My family celebrates weddings in a big way. To celebrate, everyone comes from far and wide. It was on one such day, that my cousins and I decided to conduct a test.

There were four of us, Peter, John, Elizabeth and me, Lise. We'd all agreed to the fact that the little hall on the first floor of my grandparents' house was creepy. In fact, the whole first floor gave you the chills during night.

So the four of us drove away the three little ones and made sure that no one was in the hall. People were passing the room, but no one entered it. The eldest of us, Peter, who was about sixteen led us to the top. Each of us clutched a picture of Christ in our hands. We switched off the light and gently closed the door, but not before Peter lit the candle in his hand.

The room had doors on both sides, the one which we entered facing the spare bedroom, and the other one parallel to our door facing the terrace. Two windows were right next to each of the doors. There was a large sofa near to the door leading to the terrace.

With Peter in front, we crept up to the sofa. I stuck close to Peter, because he is the eldest and the only person who is not as terrified as me. He is six years elder to me. John was the youngest, but we did not have quite a year between us. Elizabeth is a year elder to me and she is a direct sister to Peter.

I sat between Peter and Elizabeth, so I was quite comfortable. Peter set the candle on the floor. We raised our legs and kept them up on the sofa.

For the next half hour, we were terrified and we were feeling stupid. Peter kept saying to the candle, 'If there is a ghost, please make the flame shake.'

Then I said, 'Ghost, if you are really here, make then candle flame shake.' The flame stood still for a second, and then started to shake and shiver. John let out a squeak. I gulped.

'It must be the wind.' I suggested. Elizabeth gave a small nod, like she was trying to reassure herself. All of us were trying to believe that there was no ghost.

That's when John noticed, that the window facing the terrace was slightly open. He pointed it out to us. We all laughed, but immediately quietened down.

I caught sight of the empty clothesline. 'If there is a ghost, please shake the clothesline... violently.' I stammered.

'Don't use the word 'violent', Li, it might cause some very bad things.' Peter whispered. I nodded. The candle was still shaking. Finally, John mustered his courage and said, 'If there's a ghost, open one of the doors.' We stared at him in horror. Nothing happened though. We breathed a sigh of relief.

SPLACK! The door opened and a figure stood in the doorway. Elizabeth screamed. So did I.

We had company.

One of our cousins stood framed in the doorway. 'It's time for dinner.' He announced. I nearly cried in relief. Peter gave each of us a hug.

We descended the steps in silence. Although John's face was expressionless, I could see him clutching his shirt. I knew he was terrified. All of us were.

As we sat down to dinner, I recalled the events of the past hour. I remembered Peter speaking, the clothesline, John's squeak and his request. Worst of all,the candle shaking. I remembered the window and smiled at my porridge. I remembered the moment when John pointed out the open window. I'd looked from the window to the candle several times. I kept smiling at my porridge bowl. That's when I remembered something vital. I kicked Peter under the table. 'Bedroom. After finishing. All of us.' He looked puzzled, but nodded.

After all of us were done, we rushed to the bedroom. I sat on the bed, and invited John to sit near me. 'You do remember how the window was open, and the candle shook?' I asked. They all nodded. I continued, 'I was noticing in which direction the flame moved.' Peter nodded. 'Well, if the window was open and a breeze was coming, isn't the flame supposed to move away from the window? But our flame, well... it.. it... was moving towards the window.'

There was a stony silence. 'Well,' Peter said, trying to lighten the mood. 'Only one way to find out.' John gulped.

***

In about ten minutes, we were back in position. Peter made sure that the window was tightly closed and locked. Peter began asking the candle to shake.

I watched the candle flaming shaking. And I shivered as a cold gust of wind tickled my back. Wait a minute... cold gust of wind? All the windows were closed and locked.

We all heard it. A creak, and a sound as if someone was opening a door. All our heads simultaneously turned towards the terrace door.

The door whispered in.

We had company.

***