“Hey John. I’m real bored.”
“Me too man.”
“Aww, will you two stop complaining? I just want to finish this burger!” I said.
“Sure, sure. That’s what you said half an hour ago.”
Mark snatches it from my hands and throws it across the street.
“Hey! I paid for that!” I complained.
We continue bickering until I come to a sudden halt. Where the mist has moved away, stands a tall, derelict house. I gape. I aske with an uncertain tone in my voice:
“Did you two say you were bored?”
“Yeah, wasn’t that kinda obvious? You were supposed to feel guilty.”
“It’s just that we could go investigate that old house over there. But only if you aren’t afraid,” I add quickly. Hopefully I don’t sound too… hopeful.
“Sure! Cool idea dude.”
We walk towards the abandoned house and climb our way over the fence. Something rustles in a nearby bush. We stop suddenly.
“D’ya hear that?”
We listen but hear nothing more.
“Probably a mouse o’ some sort.” explains Mark.
But I noticed a twinge of nervousness in his voice. We continued down a path and stop in front of a door. Probably the back door.
“So, do we go in?”
“Course, what do you think we came here for?”
“Okay, okay, just makin’ sure.”
Just worrying you mean. I noticed they were a little way behind me. I reached out and placed my hand on the door knob. It felt as cold as ice. I turn it carefully, but unfortunately, it doesn’t open.
“Probably locked. Better head back then, don’t want to stay out too long. It’s cold.”
Wow. John really is scared.
“No way we’re going back. Anyways, I don’t think it’s locked. I think somethin’s just blockin’ it.”
“Let’s try pushing it then.” I offer.
We all lean against the door, although John is reluctant. We push with all our strength, and the door gives way with an almighty “rip-tear-rip-tear” sound. We all step back mechanically.
“Anyone got a torch handy?”
Moments later, a light blares up beside me, lighting up the obscured entrance. It’s Mark’s lighter. He isn’t allowed to smoke, but he apparently can’t help it. Hmm.
“Well come on, get in. You’re not chicken are you?”
John prods me in the back hard, so instead of marching in dramatically, I stumble in with a pain in my back.
“Not cool man!” I yell.
“Funny though.” he answers.
My first thought is: “Wow, it stinks real bad in here. People seriously need to get rid of the damp.” I look around myself and see that the ripping sound had come from wallpaper which had been stuck all over the doors, walls, floor, ceiling and windows.
“What should we do? Go back right?” asks John in a low voice.
This time, however, everyone looks at me expectantly.
“Hey, look! There ain’t no wallpaper on the doors!”
He is indeed right. No wallpaper covers the doors. It seems it only covers doors that lead outside. I turn around and walk forward wandering what I’m supposed to do now. Run around screaming like a girl, or bravely walk forward and go into a room? I pick the in-between option.
“Which do we pick guys?”
“Supp’ to you. Don’t look at me like that. You’re the boss here. Plus, it was your idea.”
I raise an eyebrow. Since when am I the boss? But I pick a door anyway. It’s the seventh one, the last one, on the left side of the corridor. “Let there be nothing in there, let there be nothing in there”, I prayed. I am about to open the door when I hear a whooshing sound behind me. I whirl around, tense. Something moves in the shadow. My heart is beating louder than a traffic jam in the city.
“Wh-whassat?”
“Dunno. Probably some big, hairy spider!”
“Ha ha.”
Mark knows perfectly well I hate spiders.
I turn back toward the door, put my hand on the handle, and push. It swings open easily, something I don’t expect. I walk in resolutely, with all my senses screaming to my body not to make that step that will change my life forever. But I do make that step, ignoring my instincts. Never done that before.
Inside the room are several unlit candles. They are positioned in a perfectly smooth circle. Strange. No, not strange, freaky. I am freaked out. A lot.
“Why the hell are there candles here for? Do you think I should light them? At least it’ll be more light. It’s real dark, even with me lighter.” proposes Mark.
“No! Don’t!” John whispers loudly.
“Why shouldn’t he? You scared?” I ask.
John looks up at me defiantly, while I emphasize the word, proving that he is creeped out.
“Mark, gimme the lighter.” I say, knowing that he would otherwise ask John to do it to scare him, and John would refuse, and they’d argue as usual.
“Uh, sure Jim.”
I hate it when they call me Jim. It’s my Christian name, but I prefer being called James. He is so annoying.
I take the lighter from him and kneel down on the hard floorboards with my bare knees. There are thirteen candles altogether. I light one, two, three… gradually illuminating the room up. I notice that this room contains no windows, with patches of black damp covering the ceiling. Dark red stains are spattered and mark the floor and walls. Uneasiness sweeps over my entire body and a shiver runs down my spine.
I light the thirteenth candle and step back up. The moment the candle is lit, the whole room goes very cold. Probably sub-zero. A freezing gust of wind also blows through the room, as if we aren’t already cold enough, and the door slams shut.
Mark’s voice startles me:
“If the wallpaper is covering the inside of the house and doors… then how did the guy who put it there… get out?”
I let that sink in, and gulp. We all look at each other, realizing the same thing at the same time: there is someone in this house who must be on the verge of death because of the lack of food. But judging by the state of the wallpaper, it had been put down quite a while ago. As in, several years. Which means that the person who put it up is either dead or…
Creak.
Creak.
All the blood drains out of my face, and is replaced by adrenaline.
The sound is coming from the stairs, and it seems to be getting closer and closer. It stops outside our door, and-
Scratch-scratch.
On the door this time. We all back away from it, towards the wall. The handle moves downwards… and the door opens.
I scream.
I open my eyes. I find myself crouching in a room with thirteen candles. I look around, and notice two big red lumps at the far end of the room. It definitely smells of decaying flesh. I look closer, and see two dismembered corpses. There is a dripping sound coming from about where I stand. I look down, and see my body covered in blood. I feel meat in my mouth.
I turn, and run out.