Truth Stranger Than Fiction

The setting sun cast a dark haze on the suburban houses and their manicured lawns as we silently road our bikes down Honeycross Road.  Ash insisted we couldn’t do this in broad daylight, and I flat out refused to do it at the dead of night, so this was our compromise.  As we turned the bend we came to an old rundown house with a weathered for sale sign tacked up by the driveway.  Beside it another sign read in bold letters NO TRESSPASSING.  If you looked carefully you could still see the subtle smoke marks on the side of the house where the small fire had been. 

The couple that had lived there was quick to find an apartment up in the city after the incident and never visited the town again unless it was to continue their desperate attempts to sell the place.  The peculiar circumstances of the fire combined with the house’s dire look and inability to get sold had sparked countless whispered stories.  Now everyone at school refers to the place as the Haunt of Honeycross and even though almost everyone says the stories are all bogus, most people still do their best to avoid the place. 

            “What makes you so sure that he’s here, and that he just didn’t skip town or something?” I whispered to Ash as we laid our bikes behind the trash bin hidden from sight but ready if a quick get away was needed.  I must admit, we may have watched one too many cop shows for our own good.

            “Come on, its Jordan we’re talking about, he doesn’t know how to drive and he’s way too uptight to hitchhike.  He’s gotta still be in town, and this is the exact kind of place Jordan would hide out in.”

            “Just because he wears black and listens to punk music doesn’t mean he’s attracted to the supposedly supernatural,” I rebuked.

            “No, not because of that.  Things haven’t been going well with his family lately and this is the perfect place to go if you want to get away from it all and not be found.  No one ever comes here anymore, not after the Falk twins were caught trespassing a month ago on a dare and got in some serious trouble.”

            As silently as we could, we crept our way up to the house.  The front door was locked as we expected but, as we learned from the adventurous predecessors of the Falk twins, the window to the right of the door could be opened from the outside.  As Ash slowly pushed the window open inch-by-inch a noise from further down the porch caught my attention.  I glanced over and there are two glowing eyes staring up at me heartbeat quickens every inch of my body tenses to run no no their moving towards me now words stuck in throat reach hand to ash’s wrist and desperately whisper ashley she turns sees them startles her im startled and jump too ash relaxes and laughs.

            “Aw, the little kitty startled us.”  I look again and realize she’s right; it’s just a cat.  I relaxed, and felt my heart rate gradually return to normal. Once the window was fully open we slid into the house.   The muddled light coming from outside was just enough for us to make out the room.  It must have once been a living room, but now all the furniture was gone and there was nothing in the room but a thick layer of dust. 

We switched our flashlights on and got a better look at the place.  There were no sleeping bag in the corner, empty water bottles lying around, or any sign that someone was camping out here.  However where we stood there was a multitude of footprints in the dust. 

            “Could be Jordan’s,” I proposed.

            “They also could have been left by all those other kids who snuck in here.  Lets keep going,” replied Ash leading the way further into the house.  The hallway was also bare of decorations and had footprints on the ground.  The screen room at the back of the house was empty too except for an old photo pinned onto one of the walls.  Based on how much dust I had to blow off of it to make out the image, I assumed it was left from the house’s previous inhabitants.  The face of a young girl beamed up at me from the picture as she swung from a blue swing set. 

            As I stood looking at the charming image, Ash called out from the kitchen,

            “Beth, I think you should come see this.”  I walked over through the arch and found that the kitchen was most certainly not empty.  There were several pots on the stove.  Beakers and several other instruments I thought belonged in a chemistry classroom were strewn all over the counters as well as a makeshift table in the center. 

            While I stared taking it all in Ash stood transfixed shining her light down the stairs into the basement.  I walked over and peered down the steps.  The view was just wide enough to see the rows of pots overflowing with green vegetation.  I cast the light of my own flashlight down as well illuminating a small black object on a table next to one of the pots.  It was a gun.  I swore under my breath. 

            “Ash come on, we need to get out’a here.”  She didn’t move.  “Ash, Ashley, come on!”  Finally she snapped out it and we scampered down the hall until Ash pulled me short and whispered, “wait.”  We stood there in silence, but it wasn’t complete.  There was the creaking of a door, and footsteps coming from the entrance hall around the corner. 

bodies tense time slows flashlights off hide! cover!  where? quick bathroom darkness eyes adjust peer through crack of door still stay still strain to see to listen creek creek step pause step closer!  dont move frozen dont breath silent cant control pounding heart all a flutter hes there! in front of the door! be still more still more silent as silent as nothing keeps moving past door gone from sight don’t exhale yet not over yet strain hear where is he? is it safe to run? or stay?   look at ash she looks at me our eyes lock we listen more creak down the stairs creak ash puts finger to lips stay quiet other hand raise fingers three two one go! door creeks pit patter feet he stops runs up stairs we run faster through window hear him follow past cat down porch bikes bikes bikes theyre up feet push pedals push pedals too slow move faster faster than time we go down street reach streetlight in darkness no longer keep going faster faster than wind down street turn right turn right we know where were going turn left now on main street here it is second building filled with artificial light drop bikes run up the steps push through the doors light engulfs us uniform badge alarm written on a kind face mouth open to ask the question we stop. we breath. heart still thinks were running but its okay; we’re safe.   Officer led us in and sits us down.  Once recovered we speak. 

Once we recovered we told her our story.