“Addie,” Sophie said, her soft voice being carried in the wind. “I think I’m having second thoughts about this.” The sun shone dimly in the sky, just above the large trees surrounding them. 

Adaline glanced at her best friend, who had worry all over her face. It’s not like she could completely blame her for being anxious. They were currently at an abandoned and worn down cabin that just so happened to be in the middle of a forest. 

“It’ll be alright,” Adaline assured, flashing what she hoped was an encouraging smile back at her friend. Sophie did not seem to be convinced. Her eyebrows were furrowed, and her blue eyes narrowed down on the cabin. 

“Right,” Sophie mumbled uneasily. 

Again, it’s not like Adaline could fault Sophie, the cabin was large and made of oak logs. Its shingles were worn down and the windows were all broken. Ivy had grown all over the cabin, almost consuming it. 

Adaline cleared her throat, “Do you have the camera?”

Sophie nodded and pulled out a camera from her bag. It was the camera of Sophie’s father. One of his most prized possessions. If he found out that Sophie had “borrowed” it, to say the least, he would be furious. 

“Addie, promise me-”

“Yeah yeah yeah, when we get evidence of Pollux existing, you can get half of the credit,” Adaline quipped, knowing that wasn’t what Sophie wanted to hear. Sophie merely scowled at her.

“Annnnd I won’t damage the camera,” Adaline added once she saw Sophie’s face. 

With that, Adaline opened the door of the cabin, which let out a creaky sound and a cloud dust bigger than both of the girls. 

“Do you really think Pollux exists?” Sophie wheezed through the dust cloud. 

“Yeah,” Adaline said simply, then began to proceed through the cabin. It was even darker inside, the sunlight barely managing to light the cabin. She pulled out a flashlight and used that for better lighting. Although she had wanted to buy a mic, proper lighting equipment, and an actual camera for herself, it was all too expensive. It’s not like she could use her or Sophie’s phones either, as they were old and the camera quality was lacking, to say the least.

Thud! A stained and timeworn bookshelf fell on the floor with a thud, narrowly missing Adaline. She gripped the camera tightly, her eyes widening with surprise.

“What do you think? Pollux?” Addie asked Sophie, her eyes wide with surprise.

“This isn’t proof of a stupid ghost legend,” Sophie scowled. “It’s proof that we’re in a dangerous place and we can get hurt, let’s leave.”

Addie frowned, it’s not like anything too dangerous occurred. She was fine, no scratches or bruises. Moreover, how were they going to capture proof of Pollux if they left right now?

“We’ll be fine,” Addie declared, then dashed forward before Sophie could respond. She moved fast, her black boots hitting the creaky floor with large thuds. She could hear Sophie behind her, rushing to catch up.

Addie reached the basement door of the cabin, swinging it open and descending into the cellar. She switched on the light of the basement, which casted the place in an eerie light. Bang! Another sound. Suddenly, Addie was hit with a putrid smell, it was akin to the smell of a rotting roadkill. She covered her nose with one hand, and held onto the camera with the other. 

She looked around the room, which was dimly lit. It was full of vases, shelfs, and tables. It had clearly been used for storage once. 

“Let’s leave,” Sophie urged, finally having caught up with Addie. 

Crash! A large vase fell, shattering into hundreds of pieces. They scattered everywhere, hitting Addie in her legs. She yelped in pain, letting the camera fall onto the floor as her hands went to the cuts. 

Sophie gasped, immediately turning her full attention to Addie. 

“Are you okay?” Sophie asked, hurriedly taking off her sweater and offering it to Addie. 

“Yeah, I’m OK,” Addie muttered, wincing in pain. She turned her attention to the camera. It was still on, Addie realized. They could continue looking for evidence, and once they did find it, Addie would be set for life. 

“We should leave,” Sophie said. “You need to sanitize these cuts.”

“No! Look, we should still try to get evidence, the camera can still turn on,” Addie said, holding it up for Sophie to see. 

Sophie stared at Addie, flabbergasted. 

“I’m fine,” Addie insisted. “Look, it's my fault for not wearing jeans. So, let’s stay and try to-”

“No!” A voice reverberated throughout the cabin. Addie could feel the hair on her arms sticking upwards. She shivered, the teeth shattering. She glanced at Sophie, terrified. 

“Was that you?” Addie whispered to Sophie. Her friend simply shook her fearful face. 

At that moment, an ear splitting shriek was let out. Addie felt her ears pop, and ringing occur. She gasped, realizing what was happening. She clutched onto the camera and glanced at Sophie, whose face had been drained of color and eyes which looked like they were going to pop out of her head. Addie could feel her own heartbeat quickening, and her grip on the camera sliding due to sweat. 

She steadied the camera, fear and adrenaline coursing through her. She jumped up when she felt a light tap on her shoulder, until she realized it was Sophie.

“Y-you were right,” Sophie trembled, her body tense. “Pollux exists, but Addie, we need to leave now.”

Addie froze, she knew that Sophie wasn’t wrong but still.

“Let’s just try getting one photo-” 

“GET OUT!” The voice repeated, resonating throughout the cabin, making the whole thing shake. 

Loud thuds were heard at that moment, one coming right after the other. Then Bang! All the vases in the room fell towards the floor. Tables began to prop themselves up and fling themselves across the basement. Shelfs crashed into the floor, then were flung. All towards Addie and Sophie. 

Sophie grasped Addie, yanking her off her feet. Addie winced in pain, but said nothing. Instead, she matched Sophie’s pace and ran towards the basement stairs. They threw themselves out of the way from tattered tables and shelves. Their shoes crunched broken shards of glass.

Once at the stairwell, they ran up the stairs. Addie gasped, her lungs were on fire and her calves were in pain. She could still feel the cuts she had received earlier, and the many new ones she received once the vases fell to the ground. 

Still, she grit her teeth and frantically began taking pictures of everything she could, trying to get the ghost on film. 

“Addie,” Sophie yelled in panic, grabbing her and forcing her through the basement door just as a chair was thrown towards them. Just as Sophie shut the door, the chair made contact with it and a large thud could be heard.

They stopped for a moment, breathing heavily. Addie still gripped onto the camera. 

“Is it over?” Addie gasped. Right away, she was given her answer. The remaining glass on the windows shattered, scattering everywhere. Tattered rugs, couches, chairs, and other objects began to be flung towards the girls. 

Crash! A chair flung itself onto Sophie’s right leg. Sophie screamed, being tossed to the floor. 

“Sophie!” Addie grabbed her whimpering friend, pulled her off the ground. She swung her friend’s arm across her shoulder and marched through the chaos. 

She kept her grip on Sophie iron tight, not yielding to anything. She forced herself across the room, dodging chairs, shelfs, and other heavy objects thrown at them. 

Bang! A chair flung itself at Addie’s already weakened calves. Yet, she only grit her teeth and continued on, keeping her grip on Sophie. 

Eventually, Addie made it to the front door. She yanked the handle and swung the door open. She stumbled alongside Sophie down the stairwell and lost her footing, leading to them tumbling into thick prickly grass. Just as soon as they hit the ground, the front door slammed itself shut, and everything inside seemed to stop moving.  

Addie groaned, untangling herself from Sophie and picking herself up.  

“Sophie?” Addie asked, panic filling her voice. She looked down towards her friend, who appeared to be limp. 

Sophie groaned in response, her blonde hair covering up her face. Addie felt a sense of relief knowing that Sophie was at least alive. 

Addie picked herself up, ignoring the pain in her calves. 

“Sophie, I’m so sorry,” Addie blubbered, feeling tears filling up her eyes. 

“I’m so stupid-” That was all she could get out before she broke down into tears. She had gotten her best friend injured.

“It’s fine,” Sophie wheezed weakly, trying to get herself up. “We should go back, and take the camera back to my father.” 

Addie felt around her clothes and the grass. Then it dawned on her, she didn’t have the camera. She had been holding onto it tightly, and could have sworn it had been in her grasp. Could it have been Pollux that had taken it? 

No, that didn’t matter. What mattered the most was the fact that she had put her best friend in danger for something for no reason. No, even if she had gotten the video she wanted, she knew it would never have been worth it. 

“I-I don’t have it,” Addie admitted as she helped Sophie up from the grass. Her friend’s shoulder dropped and she frowned, staying silent. 

“We should go,” Sophie finally said. “I don’t think whatever is inside the cabin will like us staying any longer.” A gust of putrid air swept pass, seemingly in agreement with her statement.  

They leaned onto each other as they limped away from the old cabin.

“Sophie, don’t worry. I’ll tell your dad the truth and pay the camera back.” Addie said, attempting to ignore the pain she felt from her legs. 

Sophie stayed quiet for a bit before saying, “It was pretty expensive.”

“I know,” Addie replied. “It doesn’t matter how many jobs I’ll have to take on or how long I’ll have to save the money.”

“. . . Thanks.” 

“What for? I’m just taking responsibility for what I’ve done.”