Power Cut - #JustWriteIt Wattys2015

Six

Did the power cut out for a second or did I just blink? Oh well, doesn't matter, it's an old house after all. I looked up the stairs at my three best friends. Brandon, Jayden and Amelia, we had been inseparable since kindergarten. The four of us always stuck together, that's why when Jayden suggested that we investigate the abandoned houses around town, we all agreed to come along.

The first house we broke into was an old mansion, and when we went to take a look around, we found a massive library. Brandon decided to make a fool of himself and try to climb the shelves, when he fell and landed on the desk and sent a map flying out of the desk drawers. Or did he try to hide under the desk and end up knocking it over? I don't really remember, not that it matters. Either way he found a map that had a big marking in the middle of nowhere, so that was where we headed. When we got there we found a creepy abandoned old house, and so we decided to take a look around.

After we entered the house, we decided to split up into pairs. Brandon was with me and Jayden was with Amelia. While they headed for the second story of the house, we decided to search the bottom floor. After a few minutes we found ourselves in another library, and once again Brandon decided to climb the shelves.

"I think I see something shiny." He called down, "Hey look! This whole shelf is on rails, I think it's a door!"

We called for Jayden and Amelia, and after a few moments of struggling the shelf slid back into the wall, revealing a hidden staircase. Brandon seemed very impressed with his discovery, and he raced up the stairs, eager to find out where they led. That was when the lights had flickered. I turned to Amelia and we shared a look that told me she had seen the power cut too.

"Did the power just cut out?" she asked in a worried tone of voice.

Usually she was a very happy, optimistic person, but whenever there was a chance of danger, she became very afraid and protective.

"It's nothing to worry about." Jayden assured her, "it's an old house, I'm surprised the lights still work"

"COME ON! HURRY UP YOU SLOWPOKES!" Brandon teased from the landing at the top of the stairs. Brandon was a massive clown, and he was always joking and teasing the other three of us.

We followed after him, trying to find a light switch as we went. Eventually Amelia found a power box, she flipped a switch and as the lights flickered on Brandon called out to us.

"Hey guys come look at this." He called out.

We walked to where the voice was coming from, and found ourselves in a room full of boxes, like somebody had packed up to move houses and left everything there. Brandon stood on a pile of boxes that he had pushed together and reached his head up into a hole in the roof.

"I'm going to climb up and see what's up there. Can one of you give me a boost?" he asked.

"Sure," Jayden replied, "Be careful though."

"Yes boss." He mocked. He turned his torch on and threw it through the hole. Jayden and I gave him a leg up and he threw himself into the hole, and landed inside the roof with a loud thud.

"Can you see anything?" Amelia asked anxiously.

"Yeah, there's something over in the corner." Brandon replied.

As he recounted what he was seeing, the light bulb hanging from the middle of the ceiling began to buzz, and flickered off and back on again.

"What's wrong with the lights" Amelia inquired. I looked into the hallway and realized that all the other lights had began to turn off and on one by one.

"It's probably just a power cut, it's an old house." Jayden reassured her once again, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it."

Flicker, Flicker, Flicker. The lights began to flash on and off even faster, and the light bulb buzzed even louder. We heard a thud and Brandon's torch rolled out of the hole in the ceiling and clattered loudly to the floor at our feet.

"Brandon? Are you okay up there?" I asked.

"Yeah, I just tripped over. I'm just going to look at one last thing, then I'll come back down."

"Okay, I'm going to go check what is wrong with the lights, you two wait here." Jayden set off towards the power box back on the landing.

"What's up there Brandon." I asked, "Anything interesting?"

"Not really, just a whole lot of cobwebs. Wait what's tha- OH GOD!.", he yelled.

We heard him struggle with something, his muffled screams mixing with angry snarls. The lights bulb buzzed, flashing faster and faster.

Flicker, Flicker, Flicker.

"What is it?! What's wrong?" Amelia cried out.

"SOMETHING'S UP HERE! SOMETHING'S GOT ME!" he cried out in fear, "HELP!"

Amelia tried to climb the pile of boxes but just as she was almost through the hole, the pile collapsed and sent her tumbling down. As she landed she twisted her ankle and cried out in pain. Above us, the sounds of Brandon struggling continued, his screams now muffled and strained. The lights flashed at incredible speed. Flicker, Flicker, Flicker, Flicker.

"JAYDEN COME QUICK!" I cried out.

" What is it?!" he burst into the room. He raced towards Amelia on the floor by the boxes, tears streaming down her face as she clutched her damaged ankle.

"Amelia, are you okay?" a look of worry crossed his face as he tried to comfort her.

"Don't worry about me, Brandon is in trouble."

The lights continued to flash, so fast that it was becoming hard to see. Flicker, Flicker, Flicker, Flicker, Flicker.

Jayden stood up and listen to the struggle happening above. Brandon was still letting out muffled yells, and we could hear him kick and punch at his attacker. After a quick second, Jayden turned to me and asked, "Should I boost you or you boost me?"

Before I could respond the light bulb gave a final loud buzz, and then everything went dark.