1 The First Night

"Do you ever believe in the existence of the supernatural being? The belief that the human kind shares the same space as another entity--someone or something our eyes cannot see. My name is Julia Roberts and I'm here to make sure you, our audience, would discover the truth. I might sound crazy to you but here among us, we are not alone. As you are reading this, whether in the dead of night or in the morning light, they are watching you. Do not show any signs of weakness or else they will--" The television was turned off abrubtly.

"Hey! I was watching that, sis," Harry protested. "You cut that off right at the interesting part! I want to know what happens next." The young man quickly tried to snatch the remote from his sister but to no avail, she did not budged at all, merely stared at him in silent judgement.

"Out of all channel you could watch, you want to watch that ridiculous new TV show?" Grace asked loudly, not caring if her brother winced at her loud noise. After all, he was the one who didn't want to listen to her. Just yesterday she told him to sleep early for his first day at school after two weeks of break, and now he's staying up late at night. Boy, does this brother of her never learns?

Grace sighed, gripping the remote control tightly. "Did you even remember what you promised me? No more staying up to watch the TV anymore. Go to bed, Harry."

"I know, I know sis but just this once let me watch it. Before you keep me that this show is ridiculous or something, you should know that people say that it's actually legit." Harry said, widening his eyes as if to show an expression of shocked horror. Grace rolled her blue eyes, thinking to herself that maybe it was not worth the effort. Clearly his brother was into supernatural genre and is now trying to convert her to be a fan of that genre. No, no and no, she is not one to believe those kinds of things. /Not today little brother/ Grace thinks in her mind.

"Since when words that people say becomes an evidence? You really ought to stop looking into conspiracies theories. Ghost does not exist and whatever that woman says, it's not true *because* there are no facts to prove it."

"You are just scared of the truth, sis. They are out there somewhere." Harry shrugged, already giving up on distracting his sister to get the remote. She always get her way. "One day, you will see who's in the wrong here. Don't eat up your words, ok?" He winked at her and get up from the couch, not before yawning and streching his sore body. He was finally listening to her.

His footsteps resounded in the living room. Grace Reeves turned her head towards he direction of the television and frowned in silence. She really did not have a will to argue over his theories again. All she want right now is to sleep, she still haven't finish her artwork yet. Yeah, maybe her deadline was still long to go but it didn't sit well for her to go through a day without painting. So she might as well finished it by this week. Then again, she could not sleep well if there are noises if the television downstairs and that was a part of the reason why she wanted her brother to sleep early. Not to mention, if he keeps his routine, he would be so tired in the morning and might missed his first day.

Grace really do not want her brother to do such a thing because then it will be a habit of his.

As Grace was lost in her thoughts and her eyes staring blankly at the TV screen, she heard her brother's voice. "Grace, you should be careful tonight. Sleep with the light open. They don't like it so they'll stay away."

/Trying to scare me? He really has the nerve./ Grace thinks angrily. "Oh really? I am so scared. What will those ghosts do now? Turn on and off the lights?" She replied in a sarcastic manner while putting down the remote control on the coffee table. "Next time, watch educational channels like Animal Planet or real news, now go to bed you stubborn--" She stopped her words as she turned her back. She did not see her brother at all. She was very sure the voice came from halfway the staircase since he was actually going to his bed. /Weird, did he ran away so fast before trying to preach me his useless advice?/

But the footsteps did stopped when she was organizing her thoughts before. Almost like he was standing in the staircase for a while before talking to her. She felt shivers down her spine. She did not want to believe it. /All this talk is getting me delusional. I better sleep and ask him tomorrow. It's really cold down here/ Grace hugged herself for warmth before taking her leave to bed.