I patted Madelyn on the shoulder. "Madelyn, what's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?" I asked.
Madelyn looked around in terror. She grabbed my arm, her hands shaking uncontrollably. "Claire, did you feel someone walking around your bed just now?" she asked.
I pretended to be confused. I shook my head decisively. "No, I didn't. I slept soundly," I said.
Madelyn became even more distraught. But she couldn't say exactly what she saw. "But I just feel like there's something off about this house tonight," she said.
I turned on the light. I glanced at her phone lying on the bed. The screen was still on the surveillance page.
I smiled and helped Madelyn back to bed. "Don't be afraid. I heard that people with low energy might see things that aren't clean. We don't do bad things, so we don't need to fear ghosts knocking on our door," I said.
Madelyn noticed her phone was still on. She quickly stuffed it under the blanket. "I got it. Claire, you should go back to sleep!" she said.
The white figure continued to wander around the room.
I tried hard to hold back my laughter. I ignored him and went back to bed, lying down again.
My brother had climbed over from the balcony next door. He made Madelyn think the house was haunted.
The screams from the next room continued on and off until dawn. The figure finally started to retreat.
I had to admit, my brother was great at playing a ghost. He almost scared Madelyn out of her wits.
2
The next morning, Madelyn came into my room, looking exhausted. She took back the teddy bear.
I pressed down on her hand with dissatisfaction. "You just gave it to me yesterday, and now you're taking it back? That's so stingy!" I said.
Madelyn gave an awkward smile. "The manufacturer said there's a quality issue with the teddy bear. They asked me to return it and get a new one sent out," she said.
Such a poor excuse. Only Madelyn could come up with that.
I let go of her hand and lazily stretched. "I actually thought this teddy bear was nice. It made me feel like I had company and kept me warm at night. Why don't you try hugging it tonight?" I said.
Thinking about the scary experience from last night, Madelyn couldn't help but shiver. "I'd rather not. I'll just return it," she said.
She shook her head in disgust. She hugged the teddy bear and walked out without looking back.