Tina whipped around to see who had touched her, but to her surprise, there was no one there.
“What is it?” Amanda asked, her usually calm eyes wide.
Tina looked around curiously. "That's strange, I could have sworn I felt a hand on my shoulder."
Amanda looked alarmed, but spoke steadily. "What kind of touch was it?"
“What do you mean?”
“Was it like a cold chilling touch? Or like an electric shock? Or did it feel like your soul was being-”
“My what? No, it was just like a normal hand or something.”
“Let me see.” She motioned for Tina to remove her jacket. After a quick inspection, Amanda murmured. “Looks fine…” She then began to pepper Tina with questions.
“What is your name?”
“Huh? Tina. You know th-”
“Who is your master?”
“Uhh, you mean Jesus?”
“How many eyes do I have?”
“Two… I think?“
“How many do you have?”
“Definitely two.”
Look at this symbol, what does it mean to you?” Amanda held up a small notebook with what looked like random squiggles drawn on it.
“It looks like random lines.”
Amanda relaxed. “Okay, I think you’re good.”
“What was that all about?”
“Just making sure you’re not under the influence of some cosmic horror entity.”
Even after all this time being friends, sometimes Tina still had no idea what Amanda was talking about. She rubbed her shoulder, still feeling unsettled. "It seemed so real..." As the two girls scrutinized their surroundings, everything remained still and silent; there was no sign of anyone else besides them.
Amanda broke the silence, “Shall we continue?”
As they took the first steps up the porch, Tina shuddered, still feeling nervous. "I don't like this Amanda, I really think we should go."
Amanda's eyes betrayed her desire to explore the house, but she nodded. Tina’s wellbeing was more important. "I see, let’s not push it for today."
Tina breathed out in relief. Her black clad friend put a comforting hand on her shoulder, though her face remained impassive. As the girls walked back down the steps, she smiled gratefully. "Sorry! I know you called me out here specifically for this."
"No, it’s important to be aware of your feelings and react accordingly."
With that, the pair turned away from the ominous house. However, as they made their way through the woods, Tina's sense of unease persisted.
"Amanda, are you sure we're going the right way?" she asked.
Amanda frowned. "The path we took should be straight this way, but the totems I left are gone."
“In English please.”
“It might mean that…”
Suddenly, the two stopped in their tracks. "Look!" Tina cried, pointing ahead. Emerging between the tree trunks was the all-too-familiar sight of the looming mansion. "That's impossible! We were walking away from the house!"
“An unnaturally looping location…” Amanda whispered. “Some force must be deliberately keeping us here.”
"What do we do?" Tina asked anxiously.
“We must find the source of this power and confront it. Most likely in there.” Amanda pointed to the mansion.
“I was afraid you would say that.” Tina sighed.
“Be confident in yourself.” Amanda encouraged in her droll voice, “You’re the tickling expert after all.”
“I’m not…” Tina started, but then sighed again. The two girls cautiously approached the front door again. Finding no doorbell, Tina took hold of the ancient looking knocker. She looked at Amanda, who only nodded. With a deep breath, Tina pulled back the ring and knocked twice at the door.
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