<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">Elmer felt a surge of excitement as Tiffany changed course and leisurely walked toward the equipment room.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">Inside the dimly lit room, two boys dressed as ghouls stood behind the door. Their faces were painted grotesquely, and tl wore tattered, blood–stained costumes that perfectly suited the eerie twilight hour.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">Elmer called in to give the signal. “Get ready! Tiffany’s on her way!”</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">“Got it!” The two boys chuckled sinisterly, adjusted their wigs, and crouched by the door.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">As soon as Tiffany stepped inside, she would be greeted by their horrifyingly realistic ghost faces. Even if she had nerves steel, they were confident she’d be terrified out of her wits.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">Minutester, faint footsteps approached.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">Outside the equipment room, Tiffany stood before the door. Instead of knocking or turning the handle, she casually raise her foot and kicked it open.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">The door mmed into the wall behind it, swinging back and forth with loud creaks as the wind caught it.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">Tiffany stepped in unhurriedly.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">The equipment room was shadowy and cold. The faint evening light cast elongated, ghastly shadows of the scattered gear, giving the room a haunting vibe.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">For a fleeting moment, Tiffany thought, ‘Could there be something supernatural here?‘</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">Then, a chilling surround sound effect emerged. It was the kind of hair–raising audio from a horror movie, designed to unsettle people and make their hearts race. People would instinctively want to run upon hearing this sound.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">Tiffany paused, taking a step back as though startled.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">At that moment, two bloody figures emerged from the darkness. Their eerie gazes locked onto her as they moved closer, slow and menacing.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">Tiffany appeared frozen in ce, seemingly too frightened to move.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">The two boys, delighted by her reaction, leaned into their act, their movements bing more exaggerated.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">But then, Tiffany’s cool, slightly amused voice broke through the tense atmosphere. “Is that all?”</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">The boys exchanged incredulous nces. With the immersive audio, their painstakingly gory costumes, and the entire ambiance they’d created, she dismissed it all as unimpressive.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">Unwilling to ept defeat, they lunged at her with ws outstretched, determined to elicit a scream.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">Tiffany didn’t even flinch. She found the whole thing almostughable. Before they could reach her, she kicked them, sending them sprawling. “Is that tomato sauce? If you’re going to scare someone, use the real thing.”</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">With that, she grabbed a baseball bat from a nearby rack and began swinging it at the two “ghouls.” The boys immediately. started wailing, their cries echoing like banshees.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">“Ouch! Stop, please stop!”</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">“We’re sorry! We’re sorry! Just stop hifting us!“.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">Tiffany wasn’t one to hold back, but their desperate pleas did make her pause. She dropped the bat.</font></font>
The boys exhaled deeply until they saw Tiffany reach for something else on the rack.
She said, “Baseball bats are too soft. A spiked club would be better.”
She pulled down a spiked club, its sharp points glinting menacingly in the dim light.
Tiffany’s smile was angelic, yet it sent shivers down their spines. It was the smile of a devil.
Their screams filled the night.
Meanwhile, Elmer had set up a hidden camera in the equipment room, eagerly presenting the footage to Melody. “Look, Melody, a special surprise for you!”
Wilma, inhabiting Melody’s body, had expected him to cause trouble for Tiffany but was taken aback by how quickly he’d acted.
Curious, she opened the video on her phone. However, the footage showed the two “ghouls” being beaten into submission
Her expression darkened instantly. “This is the surprise you promised me?”
His friends were being tortured by Tiffany.
Elmer was momentarily stunned. His first instinct was to rush to the equipment room, but he recalled Tiffany’s ruthless demeanor. He hesitated, afraid he would receive the end of her wrath too.
Slowly, he stopped in his tracks.
After all, it was only his twockeys getting beaten up. He figured he could make it up to themter with some small favors or a nice meal.
With thatforting thought, Elmer turned off the camera feed and acted as if he had no idea what was going on. Hence, he didn’t understand the situation in the equipment room next.
Tiffany stood over the two boys, her tone cool and mocking. “Was it Elmer who told you to dress up as ghouls and scare me?”
The boys averted their eyes in unison, their “friendship” too strong to betray him.
Tiffany scoffed, amusement flickering across her face. “Do you honestly think your buddy ising to save you?”
“Of course!” They didn’t even hesitate.
Tiffany said, “Alright then. Let’s wait and see if your loyal friendes to your rescue.”
She walked out of the equipment room, mming the door shut behind her. Then, she jammed a baseball bat through the door handles from the outside.
The door was now locked, impossible to open from the inside.
Tiffany said, “Let’s y a game. Without calling for help, ley’s see if Elmer finds you tonight or if you’re discovered tomorrow by the equipment room staff.”
“How about the stakes?” Nelson Durham and Logan Durham snorted, defiant. “If we win, you’ll apologize to us in front of the whole school. How about that?”N?velDrama.Org owns all ? content.
No way they were taking a beating for nothing.
“Sure.” Tiffany agreed without a second thought, her expression different.
To her, it wasn’t even a gamble. It was a foregone conclusion. The brothers were simply too stubborn to ept the obvious.
She left, shutting the equipment room door behind her. The eerie surround sound continued to loop.
The audio controls weren’t inside, so the sound was impossible to turn off.
At first, Nelson and Logan were calm, almost dismissive of the situation.
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">But as the evening deepened, the sound effects grew increasingly unsettling. “Maybe… we should turn on the lights?” Nelson suggested nervously.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">“Yeah, good idea,” Logan agreed.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">They rose together, fumbling in the pitch–ck room for the light switch.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">A split secondter, they both screamed.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">“I touched a ghost!”</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">“Something warm grabbed my hand!”</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">Their panicked cries echoed before they realized the obvious. They’d grabbed each other. Feeling foolish, they finally flipped the switch. Nothing happened.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">Of course. The light was broken because they’d sabotaged it themselves earlier to ensure Tiffany couldn’t turn it on.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">Now, it was poetic justice.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">Dejected, they sank back onto the floor. They became nervous.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">“Why hasn’t Elmere yet?” Nelson muttered.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">“Maybe he hasn’t checked his phone,” Logan replied.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">“Should we… call him?”</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">“No! If we call him, we lose the bet! Don’t let Tiffany get in our heads. She just wants us to turn on each other. It’s all part of her twisted game.”</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">Nelson fell silent. He silently calcted the time.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">Minutes dragged on like hours. Half an hour felt like an eternity</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">This kind of darkness always triggered endless imagination, especially with the eerie sound effects constantly lingering in their ears.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">Whether their eyes were open or closed, they felt a chilling unease creep into their hearts. The cold, oppressive atmosphere seemed to press in from all sides.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">Nelson and Logan grew increasingly nervous. Before long, their backs were drenched in sweat.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">They regretted making a bet with Tiffany.</font></font>