Hello, everyone.

EPISODE: THE HOUSE OF NO RETURN

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

It was a crippling ache in the pit of his stomach, punching him over and over and consuming his entire being. It hurt and bugged him, but it wasn't a physical kind of hurt, unless you count the churning of his stomach. He tried to forget, but nothing worked. The feeling grabbed onto him and refused to let go.

Chris felt guilty.

Sure, Lori, Robbie, and Nathan had played a trick on him by locking him in that creepy house that was appropriately named The House Of No Return, but they hadn't actually believed the house was haunted. If they did, they would've pulled him out in three seconds; Chris knew that.

And yet, he was leaving three kids to the mercy of two ghosts that had almost captured Chris and taken his life. If he hadn't made that deal, he'd be dead.

He was alive, but only because three kids- three stupid, mean kids, but still innocent over all- had taken his place.

Chris felt sick just thinking about. Sure, he wasn't the one that pushed them off of the platform with ropes around their necks, but he might as well have tied their nooses and signed their death warrants.

Could he really live with himself knowing that he had walked away from three kids in grave danger to save his own skin? Would life even be worth living knowing he'd indirectly killed three people?

Answer: No

Chris turned on his heel and headed back in the direction of the House Of No Return, looming over him, like it was a monster itself and didn't simply house monsters (could ghosts be considered monsters?). The moon shined down on him, but it was hardly enough light to see his own shoes by, much less anything more than two feet in front of him. His heart thundered inside his chest, and sweat poured down his cheeks.

Leaves crunched beneath his shoes as he approached the back door of the house, and his hand rested on the doorknob.

Let's do this, he thought before opening the door, wincing at the creak.

He could hear the cackles of the ghosts on the other side of the house, and he could just barely detect the shaky breathing of the three danger-seekers (if they could be called that).

Floorboards murmured beneath his feet as he approached the back of the house, and he pressed his ear against the unlocked door, flinching at the harsh laughter the ghosts gave. It sounded like nails on a chalkboard.

Chris pushed the door open, slowly. Luckily, this was one of the few doors in the house that didn't creak. He peered inside at the terrified teens.

Robbie noticed him, immediately, and his eyes widened as he grasped Lori's hand. Lori and Nathan followed his gaze, and relief filled their expressions. The ghosts were too busy basking in their own victory to notice.

"What if…" Robbie stammered, "We could give you-"

Chris mouthed three words, and Robbie voiced them.

"-your child back."

Chris had seen something on his way out of the house. The face of unfamiliar little girl peaking around the corner. She wore clothes from the 1900s, like the other ghosts, and she looked so sad and terrified.

The ghosts abruptly stopped laughing.

"Don't joke with us, boy," the male ghost snarled.

"We're not!" Nathan assured him.

"Yeah, we can give you your daughter back. Right?" Lori said with a pointed look at Chris.

"We can," Chris said, stepping into the room and making his presence known. "in exchange, you release us all and never try to take another child again."

"If you give us our daughter back, we'll leave this plane for good," the woman said. "That's the only reason we haven't left. Do you think we want to haunt this house? We don't. We've been waiting for our daughter for years, but we could never find her."

"She's scared of you," Chris said. "She's in the house. I saw her. But she's scared to see you because, well, you're capturing children. That kind of speaks for itself."

"What should we do?" the father asked, and for the first time, Chris saw what must've been his former self shine through.

"Act like you did when she was alive. Call for her. Tell her you love her and that you won't be scary anymore," Chris advised.

Chris was just making this up as he went along. He just prayed it worked.

The father nodded before glancing at the door. Chris stepped to the side, and the ghost swallowed before opening his mouth.

"Emily!" he called (I don't think they ever mentioned the daughter's name in the episode, so I made one up). "Emily, it's Daddy!"

Nothing.

"We won't be scary anymore!" her mother cried. "I promise! Please we just want you to come back to us, baby."

Nothing. The ghosts slowly turned towards the living children, anger leaking into their expressions.

But then a floorboard creaked, and simultaneously, they all turned towards the door.

For a moment, there was nothing. No sound. No voice. No ghost.

And then…

"Mommy? Daddy?" a dainty voice sounded, and a girl crept around the corner. She couldn't have been more than three or four.

The parents fell to their knees, and the ghost girl dove into their arms.

"Thank you," the mother sobbed, staring at Chris. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. Now, we have to go!" Chris rushed to say before him and his companions rushed out the back door.

"You came back for us," Nathan said.

"Even though, we tricked you," Robbie added.

"I wasn't going to," Chris admitted, "but I felt guilty. You may be on the mean side, but you don't deserve that." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the house.

"We're sorry," Lori said. "Can we start over?"

Chris wanted to say no, but these kids had just been scared to death (almost literally). It was worth a shot to see how an experience like that could change them from risk taking, adventure seeking, trouble making kids to something else entirely. Maybe even friendly…

Chris held out his hand. "I'm Chris."

"I'm Lori, and this is Robbie and Nathan. It's nice to meet you…"

Chris didn't expect himself to feel guilty when he abandoned the three kids who tricked him in a haunted house with two ghosts. After all, they'd gotten themselves into that mess. But he decided that feeling guilty, which resulted in him putting himself in danger once again, was better than feeling no remorse at all. After all, humans are meant to feel. God made us that way.

And if you feel nothing, you're not human.

Thanks for reading! Bye!