Bryce was relieved it was just Ava, so he walked up to her while his friends stayed where they were.
"We will be back soon Ava, so just wait for us," Bryce said as he placed his hand on her head. "And how did you know we were going to the mansion?" he asked.
"Well… I heard when you guys were talking about it in your room. I was outside your room," Ava replied in a slow, quiet voice.
Ava came to the orphanage the same time Bryce did, but back then she was just a baby, and Bryce would always take care of her. Because of that, she became fond of Bryce, and to him she was like a little sister.
"How many times have I told you not to stay outside our room? Well, it's fine. Like I said, we'll be back, so don't worry," Bryce assured her.
He didn't want to waste any more time, so he left Ava and walked out of the orphanage with his friends.
The four of them rushed to their bikes, which were parked at the side of the building.
"So, we're really doing this," Carl said as they got on their bikes.
"Yes, we are and we'll make history," Bryce smiled.
They started riding, heading straight toward the mansion.
Just as they left, a car arrived and parked in front of the orphanage.
Some of the sisters, including Sister Anna, came out to greet the person who arrived.
The car door opened, and a man stepped out, dressed in a priest's attire.
"Good evening, Father William," Sister Anna said.
"Evening, Sister Anna. How are you all doing today?" Father William asked.
"We are doing fine. We are prepared for your arrival, and the children are happy that you came," Sister Anna said with a smile.
"I am happy to be here. What about Bryce, is he around?"
"Yes, he is. I just checked."
"Good," Father William said with relief.
Bryce and his friends arrived at the mansion and stopped in front of it, gazing up at it.
"This is definitely creepier in person," Tyler said.
"Let's not look at it too much. Let's just go inside, look around, and make the videos," Bryce said as they got off their bikes and placed them on the ground.
The mansion was huge, and it looked normal, almost like something recently built it. But there was a dark, eerie feeling about it. It wasn't close to any other building in the area.
Bryce turned his camera on and faced it toward himself. "Good evening, our humble followers or… people who would be fortunate to watch this. We've been talking about ghosts and things that haunt in the dark. So today, we will explore this haunted mansion and see what creepy things we can find. I promise you won't be disappointed." He stopped recording.
"I really hope we don't get disappointed, because it'll be annoying if we came all the way out here for nothing," Carl said as they walked to the mansion's entrance. "But then again, I also hope we are disappointed, because I don't want to find anything creepy."
They reached the entrance. The door was large, with strange carvings on it but they didn't understand what they meant.
Bryce continued recording. "Now we will be entering the mansion. There are some carvings on the door here, but we don't really understand what they mean."
Austin pushed the door, and it opened. Without wasting any time, they all walked in.
As soon as they entered, the air changed. It felt like they were in a completely different atmosphere. It was dark, and they could barely see, so they turned on their flashlights.
"I guess it's not too late to turn back now," Tyler said.
"C'mon, we're already inside, so let's continue," Bryce said as he looked around.
They were in a long hallway, with walls on both sides. The only direction they could go was forward.
"We'll go forward now and see where this hallway leads," Bryce said to the camera.
They started walking. Even though they had taken only a few steps, it felt like they had been walking for a long time.
After a while, they saw a light ahead and continued toward it. They eventually arrived in a living room. It looked like a normal living room with a table in the center and chairs.
But one thing stood out, the lights were on. The chandelier glowed, and other bulbs lit the room. It was strange because the hallway had not a single light.
"Are you sure no one lives here, Bryce?" Austin asked.
"Yeah, the info I got from the internet says so… and who would be living in a place like this?" Bryce replied, though he was also confused.
"But apart from the light situation, everything seems pretty normal and not creepy," Tyler said.
"We just arrived in the living room of the mansion, and everything seems somewhat normal. Nothing creepy or scary here, so let's continue to explore," Bryce said to his camera.
They spread out and looked around the living room. Everything was neat, almost too neat. It looked as if someone had been keeping the place clean.
"We live in that room at the orphanage, and someone gets to abandon a place like this? I can never understand that," Carl said in a sad tone.
"Well, we're not going to be at the orphanage forever. Who knows, when we grow up, we might be able to build a mansion like this or even better," Bryce said.
"It's getting late. We should finish up and get back to the orphanage. I'm sure they already know we aren't around," Tyler said.
"Yes, but now that I'm looking, I can't find any other door leading to another room," Austin said as he looked around.
They began searching for another exit from the living room, but they couldn't find anything.
Bryce joined them, but then he began to hear a faint whisper, someone calling his name. It wasn't any of his friends, and no one else was there.
He then felt a pull, like something drawing him toward a certain direction. He turned toward it and saw a door.
"Guys, there's a door here," Bryce called.
They walked over to him.
"Why didn't we notice this door before?" Austin asked.
"Yeah, I'm not sure this door was here earlier," Carl added.
Bryce stepped closer. "Well, it's the only door here, so why don't we check it out?"
"I think we should go now. Something doesn't feel right here," Carl said.
Bryce still felt the pull, the door was connected to it somehow. It had the same carvings as the front entrance, and on it, the word Library was written.
"Let's just explore the room behind this door, and after that we can leave. It says 'library,' so there shouldn't be much there," Bryce tried to persuade them.
"Alright… but after this room, we leave. This place might look normal, but I definitely don't feel comfortable here," Austin agreed.
"Do we really have to? We can just go now," Carl said.
"We're already here, and we've gone this far. So, for Bryce's sake, let's just explore the library, then we'll go." Tyler said.
"Alright then," Carl agreed.
"Great," Bryce smiled.
Back at the orphanage, Father William and the sisters were near Bryce's and his friends' room. They had just realized the boys were not in the orphanage.
"Where could those boys have gone at this time?" Sister Anna wondered.
"That is a good question. We need to find them quickly and bring them back," Father William said.
"I don't know where they went, and I'm really sorry about this, Father. I know those boys can be troublesome, but I didn't expect them to do something like this."
"There's no need to apologize. The most important thing is to find them," Father William said.
Father William acted calm but deep down he knew something was not right.
"I know where they are," Ava said suddenly out of nowhere.