Come Here

The young male sat in the middle of the bed, his legs crossed and the lighter held tightly in his hand. His eyes stared down at the candle that sat upon the navy blue comforter, not yet being lit. What was he doing? He could’ve stayed out all night at that Halloween party but instead, he agreed to come home to do some stupid online ritual that his friends had dared him to do. He didn’t even know why he listened to those morons anymore. The lot of them were a bunch of smartasses, they’d joke and tease each other just like any teenage boy would. They got joy out of making each other do stupid or scary things just so they could get a cheap laugh. So how did he know this wasn’t just another one of their attempts to make him look like a fool?

Well, the answer was that he didn’t. Maybe it was another attempt at that, or maybe they genuinely wanted to know if it would work. There had been a rumor going around the school; someone else had tried the ritual. Rumor had it that the student went insane; always claiming something was following them. It drove the student insane. But rumors are rumors, there’s usually little to no truth to them, isn’t that right? That was where Shiro and his friends came in. One of his friends had found the ritual online and – knowing how daring Shiro was – had dared him to perform the ritual and tell them if he attracted any spirits.

So here he was, at nearly 3 AM on Halloween night, preparing for a ritual that may very well be wasting his time.

He could have done this earlier before he even went to the party, but his friend had been awfully specific about the dare. He had to do it at 3AM on Halloween night; the time when spirits were said to be most active. Shiro laughed to himself at the thought. Yeah right, as if those things existed. Shiro could probably have just lied to his friends and said he did it, leaving himself to stay at the party. But that wasn’t how he worked. When Shiro accepted a dare, he went through with it. Whether there was a witness or not didn’t matter. He didn’t fake anything, that’s why everyone was so impressed with him. Or maybe everyone just thought he was stupid, he wasn’t known for making the best decisions after all.

Shiro could hear the clock above his door chiming in the 3 AM hour. With a heavy sigh and a roll of his eyes, he pushed himself up off the bed, picking up the white candle he’d been staring at. Guess it was time to begin. The ritual was simple; he’d probably be done with it in a matter of minutes and then he could go to sleep. The only thing that worried him was that the instructions didn’t have a full-proof way to end the ritual. But Shiro didn’t let that bother him too much, he chalked it up to thinking the person who’d created it just knew that it was fake and didn’t bother finishing his hoax. The person probably didn’t think anyone was gullible enough to take it seriously.

Shiro quickly flipped off the light switch, struggling to get the lighter lit after he’d been consumed by the darkness. But he got it lit after a few tries, bringing it down on the wick of the candle that was now bursting with life. His hand fell to his side as his eyes stayed entranced on the candle, watching as the flames danced around the wick like spirited professionals. With slow movements, Shiro began walking around his small bedroom in a circle. Shiro knew exactly what he was supposed to be doing. He’d memorized the instructions by heart, which wasn’t hard since the instructions weren’t that long.

“Come here, come here!” Shiro said in a loud voice, doing his best to sound confident in what he was saying. As Shiro walked in the circle, he kept repeating his words in what was beginning to sound like a chant. As he chanted, Shiro could swear that he was hearing whispering, but it was probably just his mind tricking him. He was in the dark at 3in the morning, it’s not like his mind was thinking very clearly.

After making four full circles around the room, Shiro decided that was enough and it was time to move onto the next phase. Never increasing his pace, Shiro made his way over to the door, pulling it open in a slow movement. The young male felt a shiver go down his spine as he pulled the door open. Must be the wind, Tokyo did have its cold nights when autumn came around.

He walked out into the hallway, his mouth repeating the “come here” phrase over and over again, never missing a beat. It was like he was in a trance, his words flowed out in a natural way and he never fumbled them. He walked straight forward, his eyes trained on the darkness he walked into.

As he made it to the door, Shiro decided to walk in small circles in front of it. The instructions of the ritual had never actually specified what to do once you got to the door, but he figured this was the best course of action. Shiro’s eyes stayed in front, a cold sensation beginning to take over him. He shook his head over and over again, but never stopped his words. It was as if his mouth was on autopilot, being controlled by something else.

Shiro’s movements stopped when he saw the candle be blown out. The teenager quickly relit the candle, his hands beginning to shake. Oh what an idiot. Why was he scared? It was probably just the windows. But… Hadn’t he closed them all? He was sure of it. The October nights in Tokyo got cold, so he’d closed all the windows. A chill ran up Shiro’s mind but he brushed it off. Stupid is what it was. His mind was just being paranoid from spending too much time in the dark. There was probably a breeze coming from somewhere. No need to worry.

With heavy breathing and his words finally beginning to shake, he moved slowly back to his room. He wanted to stop the words and run, but he didn’t dare stop the ritual in the middle of it. Even if he didn’t fully believe it, it was always better to be safe than sorry… Wasn’t it? His body moved forward, his footsteps never once faltering as his mouth continued the same phrase over and over again.

Shiro moved back into his room, shutting the door behind him. He moved in an almost robotic way over to his closet, pushing the door open, his mouth finally coming to a standstill. He sat the candle down, balancing it on one of the wooden board frames of the closest before hoisting himself up, nestling inside of the closest. He pulled the door shut, grabbing the candle and promptly blowing it out as instructed.

Now he waited.

For how long though? Did he stay in here all night? Did he wait a few minutes? All of that was something he didn’t know. He guessed he would have to do that as he thought. How long he stayed in waiting was up to him. He leaned back, his head falling against the white wall behind him, his eyes fluttering shut.

Shiro waited in silence for minutes before he heard the first noises.

It started off as a small creaking sound before he heard the footsteps running. It seemed like they were right outside the closest door, running wildly around before everything came to a standstill again. It was sudden. The noises had stopped so abruptly, the silence falling over him like a lead brick. His breathing was harsh, his eyes squeezed shut. He was beginning to question if he ever did hear anything at all or if it had all been in his imagination.

“It’s just your imagination.” He screamed the words over and over in his head, trying to sound reassuring to himself. He was hearing things, all of that could easily be explained. The silence stayed for minutes on end, Shiro was sure he’d been hiding for well over 10 minutes now.

Enough was enough. This was stupid and he was wasting his time. Relighting his candle, he slowly pushed open the door, peering out into the room. He let out a sigh of relief when he looked around the room, seeing it was empty. He let a small chuckle leave his throat. He was stupid to be so scared over what was no doubt a trick of the mind. He was smarter than to believe that stuff.

Shiro pushed himself out of the closest, dragging the sliding door shut before he made his way over to his bedroom door where the light switch was. Shiro grabbed the doorknob of his slightly ajar bedroom door, pushing it shut before reaching for the light switch. His tired body carried itself over to his bed where he pulled down the covers, readying himself to collapse on the soft bed. But his movements froze when he was hit with a realization.

Hadn’t he closed the door?

He was sure of it. He knew he’d closed the bedroom door when he came in but… It had been open just now. A sudden coldness blew over Shiro’s body, overcoming him with a fit of shivering. He dropped the candle to the floor, the wax splashing onto the tan carpeting of his room. He wrapped his arms around his torso, falling to his knees, the crushing feeling weighing down on his shoulders. The feminine laughter filled the ears of the shaking teenager, the voice that followed it flowed through the midnight air.