Dark Obsession

Chapter One: A Hike in the Woods

I followed my friends into the woods, that probably wasn't the best idea. I can barely walk on a flat surface without tripping, but somehow they convinced me to come out "hunting for ghost". Or maybe it was Matt's enchanting blue eyes that convinced me. I held onto Sarah's arm as we both walked together, steadying each other. Sarah was more of a klutz's than I was. The sun was going down and causing the trees shadows to stretch towards us like bony fingers. "This is so stupid." Claire groaned, she was the oldest of our group and was the embodiment of a pick me girl. "How are we supposed to find ghost?" She moaned.

"How do you expect?" Liam laughed, he threw his arms around Claire's shoulder. "With our phones, duh." I rolled my eyes, I wasn't close to Claire and if I was honest, I thought she was annoying. But for once I agreed with her, this was stupid.

"Just breathe that in." Matt stopped walking in front of each other, with his hands on his hips, he took a deep breath. "The fresh forest air, doesn't it make you feel so great?" He turned to us, flashing his brilliant smile that made my heart flutter. "How are you girls doing?" His blue eyes met mine.

"My feet are killing me." Sarah groaned as I squeezed her arm. "Can we please take a break?"

"Come on guys, you're such babies." Claire flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder. "I can keep walking if the boys can, I guess that makes me different from other girls." I rolled my eyes, what a bitch. Matt kneeled down, offering Sarah a piggy back ride which she greatly accepted and we continued onward.

"Where are we going?" I asked as we continued on, watching my feet as we walked. I watched my feet, careful not to trip on the underbrush and roots hiding beneath the leaves that blanketed the floor of the woods.

"I heard that there is a cemetery that's hidden in these woods." Matt chucked as he shifted Sarah on his back, I couldn't help but feel jealous of Sarah. She got to be so close to Matt, I sighed. Can't be helped, I guess. As we made our way through the woods, it started to get darker and soon we were digging in the backpack that Liam was wearing for flashlights.

Claire was chatting about some video game that she was playing, and Liam was making crude jokes when we came across it. Sarah jumped from Matt's back as we stared at it together. Nestled in the middle of the woods was an old rusted gate. It seemed to be hanging on by a thread. I flashed my flashlight around, following the fence. It seemed to continue on forever. "What do you think is behind the fence?" Sarah asked, walking towards the gates opening.

"Maybe the cemetery." Matt shrugged, following her. Claire stood beside me, unsure if she should continue. But when Liam started to follow the others, she ran after him. I often wondered if they were dating, neither had a partner. But they won't say anything other than that they were just friends. Nervously, I looked behind me.

"W-wait for me!" I whimpered as I hurried after them. Nearly falling on my face as I ran after them. No one spoke as we walked. Branches scraped mournfully overhead while undergrowth snapped at our heels, urging us girls deeper into the belly of the woods. The path forked, then forked again, and I began to doubt we would ever find the way back to the cars. Rounding the next twist, a pallid glow appeared between the trunks - our destination lay just ahead, wherever that may lead.

Pushing through a final line of pines, we halted at the forest's edge. Before us rose a hulking silhouette against the starry sky, its peaks and turrets clawing upwards into the unknown.

Sarah gasped. "What...is that place?"
A crumbling mansion emerged from the darkness, walls crowding with untamed ivy. Not a light shone within its gaps.

"Maybe we should bail," I had suggested, I felt uneasy staring up at this cryptic building. But my friends paid me no heed, and only started to make bets about the adventures that lay ahead in the inside of old building.