The night air outside the mansion was cold, but the group around the van was anything but calm. Emma sat on a folding chair they had brought, still hugging her knees while the livestream chat roasted her nonstop. Ethan paced back and forth, running his hands through his hair as Alex and Evan laughed hard enough to wheeze. The "ghost actress," a pale young woman still dressed in her tattered costume, had dropped the act and was sipping from a bottle of water, trying not to giggle.
Emma groaned loudly, covering her face. "You guys are the worst. I swear, you set me up to look like a screaming idiot."
Ethan turned on her with wide eyes. "What do you mean you? Did you hear my voice crack back there? The chat is roasting me into the grave."
Alex slapped Ethan's back, nearly knocking the camera out of his hands. "Bro, you sounded like a dying piglet. I can't wait to clip it later."
Evan grinned, pointing at Emma. "But Emma definitely wins. That scream could have shattered glass. No contest."
Emma raised her phone so the stream could catch her glare. "Shut up, all of you. You're not the ones with thousands of people watching you lose it live."
The comments scrolled faster than her eyes could follow.
"ETHAN SQUEALING LMAO"
"Emma the new scream queen"
"Ghost actress deserves an Oscar"
"Fake or not, this was funny as hell"
"Statue girl was creepier though ngl"
At that last comment, Ethan paused mid-complaint. His head tilted slightly, and then he looked at Alex and Evan with a strange gleam in his eyes. "Speaking of statues… what if we go back and grab it?"
Emma nearly dropped her phone. "What?"
Ethan's grin widened, almost manic. "Think about it. That thing looked real. Like, really real. At first I thought it was some kind of mannequin because of the joints, but she was way too heavy to be a prop. What if it is an old art piece or something? Those things sell for a ton. We could cash in big time."
Evan scratched his chin thoughtfully. "You're not wrong. I swear when you tried to move it, it didn't feel hollow. It felt like solid stone."
Alex smirked. "And if it's just a statue someone left behind, no one's going to miss it. Could be worth more than all our streams combined."
Emma shot to her feet, waving her hands. "Are you insane? Did you forget how freaky that thing was? I don't care if it's made of solid gold, I'm not going back in there."
The ghost actress tilted her head. "Wait, what statue? I never saw it. You guys saw something else in there?"
Ethan pointed toward the mansion, his eyes alight. "You should have been there. Six feet tall, perfect body proportions, arms covering her face like she was hiding. Creepy as hell, but lifelike. We could sell it for a fortune."
The chat immediately joined in.
"BRING THE STATUE OUT"
"Do it you cowards"
"That thing belongs in a museum"
"Steal it, Ethan, make it content"
"Emma's right though… creepy af"
Emma scowled at the stream. "Stop encouraging him! You guys didn't see it up close."
But Ethan had already slung his flashlight back over his shoulder. "Evan, Alex, you with me?"
Evan pulled out his phone, turning the camera on himself. "Hell yeah. This is content gold. We're going viral."
Alex cracked his knuckles. "Let's get this bread."
Emma planted herself in front of the van doors. "I'm telling you, this is a bad idea. You'll regret it."
But the three men were already moving toward the mansion, flashlights bouncing in the dark.
---
Inside the mansion, Nash stirred.
The silence pressed around him like a second skin. He slowly lowered Hina's arms from her face and peeked out. Nothing. The room was empty.
"Nothing," he muttered. "Creepy house, creepy silence, no monsters. I guess I'm just scaring myself."
He stood and stretched Hina's limbs, joints clicking softly. Then he rubbed the back of her neck. "I shouldn't have left the body here, but… I had to eat. I'll just cover her face again if I leave. Time to check this mansion for a while before I go to sleep."
---
Ethan, Evan, and Alex reached the second floor, their cameras rolling.
Ethan whispered dramatically, "Alright, chat. This is the moment of truth. The three of us are about to lift a statue out of a haunted mansion. If we die, remember me as a hero."
The chat spammed laughing emojis and skull icons.
"RIP Ethan 2025"
"Finally some balls"
"Statue stealing arc"
"Do it do it do it"
Alex laughed under his breath. "This is so dumb. We're gonna get tetanus before we get rich."
They reached the final room. Ethan grinned at the camera, his flashlight raised. "Alright, get ready to see our golden goose."
He pushed the door open. The hinges whined. His flashlight cut across the chair.
Empty.
The chair sat there, abandoned. Dust swirled in the beam of light, but the statue was gone.
The three froze. Even their viewers seemed to freeze, the flood of comments halting into a sudden stunned silence.
Ethan's voice cracked. "Wh… where the hell is it?"
Alex's smirk vanished. His eyes darted wildly across the room. "No. No no no. This isn't right. It was here. You all saw it."
Evan's breathing grew sharp, his grip tightening on his flashlight. "She was here. She was right here. How does a statue just walk away?"
Finally the chat erupted again.
"WHERE IS SHE???"
"Statue's gone WTF"
"Not funny guys"
"YO WTF"
"Mannequin prank part 2???"
Ethan grabbed his mic. "Emma. Emma, pick up. Are you watching this? The statue's gone."
There was a pause before Emma's voice came through, faint and terrified. "What do you mean gone? You're joking."
"I'm staring at the empty chair right now!" Ethan hissed. "She's gone!"
Back at the van, Emma went pale. The ghost actress dropped her bottle of water, her hands trembling. "No. No way. You're screwing with us."
But inside the mansion, Evan suddenly raised a hand. "Shut up. Listen."
The three men went still.
Creeeak.
Footsteps echoed faintly from the far end of the hallway.
Ethan whipped his flashlight toward the sound, his hands shaking. The beam landed on her.
The statue.
She was standing in the hallway, motionless, arms lowered now, her long hair hanging over her shoulders. Her glassy eyes reflected the flashlight's beam.
For Nash, controlling Hina, the moment was surreal. He had just stepped into the hall, stretching her legs after sitting too long, when three men pointed flashlights at him. He blinked, confused. "Huh?"
Then he smiled and raised a hand to wave hello.
The men screamed.
It was not a normal scream. It was raw, high-pitched, full of horror. They stumbled back so hard one of them tripped, the camera falling against the wall.
Emma and the ghost actress heard the screams from the van and froze, the blood draining from their faces.
Ethan's voice broke as he bellowed, "START THE VAN! NOW!"
Emma's heart jumped into her throat. She and the actress leapt into the front seats. Emma jammed the keys into the ignition, fumbling, her hands slick with sweat.
The van roared to life.
She glanced in the side mirror just as she hit the gas.
Something was peeking around the corner of the mansion. A small, twisted shape with glowing eyes and a mouth full of needle teeth. Its skin was pale gray, slick and leathery.
Emma's voice cracked into a whisper. "Gutter fiend…"
The chat exploded instantly.
"WHAT DID SHE SAY???"
"GUTTER FIEND???"
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT"
"Not scripted. I swear this isn't scripted."
Back in the hallway, Evan's panic peaked. He yanked a pistol from inside his jacket. The matte black weapon gleamed under the flashlight.
Ethan gaped. "You brought a gun?!"
Evan hissed through clenched teeth. "Not just a gun. This beauty's got runic bullets."
Nash tilted Hina's head, curious. "Runic… what?"
Evan raised the weapon. The etched lines along the barrel glowed faintly as he pulled the trigger.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Three shots rang out, purple light bursting from the bullets as they struck Hina's chest and stomach. Sparks flew as the runes ignited, sizzling against her skin.
Nash looked down slowly. The bullets had bounced off, leaving faint scorch marks but no real damage. He blinked, raising an eyebrow.
"…That's it? I barely felt anything."
The three men stared at her in silence for one long, unbearable moment.
Then they screamed again, louder than before.
Ethan shoved Evan toward the stairs. "Run! Run you idiot!"
They barreled down the hallway, half falling over each other, until they burst out the front doors. The van was already rolling forward, Emma leaning across the wheel with wide eyes.
"Get in!" she screamed.
The three hurled themselves inside, slamming the doors shut. But just as Ethan was about to pull the side door closed, the gutter fiend leapt from the shadows.
Its claws scraped across the metal as it tried to wedge itself inside. Ethan shoved the door with all his weight. The monster spat a stream of sizzling green acid that hissed and smoked against the metal.
"Drive! Drive!" Evan roared.
Emma floored the gas. The van jolted forward, tearing through the rusted gate and onto the road. The force threw the gutter fiend off the side, but not before its acidic spit corroded a hole into the door.
Inside the van, everyone panted in raw terror. Ethan clutched his camera desperately, forcing himself to point it back toward the mansion.
The viewers saw it.
The gutter fiend stood in front of the mansion gates, its glowing eyes unblinking as the van sped away.
But then Ethan panned the camera higher.
On the roof of the mansion stood the woman.
She was still, her long hair whipping in the wind, her eyes fixed on them.
The gutter fiend tilted its head up toward her. For a long, chilling moment, the two creatures simply stared at each other.
The stream chat lost its mind.
And then the feed cut to black.