When the daylight has faded

The lady in white (#vote)

"Let's vote on it!" I screamed into the small crowd. "Come on, guys! Who says we go in?" I shouted.

All hands popped up.

My heart soared. After all, the dilapidated and strictly forbidden house down the road had been beckoning me ever since my older brother had told me in hushed tones that the building was haunted.

"I've seen it myself, I swear!" his 13-year old wisdom had imparted. "One night I snuck out of here and went in."

My breath had caught. "Weren't you scared?"

"Well, buddy, I don't scare easily." His voice was conspiratorial, mouth grim. "But I swear on mum's life, what I saw in there scared the living daylights out of me." A quick intake of breath. "A lady floated down the staircase, dressed all in white. She was beautiful, and she sang my name. I forgot everything around me and ran towards her. But suddenly, her eyes turned into black sockets, blood started to drip from her lips and her skin melted. She tried to grab me, to kill me no doubt, but you know how fast I am. I'm so relieved that you're not brave. At least, I know you're safe!"

If it had been anybody else telling me this story, I might have been slightly critical. But this was my brother. And he had sworn on Mum's life.

I wanted to show my bro that I was bold enough, even if I wasn't.

And I had pulled it off! This was happening. Even if bro had warned me off earlier, when I had informed him of my evening plans. Well, I might have neglected to mention that I wasn't doing this on my own.

Cold shivers ran down my spine, and my hands were shaking exquisitely as we approached the scarred structure whose jagged pieces of broken windowpane seemed to be looking forward to swallowing us whole.

On arrival, all eyes were on me. As the instigator of this little adventure, I was expected to enter first. Of course, I felt honoured. But I wouldn't have minded if someone else had volunteered. Nobody did, so I heaved my gangly frame through the sharp teeth of the remnants of the windowpane, plopping down on the other side with a thud.

I heard a few thuds next to me, when I noticed a beautiful woman dressed all in white descending the creaky stairs, siren-calling my name.

Oh no!

"Get out! I screamed. "She's going to kill us all."

Everyone started scrambling for the window, pushing and pulling to get there first.

Suddenly, there was a loud yelp.

"Ouch, you moron! You broke my ribs!" a familiar voice whined.

I spun around - and saw my mate Peter, swinging a huge wooden plank like Bruce Willis on ecstasy towards a dishevelled lady with a lopsided wig and slipping mask, revealing a decidedly uncourageous and teary-eyed older brother of mine.

"I just wanted to film my brother wet his pants for Insta!"