Get Out Alive

Unfortunate

"S- Simon? This isn't funny! Where did you go?!"

Emmet's voice echoed through the seemingly empty house, the old and partially rotten floorboards creaking beneath him as he rushed through the almost endless corridors and rooms in search of his friend.

They had been driving just before this, on their way home from a different location and investigation, when Simon had spotted these abandoned buildings through the trees and begged them to stop just so they could explore for a bit. It had honestly been a wonder that he spotted the place at all, as even the concrete buildings had started to be reclaimed by nature, completely covered in greenery on the outside. But then again, Simon had always had a talent for seeing things that anyone else would've easily missed. Maybe this was what really made him a good paranormal investigator - aside from his undying love for the subject, of course.

But there had been a lot more buildings than they had initially thought, and his friends' curiosity had kept them there for longer than anticipated. Much longer. It had gotten dark, and as neither had accounted for them being there until nightfall, they didn't take with them any equipment except a small handheld camera before they left their car. All they were left with was the flashlights on their phones which hadn't been such an issue if they had just made it back to the car at all...

On their way back when it wasn't all too dark yet, Simon had realized he forgot something in one of the buildings. He had told Emmet he remembered where he left it, that he'd be quick to get it and meet him back at the car. Of course this wasn't an issue, they had done this countless times before and this certainly wasn't the first time that one of them had forgotten something like a jacket.

They had agreed to meet at the car, but Simon never came back.

After five minutes he figured he was on his way back. At best maybe he got turned around and had just gotten to where he left his items, it's not uncommon to get at least a bit lost in an area you've only ever been once.

Ten minutes passed, he must've had trouble finding the thing he was looking for, right? Surely though by now he's found the spot and was on his way back, no doubt about it.

Fifteen minutes passed, Emmet started getting a bit worried but told himself he probably just found something interesting on the way back. Maybe he spotted a room that looked extra cool in the dim light of the late evening, the last of the golden sunrays hitting a wall through a broken window...

20 minutes.

Emmet calls out into the clearing. No response.

25 minutes, he started to get really worried. It was completely dark out now, and he couldn't see much farther than his phone's flashlight would let him. They had all their equipment in the back seats of Simons old two door car, an extremely ugly vehicle if you were to ask anyone at all with it's scratched and bumped exterior, coloured a burning yellow-ish orange making it hard to miss from miles away. But it was also a vehicle that Emmet currently had no keys to, and Simon had insisted on locking it before leaving.

"You can never be too safe! I don't know about you, but I sure don't feel like being stranded out here in case some homeless guy comes by or something!"

Ugly as the car was, Emmet has no intentions on making it worse by smashing one of the windows. After all, this was hardly an emergency and the man had probably only gotten a bit turned around.

But finally he decided to go look for him, phone with its flashlight on in hand. Yeah, he had probably only gotten lost in the maze-like corridors! It was hard enough for them to try and find their way around the place in broad daylight, so he couldn't imagine it being much easier now at nightfall.