The Forgotten One

A new journey

"It's been so long.. So long since I've seen anyone around, so long since Iast talked to someone. The only people I see are during the night. And those are scared of me." These were my thoughts on a chilly Saturday morning while looking at the plain white ceiling. "What are the plans for today? Games? I've finished everything. Shows? I'm still waiting for that new season. A walk at the same old park again? Nahhh boring." I've spend countless hours thinking and daydreaming of how to escape my boring routine. Sure, I am in a better financial situation than my old life but my old life was more adventurous. More thrilling. I cannot do monotony. It's just not in my blood. Ever since I graduated I've been so alone. So... what is even the word for it? Depressed? Left out? But I needed the money. Even if that meant gradually losing my friends, I could not even rent a bike with my old job not even dream about getting my own apartment. Okay I achieved what I wanted. Now what? Working as a scare actor is sure fun but the only interaction with people I have is them running away from me. Social anxiety doesn't really help me either. I've searched and searched in this town for anything that will make me feel alive again and the only thing I've come across is this old restaurant place that is almost decayed, torn down. I would go exploring but.. I'm not so sure that the right type of people hang out in there. There's also rumours about some kind of ghost that haunts down anyone who gets in. "Pff bullshit" I said out loud . "The only dangerous thing in there is mold sickness, right void?" I said to my black cat that curled up into a ball on my legs and faintly meowed back in response. "If I didn't have you I would go insane." I said and pet him, continuing my endless daydreaming. Going into the old restaurant was definitely more than dangerous, especially since I'm somebody that no one would look for if I went missing,or better say I'm no one. On the other hand if I continue to live like this I will definitely die out of boredom. So it's a win win situation I guess. "That's it" I said out loud, determined and Void jumped out of bed annoyed. "I'm going in there tonight, it's atleast something to look forward to. Something different for once." I decided to wait until midnight just to make sure I don't come across any teenagers exploring or breaking the place. I did everything I could think of that day just to make time go by quicker. I cleaned the whole house, went grocery shopping, re arrenged some clothes, went for a walk, I even brushed Void (which did not go well by the way) and it was still 5 pm. "7 more hours till midnight" I said, falling on the bed to rest my eyes a bit. "Look at me. Getting excited about exploring an old crusty moldy building. What have I become?" I thought to myself and closed my eyes. I woke up to Void having thrown down his food bag and jumped right out of bed, looking at my phone. "12:30. Shit! I don't wanna go there too late, I want to see people on my way back atleast" I rushed to my closet, wore something simple but enough to keep me warm on this chilling night, grabbed my phone and my flashlight, grabbed my keys and out I went. The light breeze was brushing against me, making the hair on my arm crawl, the dim street lights along with the moon illuminated the path I followed and so I went, my heart racing as fast as ever and my legs shaking a little bit. I don't even know what I was anxious for. Maybe it was the continuous lack of entertainment I was experiencing the last 2 years or maybe it was just the ambience of the semi - cold night I was waiting for so long, either way I could feel anything else but boredom for once. I walked the small hill and I could see the building closer now. I could notice the big sign that was once light up, being on the floor with vines all over it. I could see the building that once seemed to be bright yellow, having a more tainted green sort of Color. I could see the old logo on the front but I could not make out what it says since most of the letters were missing but I could tell that this place must have been pretty popular back when it was open. During the time that it was open I was alive but I was just a baby so I never get to experience it before it closed down after only a few years. So until today everything inside must have been just how the owners left it but... rotten. That was my guess and Inside my head I was replaying the rumours I've heard from the locals. "Menacing ghost haunts whoever dares to enter the building. Heh, this litteraly sounds like an average horror story you would hear during camp" I said to myself trying to ease the bit of anxiety that creeped up on me upon the sight of the building. I took a walk around the perimeter of it to note in mind all of the possible entrances and exits in case of emergency. I decided to play it more safely and enter through a broken window that was located on the side rather than the main entrance to not draw any attention in case someone was in. I first threw my small backpack with the essentials and then I climbed inside. The interior was aching of mold and there was glass shards all over the floor from the broken window as well from lights on the ceiling. Seems like people found amusement in destroying whatever is not theirs. I pointed my flashlight to my right where there was a long dark hallway that looked straight out of those paranormal YouTube videos everyone used to watch back in the early 2010s. The place was trashed up and full of graffiti after all but it was silent. I could hear my own blood circling and that was the scariest part. I wasn't scared of being alone. I was scared of not being. And who knows what kind of people hang out in here. I stumbled back letting out a muffled scream as a giant rodent jumped Infront of me from a trash pile and ran towards the end of the hallway. "How stupid". I thought to myself "I'm working as a scare actor and I got scared by a little innocent mouse" I rolled my eyes and continued walking. I reached the end of the hallway and it led me to a relevantly big room that looked like it used to be a security office. There were 3 old TV screen monitors 2 dirty 1 broken, a decayed computer chair, a desk that was covered in dirt and vines and above that desk there was glass that let you see on the other side of the wall to the hallway that led into the main area. To my suprise the glass, although filthy, was not broken and I reached closer to see the other side a little better. "AH!" I screamed as a pile of roaches sensed movement near their home and climbed the wall from the corner of the room in an attempt to escape. I ran out to the hallway that was leading to the main area panicked but as quietly as I could. Before entering, with the corner of my eye I noticed a door with a sign on it "Employees only" curiosity got the best of me and i grabbed the handle. I tried to pull it, push it, even jingle the handle a little bit harder but the door wouldn't budge. Looks like more people were trying to get into that room because I could see damages near the door frame and handle. I let it be and just proceeded to the main area. The space had huge tables, chairs and what seemed like prizes and plushies that were thrown here and there all over the dining area and there was a lot of arcade machines on the sides of the room with a big stage being the center of attention. Drawings on the walls were indicating that there must have been some sort of performer here, mascot animals maybe or perhaps... Animatronics. But there was no sight of them anymore. The company that made them either took them back when the restaurant closed or whoever got in first took them apart in a thousand pieces. From the drawings on the walls I could tell that there were 2 mascots. A yellow - golden rabbit and a bear of the same colour. I was about to go to the backstage area until I heard glass shattering with some chattering and giggles following, I knew that this was my signal to go. I did not want to come across anyone. Especially since I was alone. So I quietly followed the same path I came from, quickly rushed past the office, shivered with the thought of the roaches, creeped through the long dark hall i first came from and climbed out the same window. The breeze and the smell of fresh air hit me and I didn't even realise it but I was smiling on my way home. I finally felt a sense of freedom and joy even if there was nothing special about this place. Everything I heard, all the rumours must have been usual ghost stories. But that didn't matter to me. I wanted to explore more of this place, find out about its past, its owners, why it failed, everything. Even though it was nothing more than an ordinary abandoned building, I felt some sort of attraction in this place. The kind of attraction you feel when you know something is dangerous but you still crave to be near it. And that was it, I decided that I was going again tomorrow night. It was almost sunrise when I returned home and I didn't even realise how many hours I spent inside that place. "That was joyful but I need to sleep as soon as possible, I have work in the afternoon" i thought to myself as I did my night routine and layed down closing my eyes with Void curling up to a ball on my legs again and purring. The next day at work I was way more energised than usual, more active. My boss seemed to notice and smiled at me so I gave him a nod. The irony of the day was that I was dressed up as a ghost in the house of horror they put my workshift in. It reminded me of the ghost stories about that abandoned restaurant that for some reason wouldn't leave my mind. I couldn't help but get lost in my thoughts for a while, wondering what could they have seen in there that it was mistaken for a ghost. Maybe a group of people came across a homeless man finding shelter and he scared them away so they spread rumours that he was a ghost for fun, maybe the building is so decayed that pieces of it fall down, creating noise in other rooms and people think the place as haunted, or maybe it's just kids being kids who like having something creepy in their town to tell stories about. I was in a hurry when my shift ended, more than usual because I always had nothing to do before yesterday. "It's until I get bored of it too" I thought, but I was willing to let myself to enjoy the thrill I felt while it lasted. Thankfully my shift ended at 11pm so I didn't really have to wait to do what I wanted to do. It took me an hour as usual to take off all of my accessories and makeup from my shift and I immediately grabbed my things from yesterday and went back to the place. Today was a colder night, my clothes were warmer and they were protecting me better from the humidity of the place. I went back to where I last left off. The backstages of the main area. Surprisingly this space was not trashed up at all. It was dirty and covered in webs but it was untouched. The room had shelves on both sides with empty animal like mascot heads filling them and on the end of the room there was a full animatronic skeleton as well as mechanic parts in a box. "Oooooh creepy" I whisped to myself and I left the room untouched exactly like I found it. I moved on to the kitchen which I didn't even enter. The mess was too much. Everything was on the floor and it smelled very bad in there so I moved on and went to the "employees only" room to give it another go. I wanted to see if there were any papers in there so I could find out more information about this place. I gently grabbed the handle and the door opened immediately this time, only to be greeted by two gray glowing eyes.... With a shaking hand I lifted the flashlight on the creature. It was a 7 ft greenish - goldish zombie rabbit with tears everywhere on its body and it looked like it was some kind of suit or robot... It took some steps back when I shined the flashlight on it, temporally blinding it with the light but it quickly stepped forward and spoke with a hoarse voice. "Get... out" it seemed to have a man's voice although he looked nothing like one. I was standing there frozen in fear unable to move. He spoke again. "Get... out.. NOW!" He grinded his teeth and slowly approached me more. I could see him clearer. He looked like a decayed version of one of the two mascots I saw earlier on the drawings. He spoke again "I'm warning you one last time... Only because you didn't break anything... LEAVE!" At this point I started to sprint as much as I could with shaking legs. I was panicking trying to find my way out quickly as I heard him stalking behind me. His footsteps were loud and heavy but he was faster than me, he almost caught me when he suddenly stopped, turned around and walked back like nothing had happened. I did not think twice about it and I got out immediately running to my way home. I almost passed out on the entrance of my house from how fast I was running "Who.. or maybe WHAT is that thing?!" I thought and locked myself inside my apartment. Void hissed at me and ran away to hide under the bed. I must have startled him from how fast I locked myself in. I did nothing but immediately lay on the bed thinking about what I saw. I decided to do more research about that place by looking up my city name but nothing came up besides "famous restaurant closes after bankruptcy" articles. Nothing about who or why the rabbit is there, alive now. Then it hit me. The rumours. He must be the ghost people talked about, but why did he take that form? And he looked too real to be a spirit... He looked alive but dead at the same time but his body was definitely there. I could see the light that his eyes emitted on me and I could feel his breath when he was close. Even if these were on purpose to scare me away why is he doing this? How did he die? Is he even dead or just some cryptid? Curiosity killed the cat they say, but I was dead inside either way. The monotony of my life had killed me long ago and without this place I would for sure go crazy. "I need to approach him somehow" I thought out loud and turned around, seeing void peeking his head from under the bed slowly. I may be playing with fire, but I cannot get his image out of my head. I need to atleast know what he is.