"We can't back down now,
We're close to victory!
The game, we own it,
We're gonna beat the other team!"

The crowd cheered as the cheerleaders raised the spirits of the team. Today was the finals of the football match between the Rosemary High and the Maple High school. It was a bright sunny day that the town witnessed after days of rain.

"The Maple High is only one goal away from winning the championships." The commentator said through the mic. "John takes the ball from the captain of the Rosemary team and is moving towards the goal. Now it's all up to him. Will he be able to lead his school to the championships?"

"C'mon John! You can do it!" Someone in the crowd screamed. Hannah raised the #1 foam finger in air and Emily wore a red sweatshirt that read 'Go Maple High' while all the Maple students, their friends, and families on the bleachers cheered for The Maples as the coach yelled "C'mon team! You're close to winning!"

"You can do it, John!" Hannah motivated his brother as he was leading the ball into Rosemary High team's goal.

"The crowd is cheering for the Maples. Everyone has their hopes up high on John. The goalkeeper is in full form to not let the Maples win. John gets to pass through the defender and now It's all between the goalkeeper and John. With only 1 minute left on the clock, what will happen? Will the goalkeeper be able to block the ball or will John be able to score a goal? Everyone had their eyes glued to these two. John kicks the ball. The ball is high in the air. The clock's ticking, only 7 seconds left. This is the deciding moment. The goalkeeper reaches high to block the ball but the ball hits the net and it's a GOAL! The Maple High won the championships!"

Everyone on the field, on bleachers, on the sidelines screamed with joy as the cheers for the Maples filled the air.

"John!" Harry yelled out of joy running towards John, hugged and patted him. "Great job!"

Harry was John's best friend. They both met in middle school. Harry had helped John with the bully when the bully was trying to take away John's lunch and both were friends ever since.

The whole team raised John up in the air.

"That's our son!" The Jacksons whooped with pride.

----------

"So, what did you do with the stone?" Emily and Hannah were talking on the phone later that night.

"I thought, it would be best if we send it back to the church. Father Murphy said that the church is more careful about it now and that they bless the box every fortnight."

"Well, that's good. I think it's working, I mean, since that stone is gone, the good news is coming our way. Take today's victory, for example."

"Yup. Goooo Maplllllessss!"

Both the girls giggled.

John's room was next to Hannah's. He was on the phone with Harry. Harry and John were neighbors but still, sometimes both of them prefer to talk on the phone or text. Both the boys were talking about the match.

"Way to go John! We won the championship!" Harry said proudly through the phone.

"The victory is because of all of us - you, me, and the team."

"But really, only 7 seconds were left and I swear, my heart was literally pounding through my chest. "

"Guess our training paid off!"

"Hey, John! So, when are you coming?" Harry asked after a slight pause.

"Where?" John sounded confused.

"You forgot? Hannah told me that you told her to tell me that you will come to my house for the celebration!"

"Huh? I don't think I did. But wait."

" Hannah?" John yelled through his room. Since their rooms were next to each other, if they yell, both of them could hear what the other one was saying.

"What?" Hannah yelled back.

"Did you call Harry to tell him that I was going to come to his house?"

"Nope. I did not call Harry."

"OK."

John put the phone near his mouth and said to Harry, "I think there has been some misunderstanding. Hannah did not call you."

"Not a possibility, dude. I got a call from your house's caller ID."

"Who was it?"

"Don't know. It sounded like a little girl. But it was so creepy. "

"What she said?"

"Just the general that you'll be coming over and then the call ended but before she hung up, she told me to watch out when the lights go out and then I heard her laughing and giggling. It was so creepy."

"If it wasn't Hannah, who was it? Nobody else was in my house."

There was a moment of silence and then John couldn't hear Harry's voice anymore.

"Harry? Harry! Are you there?"

"Yeah. It's just, the lights went out. But the weird thing is that the fuse is alright."

"But mine and the rest of the neighborhood's lights are still on," John said while pulling the curtains and looking through every house.

Suddenly, when he laid his eyes on Harry's house, he saw someone's shadow. He squinted his eyes as much as he could in order to see any person to whom the shadow belonged to but no one was there. As it was dark around Harry's house with the only source of lighting being the neighboring houses, he could only figure out that it was a little girl's shadow. He saw as the shadow lurked around Harry's house and then the back door of Harry's house opened.

"Harry? Are you there?"

"Yes. But the lights are not."

"Did you or anyone in your family just open your back door?"

"No. Why?"

John mouthed the word 'what' as he stood there near the window shocked because he could not figure out how did the door open when he saw no hands touching the knob.

"Hey! It's the same giggling and laughing that I heard on the phone."

At one second, John saw the shadow lurking through the walls and the next second, he saw an apparition of a little girl through the kitchen window as only the kitchen lights kept flickering in an odd manner while the rest of the house was still in darkness.

Suddenly, the kitchen curtains moved to one side and John saw the little girl staring right into his eyes. Her eyes were not like any normal human's eyes but it was all white and red.

John just froze in his spot. He wanted to move but he felt as if his legs were paralyzed out of fear. His breath stuck. He felt like her stares were piercing his soul.

The girl gave a sinister smile to John and then the lights of the kitchen went out leaving the whole house in complete darkness as Harry's screams filled the entire neighborhood.