The Bound

Chapter 1

"Okay, here we go," you say into the camera of your phone as you push open the heavy front door. The hinges shriek, unused to movement, and the sound echoes around the interior of the dilapidated old house. 

"One night in the old haunted house in my hometown. I'll be updating throughout the night, but for now I'm signing off," you whisper with a grin. "Horror makes it better!" 

And with your catchphrase uttered, you end the live feed to your channel and heave a sigh, looking around.

The old house had stood at the far end of town forever, always empty, always dark. There'd been rumors that it was haunted, as people have seen all sorts of small, strange happenings when they've explored it, but nobody was ever really brave enough to stick it out.

That's where you came in. Horror fan and online personality, you spent time investigating supposed haunted places or buildings, checking out myths and urban legends, and even once in while tackling the odd local cryptid. But this was the one thing you'd wanted to do since starting your channel, and you were positively buzzing with excitement about it.

"Okay, so... top floor or bottom floor first...?" You flick your flashlight upstairs and jump slightly when you see something move. Upon closer attention, it turns out to be a very dusty scrap of tapestry, and you sigh.

One by one, you check all the rooms in the house, trying to find any sort of strange activity or unusual things. Other than generalized creaking floors, a strangely furnished bedroom, and what looked like some messy graffiti, there wasn't much of anything. A bit discouraged, you take a bit of B-roll footage and some pictures of the rooms for a video you'd make later for your channel. After, you head back to the foyer and consider your options. You pull out your phone and type out a quick text update and post it:

>Not much going on right now, but this place is definitely creeptacular. Here's hoping the spooks come out at midnight!

You clear a small space in the center of the foyer and set up 'camp': basically just a backpack, camping lantern, and sleeping bag. You knew you weren't sleeping, though; this place was seriously too creepy for that, even without supernatural goings-on. Still, it gave you a clean place to sit.

An hour passes as you sit there in the dim space, listening as the wind groans through broken windows and the house creaks menacingly. You swear you keep seeing something out of the corner of your eye, but every time you turn to look, there's nothing. A low roll of thunder sounds in the distance, and you shiver. Even though nothing was happening, it was somehow the fact that nothing was happening that made you uneasy. Your breath begins to appear before your lips, and you realize that the temperature had dropped significantly. Rather than continue to freeze, you unzip your sleeping bag and lie down inside, keeping the side open... just in case.

Staring up at the ceiling, you notice small holes in the roof, with stars visible above. But as you watch, they disappear, one by one, as heavy black clouds spread across the sky. You blink your eyes rapidly, trying to dispel the drowsiness coming over you. Maybe getting in the sleeping bag wasn't the best idea...

—

You sit bolt upright as an explosively loud crash of thunder rocks the house. Looking around, you see that everything is how you left it, and sigh as the thunder fades. There wasn't any water dripping from the roof, so it seemed that it was a dry storm. Rubbing your eyes, you crawl out from your sleeping bag and drag your backpack toward you, intent on getting a drink from the bottled water you'd brought.

Only your pack wasn't cooperating.

"What, are you stuck? Stupid thing," you say grumpily, heart still racing from your unhappy awakening. It suddenly comes loose as you tug harder, and you topple over backward.