The figure in the loft stepped fully into the light, camera in hand, a smug grin plastered across his face.

“Dylan?!” Clara shrieked.

Ethan’s jaw clenched. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Marcus, however, doubled over laughing. “Ohhhh this is beautiful. I knew it! Our friendly neighborhood prankster strikes again.”

Dylan, their childhood friend—the one who had “dared” them to explore the abandoned mansion in the first place—descended the stairs, waving the camera like a trophy.

“Relax,” he said, chuckling. “No ghosts. No curses. Just me, a couple of hired actors, some cheap special effects, and a whole lot of planning. You should’ve seen your faces!”

Clara gawked. “Actors?! Roses? Floating chandeliers?! WHAT?!”

Dylan smirked. “Projectors. Fishing wire. Smoke machines. A little YouTube DIY magic. Honestly, half of it was easier than it looked.”

Marcus clapped his hands together, still wheezing with laughter. “You turned a whole haunted mansion into a live-action soap opera just to mess with us?!”

“Not just to mess with you,” Dylan corrected. He raised the camera. “It was a test. Clara, Ethan—would you risk it all for each other? Would you face your worst fears? Would you marry each other in a cursed chapel if a ghost bride told you to? The people deserve answers!”

Ethan rubbed his temples. “You’re insane.”

Clara stomped her foot, glaring. “Do you have ANY idea what we just went through? I thought I was going to die!”

“That’s the point!” Dylan said proudly. “Fear makes the best reality TV. I mean, come on—it was romantic, it was scary, it was funny. You two went through an emotional rollercoaster and came out stronger. Well… except for the part where you nearly peed yourselves.”

Marcus snorted. “Correction: they nearly peed themselves. I only screamed once, and it was a manly scream.”

Ethan shot him a look. “You tripped over a mop bucket and cried for your mom.”

Marcus pointed a finger. “OBJECTION—out of context!”

Dylan, ignoring them, turned his lens back to Clara and Ethan. “But the big question remains… Clara, would you have done it? Would you have married Ethan on the spot to save him?”

Clara froze. The whole night’s terror replayed in her mind—the whispers, the shadows, Ethan dropping to his knees, ready to sacrifice himself. She looked at him, her eyes softening.

“…Yes,” she whispered. “I would have.”

Ethan smiled faintly, squeezing her hand. “And I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

Marcus gagged loudly. “Ugh, get a room. Preferably one that isn’t haunted.”

Dylan lowered the camera, satisfied. “Perfect. That’s the ending shot.”

But just as he said it—

The chandelier above creaked.

The roses on the altar rustled.

A cold wind whipped through the chapel.

Clara’s blood ran cold. “Dylan… please tell me this is another part of your trick.”

Dylan frowned. “Uh… no, that wasn’t me.”

Marcus froze. “Wait… if that wasn’t you…”

From the shadows behind the altar, a figure stepped forward.

Not Dylan.

Not an actor.

Annalise.

Her gown shredded, her face hollow again, her veil dripping with shadows.

Her voice slithered through the air.

“You played with my story,” she whispered. “Now you will be my story.”

The camera slipped from Dylan’s hands, crashing to the ground. His face drained of color. “Oh… oh no.”

Clara screamed. Ethan pulled her close. Marcus, for once, was speechless.

And Annalise smiled.

Then— She leaned forward and whispered:

“Just kidding.”

The ghostly form dissolved into glittering smoke. A recording played over hidden speakers: “Gotcha! Double prank. Love you guys, mean it.”

The smoke cleared, revealing… another projector.

Dylan blinked, dumbfounded. “…Wait. That… wasn’t me.”

Everyone turned slowly toward the flickering screen, where the words appeared in glowing white letters:

“THE END. Or is it?”

The chapel went dark.

Silence.

And then Marcus burst out laughing so hard he fell over a pew.

“That’s it,” he wheezed between gasps. “Best. Haunted. Date night. Ever.”

Clara groaned. Ethan facepalmed. Dylan looked like he was rethinking every life choice.

And somewhere, just maybe, the real Annalise laughed too.

...THE END...