It was Lucas's idea in the first place. He had come over to the lunch table, smirking like he usually was, but there was a devilish glint in his eyes.

"What's everyone doing this weekend?" He said with a grin, sitting down next to Jason.

"Why?" Matt asked cautiously, never the one to take risks.

"Oh, nothing," Lucas said casually. "Just that I found out about a supposedly haunted house near here that we should all totally check out. And spend the night in."

The table was quiet for a moment while everyone mulled it over.

Peter was the first to break the silence. "Why not. I'm in if Jason's in. I love scary things," he smiled innocently at Jason.

Jason shrugged. "I'm not scared of anything," he said with a pointed look at Peter. "I'm in too."

The rest of the group murmured affirmations of "me too" and "why not". All except for Matt.

"You're coming, aren't you, Matt?" Ivy turned to him, her eyes wide. "I need someone there to protect me," she bit her lip and gently trailed a finger down his arm.

Matt sighed. "Alright. But if we get into any trouble..."

"Come on, Matt," Lucas laughed. "It's not like it's actually haunted. It's just an old, abandoned house. The scariest thing about it is that it probably has rats."

"I'm not sure if this was such a good idea," Matt whispered nervously, leaning forward and examining a dusty old painting.

Lucas laughed. "Relax, Matty-kins. This isn't a scary movie or a TV show or something. We're all going to come out of here just fine. You're just afraid," he smirked.

"I am not!" Matt protested. "It's just that, um, you never know what could be here. There could be diseases or something."

Lucas made a face. "You're being a pussy."

Nadia snorted when suddenly, there was a loud creaking noise. Peter grabbed Jason's hand and dropped it almost immediately, the two of them sharing a look while Peter anxiously wiped his palms on the legs of his pants. Ivy let out a quiet shriek, grabbing onto the nearest person, which happened to be Nadia, who didn't display any fear on her face but was holding Ivy just as tight. Even Lucas paused briefly.

Tanya rolled her eyes. "I swear, Lucas, if this house is legit haunted and we get killed, I am so breaking up with you."

Lucas shook his head. "Come on, guys. It's an old house. They make noises like that."

"Right," Peter said, nodding slowly and stepping closer to Jason.

Matt took in a deep breath. "I never thought I'd say this, but Lucas is right. It's probably just a psychological thing. We're expecting there to be someting terrible in here, but in all reality, it's just a really old house."

Lucas smirked. "See? Nothing to be afraid of here."

Somewhere in the house, a voice laughed.

Tanya shook her head, muttering about Lucas and how this was so dumb and how he owed her big time. She thought she heard a noise and her head snapped up, realizing she was alone. "Guys?" She said weakly. Even though she was complaining, the thought of being alone in a supposedly haunted house kind of freaked her out. "Ivy? Peter? Lucas?"

She heard someone breathing and turned around relieved. "Oh Jesus, I thought-" Her eyes widened.

"Matt?" She called out, backing up. "Nadia? Jason? You guys? This-this isn't funny..." she stumbled backwards, a dark figure approaching her slowly.

She let out one last plea of "Lucas!" before everything went black.

"Just chaperoning to make sure Matt doesn't say anything stupid to Ivy," is what Nadia informed Matt and Ivy before she joined them in exploring the house. Matt was slightly disappointed; he had been hoping to be alone with Ivy and maybe she would get scared so he could be there to protect her. Ivy was just disappointed that Nadia was with them. "And making sure Ivy doesn't get lost and end up fucking a ghost in a closet."

"Okay, that wasn't even funny," Ivy rolled her eyes, taking a step closer to Matt. "Nadia, have you visited the kitchen yet? You should. I know the food will probably be super old, but that never stopped you before, has it?"

"Oh come on, you kiddies need someone to watch over you," Nadia nodded seriously, squeezing her way between them and slinging her arms over their shoulders. "Isn't this so fun? Lucas has the best ideas."

"I'm pretty sure in his entire life, Lucas has not had one good idea," Matt joked, glancing around nervously.

Ivy laughed loudly, shooting a look at Nadia. "Let's just head back and find the rest of the guys," she paused to check her phone, and when she looked up, Matt and Nadia weren't there. "Matt?"

"I-Ivy," Matt choked out, somewhere down the dark hallway. "Y-you, uh, you might wanna check this out..."

Ivy sighed impatiently, turning around and following the sound of Matt's voice. "What is it? It's already freaky enough here, can we just find everyone else, and-" she paused and let out a piercing shriek.

Nadia was lying on the floor, a twisted grin on her face and a knife stuck in her back.

"Matt. Matt, we've gotta get out of here," Ivy was gripping his hand so tightly that her nails drew blood from his palm.

"I know, Ivy," Matt swallowed nervously, looking around for an escape.

"Matt," Ivy repeated urgently. "We need to go. Now."

"I'm trying!" Matt said, his chest filling with anxiety.

Ivy grew impatient of his looking, realizing that if they wanted to make it out alive, she would have to take charge, and started blindly running, pulling him behind her.

"Where are we going?" Matt asked, adrenaline coursing through his veins.

"Out!" She yelled, praying they would make it out alive. Suddenly, she stopped.

"Please tell me that's you breathing on my neck," she said in a dead whisper. Matt could only find the strength to shake his head. Her grip on his hand tightened. "Matt."

"How cute," a voice that came from somewhere unknown cooed. Something shiny darted out and Ivy's hand fell from Matt's grip, blood leaking out from her neck onto the floor, eyes still wide open and terrified.

"Ivy," Matt choked out. Laughter came from somewhere around him.

And then he was on the ground, too.

"Are you scared, Jason?" Peter teased, giggling. "Is that boogeyman gonna get you?"

"Shut up," Jason laughed, playfully shoving Peter. "I'm not scared. I'm never scared."

"Right," Peter nodded. He frowned slightly, trying to look around, but the hallways were poorly lit. "Where'd everybody go, anyway?"

"Who cares?" Jason smirked, stepping closer. "We're alone," he kissed Peter, placing his hands on his waist.

"And you're afraid," Peter laughed again, pulling his head slightly back to grin at Jason. "Scaredy-cat."

"I am not!" Jason protested. "It's called being cautious."

"Let's just get out of here," Peter suggested. "We could leave now and no one would notice."

"Nope," Jason said firmly. "I don't quit. McConnell's never quit. Or lose. Just 'cause you wanna wimp out," he poked him in the side.

"I'm not wimping out."

"Neither am I."

They stared at each other before they ended up kissing more, which neither of them really minded anyway. After a while, Jason broke away, a slightly anxious look on his face.

"Did-did you hear that?" He glanced over Peter's shoulder.

"You're so paranoid," Peter smiled slightly. "It's not actually haunted, you know. You're a wimp."

Jason shook his head. "No, Peter, I'm serious. I thought I heard screaming."

Peter shrugged. "Maybe the atmosphere is messing with you."

"Or maybe he's right," an airy voice that seemed to be coming from all around them answered, and suddenly, Peter was gone.

"Peter?" Jason jumped back, looking around frantically. "This isn't funny, come on, Peter. Come back. I promise, we can watch whatever one of those dumb musicals you want. I'm sorry, Peter, please, this isn't funny."

"Just because you asked," the mysterious voice was back, and so was Peter, looking terrified. Peter launched himself into Jason's arms, breathing heavily.

"I love you, I love you, I love you," Peter mumbled a hundred times. Jason was too weak to do anything but nod.

"Let's get out of here," Jason started to say, but was cut off by a shrieking laugh.

"Not so fast," the voice said again, seeming to giggle while speaking.

Jason looked up, bewildered. The voice sounded almost familiar. But before he could say anything about it, Peter was torn from his arms again, and the last thing he saw was Peter's frightened face.

And this time, Peter was shoved back into his arms, his body limp. Jason held him up by the shoulders, his hands instinctively retracting when he felt something wet. Horrified, he realized it was blood. Peter's blood. The front of his shirt was dark and damp, and Jason slid to the floor, cradling Peter's lifeless body in his arms.

He was like that for God knows how long, staring at Peter, holding Peter, blood getting all over his clothes, and it was Peter's blood, Peter's blood on Peter's shirt and his pants and his neck and Jason's shirt and pants and hands, and in staring at Peter's slack face, Jason wasn't scared anymore.

He stood up slowly, legs shaking. "I'm not scared anymore," he called out. "Kill me. I don't care. Whoever you are, whatever you are, come kill me. I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid."

His last thought was I love you.

Lucas thought it would be fun. He thought he could have a fun time with his friends, maybe play a few dumb pranks on them, and they'd all make it back to St. Cecilia's safe and sound the next day.

What really did happen, no one knew. He never spoke of it. He came back to school nervous and jittery, the complete opposite of his usual self, and no amount of drugs could calm him down. In fact, he never touched drugs again. He spent the majority of his free time in the school's chapel, praying. He went home on the weekends, and there were rumors of him visiting a therapist back where he was from. All sorts of rumors floated around. Rumors that he was crazy, that he had killed them all. Everyone was itching to know who had done it.

But still, people thought it was weird how every morning, Diane Lee would grin brightly at Lucas and say "Good morning!" She would laugh gently, as if she knew something no one else did. Lucas would never say anything, just walk away.

Until one day, instead of the normal, Diane leaned in to whisper something in his ear. No one ever knew what she said. All they knew was Lucas went crazy. He started yelling and cursing and shoving her. Diane shrieked in terror, and Sister Chantelle came and dragged him away.

No one saw Lucas again. He ended up in some far-off mental hospital, refusing to take any visitors from St. Cecilia's. He talked to himself, muttering things about his friends and what happened, but only in broken fragments.

Diane simply laughed.