Friday had arrived.
The sun began to sink on the western horizon when the five children gathered at the old warehouse behind the school.
Orange light penetrated the gaps of the weathered wooden boards, creating long shadows that danced on the dusty walls. Dust flew in the air, dancing in the twilight sunlight like dead golden dust particles.
Regard placed a large sheet of paper in the middle of the warehouse floor. The paper had already been drawn with a circle and lines, with the word YES on one side and NO on the other side.
Around the paper, five candles were placed forming a pentagon, each burning with small, unstable flickering flames.
Moon sat restlessly on the left side, his fingers continuously playing with the edge of his shirt sleeve. His face was pale, paler than usual, and sweat began to moisten his temples even though the night air was starting to get cold.
Next to him, Elly sat with sparkling eyes, impatient to start.
In front of them, Nerry and Sandy sat holding hands, their almost identical faces showing a mixed expression between fear and curiosity.
"We start,"
Regard, his voice trying to be firm although there was a slight tremor at the end of his words.
He placed two pencils on the paper, forming a plus sign in the middle of the circle.
"We all hold the ends of these pencils. Release our fingers one by one after the spell is finished."
Moon bit his lower lip.
"I am scared."
"Everyone is scared, Moon,"
"But that is part of the excitement, right?"
Right before Regard started reading the spell, the warehouse door opened with a long creak that made everyone startle.
Voltase stood at the threshold, his shadow stretching on the warehouse floor because of the twilight light behind him.
Next to him, Marie stood with her hands on her hips, her eyes staring sharply at the group that was sitting in a circle.
"You know, that game is a curse,"
Voltase calmly, but his sentence was full of warning.
His voice echoed in the narrow warehouse space, making every word feel heavy.
"There is a price to be paid for a summoning."
Marie, who had been silent until then, started walking in. Her soft footsteps made a creaking sound on the old wooden floor.
She looked around, her almond brown eyes examining every corner of the warehouse with curiosity.
Her gaze finally landed on the paper they were currently sitting around.
"Very simple"
"Too simple for something dangerous."
The five children were surprised by the arrival of two people from the next class.
Regard was the first to recover from his surprise. With his rebellious attitude, he pointed at Voltase and then Marie alternately.
"Hey! What are you doing here?"
"Well, that is our question,"
Voltase replied casually, his hands still folded on his chest. "What are you doing right now?"
"That is none of your business!"
Marie put both her hands on her hips, looking at their faces one by one.
Her sharp eyes moved from angry Regard, to frightened Moon, confused Elly, to the silent twins.
"It is our business, if you are trying to do something stupid here."
An argument broke out.
"What do you mean by something stupid?"
Regard stood up, his hands clenched at his side.
"This is just a game!"
"A game that summons something that should not be summoned,"
Voltase, his voice still flat but his eyes serious.
"You do not know what you are talking about!"
Regard stepped forward, his face red with emotion.
"You come here uninvited, then you dare to tell us what we can and cannot do?"
Marie stepped between them, her small body standing upright in front of the taller Regard.
"Listen, red haired boy. If you do not want to listen to advice, at least do not shout."
"You—"
"Enough, stop."
Sandy's calm voice cut through the argument. The twin girl stood up, her emerald green eyes staring at Voltase and Marie with an unreadable look.
"They are just worried. There is no need to argue."
Nerry also stood next to her sister.
"We have already decided to play this. No one can change our decision."
For three minutes they argued, voices colliding in the narrow warehouse space.
Regard shouted, Moon almost cried, Elly tried to be a mediator, and the twins were silent with calm expressions that were actually more frightening.
In the end, everyone paused for a moment to catch their breath.
"If you keep disturbing us, just leave!"
Regard shouted with a red face, his breath ragged from emotion.
Voltase and Marie glanced at each other. They shook their heads simultaneously, a movement that seemed to have become a habit between them.
"No, we are staying"
"But not as participants. Only as observers."
Marie nodded in agreement.
"We will only watch from a distance. Not touching anything. Not interfering."
They both moved away from the source, Voltase leaning against the warehouse door with his arms folded.
His small body looked dark in the shadows, his onyx eyes watching every movement of the group in front of him.
Marie crouched next to him, one hand cupping the side of her face, a posture that looked relaxed but her eyes remained vigilant.
The ritual of the game began.
Regard sat back in his place, taking a deep breath to calm himself.
He took both pencils and placed them on the paper, forming a perfect plus sign in the middle of the circle.
His four friends followed, each placing their fingertips on the ends of the pencils.
"Come without being escorted, leave without being picked up,"
Regard began, his voice echoing in the silent warehouse space.
"Come without being escorted, leave without being picked up."
"Come without being escorted, leave without being picked up."
He kept repeating that spell, his voice growing deeper and heavier each time. His four friends joined in, their voices merging into one strange low chant.
The candles around them flickered, shadows dancing on the walls like living creatures.
"We invite you to this small little party"
Regard continued, his eyes closed.
"Enliven this party. Come to this place. We are waiting for you."
He kept speaking, repeating every sentence like reciting an ancient spell.
The words sounded foreign to Voltase's ears, but there was something in them that made his hair stand on end. Something he could not explain.
After a few minutes, Regard stopped speaking. With a nod, he told the others to release their fingers one by one from the pencils and place them on the paper in an upright standing position.
A terrifying silence occurred.
There was no sound. No wind. Even the candles seemed to stop flickering, their flames frozen in a perfectly upright position.
The air in the warehouse felt heavy, like someone had just entered the room and closed the door behind them.
Voltase, who had been silent until then, felt a strange feeling. There was something in the air. Something faint but very familiar to him.
He inhaled deeply, and his stomach felt nauseous.
That smell.
The pungent smell.
The smell of rotting flesh.
The smell of soil wet with bodily fluids.
And above all that, there was another scent. A scent that should not exist in a place like this. The scent of flowers.
Flowers that are always present at funerals.
Without saying much, he tapped Marie's shoulder. The girl turned, and Voltase crouched next to her, whispering softly in her ear.
"I feel strange. Let's go out."
Marie opened her mouth to ask, but Voltase was already standing. He gripped Marie's wrist and pulled her to her feet. His steps were fast, almost running, towards the warehouse door that was still open.
In the middle of the ritual, he turned around and spoke in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear.
"We are not involved. Except as observers. Do not involve us in this small little party."
His words sounded strange, even to his own ears. Like he was explaining something that did not need to be explained. Like he was making a pact with something invisible.
Finally Voltase and Marie left the warehouse. Behind them, Regard and his friends watched their departure in confusion. They glanced at each other, then looked back at the pencils that still had not moved at all on the paper.
"Do we continue?" Elly whispered.
Regard nodded, although there was doubt in his eyes.
"We continue. They are gone. No one is disturbing us anymore."
Outside the warehouse, Voltase walked fast without looking back. Marie was almost dragged by his hurried steps, and she had to run a little to keep up.
"Voltase! Wait!" Marie pulled his hand, forcing him to stop. "What happened? Why did we suddenly come out?"
Voltase stopped, his breath a little ragged. He looked back, staring at the old warehouse that was starting to be covered by twilight mist.
From a distance, the warehouse looked like a huge monster that was preparing to swallow anything that came near.
He shook his head, trying to drive away the strange feeling that still clung to his chest. Without answering, he continued walking towards the school canteen that was still open for students waiting for make up exams.
They sat at the table near the window, in the same place as usual.
Marie looked at Voltase in confusion. The boy's face looked very serious, with a little cold sweat on his temples. His hands placed on the table trembled slightly.
"Why did we suddenly come out?"
Marie asked again, her voice full of confusion.
"What happened in there?"
Voltase looked at Marie. He swallowed for a moment, trying to calm his heart that was still beating fast. Slowly, he moved closer to her side and whispered lowly in his friend's ear.
"I smelled blood. Mixed with a strange scent... like flowers."
Marie frowned. "Flowers?"
"Flowers that are always present at funerals,"
Voltase continued, his voice almost inaudible.
"I smelled it when they started reading the spell. That smell came suddenly, like someone pouring a bucket full of blood and flowers in the middle of the room."
He raised one finger, placing it on his own lips.
"Ssh."
Marie, who finally received Voltase's explanation, felt a mixture of shock and goosebumps. The skin on the back of her neck felt cold, like an invisible hand was stroking it slowly. She shivered, her hand reaching for Voltase's arm.
she whispered, her eyes widening.
"Seriously?"
"I am serious."
"But I did not smell anything."
"It was clearly pungent in my nose."
Silence occurred between the two of them.
Marie looked at Voltase with questioning eyes, but she did not know what to ask. Voltase himself seemed lost in his thoughts, his eyes staring blankly out the window.
Not long after, the sound of fast running footsteps came from the hallway towards the canteen.
The same five people entered the canteen with faces filled with fear mixed with disbelief.
Voltase and Marie looked at each other then looked at those five people.
Moon was the first to enter, his face pale as if he had just seen a ghost. Elly followed behind him, her hand holding Moon's shoulder to calm him, but her own hand trembled uncontrollably.
Nerry and Sandy walked holding hands, their fingers intertwined tightly, their almost identical faces showing the same expression. Fear.
Regard was the last to enter. The red haired boy walked with sluggish steps, his face pale and sweat soaking his forehead. He looked like someone who had just run a marathon, his breath gasping.
There was a silence that occurred between the two groups.
Voltase finally moved closer to Regard. He stood in front of him, staring seriously into the boy's eyes. In a low voice that only the two of them could hear, he whispered.
"What happened?"
Everyone was silent.
Each did not want to explain. Moon was restless, almost crying. Elly tried to calm Moon, but her own hands kept trembling. Nerry and Sandy held hands tightly as if strengthening each other, seeking comfort in their sibling's presence.
Only Regard remained. He looked at Voltase with an awkward laugh, but the laugh did not reach his eyes. His voice trembled violently as he replied to Voltase's whisper.
"The pencil moved."
"Where did the pencil move?"
Regard swallowed with difficulty. He whispered even lower, his breath heavy and irregular.
"Yes."
Voltase frowned. "Yes?"
"Yes. True, Yes."
Voltase looked at Regard, then at Moon with Elly, and ended at the twins. He took a deep breath with his eyes closed, then exhaled slowly. When he opened his eyes, something had changed in them. Something harder, more decisive.
"We have to go back. Stop that game."
Moon, who was already panicking, whispered almost crying.
"No! It is scary in there! I do not want to go back!"
"We have to stop it" said Voltase, his voice firm.
"We cannot let that game continue. If there is already an answer, it means something has come."
"What do you mean?"
Elly asked, her voice trembling. "What has come?"
Voltase did not answer. He just looked at all of them with an unreadable expression.
An argument broke out between Voltase and them.
Regard shouted that this was all just a coincidence, that the pencil only moved because of the wind or because of their own hands.
Moon cried begging not to go back. Elly tried to be a mediator, but her voice was drowned out in the noise.
Marie, who was watching from a distance, finally moved closer to them. Her face was cold, eyes sharp as a knife. With a quick movement, she grabbed Moon's collar and pulled him close.
The girl's face was only a few centimeters from Moon's frightened face.
"We are going," she said in a low voice full of threat.
"You started this game, so you have to finish it."
Moon sobbed, tears streaming down his cheeks.
"I do not want to... I am scared..."
"You do not have a choice"
"If you do not stop it now, something worse will happen."
Sandy and Nerry, who had been silent until then, finally whispered lowly. Their voices were almost simultaneous, like two sides of the same coin.
"I broke the pencil."
"I tore the paper."
A more terrifying and cold silence occurred
Both Voltase and Marie, and Regard's group, all fell silent.
The twins' words hung in the air like daggers ready to stab. It was like someone had poured a bucket of ice cold water over each of their heads.
Voltase turned towards the twins, his eyes wide.
"You did that?"
Nerry nodded, his face pale.
"After the pencil moved to YES, I panicked. I took the pencil and broke it in two."
"I tore the paper"
added Sandy, his voice almost inaudible.
"I thought if we destroyed the medium, everything would stop."
Voltase closed his eyes, his hand pressing on his temple which suddenly throbbed painfully.
"You should not have done that."
"Why?"
Regard asked, his voice still trembling.
"Is that not the right thing? To stop the game?"
Voltase opened his eyes, looking at Regard with a gaze that made the boy step back.
"If you summon something, and you do not send it back properly, then that something will remain,"
"And if you destroy the medium before sending it back, then that something will be trapped. Here. Among us."
Marie, who was still holding Moon's shirt collar, finally released it with a trembling hand. The girl stepped back, looking at Voltase with eyes full of fear.
"Are you serious?"
"I have never been more serious."
Suddenly, a cold wind blew through the canteen.
No window was open. No door was open. But that wind came, cold and piercing, like someone opening a door to a freezer. The candles on the nearest table went out instantly.
Everyone froze.
Was that just wind?
No one knew.
But everyone felt it. Everyone felt that presence. Something cold, something heavy, something watching them from an unseen place.
"We have to go back"
said Voltase, his voice firm although there was a tremor at the end of his words.
"Now. Before it is too late."
Moon started crying uncontrollably. Elly hugged him, but the girl's face was also pale with fear. Nerry and Sandy held hands tighter, their fingers turning white from the pressure.
Regard stood in front of Voltase. His face was pale, but his eyes showed a determination born of fear.
"Alright," he said, his voice hoarse.
"We go back. We stop this."
Marie stepped forward, standing next to Voltase.
"I am coming."
"You do not have to—"
"I am coming"
"Both of us, together."
Voltase looked at her, and for a moment there was warmth in his cold eyes. He nodded.
"Alright. We all go together."
They walked back towards the old warehouse. Their steps were heavy, full of reluctance.
The twilight mist grew thicker, covering the path among the trees. Long shadows danced around them, and every rustle of leaves made them startle.
Voltase walked in front, his eyes constantly watching the surroundings. Behind him, Marie walked with clenched fists, ready to fight if necessary. Behind Marie, the five children walked in a group, close together like chicks afraid of an eagle.
The old warehouse appeared before them. In the twilight mist, the building looked bigger than before. Darker. More frightening.
The wooden door they had left open was now tightly closed, even though there was no wind strong enough to close it.
Elly whispered, her voice trembling.
"The door is closed"
"We did not close it when we left."
Voltase stood in front of the door. He reached out his hand, his fingers touching the cold wooden surface.
And he felt it.
A faint vibration under his touch. Like something moving inside. Like something breathing behind the door.
He turned towards the others, his face serious.
"Everyone be quiet. Do not speak. Do not scream. Whatever happens, do not panic."
He pushed the door.
The door opened with a long, horrible creak. Inside, darkness greeted them.
The candles left on the floor had all gone out, but there was a faint light from somewhere. A pale bluish light that came from nothing they could see.
In the middle of the room, the paper was still lying there. But now, the paper was torn in several places, with uneven tear marks.
The broken pencil lay beside it, broken into two equal halves.
And on top of that paper, something was written.
New writing. Writing that was not there when they left.
The writing was only one word, written in large capital letters, like someone pressing the pencil so hard that the paper almost tore.
YES.
But this time, that word was written repeatedly. Dozens of times. Hundreds of times. Covering the entire surface of the paper, overlapping each other, like someone possessed writing the same word endlessly.
Moon screamed.
ns216.73.216.179da2
and then Add to home screen.