At the beginning of exam time it was promptly decided that Jinki, being the oldest, would get the quiet room in the basement of the house for studying. But only because he made it clear that he would be pulling all-nighters fueled by coffee and sugary treats.

Of course, the fact that his room mate Key demanded that he get at least 8 hours and 45 minutes of sleep a night didn’t hurt his case when he petitioned the others (or rather begged on bended knee) for the use of the basement room.

Minho had grumbled before Taemin whispered something in his ear and the two ran out of the house giggling.

Jonghyun didn’t care who had the room. He wasn’t going to be around anyways, Woo Bin always threw the best parties during exam times.

So Jinki had the best room in the house to study, quiet with no distractions, he set to work. His first pot of coffee sat next to him on his mini coffee maker. A bowl of clementines sat on the self in front of him, waiting to be used as a quick ‘pick me up’ when he needed it.

And so he sat for hours, reading his notes and skimming through textbooks. It was nearing 2 am when he realized that he had left a very important USB drive on his bed. He sighed dramatically before muttering darkly under his breath he rose from his chair, stretched his arms high in the sky.

Shuffling up the stairs he moved through the dark house, trying to avoid bumping into anything and failing. Floor boards creaked as he moved through the house in the pitch black. No one had turned any lights on before they disappeared for the night and Key certainly didn’t care since he was out for the count.

At least this time he didn’t fall backwards down the stairs. He called it a success that he only knocked over the chair in the hall just outside his his room. Although if he woke Key nothing would be considered a success.

Turning the handle as carefully as he could, he opened it just enough to slip inside. If he opened the door all the way it would creak loudly, causing his light sleeping roommate to wake.

A strange smell seemed to permeate the air as he blinked a couple times to try and adjust to the complete blackness. It seemed even deeper in here than the rest of the house. Frowning as goosebumps popped up on his arms.

There was a strange feeling of malice in the air and he shivered. His brain must have been playing tricks on him from his all-nighters and his over indulgence of caffeine but he could have swore there was a malevolent gaze fixed on him.

Key’s heavy breathing came from the other side of the room. He had chosen the far side knowing Jinki’s late night study habits. His breathing sounded heavier than normal, almost like he was getting a cold.

Sighing, Jinki thought about what hell his life was going to be with a sick Key.

He bypassed the light switch after mumbling to himself on the merits of risking waking Key verses taking forever to find his flash drive. He decided that he valued his life more so he left the light be.

Fumbling along the wall Jinki grumbled about roommates and their sleeping issues, until he bashed his knee into the wooden frame of his bed. Cursing under his breath, he rubbed his knee and ran his hand over his neatly made bed until it came in contact with the little USB he had suffered the dark for.

Fingers closing around it, Jinki withdrew his arm and crept back along the wall.

He paused momentarily, an odd drip-drip-drip sounding loudly in the silence. He thought that maintenance fixed the leaky sink in the bathroom. He’d call in the morning.

The eerie sense of being watched followed him until he was out the door and had it closed safely behind him.

Relief flooded his system, the nauseating feeling of being watched finally going away.

So he headed back downstairs to finish studying, calling it quits after his second pot of coffee, around 5 am. His exam wasn’t until 10 so he was happy to be able to grab a couple hours rest before he had to grab the bus for school.

Like before, he chose to navigate the darkness instead of turning on the light, even though he knew Key would be getting up in an hour or so anyways. He set the alarm on his phone to go off at 8.

The strange smell was still in the air when he slipped back into his room and into bed, falling face first onto the covers without bothering to undress. He passed out almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

His last thought was about how he had to talk to Key about spraying weird things around the room before going to bed.

The sun was just starting to shine around the edges of the blinds when the alarm on Jinki’s phone went off. Grumbling about the lack of sleep he caused himself, Jinki rubbed his eyes and sat up.

“Key, whatever the hell you sprayed is really starting to bug me.” He grumbled at his friend. “Honestly it smells like death.”

Blinking twice Jinki stared unseeing at the scene that met him. It took an eternity, or so it felt, for Jinki’s brain to catch up with what he saw.

Red.

The entirety of Key’s side of the room was splashed with red, red so dark it looked black in places.

And in the midst of it all, laying spread-eagled on his bed was Key. His throat was cut, the line extended from pierced ear to pierced ear. His skin was even paler than normal and appeared almost transparent.

Blood ran down the wall behind his bed, some unseen pattern Jinki couldn’t process straight away. His eyes could only see the blood saturated blanket and hear the steady drip-drip of blood onto the floor.

It hadn’t been a faucet leaking last night, Jinki realized in horror, his roommate had been dripping blood when he came in for his USB. Dripping blood only feet away from him.

The sound of someone screaming suddenly registered in his ears, desperate, horrifying screams that seemed to tear the very soul of the crier. Even as he realized it was him, he couldn’t stop the sound from coming.

Footsteps sounded up and down the hall as doors banged and slammed as his friends and housemates ran towards his gut-wrenching screams.  

Within moments, Jonghyun, Minho and Taemin stood in the doorway staring at the sight in front of them. Taemin cried out and Minho quickly grabbed him and forced his head to the taller boy’s chest, hiding the sight from view.

Jonghyun whimpered as he read the writing on the wall out loud. Taemin sobbed into Minho’s chest.

Jinki’s eyes rolled back in head head as the pattern on the wall shifted into something more recognizable.

Scrawled on the wall, written in Key’s blood, were the words, “Aren’t you glad you didn’t turn on the light?”

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Of course, what halloween horror countdown would be complete without this classic urban legend!

It's probably one of my favs, creeps me out something awful everytime I read it, but its just so good that I can't help but read it everytime I come across it.

Do you guys have a favourite ghost/ spooky story?

Comments, questions, suggestions? Everything is welcome!

Loves Kat