Chapter 1: The Dare
The wind howled through the skeletal trees, carrying whispers of warnings no one heeded. Jace Carver, seventeen and reckless, stood at the rusted gates of the old Harroway House, his heart thumping with a mix of bravado and unease. His friends - Ben, Mia, and Tyler - huddled close, their breaths visible in the chilly October night.
"C'mon, Jace, you chickening out already?" Tyler taunted, his grin sharp under the flickering streetlight. His leather jacket creaked as he leaned against the gate, which groaned in protest.
"No way," Jace shot back, face flushed, though his palms were slick with sweat. He adjusted his hoodie, trying to shake the feeling that the house was watching them. Harroway House loomed at the top of Hollow Ridge, its broken windows like empty eyes, its sagging porch a grim smile. The town called it cursed, said no one who went in ever came out the same, naturally, which made it the perfect spot for a dare.
Mia, ever the skeptic and secret crush of Jace, rolled her eyes. "This is stupid. It's just an old house. Probably full of rats and mold." Her flashlight beam danced across the overgrown path leading to the front door. "Let's get this over with."
Ben, quieter than the others, clutched his phone like a lifeline. "You guys know the stories. About the Harroway family? They say the dad went crazy, killed everyone, then vanished. People hear screams at night."
"Ghost stories," Tyler scoffed, but his voice wavered. "You believe that crap?"
Jace didn't answer. He didn't believe in ghosts, not really, but the weight of the house pressed on him, and more importantly, the gaze of the girl he liked, Mia, was upon him. Still, he couldn't back down. Not with Tyler's smirk and Mia's challenge in her eyes. "We go in, take a video to prove we were here, and get out. Easy, right?." Nothing could go wrong, right?.
IF ONLY WE HAD KNOWN THE TERRORS THAT AWAITED US INSIDE, WE NEVER WOULD HAVE COME.
The gate screeched as they pushed it open, the sound echoing into the night. They weren't supposed to be here. The "No Trespassing" sign hung crookedly, a warning they ignored. Jace led the way, his sneakers crunching on dead leaves, each step pulling them deeper into the shadow of Harroway House.
Unaware of the increasing ghostly whimpers and whispers as they walked on passed the gates on the edge of the gates, where written in a strange liquid was the text ABANDON ALL HOPE! and beneath it in Latin were the words;
"Umbrae nos spectant, et sanguis noster eas vocat." along with the roman numeral IV.
5 Houses away, a lone gardener could be seen staring eerily at the house before leaving, mumbling incoherently away from the house.