1- The Expedition
I grab the keys from my purse as I walk slowly up to the dingy looking house, with its gray walls and dead oak trees surrounding the premises. I slowly put the key in the lock, half scared the lock would break even with the slightest breath.
As I turned the lock, the click of the bolt sounded like a gunshot, echoing through the neighborhood and I felt goosebumps as I pushed open the heavy, creaking door and I took a shaky and cautious step inside.
The first thing that hit me was the smell. It made me lurch forward and my eyes water at the horrid stench of what appeared to be rotting flesh. Behind that smell was the smell of dust and mildew. I stumbled around, trying to find a lightswitch in this dark abyss when I felt my hand grope a lightswitch on the wall near a broken picture.
I flicked the switch and I expected the light to illuminate this dark place, but all I got instead was even more darkness as I looked around for a flashlight or a candlestick.
I decide to head to the kitchen to find a flashlight so I walked along a dark corridor, stepping lightly and cautiously to prevent any injuries. I mean, come on. In a place as dark as this, there is no way a person could walk through here without any trouble.
The farther I went down the long corridor, the longer I wished I had stayed home instead of taking up on my mother’s offer to go explore the house today before any other customers went ahead and bought the house instead of me.
Yes. Me. I was supposed to buy this house considering my Grandfather had put me on his will to make sure I inherited the house and I was so pissed off. I only wanted the money so I could look fashionable while walking through the school hallways and win over all the boys there.
I shake my head to disperse the memory and I finally reached the kitchen and I immediately gagged again. All over the walls were odd brown stains and even other stains that looked inhuman. The lights in this room worked. Barely. The lights were flickering non-stop so all I could try to do was look around the room to find what I needed and get the hell out of there!
I opened a drawer and I jumped back with a shriek as millions of cockroaches and beetles crawled out of the drawer as if there were a fire in there. With my heart racing, I opened another drawer and there I found a couple of cobwebs with a few notebooks and batteries. I fished around, ignoring the cobwebs as I tried to find the flashlight.
Nothing.
With a defeated sigh, I step away from the drawer and I stand in the middle of the room with my hand on my hip, surveying the area. I tap my foot impatiently as I try to figure out where the most lethal place to put a flashlight would be.
Where is that stupid flashlight? I thought to myself as I started opening cabinets and drawers when finally I found a small flashlight in a small cabinet above the microwave and I smile to myself, suddenly feeling tired after that long treasure hunt.
I flick the flashlight on and at first, it didn’t work and I groan inwardly with annoyance as I bang it against the wall to make it work. It did. The light was quite bright so I flashed it around the kitchen some more, in hopes to find something I didn’t find earlier.
I didn’t find anything so I head back down the corridor when I hear a large creek and I jumped, my heart racing even more now. I looked around quickly, flashing the light in every direction and when I didn’t find anything, I continued walking, heading upstairs this time.
The stairs were quite elegant in it’s spindly and spirally way. I placed my hand on the banister and my eyes widen at how smooth the sleek wood was. I was getting quite confused now. How was the condition of the kitchen far different from the stairs? I shake my head to focus on the task at hand: Explore then get out.
I stop at the top of the stairs and I open my mouth in shock at how many rooms were in this house. I swivel my flashlight to the first room at the left of the stairs and I walk up to it, some small scribbles at the front door, now becoming visible as I try to figure out the handwriting.
The longer I stared at it, the more it didn’t make sense so I just shook my head and tried the doorknob only to find out it was locked. My eyes widen in surprise. Why is the bedroom door locked? I decide to go to another room to the right of the room I just left and I try it’s knob too. It was of course locked.
I blink in pure confusion as I rub my hands across the top frame of the door to see if a key was hidden there and my heart sank when I didn’t find anything. Face falling in sadness, I head back downstairs to grab my purse and leave.
Suddenly, I feel the damp darkness looming behind me, as if someone were standing behind me but i force a laugh to calm my nerves and I continue down the long spiral of stairs. Soon, I reach the bottom and I find myself running.
My brain couldn’t keep up as to why I was running but I just ran and I slammed the door behind me and once I heard that bolt click, I felt calm again. I pat myself down to make sure I was ok and I didnt forget anything. I sigh with relief once everything has been checked and accounted for then I walked home.
But the moment my foot hit the pavement, I felt eyes staring into the back of my neck and shivers were sent down my spine. I walked home, rubbing away the goosebumps the whole time and only one thought was racing through my head.
I know I'm not crazy...
