Luis, Leonardo, and Lucas had suffered their first complete defeat the week before, so they prepared a better-planned story for this confrontation.
As every week, they prepared their three lies within their new tale. This time, there was a larger audience than usual. The reporter who had shown interest in them had published his column in the newspaper, recounting how he had managed to uncover the three lies.
They were no longer just storytellers—this had turned into a duel between both sides, testing intelligence, details, looks, and body language.
The reporter who had defeated them was in the audience, and the three friends sat down as they did every Friday and began their story.
Luis greeted those present and started the tale:
"Some months ago, on October 31st to be exact, we met at the house of one of our friends, far from the city, in a cabin. Eleven people were invited to stay with him. We had planned a party celebrating the culture of our northern neighbors—Halloween, or as it is commonly called, the Day of Witches.
That was our big day. We went early to his family's house and decorated it among the three of us. We put up orange and purple ribbons, placed pumpkins at the doors, covered the lightbulbs with colored paper, and added candles.
We also prepared the games: bobbing for apples, pin the tail on the wolf, spin the bottle, the Ouija board…
Everything was ready for the night we would stay. Night fell, and the twelve of us enjoyed the party. Everything was going well, and we had fun like children—well, since we still are children.
The chimes of the great clock in the center of the hall began to strike eleven. That was the signal for us to cut the power.
It was the perfect moment to use the candles and play the Ouija board, just as planned. Leonardo turned off the electricity and everyone screamed in surprise, since we hadn't told anyone about our plan.
Lucas set the Ouija board on the center table and invited everyone to gather around. Three of them and Lucas placed their hands on the planchette.
They started with simple questions, such as who liked whom, who had stolen something, or who was with us. And to that last question, the answer came…
Luis smiled, showing his own amazement at how well he had hidden his lie, and Leo continued the tale:
I... That was all the planchette spelled out. So we began asking more focused questions:"What's your name?" … I…"Are you with us?" … N…o… b…u…t… c…l…o…s…e…"What are you?" … H…u…m…a…n"Are you alive?" … I… w…a…s…"Could you show yourself?" … N…o…t… y…e…t…
In the end, we dropped the Ouija, saying that we had moved it ourselves. We knew it had really moved, but there was no reason to alarm everyone. Maybe that was a small mistake on our part.
We continued the party without lights, but still having fun with music from our phones and a speaker that still had battery. We kept enjoying the night. At midnight, we planned to tell horror stories, both real and urban legends.
Luis was supposed to begin the gathering with the twelve chimes, but everything happened so fast when the first chime rang…"
Leo finished his part of the story smiling. Perhaps his lie had been a bit obvious, but now it all depended on Lucas, who continued:
"The first chime rang TUUUN! – The lights turned on and began to flicker.
The second chime rang TUUUN! – Lucas and Luis lost their calm, looked at each other, and began searching for what was happening.
The third chime rang TUUUN! – The oldest in the group shouted, pointing at the window.
The fourth chime rang TUUUN! – The lights went out with a loud noise, and the candles extinguished one by one, from the window to the hall's door.
The fifth chime rang TUUUN! – The window that had been pointed at shattered, and wind blew in through it. Those nearby looked through the hole, and outside the house stood a man with a hat… standing on the moor.
The sixth chime rang TUUUN! – Two of our friends fainted upon seeing the man, and three tried to woke them up.
The seventh chime rang TUUUN! – With our eyes fixed on him, we saw how he disappeared from the spot, moving in a zigzag toward the house, appearing among the tall grass and weeds.
The eighth chime rang TUUUN! – One friend fell to the floor, grabbed her legs, curled into a fetal position, and began to pray.
The ninth chime rang TUUUN! – With a thud behind the window, we saw the man's shadow. Stretching his hand, he tried to pass it through the frame, but vanished in the attempt.
The tenth chime rang TUUUN! – His boots echoed on the house's porch. We all approached the door and saw his red eyes staring straight at us.
The eleventh chime rang TUUUN! – The doorknob turned, and the door flung open. The figure stood before us, stepped inside, and all the bulbs exploded in a blinding flash.
The twelfth chime rang TUUUUUUUUUN! – The man approached me, reaching his hand near my face to grab me. I threw myself to the floor, unable to move.