Host, Please Be Honest! What Exactly Are You?

"You guys... Is it just me, or is it getting foggier up here?" Chris commented, and everyone nodded in agreement.

It wasn't a thick binding fog but a very sparse one... Still, they felt its strangeness.

Looking around, they realized just how massive this grave site was.

There were roads and higher foot trails that winded like a labyrinth across the many Tombstones laid out.

The ground was slightly red, and the few trees were void of leaves, as though Fall was already here.

The trees they saw were fat around the middle, making one think they could carve a door and a horse in them.

The trees slanted in many directions, none of them standing erect. And their roots were mostly exposed, giving the illusion they could walk away anytime they desired.

Dying plants scattered everywhere they looked, and the fog soon began sinking towards the ground, a very puzzling phenomenon.

How could this fog be sender than air? Even those who weren't brainiacs felt the matter was strange too.

And then they saw it... A strange house in the center of the graveyard.

The house looked elevated, with 4~6 steps at most that one would have to climb to get to its door.

It was such a strange house, with a tall but narrow body that looked like someone was squeezing it at its center.

.

Ahhh!!!~

Someone exclaimed as a bat flew right over them, so close to touching their heads.

~Chwi~Chwi~

A flock of bats flew away in formation, giving the gang another jump scare.

F***!

Emily cursed, placing her hands on her heavy bosoms. "Scared me there."

"Hmmm..."

Everyone thinned their lips, having the same reactions too.

Rudolf's ball rolled up and down his throat as he felt the gang almost holding tight to his clothes. Of course, he too had leaned back to stick to them like glue.

He looked left, right, and all around the gravesite.

He had to admit that the place was getting to him.

"Everyone... How about we do this? Rather than sitting out here and sleeping beside these graves all might, I think we should check out the building and camp there for the night... Besides, the fog might get colder, which could cause us to fall ill... It's best not to risk it."

Yes!!

Everyone's eyes lit up, and they couldn't agree more. It was true that the place was getting older and colder. So it was only fitting that they stay in that building. It was the right thing to do.

"But are we trespassing if we do so?" Emily asked, but another person was which to respond.

"I'm all against abiding by the law and not breaking an entry into properties that don't belong to me. However, tonight is too weird, and I'm sure for our safety, whoever wants to sue us can understand why we chose to stay there."

For the first time, he and the group felt they had miscalculated.

In other times they spend it outdoors, they had never been so bombarded by strange occurrences one after another.

What's more, you expect them to fall asleep when those slimy frogs were all on the stairway behind them? He didn't know why the frogs did not step into the actual gravesite. But that didn't mean they would be eventually.

He wouldn't want to wake up and have a bunch of frogs swarming his body like flies flowing a corpse.

He was also terrified about sleeping out here with the many bats, ravens, and strange birds flying around.

He already had the imagination that if he slept, maybe a vulture might even appear and poke his flesh, thinking him dead.

Yes! It sounded silly since there were no vultures in sight. But so what?

He wasn't comfortable out here!

The barrage was also defending their choice, with everyone agreeing that if it were them, they would've long broken into that building rather than standing around and waiting for permission.

If even them watching through the screen was disturbed, then imagine what Chris and the rest felt standing out there.

..

"Okay, okay," Rudolf called their attention. "We can't be focused on these matters now. If the time comes for us to take the blame, I will personally do so since it was my idea."

Rudolf paused, adding a few more wise words.

"Whatever you decide, you must remember that there might be criminals and dangerous people around. So it's best we always take cover. This was neglect on our part. But now that we've assessed the situation, we can't treat it the same anymore."

"He's right," Chris acknowledged. "I too will take the blame if anything goes wrong. But for now, we have to go in."

"... Okay..."

Deep down, though some of them raised the matter of breaking an entry, they all wanted to run into that building and stay there till morning.

"Come on... Let's go."

"Right."

The image of several young figures making their way through the winding pathways was shown on the live broadcast.

Today's moon was brighter than usual, excluding a beautiful hue that baptized the land.

But just then, on the path the gang stood on earlier, a single twig blew in the foggy grounds until it slammed itself on a crooked tree.

The twig bounced off and fell into the foggy tree base. There was nothing ordinary here… except for the tree itself that now formed strange riddles on its exterior.

It was changing...

The tree was changing into an even more crooked version of itself as the strange dog now crawled up its body.

However, neither the gang nor those watching the live broadcast saw these changes.

....

"Damn! It has a lock on its door... Could it be a shed? This is the first time I'm seeing such a high shed the size of a small home." Someone commented.

But then again, it makes sense for the shed to be bigger than normal. After all, who has time to move back and forth from here to the city if they were tasked with cleaning, pruning, and taking care of the place?

But then again, it makes sense for the shed to be so large.

Rudolf held the lock thoughtfully. "It's thick. We won't be able to break it without the necessary tools. We can use the stones scattered around, but I think we focus on unscrewing the latches first."

This way, they wouldn't be breaking the lock. And tomorrow, after they leave, they could screw it back in place.

Jenny frowned. "That's good and all. But where are we to find a screwdriver?"

One of the other outdoor anchors smiled, moving forward towards the door.

"It just so happens that I have a survival multi-tool."

It even had a blade and several other valuable tools in mini-versions combined.

One side of it was scissors, and the other side was a combination of several screwdrivers and a blade that could slide in and out from the scissor handles.

~Thing!

He released all 4 screwdrivers, trying to access which ones would work on the latches.

1, 2, 3...

In no time, the gang successfully took out the latches and got rid of the lock.

That's good...

~Creeeee~

The wooden door made a creaking noise as the gang entered the very dusty space.

Jenny nodded, seeing her assumptions were correct.

There were just 2 rooms here, this space and another space that had shovels, giant pruning scissors, chemicals, and so on. Then, there was a stairway leading up to 2 other rooms.

Click!

The group closed the door from inside. It was nice to see more than 11 security bolts and systems to keep intruders out.

Exaggerate much?

"_"

Looking at the windows, there were also a lot of locks and latches with iron frames.

Hello? Can anyone tell them what was going on here? Was there something they missed? Have they accidentally unsheathed a hidden military base?

This was so odd that even those in the live broadcast joked about this puzzling phenomenon.

"Why does it look like these people who built this place were preparing for the apocalypse?"

"Upstairs, I feel the same way too. It's all so strange... That is, what were they trying desperately to keel out? Or could they be afraid when working here late at night and protecting themselves against criminals?"

"Well, at least the anchors should be safe now. So I'm not mad at it, though I admit the defense systems are indeed too much."

Looking Outside, one would think it was a wooden home. But inside, they could see a metal frame and other thickened walls to protect any staying here.

Rudolf shook his head, ushering them to head into the other room to take out the rags available.

"It's too dusty. We have to clean up before we can do anything."

"Right."

Now, inside, they didn't hold so much fear anymore, cleaning the place and sitting cross-legged, ready for their challenge to begin. They were so busy with their games that they didn't notice the strange changes outside.

Hehehhehehe~

The moon was just right, and the night.