CHAPTER 1.

THE WEEKEND

John and stella were just ordinary siblings but an incident changed their whole lives.

John, the brave big brother and stella, the cute little sister both loved adventures. They did a lot of dangerous things still both were safe and hence didn't take things seriously.

On Sunday evening,just like always they were with their friends thinking about the things each one did on the weekend, suddenly one of the friends ,Tim spoke "Hey guys, I have heard a rumor about the Old building outside My village being haunted. Shall we go there for the next weekend,it will be fun ."

"Yeah, John and stella let's go there. It will be fun."another one spoke.They all agreed but a problem still remained. How to make their parents agree ? It was a difficult question to which no one knew the answer. They all decided that they will try to make their parents agree and meet on Friday evening to discuss the plan for the following day.

Thursday came yet only a few were allowed to go.

In the evening John, stella,Tim and Anna were the only one present. Other's parents didn't agree,even their parents agreed with difficulty not to mention others .

Still they weren't much worried and started planning. They made a list of all the things that they might need, planed their journey and went back home. Everyone packed their bags and went to bed.

At night, Stella was so excited that she could not sleep. "John" she called."yeah, stella"he responded quickly, very likely he to was too excited to sleep. Both started talking about the haunted house and it's history. John told stella about what he heard from Tim. Suddenly they heard a voice, their mother was telling them to go to bed and not talk till late as they have to set of early tomorrow . But they like all other children didn't listen and continued talking. Soon sleep overtook them and they fell asleep.

Stella POV -----

Ring- ring -ring

The alarm sounded. I jolted awake, freshened up and while going downstairs also woke up my brother.

"Is your brother not awake yet?" mom asked.

"No,he is up"

"Oh call him down for breakfast" she said once again

I agreed and went upstairs. When I went to the room , brother was about to go down.

We both went towards the dining room while talking about the trip.

When we got to the dining room, the breakfast was already served and father was sitting there reading a newspaper.

We both sat down at our respective seats and started eating. Once we were finished,father asked them about the trip. We answered father's questions and afterwards went back to our room to do a last check so that we do not forget anything.

As we all planed, all the friends gathered at Tim's house before going to the village.

We set of at 1:00 pm and reached our destination by 6 in the evening.Tim's grandparents were waiting for us. They were very friendly with us. Tim 's grandmother took us to our rooms ,me and Anna were in the same room while the boys were in the room next to us.

After setting up our things we went down stairs and saw that the boys were waiting for us.We once again discussed our plan and went to have dinner.

Our plan was to first confirm the rumours and then check out the site.Since it was already late we decided that we will do it tomorrow and relax for today.

Anna suggested we tell horror stories ,me and John agreed but Tim was not in favour of it.According to him , we should just go to sleep.I protested and said,"since we are even going to the haunted house, what harm can a story cause?" Yet it was beyond my expectations the harm it would actually cause.The important point was' how did he know ?'

He didn't say anything and went back to his room. We didn't think much of it and started telling ghost stories . It was nearing midnight when we went back to sleep.John was too tired and sleepy to go back hence he settled for the sofa in our room

CHAPTER 2

THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD

He didn't say anything and went back to his room. We didn't think much of it and started telling ghost stories. It was nearing midnight when we went back to sleep. John was too tired and sleepy to go back hence he settled for the sofa in our room.

Morning

By the time we woke up it was already 10 o'clock. We had to change our plan a little but it was manageable.We freshened up, went to the dining room,ate breakfast and gathered in the hall.It was then that we noticed that we haven't seen Tim till now. It was at that moment that we noticed that the house was too quite . Suddenly a creaking sound came from behind, we turned and saw that it was the door opening.Tim was standing behind the door looking at us.We ran towards him and hugged Don't know if it was cause of last night or what but I felt really creeped out. Nothing happened but still I had a bad feeling .I suddenly did not want to go to the haunted house or as the rumours say the house of dead.

There is actually a story behind it but it is a long one.In short it is said anyone who had gone inside dies within a week.But everyone thinks that it is not true and is only a rumor.

"Stella come on, we have to go"Said John

"Comming"

"So where are we going first?"

"we will check out the haunted house first." This time it was Anna who spoke.

"Ok,let's go then"

Haunted House

It was located far away,on the outskirts of the village and we were in the central part hence we hurried there . The house was big and very beautiful.It was lovely yet I had a feeling that it was hiding many things, things beyond common sense , things that even science can't explain. It was a feeling that I could not ignore.

"Stella"

" Stella what happened?" my brother asked

"Nothing" I said

We didn't go inside and decided that we will gather here in evening at 5 o'clock.

Me and Anna decided to form a team and go our own way. The boys also agreed quickly.

We separated and went in different directions. The day passed by very quickly. By the time I knew it, it was already evening and we started walking towards the haunted house .

By the time we reached, the boys were already waiting for us. We shared the information with each other and set of towards the haunted house.

When we entered the courtyard, we saw a group of people already standing there. They quickly noticed us . I could feel their gazes on us. They were filled with hostility towards the new group, our group. I didn't know who they were or why they were here but I was certain that they were dangerous, very dangerous.

It was at that moment that someone from there group came over, very likely their captain or leader. He asked ”Kids , what are you doing here?”My brother replied “None of your busin-”.Sudenly Anna cut him saying,“Brother James, it's me Anna.” It shocked me 'they knew each other 'i though.

Their captain, James didn't bother with us anymore and started talking with Anna. He said,“oh , Anna it's you "“what are you doing here, do you know how dangerous it is?”He seemed angry. Anna told him about our plan then he glanced our. I felt he was checking who came up with the plan. His gaze was to naked that it was uncomfortable . I turned my head . I think he sensed it to cause he didn't turn towards us even once afterwards.

After some time, Anna walked toward us.I sensed the atmosphere eased up a little after their talk. Anna also explained to us about their situation. Her brother James was a government employee. There have been many complaints about this house and they came to check it out. They had entered just before us.

They were a five member team. One girl and four boys.

Their names were Sofia, Blake, Luke and Kevin. We introduced ourselves to each other and then entered the house. Just as we entered, the door suddenly closed behind us. We were shocked but calmed down quickly as we thought that it was the wind. At the same time a bad feeling arose. I felt something was wrong but couldn't put a finger on it. I was walking around checking the situation and noticed there was one less person.

Tim was missing. I called my friends, asked them about Tim and the response I got was,“Wasn't he with you?”

CHAPTER 3

THE GAME BEGINS

Tim was missing. I called my friends, asked them about Tim and the response I got was,“Wasn't he with you?

We searched around for Tim and found him sitting quietly in a corner close to the door.

John yelled,“Tim.” ”Do you know how worried we were about you?” Anna said in a worry filled tone.”yeah, you should have told us. It's already very spooky here and with you missing, it scared the he!| out of us.”

“Sorry” Tim said quietly.

Out of blue,we heard a voice,“Welcome , everyone .” The four of us were stunned yet it felt like they expected this to happen.

Then the voice continued,“Rules of the house are

1) Safe time is from 6 am to 9 pm

2) Questions will be refreshed at 6 am every day.

3) If the answers are right, safety will be provided for 9 hours

4) Answer can only be given at 5 pm everyday

5) The game will go on for 10 days

 Please follow the rules to survive .

 Everyone was shocked silly. We were very scared by the turn of events. James and his team's expressions never changed. It seemed like they were used to it which in itself was unusual since no ordinary person could remain calm in the face of unknown.

 We started searching around the house for any thing suspicious. All of a sudden, John called us. I went to the place where he was and saw everyone was already there, staring in a certain direction. I followed their line of sight and found a clock hanging there.

 The clock caught my at attention immediately, not because of its appearance but because it was working normally which wasn't quite right, no it was totally wrong. With the condition of the house, it was abnormal for it to be working.

I suddenly remembered the rules. Half an hour was left till 9 o'clock. It was at this moment that we noticed a commotion downstairs, Sofia and James were fighting. It seemed like it was related to this house and by the way they were talking, it didn't seem like this was their first encounter with these things.

Sofia was yelling at James saying,“It isn't some ordinary ghost. Do you know how danger-”? She abruptly stopped. It seemed to me that she noticed us as she was staring at us. I think she wanted to know how much we overheard.

A voice was heard the next moment,“ The Game Begins ”

I quickly glanced at the close, it was exactly 9 o'clock.

All of a sudden , we heard noises coming from upstairs. Everyone thought it was the wind If it was before I would also think so but we had checked the whole house before and all windows and doors were closed. There was no way for the wind to do it. This meant only one thing someone or something was there. Now there was a new question,Who?