Chapter 2 – The Haunted Invitation

The front doors slammed shut behind them.

Everyone jumped.

Nikki spun around. “Was that part of the show?”

Jasper laughed nervously. “Yo, they really went all out with the effects.”

Maricar didn’t say anything. She was watching the doors. They hadn’t just shut — they’d sealed. She could feel it, like the air in the mansion had suddenly grown heavier, more solid. The place wasn’t just old. It was waiting.

“Looks like there’s no turning back,” she muttered, raising her phone to catch a quick selfie in front of the massive staircase.

Her viewers were still going wild.

💬 “The door SLAM tho. They got money for this production huh?”

💬 “I heard a scream behind the camera 😳”

💬 “I’m scared but I can’t stop watching. Stream queen!!”

A staff member in black led them into what used to be the mansion’s ballroom — now turned into a base camp of sorts. Cots lined one wall. A folding table held food and drinks. Multiple cameras were hidden around the room, though Maricar could spot most of them with her trained eye.

They were all being recorded. Constantly.

Maricar adjusted her mic and tapped the phone screen. “Alright, mga ka-vibes. We’re in. It’s bigger — and creepier — than I thought. I swear, every shadow moves when you’re not looking at it.”

Behind her, someone snorted. It was Kenji, a fitness influencer and TikTok thirst trap with six million followers and the attitude of someone who thought ghosts were allergic to protein shakes.

“C’mon, Maricar. It’s just a set. Smoke and mirrors.”

She raised an eyebrow. “So when your abs get clawed up by a kapre, I’m not helping.”

The group laughed, but not for long.

Because at that moment, the ballroom lights flickered.

Then died.

A few people screamed. Phones lit up instantly — including Maricar’s.

In the dim light of her screen, she saw movement.

Far corner. Too fast. Too low.

Like something crawling.

Before she could say a word, the lights snapped back on.

Jasper looked pale. “Did you guys see—?”

“Nope,” Nikki cut him off quickly. “Not acknowledging that.”

Kenji rolled his eyes, though his posture was a little tighter than before.

The Director reappeared without warning, standing in the middle of the ballroom as if he’d always been there.

“We begin with an orientation,” he said. “Your first mission will be to explore the mansion in pairs. You will find clues, stories, and maybe — yourselves.”

Jasper snorted. “Okay, creepy Yoda.”

But no one laughed.

Maricar was paired with Nikki. The rest of the group split off, some reluctantly, others with cocky smiles for the camera.

They were assigned the east wing — the oldest part of the mansion, with rooms sealed off since the 1940s. It wasn’t part of the official tour. Even ghost hunters had refused to go there in past documentaries.

Perfect content.

They stepped into the hallway, lit only by their phone flashlights and wall sconces. Every step creaked. Paint peeled from the walls in long, curling strips. The air smelled like rust and rot.

“This is giving Silent Hill,” Nikki whispered.

Maricar laughed softly. “Except the monsters might be real.”

A few doors in, they found a nursery — toys rotting on shelves, a broken rocking horse in the corner, and a crib with dark stains on the mattress.

“Don’t touch anything,” Maricar warned, raising her phone to film.

Her livestream chat was already lit.

💬 “IS THAT BLOOD ON THE CRIB???”

💬 “I saw a face in the mirror behind Nikki 😱”

💬 “Replay the last 10 secs. Something MOVED.”

Maricar squinted at the mirror.

Just her and Nikki’s reflections.

Except...

Her reflection was looking at the wrong direction.

She spun around — nothing.

“I swear that mirror—”

A soft laughter echoed from the hallway.

Childlike.

Too close.

Nikki froze. “Please tell me that’s one of the crew.”

“No,” Maricar said quietly. “They don’t come into this wing.”

Suddenly, her livestream glitched. The screen went pixelated, and a text overlay — clearly not added by her — appeared.

 [DO YOU WANT TO PLAY HIDE AND SEEK?]

Maricar’s heart pounded. She lowered her phone and whispered, “What the hell?”

The lights flickered again.

Then something ran across the hallway behind them — a flash of white cloth, too fast to catch fully.

Nikki screamed.

They bolted back to the ballroom, panting and pale.

Kenji and Jasper were already there, talking over each other.

“We saw something in the basement,” Jasper said. “Something wrong. It wasn’t a staff member. It— it floated.”

Kenji’s bravado had melted. “This place is screwed up, man.”

Maricar looked at her phone. The glitchy text was gone, but the chat had exploded.

💬 “YO WHAT WAS THAT???”

💬 “Maricar GET OUT!!!”

💬 “This ain’t fake. I’m screen recording all of this.”

Even though her hands were shaking, she looked into the camera and said what her viewers were waiting for:

“Well, mga ka-vibes… now it’s real.”

Later that night, after everyone had tried to calm down, Maricar sat on her cot reviewing the stream playback. She zoomed in on the mirror from the nursery scene. Frame by frame.

There.

Her reflection’s eyes were looking at her — but just a few frames before, they’d been looking away.

And then, behind the reflection, a pale hand reaching toward her shoulder. A child’s hand.

She didn’t remember feeling anything.

She sat back, heart thudding.

Maybe this was more than ghosts.

Maybe the mansion knew who she was.

In her dreams that night, she saw her Lola standing in the hallway of the mansion, eyes glowing gold, a whisper in her voice:

"You are not here by accident, apo. The dead remember you."

End of Chapter 2

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***