Kai was forced to admit that there were ghosts in the House. After Baekhyun, he began to see more of them. They drifted through the house, nearly looking human. Except humans don't glide through walls. The ghosts refued to be still or to be silenced. They were angry at Kai's presence, bitter and willing to show him that. They scratched it into the walls, poured blood over his mattress, screamed and shrieked in the night, anything they could think of to scare him.  

      Kai was in the House because he wanted to run away from the living. He decided he could stand the dead. So he cleaned up the messes, washed away the blood and the dirt, and started sleeping with ear plugs. 

      Eventually they gave up. So Kai began to live among the dead. 

       

 

      The first ghost that approached Kai was Chen. The ghosts had calmed down, content to just ignore him and do whatever they wanted. Kai hated it, but there wasn't much he could do. He tried to exorcise them, but it failed so badly that they didn't stop laughing at him for over a week. 

      "Honestly," Baekhyun had said. "People like you can't do stuff like that, you're better off getting a hobby or something."

      Kai didn't try it again and got used to being ignored. So when Chen glided up beside him he nearly fell down the stairs. The ghost laughed at him, resting against the bannister. He waved at the wall Kai was trying to paint. 

     "Nice," he said. "And hello."

     "Hello," Kai said, trying to think of something to say. What did someone talk to dead people about?

     "You're either brave or stupid," Chen said thoughtfully, seizing Kai up with his pale eyes. "I'm not sure which one yet."

     "Why am I brave?" Kai asked, returning to painting over the scratch marks the ghosts had left him. 

     "Cause you stayed here," Chen answered. He picked up a brush, half heartedly helping Kai. "We usually scare everyone off. The Old Man was the last one who stayed, we thought he'd be the last...." he glanced at him. "But here you are.I guess you're brave, cause most people who come here like you run away."

      Kai shrugged. I'm not brave. 

     Chen stayed around to 'help'. Kai thought he'd get bored and vanish into another part of the house, but the tall ghost didn't. He stuck around to talk. Kai supposed he was lonely. Chen chatted about little things, the weather, what he used to like, music, eventually Kai asked about how he died. 

       Kai thought Chen would get angry and attack. But he didn't. He talked about that to, calmly and logically like he was talking about what he ate for dinner last night. Chen had been a singer, a star. Or at least a trainee. One last audition for a boy group and he'd have debuted.

      "I was almost there," Chen said, his white eyes gleaming. Kai avoided looking at them. "I rocked it, totally made it into the group."

      "So what happened?" Kai asked. 

      "I died," Chen said bluntly. He turned around, tugging at his dark hair. Kai spotted a gaping, bloody wound buried in the hair. A flash of pinkish brown showed. His stomach started to ach, making him feel like he was going to throw up. That's his brain....Chen dropped his hand and turned around to shrug. 

     "Someone shoved me down the stairs," he said. "Another trainee. I hated him and he hated me too. Enough to shove me I guess. I don't think he was trying to kill me, just hurt my ankle or something like that. But I hit my head just right on the concrete step and -" he snapped his fingers in Kai's face. "Lights out for good."

      Horrible, Kai thought, rubbing his leg. His injuries had come from a car accident, a drunk driver and a red light. He hadn't been murdered, even accidently. Chen sighed, as if Kai had missed something obvious. He turned to float away just as a questioned occured to Kai. 

     "Why here?" he called out. "You died in Seoul, that's hours away from here. Why haunt this place?"

     Chen laughed and glided through the wall. "Who knows?" 

 

 

 

     

     After that the ghosts began to become more active. It was like Kai's interaction with Chen had signalled they too could interact with him. Kai began to see them roaming the house more, even venturing out into the garden. Never once did he see one go into the woods though. 

     Suho was the next to come. Kai had walked in on two ghosts arguing. He didn't think they knew he was there, so he grabbed his things and left. Kai forgot about it. They apparently didn't. The next morning every single stitch of clothing he had was scattered across the yard. Kai swore at them, running out in his pajamas to gather them up. They were soaking wet from the night's rainstorm, ripped up, torn in half, stained with who knows what. The ghosts watched him silently through the windows, as if they were expecting a certain reaction. When Kai began to pick the clothes up they left. 

       If they weren''t dead already I'd kill them....Kai growled to himself. 

      "They're like that," a soft voice said. Looking up, Kai saw Suho standing by him. He was relieved it was him. He'd seen the ghost before, drifting wearily through the House to meditate fights between the others. This was the first time he'd taken in interest in Kai though. 

     Kai held up a sock with some sticky substance (he didn't want to know what was) one it. "Really?" he asked. "Wouldn't have guessed."

     "They're trying to help," Suho said. "In the most messed up way possible I guess." He looked like he was going to say more, but he began to cough violently. Kai stood up, worried. Suho waved him away, reminding him he was dead. Suho began to pick up Kai's clothes from the muddy ground. 

     "The coughing doesn't hurt," Suho said. "It's just a reminder of when I was alive." The pale ghost stopped to look at the house. "I grew up here, with my grandfather. My parents had died and I was always sick with something. The lung cancer was what killed me in the end. Funny, I always thought it would be my heart."

       Kai didn't know how to respond to that, so he stayed silent. After picking up all the clothes, Suho spoke up again. 

     "I'm glad you're here, this House might not be the best place in the world, but it's nicer than some places. There's worse places to haunt."

       He vanished before Kai could ask him what he meant. Kai wasn't haunting anything, he was alive. Damn you ghosts, he thought. Damn you all. 

 

 

 

     After Suho gave his 'stamp of approval', the ghosts abandoned their hiding games and went on with their daily 'lives'. Kai was surprised by how normal most of what they did was. They didn't fight as much as he thought, instead playing games or just wandering through the big House. Baekhyun, who was his first ghost, talked to Kai the most. He was mostly sarcastic, never hanging around when Kai got too personal, but he did answer questions sometimes. 

     So he was the ghost to ask about Xiumin and Luhan. These two ghosts stood out to him. They were always together,drifting around while whispering to each other. Luhan was the tall one, blonde and vicious. Xiumin was smaller, petite with big eyes. He looked so breakable that Kai was kind of glad that Luhan was there to protect him.....then he saw Luhan actively defending Xiumin. 

     Sehun, a wild, nasty ghost, shoved a cigar into Xiumin's arm for laughs. Xiumin had shrieked. Baekhyun told Kai that if he wanted to see something amusing, he should stick around to watch. 

      Luhan came charging out of nowhere, furious over his friend's cries. He slammed Sehun into the wall, strangling him until the ghost passed out. 

    Luhan couldn't kill Sehun so he did the next best thing. 

    Sehun was buried under the House porch. Luhan dug a deep, deep grave and slung him into it, burying him quickly. He told Xiumin to stay in the House. He was 'dealing with the bastard'. Kai saw the other ghosts watching, but they didn't lift a finger. Suho rolled his eyes and left. Kris, the undeniable leader of the ghosts, shook his head and followed Suho. Two weeks later Sehun managed to dig himself out. He was still rude and picked on everyone, but Xiumin was spared most of his crap. 

     Kai asked Baekhyun about the two. Baekhyun had shaken his head, directing Kai to the garden. 

     "If you want to know, go ask Xiumin. Luhan's in the House and won't bug you. Don't worry Xiumin's nice. Nicer than me at least." Baekhyun said. 

     So Kai walked into the garden, finding Xiumin by the roses. He was trying in vain to untangle them. Kai sat down beside him and began to help clear the dirt around them. Xiumin smiled, chattering brightly as they worked. 

       Eventually Kai asked about how they died. 

       "Luhan's from China," Xiumin said. "His family left to be happier in Korea, but all they managed was to tear themselves apart. Luhan got caught in the middle. Alcohal and gambling were the problems, his parents screamed and hit each other a lot."

     He paused, examining a cut on his hand. He wiped the blood away and the tear on his skin soon faded. "Luhan was popular at school, lots of people wanted to be around him. But he picked the wrong friends, the ones who always said 'yes' and never said 'no'. His parents got so bad and no one said a thing. They started hitting him instead of each other. He died on his birthday. Isn't that horrible?"

     Kai said nothing. Sometimes when the dead talked, the best thing to do was listen.

     "Mine was better, I practically killed myself," Xiumin continued. "Too many people telling me I wasn't good enough, not thin enough, not strong enough, or smart enough. Eventually I believed them. I didn't eat anything, didn't do anything, I kind of just-" he waved at the sky. "Drifted off I suppose."

    They kept working. Xiumin spoke up again. "Luhan and I are the friends and family we never had when we were alive. He can tell my anything and I won't leave him or judge him....and he's the one who tells me I'm good enough no matter what. I wish I'd known him when I was alive, maybe I'd have lived."

      Luhan called Xiumin from inside the House. The ghost stood up and waved good-bye. Kai was left alone in the garden with the vague feeling he could have used a friend like that too. He rubbed his leg and got up to follow Xiumin back to the House. 

     

    

 

       Kai began to think that if Sehun stuck around to haunt him he'd have to leave. Sehun was destroying everything he could get his hands on. He ripped up clothes, smashed furniture, threw food, carved his name into the walls, woke Kai up in the middle of the night with his screaming. Once he even started throwing knives at Kai, barely missing his face. 

      Kai hated him more than anything. 

      Finally he complained to Suho, not wanting to take his chances with the moody (albiet highly efficient) Kris. Suho sighed, putting his book aside. "He's taking his anger out on you," he stated simply. 

       "His anger at what?" Kai demanded. "What the hell did I DO?"

       "Nothing, he's not angry at you, he's angry at the world. At life."

        Kai sat down, highly frusterated. "Thank you, that was so enlightening as to why Sehun is such an ."

        Suho didn't say anything and Kai continued to rant. After several minutes he was still going. 

     "And he's a total-"

      "He killed himself you know."

       That stopped Kai short. "He what?" he asked. 

       Suho nodded, picking his book up again. "Sehun grew up in a wealthy family that didn't have time for him. He got sick of people using him and wanted out. Finally he cut his wrists when he was seventeen."

      Kai sat down, deflated. "That's--"

      "True," Suho said. 

       "Well yeah, but also really, really, sad."

       "It's life," Suho said, resuming his reading. Kai shook his head. Sometimes he forgot how cruel the world was to the dead. 

     

 

        Tao was the only ghost that Kai felt safe laughing at. Tao looked like a he was part of a gang, but he was terrified of everything, even ghosts. Ironic considering he was one. The others took full advantage of this, taking every opportunity to scare him. His screams of terror as they leapt out at him filled the House on a daily basis. Chen and Sehun, who got alone well, were almost always the culprits. 

      It wasn't surprising that Tao took refuge with Kai. He talked to him, watching as Kai did his thing. He told him stories about his life, of others' lives, but he always avoided his death and Kai's life. 

       He never wanted to hear about Kai's car accident. Tao would even run away when Kai began rubbing his leg. It perplexed Kai, but there wasn't much he could do. It was like Tao was afraid to hear about it. 

     Far past midnight, Kai was pacing the House. He'd had a nightmare. He was back in the car, tired and moody after practice. A flash of light, a horn blarring and a sickening crunch. Kai never remembered waking up in the hospital, or therapy, or even being told he would never dance again. It scared him how much he was forgetting in his dreams. He always woke up in the in the House, never anywhere else. Just the House. 

        Tao glided through the floor boards, distracting Kai's train of thought. They talked a lot that night, and eventually Tao talked about how he died. 

       "I got sick," he started. "REALLY sick. My parents didn't have a lot of money, so when I finally got into the hospital it was too late to do anything."

        "What was it?" Kai asked. 

       Tao shrugged. "I don't even remember. Some sort of tumor I think. They put me on so many meds, all hooked up to the machines and hurting everywhere." Tao shivered "My parents weren't there, they had to work a lot. It smelled like death and it was cold all the time. It was a lonely place to die."

       "Is it better here?" Kai asked. 

        Tao nodded. "I have friends here, Baekhyun, Kris, Suho, Chen....everyone here is friendly once you realize what you are."

       "What you are?" Kai asked uneasily. 

       Tao's smile turned sad. "Dead Kai, everything's easier to understand once you realize that we're all dead here."

      Kai didn't sleep that night. 

      He got up early the next morning, wanting out of the House. He wandered about the yard, something holding him back from jumping in his car and running back to the city. Kai jumped when he saw Lay in the yard too. He didn't see much of Lay, the ghost mostly keeping to himself. This time Lay stood at the very edge of the fenced yard, lookg wistfully into the woods. 

     "I'd give a lot to be you," Lay suddenly said. Kai froze, then walked over to the ghost. Lay glanced sideways at him. "To not remember the bad."

      "What are you trying to forget?" Kai asked, feeling daring. 

      Lay smiled cynically. "You don't get something for nothing, why are you here?"

     Kai shrugged, putting his hands in his pocket. "There was an accident, a car wreck. It was pretty bad."

      "An accident usually isn't bad enough to hide out in a house of demented ghosts."

     "Well," Kai said. "It wasn't the accident I guess. It was the people, they were crying, bunching around me. Confessing things, trying to be helpful, it was wierd, and I couldn't take it. So I packed up and left."

      Lay laughed at that, like he knew something Kai didn't. "I had a girl," he said suddenly, as if he was remembering something too. Kai looked at him. 

      "Oh?" he asked. Lay noddded. 

      "Tiny, big eyes and blonde hair."

      "What happened?" Kai asked, not sure he wanted to know. 

      "I confessed to her, she accepted. Made my heart stop I was so in love."

      "And?"

      Lay sighed, eyes till fixed on the woods. "School caught fire and I couldn't get out. I burned."

      "The girl?" Kai asked quietly. 

      "Don't know, don't care anymore," Lay said, walking back towards the house. 

      "Why not?" Kai called out after him. Lay didn't stop. 

     "I'm dead, what does it matter?"

 

 

 

 

 

      A fight happened. Sehun called Xiumin fat and Luhan attacked him. Kai made the mistake of getting caught between the two and was thrown out of the second story window. Everything out and when he awoke, he was back in the House. He had no obvious injuries and was laying on his bed. What the hell? Kai wondered. That fall should have killed him. 

      The sick feeling overtook him, twisting and turning his mind until he wanted to rip off his head. What do I keep forgetting?

      Kris wandered in, cutting off the feeling. Kai sighed in relief, sinking back onto the bed. He was shocked to see Kris. The ghost usually didn't care about him, but here he was. Face motionless, he looked Kai over. 

      "You're an idiot," Kris said. "Getting involved. We can't die, so what does it matter? Until you realize what you're doing here, don't try stupid stuff like that."

        Kai tried to protest when realized what Kris had said. Until I realize why I'm here? I'm here to hide aren't I?

         Kris didn't say anything else. He left and Kai was alone until Lay came into see him. According to him, Kris had a normal life. A model, he died in a hit-and-run accident. If the driver had stayed to call for help maybe he'd have lived. 

         "Stupid huh?" Lay asked. 

          

 

 

        Kai asked Baekhyun what Kris had meant. The smaller boy didn't say anything except that Kai was a moron. 

 

        

          A new ghost appeared in the House. It scared the heck out of Kai because he didn't recognize the tall, lanky giant that raced out of the car and tore through the House. Kris caught him, pinning him down and trying to explain everything. The man didn't answer, he just kept fighting. Kris was beginning to lose his patience.  

         Chen laughed at that. He leaned down to whisper to Kai.  

         "Usually we let ghosts figure out for themselves that they're died, but this one kind of knew that already. Wonder why he run around so much, like he was looking for something." 

        "BAEKYHUN!" the giant yelled, reaching out from under Kris and Lay. His outstretched hand clawed for the boy. "BAEKHYUN!" he screamed again. Baekhyun's face was terrible to look at. It was half crying half furious. The crying turned to fury and Baekhyun turned around and ran through the walls. Chanyeol kept his hand oustretched, like he could catch him from there. Kris swore and stood up, dragging the man off with him.

       "Well that's new," Chen muttered. 

      Soon it was obvious that Baekhyun hated Chanyeol (that was the giant's name) more than anything else. Chanyeol followed Baekhyun around like a puppy, he never stopped. He even took up stalking Kai because he saw that Baekhyun tended to hang around him. Baekhyun hated it, screaming at him, throwing whatever he could lift. Chanyeol just stood there, letting him vent his anger. Soon he'd try to come closer, hands outstretched and face begging. Baekhyun would scream, flying through the walls in an effort to avoid him. Chanyeol didn't care, he just followed. 

        Kai begin to think that Baekhyun was heartless. Chanyeol was lost in death and something in Baekhyun made him okay again. So why was Baekhyun hating him? 

        Than something changed. Baekhyun, hurling curses at Chanyeol, failed to notice he'd drifted straight into Kai's shower. Kai, who was in his room waiting for the water to get warm, had heard a SCREAM. Running in, he was shocked to find a terrified Baekhyun cowering in the shower. His hands were above his head, trying to fend off the water. His makeup was running, streaking down his face with tears. "Not water," he sobbed. "Not water, not water, not water....."

       Stunned, Kai watched as Chanyeol appeared. Carefully, the ghost wrapped Baekhyun in a towel and carred him out of the bathroom. He placed the boy on the bed, trying to dry him off. Baekhyun realized what was happening and shoved Chanyeol away. 

        "DON'T TOUCH ME!" he screamed, scrambling away. "Don't you dare touch me!  You left me to DIE!" 

         The other ghosts appeared. Kris pulled Chanyeol away while Xiumin and Suho rushed to Baekhyun. Baekhyun kept crying, burying his face into Suho's chest. Kris and Sehun struggled to keep Chanyeol back, trying to drag him out of the room any way possible. 

       Kai stood in the doorway silently. He'd made eye contact with Baekhyun, he'd seen the look in his eyes. Baekhyun did have a heart, and Chanyeol had let it die. Maybe not in a romantic way, but definitely in way that killed Baekhyun. 

 

        

 

 

 

       Kai waited for a while beforehe sought Baekhyun out. He was a little surprised he found him so easily. He sat in the attic, simply sitting in haunting silence. Kai sat down beside him. 

       "Chanyeol...." he started. "Did something horrible to you in your life."

       Baekhyun nodded. 

       "You died because of him?" Kai asked.

       Baekhyun nodded.

       "Is that why you're afraid of water?"

        Silence.

       Kai tried again. "Did Chanyeol kill you?"

       It took a while, but Baekhyun answered. "We were sixteen, best friends since before I could remember. He fell in love with girl, one I'd dated before. She was trouble and I told him that. We argued and he dated her just to spite me....I tried again and again to tell him she'd break his heart but he didn't listen. But I guess he realized how much of a tramp she was was because he broke up with her by the end of the term." Baekhyun laughed hollowly. "Chanyeol came crawling back to me, realizing friends were better than girlfriends. I, being an idiot, said okay. We were going to meet up the next day, hang out in woods or something.....but I fell down a hill, broke my leg on the steep rocks. I couldn't stop myself and rolled straight into the river."

       Baekhyun stopped, wiping his eyes. "I...I hit the water and I couldn't keep myself up. I tried so hard, because I kept telling myself I had to hang on until Chanyeol got there. That was it, I was in so much pain and all I could think of was that Chanyeol would save me.....But he didn't. I went under and I never came back up."

       He sighed, angry now. "Chanyeol could have been there, was SUPPOSED  to be there....but he was meeting with the girlfriend instead. Idiot took her back, kissing her face off while I died waiting for him to save me."

     Baekhyun looked at Kai. "Aren't I important enough to come for?"

     Kai gripped his hand, patting Baekhyun's back. "Of course you are, and I think Chanyeol knows that too."

      

  

       

 

 

          They sat still for awhile, and Kai asked about Chanyeol again. "If you drowned," he asked. "How did Chanyeol die? I mean, it's been less than two years since you died....how'd he go?"

      Bakhyun shrugged, lighting a cigar. He eyed the stairs in the attic warily, watching for the giant to appear. Sure enough, Chanyeol appeared. He poked his head up through the trapdoor, looking around for Baekhyun. Baekhyun rolled his eyes and turned so his back was facing him. "I don't know, probably doing something stupid."

       Kai glanced at Chanyeol, raising an eyebrow. Baekhyun turned to look, Chanyeol smiled and waved. Baekhyun looked away. Chanyeol's face fell, but he didn't leave. 

      "I don't care either," Baekhyun said quietly. "I don't want to know."

      He stood up and sank through the floorboards. Chanyeol instantly stood up, hurrying over to Kai. He said hello, then followed Baekhyun through the floor. Kai shook his head and left to see if Chen knew anything more.    

       Chen turned out to know a lot more. "Chanyeol's a loyal bastard, can't seem on giving up on getting his friend back. I mean, he managed to follow Baekhyun all the way here in death. Do you know how hard that is?"

         "Pretty tough?" Kai guessed. 

           Chen rolled his eyes. It's practically impossible. I mean look around, none of us knew each other before we got here, there's nothing binding us together or obviously the same about us. It's all chance, everyone one of us is here on chance. It's a one in a gazillioin shot and the lucky bastard did it too."

           "So how'd he die?""

            Chen sighed and flopped himself on the couch. "He found the body after telling the girl to leave him and Baekhyun alone. Didn't want her spreading rumors around about Baekhyn. Went to the woods and saw a bloody trail leading right to Baekhyun's freezing, soaking wet corpse. He went crazy and shot up the school after the funeral. Saved the last bullet for himself, one shot right through the brain."

            "That's horrible," Kai said. 

             Chen laughed. "Isnt' it?" He sat up, leaning forward. "Kai you know you can't do this forever right?"

             Kai stopped. "Do what?"

              "Lying to yourself. It's been over a year, and you still don't know. You're still hiding from the truth. You won't admit it. Yeah it'll hurt, but you'll get over it. Kris is starting to worry about you."

             Kai shook his head, trying to get rid of the twisted feeling in his skull. "Shut up," he said, fleeing.  

               Shut up!

              Kai tried to run away from the house. He got in the car and drove. He didn't go anywhere though. Before he knew it he was back where he started, at the Ghost House. It waited for him, almost saddened that he couldn't leave. Kai climbed out of the car and cried. 

             He was beginning to realize what Tao was true. Everything was easier to understand once you realized everyone in the House was dead. 

 

      

           The last ghost was named Kyungsoo. A small boy with big eyes and black hair. Kai wondered if he knew him from somewhere, but he supposed it didn't matter. The ghosts watched as the car drove up, knowing what it brought. They all came here on it, save Suho. None of them remembered who was driving or where it picked them up. Kyungsoo stepped out and Kris told the others to handle him. 

        Kai offered to help Chen talk to him. They walked down the stairs, startling the boy as he brought his suitcase inside. Kai smiled, but he felt like throwing up. It was the same pattern that he was going through. He now knew why he was in the Ghost House. 

     "Hey there," he called out. "Welcome."

       Kyungsoo gripped the suitcase's handle tightly. He looked like he was going to bolt. Chen smiled too. 

        "This one know's somethings off," he whispered. "It won't be long before he sees that everyone in this House is dead."

          Once Kai would lashed out, kicking and screaming that it wasn't true. Now he was at peace with it. He had never walked away from the car wreck. His life had ended there, and all his memories were of the funeral and of tricking the police into coming to an empty House. 

        Everyone in the House was dead.

        He helped Kyungsoo take his things into the room that he once used and put everything away. 

         "So why are you two here?" Kyungsoo asked. "I thought this place was empty."

         Kai shrugged, folding a shirt neatly into the drawer. "It used to be, but there's a lot of people here now. We're....working through some things." He closed the drawer and turned to leave. "Hey Kyungsoo," he said. The boy looked up, curious. Kai smiled.

          "Welcome to the Ghost House."

        

 

       

      

 

 

 

        

 

 

      

 

 

 

          

      

 

  

 

      

 

      

       

       

 

 

      Hello everyone ^^ Thank you for reading this short Halloween shot. It's kind of sad, but I liked writing it. Don't forget to subscribe, up vote and comment below. Have a happy Halloween!