Aya left a few hours after making sure he had finished everything in the bento box, which she really didn't have to since her cooking was surprisingly good.
'Surprisingly' because Aya didn't seem like the type to be able to cook. She always gave off the vibe of some pampered child who had never seen a day of hard work in her life.
And yet, here he was, sitting with an empty box that had once been filled with food that was better than anything he could buy with three days' worth of paychecks.
And his stomach?
It had gone completely silent and the never ending hunger had been suppressed for now.
Although he could still feel that it was there, it was subtle enough to completely ignore.
Speaking of which, it was the first time someone had cooked for him, so was that the trick to calm his never ending hunger?
"No," he muttered to himself, "that doesn't feel like it..."
Then did that mean only food from Aya could satiate it? Eden slapped himself a bit across the face as if trying to physically erase that thought.
He couldn't just start thinking something so absurd. Especially since they just started 'dating' for barely a week now.
Besides, even if they were dating, he couldn't just rely on someone else to deal with his problems, it didn't feel right for someone like him.
"Anyway, let's prepare for tonight," he said as he walked towards his couch and crashed into it, "let's see what 'ghosts' live in this 'haunted' mansion."
He didn't really believe in the existence of ghosts or other spirits since never seen anything himself. Not once.
Well… unless he counted that. The nightmares. The endless hunger eating at him from the inside, so real it sometimes felt like something else was breathing through him. But those weren't ghosts, right? Just his own curse, his own problem.
Still, a dare was a dare. And the challenge this time was simple, spend the night in that decrepit old mansion at the edge of town and prove, once and for all, that all the talk was nothing but cheap superstition.
Well... Not that he was really interested in proving or disproving the existence of the supernatural, but he couldn't back out either since that'll just sound like he was chickening out.
Turning on his phone, he opened the Viewtube and searched for Leo's favorite guru,
Dr. GhoulTube and started scrolling down until he reached a video about the mansion they were visiting and then clicked play.
"Welcome back to GhoulTube, I am Dr. Ghoul, here to uncover the truths the world doesn't want you to see!" the man's overly dramatic voice was heard through Eden's speakers.
On the screen was a man dressed in a ridiculously bright yellow overalls. With what seemed to be a vacuum cleaner on his back and the pipe in his hand, a familiar mansion behind him.
"This week, we investigate the Halloway Estate, better known as the Cursed Mansion. Local legends say it was once the home of a wealthy family who dabbled in forbidden rituals. Some claim the family vanished overnight, their servants found wandering the streets days later… their mouths sewn shut."
"Today, we'll try getting the spirit of this mansion to talk to us and if possible, appease it so it can finally rest."
It seemed like this video was from a livestream of his, as there were comments scrolling on the bottom right part of the screen.
[Commentertheone: This guy is still at it?
Oneaboveall69: isn't this like the fiftieth time he's visiting 'hunted' locations only to end up disappointed?
Yag854: Let him have his fun, he'll eventually give up....after a couple hundred more failures lol..]
Eden's lips twitched as he scrolled through the comments. Honestly, he couldn't tell who was more ridiculous, Dr. Ghoul prancing around in a pair of overalls that looked like they belonged in a construction site, or the people who still tuned in just to roast him.
"Why the hell does Leo believe in this guy anyway?" He muttered as he continued watching the video.
The first thought anyone had when watching his videos was that they couldn't possibly be legit.
Even if he really was out there hunting spirits, who the hell does that in broad daylight?
Wasn't it a popular belief that ghosts and similar creatures only came out at night?
The video continued with Dr. Ghoul dramatically walking towards the old wooden door and pushing it open.
Due to its age, the door barely moved past halfway before stopping, but it was enough for anyone to walk through though.
The camera wobbled as his cameraman zoomed in too far, cutting half his head out of the frame.
"Shh… do you hear that?" Dr. Ghoul whispered, leaning close to the camera, "they say that's the sound of the dead wailing."
Nope, it was just the wind forcing it's way through the cracks in the mansion. Due to how empty it was, the sound echoed louder causing the current sound Dr. Ghoul and his viewers were hearing.
As he continued on with his explanation, a sound suddenly rattled him.
Clang!
The sudden sound of metal hitting the floor made the cameraman yelp, the picture jerking wildly before settling on nothing more than a fallen pipe.
Eden's eyes twitched at the scene before simply saying, "this is just a waste of time", about to exit the app when something suddenly caught his eyes.
For just a few frames while Dr. Ghoul moved the camera around, he spotted something strange.
In the shadows was a tall figure, just standing there, looking directly at the camera.
But it was only in frame for a second as the camera soon moved away.
"The hell?" He muttered.
No one else seemed to notice. Not Dr. Ghoul, not even the comment section that was currently exploding with laughter over the fallen pipe.
[ghosted23: bro almost peed himself over a pipe LOL]
[shadowfanatic: Wind noises and plumbing = cursed mansion confirmed]
[laughingstocks: never change, Dr. Ghoul]
Eden rubbed his eyes, leaning forward until his nose was nearly pressed to the phone screen.
Rewinding a few seconds, he tapped pause, and started moving the video forward frame by frame until he reached that part.
But this time, there was nothing there, just a bunch of shadows.
Sighing, he exited the app, and put his phone down, "I must be imagining things he said to himself."
With that he stood up and walked towards his room, since today was his day off, he might as well spend it sleeping.
Crashing into the bed, he closed his eyes, letting sleep take him, completely unaware of how much his life would change tonight.
--------------------
Night fell as quickly as morning had arrived and Eden found himself in a taxi headed towards the edge of the city.
For some reason a sense of unease had settled into his mind as he couldn't stop thinking of that shadowy figure in the video.
His hunger had also started rising, almost as if it was excited for what was to come. It kept rising by the second and soon enough, Eden knew it would be impossible to ignore.
"We're here," the taxi driver informed as he hit the brakes.
"Thank you," Eden said as he exited the car but before he could move forward, the driver called out to him, "yo kid."
He turned to face the driver who was strangely looking at him, "yes?"
"Are you sure you want to be around these parts at this time?" The driver asked in concern, "rumor is, these parts are usually dangerous around this time."
"Thank you for the concern, but I'll be fine," Eden said with a small smile, "besides, those guys are with me."
He pointed behind him and the driver peeked over to see a group of five waiting there.
"I see," he nodded, "then stay safe kid."
"I will," Eden answered and the driver finally drove away.
He then turned and walked towards the waiting group as one of them called out to him.
"Look who finally decided to show up." A boy with messy brow hair stepped forward, a smile was on his face, "I thought you chickened out."
This was Noah, the one who always brought up dares and also the one who had the 'brilliant' idea to visit the haunted house on a Friday night.
"I wouldn't blame him if he did," another boy, Leo spoke from behind them, "even I don't want to be here, I can already feel the negative energy around."
"Sigh~, do we really have to go over this again?" Maya spoke up.
Eden just looked at them and sighed, did his friends always have to argue over everything?
His eyes then turned to the remaining two that stood behind them.
Hana, the quiet one, fiddled with her phone, pretending not to listen. And Sam, the jock, leaned lazily on the fence post like he had all the time in the world.
"Alright then, since we're all here," Noah suddenly said, clapping both hands together, "let's enter this 'haunted' mansion."
Standing before them was the Halloway mansion.
Once a display of grandure and wealth was now nothing but broken glass, poorly maintained roofs, and vines that seemed like they wanted to cover the entire building.
Even it's small gate was now nothing but rusted metal.
The building looked as if it was tired from standing too long and would collapse at the slightest shake of the earth.
And that was the building the group of six had decided to enter....
"Alright then, let's do this." Noah sounded ecstatic as he walked towards the Mansion and the others followed behind.
---------------
Meanwhile, deep inside the mansion.
In a seemingly empty room, one that hadn't been visited in decades....at least not by a human anyway, the shadows started pooling together, forming a certain shape.
A pair of glowing silver eyes appeared in the pooling shadows as it seem to tremble for a while, before completely disappearing, ready to hunt the new preys that had stepped into its domain.