Chorong.

“Geez,” Chorong muttered then glanced around. “Was that you creeping around in the hallway?”

“Me!?” Victoria asked offended. “Do you think I’d…” she stopped midway and glanced around suddenly realizing she was standing in the middle of the dark hallway. Victoria quickly jumped to Chorong’s side and grabbed her arm tightly, “Oh …the hell that wasn’t me.”

“What!” Chorong declared. “If it wasn’t you, then who was it!?”

“Do you think I’d be out here if I knew!?” Victoria whispered frightened.

Chorong shot her a quiet glare before the two turned to look back and forth down the short hallway. Victoria flashed her light around. It was completely empty.

“You think it was Namjoo?” Victoria asked.

“The heck would she be doing walking around in the middle of the night?” Chorong asked.

Victoria shrugged, “Sneaking out?”

“At this hour?” Chorong asked baffled then shook her head. Her brown locks shook against her shoulder as she did so. “I don’t think so. And why are you always bad labeling her?”

“I am not!” Victoria defended.

They turned away from each other when another quiet footstep landed against the floor. Victoria turned her hallway before shoving it to her right when a door opened. Screams shot out of her and Chorong’s mouths horrified when they saw a woman with short hair standing outside of the bathroom.

“What are you two doing?” Namjoo frowned at them clutching onto her towel.

“I swear I’m going to get a heart attack because of you two,” Victoria grumbled glaring at Chorong before turning to Namjoo, who flinched from the bright white light coming from Victoria’s phone.

“What heck!?” Namjoo asked shooting her arm up to cover her eyes in case she got blinded.

“Put that down!” Chorong scolded pushing Victoria’s hand away and almost stomped forward before shifting back beside Victoria. “What the heck are you doing?”

Namjoo widened her eyes as if stupefied by the question before holding out her hands matter-of-factly, “Uh…taking a shower?”

“This late!?” Victoria raised her voice.

“Well I had to do something about the pictures you supposedly didn’t want to see!” Namjoo shot back.

Victoria almost lurched forward to attack her younger sister, but Chorong held her back.

“Now’s not the time for that,” Chorong hissed before turning back to their younger sister, “was that you walking around?”

“What?” Namjoo declared lost.

“Don’t play stupid!” Victoria was about to lose her patience.

“The hell is wrong with you!?” Namjoo shifted her head to stare at Victoria. “What? You want to start a fight? Well I’m not scared of you anymore!”

Victoria almost stomped forward again, but Chorong held her back. “Namjoo!”

“I was in the bathroom, how could I be sneaking around in the freaking hallway while I’m in the shower!?” Namjoo raised her voice into a yell. “You two are just being stupidly paranoid!” then she muttered, “What retards.”

“Hey! Watch your mouth!” Victoria warned.

Namjoo turned to her with a harsh glare, but it disappeared from her face half a second later when they heard footsteps pacing around at a much quicker pace. Victoria felt her breath quicken. Chorong waved her hand out as Namjoo ran toward them. The three huddled together in utmost fear as their eyes swept back and forth down the hallway.

“I told you it wasn’t me!” Namjoo hissed at them.

“Just shut up!” Victoria hissed back.

“Would you two stop fighting!?” Chorong glanced from one to the other. “Who the hell is there? Do you see anyone?”

“No, do you?” Victoria whispered.

Chorong shook her head as Namjoo squeezed even closer.

“This wouldn’t be happening if you haven’t mentioned about a ghost in the first place!” Victoria put the blame on Chorong.

“Yea, it’s all your fault!” Namjoo turned to stare at Chorong.

“Excuse me?!” Chorong almost pulled away surprised by the sudden accusations then pointed at herself appalled. “Me!? You think I brought a ghost in by mentioning one? Whoa, clear your heads people. I don’t summon ghosts.”

“It wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t said anything about it in the first place,” Namjoo pouted.

“And I would be sleeping,” Victoria groaned.

Chorong snorted, “Fine! It was my fault! I brought this ghost, so can you two let go of me!?”

Victoria and Namjoo stared at her with dark frowns. Chorong turned away to face the front and rolled her eyes. Sometimes she really despised being in the middle.

Footsteps creaked again stealing their attention from each other. The three silenced and Chorong felt their grips tighten on her. She was suddenly glad she was in the middle. It was a comfort that both sisters had grabbed onto her. A dim white glow suddenly appeared at the end of the hallway starting from the stairs and slowly brightened as it neared. The three sisters screamed horrified and Victoria dropped the weapon she’d come out of her room with. It landed on her toe causing her to scream even harder.

“Girls, girls, girls,” a familiar voice tried to calm them down.

“Grandma?” Namjoo asked before looking around. “Help me! Oh my god, she’s going to come take me! Mom!”

Victoria listened to her cry into the night and sob childishly before her eyes widened. As the figure appeared closer she recognized none other than a transparent old woman in the clothes they’d buried grandma in.

“Oh my god…” Victoria stammered in bewilderment. “Grandma!?”

That certainly shut Chorong up before she clamped her hand over Namjoo’s mouth. Their younger sister quieted right away before she started shrieking again at the sight of their dead grandma.

“Shh!” Victoria turned to glare at Namjoo before the hallway lights suddenly . Victoria’s eyes widened and she stared around. “Did you do that?”

“Not me.” Chorong shook her head before turning to stare down the end of the hallway where the light switch was.

“I would be guilty of that,” their grandma raised her right hand up.

Victoria dropped her phone on the floor and stepped back only to feel her back crash against the sunny yellow wall. A slight gasp whished through her.

“What are you…”

“Checking up on you girls,” their grandma smiled, the deep lines on her face became emphasized by the curve of her lips.

Chorong turned to Victoria with eyes of sarcasm, “We’re not going to be locked in a hospital, are we?”

Victoria raised her eyebrows.

“Well hello! A ghost is speaking to us! Unless we’ve gone crazy, this can’t really be happening!” Chorong shook her head.

Victoria turned her stare from Chorong to their grandma. “Would you care to tell us what’s going on…uh…”

“This is a dream, a bad dream,” Namjoo closed her eyes and whispered to herself, but when she opened them again she saw her grandma. “Oh my god, I’m gonna die!”

“Dear, dear, calm down,” her grandma smiled patiently. “When you wake up in the morning, you’ll feel all better.”

“I’m going to be a corpse by morning!”

“Namjoo!” Victoria scolded.

“There is something the three of you must know,” their grandma explained, “I need the three of you to listen to me.” She ran her eyes over each of them. Victoria felt her heart race. “You’re going to be in danger real soon. I need you to awaken the powers I’ve taken from your mother and placed inside you in order to protect yourselves.”

“Wait, wait, wait…excuse me?” Chorong shook her head with a frown. “What…from mom?”

“They’re going to be after the support gems you were born with, as soon as it’s taken from you, you’re dead,” their grandma explained, “but if you tap into your power now, the stronger you become, the more difficult it’ll be for them to take the gem from you.”

“Hold up!” Victoria raised her hand. “What are you talking about!?”

“Support gems are in other words, your soul. Once you can connect with your gems, you can protect yourself and your sisters,” their grandma told with a nod of her head, “all of you were born with a gift meant for goodness, to help others, and to help yourselves. You were born with these gifts for a reason, don’t deny it. Don’t lose it to the evil.”

A confused expression crossed Victoria’s face, “Ok…” she said almost sarcastically, “and how the heck are we supposed to tap into these so called ‘gems?’”

“You already did,” their grandma smiled elegantly, proudly.

A frown crossed her face.

“Once your emotions are deep enough with fear, anger, or sadness, can you then tap into your gems,” their grandma continued.

“Wait, wait,” Chorong broke in, “you said something about mom.”

“Your mom…couldn’t contain these powers,” their grandma sounded sad, almost guilty before she sort of lowered her head. “It was sort of my fault, but lets not get into that now. I need you to get your powers before you’re attacked.”

“Attacked by who!?” Chorong asked flustered. “By what?! Thieves? Robbers? Homeless people?”

“Chorong,” her grandma looked at her seriously, which caused her to drop the sarcasm in her expression. “I know this sounds unbelievable, but you will understand what you’re supposed to do in due time. You will be fine. I believe in you three. I believe the three of you will learn to believe in each other. You just didn’t come from the same mother, you share blood, you’re sisters. You need to stay together; you’re stronger as three than by yourself.”

Her three granddaughters each turned to look away from each other.

Their grandma heaved a sigh before clasping her hands, “I need to go now. Victoria, as the oldest, I know you’ll be able to guide your sisters.” Then she turned to Chorong, whose expression was conflicted, “Please protect your sisters, Chorong, help them understand each other. I know you can do it.” Then she turned to Namjoo, “Do listen to your sisters, they love you more than you think they do. You’ve grown up so well.” A proud smile full of affection and love overcame their grandma’s face, “I love you. Don’t forget my words. Goodbye girls.”

With uttering a farewell back they each stared in their own direction as grandma disappeared. Tears sparkled in Namjoo’s eyes, but she refused to let them fall.

“What the hell was that?” Chorong asked, her hands dropping to her sides. She turned to her sisters wide eyed. “I cannot believe what just happened.”

Victoria watched as her sister pushed the door to her room open and grabbed the suitcase she’d come into the house with. Chorong shoved the cover open and started to pull open the only drawer in her room. She grabbed her clothes and began to messily stuff them back into the suitcase.

“Whoa! Where do you think you’re going?!” Victoria walked in after her.

“Back to my home!” Chorong mumbled. “I’m not staying here. Not unless you want to see me in a mental institute, because I do not believe what I just saw!”

“You are not going anywhere!” Victoria reached down for her clothes and shoved them back into the dresser.

“Victoria!” Chorong bellowed.

“No!” Victoria raised her voice. “You’re staying in this house.” She hardened her stare. “Until I leave, can you.”

With that she turned around to walk out slightly shoving Namjoo out of the way as she did so. Whatever had just happened tonight she would make better sense of in the morning. She swore her heart on it.