The group goes door to door

Outside, they began knocking on doors along the street, hoping someone might know more about the mysterious lot. Most of the homeowners were unhelpful, offering little more than confused looks or polite apologies. Finally, they reached a small, well-kept house where an elderly woman answered the door. She smiled kindly at them.

"Hello, dears. Can I help you with something?" she asked, her voice warm but curious.

"Yes, ma’am," Mia began, stepping forward. "We’re trying to learn more about the empty lot down the street. Do you know anything about it?"

The old woman adjusted her glasses. "Well, I remember it used to be a huge house—a mansion, almost—owned by some rich guy. But it burnt down in the '90s, and the property’s been for sale ever since."

"If you saw a picture of the house, would you recognize it?" Dakota asked, her tone hopeful.

"Oh, of course, dear," the woman said, nodding.

Mia pulled up the screenshot on her phone and showed it to her.

The woman’s eyes widened. "That’s the one! Where’d you get that picture?"

"Um, from the Save-A-Lot’s security footage... from Thursday," Mia said hesitantly.

"What?" the old woman asked, her voice sharp with disbelief. "The footage can’t have any record of that house—it was demolished years ago!"

"Look at the timestamp," Mia said, holding the phone closer.

The old woman leaned in, squinting. "Well, I’ll be... How is this possible? You kids didn’t fake this to scare an old lady, did you? Because that’s not very nice."

"No, ma’am," Aaron said earnestly. "We wouldn’t do that. But can you tell us anything else about the house or the people who lived there?"

"I’m sorry, but not much," she said, shaking her head. "The people were recluses, and the house was so big and intimidating. It’s a shame. That house had been there for decades, but the fire was awful. No surprise it was demolished."

"Thank you so much for your time," Mia said, stepping back.

"Anytime, dear," the woman said with a smile. "But you youngsters should get back home before it gets dark—the news said it’s gonna rain."

The group thanked her and left, making their way back to Seth’s place.

Once inside, they sat around the living room, piecing together what they’d learned.

"So, it’s some kind of spirit? A ghost?" Mia asked, breaking the silence.

"Or some kind of energy being," Aaron suggested, leaning forward. "Who’s to say it’s just a spirit?"

"I can’t believe we’re even entertaining the possibility that ghosts are real," Claire muttered, rubbing her temples.

"How else do you explain it, though?" Seth countered. "A building appearing and disappearing—and not only that, but we went inside and now have lasting consequences."

"What about aliens? Some kind of breeding experiment to test human mating abilities?" Aaron said, half-serious.

"That’s ridiculous," Dakota said, rolling her eyes.

"Is it?" Aaron shot back. "So we can entertain ghosts but not aliens?"

"Well, what about some sort of a government experiment?" Mia suggested, her voice uncertain.

Seth shook his head. "The house fucking appeared and disappeared. The government isn’t powerful enough to do that."

"Everyone calm down," Claire said, holding up her hands. "It’s late. Us freaking out isn’t going to help. Let’s get a good night’s rest and discuss more tomorrow."

The group reluctantly agreed, exchanging tired goodbyes as they headed out. Seth shut the door behind them and locked it. The quiet of the place settled around him, and he rubbed his eyes, trying to shake off the remnants of exhaustion from this stressful situation they’ve found themselves in. He stumbled up the stairs slowly and fell into his bed.

Seth laid in bed, his erection refusing to go away, yet he was mostly worried about what the next day might bring and any more interactions he may have with childbearing-aged women. It was a struggle to fall asleep, but eventually, he was able to drift away.