~* Chapter 1 *~

“Your guest room is not haunted, Alex. That’s crazy!” Shannon told her best friend over the phone.

“I swear it is! I saw this lady in there… she was like, an old fashioned maid! I haven‘t been in that room since!” Alex retorted. Shannon rolled her eyes. “Sure” She stated and sat on her bed, taking a bright blue pillow in her arms.

“Ok, if you don’t believe me, come over Saturday and spend the night. You can bring Aaron,” Alex said meaning Shannon’s boyfriend, “And I’ll invite Jessica and Zack over. You have to stay in that room with the lights off for 5 minutes. We’ll be holding the door shut.”

“Fine, but there’s not going to be anything. Do you think they‘re gonna come?” Shannon talked about their other best friends, who were going out. She played with her straight strawberry blonde hair.

“Yeah, they will. Jessica lives right around the corner, anyway. Ok, I’ll see you Saturday at noon.”

“That’s tomorrow, you know that right?” Shannon asked.

Alex giggled. “Yeah, I know. Peace out!”

“Peace!”

Shannon hung the phone up, sighing. She got up and stood in front of the mirror. She was average, 5’4”, 13 years old, had sparkling green eyes, and was a total popstar wannabe. She took a shower and put on her Hawaiian pajamas. Switching off the light, she got in bed.

The next morning, Shannon got up at 9:00. She quickly called Aaron.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Nothin’ much, but hey, can you come to Alex’s at noon and spend the night?”

“Sure why?”

“Long story, I’ll explain when I get there, ok?”

“Alright. See ya then. Love you!”

“Love you too, bye!”

Shannon got her outfit on for the day: Jean shorts and a tank top. She packed her bag for that night and headed downstairs.

“Hey, I’m going to Alex’s and spending the night.” She shouted to her careless mom.

“Sure, whatever.” She replied. The 13 year old walked out of the house, into the hot Florida air. It was in the middle of June in Marathon, FL. A warm breeze gently blew her hair.

She soon got to Alex’s and knocked on the door. Alex let her in and said that Jessica, Zack, and Aaron were already there. Shannon greeted each of them, and hugged and kissed Aaron on the cheek.

“So, when are we gonna do this?” Jessica asked.

“Tonight at around… 11:00.” Alex replied and smiled.

The group passed the time by doing everything imaginable: going boating, swimming, water fights, races… Soon it was 10:50 p.m. and they headed back upstairs.

“Ok, go in there!” Alex rushed Shannon in.

“Hold on!!” Shannon said.

“What? You afraid?”

“No…” She sighed, “Alright.” Shannon gave in and slowly walked in the room with the lights out.

‘This is okay… no big deal,’ She thought. A couple minutes later, the rest of the group were still outside of the door waiting for her when they heard screaming. Nonstop screaming… soon after there was scratching at the door.

“You guys, we HAVE to let her out!” Aaron insisted.

“No, she’s probably just trying to make us think that someone’s attacking her or something..” Zack said and laughed lightly.

Aaron shifted his feet uncomfortably. A minute later, it was still going on and Aaron got fed up with the other’s comments.

“Come on guys, she wouldn’t do this!!” He yelled over the noises, and opened the door. What they saw couldn’t even begin to describe how they felt…

A/N: I know, short chapter, and it goes by really quick... to me at least. It’s kind of the background of the group.. Like, how and why they get into the whole “let’s look for ghosts” thing. So, come on, take 20 seconds and give me a review! You know you want to! *wink, wink* LOL! Peace out! ~popstar2be