//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4: Hopeless Circle 
// Story: Game Quest: Home Sweet Home episode 1 
// by Phantom-Dragon 
//------------------------------//

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…