Game Quest: Home Sweet Home episode 1

by Phantom-Dragon

Rating: teen
Tags: Death, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Mystery, Horror, Other, Equestria Girls, Sunset Shimmer, Violence, Crossover, Dark
Length: 47760

Sunset Shimmer and Tim must escape a nightmare that threatens to destroy them, and rescue Jane.

This is a midquel of Game Quest: Super Mario 64, during the Big Boo’s Haunt.

After a dark and stormy game night, Sunset Shimmer wakes up and finds herself in what seems to be a rundown building, where she meets Tim, a man whose wife, Jane, has gone missing. The two must work together to escape this horrible nightmare world, and find Jane, before it is too late.

Published 2020-09-23 23:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2022-09-10 01:07:04 UTC

Prologue: Game Night

Author's Note

I was going to have this story published on Sunset Shimmer’s day, which was yesterday o. The Fall Equinox.

Oh well.

Better late than never.

And so, the story of Sunset Shimmer’s Game Quest begins, tonight...

And since we’re all in our homes, Home Sweet Home.

Prologue: Game Night

Another time, another place. But the atmosphere itself was just the same: A dark, stormy night. Yet all was still within Canterlot City, not a living soul out and about in such treacherous weather. All the citizens were all tucked safely in the comfort of their homes, their loved ones close beside them. It is on this particular night, however, that only ‘one’ living soul was awake.

Outside of an apartment, a light shone brightly from a single window. Inside, undeterred by the weather outside her home, a young girl chose to pass the time in her own unique way.

“Yeah! Take that!” She screamed.

The eruption of explosions and fighting blows echoed from the large T.V. screen coupled with the sound of buttons mashing.

“Yeah! Take that! C’mon! You want a piece of me?! Come and get it!”

The voice belonged to a young girl, at the age of the typical teenager High School girl. Her beautiful blazing fiery red hair, with streaks of gold, swished in the air as her head swished from one side to the next. She was garbed in a light-gray leather jacket with orange stripes along the sleeves, over a sparkling turquoise shirt with yellow see-through frills along the helm, skintight blue jeans, and black boots with orange stripes. Her name is Sunset Shimmer, formerly a pony from Equestria but has since lived the life of a human teenager along with a ragtag band of friends.

With her V.R. (Virtual Reality) headset over her eyes, Sunset felt immersed within the virtual realm of the game she was currently playing. So intense was her efforts, she vigorously mashed the buttons on her controllers at a rapid pace.

“DIE YOU UNDEAD SERVANTS OF GROGAR! DIE!!!” Sunset screamed competitively.

RING-RING! RING-RING!

Sunset was right in the middle of the game when the ringing phone signaled the end of playtime.

“Got to 7 already?” Sunset asked herself. “Shoot! Just when I was about to beat the final boss.”

With a push of a button, Sunset paused the game and unstraps her VR headset. Sliding it off her head, her brilliant cyan eyes were revealed as they adjusted to their surroundings. But due to the long exposure to the screen, her once beautiful eyes had redden to shades of pink. She practically had to rub her eyes just to get her vision straight.

“Time to feed Ray,” Sunset sighed.

She approaches the table, where a large glass tank sat. Inside is her precious pet leopard gecko, Ray.

“Hey there!” She cooed lovingly at the little lizard. “How’s my little ray of sunshine tonight?”

She picks up a long tube of crickets, opening the cap before releasing a decent swarm for Ray to pick off of. Sunset watched as the gecko pursues the crickets, eating them one after the other, and all within a matter of seconds.

“Wow, you must’ve been really hungry,” Sunset smirked in amusement. “You make Sparx the Dragonfly look like he’s on a diet.”

Sunset looks down toward Ray and judging by the way he tilts his head looking at her, she deduced he was confused.

“Oh, he’s a magic dragonfly and the best friend of Spyro. They’re from the Spyro the Dragon game… actually really good.”

Sunset was in the midst of explaining when the vibrating ring tone brought Sunset’s attention to her phone. She picks it up, noting the text message from one of her friends. Namely Twilight Sparkle a.k.a. ‘Sci-Twi’ as she was often referred to (So as not to confuse her with her mentor, ‘Princess’ Twilight Sparkle). Upon opening the text box, Sunset was surprised to see she actually missed some other text messages from her friends.

Most of them read:

“Hey Sunset! We’re meeting at the cafe. Want to come?”
“Yo Sunset! Where’ve you been? It’s like you’ve gone away or something.”
“Sunset, darling? Aren’t you coming over?”
“Are ya ok, Sunset? We haven’t seen ya for weeks now!”
“Sunset Shimmer? Are you okay?”

The latest text message came from Twilight herself, which read:

“Hey Sunset. What’s happened to you? Ever since you bought that new VR headset for your games, it’s almost like you’ve cut yourself off from us, and the world. I know you like your games and all, but you can’t just spend the days in your apartment, playing video games all day long. We want you back. I want my friend back. Please text back after you read this message.”

“Have I really been gone for that long?” Sunset asked herself.

Sunset pondered whether to text back or not, when her attention wandered toward her unfinished game indicated on the screen. She looks down toward her phone, then back at the T.V. After a while, she ultimately shrugged.

“Eh, I’ll answer her later…” Sunset nodded, standing up. “After fifteen more minutes of zombie slaying!”

As Sunset left the table, Ray couldn’t help but shake his head over his owner’s obsession with games. Sunset picked up her headset and dons it back, her burning eyes glaring through the machine. She picks up her controller, set the game off ‘pause’, and resumes her gameplay.

But little did Sunset know, however, that this gameplay of hers would be a night she’d never forget. For outside, the storm raged on, as the thunder roared, and the lightning flashed across the sky. The storm itself begins to pick up, the raindrops pouring from the dark clouds. Amidst the flash of lightning and pouring rain, an aura of sparkling magic floated in the air when the lightning struck.

Upon contacting this loose magic, the lightning absorbs its aura, traveling down a satellite along the rooftop of Sunset’s apartment. The enchanted electricity travels through the wires, making its way along the fiery gamer’s home. The lights around her room began to flicker rapidly, as the energy crawled into Sunset’s game console, toward her headset… and electrocuted the unsuspecting teen.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHH!!!” Sunset wailed.

The electricity, combined with Equestrian magic, circuits through Sunset’s body, causing her to spasm and squirm until her whole world went black.

Hours had passed, as Sunset stirred and groaned. The fiery teen wearily stood up, wincing through the throbbing sensation pounding along her head.

“Ow… my head,” She winced, massaging her throbbing head. “What the hay happened?”

At first, all Sunset Shimmer could see is complete darkness. But eventually, she realized she was still wearing her headset and the power was off. Removing her headset, she is greeted by something… strange.

“Hey!” She exclaimed.

The sudden change of her surroundings was perplexing. Outside, while the rain had stopped, something about the evening had this eerily dark atmosphere. A blanket of thick fog covered the building she was in. And as if that weren’t curious enough, all the lights were off.

“Great… the storm knocked the power out,” Sunset muttered. “Better check it out with the janitor, and hopefully avoid the landlord.”

Sunset Shimmer approached the door to her apartment, grabbing the knob, and turned it. Strangely, however, the knob wouldn’t move, and the door wouldn’t open.

“Wait, what?!” Sunset exclaimed, struggling to pry the door open. “Locked?! But how?”

After a moment of struggling, Sunset stepped away from the door for a different approach. She began to search the room, seeking something to open the door. She passed by the glass tank housing her pet gecko, Ray. The room was so dark, she couldn’t see the gecko. But a small glimmer of relief and joy flowed within her, as if she could feel the gecko is still there.

“Rest easy, Ray,” Sunset spoke silently. “The power will be back on soon.”

Still alone in the dark, Sunset Shimmer felt on edge. For everywhere she looked, every place she turned, she could see misshape shadows that resembled fearsome monsters. And certainly not the kind of monsters she knew about back in Equestria.

Suddenly, the air around Sunset Shimmer grew cold, her sense of joy and/or relief immediately drained from her body. In their place, she felt fear and sadness, while a sinister presence lurked from behind. As if sensing the cold hands reaching to grab her, she quickly turned around to find… nothing. The fact it’s what she couldn’t see scared her, for she knew somehow that something was there.

Heart started to rush, matching the pace of her heavy breathing. Cold sweat dripped along her forehead as she anxiously stood, nervously waiting for something to happen. The girl struggled to ready herself, daring not to speak for fear of what sinister creature may respond in return.

All at once, without warning, she immediately seized up, as if an invisible force captured her within its grip. Her whole body turned cold as ice, running rapidly through the blood flowing within her veins. Sunset tried to scream, but her voice was silenced as she succumbed to the freezing cold of the terrifying grip. She fell to the floor, the last thing she sees was the puff of her breath. The world around her faded into the darkness, as Sunset Shimmer was spirited away by the mysterious ghost…

Chapter 2: Home Sweet Home

Author's Note

Whenever Tim's words are surrounded by these "<>" that's him speaking in Thai. I saw this play out in the Night Parade Story Arc, in the Erma the Ghost Girl webcomic.

Chapter 2: Home Sweet Home

“AAAH!!!!”

Tim and Sunset screamed as they lunged out of the cupboard, landing onto the welcoming floor of the house.

“Oh, I thought I was a goner that time,” Tim panted heavily. “Are you okay, Sunset?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Sunset panted.

She turned her head and noticed the man’s arm. She could see the cuts he received from the ghost that attacked them with the box cutter.

“Tim! Your arm! It’s--:

But before she can express her concern further, Sunset was perplexed as the cuts appeared to glow in a magic aura. An aura of which matched the glow surrounding the bracelet on Tim’s wrist. Before long, the cuts slowly vanished off the surface of the man’s skin.

“Uh…”

“Huh! How about that?” Tim asked in amazement. “Guess this thing really comes in handy after all.”

Both man and girl turned toward the cupboard they emerged from. They checked inside slowly… only to find nothing in there but old boxes.

“But… we just…” Sunset stumbled her words.

The two slowly turned to exchange looks of bewilderment with one another. Eventually, they shook heads thinking it was better they don’t ask. As the two got up, they looked around and noticed it was still nighttime. But all the lighting in the house made it feel less scary.

“Ah, home sweet home,” Tim sighed.

“This is your home?” Sunset asked, as she looked around. “Nice spread you’ve got here. I got to say Tim, you have a nice house.”

“Thanks Sunset,” Tim smiled before frowning. “But it’ll be very lonely if I don’t find Jane soon.”

This sparked Sunset’s interest as she turned toward the man.

“Who’s Jane?”

“She’s my wife,” Tim answered. “But she’s gone, went missing. It’s been weeks now, and…”

RING-RING! RING-RING!

The phone rang loudly, startling Tim and Sunset out of their wits. After a moment of composing themselves, Tim approached the phone. He was just about to pick up and answer when the caller went straight to voicemail.

“Hey Tim!” A young man’s voice spoke. “It’s Dew. What’s up with you, man? Haven’t seen you in ages! Hope you’re doing well. Call me back so I know you’re not dead!”

By the end of the message, the phone beep signified the end of the call.

“Friend of yours?” Sunset asked.

“Good ol’ Dew,” Tim nodded in confirmation. “He’s one of my best friends. He and I go way bak. He’s always looking out for me and everyone else. What would I do without him?”

Sunset couldn’t help but chuckle, smiling in sympathy.

“I know how you feel,” The fiery girl replied. “He reminds me of some friends of mine…”

Sunset stopped, as the memory of her friends suddenly made her feel sad. If all else, she grew worried about how they are doing back home.

“I’m sure they’re probably worried about me now.”

“Hmm… in that case, I think I’d better give your friends a call,” Tim suggests.

He picks up the phone, his hands ready to dial the numbers.

“Should probably let them know you’re here. No, wait… I should call your parents, so they can come pick you up.”

“Uh, you can’t!”

Tim turned toward the girl with a look of bewilderment.

“I mean, they’re all out of… the country?” Sunset smiled sheepishly.

“Oh?” Tim raised an eyebrow.

“Uh… I’m on a school trip!” Sunset quickly lied.

“Oh… a study abroad student huh?”

“Uh huh…” Sunset nodded, scratching her head. “I was… uh… I was staying at a hotel, playing some video games as usual… but I must’ve stayed up so late I blacked out. That’s when I met you.”

“Hmm… I see…”

As Tim sets his phone down, he noticed a piece of paper beneath the phone.

“Huh, what’s this?”

“What is it?” Sunset asked.

The girl approached the man’s side for a closer look at the paper. There were words written in pencil, in the same Thai language.

“What does it say?”

“It’s in Jane’s handwriting!” Tim exclaimed. “It says:”

April 29, 2013

[Front]

I had a quite unsettling dream last night...so strange that I thought it was real...something or someone was chasing after me all night long...it came to me and pulled me hard...the pain that I felt was so real as if it wanted to take my "life"...but I managed to escape and saw the light at the end of the path...I couldn't remember anything else.

[Back]

There was nothing scarier than that...what was it that I saw? How are things? Hello? Jane??

"Hmmm," Sunset pondered, after Tim had read the whole paper. "Call me crazy, but it sounds similar to what we just experienced with the ghost from..."

Sunset turned to look at the empty cupboard.

"From back there..."

“Yeah…” Tim nodded quietly.

Shaking his head, Time released a sigh as he ushered Sunset to a couch.

“I need to get my thoughts together,” He declared. “In the meantime, why don’t you make yourself at home?”

“Sure thing, Mr. Tim,” Sunset replied.

As she made herself comfy on the couch, the troubled man decided to walk around the house with the paper in his hand. It was at that moment he remembered the notebook he found earlier… back in the room he was in… before meeting Sunset Shimmer… and WAY before the ghost chased him.

Tim looks down toward the notebook he had been carrying with him, tucked underneath his right arm.

<“Wow, I can’t believe I forgot I was carrying this,”> He spoke in Thai. <”Hey, this gives me an idea!”>

Looking toward the notebook, under a tag, he labeled it “Jane’s diary”, before clipping the page to the notebook’s page, under the tag.

<”Hopefully this could be our clue and a lead to where we can find Jane,”> Tim said to himself.

Turning to his left, he opened a door and stepped into an office. Tim approached the desk at the edge of the room, where a laptop rested, next to a lamp, and a stack of paper. Walking toward the desk, he picks up one sheet of paper.

<”A contact list of people that Jane would probably go to,”> Tim muttered.

The man quickly read the names before setting them back on the desk.

<”Like they’re of any help. They don’t even know where Jane is.”>

Tim turned his attention to another sheet of paper, which translates in English:

Royal Thai Police

Daily Report File

Police Station Samut Prakan
Division/Provincial Police Station...
Headquarter/ Region...
Order 4
Date: November 29, 2013
Time: 09:26 AM

Record

Mr. Chadchai Tubloy (Tim), 34 years old, resides at number 12 moo 6, Paknam, Muang, Samut Prakan, came to the police station and reported on November 29, 2013, at 3:30 AM, he found out that Ms. Nitharinya went missing and hasn't been found yet. What he found in Ms. Nitharinya's room led him to believe that an assault had taken place. This report will be used as evidence of his presence at the scene.

Pol. Capt. Metta Suebwongsa, Sub-Investigator, signed as informant.

Name: Chadchai Tubloy Informer.
Name: Pol. Capt. Metta Suebwongsa Informant
Name: Pol. L/C Kanchai Pradpruang Documentation Officer

Certified True Copy
Pol. Capt. Metta Suebwongsa (Pol. Capt. Metta Suebwongsa)
SubInvestigator, Samut Prakan Police Station

<”What I found in Jane’s room?”> Tim asked himself.

Deciding that’s where he needed to investigate, Tim was about to approach the stairs when Sunset happened to be walking his way.

“Excuse me, Mr. Tim,” Sunset politely apologized. “I was just going to use the restroom for a bit.

“That’s okay, Sunset,” Tim nodded, pointing to the stairs. “I’ll be upstairs.”

With that settled, the man was on his way up carrying his notebook with him. Tim couldn’t help but smile to himself. Even with his wife gone, having Sunset made his house feel less lonely. It was almost like raising a child, or in this case, a teenager. In a way, it was almost like being a father.

In the meantime, Tim reached the top of the stairs and turned left to see the door to a room was closed. He reached out for the knob to turn it open. However, he was perplexed to find the knob was locked and remained firm.

<”Locked?”> Tim asked. <”Where’s the key…? Maybe I left it in my room.”>

Turning his attention to the next door, he opens it up before stepping inside a large room. A huge flat screen TV was mounted on the wall to the right, while a double king-sized bed sat along the left.

There, hanging above the bed along the wall, are three large art boards, forming a picture of a peaceful farm. Tucked beneath the last art board, on the right, Tim spotted a single piece of paper. He walked over to pick up the sheet, examining it to see it was a drawing of an overview shot of a room.

<”Hmmm… looks like a drawing of the living room downstairs,”> Tim commented.

The man looks down toward the bottom-left corner of the drawing, spotting a small drawing of a key with the letter ‘J’ next to it.

<”That must be where the key to Jane’s room is!”>

Tim sets the paper down and raced out of his room, down the stairs just as Sunset Shimmer was on her way up.

“Oh!” They both exclaimed.

“Sunset!”

“Mr. Tim! Sorry I…” The girl apologized.

“Oh no, no need to apologize,” Mr. Tim waved his hand. “You need anything?”

“Actually, I was looking for you. I think I’ve found something that might give us a clue on where Jane is.”

“Really? What is it?”

Sunset reached into the pocket of her jacket, revealing a piece of a photograph.

“Interesting…” Tim muttered, examining the piece. “Wh-Where did you find it?”

“I found it in the bathroom,” Sunset confirmed. “It looks like a photograph… but I don’t know why there’s a piece of it. I think it could be a trail to where your wife, Jane, is…”

“Hmmm… maybe.”

Tim tucks the piece of the photograph into his notebook before continuing his way towards a bookshelf, where the key on the drawing was marked. Sunset Shimmer followed the man with a look of concern, when she noticed something out of the ordinary. Up ahead, she spots a web of red string, covering two glass-sliding doors from top to bottom.

“What’s with all these strings?” Sunset asked.

“Hmmm?”

Tim turned toward the strings, looking just as confused as Sunset.

“I don’t know. This wasn’t here before…”

“Do you think it means something?”

“Well, it does remind me of a thing called the ‘Red Thread of Fate,’” Tim spoke, before shaking his head. “But let’s not worry about it now.”

Turning his attention back to the books, Tim found what he was looking for.

<”A-ha!”>

Tim pulls out a spare set of keys from the books.

“Keys?” Sunset questioned. “Are we going out for a late-night drive or something?”

“No, these aren’t car keys,” Tim chuckled. “These are the spare keys to Jane’s room.”

Tim walked back upstairs with Sunset following close behind. With the spare keys in hand, Tim inserted the keys into the door, turning them to the side, and they clicked the door open. Gaping inside, Sunset marveled at the interior of the room.

“Wow… cozy!”

Holding each other’s hands, both Tim and Sunset walked in. All of a sudden, Sunset Shimmer’s hands glowed a shimmering aura of light. At first, all Sunset could see was light till her visions adjusted to see a woman, possibly in her 20s, sitting a desk. In appearance, she has long curly brown hair and wears a white sleeveless shirt, short jeans, and sandals.

At first, the woman appears to be writing something, when she suddenly stood up, as if she felt Sunset’s presence.

“Oh Tim!” She greeted in surprise.

It was then Sunset realized she was looking through Tim’s eyes, that this woman was talking to him.

“What are you doing here?”

“What are you doing up so late?” Tim asked.

“Oh, I’m just writing,” Jane replied hesitantly.

Sunset couldn’t help but notice that Jane was holding a little blue book behind her back.

“Can I take a look?” Tim asked in his memory.

“No, it’s private!” Jane said, shooing him away. “Get outta here!”

“Okay,” Tim pouted. “Welp, it’s time for bed.”

The memory ended just as quickly, as Sunset found herself back into the world with Tim. The man looks sadly towards the desk, where Jane once sat.

“That was her, wasn’t it?” Sunset gasped.

“What?” Tim asked, facing Sunset.

“Her! Jane!” Sunset replied.

She points to the very same woman in the framed pictures on the desk.

“That’s her, isn’t it? That’s your wife?”

“Oh, yes,” Tim nodded, turning back to the picture. “That’s her…”

A heavy sigh escapes as Tim took a seat in her chair. He shakes his head, clasping his hands together.

“She… is amazing. She’s my whole world and… I’ve got to find her…”

Sunset approached the man, placing a hand upon his shoulder.

“Correction,” Sunset began. “We will find her.”

“We?” Tim asked, looking toward the girl.

“Yes, we,” Sunset repeated. “Look, Tim. I don’t know why I’m here, but maybe it’s for a reason. Maybe it’s to help you find Jane. If that’s what it is, then that’s what I’m going to do.”

Tim gave a light chuckle before brushing Sunset’s hand off.

“That’s sweet of you, Sunset. But this is something I have to do by myself.”

“You don’t have to,” Sunset continued. “Let’s not forget we just had a near death experience from a crazy ghost with a boxcutter knife. You would’ve been minced to death if I hadn’t saved your sorry butt!”

“Hey! Watch your mouth, Sunset,” Tim pointed a finger at her.

“You’re missing the point, Mr. Tim! If we’re going to find Jane, we have to work together!”

“You’re just a kid,” Tim shook his head.

“I’m 16 years old!” Sunset scowled. “I’m not a child!”

Still shaking his head, Tim turned away when he happened to spot a familiar little blue book, enwrapped in the center of the web of red string.

“Hey!” He gasped. “Is that Jane’s diary?”

This drew Sunset to follow his attention, as he pulled the book away from the strings, looking at the title which reads: “My Little Book of Happiness.”

“It’s definitely a diary,” Sunset commented.

She soon noticed some more loose pages around the room, all of them written in Thai. Sunset picked up a page on the desk, giving it to Tim to read…

Front

April 28, 2013

I felt like I was getting worse... I kept seeing things that weren't there! It kept happening one time and one time I thought someone was in the house. Sometimes I felt like I was being watched somewhere...It felt creepy around the stair cupboard as well. Jeez, you're not doing any better Jane ...take great care of yourself and Tim...did I just talked to myself in my diary? Hahah weird me...

“We just came from the stair cupboard!” Sunset gasped in shock.

They start to flip the page to continue reading what’s on the back.

Back
Tim hasn't come home yet...We don't hangout anymore...not to mention go out together...we should pray a little and make some good karma...who knows, things might get better.

“Is she always that superstitious?” Sunset asked. “I’m not judging or anything, I mean, we did have our first encounter with a…”

“I know, I know,” Tim replied, shaking his head. “Jane was always trying to tell me about the hauntings that have plagued her mind… I just didn’t believe her or take her seriously… until now…”

He turns back toward the web of red strings, discovering another page was caught. He took the paper and translated it for Sunset:

Front

April 25, 2013

I've been feeling so forgetful recently. I thought that the phone was in the kitchen... I was looking everywhere but then I found it in the bedroom...I knew that I remembered ... or maybe it was just me...Come on Jane...maybe I was little stressed out huh? Get yourself together, Jane.
Back
One more thing, I kinda knew I haven't fully rested lately, that was what I thought though...I thought I saw something strange around the house...the television was broken maybe...the signal was hardly there...there was one time that got me so freaked out though, because I was sure I heard a funeral prayer through that static sound...that totally gave me the chills.

Sunset and Tim turned toward each other, exchanging looks of uncertainty. Both man and girl were on their way out of the room when Sunset looked down and saw another of the diary’s pages. But this one had a cute drawing of a smiling woman, with a cozy looking house drawn in the daylight at the top right corner.

“Mr. Tim?”

Sunset holds up the paper to the man, who politely took it and read:

Front

October 27, 2012

There is something that I want to share! Today is simply one of the happiest days of my life so far! Why? Because we finally had our own house! It's Tim's to be exact! He worked so hard and saved up for this house.

Back

Tim also said that the house was our first anniversary gift since we married. Isn't that the sweetest thing ever? Thank you a million times Tim, I love you more than anything.

“Aw!” Sunset cooed teasingly. “How romantic.”

Tim simply smiled sheepishly, blushing a shade of pink before his face turned to shame.

“How could I forget that day?” He asked sadly. “That was the happiest day of my life as well. I had everything. A loving wife and a beautiful home to go with her…”

Once again, Sunset placed her hand on Tim’s shoulder for comfort, to which the man reached out and touched the teenage girl’s hand, gently caressing it. Even though he knew the comforting hands aren’t of his wife’s, they’re still enough for comfort… even just a little.

“Jane also wanted to have kids,” Tim sighed.

“I’m sure she would’ve made a really good mom,” Sunset commented, before she looked perplexed. “But why are you bringing that up?”

“Uh, just… I’m just saying, Jane ‘did’ want to have kids,” Tim stammered, trying to compose himself. “That’s why I work hard… to be… to be a good father…”

Sunset nodded, as she comforted the man with a pat on the back.

“Well, my dad’s a great father,” Sunset told Tim. “And he works hard for both me and my mom. I’m sure you’d make a great father too.”

Tim could only smile sadly at Sunset’s words. He wouldn’t admit it, but he thinks of Sunset as if she was his daughter. Just then, Tim looked down at the floor and saw the familiar red strings, leading from the web in the room, outside in the loft, and down the stairs.

“Hey! That wasn’t there before!” Tim said, perplexed.

Tim and Sunset cautiously follow the trail. Just as they climbed toward the bottom of the stairs, a woman’s scream was heard.

"AAAAUUUGGGHHH!!!"

“Jane!!” Tim exclaimed.

The man turned to the right and discovered the scream from the cupboard he and Sunset emerged from earlier.

“In there?!” Sunset shivered.

She could feel the goosebumps crawling up her skin, remembering the boxcutter girl who tried to kill them. Tim simply handed his notebook to Sunset, before he took out his flashlight, shining its light into the dark cupboard to reveal more red string, hanging from the ceiling.

“Jane’s in there,” Tim Muttered. “She could be in trouble! She needs help!”

At the mention of the woman’s name, Sunset put on a brave face.

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s save her!”

Tim turned back toward the girl, then back at the darkness in front of them. The man shook his head, the thought of bringing a teenager with him concerning him so. A teenager, he might add, who hardly graduated from high school. But with his wife’s life on the line, he knew for a fact he needs all the help he can get.

“C’mon, let’s go!” Tim said, leading the way as Sunset followed.

Chapter 3: Deep Into The Shadow

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 3: Deep into The Shadow (cont.)

Sunset and Tim quickly jumped to the side, right when the giant's large hand reached in and nearly grabbed them. The creature viciously slammed its hand around the room. Its attempts were all in vain, however, when he peered into the room with its one eye and sees that both teenage girl and man are gone.

Little did it know, they were hiding behind an upturned desk to avoid its dreadful gaze. Sunset and Tim both crouched behind the desk, holding each other close, with Tim's paternal instincts kicked in and wrapped his arms protectively over Sunset's head. Sunset dared not to breathe and was struggling to hold her breath. Though, it's a task proven difficult when she cringes at the foul smell of alcohol coming from Tim.

The two looked at the floor to see the red glow of the monster's eye shining, before it moved to the side and vanished.

"Is it gone?" Sunset asked.

"Shhh," Tim hushed as he slowly peers over the desk and sees the monster was gone. "Yeah, I think so. C'mon, let's go! Into that hallway."

With that, both Tim and Sunset got up on their feet and ran into a hallway, where it was filled with more desks, printers, and a flight of stairs at the other end. Not too far behind, unfortunately, they can hear the eerie hiss of the monster as it breathes heavily, searching for its preys. Then, the sound of thunderous footsteps shook the whole building, nearly tripping Sunset and Tim to the floor. They looked to the left, out of the balconies, where they can clearly see the rotting, decaying fleshes of the monster, with its oversized hands hanging pass its waist, with gangling fingers. And the most unsettling sight for Sunset, its tiny southern area.

"Ew!" Sunset covered her eyes, but it was too late. The gruesome sight has scarred her for life.

Suddenly, an ear-splitting high pitch screeched in the air, causing both Tim and Sunset to cover their ears and cringed.

"What is that sound?!" Tim asked.

"I don't know!" Sunset replied. "But make it stop!"

After a brief second, the screeching stopped.

"Phew, glad that's over," Tim sighed, as he and Sunset resumed their journey. "C'mon, let's go."

The two arrived at the end of the hall, where they turned to the right and see a door at the end of a short hallway. Sunset ran over to the door, but it wouldn't open. Both she and Tim then ran down the stairs to find another door, but like the previous one, it won't open. They then backtracked up the stairs, climbing up to the top, where they find two more doors.

Sunset ran towards the door closest to her and Tim, in front of them, but like the last two, it was locked. Meanwhile, Tim went over to the door on the far left and turns its knob open.

"Sunset! Over here!" Tim called to the girl, who quickly followed the man close behind.

Soon, both Sunset and Tim found themselves walking outside of the building, walking on what appeared to be the ledge of a rooftop, with large tanks of gasolines and water towers along the way. To their left was a wall of steeled chain fences. Sunset and Tim walked outside to have a look, searching for any possible traces of Tim's missing wife, when Sunset looked ahead and she felt her colors drained away.

"Uh...uh...T-T-T-Tim?" Sunset tugged on the man's arm, before she pointed his attention towards a tall, shadowy outline of a skeletal being, with a single red light shining from its skull.

"Oh no..." Tim moaned as he turns his flashlight off, to avoid being seen by the creature.

Tim and Sunset both turned back to the door they came from, only for it to close on them, literally shutting them out.

<"Hey! Open up!"> Tim demanded in Thai, which didn't go unheard.

"Mr. Tim! Duck!" Sunset shouted as she pulls the man away from the door and they dove behind a crate, just as the giant came over to see what the commotion was.

The monster's eerie hissing and breathing can be heard loudly as its head looms over the two, shining its eye across the area.

"Follow me, and be quiet," Sunset whispered, as she and Tim moved on, being quiet as a mouse, and to avoid being seen by the monster's dreadful gaze.

All was going well, when something jumped out of the shadows from the left, rattling onto the chained fences, startling both Sunset and Tim.

"AAAAH!!!" They shouted in fright, which didn't go unheard.

"Uh oh!" Sunset looked back up at the giant, just in time to see it hurtling an electric box at them. "Look out!"

Both Tim and Sunset ducked behind a water tower as the steel box flies pass them and crashes at the fences. Soon, the monster lumbers over to the other end of the rooftop and continues its search. After a moment to regain their composures, Tim and Sunset resumed sneaking their way to the end, where they could see another door, beneath a bright lamp.

They had to wait until the giant looks away for them to make a beeline towards the door, entering into another building, and closed the door behind them.

"Phew, glad that's over," Sunset sighed in relief as she and Tim stepped away from the door.

Suddenly, without warning, the door burst open as a large hand smashes through and breaks down the other door on the other side. Sunset and Tim turned around in time to see the hand retracting through the doorway it smashed through.

"If we don't find Jane and get out of here quick, it'll be over for all of us!" Tim panicked.

"Breaking news from the scene," A loud voice was heard, to which Tim turned his attention to a radio on the right, while Sunset went off to investigate the next room. "Mr. Pichai Manapaiboon, the leader of the bikers and the main suspect of the robbery cases, has now parted from the main group and the police are chasing him! We're staying with this event and keeping you live. This is Srisook Pongsawat reporting."

With that, the radio broadcast ends with the jingle.

"Hey, Tim?" Sunset called to the man, as she came walking out of the room. "Look what I found."

The fiery girl holds up a piece of a photograph to Tim.

"What? Can it be?" Reaching for his binder, Tim takes out the other piece of the photograph that Sunset had found earlier, back in his house. The man pieced the two together and was astonished to find that they fit together. "They fit!"

"Then something tells me we're on the right trail then," Sunset deduced.

"You may be right. Let's keep looking for more clues," With that, Tim followed Sunset into the same room, where she found the piece.

After their search turned up nothing, both man and girl went to another door, next to where the radio was sitting, and opened it to find a set of stair on their left, with another door ahead, and a label written on the wall, next to them to confirm they're on the 4th floor.

Sunset and Tim ran towards the other door, but finds it locked.

"Damn!" Sunset sweared. "It's locked. Let's go back and...huh?!" She exclaimed as both she and Tim saw that the door they came from had disappeared. "The door! It's gone!"

"We don't have a choice," Tim shook his head, shining his flashlight down the dark stairs. "We're just gonna have to go down to move on."

With that, both Sunset and Tim walked down the stairs, arriving on the third floor, where they heard a woman's voice screaming behind a door.

"AAAAAHH!!!"

Tim immediately recognized the scream, <"Jane! I'm coming!"> He shouted, running to the door and struggled to jiggle it open. <"Open! OPEN UP! DAMN IT!"> He said angrily in Thai.

Looking to the left, Sunset noticed a box of two keys hanging on the wall, next to a yellow post-it note, written in Thai.

"Hey, Tim?" Sunset spoke up, handing the man a post-it note, and holding two of the keys. "I don't know what it says, but maybe one of these could be the key to the door?"

"Let me see," Tim took the post-it note and reads: "I got to get through the 3rd floor at night a lot lately. If I didn't return the key, I'll leave it in the safe in my office. Signed, Sub-Inspector Buncha."

Tim then took a look at the two keys that Sunset was holding and finds the words written on one of them reading F01.

"That could be the first floor," Tim said. "Maybe that's where Sub-Inspector's office is."

"Then let's get down there," Sunset replied.

Both man and girl quickly ran down the stairs, until they arrived at the door and inserted the key in, which unlocks the door knob, granting them entry. Upon walking in, Sunset and Tim walked down a hallway, with a restroom on the left, in another hallway, and a wooden bookshelf on the hallway in front of them.

As Sunset and Tim walked in, the sound of a toilet flushing caught their attention.

"Hello?" Sunset walked into the restroom and asked. "Is someone there? Hello?" She opened up a stall and finds it was empty. She then walks over to the next stall, where it opens up to reveal a screaming ghoul. "AAAAHH!!! I'm sorry!" Sunset apologized, as she hurriedly ran out of the restroom and closed the door, with her face flushing red with embarrassment.

"What happened?" Tim asked the girl. "What did you see?"

"NOTHING!!!" Sunset squeaked, and regained her composure with a scowl. "C'mon. Let's just get that key so we can get Jane and get outta here."

With a snicker, Tim followed the flustered girl into the hallway, where they came upon a lobby, with two large desks sitting close by, with signs hanging above, written in Thai. There were more Thai words written on the walls, but thankfully, Sunset found two words written in english that she can understand.

"Police Station," Sunset reads. "We're in a police station?"

"Looks like one," Tim confirmed. "But without the police officers..."

Tim soon lead the way as he and Sunset entered an office room, with desks that have name tags of officers who worked in the station. It didn't take long for Tim to find the desk belonging to the Sub-Inspector, Buncha. There, behind the desk, is a locked safe.

"The key must be in there," Tim said. "Now how do we open it?"

Sunset drummed her fingers on the desk, "Maybe he's written the combination to the lock, somewhere?" She looked around the desk, before she sets her sight on a set of numbers written at the bottom. "Hey Tim! Check this out!"

Tim looked where Sunset was looking at, and sees the numbers written. For some odd reasons, the numbers begin with 0, are underline, and they're drawn next to what appeared to be a picture of a circle, with a darker circle filled in, and an arrow drawn, pointing at the bottom.

"What does it all mean?" Tim asked, to which Sunset shrugged her shoulders.

Deciding to give it a try, Sunset and Tim went to work on decoding and figuring out the combination to the lock. At first, they tried out the first small numbers they thought were for the combo. Unfortunately, they didn't get it right on the first try. After a brief pause to look at the clue, then back at the lock, and the arrow drawn, Sunset realizes what it meant.

"Oh, I think I get it now!" Sunset clapped her hands.

"What? What is it?" Tim asked.

"The 0s aren't part of the digits. They're actually what the numbers looked like when they're upside down! The arrow is actually pointing towards the numbers at the bottom of the wheel!"

"Are you sure?"

"Only one way to find out. Uh, can I get a marker, please?" Tim handed Sunset a marker from a nearby whiteboard. "Thank you." Sunset quickly draws an arrow at the bottom of the lock, and turns the numbers, indicated on the clue. With that, the safe swings open, revealing the key that both man and girl were looking for.

"The key to the third floor!" Sunset said, handing the key to Tim.

"Jane! Here we come!" Tim said as he leads the charge.

"Hey Tim! Wait up!" Sunset followed after the excited man.

The two were running back through the hall they came from, when a large hand burst out from a hole in the ceiling and knocked the bookshelf over, nearly crushing the two.

"WHOA!" Sunset shouted, as she and Tim stopped to catch their breath. "That could've been us."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Tim panted heavily. "But we're not going that way now. We'll just have to find another way."

Sunset nodded in agreement as she and Tim looked around the area for another way around the bookshelf. They were passing a bench, when Sunset saw a piece of parchment, with an image of the creature she and Tim had encountered.

"Hey. What's this?" Sunset Shimmer picks up the piece of paper and gave it to Tim.

"It says: Special Edition: Preta Insight." Tim reads.

"What the hell is a Preta?" Sunset asked Tim, who shrugged his shoulder, before the man proceeds to translate the written Thai words.

"A Preta is a type of ghost widely known throughout Buddhism, Hinduism, and related religions. It is said to be a ghost that suffers with eternal hunger and thirst. There is a belief that those who committed deadly sins, such as thievery, while living will be reborn as a Preta. Thai people also believe that harming your parents will result in direct rebirth as a Preta. The Preta is usually depicted as a tall creature, as tall as a palm tree, a hand as big as a fan-palm leaf, a mouth as small as a pinhole. It will live its life suffering with all the sins it has done..."

"YEESH!!!" Sunset shuddered at the thought of herself being turned into such miserable spirit. "Can you imagine such torturous existence?"

"I'd rather not...hold on a second..." Tim had an epiphany. "Tall as a palm tree...hands as big as a fan-palm leaf...mouth the size of a pinhole..."

It didn't take long for Sunset to share Tim's realization, "I guess that explains what our ghost is now..." Sunset moaned. "A hungry ghost."

"And it's after Jane! We have to save her now!"

With the newfound knowledge aside, Tim and Sunset quickly searched the lobby for any alternative route that they could use to get around the bookshelf. They entered what appeared to be a storage room, where they found a vent on the wall, that could possibly take them around the bookshelf.

Tim tried to pull on the vent shaft, but the metal covering remained firmly in place.

<"Damn!"> Tim sweared in Thai. "We're gonna need something to unscrew these bolts, or we're going nowhere, and we'll never get Jane."

"Then let's look around and see if we could find a tool, or something we can use," Sunset insisted.

With that, the girl and man went back into the offices, searching for something, such as a wrench, or a screwdriver, that they could use to pry the vent shaft open. After their search turned up nothing, they went to the other end, where they found a set of stairs that takes them up to the next level. There, they found a room, possibly belonging to a janitor, or a maintenance person, with a toolbox sitting on the desk.

"A-ha!" Sunset said, holding up a screwdriver. "Got it!"

"Alright then," Tim nodded as he lead the way back. "Let's go unscrew that vent so we can get Jane!"

Upon arriving back into the storage room, Sunset quickly went to work, with the screwdriver in hand, turning the bolts loose from the four corners of the vent shaft, until both she and Tim were finally able to pass through, and into the hallway they came from. The two quickly raced towards the door and were on their way, back up to the 3rd floor.

On the way up, however, the eerie roar of the Preta can be heard outside of the doors.

Sunset and Tim were standing outside of the door to their destination, with Tim holding the key. He turned to look back at Sunset, who returns his nervous glance. The girl chattered her teeth as she nodded her head.

Tim nodded in response, as he inserted the key into the doorknob, turns it to the right, unlocking the door. Upon entering, both Tim and Sunset caught glimpse of a woman, in a white dress, running down the hall.

"Is that Jane?!" Tim exclaimed. "Jane? JANE!! JAAAAANEEEE!!!"

But the woman didn't respond. Worse still, both Sunset and Tim's progress was barred by a stack of upturned desk and chairs. They turned to the left and saw another door, which they opened and entered into an office.

Upon entering, a loud clinking noise rang in the air, causing them to look in its direction to see that a small bronze goblet had fallen and rolled across the floor. On their right, they noticed a glass case of trophies, next to another door.

Tim was on his way to the door, when Sunset Shimmer looked to the desk in the middle of the room and sees a piece of paper, written in the familiar handwritings of Jane.

"Hey Mr. Tim!" Sunset called. "Check this out!"

Tim backtracked to see what Sunset had found, "It's another of Jane's diary!" He confirmed, as he shines his flashlight on it to read.

May 4, 2013

Front

Every time I lay down, I found myself in that strange place over and over again... I figured that the sleeping pills might be able to help me sleep through the night and stop me from having this creepy nightmare...

Back

There must be rats inside that stair cupboard, was that where the noise came from? ...If you keep this up, you'll end up in a mouse trap, I swear!!

"Yeesh, she's definitely got these paranormal...paranoia worse than we thought," Sunset frowned in sympathy.

"And now we're experiencing them for ourselves, just as bad as she did," Tim frowned sadly, as he clips the page into his binder, before giving it back for Sunset to hold. "C'mon. Let's get going..."

Sunset followed Tim into the next room, where it appeared to be a large meeting room, with a huge table in the center, for all staff members to gather. It was there that Sunset found what appeared to be an arrest warrant, complete with a mugshot of an unfriendly looking man.

"Looks like someone's been a bad boy," Sunset commented.

"They'd definitely be bad for them to get an arrest warrant," Tim confirmed as he reads what the arrest warrant says.

Arrest Warrant

Civil Registration Information

ID Number: 2-3502-00698-36-5
First Name / Last Name: Mister Pichai Manapaiboon
Age: 24 years old
Gender: Male
Date of birth: 11 April 1978
Nationality: Thai
Address: 99/3
Moo: 8
Trok: -
Soi: -
Street: -
District: Sai Mun
Sub-district: Dong Mafai
Province: Yasothorn

Mr. Pichai Manapaiboon, a suspect in many robbery cases, a member of a motorcycle theft gang in Yasothorn and surrounding area. There are also charges of illegal racing on the highway and a brutal robbery act. An inner source reported that Mr. Pichai is involved in illicit activities and automobile theft with other local gangsters as well.

"Hey, Mr. Tim?" Sunset called out, drawing the man's attention up, and pointed it towards a white board, with a photo of Pichai posted on the top, with several arrows drawn out, connecting him with several other photographs of bikers.

Tim walked over to have a look at the whiteboard, while reading some of the Thai words writting around the photos.

"This was a capture plan for the motorcycle theft gang," Tim reads. "And in according to these notes, the police were aiming to capture Pichai alive so they can get the informations they need to arrest the other members of his gang!"

"Wonder how that went?" Sunset asked.

“Latest report from Yasothorn police radio station on Mr. Pichai Manapaiboon’s chase," The voice of a reporter boomed, outside of the room, to which Tim and Sunset ran out, to find themselves on the other side of the stacked up desks, turning to the left, and into a large area, where they found another radio box. "The police says that Pichai, the suspect of robbery cases and leader of the gang, has run into a truck, which resulted in a sharp steel rod piercing through his left eye.”

Sunset and Tim immediately covered their left eyes and cringed.

“Mr. Pichai was pronounced dead on the spot. The police are now collecting all the evidence for further investigation. There are still a number of bikers fleeing, please call 02-650-8XXX," The radio malfunction for a moment with statics, making it impossible to hear the last three numbers. "If you have seen anyone suspicious. The line will be available 24 hours a day. This is Srisook Pongsawat reporting.”

Once again, the news broadcast signs off with a jingle, before the radio went silent.

Sunset and Tim were both aghast at the revelation.

"Oh my Faust!" Sunset Shimmer shuddered in fright. "Pichai's dead...wait a minute," The girl began to have an epiphany. "Do we still have that article on the...the Preta?"

"You mean this piece of paper?" Tim asked, holding up the said paper.

"Yeah, that!" Sunset nodded. "What does it say again, about becoming a Preta?"

"Well," Tim looked back at the article and reads: "Its says by committing an act of thievery is one. Hurting your parents is another. And...oh!" Tim exclaimed, catching on what Sunset was suggesting.

"Thievery, harming a parent, and missing left eye...it all fits!" Sunset nodded. "No doubt about it. Our hungry ghost is Pichai!"

"But still, what does that have to do with Jane?" Tim asked. "Even if we know for a fact that it's him, why is he so intent on going after Jane?"

"I still don't know," Sunset replied. "But whatever the reason for Jane's hauntings may be, I think it's time we put an end to all of it."

"You're right. But first, we gotta find Jane!"

"I'm with you there, Tim," Sunset puts a hand on the man's shoulder. "But first thing's first," She pointed to the wooden crate that was blocking the next door. "How are we gonna move that?"

Tim sighed, "It's one after another, isn't it?"

"But you know what they say," Sunset replied, in an attempt to lift up his mood. "When there's a will, there's a way."

"Yeah," Tim nodded. "Well, let's see have a look around."

Looking to the right, Sunset and Tim found another set of stairs that took them to the next level. The fourth floor, no doubt. Upon arriving at the top, Sunset and Tim looked to see it was currently under constructions, with stacks of paint cans in the corners, a tub of cements, and other building utensils in the area.

"I'm gonna go look for clues," Sunset pointed to the other side, close to where another door is.

Tim nodded in approval, "Just be careful, Sunset," He said, sounding like a father granting his daughter permission.

Sunset walked away, while Tim went over to investigate an electric crane that was perched over a balcony. Tim went over to look at the railing, then looks down over the sidings to see that the hook is hanging directly above the crate that was blocking his and Sunset's path. With that, Tim started to formulate a plan, when–

"AAAAUGGGH!!!" Sunset Shimmer screamed in fright.

"Sunset?!" Tim shouted, running towards the girl. "Sunset, what's wrong? OOF!!!" He grunted, as he came crashing into the fiery girl herself, when she came running out of a dark room.

"TIM! GHOUL! GHOST!" Sunset hyperventilated.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down, Sunset," Tim coaxed the girl. "Calm down. What happened?"

"It scared the living daylight out of me!" Sunset panicked. "I was just in there, looking for clues, when one of those dark ghouls, or goblin things, jumped out and scared me!"

Tim looked around to see himself and Sunset were alone, "Well, there's no one here but us now," Tim assured. "But anyway, any luck finding a clue?"

"Yeah, here's one," Sunset holds up a piece of a mysterious photograph.

"Another piece," Tim noted as he clips it in a page of his binder. "Hopefully, this means we're getting closer to solving the mystery behind all these supernatural happenings."

"Same here," Sunset nodded. "Anyway, found anything we can use to move that crate out of the way?"

"Yes I have," Tim answered as he brought Sunset over to the electric crane. "If I can get this to hook up with the crate below, then you will press this button to lift it up, away from the door. And then we can be on our way."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Sunset nodded as she got into position, pressed a switch to lower the crane down.

Tim then ran down the stairs to hook the crane to the crate's suspensions.

"Okay! Hoist her up, Sunset!" Tim said to the girl.

"You got it!" With that, Sunset pressed the button which lifted the crate up.

While this was all happening, a sudden tremor shook the building and made the lights flicker above them.

"What was that?" Sunset asked, as she ran down the stairs to regroup with Tim.

"Oh no!" Tim shuddered, as another tremor shook the building. "It's coming back! We gotta get out of here now!"

With that, both Sunset and Tim made a hasty retreat through the unblocked door. Upon entering through the doorway, Sunset and Tim were shocked to find themselves in what used to be a hallway, with the walls torn off on the right, completely exposing them in the open.

Their nightmare was only realized, however, when the familiar eerie hissing and heavy breathing filled the air, that they looked up to see the silhouette of the Preta, now identified to be Pichai, shining his red light from his eye.

"I don't think he knows we're here yet," Tim whispered. "Let's be very quiet and try to sneak past him."

Sunset simply nodded as she and Tim crouched low to the floor, to avoid being seen.

In the meantime, Pichai, the former motorcyclist-turned-Preta, lumbered over to where Sunset and Tim were crouching. Both man and girl barely had time to duck behind a desk to avoid being seen. Even though the giant ghost has a mouth the size of a pinhole and an insatiable hunger and thirst to add insult to injury, it's still dangerous. They just can't take the chances of being seen.

Up close, the eerie heavy breathing and hissing made by the Preta ghost sound close. Sunset could practically feel it running up the back of her neck, sending goosebumps all over her body. Just like before, on the roof, Sunset and Tim watched the red light from the Preta's eye, shining across the floor. They had to wait for the demon to look away, before they could crawl to the next desk and crouch behind it, to avoid being seen.

"Dad, I'm scared..." Sunset whimpered.

"Shhh, it's gonna be okay, sweetie..." Tim consoled, in a fatherly tone. "We can't give up now."

The Preta's heavy breathing was just next to Sunset's ear. It's practically a game of cat and mouse, with Sunset being the mouse. Soon, the Preta started to look in the other direction, allowing Sunset and Tim a chance to sprint away.

They were a few feet away from reaching the end, when Sunset accidentally knocked over a cup, off its stand, and it fell onto the floor with a thud, which didn't go unheard, unfortunately. The Preta immediately snapped his head in the direction of the noise and sets his eye on Tim and Sunset Shimmer.

"Uh oh!" Sunset Shimmer yelped.

<"Oh geez!"> Tim exclaimed.

Pichai immediately let out a bloodcurdling roar as he reached his monstrous hand towards both girl and man.

"Sunset! GET BACK!!" Tim screamed, as he pulled Sunset away from the hand, and they backed up against the corner, just barely out of the demon's hand.

Pichai let out an earsplitting scream as he pulls his hand back and tries again. Reacting fast, Sunset and Tim both barged through a doorframe on their left, and into another part of the hallway, with Pichai hot on their toe. The hungry ghost swung his monstrous hands after them, tearing up the bookshelves, chairs, and desks that were in the way.

"AAAAAH!!!" Sunset screamed as both she and Tim quickly hit the deck, barely evading the attack.

Tim looked up, amidst the splintered woods, and sets his sight on another door at the end, that was opened ajar for them.

"QUICK, SUNSET! IN THERE!!" Tim shouted, helping the girl up, and together, they made a mad dash towards the door.

Pichai lets out a scream as he lunges forward to grab them. But at the last second, Sunset and Tim leapt forward, diving into the tiny door and quickly ran down the narrow hallway.

"Phew, I think we're safe now," Tim breathed a sigh of relief, only to realize he spoke too soon, when a hand reaches down and nearly smashed them.

Tim and Sunset held each other close, as they look up to see Pichai reaching for them, through the opened roof, and smashing his hand in vain. This went on for a while, until the Preta finally gave up and went off, leaving Sunset and Tim alone to catch their breaths.

"I really hope that's the last we'll ever see of him," Sunset panted heavily.

"But just to be safe, let's watch our heads," Tim suggested, as he and Sunset walk through the hallway, while keeping an eye out for anymore of the Preta.

On the way, however, they were treated to a rather unsuspecting sight. It appeared to be one of the same black goblins from earlier, sitting on a shelf, taking a dump.

"That's disgusting," Sunset grimaced as she and Tim walked away, and continued their way down the hall.

It was at that moment that Tim noticed the sudden changes to their environment.

"Hang on," Tim looked at the walls, the floorboards, noting their familiar wooden structure. "It looks like we're...we're back in that wooden house we were in earlier!"

"What?" Sunset exclaimed, taking noticed. "But how?"

They didn't have time to ponder, when they came around a corner, just in time to see a woman in white dress, leaving through a door.

"LOOK!" Sunset pointed.

"Jane?!" Tim exclaimed as he took off, running towards the woman, only for the door to suddenly close shut on him and Sunset.

Tim quickly grabbed the door knob and turns the door open, only to find the woman has disappeared. Instead, Tim and Sunset found themselves in a tiny room, with a lantern sitting on a desk, in the corner.

"Where did she go now?" Tim asked as he and Sunset looked around the room. "Jane? Jane... are you in here?"

"Come out, wherever you are," Sunset joined in. "We're not going to hurt you. I'm Sunset Shimmer. And I'm with your husband. I'm helping him find you and get you home. Then we can get some stir fried ice cream together. Does that sound good to you?"

But there was no reply. So both Tim and Sunset kept on searching the place, when Sunset Shimmer took notice of a paper that was sitting next to the lantern.

"Hey, Mr. Tim?" Sunset called to the man, who walked over and proceeds to read the paper Sunset has found.

"Special Edition: Preta Insight Chapter 2." Tim translated. "A Preta is a lost soul trapped in the eternal limbo from its sin. The agonizing hunger and thirst cause it to mourn painfully and creepily all night long. A food offering is the only way to calm the wandering Preta. Set up an offering on the table with colorful tablecloth and one lit scented incense."

Put food on the tableware.

Put a scented stick on one of the tableware.

Light the scented incense.

Suddenly, a door creaked open, causing Tim and Sunset to look behind them to see that the door to the next room has opened up. Peeking through the gap in the doorway, Tim and Sunset can see that a woman in white dress was standing on the other side of a huge room.

"Jane?!" Tim shouted, as he bursts into the room, with Sunset behind him.

"Tim!" The woman called out, upon turning around to face the man and girl. "No! Don't follow me!"

"Jane! It's me!" Tim shouted.

"Miss Jane, we're not going to hurt you!" Sunset added.

"KEEP AWAY FROM ME!" Jane screamed, just as two large hands crashed down and nearly got her.

"SWEET CELESTIA!!!" Sunset shouted, as she and Tim looked up to see the Preta that had been hounding them for some time now.

Sunset was shocked and disgusted to see the Preta, formerly Pichai, in his entirety. In appearance, the miserable creature is just as the texts described he would look. He stood as tall as the tallest palm tree, with long gangly arms, hands as big as a fan palm-leaf, a small shriveled skull at the top. But the most prominent feature of it all was an oversized stomach, covered in what appeared to be warts, boils, cyst, or bumps.

The Preta unleashed an agonizing roar before turning its head in their direction. Sunset and Tim quickly ducked under a wooden table to avoid being seen.

“That monster just doesn’t know when to quit!” Sunset remarked.

“There’s no way we can get through with that Preta out there,” Tim observed. “We can’t possibly fight something that big.”

As they crawled under the table, Sunset Shimmer felt something brush against her fingertips. She looked down and found a box of matches. A gasp escaped her lips as if she suddenly had a spark of inspiration.

“Maybe we won’t have to fight!” Sunset spoke. “I have an idea! But I need you to stay hidden.”

“Are you crazy?!” Tim whispered harshly. “You can’t just go out—"

“Trust me! I know what we have to do!”

Against his better judgment, Tim nodded his head as Sunset Shimmer slowly started to make way toward the other side. Tim struggled to hold his breath as he watched the fiery haired girl sneak past the monster while it wasn’t looking. The man silently prayed to a higher power to let this girl live or else there was no telling how he will feel about this.

While Tim remained in his hiding spot, Sunset Shimmer crawled until she found a plate surrounded by lit candles. Sitting in the center is a hot steamed dumpling, slightly hot to the touch. But necessary for what she had in mind. Then, as she quickly crawled over something shiny caught her eyes. Looking behind an overturned box was a key, which appeared as if it could fit a cupboard.

“Don’t know what this is for,” Sunset thought. “But this could be useful.”

Sunset Shimmer had just placed the key in her pocket when she leaned up and hit her head under the table.

“OW!” Sunset cried out.

“SHIT!” Tim whispered harshly.

Sunset Shimmer saw her surroundings glow a faint red, as she realized the Preta was onto her. She laid perfectly still while the monster searched for her, silently breathing heavily while the monster kept searching. Every so often, while the light wasn’t on her, she crouched and crawled through one space in the floor after another. Occasionally, she ducked back into hiding when the beam of light heard a commotion in her path. But fortunately, the creature couldn’t spot the fiery haired girl as the tension increased by tenfold.

Along the way, Sunset Shimmer found another cupboard key in her path as she kept crawling her way to safety. She spotted an open doorway and raced over there giving a silent thumbs up to Tim as he remained in his spot and returned the gesture. She worked her way down the corner till she found a cupboard. Using the two keys she found, she unbolts the locks and opened the doors simultaneously. She picks out a stick of incense. Among the piles of old books and magazines laid out, she found another piece of a ‘mysterious photograph’ and added it to her collection. She just turned back to leave the door, when a crate was shoved through the way she came blocking her only means of escape.

“Damn!” Sunset cursed silently.

While looking for another way out, Sunset Shimmer spotted a screwdriver lying on the floor and picked it up. Though she knew this won’t be enough to keep the monster at bay, it was better than nothing at this point. It was then she saw some wooden planks along the wall and as she looked down at the screwdriver at hand another idea formed. She dug the screwdriver between the planks and with all her strength pulled the bottom ones off to provide an opening. She had to wait when the monster’s red gaze hovered over that spot, but otherwise she kept herself hidden in the shadows.

In the meantime, as the monster was distracted, Tim used this opportunity to sneak away from his own hiding spot and made his way toward a nearby table. Sunset slowly made her way toward him, all the while avoiding the monster’s gaze. She nearly got caught when the monster lifted one table to find her, but she slipped away as silently as a mouse. The man and girl eventually regrouped, as Sunset took out the matches to light the incense and the dumpling.

“You sure this will work?” Tim asked.

“If the instructions we found were correct,” Sunset explained, setting up the supplies. “The only way to tame a Preta spirit is an offering. Hopefully, this will be more than enough—”

A growl rang in their ears and the red light hovered over them. Slowly, the pair looked up as the Preta, former Mr. Pichai, loomed over them. They stood silent and frozen as the monster eyed them for a moment, Sunset Shimmer gulping nervously at the sight before her. But mustering up whatever courage she had, she slowly stood up before the beast.

“I know who you were, Mr. Pichai!” Sunset called out. “We know of the crimes you committed and what you did was unforgivable. But don’t take it out on my friend’s wife; don’t take your anger out on us. Please accept this offering we have prepared for you and just let us go in peace!”

Looking down at the table, the Preta spotted the steamed dumpling that Sunset Shimmer offered it. The monster reached down, took the dumpling, and proceeded to gobble it up in its mouth. The pair looked on silently as the monster ate, hoping it will be more than enough. Then, with a satisfied moan, the Preta lumbered away and vanished into the darkness. With the monster gone, Tim and Sunset released a sigh of relief.

“I’ve got to hand it to you, Sunset,” Tim sighed. “That was very brave of you.”

“All those years working in a restaurant certainly paid off,” Sunset replied.

“A Thai restaurant?”

“No… a sushi restaurant.”

With the danger passed, Sunset and Tim turned to the right and resumed their search for Jane. Upon walking out of the room, Sunset and Tim found an old newspaper, which reads:

Illegal Race Ends with a Steel Bar Through an Eye!

October 5, 2002

At 2 AM tonight, Yasothorn police force was chasing illegal racers through Yasothorn highway. The capture took place with some had fled the scene. One of those is Mr. Pichai Manapaiboon, who ended up with a steel bar piercing his left eye through a skull when crashing into a truck. Mr. Pichai or Tae was the main suspect in many motorcycle theft cases and the police are gathering the crucial evidence for further investigation. The body of Mr. Pichai has been sent to his family to proceed with the funeral as should.

Both Tim and Sunset simply shook their heads as they resumed their search.

"As should?" Sunset asked. "Even after he attacked his own mother, they'd still go on with these funerals as should?"

"It's sorta of a tradition, I'm afraid," Tim shrugged. "But let's focus on finding Jane. Where did she go?"

The two continued walking down the hall, littered with worn desks, chairs, and boxes, when Sunset looked to the right and saw a piece of paper, lying on the floor. The fiery haired girl walked over it, picking it up to see it was another page to Jane's diary, written in her handwriting.

Tim walked over to look at the page and reads:

May 5, 2013

I was up during the night again...not in the bedroom but in the middle of the house...seems like I couldn't get a hold of my senses...I couldn't shake off the feeling that I was being watched from outside the house, it felt as if it was that thing that tried to kill me in that nightmare! JANE!!! WHAT IS IT!!! WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS???

"Well, after everything we've been through, I'd be scared to death more than she is," Sunset commented.

Tim simply nodded in agreement, "C'mon, let's find Jane and get outta here..."

The two resumed walking down the hall, searching for Tim's missing wife, when they came across a familiar hatch.

Chapter 4: Hopeless Circle

Once again, Sunset and Tim found themselves in the humble abode of Tim and Jane.

"Home? Again?" Tim asked.

He, along with Sunset Shimmer, picked themselves up, relieved to be out of that waking nightmare. Except, as they looked around, the house wasn’t nearly as cozy and welcoming as it was when the two left it. That was further proven the moment Sunset and Tim strolled into the living room.

"Huh?!" Sunset Shimmer exclaimed.

Everywhere they looked, the house was completely ransacked. The furniture were all turned over, chairs and tables knocked down, and red strings covered the walls, the floors, and the ceilings like vines in a jungle. All this and more they found as they surveyed the entire house.

“What happened?!” Sunset asked. “Did a burglar break in?”

“I don’t think so…” Tim said, looking around. “Doors are locked; no broken windows…”

Tim turned to look back toward the now, seemingly normal cupboard.

“But Jane is still there. We need to get her out of there.”

“But how?” Sunset asked.

She approached the cupboard, opening its door and closed it a few times, only to find it remained completely normal.

“How are we supposed to get back?” Sunset swallowed a lump and thought fearfully, ‘Like I even want to go back…’

“I don’t know…”

Tim looked down, as he began to wander around the house.

“But somehow…” Tim continued. “We’ve got to…”

Sunset watched sadly toward the disheartened man. He wasn’t taking the loss of his wife so well. Sunset wished she could do something, anything to help. If only to make him feel alright again.

“I’ll… help clean this place up,” Sunset offered.

The fiery haired girl began to tidy up the house, humming a tune to herself. Hearing her humming, watching her help around the house, made Tim smile over Sunset’s devotion. It was as if somehow she’d become a daughter to him.

“Here, let me give you a hand with that,” Tim said.

He soon helped Sunset lift up an overturned table, setting it back on its legs.

“I’ll go get us some drinks.”

Tim then turned around toward the kitchen. He reached his hand out for the refrigerator door, when all of a sudden, several knives were flown from the right. They landed upon the refrigerator door, nearly skewering him.

“AUGH!!!” Tim screamed.

“What?! Tim, what is it?” Sunset shouted.

She raced into the kitchen, to see what all the commotion was about.

“These… these knives…” Tim pointed. “They nearly stabbed me!”

“What?!” Sunset gasped, further flabbergasted.

“They just flew out of the air and…”

But before Tim could continue, he turned toward the counter and saw another piece of a photo, like what he and Sunset have been collecting. Joining the piece with the others they’ve collected thus far, both Tim and Sunset could see they formed into an image of a woman.

“It’s Jane,” Tim confirmed.

At that moment, the sound of footsteps was heard running behind the two. Sunset and Tim turned to look but didn’t catch of glimpse of who the intruder was. Though they did hear what could be described as the sound of a child laughing.

“… Who’s there?” Sunset asked, with a quiver.

Turning her head towards Tim, both Sunset and the man both exchanged silent agreement that they weren’t alone in the house. Walking over to the refrigerator, Sunset picked up one of the knives and held it in her hands, as she and Tim both searched the house, looking for possible clues to Jane’s whereabouts, and their mysterious intruder.

Both Sunset and Tim walked upstairs, finding the upper floor as big a mess than the one below. The duo went towards Janes room yet were baffled to find the door locked.

“What the what?” Sunset exclaimed. “I remember the room being unlocked when we left…”

“It is,” Tim replied. “Or… it was…”

Both he and Sunset turned towards Tim’s room, finding the door was unlocked. They both walked in to find the room an even bigger mess. All of a sudden, a child’s laugh was heard behind a closed door… the bathroom. Sunset approached the door, finding it locked.

“Alright kid, playtime is over!” Sunset demanded. “Whoever you are, come out right now and we’ll go easy on ya!”

But there came no reply.

“You have until the count of three!” Sunset threatened. “One… two… two-and-a-half…”

Just as Sunset would actually say ‘three’, the scratching sound of a moving stool across the floor startled her and Tim. They turned seeing more paranormal activity at work. To further the terror, the door slammed shut.

“AAAAHHH!!!” Tim and Sunset screamed.

They fell upon the floor by the sudden slam of the door. Tim, picking himself up, raced toward the bedroom door relieved to find it wasn’t locked, least not completely. Sunset was just getting back up when she turned over and saw a piece of paper, lying beneath the DVD player, amidst the mess in the room. Reaching out, Sunset took a look, seeing the familiar handwriting belong to Jane.

“Hey, Mr. Tim?” Sunset called. “I’ve found something.”

Tim walked over to check the paper seeing it is, in fact, a page from Jane’s diary, which read:

April 21, 2013

Front

Last night, when I was about to sleep, I heard a noise from downstairs... My first thought was Tim, he was finally home...but there was no one when I got there... I was pretty sure that I hadn't been burgled as everything was in its place.

Back

The only thing that caught my attention was a picture of me and Tim, it was falling. It kept falling even though I put it back up so many times. Maybe the frame holder was down... that was it... I didn't think it had anything to do with bad luck...right??

“… You were really a workaholic?” Sunset asked.

“Hey, I was working hard to support out living,” Tim shrugged. “But… the picture frame?”

Thinking it might be their next clue, Sunset Shimmer and Tim went out of the room. They walked down the stairs, back into the living room, where just as Jane had written in her diary, the picture frame had fallen over. Tim walked over to set it back up.

Suddenly, both Tim and Sunset heard a door creaking itself open and turned to see it was the bathroom door. They both went in, hearing the sound of running water, behind a closed curtain, and a kid laughing.

“Shh!” Tim shushed Sunset.

He took cautious steps toward the curtains, reaching his hand out, and pulled the curtain aside to reveal… nothing.

“What the…”

Just then, the T.V. in the living room turned itself on.

“Now what?” Sunset asked.

She went over to see what’s going on. Though blurry, static, and difficult to see, both Sunset and Tim were able to see random numbers along the T.V. screen. The numbers were counting down, as if both teen and adult were about to see a movie. As a matter of fact, upon reaching zero, a movie popped up on the T.V. Unfortunately, the video was still too blurry to clearly see what it was about.

Sunset Shimmer squinted her eyes, struggling to make out what was happening in the video. Though she managed to see some definite features to see it was all happening in a house. Tim and Jane’s house to be precise.

“Hey… Tim?” Sunset began. “Does your house have some sort of security camera?”

“No,” Tim shook his head. “I’ve never installed a camera in the house before. Never thought I needed to… what is it? You see something?”

“Hmm…”

Sunset continued to study the video, when she appeared to notice the shadowy outline of a person walking into a room.

“Hey! There’s someone in there…”

“What?” Who?” Tim asked, squinting his eyes. “Is it… Jane?”

“I don’t know…” Sunset answered honestly. “It’s too blurry to see who it is.”

Sunset Shimmer and Tim continued to watch the video as it played all the way until the end. During which, Sunset and Tim saw the mysterious figure walked up the stairs, towards the camera, into which a familiar bloodcurdling scream was heard, and then the video went dark.

Sunset and Tim were both shocked, if not disturbed, over what they’ve seen. Before either of them could speak, a loud rumbling was heard. Sunset turned toward Tim, even knowing she won’t like the answer, she dared to ask.

“W-W-What was that?” Sunset asked nervously.

"It came from upstairs," Tim gasped in realization. "My room!"

Tim took off, running up the stairs, with Sunset Shimmer following close behind. Upon arriving, both man and girl were shocked to see Tim’s bedroom an even bigger mess than last time. The wardrobe appeared to have been drawn from its original spot, by something with unimaginable strength.

“That wasn’t there before…” Sunset commented.

Tim could only nod his head in agreement. The eeriness of the situation further increased when the bathroom door in Tim’s room creaked open. Through the crack in the doorway, they could see the lights flicker and the sound of a child panting and running all at once. Remembering she still has the knife in her hands, Sunset Shimmer held the knife up and pointed towards the door as she slowly stepped forward, only for Tim to stop her.

“Ah! That won’t be necessary, Sunset,” Tim spoke, taking the knife away. “I’ll go first.”

Fearful, concerned for the man’s well-being, yet trusting of his judgment, Sunset nodded as she followed Tim. The two stepped into the bathroom, opening the doorway to see the curtain drawn and the light above their heads flickered abnormally.

*RING! RING!*

The sudden loud phone ringing spooked both Sunset and Tim, nearly startling them into jumping out of their skins.

<”Who would be calling us at this time of night?”> Tim asked, in Thai.

He walked out of the room, with Sunset following behind. Upon arriving back downstairs, Tim pressed the answer button on the phone and uttered:

<”Hello?”>

However, the answer both Tim and Sunset received sounded nothing human. It sounded heavy, unintelligible, and rather demonic. Before either-or had time to question, another creaking door drew their attention towards the one to the office. With that, Sunset and Tim went towards the room to investigate.

Like the rest of the household, the office was in complete shambles. Book spilled from their shelves, chairs turned over, and ornaments fallen off from their hinges on the wall. Tim shed the light from his flashlight across the office, looking for whatever clues he and Sunset could find. Sunset Shimmer went over to the end of the office, where she rummaged through the pile of books and notes scattered about until she found another missing page from Jane’s diary.

“Hey, Mr. Tim?” Sunset called the man.

Tim took the page, which read:

January 19, 2013

Front

Just got back from a special treat at Roen Saroot, our favorite place since we started dating. One of the special days of course because Tim was promoted to senior technician!! It warmed my heart to see how ambitious he was.

Back

It felt uneasy though with what he did for me... Tim was so dedicated to his job. I mean, look at me?? Whatever! It's alright! I will do my best to get on top of my career, too! My next book is truly going to be a hit!!

“Aw,” Sunset cooed, shooting a smirk. “How romantic.”

“You’d do the same for your special someone,” Tim countered.

Both Tim and Sunset were about to turn and leave. Suddenly, they were startled by a haunting sight before them.

“What the—”

Several of Jane’s books floated in mid-air, before they dropped down to the floor. Turning towards each other to exchange frightful glances, Sunset and Tim simply walked out of the office, turning over to see the picture frame fallen over, again.

“What?” Sunset gasped, flabbergasted.

She went over to set it back up, but it kept falling over no matter how many times she fixed it.

“What’s wrong with this thing?”

Before Tim could have a say in his opinion, both he and Sunset heard the sound of the upstairs door opening. The two climbed up the stairs, turning left to find the door to Jane’s room, initially locked, open upon arrival.

“So… now it’s open?” Sunset asked.

She followed Tim into the room for a further investigation. Upon walking into the room, Sunset Shimmer’s eyes immediately lit up and she found herself treated to another vision of the past. Only in her vision, Sunset found herself, standing by the doorway, and Jane, huddling in the corner, crying in fright. Her face was entirely covered by her hands.

“TIM! TIM!” Jane whimpered, pointing. “IT’S IN THE CORNER! IT’S RIGHT THERE, TIM!”

Sunset followed the direction Jane pointed to, but much to her confusion found nothing to be found.

“Jane, there’s nothing there!” Past Tim said.

To which Sunset turned around to see the confused man, standing behind her. Turning back toward Jane, Sunset could see the growing distress the poor woman was in as she continued to huddle in the corner, until she was drawn back to reality.

“Sunset! Sunset!” Tim shouted, lightly slapping her face. “Snap out of it!”

“Wha-huh?” Sunset stammered, looking toward the man. “Oh… Tim. Hey, uh… what is it? What’s wrong?”

“You looked rather… spaced out,” Tim replied. “You’re not… experiencing what Jane was having. Are you?”

“Uh… more or less,” Sunset shrugged.

She looked around the room, when she spotted another diary page, beneath her boots.

“Another clue?”

Tim took the page, which read:

May 10, 2013

I can't handle this weirdness that keeps happening to me anymore! Something is wrong with this house! It's time for Tim to hear me out... We have to do something... I have to get him out with me ... I have to bring him to the temple with me!

“Temple?” Sunset asked. “What temple?”

A few days ago,” Tim began. “Jane had planned on going to a temple, to seek help from a monk, who specialized in spiritual exorcism. She tried to get me to come, but…”

Tim suddenly gasped in realization.

“Maybe that’s where she’s been…”

“So… you know where the temple is?” Sunset asked.

“I… no… I didn’t think of asking for an address,” Tim shook his head.

He looked down upon the floor, noticing something even more bizarre.

“Hang on… is that blood?”

No sooner did Tim mentioned that when Sunset noticed the bloody trail beneath her boots.

“Wha—Where’d this come from?” She asked.

Squatting down to Tim’s level, she watched as the man inspected the trail with his hands. He rubbed the warm texture of the red liquid between his fingers.

“It’s fresh…” Tim analyzed. “Still warm…”

Both Tim and Sunset followed the bloody trail, only to see it was leading them out the room.

“That was never there before…”

Walking toward the door, Tim turned it open to the side, and was startled…

“AAAUGH!!!”

“AAAAAHHH!!!”

Both Sunset Shimmer and Tim screamed the living daylights out of each other when the sudden appearance of a ghoulish demon gave them a jump-scare before vanishing into puffs of smoke.

“ARRGH!! I can’t take it anymore!” Sunset Shimmer moaned in frustration. “I’m getting sick of things jumping out and scaring me like that! It’s so lazy and overdone!”

Taking deep breaths, Sunset eventually calmed herself and regained her composure.

“Keep it together, Sunset. Just… keep… it… together.”

Once they’ve calmed themselves, both Tim and Sunset followed the bloody trail, which lead them back into Tim’s room, all the way into the bathroom… which now was completely, horridly soaked in blood, from the ceiling to the floor.

“Ugh… gross,” Sunset groaned. “I’ve heard about bloodbaths… but this is ridiculous…”

“You can say that again,” Tim shared his disgust.

Both man and girl took a few cautious steps, cringing in disgust over the fact they were stepping into puddles of blood. And then suddenly, they felt as if they were no longer treading, let alone wading, along hard floors.

“SHIT!!!” Tim screamed.

And just like that, Tim and Sunset Shimmer were pulled into the pool of blood to who knows where…

Chapter 5: Cursed Blood Of Lust

Darkness…

At first, ‘darkness’ was all Tim and Sunset Shimmer could see before their eyes. Shortly after falling through a puddle of blood, upon discovering they’ve returned to Tim and Jane’s house, both man and teenage girl began to come to their senses. Tim slowly got up first, with Sunset joining in. The girl herself struggled to wipe the blood off her very person.

“Ugh, where are we now?” Tim asked.

“Ew!” Sunset shivered in disgust. “Maybe someplace where a shower is nearby?”

Brushing Sunset’s squeamish whining aside, Tim turned on his flashlight as he walked to the nearest door on the left. As Sunset followed slowly behind, Tim proceeded to open the door… only to find himself, and Sunset, walking through a dusty hallway. Garbage bags littered across the floor, pictures were torn off from the side, and all the paint seemed to flake off.

Sunset and Tim turned the next corner, passing a window on the left, to which Sunset was certain she’d seen a figure dashing inside. Sunset rubbed her arm against the dusty window, peering closer for a clearer look.

“Hmmm?” Sunset pondered, squinting her eyes.

“What is it?” Tim asked.

“I thought I saw someone,” Sunset replied. “ Probably my imagination. This place is really getting to me—”

At that moment, a squeaking was heard. Both humans drew their attention to the creaky open door on the right. Swallowing lumps down their throats, Sunset and Tim shuddered as they cautiously entered the room. But when they peered inside… it was empty, the whole room completely devoid of life. Just as they were about to approach the nearest door, it was then Sunset noticed a piece of paper on the table. And sure enough, the paper had some familiar handwriting and drawings.

“Hey Tim!” Sunset called, presenting the paper. “Look at this!”

Front
February 1, 2013

I waited until the break of dawn, Tim!! You didn’t stray, did you? … I know he was so caught up with his job, I didn’t want to be overthinking… He did mention that he would be working harder… Oh Tim, my dear…

Back

Well, Tim still sent me a picture as usual. This time he stood next to Dew… Tim told me once that Dew was his childhood best friend. They look so adorable next to one another. I wonder if they are still close friends?!

After reading the paper, Tim stuffed the page into his binder. Resuming the task at hand, he and Sunset emerged from the room and out into another hallway.

“What do you think this place is?” Sunset asked, looking around. “Or was?”

“My guess is that this place used to be some kind of workshop… or a university,” He pointed toward the student-designated desks. “Buy why would Jane come here?”

“Maybe… she went to this school?”

Soon the man and girl turned left, walking down the end of the hall until they reached the second door on the right. Tim opened the door and, as both he and Sunset stepped in, something flicked from the corner of her eyes. To her left, barely visible in the shadows (Courtesy of the flickering lights), Sunset spotted a figure in a white dress, racing toward a door.

“Look! It’s Jane!” Sunset pointed, as she and Tim gave chase.

“Jane! Wait!” Tim insisted.

But just as he and Sunset arrived, the door closed right in front of them. Tim immediately opened the door, but immediately regretted it. A loud, bloodcurdling shriek pierced the air, startling the pair as they immediately recognized the ghost before them.

“Crap! Not you again!” Tim moaned.

Tim quickly closed the door upon the ghost. But then, the door swung open. Just as the ghost was about to walk in, the spirit was forced back by Sunset, who slammed the door on her.

“Get out!” Sunset grunted.

The teen forced her whole weight against the door, while the ghost fought on her side. Sunset barely dodged when the ghost’s arm came through the door gap, thrusting her boxcutter knife at the fiery girl aimlessly. Tim immediately rushed to help Sunset, latching his hand upon the ghost girl’s wrist, preventing her from attacking Sunset.

“Wow! You’re a lot stronger than you look!” Tim grunted, struggling to pry the knife from the ghost’s cold iron grip. “C’mon! Let’s have it!”

The ghost, too distracted on Tim, forgot about Sunset, who immediately slammed the door on her arm. The ghost screamed in painful agony, causing her to drop the knife as she pulled her arm back thereby allowing Sunset to close the door. As an added measure, Tim and Sunset pulled a table, barring the door to prevent the ghost from getting through.

“That won’t hold her much longer,” Tim panted, spotting a locker. “C’mon! We’ll hide in here.”

“Right!” Sunset agreed.

They dove into the locker and once inside both Sunset and Tim hugged each other to compose themselves. All they could see was darkness, and they could hardly hear the sound of the ghost’s raspy breathing, her mournful moaning, all complete with the clicking of the boxcutter knife. The man and girl leaned further back against the locker, struggling to steady their breathing as the noises outside turned faint.

“Is she gone?” Sunset whispered.

“I don’t know,” Tim replied. “I can’t see.”

Turned out the locker they were hiding in lacked a vent to peek through.

“Wait! This is completely different.”

As Tim walked out, with Sunset following closely, they found themselves in a new area.

“What the… how did… aw forget it!” Sunset sighed.

At this point, Sunset’s seen more than enough paranormal activity to realize there’d be no rational explanation for any of it. Both Tim and Sunset turned right, stumbling upon a couple closed doors. On one of the door knobs, there was a rusty key stuck inside the socket. Sunset tried to twist the key out, but it wouldn’t budge, and the door knob remained locked in place.

“Locked!” Sunset grunted.

Upon peering through the windows of the door, Tim exclaimed the moment he saw his wife.

“Jane?” Tim shouted, to his frightened wife. “Jane! Wait! Please…”

Unfortunately, his words fell on deaf ears when the woman turned around and left.

“JANE!!!!”

All the man could do was watch helplessly, as his wife disappeared into the hallway ahead.

<”Fuckkk!!!”> He cursed in Thai.

“How could she have gotten in?” Sunset asked.

“I don’t know,” Tim shook his head. “But we must go after her.”

“Well, I managed to get this key out!”

Sunset held said key in the palm of her hand, observing it deeply.

“Hmm… if we can get this key cleaned, we might be able to use it to unlock these doors,” Sunset surmised.

“Sounds like a plan,” Tim nodded in agreement. “But how are we going to clean this thing? Where would we go?”

“Let’s take a look around. Maybe we’ll find a janitor’s office, or even a restroom. There must be a spare key lying around somewhere in this place.”

Both Tim and Sunset turned and headed toward a nearby flight of stairs. Hanging upon the wall, just along the right, there was a sign written in Thai and English which read: Lab.

“A lab?” Sunset read, when her eyes lit up. “A lab! Maybe we can find some chemicals in there, and I get a formula together!”

“You… know a formula for cleaning rust?” Tim asked, surprised.

“Sure do! Back in school, my friend Twilight and I were lab partners for several science projects. One of them happened to be a formula for rust removal! I can definitely whip up a batch to clean this rusty key, then we can find Jane!”

<”Alright, Sunset!> Tim spoke in Thai, climbing the stairs. “Let’s find that lab and get to work!”

Once they reached the top of the stairs, onto the next floor, both Tim and Sunset ducked their heads to crawl beneath an upturned locker. Eventually, they rounded the next corner in search for the lab. Just ahead of them laid a pile of desks and chairs stacked together, as if to block their path before them. However, it wasn’t the obstacle that stopped them in their tracks. Rather, it was a family, haunting clicking sound ringing in the air.

“Uh oh!” Sunset groaned.

“Shh!” Tim shushed.

Looking around, Tim pointed toward the open door on their right.

“In there!” He whispered.

Cautiously opening the door to the side, both man and teenage girl stepped into the room, casting cautious looks left and right in search for any sign of the boxcutter ghost hounding them down. At first, neither man nor girl saw the ghost. But the bloodcurdling rattle of the boxcutter from various directions didn’t help calm their nerves.

“Great!” Sunset muttered. “It’s Brenda Song’s bloodthirsty cousin. What does that ghost even want with us anyway?”

“As I recall… you did give her a strong whack to the head,” Tim pointed out.

“Because she was stabbing you! I was saving your life! Seriously, what’s she even got against you to begin with?”

“That’s what I’d like to know…” Tim pondered, scratching his chin. “Although, now that I think about it… our ghost reminds me of a ghost story me and Dew once told each other…”

“What ghost story?” Sunset asked curiously.

“When we were kids, Dew and I would share scary ghost stories at night. Scare the crap out of each other. And if I have to take a guess, I’d say our ghost girl is a Phi Tai Hong. Very violent and angry spirit, who suffered a brutal and untimely death.”

“Emphasis on ‘violent and angry’…” Sunset whimpered. “But still, even if she is angry, why take it out on us? What’s this… Phi Tai Hong’s problem?”

“Phi Tai Hong will attack anything, or ‘anyone’ they see, indiscriminately, I’m afraid,” Tim answered. “I’m afraid it comes with the territory of angry ghosts. They feel unjust for having their lives ended too soon, against their own will.”

“Hmm…” Sunset pondered, tapping her chin.

To the fiery haired girl, this mystery kept growing bigger by the minute. On one hand, Sunset desired to know how she came to Thailand to begin with (And why). On the other hand, she wondered where both she and Tim are. Why are they being hunted by an angry spirit? How did Jane go missing? Why are all these paranormal activities happening to begin with? And above all… ‘how’ can they stop it?

Still seeking answers, Sunset turned around, when she looked down and happened to notice half a picture, torn off. Carefully, she picked up the torn parchment.

“Hey, what’s this?” Sunset asked.

From the looks of it, half the photo showed what appeared to be a male university student. He smiled at the camera, holding his right arm up, pointing at something to his left – the missing half of the photo.

“It’s just a boy,” Tim commented.

Sunset turned the picture half around, uncovering a name written in Thai along the back.

“Hmmm… who is this?” Sunset pondered.

“Shane…” Tim translated. “His name is ‘Shane’.”

“Shane, huh?”

It was then epiphany struck Sunset, her eyes widening with realization.

“Wait a minute… Shane?! As in… the Shane whose nails and hairs were used in the Cursed Nails Jinx? From the dormitory?”

“… Maybe?” Tim shrugged. “But I don’t think we should jump to conclusions yet. There’re still more clues to uncover. And Jane is still here… somewhere. We must find her. Now where’s that lab?”

Nodding in understanding, Sunset followed Tim on the trail for the lab. They walked toward the other end of the room, departing through a door which took them around the blockage in the hallway. Soon enough they found themselves standing before a double door. Carefully opening the doors, Sunset and Tim found themselves in a room filled with chemicals.

“This must be the place,” Sunset informed Tim.

Both Tim and Sunset Shimmer crept cautiously toward the chemistry lab. They were just passing the shelf corner when they froze in place and quickly backed away. About ten feet away stood a strange dark phantom, with red lights shining from its eyes, standing against a wall, peering through a bloody smear. Shushing to each other, Tim and Sunset quickly hid behind a wall.

“What the hay is that?” Sunset Shimmer whispered.

“I don’t know,” Tim replied. “But let’s not find out what it could do to us. What do we do?”

“Maybe we can sneak around it?” Sunset suggested.

“I don’t think it heard us, so it’s worth a shot,” Tim shrugged. “You stay here and hide. I’ll go first; you watch my back.”

Tim snuck across the floor, careful so as not to alert the phantom. Once he snuck behind it and made it safely across, he turned and ushered Sunset to follow. Sunset was about to crawl across, only to backtrack when the phantom turned its head, nearly catching sight of her. The girl huddled herself into a ball, looking down upon the floor spying an eerie red light shining down. The phantom was onto her, on the hunt.

“’It’s the Preta all over again’,” Sunset thought to herself.

Just before the phantom caught sight of her, the sudden sound of broken glass startled it. Tim had flung a flask, toward the corner of the room. Distracted, the phantom turned and headed off to investigate the noise. Once the danger had passed, Sunset snuck her way across to regroup with Tim.

“Phew! That was way too close for comfort,” Sunset sighed in relief.

“Too close…” Tim panted heavily.

After quickly composing themselves, Sunset and Tim got up to see a whiteboard, with a formula already written.

Fe2O3(S) + 6H2C2O4(aq) ➡2FE(C2O4)3-3(aq) + 3H2O(L) + 6H+(aq)

S=Solid
Aq=aqueous (dissolved in water)
L=Liquid

“Yes! This is the formula I was talking about!” Sunset confirmed, facing the chemistry set. “Hmm… looks like we have everything here, except for… the oxalic.”

<”Dammit!”> Tim cursed in Thai. “Can’t you make a… a substitute, with the chemicals you’ve got here?”

“Sorry, Tim,” Sunset shook her head. “I don’t think it’s possible… wait! I do remember seeing a closet full of oxalic chemicals in that last room before coming here. We’ll just need to make a quick run towards it and grab one.”

“Then that’s where we’ll go next,” Tim nodded.

Tim quickly picked up the Chemistry Closet key off the desk. However, just as Tim and Sunset turned to leave, the phantom from before appeared right before them. It released a loud scream upon seeing the two before it disappeared in puffs of smoke.

“AAAAHH!!! OOF!” Tim screamed, falling to the floor.

“Mr. Tim!” Sunset shouted, aiding the man. “Are you okay?”

Before Tim could answer, a familiar bloodcurdling scream rang through the air outside the lab, followed by the sound of running footsteps.

“Here she comes!” Sunset shouted.

“Quick! IN HERE!” Tim pointed to a locker.

Both Tim and Sunset Shimmer immediately jumped into a locker. Unfortunately, the locker had a large hole on the door. Tim and Sunset tried scooting themselves down, but the narrow interior of the locker made it difficult for them both. With no other choice, Sunset leapt out of the locker, hiding herself under a desk, silently praying not to be discovered.

At that moment, the boxcutter ghost came running into the room. The ghost breathed heavily, sobbing…

“Come back…” She cried. “Come back to me!”

Sunset could feel her entire body, clamoring and covered in goosebumps, just from hearing the ghostly voice. The ghost walked past the desk Sunset hid under, and peered into the locker Tim hid in. Sunset quietly prayed to herself, praying that the ghost wouldn’t spot the man. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case, as the ghost turned and walked away. Soon as the danger passed, both Tim and Sunset got out from their hiding spots.

“Phew! That was close!” Tim muttered.

“Tell me about it,” Sunset agreed. “As if one psychotic ghost wasn’t bad enough, now she’s got friends! They’ll alert her if they spot us.”

“Let’s just hope we don’t run into any more of them…”

Both Sunset and Tim resumed sneaking back to the other room, to pick up the oxalic acid from the locker cabinet. Using the key from the chemistry lab, they unlocked the cabinet, before they snuck back to the chemistry lab, where Sunset went to work. Mixing the oxalic acid with water, Sunset Shimmer carefully dipped the rusty key into the solution, before holding a now shinier key.

“Presto! Rusty no more!” Sunset declared.

“Alright, Sunset!” Tim smiled, taking the key. “Let’s get back to the doors and go after Jane.”

With that, both man and girl snuck from the chemistry lab, avoiding the ghost girl, navigating around the blockage. They headed back down the stairs, where to their triumph, the key unlocked the double doors, granting them entry through the hallway so the search for Jane could continue.

“This place is big,” Tim spoke. “Where could Jane be?”

“It’s like a maze here,” Sunset commented. “She could be anywhere.”

“I guess the logical thing to do is split up. We’ll cover more—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa Tim! No way! Sunset exclaimed. “We’re not splitting up! Don’t you know your horror movies? When you split up, that’s what—”

Sunset drew a line across her neck, while making a creaking noise.

“That… happens! I don’t need a reminder that there’s a psychopathic girl on the loose! Shh! You hear that?”

Tim looked around the area. But there was hardly any sound at all. Just the eerie silence.

“I don’t hear anything,” Tim answered.

“Exactly!” Sunset confirmed. “It’s too quiet… I don’t like it…”

Just then, Sunset looked toward the left and spotted a piece of paper on the third table. Picking it up, she realized it was another page from Jane’s diary. She gave it to Tim, who began to read it.

Front
February 18, 2013

Tim got home so late recently… most of the time was when I was already asleep. How could you take care of our family if you keep this up?? I know being patient is what I could do. Tim said that he would be more flexible with his job next year. We would have had started our lovely family then… aww that would be so sweet.

Back

We haven’t talked much lately but he was truly the only person who listened to me. No matter what it was about, he was very supportive. Sometimes I was being annoying with my writing, but he was there for me… giving me his dull ideas… but he was there, that counted.

After collecting the page, Sunset and Tim turned to resume walking down the hall.

“LOOK!”

Sunset pointed to a door at the end of the hall, where Jane could be seen in the window.

“Jane!” Tim shouted.

He and Sunset ran after the woman, who once more disappeared into the darkness, behind the window.

“Jane! Wait!”

But it was no use. By the time they reached the door, the woman was gone. To hinder their progress further, even the door was locked.

“Argh! It’s always one door after another!” Sunset moaned in frustration.

“There’s got to be a way to open this!” Tim huffed, banging the door in frustration.

It was then both Tim and Sunset noticed a note written in Thai, right next to the door. Tim translated it for Sunset to understand:

“’Students who don’t have key cards yet but desire to use the lab room. Please contact A.J. Warin in the teacher’s waiting room on the second floor’.”

Turning to the right, Sunset found the nearest elevator. Stepping inside, they pressed the button to take them to the second floor. However, much to their dismay, there wasn’t any power to run the lift.

“Elevator’s out!” Sunset frowned.

Turning around, Tim spotted a glowing red light at the end of the hallway.

“Not for long! Follow me!” Tim ushered.

Tim led Sunset down to the end of the hallway, to find the maintenance room. Switches and levers for the power to run the whole building were all around them. Once he found the switch he sought for, Tim wasted little time to flip it on.

“Alright, that should do it,” Tim declared, facing Sunset. “Now let’s—”

*CRRRR-KKKK*

“SHH!” Sunset shushed.

To the man and girl’s shared horror, the eerie creaking rattle of a boxcutter knife was heard outside the door. Tim was the first to peek his head out, while Sunset waited behind him.

“She’s here,” Tim whispered to Sunset. “But she doesn’t know we’re here…”

“… Can we still sneak past her, without her noticing?” Sunset asked hopefully.

“Like we have another choice, but it’s probable. Come on. Follow my lead…”

Both Tim and Sunset poked their heads out to see the angry ghost girl patrolling the hallway, searching for her quarries. The ghost girl crossed from one door to the next, searching the rooms only to turn up nothing. Sunset and Tim hid behind some shelves, the chairs, and the doors, all across the hall trying to avoid detection.

The ghost girl took a turn to the right, while behind a couple whiteboards Tim and Sunset used them to keep themselves shielded from the ghost’s field of vision. They occasionally peeked out, anticipating for the ghost’s next steps. They crawled along the floor, hid beneath the tables, and even behind a few benches until they were close enough to reach the elevator. They immediately stood up and bolted for the lift before the ghost realized they were there.

By the time the ghost looked, it was too late. Sunset immediately pressed the number ‘2’ on the elevator’s indoor dials, taking them down from the third floor to the second.

“That was intense!” Sunset gasped.

“Too close for comfort,” Tim added. “Just… why in the hell is this happening?”

“I’m sure we’ll find out later. Right now, we must get ourselves a key card, find Jane, and get out of here while the getting’s good.”

“You make it sound so easy…”

Once they reached the second level, Tim and Sunset turned left and walked toward another door, which they opened and entered. Without warning, the door slammed shut behind them.

“AAAH!!!”

Both Tim and Sunset screamed, almost jumping out of their skins. Then, to further their horror, intensifying their beating hearts, the familiar creaking sounds of a boxcutter knife filled the air.

*CRRR-KKKK*

“Uh oh…” They bother muttered.

With nowhere to hide, Tim and Sunset took their chance with the first door on the right. They bolted inside and closed the door behind them, hiding themselves behind the desks and bookshelves. Sure enough, the ghost girl opened the door and stepped into the room. Both man and teenager remained hidden, watching the ghost girl’s legs, predicting her next moves before anticipating their own.

Eventually, Sunset and Tim escaped the room and into another. They looked through the bookshelves and desks, searching for the computer to make a key card. When their searched turned up nothing, just as Tim and Sunset were about to leave, it was then the girl noticed something strange about the desk she was passing.

“What’s this?”

Sunset looked down on the desk, picking up what appeared to be a photograph of an unknown ritual.

In the photo, it appeared to be a monk trying to save a possessed woman, with two people standing on the left and right of the picture, as if witnessing the event. The said woman in the photograph appeared to be in a great deal of pain, indicated by the splotches of blood on the front of her shirt. Sunset looked intently at the photo, trying to figure out the story.

“What the hay?” Sunset asked herself.

<”Hey!”> Tim called to Sunset, in Thai. “What are you doing? Let’s go!”

Putting the photo away, Sunset followed Tim into another room across the hall. Inside, the room was layered with bookshelves and computer modems, even printers. Thankfully, at the end of the room, they found the computer they sought for.

“Here we are!” Tim sighed in relief.

He went straight to work, typing on the computer. But to Sunset’s eyes, it resembled more of a white box than a piece of technology.

“Wow… uh, no offense, Tim…” Sunset began to comment. “But this computer’s a dinosaur!”

“Not every country has your American advanced Apples, Windows, or whatever,” Tim replied.

“I… stand corrected. So, what do we do now?”

“Hmm…”

Tim picked up a piece of paper, type in Thai, reading to translate:

ID Card Instructions

Insert your card in the machine.

Insert your password.

Swipe the card once the password is entered.

The man soon noticed a sticky note at the bottom of the keyboard, written in Thai, translated to read:

A.J. Warin’s memo

<”Do not forget 1_ _ _ _ 6”>

“What does that even mean?” Sunset asked.

“It must be the password,” Tim deduced. “It begins with ‘1’ and ends with ‘6’…”

Looking across the desk, Tim picked up another piece of paper, which translated to read:

A.J. Warin’s Salary Receipt

Khan Na Yao University
ID Number: 183476
Name: Mister Warin Gannalak
Department: Engineering Faculty
Affiliation …
August 1996
Income List
Salary: 25,000
…

Wait a minute!” Sunset interrupted. “What was that about the ID Number again?”

“The numbers reads ‘183476’… oh!” Tim exclaimed.

Catching onto that detail, Sunset grabbed for a nearby pencil. Quickly, she wrote down the numbers on the sticky note to test out her theory.

18 3 4 7 6

“That must be our password,” Sunset whispered.

“Let’s try it out,” Tim whispered in response.

But before Tim and Sunset could type in the numbers, the door to the room suddenly flung open, coupled with the ambient sound of footsteps.

“Uh oh! We have a visitor!” Sunset yelped.

She and Tim crouched down, beneath the desk, and pulled the chair in front of them to hide. The ghost girl proceeded to patrol the room, sobbing nonstop as she’d been doing. Sunset trembled hard, scared out of her wits, as the raspy sound of the weeping ghost drew ever closer.

“Come back…” The ghost cried hoarsely. “COME BACK to me…”

For a weeping Thai ghost, Sunset Shimmer seemed to understand her pretty well. Though, come to think of it, Sunset couldn’t help but wonder about several questions plaguing her mind. How is it she can understand the ghost girl in perfect English, yet had trouble understanding Tim in his Thai language? Could it be the ghost girl can speak English? If so, how? Could there even be another form of magic at play?

Sunset couldn’t dwell on these questions for long. She needed to figure out how to help Tim escape this place, find his wife, and, if they were lucky, save their own skins (Hopefully in one piece).

“You said together we would be forever…” The ghost girl moaned. “Why is this happening?”

At this point, the ghost girl stood right in front of them, her moaning sounded as though she were speaking to their faces. Sunset and Tim had to cover each other’s mouths just to prevent one another from screaming. This lasted merely a few seconds before the ghost turned around and walked out of the room.

Once it was safe again, Sunset and Tim crawled from under the desk and turned their attention to the computer typing away along the keypad. After pressing the numbers, Tim pressed the ‘Enter’ Button, and proceeded to swipe the key card as instructed, receiving a green light in the process. Soon, a new keycard had just been activated.

“Keycard activated!” Tim informed Sunset, who gave a thumbs up. “Now let’s get back to the third floor and go after Jane!”

Sunset and Tim backtracked to the hallway, while keeping watch for the prowling ghost girl. They hid behind some chairs as they snuck through the hallway, heading back to the door they came from. They didn’t get far, however, when the ghost girl appeared in front of them, her back turned.

“Shh!” Sunset and Tim shushed to each other.

The ghost girl patrolled the hallway for a bit, before she turned and was about to head in their direction. Thinking fast, and to avoid being discovered, Sunset removed one of her shoes, and secretly tossed it above the ghost girl’s head, striking a nearby locker with a loud *CLANG!*. The ghost girl snapped her head in the direction of the ruckus and proceeded to investigate, walking away from Tim and Sunset.

Both man and teenage girl watched as the ghost inspected the lockers, then the discarded shoe on the floor. Eventually she turned and entered another room to investigate. Sighing with relief, Sunset slowly made for her shoe (the right one) and once reclaimed she slipped her foot back into it. Tim stepped behind her, lightly patting the girl’s shoulder.

“Smart move, Sunset!” Tim complimented.

“Didn’t think it would work for a moment!” Sunset replied. “But thanks!”

Soon the pair raced back into the elevator, riding it back to the third floor. Once there, they slid the keycard through the slot beside the locked door, unlocking it. Pulling the door open, Tim, with Sunset behind him, walked across a bridge through the dark of night before reaching the next building. There they entered another hallway with two doors on both sides of the hall, a stack of desks and chairs laid out in the center. Passed the stack was an eerie red light, which reminded Tim and Sunset of sneaking by the Preta ghost of Mr. Pichai.

Tim and Sunset opened the second door on the right and immediately crouched down. Through an open window, in the room, stood a shadowy ghost with glowing red lights, staring off in the direction of the hall. Luckily for Sunset and Tim, the ghost didn’t notice them… yet.

Silent as mice, Tim and Sunset snuck into the room in search for clues. One turn and they saw a table with lit candles, and together they picked up a role of scented incense – with only one strand left – then retreated for the exit before the ghost saw them.

“So… what kind of ghost do you call that?” Sunset asked nervously.

“I don’t know,” Tim replied. “I was never big on ghost stories; frankly, I wished it could’ve just stayed that way. C’mon, let’s concentrate on finding Jane.”

Sunset and Tim entered the next room, across the hall, only to find an empty window. In the room stood a table with more lit candles, and a piece of parchment sitting in the center. Tim picked it up and read the written Thai inscriptions:

Descriptions to Ghost Summoning

Scented incense is the main tool used in every religious ritual. By lighting scented incense in different amounts will result in different outcomes. However, if one is lit, it’s meant as a means to summon spirits to you. Those who…

“What? Those who what?” Sunset asked anxiously.

“I don’t know,” Tim shook his head, turning the page. “It just… ended…”

“Well… we’ve got a scented incense,” Sunset confirmed, holding said item. “Let’s light it up and see what happens.”

Sunset took a strand from the roll, using one of the lit candles to light up the incense before planting it into the pot on the table. Together they watched as the lit incense attracted the ghost from before to approach. The ghost poked its head through the open window, taking a long whiff. It looked as though it enjoyed the scent, hardly noticing Sunset and Tim in front of it.

“Huh! Who knew ghosts have interesting sense of smells?” Tim asked.

“Go figure,” Sunset shrugged. “Too bad we only had one…”

“Let’s look around. Maybe there’s more lying around. By the look if it, we’re going to need lots.”

Tim and Sunset departed from the room, sneaking past the ghost. They proceeded to search the building, looking for more scented incense that would aid in their fight against the ghosts haunting them.

*CRRR-KKKKK*

Hearing the sound, Sunset and Tim were both in agreement that these shady ghosts weren’t the only ones to contend with.

“She seems to get around real quick…” Sunset muttered.

“At this point, I shouldn’t be surprised,” Tim replied. “All the blood we’ve been seeing, it’s all a dead giveaway that there’s another of her portals nearby…”

“Ugh! I’ll never get used to that…” Sunset cringed in disgust.

She had almost forgotten that their ghost girl travels around through bleeding holes in the wall. Not to mention the bloody puddle they found at Tim and Jane’s ransacked house. But for now, their minds on the present, Sunset and Tim peered into a room, which appeared to be a supply closet, and found another roll with a strand of scented incense. After collecting it, they snuck back the way they came and entered what appeared to be a chemistry lab, only to find shady ghosts guarding the way out.

Using the scented incense in hand, Sunset and Tim lit it up in another pot in the room, which drew the ghosts away like moths to a flame. Like its friend before it, the ghost stayed in place, taking a very long whiff of the scent, not realizing Sunset and Tim sneaking behind it.

Once outside, Tim and Sunset ran left before turning into another hallway on the right. They ran all the way down the hall, the ambient sound of the ghost girl’s boxcutter knife surrounding them throughout the hall. Always the pair were on high alert in the event they ran into the ghost again.

Eventually, they reached the end of the hall to another room on the left. Opening the door, they entered to catch their breath, and if they were lucky they’d find Jane.

“Jane? Are you in here?” Tim called out.

But answer there came none…

“Apparently not…” Sunset sighed.

Suddenly, another white glow caught her left eye.

“Hmmm? What’s this?”

“What is it, Sunset?” Tim asked.

He watched as Sunset approached an old desk, where she discovered a piece of paper. Once in hand, she handed the paper to Tim to read:

Parents’ Letter to Shane’s Academic Advisor

To Shane’s Academic Advisor, September 14, 1996

Shane is now having a severe mental breakdown. The first diagnosis shows that Shane is experiencing hallucinations caused by stress. There are also some neurological problems that cannot be identified yet. He has to be kept under strict and close care of the psychiatrist. On behalf of Shane and as his guardian, I’d like to take an extended leave from now, until he is fully recovered.

Regards,
Shukit Patthanakit

“Shane?” Sunset pondered. “As in...this guy?” She asked, pulling out the torn photo of the young man. "Gosh...what happened to him?"

Sunset and Tim exchanged looks, before shrugging and deciding not to ponder too hard on the subject… for now. After packing the suspicious paper away, Sunset and Tim resumed their search deeper in the darkest parts of the hall till they reached another door at the end. Opening the door, both Sunset and Tim found themselves entering a locker room.

All the lockers were closed, except for one. It’s door hung open to the side, which wouldn’t be too out of the ordinary… had it not been for the fact the interior was coated in dry blood.

“Ick!” They cringed in disgust.

They looked down toward a bench in front of the locker, discovering a newspaper article. Sunset noted it was coated in the same white glow as all the items she and Tim had collected thus far. Thus, without a doubt, another clue was found.

Sunset reached out and the moment she touched the paper, the dim lighting in the locker room flicked rapidly and eerily. It was as though touching the newspaper triggered some form of booby trap. To further the unsettling atmosphere, Sunset and Tim looked up and were horrified to see blood dripping from the ceiling and down the walls.

The pair quickly hugged each other, watching the walls bleed around them. Both Sunset and Tim expected the worst to befall them… but it never came. At least, not yet.

Soon as the lights stopped flashing, the two looked at the newspaper and found a photo of a very familiar girl.

“Hey, Mr. Tim?” Sunset spoke, holding up the paper. “Look at this…”

Tim gazed at the article and began to read:

Missing Girl Found Dead!

October 4, 1996

On October 3, police found the body of Ms. Pattra Srisakul (Belle) in the multipurpose room that was shut down in the Engineering Faculty building of Khan Na Yao University, which is believed to be the reason why the body wasn’t found. The unbearable smell of the body led to this horrifying discovery. The body was still in uniform, submerged in blood. There is no report yet on whether or not this was a suicide or murder, but there were a lot of nails found next to the body. The body was sent to the coroner, and we hope the autopsy will reveal the cause of her death.

“Ugh!” Sunset moaned. “Dude, that’s creepy… wait…”

It was then Sunset thought back to past events surrounding her and Tim, recalling a few clues they picked up along the way.

“Nails… blood… just like… the Cursed Nails Jinx… and if I had to guess… that means our mysterious ghost girl… is Belle!”

Sunset turned to Tim, beckoning for his binder.

“Mr. Tim? Can I look at the clues we’ve picked up so far?”

“Sure,” Tim nodded.

The man handed Sunset his binder, allowing the fiery girl to study the clues they have collected while he shined his flashlight to help her see.

“What exactly are you looking for?” Tim asked curiously.

Sunset looked through the binder’s pages, until she pulled out the three clues she was looking for.

“Hey, Mr. Tim?” Sunset began. “Can you translate for me again? I’m pretty sure these three clues have certain common traits.”

“Certainly,” Tim nodded, as he read:

The Cursed Nails Jinx

:

Do you have hatred towards someone, enough to want them dead? Then you are at the right place! The Cursed Nails Jinx is a spell that can make them suffer from nails piercing through their stomach. The result can be deadly! This jinx has existed and had been passed on for many generations and can still be found today on rare occasions.

Instruction:

You’ll need something from your target, such as a nail or some hair. Next, put them inside the doll made from graveyard clay. Tie up the doll with the thread used for shrouding corpses, not the holy thread used for other occasions and ceremony. Pierce the nails (which were used to seal coffins of those who died unnaturally) right through the doll. Once it’s done, your target will experience an agonizing pain as their stomach is filled with cursed nails. Only skill casters can perform this, it cannot be done by novices.

Note with Aj. Chai’s Number

Bring these to A. Chai.
Shane’s hair and nails.
01-612-2758

The Lechery Jinx

:

The Lechery Jinx is a spell that can forcefully make people fall in love. The noticeable feature of this spell is two dolls tied up in a hugging pose, one male and the other female.

Instruction:

Create two dolls from graveyard clay and put something that belongs to your target inside one of the dolls, it can be either nails or hairs. Then tie up the dolls together with the holy thread used in shrouding corpses. Only skillful casters can perform this, it cannot be done by novices. Once it’s done, put the tied-up dolls under the pillow of your target.

“Oh!” Tim exclaimed, catching onto Sunset’s deduction.

“Bingo!” Sunset snapped her fingers. “According to these two jinxes, they require someone’s nails and/or hairs to work. And judging by this note, this ‘Shane’s nails and hairs’ were used for these jinxes… at least one of them.”

“But who would do such a thing?” Tim asked. “Why would they do it?”

“I don’t know, but I do know this…”

Picking up the newspaper article, Sunset presented the dead girl in the photo.

“Our ghost girl, a.k.a. Belle, is the victim of the Cursed Nails Jinx.”

“Hmm… I see where you’re getting at,” Tim nodded. “It would seem Shane’s become a victim of the Lechery Jinx, while Belle got the Cursed Nails. You’re saying someone was stealing Shane away from Belle, using the Lechery Jinx, and then used the Cursed Nails Jinx to get rid of Belle?”

“Looks that way,” Sunset nodded. “Still… I have a feeling there’s more to this story. But we need to find more clues to fully solve this puzzle.”

“I’ll say. What’s this all got to do with Jane? How does any of this got to do with her? Why would she even get involved?”

“We don’t know if she was even part of this. But we’re going to find out.”

Putting the clues aside, Sunset and Tim resumed the task at hand. Soon as they turned toward the door they came from, pulling it open, they departed the locker and into…

“Looks like we’re back in the dorm room…” Sunset commented, noting the familiar layout.

Sunset Shimmer and Tim exited the locker room, closing the door behind them. They walked across the room, opening another door, and peeked into the hallway. On their left, they saw the same stack of desks and chairs from before. They turned right toward the same direction of the vent they crawled through before. For an added measure of precaution, Sunset removed one of her shoes and waved it in the air for a reaction. When nothing happened, the young girl and man took it as a sign saying, ‘the coast is clear’.

Upon reaching the end of the hallway, however, Sunset and Tim were dismayed to find the vent blocked off by a wall of wooden cardboards hammered into place. Fortunately, there was a crowbar laying upon the floor just in front of them. Unfortunately, when Tim tried prying the boards off, he was immediately repelled by a wave of dark magic.

<”What the hell?!”> Tim exclaimed in Thai.

Sunset crawled up the wooden platforms, inspecting them to discover they were covered in red papers, all written with Thai spells.

“I may not read Thai,” Sunset began. “But I’m betting my money these are spells to protect these boards from us. Hmm… I wonder.”

Sunset soon noticed the web of red strings connected to the red papers, then towards a lit candle nearby. Inspired, Sunset blew out the candle, causing the red strings wrapped around it to disintegrate, which in turn caused one of the red papers to vanish as well.

“Just as I thought,” Sunset deduced. “All we have to do is snuff out two more of these candles, and we’ll clear a way out.”

“Okay then,” Tim nodded. “Let’s go!”

*CRRR-KKKKK*

Sunset and Tim nearly collapsed to the floor, incredulously, at the sound of their assailant. The two poked their heads behind a wall and just as they feared there she was: The Boxcutter Girl a.k.a. Belle. The ghost walked across the hall, entering a room on the right.

“Doesn’t this bitch ever quit?” Sunset asked.

“Watch your mouth, young lady!” Tim scolded.

“Stop treating me like a kid!”

Following the trail of strings along the floor, careful not to make a sound, Sunset and Tim entered a dark room where they found anther candle and quickly snuffed it out. Like the first one, the red strings surrounding the candle disintegrated in a blazing red light. Sunset and Tim were about to leave, when they heard approaching footsteps, and the moaning of Belle, heading in their direction.

Turning to a set of bookshelves on their right, Sunset and Tim ducked behind them to avoid being seen. They both hugged each other close, as Belle entered the room, clicking her boxcutter knife repeatedly until she took her leave. Behind the bookshelves, Sunset felt her hand brushing against what she assumed was paper. Looking down, she saw another piece of a photograph surrounding in a white glow.

Sunset picked it up, placing it into her pocket. Then, she and Tim watched Belle emerge from the room and into another, while said escapees followed the trail to the final candle. They hadn’t gotten very far, however, when pounding fists upon a wooden desk was heard. From the room, Belle entered.

Curiosity taking over, Sunset backtracked and carefully peeked into the room seeing Belle slamming her fists and making angry grunts. The kind of a sound a person makes when they’re really upset, venting their pent-up frustrations. Sunset watched, amazed over Belle’s unleashed fury. It was so great Sunset was certain she could’ve chopped the desk in half. However, upon a closer look, Sunset’s eyes caught sight of something glowing on the desk Belle pounded on.

“Sunset? What’s going on?” Tim asked.

Sunset beckoned to shush, but it was too late. Belle noticed them, and the pair quickly hid behind a bookshelf to escape the ghost girl’s gaze. Eventually, the ghost left the room and into another. With the ghost gone, Sunset entered the room as Tim followed.

“What are you doing?” Tim asked Sunset. “The strings are…”

“I know,” Sunset replied. “But check this out!”

Investigating the beaten desk, Sunset picked up a torn half of a photograph. The photograph Sunset held showed what appeared to be a female student, but the face was cut out.

“What about it?” Tim asked.

“My guess is this is what upset Belle so much,” Sunset answered. “If my intuition is correct…”

Sunset held up the other half of the photo she saved. Piecing them together, her suspicion was confirmed. With the two halves together, it showed a photograph of Shane, the man standing and pointing happily to a female student beside him. By the looks of it, they could be a couple. Upon turning the photo, Sunset and Tim found Thai writing, with hearts written, which when translated read:

.... + Shane

Forever together

“Looks like one more piece of the photo is missing,” Tim acknowledged the hole. “Otherwise, it looks like a photo of Belle and her boyfriend, Shane.”

“I don’t think so,” Sunset shook her head. “If that’s really Belle… and if she and Shane were an item… why tear up this photo and… cut her own face out of the picture?”

“They must’ve broken up?”

“Doubt it. I’ve had a bad experience with a break-up before. I’m one to tear out photos of us, but… even I wouldn’t cut a picture of myself out. There must be something more—”

“Uh, sorry to interrupt, Sunset. But… weren’t we just… hunting for another candle to snuff?”

“Oh! Right! Sorry. Let’s go.”

Putting the two halves of the photo away, Sunset and Tim resumed their search for the last candle. Before leaving, Sunset noticed another white glow coming from a half-opened door. She tried to pry the door open, only for it to remain in place due to a pile of rubbish hindering it on the other side.

“What now?” Tim asked, following the girl.

“There’s a key there,” Sunset strained, trying to reach. “But… I can’t…”

“Stand back.”

Holding up the crowbar from before, Tim was able to hook the key and pulled it towards them. With the key in hand, Sunset and Tim left the room and followed the trail down the hall, the trail leading to another room. The door was locked till both man and girl inserted the key, thus opening the door and upon entry they found the last candle in the bathroom.

With the candle snuffed out, Sunset and Tim knew without a doubt their exit was accessible. Silently celebrating their triumph, just as they were about to leave, approaching footsteps and Belle’s moaning halted them in their tracks.

Sunset and Tim exchanged frantic look. It was clear they were in a state of panic, unable to think clearly. Desperate, Sunset hid under a bed while Tim jumped into a large urn in the bathroom. They waited, anxiously and silently, as Belle entered the room, hissing and moaning, clocking her boxcutter knife.

*CRRR-KKKK*

“I missed you so much…” Belle wept. “I wanted to savor you… where are you?”

Belle walked into the bathroom, where Tim hid. Without a cover, Tim was certain to be discovered and minced like ground pork. Sunset thought frantically, under pressure and out of impulse, she pulled herself out from under the bed and grabbed for a pillow.

“Hey stupid!” Sunset shouted, tossing the pillow at the startled Belle. “Come and get me!”

Turning around and running for her life, Sunset raced down the hall to another room. Belle released a bloodcurdling shriek behind her, pursuing the young teen. Sunset turned and quickly closed the door behind her, before opening a wardrobe and ducked inside.

Inside, Sunset could hear Belle throwing the door open and started turning over several pieces of furniture with such tremendous intensive fury Sunset could feel the wardrobe trembling. She peeked through the gap in a closet door, spotting Belle ripping the fabrics of the bed, pulling down bookshelves, throwing a desk up in the air, all of which just to uncover Sunset. The girl released a gasp, which didn’t go unheard. Belle turned towards the closet and pried the doors open.

Had it not been for the hanging dresses and jackets, she would’ve found Sunset instantly and stabbed the fiery girl on site. Belle pulled down all the fabrics from the hangers, furiously searching for Sunset Shimmer, who cleverly ducked beneath the pile of clothes and slunk away like a mouse. Upon finding a discarded flip-flop on the floor, Sunset tossed the footwear down the hall, and it landed with an audible thud.

Taking the bait, Belle ran out the hall searching for Sunset Shimmer. With the ghost off her back, Sunset quickly tip-toed out of the room, as far from the ghost as possible. Not looking where she was going, Sunset bumped into someone.

“AAAAAAHHHHHH!!! TIM/SUNSET!!!! SHHHH!!!”

But it was too late. Having heard their screams, Belle turned her head and her eyes burned with intensity, like those of a tiger stalking its prey.

“YIPE AGAIN!!!” Sunset screamed.

She and Tim ran away with the ghost in hot pursuit. Sunset looked behind and saw Tim pulled a chair from the stack, causing the entire thing to topple and fall atop of Belle. With the boxcutter girl delayed, Sunset and Tim made a beeline for the blocked vent, finding all the red barriers gone, and revealing a tiny door which they pulled open to escape.

The door disappeared behind them as Sunset and Tim crawled through the vent, till they came across another door which they opened. Upon entering, Sunset and Tim found themselves in a dusty room, graffiti art drawn along the walls.

“I… I… I’m not doing that again…” Sunset panted, chuckling nervously.

“You are the craziest girl I’ve ever met!” Tim shook his head, with a smile. “And… I owe you my life.”

Sunset and Tim looked at each other, exchanging smiles, before breaking out in laughter over how Sunset cheated death (And then some).

“Wow!” Sunset smiled. “After all that… I needed a good laugh!”

“I know, right?” Tim asked rhetorically. “You… have such an… infectious laugh!”

“I wished Pinkie was here to see us now,” Sunset shook her head, remembering her fondly. “She’d be singing her song about ‘Giggling at the Ghosties’.”

After that heartfelt moment, both Tim and Sunset turned their attention toward the task at hand.

“Where is this place?” Tim asked. “Is Jane here?”

“We won’t know till we start looking.”

Holding each other’s hands, Tim and Sunset left the room to search around. Turning left, they found two doors sealed together. Pushing said doors open, Sunset and Tim entered what appeared to be a huge classroom, shelves of paint buckets, busts, and paintbrushes littered the area. The tables were covered in splotches of paints, with stacked up stools, dirty towels with paint color residue printed upon them, even some burning lanterns.

“Hmm,” Sunset pondered. “These lanterns looked like they’ve been recently turned on.”

“Maybe Jane was here,” Tim guessed.

“If she was… why leave all these lanterns on?”

“It’s… likely to leave a trail behind. But we can’t think on that now. We have to find Jane and ask her some questions…”

Sunset nodded in agreement as she and Tim entered another room, finding the room littered with wooden paint trays. Sitting atop a desk, Sunset found another clue, bathed in the same white glow. Picking it up, she uncovered a creepy doll full of nails, a photo of a woman was pinned on it.

“Wait a minute!” Sunset exclaimed.

Reaching her pocket, she pulled out the two halves of the photograph with Shane. Removing the woman’s face from the doll, she inserted it into the hole within the torn photograph.

“A-ha! There’s our girl! It’s not Belle… it’s…”

Sunset turned the completed photo, finding a name written on the cutout piece. The back of the photo now read, in Thai:

Cherry + Shane

Forever together

“Cherry?” Sunset and Tim spoke together.

“So… the Cursed Nails Jinx’s victim… was Cherry?” Tim asked.

“Hmm… OH!”

As if a lightbulb lit up in her head, Sunset pulled out the photo of the unknown ritual she collected from the teachers’ offices. She looked at the woman in the photo of said ritual, then back to Cherry’s face cutout finding a perfect match.

“Yeah, from the looks of it,” Sunset confirmed. “But… it doesn’t make any sense! From what we’ve seen, Belle was the victim of the jinx. We saw her puking bloody nails and everything! There’s even a newspaper about it! Uh… make that two!”

“If Belle’s the victim… how come Cherry’s picture was on it?” Tim countered. “And from the looks of this… this photo you found… she’s definitely the target…”

“This is a mystery…”

Sunset scratched her head, groaning as she felt her head would explode from this growing headache over this mystery.

“This just gets more and more mysterious every second,” Sunset groaned.

“Let’s just… focus on the problems we can solve right now,” Tim suggested. “We still have to find Jane; we can figure this out later.”

Sunset nodded in agreement as she followed Tim out the door and back into the hall of graffiti art and littered paint buckets. Sunset looked around toward all the graffiti.

“Y’know, I happen to be quite the graffiti artist where I came from,” Sunset boasted. “If we weren’t being chased by ghosts, looking for your wife right now, I’d be—”

*CLANG!*

“Huh?”

Sunset and Tim both screeched to a hall, upon hearing the strange sound. They looked around the room, with Tim trying to shine his light on it.

“Did you hear that?” Tim asked.

“Afraid so,” Sunset answered.

Very carefully, they both walked around the dusty halls, past several old paintings drawn and left behind by the students. Sunset passed a whiteboard when she noticed another glowing clue sitting on a table. She went over to investigate and picked up a paper drawn in red markers with lines.

“What?” Sunset asked herself.

As she put the paper away, Sunset followed Tim, who walked into a small room with a portrait of a young girl. The picture looked as though she were staring right back at them. Inside the room, Sunset noticed another glowing paper with lines, this time drawn in yellow markers. She picked it up and tucked it away in her jacket’s pocket when she and Tim heard a clatter right behind them.

They followed the sound toward another room, finding piles of large canvases leaning on the side wall, stacked on top of each other, and another piece of paper with lines (This one drawn in blue markers). Sunset picked up the third paper, reached into her pocket to pull out the other two and when stacked upon each other she could barely see the symbol they created.

“Do you know what it is, Sunset?” Tim asked.

“I was hoping you might know,” Sunset replied.

“I don’t…”

“The lighting around here’s too dim. Let’s look for a better light.”

Sunset and Tim walked out of the room, down the hallway and passed a barely opened door. Peeking in, they found a white desk, the kind animators used to draw moving pictures for transitional values.

“How convenient,” Sunset remarked.

As she and Tim walked over toward the desk, they pieced their latest clues together.

“What’s this?” Sunset murmured.

Sunset passed a desk, when she saw a torn parchment of paper, depicting two clay dolls embracing each other, and more red Thai words.

“Wait a minute…”

Reaching into her jacket’s pocket, Sunset pulled out the hugging dolls in holy thread she’d been carrying. Looking at the dolls, Sunset could see they matched the ones in the parchment.

“Looks like there’s more to the Lechery Jinx we’ve found before,” Sunset deduced. “Tim, can you…?”

“Way ahead of you,” Tim answered, picking up the parchment. “Let’s see what we’ve got now…”

Tim picked up the parchment, and proceeded to read:

Actually, the Lechery Jinx doesn’t bring real affection. The target will be possessed by the spirit that came with the clay. The target will eventually lose his identity. The spirit will follow the caster until the end of the target’s life, because just a small separation will result in great pain. They will always be together.

“So much for true love, huh?” Tim asked.

“Still… the very idea that you’re possessed by a spirit, destroying your identity over time, and forced to follow someone against your own will… it’s unsettling,” Sunset surmised, facing Tim. “Can you imagine… if someone performed such a jinx on you, and… you just… don’t know who you are? Or who you really love? And you’re made into a living puppet?”

“That is disturbing,” Tim agreed. “If I lost Jane to someone else, because of this… I-I don’t know what I would do…”

Deciding to change topic, Sunset and Tim resumed investigating the clues they uncovered. They pressed a switch on the desk, turned on all the lights, and positioned the papers with line drawings. Sunset and Tim started turning, flipping, and switching the pages together until an answer was revealed. The lines were pieces of a three-digit number.

“What does that mean?” Sunset asked.

Tim merely shrugged in response. Resuming their search around the area, they came across a locked door with a three-numbered lock on the latch. Remembering the number they figured via puzzle-solving, Sunset and Tim scrolled the lock’s numbers for a match, eventually unlocking the door.

Sunset and Tim entered another room of the art studio, hearing the familiar sound announcing Belle’s presence.

*CRRR-KKKK*

“Oh, come on…!” Sunset groaned quietly.

Sunset and Tim hid under a desk, watching Belle appear from behind the wall. Once again, the ghost girl patrolled the center of the room, acting as an obstacle between Sunset, Tim, and Jane.

“There’s just no losing this bitch!” Sunset swore, under her breath. “And no… I’m not playing live bait again…”

Both Sunset and Tim waited under the table, watching the ghost’s footsteps, waiting and anticipating another opportunity to sneak away undetected. Thankfully, the whiteboards in the room (Much like before) served as shields to protect Sunset and Tim from Belle’s line of vision.

As the ghost turned in their direction, left of a whiteboard, Sunset and Tim reached across the room from the right to the other side of another whiteboard. There, they hid behind some large canvases, where Sunset found another piece of a photograph, bathed in a white glow and surrounded by lit candlesticks. Picking it up, Sunset put the clue in her pocket, with the other pieces of the photograph she and Tim had been collecting.

Peeking out from their hiding spot, Sunset and Tim watched as Belle walked behind a whiteboard. Sunset and Tim bolted for the hallway she came from, on the right. Sunset went toward the last door at the end of the hallway, which she opened up and entered a dark bathroom. Searching the area, Sunset turned and found that Tim was gone.

“Mr. Tim?” Sunset spoke.

Her heartbeat started to rise suddenly, the frantic anxiety slowly starting to take over.

“Tim?” Sunset’s voice rose. “Dad? Where are you?”

Sunset frantically looked around the bathroom, poking her head out into the hallway when she saw Belle heading her way. Alarmed, Sunset quickly retreated into the bathroom before the ghost had time to notice. Sunset searched for a bathroom stall to hide in but was dismayed to find all the doors destroyed, huge chunks and halves of the doors missing.

“Come back… come back to me…” Belle called.

In her panic, Sunset quickly made her decision and hid inside the first bathroom stall. She hid herself out of sight, praying she wouldn’t be discovered. Outside, Bell’s approaching footsteps grew louder, her shadow neared the doorway, the boxcutter knife clicking, and the raspy hissing echoed all around the room. It deafened the fiery girl’s own breathing.

“Why is this happening?” Belle sobbed. “Why…”

And then… the footsteps stopped. Next came the gut-wrenching sound that made Sunset’s skin clammer. The sound of a person, dry-heaving, wrenching, and puking their guts in agonizing pain was too intense. Sunset had to cover her ears, desperately trying to block the sound out. Worse still, Sunset Shimmer had the misfortune to smell the stinging and foul stench of the bloody puke wafting in the air across her nose. It was so wretched it nearly made Sunset want to puke herself.

Sunset breathed in whatever good air she could suck in; the fiery girl held her breath to keep herself from breathing the foul fragrance. This, unfortunately, was a difficult task. Sunset could feel her face turning red, eventually purple, all from holding her air in so long. She could feel her lungs expanding, threatening to explode, and still she kept it in long enough for Belle to leave.

Peeking through the crack in the doorway, Sunset watched the ghost trudging toward the exit until the spirit disappeared from sight.

With the danger gone, Sunset gasped for air, feeling lightheaded and on the verge of collapse. Finally, after seconds of collecting herself and regaining her composure, Sunset found her footing. Slowly, she stood up on wobbly legs and had to grab hold of an old rusty bar to pull herself upright. Once back on her feet, Sunset gingerly walked out of her stall, when off the corner of her eyes she saw another glowing clue in the corner.

Sunset went over to investigate, cringing in disgust over the foul stench of the recent puke in the bathroom corner.

“Ugh! Gross!” Sunset gagged.

She held her breath long enough for her to pick up the clue. Once she collected her clue, Sunset quickly ran away toward the next room with small lockers. There she found Tim huddling in a corner.

“Mr. Tim!” Sunse exclaimed.

“Ah!” Tim shouted, eventually calming himself. “Oh, thank God, Sunset. It’s just you…”

The man breathed heavily, till he had fully composed himself.

“Don’t scare me like that.”

“I scared you?” Sunset asked, annoyed. “You disappeared all of a sudden! I thought you were behind me when I went into the bathroom. I hid there while she was puking blood! PUKING BLOOD! Oh, and I found this clue! You’re welcome!”

“Sorry, Sunset,” Tim apologized. “But… what kind of clue is it?”

“I’m not really sure…”

Sunset examined the clue in her hand, a whole sheet of stickers… stickers of a couple’s photograph. Specifically, for Shane and the girl who ‘isn’t’ Cherry.

“I’m betting that’s Belle, back when she was alive… and happy,” Sunset commented. “There she is with Shane… who doesn’t appear happy at all.”

“What makes you say that?” Tim asked.

“Look at him,” Sunset gestured. “In all these photos, he seems… dead inside. Now compare this with the photo of him and Cherry. He looks all happy… but in here, the photos with Belle… he’s just… a blank slate, for lack of better words…”

“I guess that’s what it means by… ‘identity being destroyed’,” Tim deduced. “No identity… no ‘you’. Not knowing who you are anymore or what your purpose is. You’re just… dead.”

Sunset nodded, taking in and processing this morbid revelation. She’d hate to imagine how dreary her life would be if she lost any sense of self-identity and become an empty shell of herself, doomed to wander the world aimlessly. The fiery girl shook her head, clearing herself of those unsettling thoughts.

“I think… we should… go,” Sunset spoke slowly. “We have a wife to save.”

Sunset was about to walk toward another door in the room, only to find it rattling in its frame.

“Are you kidding me?” Sunset asked. “Locked again!”

“Actually…”

Tim pointed to a large hole in the wall, barely hidden by the fallen lockers. Sunset and Tim were about to crawl through when the sound of a locker opening was heard. Once again, piqued with curiosity, Sunset backtracked with Tim following behind. They found the doors of a small locker opened, spilling out blood, a student’s ID, and a paper.

Sunset studied the student ID, eyeing a picture of the woman in the photo, with a smiling Shane and in the ritual. Tim took a glance at the student ID and translated the written Thai words of her name.

“According to this, the woman in the photo is ‘Cherry’…” Tim confirmed.

“I thought so,” Sunset nodded. “Then… this locker must’ve been hers…”

Gazing at the paper in the locker, bathed in a white glow, it meant that they had found another clue.

“Yuck!” Sunset cringed, picking up the paper. “So wet and slimy… uh, Mr. Tim… can you still read this?”

Tim took the paper, translating the written Thai language:

Dear Shane’s parents,
This is Cherry. I have to tell you something about Shane. He’s not been doing well lately; I believe he has been jinxed by someone. We should not let them be together, for Shane’s own safety. Please believe me, I’m really worried about him.
Thank you very much.

“Sounds like Cherry was onto something,” Sunset deduced, studying the photo. “She was trying to save her boyfriend. But… looking at this photo, I’d say she got in too deep and bit more than she could chew…”

“Still doesn’t explain how our ghost, a.k.a. Cherry’s rival, became the victim instead,” Tim replied.

“You’re right. There’s more to this mystery; if we can find more clues, we’ll fit all of the pieces together. Let’s go.”

Sunset and Tim departed the room through the secret tunnel in the wall, entering another small room with shelves. There another piece of a photograph was found. Taking a break, Sunset proceeded to put the pieces of the torn photograph together. They started to show an image of a man and woman, standing next to each other.

“Hey… that’s me… and Jane!” Tim exclaimed, seeing the half-finished photo.

“You sure?” Sunset asked.

“Positive. I remember when we had this photo taken. I was really working hard to build our happy future together, with Jane willing to support me every step of the way. It was the happiest day of our life.”

“… If it was so happy… how did it all get torn up like this?”

“That’s what I want to know. When we find Jane, we’ll find out.”

Sunset nodded as she put the pieces away and followed Tim to another hole in the wall, this one covered by a wooden cabinet with stacks of shelves. Tim and Sunset worked together to remove the stack out of the way and crawled into another room, where the definite sound of the boxcutter knife clicking could be heard.

*CRRR-KKKKK*

“You know what?” Sunset spoke dryly. “It’s happened so many times, I’m not even scared anymore…”

At this point, Sunset and Tim knew it’s useless to complain. They crawled along the floor, ducking and hiding behind lockers and desks, all while listening for Belle’s footsteps and her raspy hissing.

“Come back… come back to me!” Belle moaned.

Steeling their nerves, Sunset and Tim crawled across the floor, determined to not let themselves be discovered (Or frightened out of their wits). This proved a difficult task, when Sunset had to crawl across a fresh puddle of blood. She could feel how warm and fresh it was, the slime of blood all over her hands.

“Ugh! Gross!” Sunset groaned, disgusted. “Oy…”

Sunset wiped the blood off of Tim’s shirt, who gave the fiery girl a very displeased (and annoyed) stare. Eventually, they were close to the door stopping only to check back on Belle. They anxiously waited in anticipation, for the ghost to turn and walk in the other direction, until it was finally safe to make a dash for the door.

Once outside, Sunset and Tim turned left and spotted the elevator. They proceeded to walk towards it, passing a table where Sunset noticed a piece of paper sitting on it. Much like all the clues they’ve gathered, this written document had a white glow upon it.

“Hey, Tim?” Sunset called, holding the paper. “Can you read what this says?”

“Sure thing.”

Tim shined his flashlight over the Thai words and began to translate:

Mother… father… I’m deeply sorry… I’m in such terrible pain… I can’t go on without her… I have to be with her… wherever she is… NOTHING can keep us apart… NOT EVEN DEATH!

“Whoa, that’s rough,” Sunset grimaced. “Sounds like someone’s about to commit suicide…”

“That’s because this is a suicide letter,” Tim shuddered.

“’… in such terrible pain…’” Sunset pondered, triggering an epiphany. “… in such terrible pain… like the downside to the Lechery Jinx! It doesn’t bring ‘real’ affection… it just creates a bizarre obsession that is inhuman… even the smallest separation will result in great pain… Shane!”

“I hate to say this… but you might be onto something, Sunset.”

“Oh no… does this mean… Shane’s killed himself… because of… Belle?”

“Whatever happened… happened… I’m afraid it’s all in the past now, Sunset…”

Suddenly, a loud bloodcurdling shriek was heard, to which Sunset and Tim leapt up in alarm seeing Belle had spotted them and she was coming in hot.

“RUN AWAY!!!” They shouted.

Sunset and Tim quickly made a beeline for the elevator, barely getting it open and closing the door before the ghost could reach them. Inside the elevator, Tim and Sunset both breathed heavily to calm their rapid heartbeats.

“A few more seconds and we’d be goners,” Tim commented.

“I thought we were goners for sure…” Sunset added.

“Let’s find Jane and get the hell out of here…”

“Agreed!”

Sunset and Tim pressed the button to the third floor, searching for Jane while staying close to the elevator (In case they needed another getaway).

“Jane? Jane?” Sunset and Tim called out.

They went back into the elevator, going down the second floor. Upon departing, Sunset and Tim turned left and saw the woman they’ve been looking for.

“There!” Sunset shouted.

“Jane!” Tim shouted.

The man raced after the woman, with Sunset following behind. In response, Jane stepped through the two doors to a room, closing them between herself, Tim and Sunset.

“Jane!” Tim called out, banging the door. “Why do you keep running away from me?”

But Jane didn’t answer. She turned and walked away, disappearing into the darkness, while the door was magically covered in a web of red string and Thai spells.

“JANE!” Tim screamed.

“Great!” Sunset moaned in exasperation. “Now we have to snuff three more candles… again! Easier said than done because the strings… lead all over the building! They could be anywhere!”

Breathing deeply to collect themselves, Sunset and Tim proceeded to follow the red strings. They followed the trail down a hallway to the right, where they happened to pass Room 1203. The door was opened ajar when Sunset noticed the inside coated in a red glow.

With her interests and curiosity piqued again, Sunset entered the room, with Tim following behind. The room was filled with student-designated desks, all stacks in a heaping mess, cluttering the whole room, with a tangled web of red strings strewn across the room hanging from the ceiling. Sunset searched the room, before coming across some clues bathed in the same white aura.

The first clue was a note, which she handed to Tim, who read:

A.J. Wanchai, please cover up that suicide scandal. The director doesn’t want any more bad attention. We became major news last time just because of the death of one student. It must not be the same this time! Thank you.

“Gee, I wonder how that worked out?” Sunset asked, to which she and Tim exchanged shrugs.

They turned toward the next clue on a nearby table; it was a paper with written Thai words which read:

A holy water is one of the sacred items commonly known among people. It has the power to chase away all evil kinds. Holy water must be created by sacred rituals. However, only pure liquid can be used, if it’s contaminated with filthy substances such as blood or urinals: it will lose its holiness attributes.

“Sounds like it could be useful,” Sunset commented. “But where can—Oh!”

Sunset’s hand accidentally brushed against one of the bottles sitting on the table, spilling the contents of said water. The pair watched in horror as all the precious water dripped along the red strings.

“Oh no!” Tim and Sunset exclaimed.

Suddenly, without warning, the door flew open, and Belle unleashed a bloodcurdling scream.

“UH OH!” Tim and Sunset hugged each other.

Suddenly, as the ghost lunged towards them… it stopped. The red strings drenched in holy water turned white and the moment Belle set foot within the strings, she was surrounded in a shower of water that seemed to melt her away into a puddle of blood. Sunset and Tim could hardly believe their eyes.

“Uh… what just happened?” Sunset asked.

“… My guess would be the holy water,” Tim deduced. “Like the paper said, ‘It chased away all evil kinds’!”

“I can see that,” Sunset acknowledged the bloody puddle. “Too bad that bottle was the only one available… we’ll have to find more… unless there’s a recipe on how to make your own…”

Tim sighed, as he turned toward Sunset.

“The best we can do now is make use of what we currently have,” Tim replied. “Jane is here, and we must find and save her before it’s too late.”

Sunset nodded in agreement. Turning to the last clue in the room, both she and Tim picked up the key with the number tag: 11201. Soon Tim and Sunset departed the room in search for the one that matched the designated number on the key. It didn’t take long for them till they found the very door on the far right.

Tim inserted the key, unlocking the door and entered a room covered in papers with written spells by the looks of it. On the left sat a table, with three skulls – two on the left and right with lit wax candles, while the middle was left unlit.

“This just gets creepier and creepier,” Sunset shook her head.

As they searched the room for clues, Sunset walked toward a nearby table and picked up a key with a numbered tag: 11306. She turned around and approached Tim, who stood before the three skulls, reading the paper which when translated read:

‘Hide and Seek is fun… until the dusk falls’… this saying refers to a hidden ghost… whenever the dark creeps in, the hidden ghost will take you to another dimension… this explains why many children disappear when the night comes…

“’Whenever the dark creeps in, the hidden ghost will take you to another dimension…’” Sunset repeated, pondering. “Could that be how I got here in the first place?”

She remembered how she was in her apartment, gaming the night away as usual. She was in the middle of a thunderstorm, when lightning struck, and the power was out. Sunset Shimmer remembered losing consciousness and being in total darkness, until she found herself in Thailand and met Tim. Could it be the hidden ghost brought her to Thailand in the first place? And if that were the case… why?

“Whenever the dark creeps in…”

Sunset looked up at the skulls and their lit candles, dancing in the air, as if beckoning her to come forward.

“… The ghost will take you to another dimension?” Sunset concluded, confused.

Testing it out, Sunset approached the first skull and blew it’s candle out.

“Sunset, what are you—” Tim began.

Suddenly, without warning, Sunset’s vision was blocked out by a pair of mysterious hands. Once again, the familiar feeling of dread consumed her, when she was spirited away to Thailand that first time. Like before, she was immediately seized by an invisible force, capturing her within its grip. Her whole body turned cold as ice, running rapidly through the blood flowing within her veins. Sunset lost her voice, unable to scream due to the cold. The world around her faded into darkness, as Sunset Shimmer was spirited away by the mysterious ghost…

“Sunset? Sunset!”

Sunset opened her eyes, finding herself looking into the eyes of the concerned Tim, who held her in his arms.

“Sunset? Are you alright?” Tim asked.

“Hi… Mr. Tim,” Sunset panted heavily, rubbing her eyes. “Wh… what happened?”

“What happened? One moment you looked as if you zoned out for a minute. You just walked up to one of the skulls, snuffed out its candle, and then… there was darkness. Soon as it was over, here we are.”

Sunset looked around their new surroundings, finding themselves in a dusty lit room. More Thai spells, written on papers, plastered all over the walls much like the previous room.

“I see…” Sunset pondered. “It had to be darkness… ‘When the darkness crept in… the mysterious ghost takes us to another dimension…’”

“Are you alright, Sunset?” Tim asked.

“I’m fine. I think… we just need to be careful. We don’t know where we are. Last thing we need is for this hidden ghost to take us somewhere we wouldn’t want to be…”

Turning toward the side, Sunset saw another key, which she picked up and read the numbers: 8118. After putting away the key, Sunset examined the floor and saw a trail of red string leading away from the skulls and out the room. Turning toward the door, Sunset and Tim walked out to find themselves in a rather familiar hallway.

“We’re back in the art department again,” Sunset observed.

“What gave that away?” Tim asked.

Sunset’s response was pointing toward the large canvases. Sunset and Tim proceeded to walk down the hall, casting frightened glances from left to right, seeking any signs of Belle’s presence. But they heard nothing but the eerie silence and so they kept walking, following the trail of red string until they reached the end of the hall. There they found a locked double door with the numbers above it which read: 8118.

“The strings go in there,” Sunset pointed. “If I had to guess… that would mean, one of our enchanted candles are in there…”

“Like we have any other choice,” Tim muttered.

Taking out the key they collected, Sunset unlocked the doors, granting her and Tim entry into a dimly lit room. More large canvases were stacked on top of one another, along with shelves of busts and paint cans. Sunset turned her head, startled by a portrait of a Thai Dancer.

“Whoa!” Sunset yelped, nearly falling off her feet. “Oh… just a painting… of course…”

Eyeing the portrait, most of the paint was nearly washed off. It looked as if the dancer was as pale as a ghost, with blank eyes and a bloody mascara. After a moment of collecting herself, Sunset looked up and saw one of the candles they were looking for sitting in the right corner of the room.

“Over there!” Sunset pointed.

*CRRR-KKKK*

Shushing to one another, they crawled along the floor with Tim turning off his flashlight to avoid detection. Unfortunately, without a light, they couldn’t see where they were going. They held each other’s hands, while feeling across the floor with their other free hands. All the while listening for the sound of Belle’s footsteps and the clicking boxcutter.

“Where is she?” Sunset whispered. “The sound’s all over the place!”

“I don’t know,” Tim whispered back. “But we need to be very quiet…”

Tim and Sunset crawled along the floor until they happened upon an opening barely illuminated by the candle’s glow and any little lighting the building’s electricity could provide. Before they could progress any closer, they turned and saw another of Belle’s shady accomplices standing guard over the candle. They retreated behind some canvas, hearing the clicking of the angry spirit’s boxcutter nearby.

Both Sunset and Tim watched as the shady ghost shined the red light of its eyes across the floor, searching for the pair. They had to wait till the spotlight turned away, much like a lighthouse, before either one could sneak by undetected. They ducked behind canvases until they were able to reach the candlestick. The moment they snuffed out the light, the enchanted red strings disintegrated.

“One down, two to go,” Sunset stated.

Tim and Sunset turned and snuck out the way they came in. However, they found their only path blocked by Belle, who turned her head to the side seeking her quarries. Sunset Shimmer picked up a discarded paint brush and tossed it at one of the busts, causing it to fall and shatter on the floor. The commotion made Belle walk over to investigate the disturbance.

With the ghost out of the way, Sunset Shimmer and Tim ran out of the room before the Boxcutter Girl realized what happened. By then, both Tim and Sunset made it back to the room with the three skulls. Sunset blew out the candle on the first call, summoning the hidden ghost to teleport herself and Tim to another part of the building.

After the unsettling darkness dissipated, Tim and Sunset found themselves in another room fully decorated with red papers and Thai spells along the wall. They searched around the room for clues yet the only item they found was a single key for a restroom.

“A lavatory key,” Tim clarified, examining the key.

*CRRR-KKKK*

“That girl just won’t quit!” Sunset groaned, exasperated.

At this point, Belle’s persisting pursuit after the two grew rather annoying. That, however, didn’t stop the pair from being afraid, if not weary of running from the Boxcutter Girl. If they hoped to save their skins, they needed to stay quiet and avoid detection to the best of their abilities.

Once getting ahold of themselves, ultimately regaining their composures, Tim and Sunset followed another trail of red string, which lead out the room. Cautiously grabbing the knob, Tim slowly opened it just a crack, as he and Sunset poked their heads out seeking any sign of Belle or her shady helpers. They looked to the right toward some double doors barred by a stack of tables. Then they turned left seeing another stack of desks and tables.

“Wait a minute!” Sunset exclaimed.

“What is it, Sunset?” Tim asked.

“We’re back in the lab room! Th-Th-The one where we needed to activate a teacher’s key card to gain access!”

<”Jesus!”> Tim exclaimed in Thai. “Sunset, you’re right! So… it seems the candles are in places we’ve been before!”

“From the looks of it, a certain someone is trying to keep us from getting out the same way.”

“Well, she’ll have to catch us first…” Tim muttered, looking at the magic charm. “Some protection this charm is… supposed to protect me from evil spirits… supposed to make me attractive.”

“Hmph. I think by attractive, they mean ‘attracting trouble’,” Sunset replied, in a snarky tone.

“… Actually, I think you might be onto something, Sunset,” Tim realized. “This charm was meant to protect its wearer, yet… it also seems to draw our ghosts to us…”

“You mean to tell me we’ve been carrying around a tracking device?”

“That’s one way to sum it up… but we can’t think on this right now. We’ve already come so far. Let’s just… find the next candle, then the third and last, and then we get Jane.”

Tim proceeded to follow the trail of red string on the floor, with Sunset following beside him. The trail lead out of the room and into the other across the hall. Upon entering, the layout of the room confirmed the reality that this was in fact the same room as before. Brushing the realization aside, Sunset and Tim resumed following the strings down the halls and back into the same lab they’ve once snuck in before.

On the way, Tim turned and spotted a shadowy ghost on the other side of a stack that blocked their path in the right hall. They narrowly ducked behind the walls before the ghost could see them and alert Belle of their presence.

*CRRRR-KKKK*

Outside the lab, they heard the ambient sound of the clicking boxcutter knife, together with Belle’s raspy hissing and footsteps. Tim and Sunset listened as the volume of the sounds increased the closer Belle was. Then, came her mournful weep.

“I missed you so much…” Belle vented. “Come back… come back to me…”

Tim waited till the footsteps were away from them, just before it was safe to peek into the lab to see the ghost emerged from the lab through an exit on the other side. Sunset and Tim quietly entered the lab, following the trail which lead them down the same direction Belle walked on. Unfortunately, through an open window, they saw another shadowy ghost standing guard just close to the exit. Before it noticed them, Tim pulled Sunset back as both he and her caught their breaths, panting heavily beneath the desks.

“Now what do we do?” Sunset asked.

“It’s clear we can’t sneak the same way as before,” Tim spoke. “Without any scented incense, we can’t distract them… not to mention they’ll alert our Boxcutter Girl when they see us.”

“Then… let’s go back and look for incense…”

Tim took a deep breath, composing and stilling his shuddering form. For the very life of him, all he wanted was to find his wife and go home. Now, he has grown concerned, but not just for his own safety. But now, for the teenage girl he just met. Tim wondering if this is the stress and trouble that comes with parenthood. Then again, why should Tim feel this way? Sunset wasn’t even his daughter to begin with. Still, as an adult, he knew better than to leave a youth alone and unprotected.

Regaining his resolve, Tim looked toward Sunset and nodded.

“Okay. Let’s find some incense… but stay close and follow me.”

Once he received another nod from Sunset, Tim took the lead as he and Sunset crawled along the floor, making their way towards the exit out into the hallway. A shadow ghost stood as a lookout, aiding Belle in her hunt. Like they’ve been doing before, Tim looked down at the floor and saw an eerie red light from the ghost’s eyes shining across the hall. The spotlight turned in the opposite direction, allowing Tim and Sunset to seize their opportunity to sneak away.

They crawled back into the same supply room they were in before, barely avoiding detection from another shadow ghost in the corresponding hall. Inside the supply room, Tim turned and sealed the double doors, as he and Sunset searched the shelves for a smelling incense.

“There should be some around here somewhere,” Tim spoke, searching around.

“There isn’t anymore…” Sunset replied.

The two kept searching until Sunset discovered something.

“Uh… Mr. Tim?”

“What?”

Sunset pointed in the direction of an open doorway, guiding Tim’s eyes towards a strand of smelling incense sitting on a wooden table, in the hallway, and just across them.

The only trouble was the shadow ghost’s field of vision. Tim looked back at Sunset, the girl removing her shoe and hurdling it into the hall thereby distracting the ghost into turning its attention in the opposite direction. Tim watched as Sunset quickly snatched the smelling incense off its stand before the ghost had time to realize the distraction.

“I got it!” Sunset presented the strand.

“Excellent work, Sunset!” Tim thanked the girl.

He lit the incense with some of the wax candles in the room and stuck it in a convenient pot nearby. Sunset and Tim hid behind a locker, watching the shadow ghost enter the storage room drawn by the smell. The ghost took a long whiff of the smelling incense and stayed in place, without knowing both man and girl were right behind it. With the ghost distracted, Tim took Sunset by the hand as they quietly left the room and into the hallway. There they found the red string’s trail, which lead them into the locked bathroom.

With key in hand, Tim inserted and turned the key to the side to unlock it thereby granting him and Sunset entry. Inside, the bathroom was nearly pitch-black, save for the tiny lit candles in the room. Sunset Shimmer walked towards one of the bathroom stalls on the left, opening the doors to find the next candle.

“A-ha!” She smirked, snuffing out the candle. “Two down; one to go! Huh?”

“What is it?’ Tim asked.

The man followed Sunset’s gaze to the side, discovering a piece of parchment lying on the floor surrounded by three small wax candles.

“What’s this?” Sunset asked, picking up the parchment.

“Let me see,” Tim spoke.

Taking the parchment from Sunset’s hand, he shined his flashlight over a picture of a clay doll, covered in nails, and red Thai words which red:

“Be careful when you’re using this jinx! If the target is aware and can get rid of it, the curse will return to you instead! The suffering will be greater and can result in death!”

Both Tim and Sunset looked to each other, both gulping squeamishly at the description.

“So… the Cursed Nails Jinx…” Sunset began. “It can torture your victim, but the downside is… if the victim knew how to remove it… the curse will come back and kill you?”

“What goes around, comes around,” Tim replied.

He watched as Sunset’s disturbed and fearful expression dissolved into realization. The kind of look a person – most likely a detective – would make when they come upon a realization, successfully piecing together all the clues. It never ceased to amaze Tim of Sunset’s intelligence, the girl deducing the situations with all the clues they’ve gathered.

“Sunset, I know that look,” Tim spoke. “You realize something, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” The girl nodded. “It’s all starting to come together. The newspapers, the jinxes, the photos, everything we know about Belle, Shane, and Cherry.”

“What do you make of it, Sunset?”

“Based on the clues we’ve found, here’s how the story goes,” Sunset began, relaying her theory.

“Once upon a time, a boy (Shane) and a girl (Cherry) were a couple. In other words, they were boyfriend and girlfriend, and they pledged to be together forever. Unfortunately, that didn’t sit right with our ghost girl (Belle), who was also in love with Shane at that time. She was willing to do whatever it takes to have Shane all to herself, so she resorted to dark magic. The Lechery Jinx was used on Shane, to make him forget Cherry and more attached to Belle. However, the Lechery Jinx made Shane completely forget about himself, which some other people began to notice.

“Cherry tried to save Shane by informing her concern to Shane’s parents. So, Shane’s parents kept him home from the university. Belle didn’t like that. So she resorted to the Cursed Nails Jinx to kill Cherry. She would’ve gotten away with it too; luckily, Cherry was saved by a monk who managed to remove the curse. In doing so, the curse rebounded onto Belle, cursing her tenfold.

“In the end, Belle was killed by her own curse. All these horrors… it was all just a twisted love story…”

Tim nodded as he found it almost difficult to process every piece of the story. And yet in Sunset’s words, it made sense.

“Sounds about right,” Tim nodded in acknowledgement. “But that still leaves a bigger question: What’s all this got to do with Jane and I… what did we ever do to deserve all this madness?”

“That’s still a bigger mystery, Tim,” Sunset answered. “But that’s all the facts I could gather for now.”

“For what it’s worth, your insight is very… insightful,” Tim complimented. “Are you a detective where you came from?”

“I… I don’t know about that,” Sunset replied modestly. “But… small talks for another time. Let’s get out of here, look for that last candle, and find Jane.”

Tim nodded in agreement. Getting back on their feet, Tim and Sunset turned to the bathroom door and walked outside. Remembering they still had one more shadow ghost and Belle to contend with, they resumed searching for at least one more smelling incense. They walked into another bathroom, which was just across the laboratory bathroom they came from on the left. As if by a stroke of luck, they found another incense in one of the bathroom stalls sitting atop a toilet’s cap.

With the incense in hand, Tim and Sunset returned to the lab where they stuck the incense into a pot in the room, lighting it up, and distracting the shadow ghost from its post. Lastly, for Belle, upon hearing the Boxcutter Ghost’s approaching footsteps and loud raspy hissing, Tim quickly hid inside a locker while Sunset close for protection. From inside, they could hear the bloody ghost moaning as she passed by.

“Don’t you love me anymore?” Belle asked.

After the revelation of the girl’s tragic backstory, based on the gathered clues, Tim couldn’t help but feel a little sympathetic for the ghost. He was sorry over the fact that, in life, she was just a romantic schoolgirl hopelessly in love with a young man already in another relationship. So desperate to win his affection, she resorted to dark magic which resulted in her untimely demise. Now she wandered the ruins of the university she once attended, doomed to forever experience the pain and trauma of her own curse, all while searching aimlessly for her lost love… and threatening to stab and kill anyone in sight.

However, just the fact her ‘lover’ was never hers to begin with, that she intentionally tried to kill her own classmate, a former love rival to steal for herself, doesn’t exactly make her case any better. In fact, the more Tim thought about it, he realized the situation wasn’t exactly black and white. More in between the shade area to some extent.

Back to the moment, Tim and Sunset waited in the locker until the ghost passed, thereby allowing them to safely sneak out of hiding and backtracked to the room with the three skulls. Following Sunset’s example, Tim snuffed out one of the candles on the skulls. Without warning, as if an invisible force captured him within its grip. His whole body turned cold as ice, almost like he was being petrified into a statue. The world around him faded into the darkness, as he and Sunset were spirited away by the mysterious ghost…

After the darkness cleared away, Sunset turned and saw the layout of the room she and Tim appeared in. Turning to a door, Sunset opened it to find herself and Tim back on the second floor of the Engineering Faculty of Khan Na Yao University.

“We’re back to where we started,” Sunset confirmed.

“So where do we go now?” Tim asked.

Sunset Shimmer reached into her pocket to pull out the key with the numbers: 11306.

“We still have this key,” Sunset showed the man. “I’m thinking this is a sign that our last candle will be in there.”

Tim simply nodded in agreement as he and Sunset raced back to the elevator. They found a floor map hanging on the wall, right next to the lift on the left. Sunset looked over for a room labeled 11306; unfortunately, none was found on the second floor.

“It’s on the third floor,” Sunset informed Tim. “Let’s go.”

Entering the elevator and pressing the button numbered ‘three’, Sunset and Tim both casually waited as the elevator took them up. Sunset didn’t know what to think of this situation. On one hand, she thought it’s relieving to know she and Tim will find the last magic candle to snuff. But then again, as her friend, Applejack, once cautioned her, ‘Never count yer chickens before they hatch’. For all Sunset knew, this journey was far from over.

Then a new thought occurred to Sunset. What if ‘all’ this was just the beginning? What if Sunset and Tim were far from finding Jane? What if there’s some bigger force of evil at work, right under their noses?

Unfortunately, Sunset Shimmer didn’t have time to dwell on these troublesome thoughts now. Soon as the elevator’s bell rang, announcing Sunset and Tim’s arrival on the third floor, they left the elevator, then turned a left, and found the room labeled 11306.

With the key in hand, Sunset unlocked the door, granting herself and Tim entry into the room revealing it to be a studio of sorts. The kind that teachers would use to make an announcement. At that moment, a jingle was heard coming from the room followed by a voice of a man (In his thirties or so).

“Attention!” The man spoke, in English. “There are rumors spreading around the campus about a… about a senior committing suicide in the Engineering building. Please be aware that it was a hoax. Everyone please remain calm… and do not spread further rumors. Thank you for your cooperation.”

The announcement sounded off with a jingle, to which Tim shook his head.

<”Bullshit!”>

Tim opened a door, entering another room to find the last candle sitting next to a speaker. With the last candle extinguished, Sunset and Tim watched as the strings disintegrated, thus opening the doorway to find and rescue Jane. Just as Sunset and Tim were about to turn and leave for the elevator, they stopped dead in their tracks, horrified over the sight of a young man, dropping from a balcony, behind the ceilings, and hanging in front of them… with a noose around his neck.

<”SHIT!”> Tim exclaimed.

“SWEET CELESTIA!!!” Sunset Shimmer screamed.

The girl staggered backward, tripping over her foot and falling flat on her back. They watched helplessly as the man writhed in agony, waving his arms and legs about, until with one final gasp, he succumbed and hung lifelessly before their eyes.

Sunset Shimmer hadn’t felt this horrified since her first demonic transformation. Her defeat at the hands of Princess Twilight Sparkle had forever shattered and traumatized her into a different person as opposed to who she was before. The very sight of a person killing themselves, such as this, was entirely different. It was terrifying for anyone in her position to witness a person dying before them, while Sunset was helpless to save them. Her fear turned to sadness over the thought of never being able to save someone in need.

Tim could clearly read the grievance and fear upon her face.

“Do you want a hug?” He asked.

Sunset uttered no words, only a whimper and a nod, she in turn straining to keep her tears from pouring. Both she and Tim wrapped each other in a comforting hug. For Sunset, it brought back memories of her filly days when she needed the comfort and support from her parents, especially Princess Celestia. Back when Sunset Shimmer was that scared little filly who swore never to feel alone or helpless again.

She turned back toward the young man, silently wishing him to be in a better place. In that moment, however, Sunset took a closer look at the dead man’s face. Her grievance immediately burned away into another stroke of realization.

“Wait a minute…” She gasped.

Sunset reached into her pocket, pulled out a picture of Shane and Cherry, and her suspicions were confirmed.

“It’s him! It’s Shane!”

“Really?”

Sunset showed Tim the photo, pointing to the dead man’s face.

<”Oh my God!”> Tim exclaimed in Thai. “Sunset, you’re right! It is him! Hmph!”

Tim turned toward an empty room with the speaker, presumably where the teachers made the announcement. He shook his head in disappointment that these people were attempting to cover up the whole suicide.

“Some hoax, huh?”

“But then… that would mean…”

Sunset reached into her pocket, pulling out the suicide note letter they collected earlier. Unrolling it, Sunset handed it to Tim for a re-read:

Mother....father...I'm deeply sorry...I'm in such terrible pain...I can't go on without her...I have to be with her...wherever she is...NOTHING can keep us apart...NOT EVEN DEATH!

“… In such terrible pain…” Sunset pondered, triggered by an epiphany. “… in such terrible pain… like the downside to the Lechery Jinx! It doesn’t bring real affection… it just creates a bizarre obsession that is inhuman… even a small separation will result in great pain…”

Sunset looked back toward the lifeless Shane hanging before them, then back to the photo of him with Cherry.

“From the looks of it… the monk was able to save Cherry from Belle’s curse, but…” Sunset sighed, looking toward Shane. “They were too late to save Shane from the Lechery Jinx. After Belle died, Shane killed himself to join her… poor guy.”

“Whatever happened… happened…” Tim shared his sympathy. “… I’m afraid it’s all in the past now, Sunset…”

‘All in the past now…’, the words echoed in Sunset’s head as she slowly composed herself and regained her resolve. She had nearly forgotten her exact words, ‘The past is not today’. While it was true she couldn’t save an innocent man from taking his own life, the very least she could do was live on to save others in the near future. She pulled herself away from Tim and led the way into the elevator.

“You’re right Tim. Let’s go save Jane, come hell or high water.”

Sunset pressed the button, activating the elevator doors to open, as she and Tim took the ride down to the second floor. On the way down, Sunset couldn’t keep silent for long.

“Mr. Tim?” Sunset spoke somberly. “I just wanted you to know… if this is the end for us… and if it’s game over… for what it’s worth… I’m glad to have met you. You remind me of my dad, so much… it’s refreshing to have one again.”

“Same here,” Tim replied. “Despite all the ghosts and demons… and all the hell we’ve been through, I’m glad I met you. If me and Jane ever had a daughter, I’d want her to be as special as you.”

“Do you want another hug?”

Tim simply smiled, as he held his arms out and both he and Sunset shared what may possibly be one last embrace. The kind of which a father would give to his child.

Finally, the elevator doors opened up, and the pair stepped out making their way towards the double doors Jane disappeared through. Except now, the doors were unlocked, no longer barred by the web of red strings of the now extinguished candles. Looking to his left, Tim noticed the sign written in which, which translated to: Multipurpose Room.

“Multipurpose room,” Sunset repeated, suddenly recalling. “Oh no…”

“What now?” Tim asked.

“Remember the piece of newspaper we picked up? The one from the locker room? Of Belle’s body being discovered…?”

“… Yes?”

Sunset watched as Tim pulled out his binder, searching through the clues they have collected thus far, before pulling said article and re-read it:

Missing Girl Found Dead!

October 4, 1996

On October 3, police found the body of Ms. Pattra Srisakul (Belle) in the multipurpose room that was shut down in the Engineering Faculty building of Khan Na Yao University, which is believed to be the reason why the body wasn’t found. The unbearable smell of the body led to this horrifying discovery. The body was still in uniform, submerged in blood. There is no report yet on whether or not this was a suicide or murder, but there were a lot of nails found next to the body. The body was sent to the coroner, and we hope the autopsy will reveal the cause of her death.

The expression upon Tim’s face matched as he and Sunset shared their terror.

“Bingo,” Sunset nodded grimly. “That means… if we want to find Jane… we must enter the lion’s den.”

Sunset looked back toward the double-doors, feeling her entire being quivering and shaking in fearful anxiety, just anticipating for what’s to come.

“Well, like you said,” Tim reminded. “Come hell or high water, we have to save Jane. There’s no turning back now.”

“’Me and my big mouth’,” Sunset mentally chastised herself.

However, just as Tim said, she had sworn to help him find Jane no matter what they’d have to do. She mentally pledged that she would do ‘everything’ in her power to save the lives of others, to prevent them from suffering the exact cruel fate as Shane had. Steeling herself, Sunset balled one of her hands into fists, which she then smacked together in an open palm.

“You’re right… let’s do this!”

Tim and Sunset both held the door knobs at the ready, opening them to the side as they entered the room. They looked around the entirety of the Multipurpose room, seeing it was a mess of long benches, with stacks of chairs and desks aligned as columns along certain parts of the room. Columns that touched the ceiling, with more webs of red string dangled like vines of a dense jungle. The floor was painted with splotches of blood, tainting the air with the foul smell of death, like the decaying meat of a rotting corpse.

Sunset groaned at the sight, feeling lightheaded amidst all the cold lifeless air. The smell of death was too overbearing for the girl.

“I don’t feel so well…” Sunset groaned. “Let’s just get this over with.”

“Jane?” Tim called out. “Are you in here? Where are you?”

“Shh!” Sunset hushed. “Remember, this is where Belle died!”

“Right… sorry…”

Sunset Shimmer and Tim looked around the room, before they found a piece of paper sitting on the table. Upon a closer look, they realized it was another page from Jane’s diary which Tim translated:

Front
May 26, 2013

I went to see a monk who settled in the forest temple in Ratchaburi. My friend, Parn, once mentioned something about this monk. She said that he had something that can prevent bad spirits or evil energy. I am sad as he refused to help me. He said it would be bad for his karma. It felt worse just to know that he 'completely detached himself from this temporal world' ... and it was no longer his deed.

Back

I was so stressed out! Things had let me down... but maybe I still had luck... the monk introduced me to a novice and the novice had given me a wooden box. He said that this 'would only be my protection and not for intentions to harm'.

“A monk?” Sunset Shimmer repeated. “Like the one from the photo who saved Cherry?”

“Sounds about right,” Tim pondered. “I’ll have to speak to Parn about this, once we get out of this mess.”

“But… what’s this about a wooden box?” Sunset asked. “What’s in it?”

“I… don’t know… but if Jane has it… then, she’ll be alright by the time we find her. Won’t she?”

“I hope so… now let’s figure out what we can do now. Why would Jane ‘ever’ come here?”

Sunset and Tim started looking around the area for clues, hoping to figure out their next move. They searched inside the empty lockers, which appeared to have seen better days. They searched across the floor, the walls, and followed the strings along the ceilings, which led them to spools of the very same material hanging along the wall with lit candles.

“This doesn’t seem suspicious at all,” Sunset commented sarcastically.

“Psst! Sunset! Over here!” Tim called out.

Sunset raced over to Tim, who stood behind a stack of chairs before a shrine. The front was littered with human skulls, candle wax, and a goblet filled to the brim with more skulls, blood, and strings.

“I’m no witch doctor, but this is definitely the work of an occult,” Tim commented.

“I wonder if this room’s like Belle’s personal getaway, back when she was… alive…” Sunset pondered, looking around. “So dreary and unsettling… certainly has the appeal for an occult in dark magic…”

“Hey… what’s this?”

Tim picked up a white bottle, reading the Thai inscriptions written along the side.

“What does it say?” Sunset asked.

“Sunset, we just got ourselves a bottle of holy water,” Tim smiled.

“Score!” Sunset exclaimed joyfully. “Now the next time Belle shows up, she won’t know what hit her!”

Tim and Sunset walked away, when they passed a bloody table where a Bi-Metal hacksaw was resting. Tim picked it up, studying the tool carefully.

“I don’t think a hacksaw’s going to stop her, Mr. Tim,” Sunset voiced her doubt.

“I know,” Tim replied. “But this is only used to cut through various metals… it might come in handy.”

Tim and Sunset searched the room till they came upon a double door with a twisted metal bar wrapped around the handles (Likely preventing the doors from being opened). With hacksaw in hand, Tim proceeded to saw away the metal bar.

In the meantime, Sunset checked behind her, keeping an eye and ear out for any sign of Belle. Her paranoia proved valid when the familiar clicking of the boxcutter knife was heard.

*Crrrr-kkkk*

"Mr. Tim..." Sunset whispered. "We have company..."

"I'm sawing as fast as I can," Tim whispered in fright, as he continued to cut through the bar with all his might.

As the man kept cutting through the bar with all his might, Sunset cringed with gripping fear and anxiety. At this rate, it wouldn’t be long until Belle was onto them unless Sunset did something about it. She looked at all the red string around her, tracing them back to the spools on the wall and formulated a strategy.

"Quick! Give me that bottle of holy water," Sunset requested, to which Tim complied, handing Sunset the bottle.

"What are you going to do?" Tim asked.

"You keep working on the doors," Sunset advised. "I'll take care of Belle..."

Sunset Shimmer slowly and quietly snuck away, prowling behind stacks of doors and chairs, in a twist of becoming a hunter against the hunter. But she didn’t think too much about that. She needed to protect Tim, give him enough time until the man could get the doors open. And this way they could resume their progress on finding Jane.

Sunset peeked behind the corners of a locker; sure enough, there she was in front of her. Stalking the room, like a predator, Belle sheathed and unsheathed her boxcutter knife. Thankfully, the Boxcutter Gril had her back turned from Sunset Shimmer, therefore unaware of the fiery girl’s presence. Unfortunately, the rattling, shrieking, and scratching sounds of metal against Tim’s hacksaw was loud and clear immediately drawing Belle’s attention.

Thinking quick, Sunset spotted Belle walking under a web of red string connected to a spool closest to the fiery girl. Reacting fast, Sunset carefully uncapped the bottle of holy water, pouring the enchanted liquid onto the spools. The strings turned white, racing up the webs along the ceiling, and bathed Belle in a shower of holiness.

Like before, Belle immediately melted into a puddle of blood. For the moment, Timw as saved and the sound of him hacking away the metal bars continued to ring in the air. However, Sunset knew that the task was far from done. She looked around, listening for more eerie clicks of the boxcutter knife.

Sure enough, the eerie clicking confirmed Belle’s return.

*Crrrr-kkkkk*

Sunset strained to listen to the sound of the ghost’s approaching footsteps to pinpoint her precise location. Anticipating her next move, Sunset found herself back at the shrine in the room. The fiery girl picked up one of the skulls and proceeded to resume her hunt for the ghost.

Making sure she wasn’t getting any closer to Tim, Sunset worked her way back to the man. And just in the nick of time, the ghost was stalking him from the right. Before she had time to catch him, Sunset hurled the skull across the room toward Belle. But ultimately Sunset missed her target, and the skull broke upon impact against the wall. Its shattered pieces fell and scattered across the floor.

Looking toward the direction of the flying skull, Belle’s eyes burned with intensive fury when she set her sights on Sunset Shimmer. Sunset watched and observed as Belle held her free hand up to her head, rubbing the spot where the girl first whacked her. If Sunset were to guess, without a shadow of a double, Belle held a grudge against the former for what she did to the latter.

With a great shriek, Belle lunged towards Sunset Shimmer, who quickly turned tail and raced to a nearby spool, drenching it with holy water. Before the water could work its magic, Sunset ducked and dodged behind a pillar to avoid a stab from Belle’s knife.

“Yikes! AH! Whoa!” Sunset yelped.

Eventually the ghost grabbed Sunset by the sleeve of her jacket. But before the ghost could stab her, Sunset slipped free of her jacket which caused the ghost to trip up and fall into the showering holy water. Picking up her jacket, Sunset put it back on, hoping to see Belle melt away into a puddle of blood.

Instead, Belle got up and glared daggered toward Sunset, snarling with hateful eyes. Her teeth bared, Sunset could see they were both yellowed and bloodied. What the Boxcutter Girl did next was most unsettling as she floated in the air with her body writing.

“W-What… what’s happening?” Sunset asked herself.

She soon noticed the lights around her beginning to flicker rapidly. Then, without warning, everything went dark.

“Ah!” Sunset shrieked.

The girl stumbled in the darkness, hitting her head against something hard and metallic. She could feel the cold burning bruise, which she’s certain to have in the coming days.

“OW!” She screamed.

“Sunset?” Tim called from the dark. “Are you okay?”

“Mr. Tim?! Where are you?” Sunset called.

Before she could call again, Sunset was splashed in the face by what she assumed to be water. Instead, it was warm, sticky, and rather sour to the taste. As a matter of fact, it was disgusting! Sunset Shimmer spat it out, working up a drool to spit whatever splashed in her face out of her mouth.

“YUCK!” Sunset Shimmer gagged.

She wiped the substance off when suddenly the lights came back on. To her horror, the entire room was coated in blood from top to bottom. The floor was flooded, almost as if a bloody tsunami washed into the room. The ceilings were also covered in blood, some running across the red strings and dripped onto the floor.

“EW!” Sunset stuck her tongue in disgust.

In her opinion, the room was bad enough without the bloody tsunami. Sunset waded through the bloody flood as she struggled to navigate around the room. The flood itself proved difficult to navigate, the liquid weighed Sunset’s feet down and the foul smell clogged up her nose. The stale, bitter taste of blood was still fresh on her tongue; the droplets stung her eyes. It was so overbearing, Sunset Shimmer felt like puking.

Somewhere, amidst the bloody rain, Sunset heard Tim sawing the bar with the hacksaw (Between the groans and grunts). He sounded just as sick and disgusted with the blood as she. Elsewhere, in the midst of the room, Sunset heard splashing and sloshing footsteps wading in the bloody flood. Belle was once again on the move.

Sunset knew she had to act fast, to get to Tim before the Boxcutter Ghost. She only hoped she knew where she was going, that she could get to Tim in time. Sunset panted heavily, on the verge of collapse when she got to Tim. The man sawed away at the bar like his life depended on it. At that moment, Belle emerged from the bloody flood, closing in on Tim like a psychotic killer out of a slasher-horror movie.

With a loud shriek, Belle raced towards Tim, her knife unsheathed. Before she could reach him, Sunset Shimmer lurched forward, intercepting the ghost with a fierce tackle to the floor. A big splash of blood erupted as both girls wrestled each other across the pool with Sunset trying to keep Belle pinned down while struggling to pry the knife from her hand. Next thing Sunset knew, Belle reared her legs up and kicked into Sunset’s stomach hurling her off.

Sunset Shimmer crashed onto the side of the locker, denting it. With the wind knocked out of her, Sunset struggled to look up. Belle was certainly stronger than she looked, an angry demented Thai spirit going for the kill. The angry spirit stood up, the knife still in her hand which she seethed and hissed. She scratched her knife against the metal side of the locker, sharpening the blade as she drew closer.

<”I should’ve known you would get in my way again, Cherry!”> Belle spoke, in Thai.

“What?!” Sunset exclaimed.

And then somehow, through some form of magic, Belle’s Thai words were translated into English thereby allowing Sunset to understand.

“Killing me to take my Shane away wasn’t enough?” Belle snarled. “You had to come back for more, didn’t you? Just so you can boast in my face?! YOU WON’T WIN THIS TIME!!! AARRRGGH!!!”

“AAAH!!”

Sunset dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the stab from the knife. Drawing her arm back, readying herself for another stab, Belle aimed to jab Sunset when the latter held up a bottle of holy water and splashed some of it against the ghost’s face.

“AAAARRRGGGHHH!!!”

Belle screamed, covering her eyes with her free hand. Smoke bellowed from her face where Sunset splashed her. It appeared the holy water had an acidic effect, rendering the ghost blind and burning away her very being. While the ghost was stunned, Sunset Shimmer quickly went into hiding behind some of the chairs and desks stacked up in the room. Still keeping her eyes on the angry ghost, Sunset watched as Belle recovered, turning her head in search for Sunset.

“Come out!” Belle shrieked. “COME OUT AND FIGHT!!!”

But Sunset Shimmer didn’t comply. Belle turned her head, setting her sights on Tim, who sawed away against the bindings of the door as fast as he could.

“Fine… I’ll take his life, the way you took my Shane away from me!”

Sunset’s eyes widened in horror as Belle advanced towards Tim, clicking her boxcutter knife along the way.

“NOO!!!”

Sunset picked up a metal bar, swinging it toward the Boxcutter Ghost, who quickly blocked the attack. In retaliation, Belle threw a punch, hitting Sunset across the face followed up with a kick to the stomach. Sunset fell into the bloody pool with a splash, just as Belle hurled herself onto the girl with one hand choking Sunset by the throat.

“You can do slow, or you can die fast…” Belle threatened sinisterly.

Sunset struggled to pry the ghost’s hands off her, gasping for air as she was lifted off her feet. She was in such a state of panic, she couldn’t think clearly. In a flash of life, she was certain she saw her life flashing before her eyes. From the moment she was a little foal blowing out her first birthday candle to her acceptance into Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Universes, to her descent into the Dark Arts leading to her escape from Canterlot to the Human World, and finally her rise for power as Canterlot High’s Fall Formal Princess to her reformation at the hands of Princess Twilight Sparkle.

In her state of panic, Sunset Shimmer strained to scream, blindly kicking her legs out. Luckily, one of which struck Belle in the stomach.

“Oof!” Belle groaned.

The ghost dropped Sunset back into the bloody puddle, clutching her stomach. Sunset struggled to get up, straining to wipe the blood off her being. She shook her head like a dog caught in a rainstorm as she watched Belle convulse. The ghost fell to her knee, her hands across her stomach until finally exploding so gruesomely. Belle vomited an uproar of blood, with nails from the curse that backfired on her.

Sunset Shimmer backed away in disgust, until the ghost finally stopped. At the end of it, Belle slowly turned her head to look toward Sunset. Tearful eyes that belonged to those of a person desperately pleading for their suffering to stop stared at the girl.

“You… you did this to me!” Belle coughed, struggling to stand. “You… you were… jealous… you cursed me! Took my Shane away… and now… I’m… in so much… pain… BECAUSE OF YOUUUUU!!!”

With a loud angry scream, while clutching her stomach, Belle feebly charged at Sunset and raised her boxcutter knife for a stab. When the ghost wasn’t looking, Sunset poured some holy water into her hand, which she then hurled at the ghost leaving her stunned in her tracks. Sunset jumped up towards Belle, slapping her in the face repeatedly before shoving the ghost into an open locker. She quickly closed it shut, hoping to trap the ghost.

“I’m… not… Cherry!” Sunset spat, grunting from adrenaline. “Shane was never yours to begin with! You stole him away, you used dark magic, and you killed anyone who got in your way! Look at yourself! You suffer because of your selfish desires! This is your karma; deal with it!”

With another shriek, Belle banged against the locker door from the inside. The door suddenly started to bleed; Belle’s knife-wielding hand thrusted from the inside. Sunset watched as the ghost clawed her way out like a horrible parasitic monster bursting from its host. The ghost quickly drew herself out of the locker, reaching for Sunset’s throat.

Sunset tried throwing more holy water at the ghost. But much to her dismay, she realized too late she used up the whole bottle… now she was trapped.

“Oh crud…”

Sunset moaned as she gazed into Belle’s eyes, seeing the lifeless and soulless windows staring deeply into Sunset’s very being.

“If I can’t have Shane in life…” Belle sneered, raising her blade. “No one will…”

Sunset flinched, closing her eyes, bracing herself for the kill. She felt the cold tip of the knife touch her neck, when there was a large splash of blood followed by Tim’s voice.

“Keep your bloody hands off my friend/daughter figure!”

Sunset looked up and witnessed Tim ripping the boxcutter knife from Belle’s hand, before punching the ghost away. The spirit soon disappeared beneath the blood, vanished for the time being.

“Come on, Sunset!” Tim urged. “Get up! We’ve got to go!”

Recovering from her stupor, Sunset picked herself onto her feet and followed the man back to the double doors. They found them wide open, a showcase of his success at sawing all the way through. Before they could leave, however, Belle emerged from the blood. The ghost stood between them and the stairs leading somewhere to where Jane had gone. Belle unleashed another bloodcurdling shriek, which was interrupted when Sunset kicked her in the mouth knocking her back.

“I’ve had just about enough of you!” Sunset spat.

Sunset and Tim trudged through the blood, racing up the stairs, with Belle in hot pursuit. The angry ghost grabbed hold of Tim’s leg, causing him to trip and fall along the steps as the ghost proceeded to stab him with her knife again.

“Keep your bloody hands off my father-figure!” Sunset screamed.

She lunged toward Belle, tackling her off of Tim. Both girls tumbled down the stairs till they finally came to a stop. Sunset gingerly got up, disoriented from the fall. She looked down and saw Belle had lost her knife. The spirit fumbled in search for her missing blade, brushing her hands across the bloody pool. Before anything else happened, a pair of strong arms hoisted Sunset over the shoulder and dragged her up the stairs, away from the ghost.

Sunset looked up and saw it was Tim carrying her up the stairs through a bloodstained hallway. Eventually they reached the door at the end, opened it up and entered the hall of the third floor. Still disoriented from her fall, Sunset slowly recovered to her senses.

“T-T-Tim…” Sunset moaned. “Tim?”

“Easy there, Sunset,” Tim spoke, helping the girl to her feet. “You’re safe now. It’s over…”

“J… Ja… Jane? Where… where is she?”

Before Tim could answer, the door behind them shook with the sound of fists banging aggressively from the other side.

“I think that’s the least of our problems now, Sunset,” Tim spoke, grabbing Sunset by the hand. “Let’s get out of here!”

The pair ran away for dear life. Unfortunately, they could get through the double doors where they first arrived. A stack of tables barred the way.

With no other way out, they ran down the hall when a loud shriek pierced the air. Several items from the side, blocking Sunset and Tim’s path. Tables, benches, lockers, shelves, boxes, and everything flew at the pair. Even worse, the door they came from flew open and Belle emerged, drenched in blood from head-to-toe with her recovered knife in her hand. Once again, the Boxcutter Ghost proceeded to stalk her escapees, scratching the walls with her knife as an added fuel to the nightmare.

Sunset heard the scratching sound of the knife against the wall, increasing in volume the closer Belle drew towards the pair. Finally having enough, Sunset stopped and stood her ground between Belle and Tim.

“Sunset?” Tim asked the girl.

“You want him?” Sunset panted, holding her arms out. “You’ll have to get past me first!”

Belle chuckled sinisterly, raising her blade for the kill. When suddenly, she turned to her left… and stopped. Sunset followed the bloody ghost’s gaze, seeing she had caught sight of Shane’s lifeless body, dangling from the ceiling. Dropping her knife, slowly walking towards the boy she loved, Belle was in utter shock and in complete denial.

“Why is this happening?” She sobbed, falling to her knees. “Why is… this… happening…?”

As the spirit wept into her hands, Sunset watched as the ghost cried louder and shed tears more profusely. Whether or not she finally came to terms with her sins, Sunset may never know. But it was definitely time for her and Tim to go.

With heavy breathing from the near-death experience, Sunset followed Tim out the door which required a key card. Except the door was already open ajar. They left the room, closed the door behind them, and once again found themselves on the bridge. Refreshed to smell the cool, clear air of night, Sunset and Tim took a moment to catch their breaths.

“I thought… I was… a goner… for sure… that… time…” Sunset panted.

“You were… incredible back thee, Sunset,” Tim coughed.

“Yeah… well… my friends… are never… going to… believe this. Still… thanks for saving me.”

“You saved me earlier. So… it’s only fair I returned the favor. What goes around, comes around. Right?”

Sunset Shimmer nodded in agreement, feeling a small smile creeping along her face. Relieved that it was all over, Sunset felt her lips quiver, her own tears welling up in her eyes, washing away any trace of blood off her face.

“I WAS SO SCARED!!!” Sunset Shimmer exploded.

She wrapped her arms around Tim, crying into his chest, bawling her eyes like a scared little girl again. In the meantime, Sunset felt Tim gently stroke his hand across her hair and down her back trying to calm her down.

“It’s okay,” He whispered. “It’s okay. It’s over now…”

And still Sunset kept crying, releasing all her fears and pent-up frustrations she experienced. But she also cried for making herself look foolish, like a blubbering baby before her father-figure of all people. Proving herself a bigger mess than even Belle. If her actual biological father saw her like this, she’d certainly die of embarrassment… if that was even possible.

After a long while, Sunset finally stopped crying. Her eyes burned, a soreness stinging from all the tears she had poured. Not to mention all the blood cascading down her face from the tip of her hair.

“Feeling better now?” Tim asked.

“Yes…” She croaked, nodding her head. “I’m… I’m sorry you had to see that… I…”

“No need to apologize, Sunset,” Tim consoled. “I’m as scared as you are. Come on. Let’s go…”

With a deep breath, Sunset followed Tim as they walked across the bridge.

“We have to find her,” Tim said. “Where are you Jane?”

They kept on walking till they stumbled across another piece of the mysterious photograph before the floor of the bridge. Sunset picked it up, piecing them together with all the other pieces they had collected during this whole trip. Together, in its entirety, the photo revealed Tim and Jane, standing together, smiling the way a happy married couple would.

“I think you two look beautiful together,” Sunset smiled.

Just then, she saw a piece of paper not too far from where they stood. Picking it up, Sunset looked and saw it was another page from Jane’s diary. Handing it to Tim, he began to read and translate it for Sunset to understand:

May 27, 2013

The dagger is the only thing that could help me! The dagger given to me by the novice monk. Tim might have thought that I was being gullible about this! I had to keep it away from him. Behind the cupboard would do! If Tim wouldn't help! Then I'd do it all by myself! I've not gone crazy!

“A dagger?” Sunset asked. “That was in the box?”

“And she kept it hidden from me, worrying I would find it strange…” Tim scratched his chin. “We must get home and find it… fast…”

Sunset didn’t say a word, only nodding in agreement. She and Tim soon turned and walked across the bridge to the other side. They kept walking for a long time, until Sunset noticed something.

“Tim… I don’t remember the bridge being this long…” She observed.

“Yeah… you’re right,” Tim acknowledged in agreement. “Wasn’t there supposed to be a door to another building around here?”

“It’s not ‘where’ it usually is that’s for sure…”

Still Sunset and Tim kept walking for what the former estimated to be ten minutes… or so.

“We’ve been walking forever already!” Sunset frowned. “Where is the door? When does this bridge ever end?!”

“I just hope we don’t run into another bloodthirsty Thai ghost threatening to kill us…” Tim sighed. “I’m getting tired of this…”

“You’re tired?”

“Cut me some slack, Sunset. It’s been a long night for both of us… and still no Jane. Where could she be?”

“We’ll find her… we have to… somehow…”

The man and girl kept walking until at last a door appeared before them. Except, it wasn’t the metal doors seen on campus. This door was made of wood. They recognized this particular door, the door to Tim and Jane’s house.

“There it is!” Tim shouted, dashing for the door. “C’mon Sunset!”

“Hey, wait for me!” Sunset shouted, chuckling.

After a mad dash, they opened the door itself to reveal…

“Ah! Home sweet home…” Tim sighed in relief.

Never did Tim ever imagine the feeling he’d be glad to see his house again, even in such a messy disarray. The house was exactly the way he and Sunset left it. A cluttered mess, webs of red strings tied with certain pieces of furniture in the air or so. But yes… ‘Home Sweet Home’ indeed.

“Okay, Sunset. Let’s…”

Tim lost his voice and suddenly his newfound relief was gone with the wind. For when he turned around… Sunset Shimmer was gone.

“Sunset?” Tim called out, frantically. “Sunset? Sunset?! Where are you? SUNSET!!!”

But no reply came… not a single answer. Not a sign of the girl who was like a daughter to him. The girl who helped him search for clues surrounding his wife’s disappearance; the girl who defended him from the ghosts haunting him at every corner. After a half hour of mournful silence, Tim slumped down onto the floor. He clutched his head, trying to process everything that had transpired all this time.

First his wife went missing, now Sunset Shimmer was gone too. But why did this happen? Where is Sunset? Was she okay? Then another thought came to him:

“Did Sunset Shimer even exist to begin with?” Tim pondered. “Had I been just imagining the girl all this time? Was she… just an imaginary friend I made up to fill in Jane’s absence? Or… Sunset… were you my guardian angel?

<”What the hell is happening?”> He asked in Thai.

Tim searched through the binder, hoping to find at least something to help him confirm Sunset’s existence. But all he found were pages of Jane’s diary, including the photo of him and Jane taped together. He looked at all the items and recalled how he and Sunset went through so much trouble to find them. But could he really have been collecting these items… by himself?

He shook his head, trying to clear it of any questionable thoughts. He had to focus on the task of finding his wife. And it started with finding this mysterious wooden box, containing the aforementioned dagger.

<”Jane said the dagger is hidden behind the cupboard,”> Tim pondered to himself. <”I guess I’m going to need my stepladder then.”>

He entered the kitchen, where he picked up the stepladder while passing the knives still stuck in the refrigerator door. He remembered how he first discovered the knives, after Sunset screamed the last time they were in the house. With his thoughts still concerned over Sunset’s well-being, Tim felt more and more alone than ever. He missed having Sunset in his house; her very presence made him feel more at ease. And now that she’s gone, he felt more lost than usual.

Suddenly, the phone beeped, playing a voice-recorded message in a familiar voice.

<”Tim, it’s me again…”> Dew’s voice greeted hesitantly. <”Since your wife’s disappearance, you seem a bit strange. You haven’t acted like yourself lately. We’re… w-we’re friends aren’t we? If you need to talk to someone, I’m here alright? Please call me back.”>

The message beeped confirming the end. Tim looked at the phone in sadden fondness. He remembered his friend Dew well. He would always talk to him whenever he needed to vent. Tim mentally promised himself he would call Dew back and they’d have their talks again. But first things first, he needed to find the box.

A half hour later, Tim finally found the wooden box Jane referred to in her diary. It was barely hidden out of sight, sitting atop a wardrobe in their room. With his stepladder set in place, Tim walked up to claim the box and opened it to reveal its contents.

<”Okay, this is it…”> Tim said to himself. <”Could it come in handy?”>

Chapter 6: Dead End

“Ugh… where… where am I?”

Sunset Shimmer slowly opened her eyes, darting them around to observe her surroundings. Wearily, she sat up to find herself back on her couch, her VR headset sliding off her head. She turned toward the T.V., finding the title of the game she had been playing a while ago:

‘Home Sweet Home’.

“I’m… I’m home?” Sunset asked, confused. “Have I… fallen asleep? Was it all just… a dream?”

The fiery girl picked up the VR headset in her hands, scratching her head with her free one.

“No… no, it can’t be!” Sunset argued, perplexed. “That was all… too real to just be a dream. I was… I-I-I need some rest… my head hurts…”

Putting the headset down, Sunset walked toward the kitchen cabinet. Along the way, she passed the tank of her leopard gecko, Ray, who eyed her curiously. He watched as Sunset took a bottle of ibuprofen, swallowed a single tablet, and took a quick sip of water.

Afterward, she climbed up a set of stairs toward her bedroom. Once inside, she plopped herself down against the bed and immediately fell straight to sleep. Little did she know, however, that for Sunset Shimmer… the night was far from over.

Darkness…

At first, all Sunset Shimmer could see was another wave of blinding darkness. All of a sudden, a crack of lightning and the boom of thunder caused her eyes to bolt with a start.

“AH!!!”

Screaming, Sunset immediately sat up only to find herself in a dark wooden hallway. Much to her dismay, the nightmare was far from over.

“Now what?!” Sunset asked exasperated.

Looking around her new surroundings, Sunset found herself in a dark, dusty hall of some building. Judging by the wooden interior, Sunset assumed she was somewhere rural. It almost reminded her of when she was in the wooden cottage, haunted by the giant hungry Thai ghost called a Preta.

After she surveyed the whole layout of the new area, Sunset looked down at her hands. Much to her shock, she discovered that she was carrying a lit candlestick in the left hand and a dagger in the right.

“What the… where’d these come from?” Sunset asked herself. “And… what am I even doing here?”

Ahead of the hallway was nothing more than blinding darkness. Sunset could feel her heart pounding rapidly, unable to anticipate and foresee what danger could be lurking deep within the shadows. Danger waiting for her to approach, to pounce on her at any moment. Still, the girl wouldn’t find any answers by standing still in one place. Despite her worries, Sunset had a mystery to solve.

Swallowing a lump down her throat, Sunset took the first step, followed by another, and soon she was walking through the darkness with great caution. Why she was armed with only a small dagger and a lit candlestick, she didn’t know. Nor did she even know where she’d have gotten either of these items to begin with. All she knew was that somewhere inside this strange building, somewhere in the darkness, there had to be a way out… and Sunset Shimmer was determined to find it.

Sunset passed a few bookshelves, cabinets, and some larger drawers with lanterns. They seemed rather fancy, giving Sunset the impression that people residing in this building are not as rural as Applejack or any person living in the countryside. More or less, they must have some decorative and cultural taste.

*BOOM! CRACK!*

“AAAAHHH!!!”

The sudden flash of light exploded, outside the window and nearly blinding Sunset. The hallway lit up quickly due to the lightning bolt which seemed awfully close. Outside, a storm was brewing loud and strong. Such in a way that it shook the entire building. Sunset felt the building tremble beneath her feet.

In shock, as Sunset tried to regain her composure, she felt certain she heard a woman’s laughter echoing throughout the building. Sunset cast frightening glances behind her, then in front of her to seek out the source.

“H-H-Hello?” She called out, stuttering.

No reply.

“Hello?! Is anyone there?”

Again, no reply. Sunset’s entire body shook with goosebumps running all over her skin. Her hair stood on end as the silence continued. All was silent, apart from the rumbling thunderstorm outside.

Scared out of her wits, Sunset Shimmer kept walking through the building, cautious and frightened. She navigated through the twisted halls, unsure of where she was going. Every turn she made led to another fork in the road – or in this case, hall – and Sunset felt more lost than ever. At one point, she swore she heard a door creak open.

“Who’s there?!” Sunset demanded.

She made a turn towards the creaking door, seeing it was opening and shutting itself.

“Hmm… must’ve been a breeze. At least, I hope that’s what it was…”

Turning around, Sunset continued navigating her way through the dusty halls of the building. At one point, she happened to pass a drawer with a bust head sitting atop. The bust wore a bejeweled cone-shape crown aligned with ridges from top to bottom.

“Wow… looks pretty,” Sunset commented. “Must be worth a fortune…”

Shaking her head, Sunset brushed the crown to the side and continued her descent down the dark halls. At one point, she happened to pass a hall leading up a lit stairway with two doors at the top. She walked over to the stairs, climbing up to turn the doors open. But it was of no avail, the doors were locked. She walked back down the stairs and continued on her way.

Through her journey down the halls, Sunset’s ears perked up by the sound of clinking. They almost sounded like the kind of noise made when coins dropped from one hand to another. She looked behind her only to find no one there.

Turning her head forward again, a crash of lighting startled her suddenly. Before her eyes, the whole hall illuminated just ahead. However, what scared her most wasn’t the lightning bolt itself. Before the light disappeared, bathing the hall in total darkness again, Sunset was certain she saw someone standing on the side of the hall. And all it did was look back at her.

“Uh… h-h-h-hi?” Sunset greeted, sheepishly. “Hello? I’m… I’m sorry if I’m… intruding… I-I-I… I was… I got lost and I…”

However, upon a closer look, Sunset realized the figure she spoke to was nothing more than a wooden mannequin. It was dressed in ornamental clothing, encrusted with expensive jewelries, and a large crown to match.

“Oh! Hehe,” Sunset chuckled nervously. “Just a wooden dummy.”

Feeling another pique of curiosity, Sunset examined the mannequin’s clothing closely. She felt the texture of its fabric between her fingers, as she shined her light along the jewelries sparkling against the light.

“If Rarity were here, she’d be amazed by this,” Sunset thought fondly.

It was then Sunset Shimmer stepped back, examining the statue in its entirety. It held a certain Asian appeal to it. Southeast Asia to be precise. The clothing it wore seemed to speak proudly of its culture, its history, and its heritage. At this moment, it slowly dawned on Sunset.

“Wait… is this… all in Thailand? Am I back again?” Sunset asked. “But how? Why? And… Mr. Tim… is he doing all right…?”

Pushing her concerns aside, along with any burning questions with no answers, Sunset kept walking down the hall. Along the way, she found more wooden mannequins but none of them wore clothing. Some were even missing a head and an arm. One of them fell to the floor suddenly, startling Sunset so much she nearly dropped both her dagger and candle.

After catching her breath, stopping to compose herself, Sunset was well on her way till she came across a locked door and turned back the way she came.

“Maybe I should just… sing myself a song,” Sunset convinced herself. “Yeah… that’s what Pinkie Pie would do. Sing…”

Sunset thought up a song Pinkie Pie would sing whenever there’s trouble. And so Sunset sang it herself, albeit stuttering, as if she ‘tried’ to force the song to be merry:

Wh-Wh-When I was a little girl and the sun was going d-d-d-d-down…

Th-Th-Th-Th-The d-d-d-d-darkness and the sh-sh-sh-shadows, they would always me me fr-fr-fr-froooooooooown…

I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I…

“K-K-K-Kind of hard to sing when you’re stuttering so m-m-m-much Sunset,” Sunset stammered.

Her teeth chattered within this cold environment, matching with her rapid heartbeat. The cold grip of fear slowly took hold of her.

“N-Not to mention ch-ch-ch-chatting… t-t-t-t-teeth.”

Sunset’s ears suddenly perked up over the sound of a woman singing in the room next door. Carefully, she placed her ears against the door to hear a rather pleasant tune. Sunset proceeded to carefully put her dagger away, deep within her coat pocket, and brushed herself with her free hand to at least attempt to appear ‘presentable’.

Sunset gently knocked on the door, and the singing stopped.

“Hello?” Sunset greeted, nervously. “Sorry… I hope I’m not interrupting or anything, but… I’m lost and I…”

Before Sunset could continue, the door opened slightly ajar, as if inviting Sunset into the room. Sunset carefully opened the door to the side and peeked into the room. But much to her confusion, there was nobody there. No one but another wooden mannequin, adorned in the same bejeweled clothing from before.

“That’s funny… I’m sure I heard someone,” Sunset told herself.

Shrugging it off, Sunset continued on her way through the halls. Trying to find a way out, she happened to pass a seemingly familiar drawer with the same bust head and be-jeweled crown. The only difference was that the crown and bust head were turned over.

“Did I take a wrong turn?” Sunset asked herself.

Next, Sunset Shimmer happened to pass the lit stairway on her right much like the one before. Only this time, at the very top, there was a silhouette of a woman dancing.

“Uh… hello!” Sunset called out, walking towards the dancer. “I…”

But before Sunset could even reach the stairs, the lights turned off. By the time Sunset reached the top, the mysterious dancer was nowhere in sight.

“That’s creepy…” Sunset frowned.

Walking back downstairs, another flash of lighting lit up the hallway. Before Sunset Shimmer, the lightning revealed the wooden mannequin from before. It stood in the exact same spot where Sunset found it. Sunset walked past the mannequin, giving it a dry look

“Okay, that confirms it… I’m going in circles! I don’t suppose ‘you’ know the way out? Do you? Could you maybe, oh I don’t know… ‘point’ the way out? How hard can that be?”

Sunset Shimmer stood silent for a few seconds, waiting for some form of activity. But just as she thought, the mannequin was as silent as most of this house.

“Of course it’s hard for you,” Sunset groaned. “You’re just a dummy; I’m going nuts! I’m talking to a wooden dummy!”

Turning around, Sunset kept walking, opening the doors, and found herself in the same room where she heard a woman singing. Before she could proceed, a woman’s laughter was heard. But this time, it sounded eerily close… like it was right behind her. With a cautious peek, Sunset looked toward the dark hallway only to see… nothing.

Her eyes couldn’t see, but her ears listened for the sound of clinking. Their volumes increased each passing second, as if to alert Sunset that someone or ‘something’ was approaching her.

Finally, another flash of lighting lit up, with a *CRACK!* and a *BOOM!*. Except it wasn’t the noise that startled her. Sunset could’ve sworn, between the light of the lightning bolt, in place of the wooden mannequin stood a person. With a newfound grip of terror taking over, Sunset turned and ran towards the door to the other side of the room. She pushed it open only to find herself appearing in a separate room, with four support beams in the very center.

One door ahead was closed, but a double door along the side was open. Before she could race towards them, hoping to escape, the doors shut tightly on themselves. Much to her horror, the door behind her creaked open. Slowly Sunset turned around and was horrified to see a scary woman, dressed in the same bejeweled clothing worn by the mannequin stalking towards her.

“Uh… h-h-hello there,” Sunset greeted sheepishly. “My name is—”

But at the moment, the most startling of all was the sound of another woman’s voice.

“Leave me alone!!”

“Huh?”

Sunset turned around, started to see she stood face-to-face with the woman she and Tim had been searching for.

“Jane?!” Sunset exclaimed.

Sunset could hardly believe her eyes but there she stood. Right in front of her, there was Jane exactly how Sunset saw her in both the pictures and Tim’s memories. The only exception was… she wasn’t wearing a white dress. Instead, she had nothing on her but a gray sleeveless sweatshirt, a pair of short jeans, and gray shoes.

“OMIGOSH! Mr. Tim and I have been looking all over for you!” Sunset exclaimed excitedly. “I-I-I can’t wait to see the look on his face when I tell him…”

Sunset ceased talking upon noticing that Jane wasn’t making any responses to her words. The woman didn’t even look at her or even rewarded Sunset with a reply. It was as if she couldn’t see nor hear Sunset Shimmer at all.

“Mrs. Jane? Can you hear me?” Sunset asked, snapping her fingers in her face. “Hello? Hey!”

Unfortunately, the moment was cut short. The sound of clinking jewels brought Sunset and Jane’s attention back to the scary woman, who approached them with a sinister smile matching the look of evil gleaming in her eyes. Quickly, Sunset assumed a fighting stance.

“Hey you! Stay back! I’m warning you!”

Sunset held a pair of fists at the ready but was startled to see she was no longer holding the dagger and candlestick in either of her hands. She looked around the room, searching for the items until she turned to Jane and was gulp-smacked to see the woman was now in possession of the two items. Could it be, was Sunset seeing all these things through Jane’s eyes?

But the woman didn’t comply; instead, she continued to advance upon Jane and Sunset.

“Stay away from me!!” Jane shouted, quivering. “Any closer and I’LL STAB YOU!”

“You heard her!” Sunset told the woman. “She said stay away!”

Sunset threw a fist at the woman but was startled and complexed to see her flying fist having passed through. It was though she was a ghost. Unable to physically stop the scary woman in Thai dressing, Sunset watched helplessly as Jane looked as if she were backing into a corner.

“I said GET AWAY FROM ME!!” Jane screamed.

Without warning, in the blink of an eye, the scary woman lunged towards Jane with surprising speed. Sunset watched helplessly as Tim’s terrified, missing wife struggled to break free. But instead, she was hurled onto the floor with a loud thud, dropping her dagger.

“Mrs. Jane!” Sunset Shimmer shouted, holding out her hand.

Suddenly, as if an invisible hand took hold of her, Sunset felt herself dragged away. The fiery girl was helpless as Jane was dragged away in the opposite direction, deep within the darkness.

“JAAAAAAAAAAANE!!!”

Sunset Shimmer screamed from the top of her lungs, as another bolt of lightning cracked the air, illuminating her whole world in blinding light.

At the exact hour of dawn, at the peak of sunrise, Sunset Shimmer awoke with a start. She reeled from the adrenaline of the nightmare which she experienced. It was so nerve-wracking that the girl fell from her bed. Soon as she got up, she only took a few seconds to catch her breath, rapidly breathing. She looked around her surroundings, finding herself back home and fully awake.

“Whoa!”

Her appearance being the least of her concerns, Sunset picked herself up and rushed out the apartment door seeking out her friends. After what she recently endured, Sunset Shimmer had to be with her friends for emotional support. The question was: Would they still accept her? Would they even believe her story? Or would they consider her insane, insisting she’s spent too much time cooped up in her apartment playing video games?

Whatever the case may be, Sunset wanted nothing more than to be with her friends. Not another day binge gaming over horror video games. Speaking of whom, Sunset knew there was only one friend she needed to consult with in this kind of situation.

The one friend Sunset Shimmer knew… who would listen…

Author's Note

Sunset Shimmer's midquel for Game Quest is done!

Look out for the upcoming chapters of Game Quest: Super Mario 64!

Chapter 1: Meeting Tim | Escape the Nightmare

“Babe, wake up!” A woman’s voice called. “It’s late, hon… you have to wake up.”

“Okay, getting up,” A man’s voice answered in the dark.

The man sat up, stretching his arms out with a yawn. His eyes look around, but the darkness greeting his gaze left him perplexed. Uncertainty crossed his mind, as he scratched the back of his head.

“Jane?” He called groaning. “Man… Last night was way too much! Where the hell am I?”

The man looked around trying to get his bearings. In appearance, he appeared to be in some rundown old room. The printed images of birds, angels, and even flowers that have slowly began to wear with time were displayed upon the walls. Cracks and smudge covered the marble floor, a single lit lamp barely illuminated the room. Along the wall a clock hung, displaying that the time was 15 past midnight.

Turning to his left, the man was thankful to find a large notebook, with colorful tags sticking from the pages, each one document a specific objective (But he did not know this… yet).

“I have to get the hell out of here,” The man declared, approaching the door.

By the time the icy grip of darkness vanished, Sunset Shimmer wearily got up on her legs.

“Wh-What happened?” She asked.

Sunset Shimmer rubbed the drowsiness from her eyes, pinching her temples with her hands before taking a look around her surroundings.

“Wh-Where am I? What is this place?”

Just then, the motion of an open door caught her attention, as she slowly turns around. Before her eyes, a tall man, roughly in his 30s, appears before her. Although the room was dark, Sunset could barely see he was wearing glasses, wore a simple gray t-shirt, blue jeans, and brown shoes, holding a flashlight toward her. Startled, the man starts speaking a foreign language much to Sunset’s confusion.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” Sunset asked.

“Oh… you speak English,” The man noted. “I was asking, ‘Who are you?’.”

“Oh, I’m Sunset,” The fiery girl answered. “Sunset Shimmer. And you are?”

“I’m Chadchai Tubloy. But my friends call me Tim.”

“Nice to meet you, Tim,” Sunset replied.

The two shake hands after a rather tentative introduction.

“Likewise,” The man replied, his expression serious. “Do you know where I am?”

“I was hoping you would know.”

“I’m just as clueless as you are,” Tim shrugged, shaking his head. “I just got out of the room I woke up in. Never should’ve drank so much last night.”

At the mention of ‘drinking’, Sunset realized that the foul smell in the room was alcohol and it was coming from the man’s breath.

“Yeah… no offense, but alcoholism is bad,” Sunset winced.

“Hmm… I’ll keep that in mind,” The man nodded. “What about you? How did you get here? What’s your story?”

“I honestly don’t know. A moment ago, I was in my room playing video games. Next thing I knew, everything just… blacked out! When I finally came to, I found myself here!”

“Sounds to me as if we’re both lost. But we must be here for a reason.”

“You can say that again. The question is: ‘How’ do we get out of here?”

“We won’t find out by standing here talking, that’s for sure. C’mon, let’s get out of here.”

The man takes the lead as Sunset follows close behind, marching through the hallway in hopes of finding the nearest exist. Thus far, all they found within these halls were stacks upon stacks of shelves with worn picture frames, antique brass elephant statues, and various boxes. Among the assortments of objects are a mortar and a pestle, common utensils used for cooking in most countries. But judging by the feel of their environment, this place was far from welcoming.

“What kind of place is this?” Sunset asked nervously.

“No idea,” Tim replied. “Though I’ll do you better. What are we doing here in the first place?”

“Don’t know. But the sooner we get out, the better. This place gives me the creeps.”

Suddenly, Sunset’s ears perk up at the sound of what sounds like… chanting.

“Shh! You hear that?” Sunset whispered harshly.

Tim held his hand upon his ears, listening closely to decipher the sound. The two figures follow the echo hoping to find the source.

“It’s behind that door!” Tim pointed. “Let’s go!”

The two immediately approach the door, turning the knob, and slowly take a cautious peek before fully opening the door. Upon entering the room, the two discovered that it was empty, and the source of the sound came from a small radio box. Sighing, Time approaches the radio and turns the knob, shutting it off.

“How do you like that?” Tim snarked. “Someone left the radio on.”

BOOM!

“AH!!!” Sunset screamed.

She and Tim jumped and turned as the door suddenly slam shut behind them. To further the stress of their beating hearts, the light above them suddenly blew out much to their horror. Sunset raced toward the door, grabbing hold of its knob which rattled in its place.

“What the hay?! It’s locked! I can’t open it!”

“Looks like we can’t go back that way,” Tim frowned wearily. “We have no other choice but to move forward.”

Tim points toward another door in front of the pair. Seeing no other choice, the two proceed toward the next door and try to open it. To their shock, the door was locked in place just like the other one.

“Darn it!” Sunset grumbled. “We’re trapped!”

“Not exactly, Sunset,” Tim said.

He approaches the nearest counter, finding a small key sitting there.

“I believe this is our way out.”

“How do you know?” Sunset asked.

“I don’t.”

Sighing, Sunset Shimmer noticed a newspaper article, with a faint white aura coating it.

“What’s this?”

Curious, Sunset Shimmer picks up the newspaper article, noting it was written in Thai. Unfortunately, and unfamiliar with the language, Sunset had a tough time understanding the imprinted words.

“Hey Tim!” Sunset called out. “What does it say?”

“Oh, it’s printed in Thai,” Tim answered. “Here, let me read it for you.”

Tim politely takes the paper from Sunset as he reads the headline.

A University Student Reported Missing

September 28, 1996

A student from a famous university in Bangkok has mysterious disappeared for more than 2 days. Witnesses reported that she was heading home after a severe stomachache… (More on page 15)

“Ouch!” Sunset winced, clutching her stomach. “I’d hate to be that girl.”

“Never mind that now,” Tim brushed aside. “Let’s just get out.”

Turning his attention back toward the door, Tim inserts the key through the lock and turns it clockwise. With a click, the door opens up toward another dark hallway. Among the shelves sat a little golden statue of a woman in a sitting position with one hand by her side or holding a money bag, and the other hand in a beckoning position.

“Whew! It’s so chilly in here,” Tim shivered, as Sunset hugged herself. “If this isn’t the definition of ‘creepy’, I don’t know what is.”

Sunset nodded in agreement, as Sunset and Tim prepare to leave the room… only to catch sight of a person leaving.

“Hey! Hey you!” Tim called out.

Tim burst into a run as Sunset took off after him. The two turn a corner, only to find… no one there.

“Where’d they go?” Sunset asked confused.

“They must’ve gone downstairs!” Tim deduced, looking down. “HEY! Hey you! Can you hear me?”

But answer there came none. Tim turned toward Sunset, shaking his head incredulously before making his way down the stairs.

“C’mon. They couldn’t have gone far.”

With no argument, Sunset quickly followed the man down the stairs. With every step, the stairs spiraled down. Just at the bottom, Sunset could see the area was lit with an eerie red glow. After two floors down, a streak of shadow suddenly fell from above, startling Sunset Shimmer.

“AH!” She screamed.

“What?” Tim turned. “What is it?”

“Something fell from above!”

Sunset pointed to the large black mass now on the floor. Tim cautiously went to inspect it, as Sunset stayed close behind. After a moment, Tim shook his head incredulously as he turned toward the girl.

“It’s just a garbage bag, Sunset,” Tim chuckled.

“… I knew that,” Sunset muttered blushing. “I thought it was something else.”

“You’re letting your imagination run wild. Now c’mon.”

Sunset pouted, feeling as if he were chiding her like a father would to his imaginative child. That being said, they both open the door and enter another hallway.

“Look!” Sunset pointed.

Down the hall, just along the end, the silhouette outline of a teenage girl, roughly Sunset’s age, stood. The girl turned toward the nearest door on the left, before disappearing.

“Hey! Hey wait!” Sunset called out toward the girl.

Sunset and Tim race after her, opening the door to the room. But once they got inside, they stood perplexed to find the girl was nowhere to be seen.

"Where did she go?" Tim asked, as he and Sunset walk into the room.

They walked over to another door in the room, and opened it. They were caught off-guard by the sight before them… a brick wall in plain view, with a large bloodstain upon it.

“WHAT THE--?!” Sunset exclaimed. “This is just getting really, really, REALLY weird! And I’ve seen ‘stranger things’ before!”

“You don’t say,” Tim muttered, inspecting the stain. “Yep. Definitely blood.”

“’Letting my imagination run wild’, huh?” Sunset raised an eyebrow.

Ignoring her, Tim inspected the trail of blood, which appeared to lead away from the brick walls.

“Strange. That wasn’t there before!”

Flashing his light against the trail, Tim could see it lead directly out of the room. Even more disturbing, the hallway he and Sunset came through had suddenly changed structure.

“What the hell? What’s going on here?”

Sunset, following the man’s gaze, exits the room and turned her head both ways.

“Didn’t we came from the right?” She asked. “… something’s playing with us here. Like one of those horror movies… or horror games.”

“I don’t even know anymore,” Time replied. “Let’s just get the hell out of here… fast.”

Both Sunset and Tim followed the bloody trail, the disgust on their faces grew as the trail lead them to a couple large blood puddles. Some of it even dripped from the ceilings.

“This is gross!” Sunset groaned in discomfort.

The foul smell of blood reeked through their nostrils, as the pair were forced to walk under the bloody shower. And then something else caught their eyes.

“Are those… footprints?” Sunset questioned.

Without a doubt, upon the floor were bloody imprints of feet… human feet. The trail lead down the other end of the hall, leading toward the next door. Upon opening the door, they walk down a lit hallway before stumbling upon another door at the end. Opening it slowly, they discover the mysterious girl they’ve been searching for.

“There you are!” Tim greeted the girl. “Can I ask you something, miss…!”

But before Tim could finish, the girl suddenly twist her whole head in a disturbing 180-degree turn revealing her stained face tricked with warm red blood. It streamed down her nose, over her mouth, as she stared at them with cold dead eyes.

“What the fuck?!” Tim exclaimed.

Then, without warning, the girl uttered a bloodcurdling screech, startling both Tim and Sunset out of their wits and snapping them back to reality.

“LET’S GET OUT OF HERE!” Sunset screamed.

Sunset took off running, with Tim following her out the room. They rush down the hall back towards the door they came through. But upon opening the door, to their confusion, it was walled up by another brick wall.

“Are you kidding me?!” She moaned.

Sunset and Tim turned back as the girl emerged from the room, a boxcutter knife in one hand.

“Oh, that’s it! We’re done for!”

Turning to his right, Tim spots another door – which wasn’t there before.

“THIS WAY! Hurry!”

Grabbing the fiery girl by the hand, Tim pulled Sunset into a quick dash toward the door, swinging it open, and slammed it in front of the ghost girl. Inside the room, they found a locker sticking against the wall. Without wasting a second, Tim pulls the locker open and they both jump in, sealing the metal door shut. Tim held Sunset close to his chest, wrapping his arms around the fiery girl’s hair. They both dared not to breathe, as the other girl followed.

Spying through the vents inside the locker, Sunset and Tim observe the ghost as she searched the room. Eventually she gave up and left, while moaning…

“Come back… come back to me…”

Adding to her eerie presence, the girl held the boxcutter knife, sliding her fingers across its hilt, sliding the blade in-and-out of its sheath. The ghost approaches the wall, where it appeared to be bleeding a pool of red blood. The ghost girl walks through the pool, disappearing out of sight.

“D-D-D-D-Did you see what I saw?!” Sunset exclaimed.

“Uh-huh!” Tim nodded, equally frightened. “And I don’t need to see it again.”

After a moment of silence, Tim and Sunset exit the locker.

“Let’s get out of here before she comes back,” Tim suggested.

“No need to tell me twice,” Sunset agreed.

The two strolls through the hallway, walking back into the room where they first encountered the ghost. Walking through the door on the other end, opening to their relief, they found a hallway painted greenish-blue, unlike another brick wall from before. As they walk, the lights begin to flicker rapidly, as random objects flew off the shelves and onto the floor, startling them both.

Sunset held the man’s arm tightly, like how a frighten girl would react with her father.

“Mr. Tim?” Sunset whimpered frightfully.

“Stay close, Sunset,” Mr. Tim consoled. “We’ll get out of this… we just have to.”

Eventually, the two arrive at the entrance of a hallway. Unfortunately, it was closed off by a steel grated door wrapped with two chains across. Sunset tried to pry the chains off, but they wouldn’t move.

“Darn it!” Sunset snarled. “It won’t open!”

“We just need to find something to break these chains off,” Tim replied, looking around.

Turning to his right, he approached another hallway which lead them to a rope – undoubtedly, a dumbwaiter. Pulling the ropes, Tim hauled up a rusty bucket, containing a set of pincers.

“Ah-ha!” Tim cheered, picking up the pincers. “This’ll do!”

Tim and Sunset proceed to head back toward the doors.

“Who would’ve though we’d find pincers of all—”

Sunset immediately stopped talking when she and Tim saw the wall bleeding in front of them. Frightened beyond reason, they run back toward the doors as Tim quickly cuts the chains off and opens the doors for them to get through. As they race through the hall, more objects flew off their shelves, startling the pair. The unhinged, hanging light flickers on-and-off as they quickly open another door finding themselves in another hall.

Sunset shuts the door behind them, as they proceed to move forward, turning the corner to find the ghost girl ahead.

“Yikes!” Sunset shouted.

She and Tim quickly hid behind the wall, catching their breaths.

“She’s here…”

“I can see that!” Tim replied, poking his head from behind the wall.

The two watch as the ghost walked across the hall, entering a room. Looking ahead, they could see the hall was blocked by shelves and drawers, stacked together, preventing Sunset and Tim from reaching the other side.

“Think she did all that?” Sunset asked.

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Tim replied.

They moved ahead, making sure to walk as quietly as possible. Following behind him, Sunset watched as Tim cautiously shone his flashlight into the room.

“Goodness!” Tim muttered.

“What is it?” Sunset asked nervously.

“Would you believe me when I say that an exploding bulldozer came through here?”

Tim shows the girl a large hole in the brick wall, leading toward the next room.

“… What happened here?” Sunset asked.

She and Tim walk through the hole into the next room, turning toward a door. They open the door to find they were out in the hall, along the other side of the shelves hindering their path before. They pass a room numbered 103, when they both heard a disturbing sound.

“What’s that noise?” Tim asked.

Sunset listened, cringing as it sounded like someone was vomiting.

“I prefer that we never find out,” Sunset answered.

They proceed to walk away from the room, reaching the end of the hall only to find several wooden boards blocking a vent in the wall. Sunset approached the wood, giving a strong kick with her legs. But the wood didn’t even break.

“Too strong,” Tim shook his head. “Let’s try to find something to break them with.”

Just as they turned back, they quickly caught a glimpse of the ghost girl exiting Room 103 and into another room across, slamming the door behind her. Sunset whimpered quietly, to which Tim responds by holding her hand for comfort. They slowly walk down the hall, doing the best they could to keep a brave face. Along the way, Sunset turned to her right and noticed the door to Room 104 was ajar.

“That wasn’t opened before,” Sunset commented.

She stepped into the room, as Tim followed behind her. Tim shut the door behind them, locking the door for extra precautions. He and Sunset uncover another hole, along the corner of the brick wall on the left, which lead to another room.

Unlike the last two rooms they’ve snuck in before, Sunset and Tim were aghast to discover a full bedroom. A comfortable bed sat along the left corner, next to a desk decorated with paintings of flowers and shelves of books. Sitting upon the desk, a lamp was lit, shining its light over a puddle of blood where two parchments of paper rested.

“What’s this?” Sunset asked, picking up the Thai-written paper. “Tim, can you read this?”

“Sure!” The man complied, taking the paper.

Note with A. Chai’s Number

Bring these to A. Chai.
Shane’s hair and nails.
01-612-2758

“A. Chai?” Sunset asked. “Who is this A. Chai?”

“I have no idea,” Tim replied grimacing. “But however they are, they must be some kind of professional, to be referred to as 'ajahn.'"

Sunset looked rather confused, "Ajahn is Thai for a 'professor' or a 'teacher.'"

"Ah," Sunset nodded in acknowledgement.

"Honestly, I don’t know what they’d need hair and nails from this ‘Shane’ person.”

“Hmm…” Sunset pondered.

She looked around the desk, finding the next piece of paper. This parchment was printed in a dark color, imagines of strange looking nails on display. Before Sunset could speak, Tim picked up the paper and read:

The Cursed Nails Jinx:

Do you have hatreds towards someone, enough to want them dead? Then you are at the right place!
The Cursed Nails Jinx is a spell that can make them suffer from nails piercing through their stomach. The result can be deadly! This jinx has existed and had been passed on for many generations and can still be found today on rare occasions.

Instruction:

You’ll need something from your target, such as a nail or some hair. Next, put them inside the doll made from graveyard clay. Tie up the doll with the thread used for shrouding corpses, not the holy thread used for other occasions and ceremony. Pierce the nails (which were used to seal coffins of those who died unnaturally) right through the doll. Once it’s done, your target will experience an agonizing pain as their stomach is filled with cursed nails. Only skillful casters can perform this, it cannot be done by novices.

“Yeesh!” Sunset cringed. “That’s just disturbing…”

“Tell me about it,” Tim agreed.

He looks again toward the pieces of paper, as if stumbling upon a connection.

“Nail or some hair, huh? Looks like whoever Shane is or was, they met a gruesome demise.”

“I’d hate to be that person,” Sunset frowned, clutching her stomach. “Can you imagine that many cursed nails in your stomach? Ouch… But who would—”

“I don’t know,” Tim shook his head. “I don’t think we have much time to ponder. Let’s get out of here while we can.”

Turning toward the bathroom, Tim walked in and to his delight finds a crowbar. There it was, sitting in the corner, just behind the curtains of what used to be the shower.

“Good news, Sunset,” Tim smiled. “We can use this crowbar to pry off the boards.”

“Great! Then let’s—Uh oh.”

Sunset’s eyes widen as the doorknob began to turn.

“We’ve got company! Hide!”

Sunset Shimmer dove under the bed, while Tim quickly hid behind the shower curtains. The door opens revealing the ghost girl from before, walking into the room, and approaching the bathroom. She clutched her stomach while sobbing.

“Don’t you leave me anymore…”

The ghost stopped at the sink, violently, gruesomely, and disgustingly vomiting a stream of blood from her mouth. Sunset looked as if she were on the verge of losing her lunch at the horrid sight. Tim, just as shocked, was also disgusted while trying to stay still.

DING!

As the ghost girl convulsed, something rang in the air, sounding like metal. After the gruesome episode, the ghost girl turned and took her leave.

“Come back… Come back to me!”

The ghost sobbed as she exits the room, entering Room 108, slamming the door behind her. Afterward, Sunset emerged from under the bed, walking into the bathroom where she found Tim.

“D-D-D-Did you see that?” She stammered.

Tim silently nodded, scared beyond words. Just then, Sunset sniffed and pinched her nose as she caught the whiff of a foul smell.

“Phew! What’s wrong with her?”

“Must’ve had a hangover, I guess,” Tim thought.

He looks into both the toilet and the sink, finding them both flooded with crimson red blood. Glistening inside the blood, as Tim shined his flashlight off, Tim made an incredible discovery.

“Bloodstained nails,” Time grimaced. “And some have dried flesh on them!”

Sunset turned her head, following where the ghost girl had gone.

“Looks like we found our victim of that Cursed Nails Jinx,” She frowned, feeling sympathy for the ghost. “But wait… You don’t suppose our ghost is ‘Shane’, do you?”

“Don’t know, don’t care,” Tim shook his head. “I just want us to get the hell out of here.”

Both Tim and Sunset Shimmer quickly race down the hall, back toward the boarded-up vent. Using the crowbar, Tim broke the wooden planks apart as he pried them off the walls. Until at last, the vent was open enough to grant them safe passage.

Tim, the first to crawl through, shined his flashlight ahead, with Sunset following close behind. The space was narrow; the air itself was musky. Dust and cobwebs were everywhere, the sound of crickets chirping and squeaking rats scurrying echoed deep in the musty vents. Tim began to cough vigorously and horribly.

“Mr. Tim?” Sunset asked concerned. “You alright?”

“I’m fine,” He coughed. “Just a little asthmatic.”

The two crawled through the vent, when something startled Tim, and he nearly hit his head against the low ceiling.

“What is it?” Sunset asked.

“Uh… it’s nothing,” Tim answered, slightly flustered. “Just some loose pipes.”

As he moved forward and turned right, Sunset caught sight of a light blue pipe leaning against the wall on the left.

“All that over a pipe?” Sunset scoffed.

Suddenly, as she followed Tim, the sound of crying echoed.

“Do you hear that?”

She and Tim look ahead toward the wall in front of them, completely broken. And there, they caught sight of the ghost girl, crying into her hands as she leaned upon the desk. Tim quickly turned his flashlight off so the ghost wouldn’t notice. Both quiet as mice, Tim and Sunset waited for the ghost to cease her crying, before she got up and walked out the door.

They continue their crawl through the narrow vent. Along the way, Sunset Shimmer looked to the left and was startled by a creepy looking doll, sitting against a wall, staring off into the distance, to where the ghost girl was. Sunset could tell whether to feel scared, or remorseful for the doll, being abandoned in such obscure place. Sunset almost felt like reaching out to pick up the doll, but then her conscience told her otherwise, as if saying that picking up such an abandoned object would bring untold grievances.

As she and Tim continued their way through the vent, Sunset turned to look at the right, to see in the corner of the walls is what looks to be a little shrine. There were figures of traditional Thai dancers, garlands, cup, and incense/joss sticks. There also seems to be cups with either water, alcohol, or some other drink offering.

"What's with all these stuffs?" Sunset asked herself, before she continues to follow Tim, until they reached the exit, standing up in the room where the ghost was spotted. Sunset turns toward the desk and discovers another piece of parchment, much like the one they found with the Cursed Nails Jinx.

Tim picks up the parchment and read:

The Lechery Jinx is a spell that can forcefully make people fall in love. The noticeable feature of this spell is two dolls tied up in a hugging pose, one male and the other female.

Instruction:

Create two dolls from graveyard clay and put something that belongs to your target inside one of the dolls, it can be either nails or hairs. Then tie up the dolls together with the holy thread used in shrouding corpses. Only skillful casters can perform this, it cannot be done by novices. Once it’s done, put the tied-up dolls under the pillow of your target.

Sitting upon the desk, next to the parchment were said dolls themselves wrapped with the holy thread. Sunset picked up the dolls, turning them to the side, observing them.

“These dolls are supposed to make the person fall in love with you?” Sunset question. “Ha, for some reason, it reminds me of how Flash Sentry and I were before… before we broke up.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Sunset,” Tim said, placing a sympathetic hand upon her shoulder. “You’re not considering using this spell on him, are ya?”

“What? No way!” Sunset scoffed. “I’m not like that… at least, not anymore. Besides, we only just got back together, and things are… improving. C’mon, let’s go.”

Sunset and Tim proceed to leave through the door the ghost previously left through. Their journey has them cross another hallway when a familiar creaking sound made them stop in their tracks.

“Is that who I think it is?” Sunset whimpered.

“Shh!” Tim shushed.

He slowly peeked around the corner. Sure enough, standing in the hall, in a pool of blood, the ghost screamed upon seeing her prey.

“SHIT!!!”

Tim and Sunset quickly backtrack the way they came and quickly dove into a locker, just as the ghost girl passed them, breathing heavily and loudly which shook the locker they were both hiding in. They waited until they were sure the ghost had gone back to the last room it came from.

“Phew!” Sunset sighed. “That ghost is going to give me a heart attack.”

Knowing for certain the danger had passed, Tim and Sunset emerge from the locker and made their way down the hallway previously barred by the ghost girl. But much to their discomfort, they had to walk through a rain of blood dripping from the ceiling. Suns and Tim cringed in disgust.

“Urgh! I’m taking a long shower after this,” Sunset muttered.

“My sentiments exactly,” Tim nodded.

Upon reaching the end of the hall, they turn left toward a closed door and a passageway closed off by a rolled-up door. Sunset inspects the first wooden door, turning the knob to find it was locked tight in its frame.

“I think this is the way out,” Tim pointed to the rolled-up door.

Tim walks over toward a nearby switch and pushed the button. The roll-up door sprang to life, the engines roar loudly, and the gears slowly turn as the door is lifted until—

BANG!

“AH!” Sunset shrieked. “What the what!?”

The sudden explosion caught her by surprise, as Sunset found herself clutching her chest to ease her beating heart while she panted.

Tim turned to the switch to find it smoking, a small light bulb turned red. Shining his flashlight on the switch, he discovered the problem.

“The fuse blew out!” He stomped his foot in frustration. “We need to find another one quick, or we’re never getting out.”

“But where do we—Uh oh!”

Sunset’s ears perk up in alarm when she hears the familiar creaking, followed by the foul smell of blood. She and Tim turn around and see the wall bleeding, and a pair of hands thrust out, furiously tearing their way out.

“She’s coming back!” Sunset pointed in terror.

“Quickly! In the locker!” Tim pointed.

There were two lockers for each of them to hide and they did not hesitate to hide. They each watch through the vents as the ghost finally pulled herself free from the wall, crossing over toward their lockers. She pulls her boxcutter knife out from her pocket, sliding her finger across the hilt, making a somewhat death rattle.

Sunset and Tim could feel the hairs on the back of their necks stand on end, their teeth chatter as they anxiously watched the ghost draw closer and closer. With every step she took, it added to the frightful beating of their hearts. They were sure the ghost would catch onto their ruse, staring through the vents to find her prey. Sunset and Tim carefully and silently slid themselves lower in their lockers, hiding their faces from the vents, and silently praying for the ghost to leave them alone.

“I wanted to savor you!” The ghost sobbed, in a teary whisper.

The ghost slid her fingers across her boxcutter knife, clicking its blade in and out, before the sound of her footsteps walking away was heard, coupled with the sound of an opening door.

“Mr. Tim?” Sunset whispered. “Is the coast clear?”

“I think so,” The man replied. “Better take a look first.”

Standing up inside the locker, Tim looked through the vents finding the ghost nowhere in sight.

“Okay. I think it’s safe to come out now.”

Sunset and Tim exit their lockers to inspect the busted switch for the roll-up door.

“If I can get this to work, we can get out of here!” Tim analyzed. “If I know my engineering, there should be an engineer office close-by. I’ll bet you we’ll find the spare fuse in there.”

“You mean the one in there?” Sunset pointed.

Sure enough, a small fuse sat upon the desk of the tiny office, just through the other side of a grated wall.

“That’s the one!” Tim smiled.

Sunset pushed her arm through the grates, struggling to reach for the fuse.

“It’s no use,” She groaned. “It’s too far away!”

“I don’t expect either of us getting it that way, Sunset,” Tim shook his head, turning to a doorway. “We’ll have to go through there to get it.”

“In… there?” Sunset gulped frightfully.

Now Sunset Shimmer was not the sort of girl to scare easily. But after today, her teeth had been chattering as she stares worriedly toward the room where the ghost would be. She turned back through the grates, looking at the office, then back toward the doorway.

“We don’t have a choice, do we?” She sighed reluctantly.

“Nope…” Tim answered bluntly.

Very quietly, Tim and Sunset tiptoed toward the room, to find it was a library with shelves stocked with books, surrounding a few study tables in the room. Sunset and Tim hid behind a table and a few shelves, peeking cautiously as the ghost patrolled the room. Fortunately, she was unaware of their presence. Very carefully, Sunset and Tim crawl along the floor, careful not to be seen or heard by the murderous specter.

Peeking through the gaps in the bookshelves, Tim spots another door at the corner.

“That must be the other room we saw outside,” Tim pointed, facing Sunset. “You wait here; I’ll be back soon.”

The fiery girl’s eyes widen, her expression showing she was against the idea of being left alone with a ghost wandering the room. She turned her head, immediately ducking down, just as the ghost rounded the corner and walked towards them. Sunset and Tim slowly backed up as the ghost girl approached, before she turned and walked off in the other direction.

Looking toward the right, Sunset saw an open door leading to the bathroom.

“I’ll be in there,” Sunset whispered pointing. “Be careful, Mr. Tim.”

Tim nodded before he got up and went away, while Sunset took refuge in the bathroom. There were three stalls in the room: Two of them were closed, while the third in between was open. Even more disturbing was that one of the closed stalls at the far end had a pool of blood pouring out. Sunset cringed and fought the urge to throw up despite the overwhelming foul smell clogging her nostrils. Pinching her nose, she hid in the opened stall and slowly closed the door. It was there she happened upon another newspaper article.

“What’s this?”

Sunset didn’t have time to ponder when footsteps were heard. Sunset hoped Tim had come back, but to her dismay the creaking said otherwise. In alarm and out of impulse, Sunset locked the stall she was in, and pulled her feet up to stay hidden. She could hear the ghost sobbing, breathing heavily outside.

“Why did this happen to me?” The ghost sobbed.

The sound of her voice and her footsteps grew increasingly louder the closer she got to Sunset’s hiding spot.

“You said together forever… I wanted to savor you…”

Sunset shook her head violently, covering her ears with her hands. She huddled close within the bathroom stall, praying to Celestia the spirit would leave. But it was no use. The ghost girl sounded as if she was right in front of the stall.

“Come back… come back to me…”

At any moment, the girl could open the stall and catch her cornered prey. This would be the end for Sunset Shimmer, the very idea made it more frightening. She could feel her heart racing, beating loudly as a drum. To further her fright, the clammy cold touch of fear trickled up her spine, making her hair stand on end and her skin coated in goosebumps.

“Come back… come back to me…”

Suddenly, a low chanting was heard just outside the bathroom. Sunset looked down to see the ghost’s shadow leaving, as if to inspect the chanting itself.

Meanwhile, back with Tim, the man hid behind a bookshelf, carefully watching the ghost’s every moment and silently observing her patrol. For the moment, it seemed the ghost was pacing in circles around the tables in a counterclockwise pattern. Very quietly, Tim slinked his way across the floor to reach the bookshelves on the other side of the room, keeping himself hidden from the ghost, who continued her patrol. Making sure to stay out of the ghost’s sight, and very quietly, Tim snuck around the corner where he reached the door, finding it slightly ajar.

Turning to the left, he was relieved to spot a narrow hallway with rusty lockers on the left, a desk at the end of the hallway in front of him, where the fuse rested underneath the lights of a lamp, right next to a toolbox and a mess of devices.

“Great! Now I can fix the switch so Sunset and I can get out of here,” Tim said to himself.

Suddenly, the radio behind him suddenly went off and chanting was heard.

“Oh shit!”

Tim turned off the radio, but it was too late. His ears perk up in alarm to the sound of running footsteps coming toward the door. Without a doubt, the ghost was coming. Reacting fast, Tim opened one of the lockers and dove in, hiding himself from the ghost, as she entered, sliding her fingers across her knife, clicking it in and out.

“You said together forever,” The ghost hissed, sobbing.

The ghost walked across the locker, passing Tim who dared not to breathe. Just then, the sound of a book hitting the floor was heard outside, which caught the ghost’s attention and she quickly left the room.

“Oh no! Sunset!” Tim muttered.

He left the locker he hid in, peeking through the doorway and spots the ghost in the center of the room. She twists her head left to right, searching for the source of the noise.

“Where are you?” The ghost sobbed, clicking her knife. “Come back… come back to me!”

Once again, Tim crawled along the floor, ducking behind the bookshelves as he made his way back to the bathroom.

“Sunset?” He called out. “Are you in here? It’s me, Tim.”

“Dad?” Sunset whispered.

Tim turns to see the girl huddled behind a bookshelf, clutching a rolled-up newspaper in her hand.

“Sunset, thank goodness you’re okay,” Tim sighed in relief.

He did a double take when he realized what Sunset just called him.

“Did you just call me your ‘dad’?”

“Did I?” Sunset asked, flustered.

Wanting to stir away from the awkward moment, Sunset hastily tried to change the conversation.

“Did you get the fuse?”

“Got it right here,” Tim answered, clutching the fuse.

It was then Tim noticed the newspaper article Sunset was holding.

“What you got there?”

“Oh this?” Sunset held up the article. “I don’t know. But it has a picture of some strange objects on it. Like the dolls we found back in the previous rooms we’ve been in.”

“Really?”

Tim took a look at the paper and reads:

SHOCKING!! Witchcraft to Blame for Missing Student

September 30, 1996

The investigation team were shocked after finding satanic evidence inside the missing girl’s room. She has been missing since September 26… this shocking discover… (More on page 13)

Again, the story ended abruptly, with a few missing pages.

“Wait a minute,” Sunset gasped, having an epiphany. “Missing student… dark magic… stomachache…”

It didn’t take long before the fiery girl put it all together.

“Our ghost… she’s the missing girl!

“Well, she’s not missing anymore,” Tim grimaced, nodding. “Though as of right now, I’d prefer she stay that way for our sakes.”

“Guess we don’t have a choice now,” Sunset shook her head. “Let’s get out of here or we’ll be missing next!”

Tim nods in silent agreement, as he and Sunset left the library and raced back to the switch. Tim quickly unscrewed the blown fuse and replaced it with the newer one. Once the task was done, he pressed the button, causing the shutter to resume lifting. But because the engine roared so loudly, Tim and Sunset tensed in alarm, knowing the ghost must’ve heard that and would soon be upon them.

Once the gate was up, both Sunset and Tim ran down the hall only to find another shuttering barring their way at the other end, in a room painted greenish-blue.

“Are you kidding me?!” Sunset shrieked frustrated.

“Let’s hope this one won’t blow up like the last one,” Time remarked.

He was about to push the switch but stopped when Sunset discovered what appeared to be a tiny bird house.

“Hey Mr. Tim!” Sunset pointed out. “Check this out!”

“Huh?”

The man turned to see what the girl was pointing to.

“Huh… fancy that. You found a shrine.”

“A shrine?” Sunset asked. “You mean those things built for spirits?”

“Yep,” Tim answered. “To be honest, I never really took all that spiritual belief seriously. Not as much as my wife did. But, as of now, seeing is believing.”

Sunset peers down and picks up a small rolled metal amulet.

“What’s this?”

“Let me have a look,” Tim gestured.

Sunset gives him the amulet, shedding his light along the amulet and spots tiny magic words inscribed on it.

“I think I’ve seen one of these before. My friend Dew once told me about them. He said they’re most worn by men to protect them from evil forces. Also, it makes us look more attractive.”

“Really?” Sunset asked.

“Well, I don’t know about the last part,” Tim sighed, wearing the amulet along his left wrist. “But let’s hope this thing works.”

“What about me?”

“Don’t worry. If that ghost shows her face again, she’ll have to go through me to get to you.”

Both Sunset and Tim turn back toward the switch, which they pressed together. The roll-up door springs to life. Unfortunately, just as the door started to open, the familiar creaking was heard, as they turned to see the ghost emerge from another bloody portal in the wall. Worse still, there was no locker for them to hide in and they were completely vulnerable.

“C’mon! Faster! Faster!” Tim sad frantically.

He pressed the button repeatedly as the door slowly climbed up. The ghost pulled her upper body through, followed by a leg. Once the gate was up, both Tim and Sunset raced down the hall just as the ghost girl fully emerged from the portal. Unsheathing her knife, she released a nightmarish bloodcurdling scream and pursued the two.

“Leave us alone!” Tim called out toward the ghost.

But the ghost did not listen, and trouble laid ahead for both Tim and Sunset. Soon, they found themselves bombarded by random junk and flying objects hurled at them. Most likely manipulated by their bloody pursuer.

“Sunset, look out!”

But it was too late. A cart slid in their way, and Sunset crashed into it, tripping onto the floor as the ghost was catching up to them.

“C’mon, get up!” Tim said.

He frantically helped Sunset back on her feet and urged her to keep running, just as a cold touch of death grabbed him by the shoulder, and he turned around finding himself stabbed. The ghost girl finally caught up to Tim and repeatedly jabbed him with her boxcutter knife. He managed to fight back, flailing his arms about, struggling to pry her off him. While that happened, the amulet he wore suddenly glowed, as if by magic, making the knife bounce off his hand.

Sunset slid to a halt as she turned back to see Tim struggle against the ghost girl.

“Mr. Tim!” Sunset cried out.

Desperately seeking something to fight the ghost off, Sunset found a large, rusty metal rod. With a loud scream, she lunged towards the ghost girl, the rod in her hands, and she slammed it hard against the ghost’s head.

BAM!

“AUGH!!!”

Disoriented, the ghost girl clutched her smarted head, before Sunset proceeds to whack her again with the rod. She lands a front kick to her face, shoving the ghost away from her and Tim.

“C’mon! Let’s go!” Sunset shouts.

She places her hand along the man’s inflicted shoulder, as they made a desperate run towards the exit. By the time the ghost recovered from her head injury, they both vanished, and the ghost unleashed a loud screech, crying out in rage.