“Hey, Sato!”

Sho turned at the sound of his name. One of his friends from the previous school year, Ryu, was approaching him at a trot. He had a glint in his eye as though he knew something that Sho didn’t.

“Have you heard the news?” Ryu asked, purposefully trying to build up suspense by refraining from getting to the point. Sho humored him and shook his head.

“Y’know,” Ryu went on, raising his brows as if surprised that Sho had no idea what he was talking about. “That old building by the school. I heard a rumor that the barricade disappeared last night. Of course, some attentionmonger probably just made it up, but who knows? I’ve heard some pretty spooky stuff about that place.”

“If you’re so curious, why don’t you just go check it out yourself?” Sho countered. “You’re always going on about wanting to meet your soul mate. Maybe yours is an actual ghost. How about you head down there tonight and tell me all about it tomorrow.”

“Who, me?” Ryu put a hand to his chest dramatically. “Fate wouldn’t be so cruel as to give me an undead girlfriend, Sato. Besides, I can’t go down there. What if some evil ghost sucks the life outta me? The school would fall apart without my awesome self to keep everyone’s spirits up. Hmm…” Ryu paused, scratching the stubble on his chin in thought. “I know! How about you go in my place? It wouldn’t make much of a difference around here if you went missing –ouch! Don’t hit me– and haven’t you told me you were curious too?”

“You’re such a baby,” Sho rolled his eyes. “Fine, I’ll go. Just remember, if I meet some hot undead chick, it’s your loss.” He adjusted the strap of his backpack over his shoulder and walked past Ryu, ignoring his friend’s sharp comeback.

As he strode down the hallway, Sho glanced out the window to look at the old building. It was indeed creepy, as any good haunted place should, but there was also something deeply disturbing about it. Sho just couldn’t put his finger on what. He stopped walking and just stared at the building. After a moment, he shrugged, putting the feeling off as his own paranoia.

Wait; hold the phone.

Sho’s eyes widened in shock when he saw something move in the window of the other building. But that couldn’t be right. The building was off-limits, so no one would be stupid enough to sneak inside during the day. Maybe his little joke wasn’t so farfetched after all. Sho mentally cursed himself. He had already told Ryu he was going to check it out. He didn’t want to look like a coward, so there was no backing out now.

He would find out what was hiding in that building whether he liked it or not.