Episode 4: The Recording

The group stood silently beside the

abandoned car.

The forest seems even quieter now.

Too quiet.

Drake slowly filmed the vehicle.

"This is definitely theirs," he said.

Hari nodded.

"The license plate matches the police report."

GD peered though one of the windows.

"Still creepy."

"Everything here is creepy." Eilln whispered.

Tripp immediately pointed at Jackson.

"Except him."

"What does that mean."

"It means you're naturally creepy."

"TRIPP."

For once, everyone laughed.

The tension erased a little.

A little.

Percy open the driver's side door.

It creaked loudly.

The sound echoes though the forest.

Inside, everything was covered it in dust.

But something felt wrong.

The car looked abandoned.

yeah did didn't look old enough to have been

sitting here for months.

Hari noticed it too.

"There should be more leaves."

"What?" Sohee asked.

"The car has been here for months."

She pointed at the windshield.

"But it looks like someone clean it recently."

The group exchanged an uneasy glances.

Drake continued filming.

Then he stopped.

"Guys."

Everyone turned.

Drake pointed at the passenger seat.

A small camera lay there.

Broken.

Dusty.

Old.

Percy carefully picked it up.

"The missing four's camara?"

Drake nodded.

"Probably."

Hari examined it.

"The memory card is still in side."

Everyone froze.

"Can we watch it," GD asked.

Drake carefully removed the card.

"Maybe."

They inserted it into Drake's laptop.

Several files opened.

Most were corrupted.

Only one video remained.

The final recording.

Drake passed play.

The screen flickered.

Four friends appeared.

Laughing.

Walking through the forest.

The Missing Four.

For a moment, nobody spoke.

These weren't just names anymore.

These were real people.

Real people who had vanished.

The video continued.

The group was joking around.

Then the camera turned.

A mansion appeared in the distance.

The same mansion.

The abandoned mansion.

"We found it," one of them shouted.

The camera zoomed in.

Then something is strange happened.

The video glitched.

The image distorted.

Static filled the screen.

A loud buzzing sound echoed from the

speakers.

Everyone winced.

A face appeared.

Not one of the missing four.

A pale boy.

Standing behind them.

Smiling.

Then the video returned normal.

"What was that?" Eilln whispered.

Nobody answered.

The recording continued for a few more

Seconds.

Then the one of the missing four looked directly into the camera.

His face was pale.

terrified.

as if he had just seen something.

The final words of the recording were:

   " Someone's behind us."

The screen want black.

The video ended.

Nobody moved.

Nobody spoke.

Even Tripp had no joke.

A cold breeze passed though the trees.

Percy slowly looked toward the distant

mansion.

The same mansion from the video.

The same mansion where the missing four

disappeared.

And somewhere deep inside the forest...

It felt like something was watching them.

Waiting.

nobody spoke after watching the video.

The laptop screen was black.

The final words of the missing four echoed in

everyone's mind.

   "Someone behind us."

A cold breeze though the trees.

"So.." Tripp finally said.

"That was horrifying."

"Agreed," Sohee replied.

"Can we go home now."

"No," Percy said immediately.

"I tried."

GD leaned closer to the laptop.

"Play it again."

Drake rewound the video.

Everyone watched carefully.

The group appeared.

The forest appeared.

The mansion appeared.

Then-

The glitch.

The pale boy flashed across the screen.

Smiling.

Watching.

Gone.

The video continued normally.

"What if it's just a video error?" Jackson

suggest.

"No way," Eilln whispered.

"That looked real."

Hari paused the frame.

The image become blurry.

But that boy was still there.

A small smile on his face.

"Definitely not a video error," Hari said.

The group felt silent.

For the first time, even Jackson looked

uncertain.

Drake suddenly frowned.

"Wait."

"What," Percy asked.

Drake pointed at the corner of the screen.

"There."

Everyone leaned closer.

At first, they didn't see anything.

Then Hari gasped.

A figure stood in one of the mansion's upper

windows.

Watching.

It wasn't the smiling boy.

It was taller.

Much taller.

The image was blurry, but it looked almost

human.

Almost.

A chill ran down Sohee's spine.

"Was that there before?"

Drake shook his head.

"I don't think so."

Tripp immediately took two steps backwards.

"Nope."

"What," Jackson asked.

"I don't like mystery window people."

"That's not a thing."

"It is now."

GD grinned.

"I want to see it."

"Of course you do," Percy signed.

The sun was beginning to set.

Long shadows stretched across the forest

floor.

Hari checked the time.

"We should decide what we're doing."

The group looked toward the mansion.

It stood silently on the distant hill.

Waiting.

Percy knew everyone was thinking the same

Thing.

Go forward.

Or leave.

"If anyone wants to go back," Percy said,"I won't stop them."

Nobody moved.

Even Eilln stayed silent.

She was scared.

Very scared.

But she couldn't leave now.

Not after everything they had discovered.

Finally GD spoke.

"We come all this way."

Percy nodded.

"we're doing this."

Tripp signed dramatically.

"Well."

"What now," Sohee asked.

"If I get possessed, delete my embarrassing

photos."

"So all of them?" Jackson asked.

Everyone laughed.

even Percy smiled.

For a moment, things felt normal again.

Like this was just another adventure.

Not the beginning of a nightmare.

As they packed up their equipment, nobody

noticed something strange.

The abandoned car was no longer empty.

A pale boy sat in the back seat.

Smiling.

Watching the 8 friends walk away.

And then they disappeared among the

trees...

The boy slowly waved.

"End Of Episode 4"

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