The Night the Lights Came On

My scariest Halloween ever started as one night in a huge collection of lousy nights, but then things got crazy. Usually when my parents fight, I simply turn my headphones up but that night I just had to get out of there. So, I snuck out the back door into the woods behind our house. Normally I don't go back there, especially at night, but I found myself walking, totally distracted by my intense urge to get away. I didn't pay attention to where I was going, and I didn't really care how far away my feet had taken me. As long as it was away.

Thornsgrave is a small town so there aren't many places to go, without being seen, besides the woods. If I had noticed that I ended up on the trail to Blackwood Mansion I would have turned around long before I saw the glowing lights. No one ever goes near that place because it's been empty for decades and we're all sure it's haunted. There are all kinds of stories about it, but the one thing that's true is the owner went missing one day never to be seen or heard from again.

I came to the end of the trail and looked up for the first time. The full moon cast a brilliant light across that dark prickly landscape with barren drooping trees that made me feel like death was all around me. The light coming from the mansion took me by such surprise that I stumbled backwards and ripped off my headphones. They continued blasting music as the whisper of wind blowing through the thorny trees sounded like an ancient specter warning me to leave. At first, I ran away letting the fear take me but then I stopped. Maybe it's because I love movies with creepy stuff in them or maybe it was just pure curiosity, but I had to know what was going on in that house. There was no way I was going near it alone, though, so I texted Tom.

Dude. At the Blackwood mansion. Lights are on. You gotta come check it out.

Tom loves this kind of stuff even more than I do. His response was immediate.

What?! omw

I knew that meant "on my way," and that he would be booking it toward the trails on his mountain bike in seconds. Tom is my best friend, but he doesn't exactly think before acting. He's like never afraid of anything. It gets him into trouble sometimes. Unlike me, a fair-haired kid who could eat a few less sleeves of cookies, Tom is wiry with jet black hair. We're not really into sports but Tom always beats me when we race to the corner store on our bikes to buy candy. As excited as I was to solve the mystery of the lights in the old mansion, every time I looked at it alone it made me queasy, so I slipped back into the woods out of sight to wait for Tom. A few minutes later he slid to a stop and hopped off his bike to get a look.

"Dude! Oh yeah, somebody's home!" Tom said.

"Shut up man! They're going to hear you! We don't know who is in there."

"Right. Sorry man, it's just...no one ever goes in there. This is awesome! I'm kind of bummed we're too old," he made quotations with his hands, "to go trick or treating but this is way better!"

"Yeah," I said.

"What were you doing out here anyway?" he asked.

He only had to look at my face to know the reason.

"Oh. Alright, well let's go!"

"Okay, but let's be careful," I said.

Tom took the lead, running from the end of the path to the bottom of a long stone staircase that led to the front door of the mansion. I followed, excited but also fighting off the fear shouting at me to turn around and go back home. The stairs were weathered, a few of them bowed at places probably from years of standing water from the rain and harsh winters. Tom was at the top of the stairs in a flash, waiting against the wall next to the door so as not to be seen if someone opened it. I crept up behind him slowly, ducking down as if that would help me somehow blend into the long stairway. I hate it when fear makes me look less cool. Tom was so excited; he didn't seem scared at all. I made it to the top and slid to the other side. I looked over at Tom to say with my eyes, "what now?" Slowly he turned toward the house and leaned over to pull the door open. Once it was open a little, he waited for someone inside to notice. Nothing happened. He leaned further over and ducked his head into the open doorway.