--Kai’s P.O.V--

There always had been an abandoned house on the edge of the forest.  No one has dared to venture into its never ending darkness. And if they do, no one has ever come out. People have claimed that they’ve seen huge doll faces peering out of the cracked windows, but they were always dismissed. Thumping footsteps can be heard from inside, the soft eerie noise of children’s laughter and the sound of something heavy being dragged across the floor. All children’s parents warn them not to go near it, saying that it’s cursed.

I regret not listening.

It was one of those warm summer evenings, where you have nothing on your hands to do and mischief drives you to do something stupid. In my case, something more than stupid. Something that spells danger and life taking all over.

I was just too blind.

--Flashback—

“Heyo Baekhyun! You up for something?” I grinned while lying on my messed up bed, phone pressed against my ear.

“Sure dude! What you’ve go in mind?” I heard Baekhyun say, followed by a loud clanging noise. I guess he must be in the kitchen, trying to cook.

“Well…” I glanced at the door hesitantly, as if someone was there eavesdropping. “You know that old house by the forest? Wanna go and explore? I mean, its not like anyone’s going to report us or anything.” I said casually, like it was only a trip to the shopping mall.

“Sure! Always wanted to know what’s in that broken down place anyways.” Baekhyun replied enthusiastically, the sound of rushing water in the background. Guess he already gave up cooking. “Where do you want to meet up?”

“Um… By the cemetery gate. See you there!” I exclaimed and hung up, jumping off the bed and shrugging on my demin jacket, even though it was rather humid. Knowing that no one would be home until tomorrow, I simply locked the house up and walked over the the gate, whistling a random tune. I glanced up and realized that dark clouds were spilling towards my town rapidly. I arrived at the gate just as the wind blew from the south, blowing the humid air into my face, and causing the cemetery gate to clang loudly by my ear. Whoever had the to job to lock it didn’t do it very well, I thought, staring blankly at it opening and closing.

“Oi! Jongin!” I swerved around to see Baekhyun running towards me, grinning and puffing. I waved and jogged up to him, bumping fists.

“Hey! We better go now…” I trailed off, seeing that the clouds were looking unnaturally dark, even in the evening darkness. Baekhyun nodded and we began walking off towards the house.

I shoved my hands into my pockets, looking up at the place.

“Wow… It’s more of a dump than I thought.” I muttered, turning to Baekhyun. He strode up to the door, reaching for the handle. At that moment a loud crack of thunder rang throughout the sky, causing me and Baekhyun to both jump. I quickly cleared my throat and looked at Baekhyun, who looked clearly frightened now.

“Well? Are you going to open it or not?” I asked, using impatience to cover up my own nervousness. A street lamp some distance off had begun flickering and the gate clanging could still be heard. Baekhyun shook his head and yanked the door open. I flinched at the cold air that came rushing out. Baekhyun cleared his throat and peered inside. I jumped the rotting steps and looked inside as well. Darkness. Just plain darkness, enveloping everything in the room.

Baekhyun frowned. “Gosh, it is really dark.” He said, taking a step in. I followed and grinned, producing two flashlights from my jacket.

“That’s why you always come prepared.” I handed him one and flicked mine on. The flashlight produced a narrow beam of light across the room. I looked around, turning the torch with my gaze. The old timber floor was covered with an even older carpet with a gold background and irregular red patterns. There was what looked like an armchair by the staircase and an ancient oak table sat on one side of the room, accompanied with a chair.

Baekhyun wrinkled his nose and sneezed. “Ugh. Too much dust.” He complained. Suddenly, a loud dragging noise was heard from above. I froze on the spot. Cautiously, I advanced up the staircase, slightly surprised my hand had begun shaking. Baekhyun stood at the bottom of the stairs.

“I don’t think this is a very good idea.” He said in a whisper as the dragging noise stopped. I merely shrugged, curiosity getting the better of me.

“It’s probably nothing. I’m going to go up and look around. You coming?” I looked down at him from the stairs. I could see beads of sweat dripping down his face. From fear or this humid weather, I don’t know. Nevertheless, he nodded and jumped up the steps till he was beside me. I clamped a hand on his shoulder.

“Thanks for coming with me buddy.” I beamed in the dim light and finally reached the top of the curving staircase. The same type of carpet covered the floor of the hallways, though there seemed to be more reddy brown patterns. I stuck my tongue out.

“Whoever owned this place has a horrible taste for carpets.” I remarked, earning a soft laugh from Baekhyun. But his laugh was cut off sharply with a loud thumping at the end of the hallway, coming from a wooden door. I gulped and could feel cold sweat forming on my face. Baekhyun fell silent as we stared at the door, the thumping continuing. Slowly I treaded down the hallway, the thumping noise getting louder. I glanced back to see Baekhyun standing there still, looking on, afraid. I couldn’t blame him. If it wasn’t for my curiosity, I probably would have scrammed already. My hands reached for the abnormally cold brass door handle. Inhaling the dusty air, I opened the door and jumped back, letting out a sharp scream as I faced an enormous doll with dark strands of hair and lifeless eyes and tattered clothes. I put a hand to my heart and Baekhyun dropped his torch, bending down to quickly pick it up. I backed away, laughing nervously.

“O-oh, only a d-d-doll.” I croaked out, heart thumping wildly in my chest. Baekhyun stared at it and let out a dry chuckle.

“Yea…” He trained his beam of light on it. I looked at the doll, examining it. The skin was fair, with a few cracks and dirt smudges here and there. The cheeks looked like blush had been put on it and dark strands of hair hung from its head, arranged like it had actually grown out of the head. The doll had small red lips and an equally small nose. But the eyes were the most hypnotic and creepy. It was large and like two dark holes in its face. I shivered and shook my head.

“Who plays with dolls like this?” Baekhyun wondered aloud, breaking the silence. I gave him a weak smile.

“A rather la-” I was cut off by Baekhyun’s shrill scream and a dragging noise. I looked at the doll and realized its small lips had stretched into a somewhat deformed smile and had begun walking towards us in small, awkward steps. I let out a yelp and turned to go down the stairs, only to find that there was more dolls, all in different types of clothes. But all had that same deformed smile. I let out another yelp and grabbed Baekhyun’s wrist forcefully, making him drop the torch. The light from the torch flickered for a moment and died out. Baekhyun screamed again and we dashed down the cold hallways, the heavy footsteps following us and childrens laughter.

“Why won’t you play with us?” The doll’s soft voices drifted down the hallway, the words ringing in my ears. I stopped for a moment, panting hard. Baekhyun leaned against a door and closed his eyes.

“Why…” I could hear him mutter. I asked myself the same thing. Suddenly, the door that he was leaning on opened, causing him to fall onto another doll. I screamed in horror with Baekhyun and reached out to pry him from the evil toys grip.

“KAI! HELP ME!” He screamed out hoarsely. But it was too late. I retreated and stared in horror as Baekhyun turned rigid and began shaking uncontrollably, his skin turning hard and cracked. I blinked for a moment and realized that he had turned into one of them. My mouth opened, but no sound came out. Baekhyun and the other doll turned to look at me.

“Come and play with us, Kai.”

---

Now I wait in one of the empty rooms in silence. I can still hear the cemetery gate clanging every stormy night. Sometimes, I wander out to a window, staring out with the same empty and dark eyes like the others. Occasionally another mischievous teenager comes up to the house and we play a rather fun game of cat and mouse.

The cat always wins.