Nash moved deeper into the mansion, his borrowed body gliding soundlessly over the creaking wooden floor. Every room he entered was the same. Dust. Broken furniture. Cobwebs dangling like curtains. The air smelled of rot and mold, heavy and stale.
He muttered, "Nothing here. Just a big creepy dump. If this is what supernaturals call a home, then they've got terrible taste."
Still, the longer he stayed, the heavier the atmosphere pressed against him. It was like the walls themselves were watching, waiting. Nash felt it prickling at the back of his neck, though he reminded himself again and again that Hina's body was indestructible.
"That's the only reason I'm not running out screaming like a kid," Nash whispered, her hollow voice carrying across the room.
The silence answered back, stretching unnervingly long.
He pushed forward, entering what must have been the dining hall. A long table sat in the center, half collapsed, plates and cutlery scattered across the floor. Some of them looked like they had been untouched for decades, blackened with rust and grime.
"Alright, no ghosts yet. Let's see if I can at least find something worth pawning," Nash said, crouching Hina's body to check under the broken chairs. He found nothing but dust and the skull of a rat.
He sighed. "Figures. No way a place like this still has valuables."
But he didn't leave. He couldn't. Something inside him, curiosity or stubbornness, kept pushing him further into the house.
"If I can't capture one of these supernatural things, maybe I can at least get close to one. Test myself. See what happens if I pick a fight," Nash muttered. "What's the worst that can happen? Hina's body gets smashed up? I summon her again. Easy reset."
His own confidence startled him. It was the kind of reckless thrill that made him laugh, but also made his hands clench tight. For once, life wasn't ordinary. It was dangerous, thrilling, like standing at the edge of a cliff.
---
At the same time, the heavy iron gate outside groaned open.
The van rolled in, headlights sweeping across the courtyard, illuminating weeds and broken statues.
"Alright, guys, we're here!" Emma shouted into the phone mounted on a selfie stick. Her bright voice cut through the night air. The chat on her live stream exploded with hearts and laughing emojis.
Behind her, Ethan leaned close to the camera, his grin wide. "Welcome to the one of the spookiest place in the city. Abandoned for over forty years, they say no one who stayed overnight ever came back sane. Tonight, we're going inside!"
The stream's viewers spammed messages.
"Fake as hell."
"Bet they got an actor to jump at them again."
"Emma looking hot as always though."
"Smash."
"Prove it's real! Go in!"
Emma laughed and flipped her hair. "You guys are so impatient. Let us set the mood first!"
Behind them, Alex and Evan leaned against the van, watching both the mansion and the stream from their own phones.
"Hey, Alex," Evan said with a snort. "When's the actress showing up? You know, the girl we hired to act as the supernatural?"
Alex smirked and waved him off. "Relax. She and her partner will be here soon. Probably hiding around the back, waiting for the right moment. Once Emma and Ethan are inside, they'll make their move. Trust me, the viewers will eat it up."
Evan chuckled. "Good. Because last time people roasted us for having a guy in a rubber mask. We need this one to look legit."
"Don't worry. It'll look real enough," Alex replied smoothly.
On screen, Emma grinned at the camera. "Alright, guys! Ethan and I are going inside first. Alex and Evan will stay here and monitor things from the van. If anything happens, they'll be the first to laugh at us."
Ethan flexed dramatically. "Don't worry, I'll protect you if a ghost tries to drag you away, Emma."
The viewers spammed emojis and teasing comments.
Emma rolled her eyes. "Sure you will. Come on, let's do this."
Together, Emma and Ethan approached the mansion's front doors, their flashlights slicing through the dark.
The rotting wood groaned as Ethan shoved the door open. Dust billowed out, making Emma cough and wave her hand in front of her face.
"Ugh, smells like a corpse," she muttered.
"Perfect for a haunted house," Ethan said with a grin, stepping inside. "Alright guys, we're in."
The stream filled with comments again.
"Finally!"
"Omg this is creepy."
"Bet there's nothing in there."
"Bet you guys hired an actor."
Emma followed, her flashlight beam sweeping across the hallway. Torn wallpaper peeled from the walls. Broken furniture littered the floor. A shattered chandelier lay collapsed in the corner.
Ethan turned to the camera. "See this? Classic haunted house vibes. We'll check upstairs in a bit, but first let's look around down here."
Emma panned her camera across the dining hall. "Look at this. Like the people here just got up and left one day. Gives me the chills."
They both froze suddenly.
A sound echoed faintly above them.
Creak.
Ethan stiffened, his flashlight jerking upward toward the ceiling. "Did you hear that?"
Emma blinked at him. "Hear what? I didn't hear anything."
The stream chat exploded.
"I heard it! Replay that!"
"Paranoia lol."
"Something's up there, I swear."
"I didn't hear shit."
"Fake!"
The silence stretched between them. Then it came again, fainter this time.
Creeeak.
Ethan swallowed. His voice dropped low. "No, seriously, you didn't hear that? Someone's walking upstairs."
Emma frowned, suddenly uneasy. She bit her lip and stared at the ceiling. "Maybe it's part of the act? The people Alex hired?" Emma thought to herself.
The chat spammed laughing emojis.
"They're losing it already."
"Ghost upstairs! Go check!"
"Yeah right, actors confirmed."
Ethan kept his flashlight aimed at the ceiling, his knuckles white around the grip. "I don't like this. That didn't sound staged."
Emma forced a laugh for the camera. "Okay, guys, this is where it gets interesting. Something's upstairs. Should we go check it out? But the sound could just be a rat or something."
The comments screamed for them to go.
Ethan muttered, "You guys are crazy."
And yet, slowly, the two began to move toward the staircase.
---
At that same moment, Nash stood frozen in a bedroom upstairs, inside Hina's body. He had just nudged an old cabinet, which gave a loud creak as it scraped across the warped wooden floor.
"Shit," Nash muttered, glancing toward the door. "that's kinda loud"
He sighed, dragging a chair toward the center of the room and plopping down. "There's nothing here. Just dust, rats, and my nerves pretending they're steel. I'm wasting time and damn it… I'm hungry."
The thought twisted in his stomach. He had forgotten how long it had been since he last ate in his real body. Hours? Maybe half a day?
He groaned. "I don't want to go grab food and then come back just to find out some freak monster decided to wear or stare at Hina's face while I was gone. That'd be my luck."
For a while he just sat there, tapping the chair leg against the floor, indecisive. Finally, he leaned back, crossed Hina's long arms over her face, and muttered, "Screw it. If something shows up, I don't wanna see it."
His consciousness tugged back like a thread snapping.
---
Nash opened his eyes to the faint hum of his apartment's ceiling fan. His real body felt heavy, like it had been lying too still. He sat up and stretched, cracking his neck.
"God, it's weird switching like that," he muttered. His stomach growled loudly, making him flinch. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. Food first. Creepy house later."
He grabbed his wallet, checked the pathetic amount of money inside, and forced himself out the door. The night air outside was cooler, cleaner than the mansion's suffocating rot. He shoved his hands in his pockets and started toward the nearest food stall, though drifting back to the dark house.
"What are the odds something actually finds Hina while I'm gone? Nah, too unlucky, right?"
Still, the unease lingered.
---
Meanwhile, inside the mansion, Emma and Ethan reached the staircase. Their flashlights jittered nervously across the steps as the old wood groaned beneath their weight.
"Careful," Emma whispered, her voice cracking slightly. "This place looks ready to collapse."
Ethan nodded, his jaw tight. "You still think this is part of Alex's act?"
Emma didn't answer right away. The air on the second floor seemed thicker, heavier. Each step they took echoed like a drumbeat. The stream chat spammed comments at lightning speed.
"DO IT."
"Upstairs gang."
"Bet they run back down in 2 minutes."
"Finally getting good."
Ethan glanced at the screen, shaking his head. "They think this is funny. I'm telling you, something's up here. That noise… it wasn't a rat."
Emma forced another shaky laugh for the camera. "Guess we'll find out soon. Don't wet yourself if we actually see something."
Her hand tightened around his sleeve anyway as they climbed.
The second floor stretched into a hallway lined with broken doors and peeling wallpaper. Their flashlights shook over shadows that seemed too deep, too alive.
Ethan whispered, "Which room was it? The sound came from here, right?"
Emma lifted her phone higher, her breath shallow. "Maybe… up here somewhere."