Hopes Lie in Darkness

3

       The dried leaves and sticks crunched under Auriza's boots as she followed Alex through the thick woodland in search of the old abandoned house they were skipping lunch and school to explore. The wood surrounding the two friends seemed out of this world, like the trees themselves were watching them, waiting for them to get far enough into the woodland where they could go missing and no one would figure out where they had gone. She felt things seeming to reach out and grab at her jacket and hair, trying to drag her into the forest, never to be seen again. She feared losing sight of Alex and getting lost so she reached out and took Alex's hand to try and comfort herself. 

   "Awww, are you freaking out Aura? Should we go back?" Alex said, stopping and wrapping an arm around Auriza, pulling her close, as if to protect her from anything that might close in on them. Alex squeezed Auriza's hand in a comforting way, to try and put Auriza's anxiety at ease. "There's nothing to be afraid of. It's just the woods, yeah it's a bit overgrown and pretty creepy looking but I promise you won't come to any harm. You can trust me Aura, You know that. If I say it's safe, it's safe." 

   Auriza sighed and nodded, looking out at the woods, still fearing that someone would run out and drag her into death or into the abyss that is what happens after people die. She forced her feet to keep moving towards where Alex was leading her. She glanced up towards the top of the trees as the old building they had been walking towards finally came into view. 

  The house looked about 200 hundred years old and seemed like it had been abandoned for most of its life. The iron gate surrounding the yard was covered in decades of rust and was falling apart; the gate making a horrible shrill sound as Alex opened it. Weeds, Tallgrass, vines, and roots had completely taken over the majority of the yard, making it very difficult to even get to the front steps and the porch. The steps leading up to the porch creaked and moaned, one of them even fell in on itself and collapsed while Auriza was standing on it; the railing being the only thing to catch Auriza so she wouldn't fall into the hole in the step where her foot used to be. "Are you sure this place is even safe Alex?!" Auriza yelled in surprise, getting up onto the porch quickly. She glanced up at the mossy and decades wooden walls that loomed over her, casting a dark shadow across her face. She breathed in the dank and musty air caused by the house rotting over time. She got a shiver down her spine and she glanced up at the windows, feeling as if the house was staring down at her, calling her in so she could disappear forever and never be found. 

   "Of course this place is safe! Come on, stop being a baby!!" Alex scoffed, nudging Auriza towards the front door of the house, "There's nothing to be afraid of in here, now let's go explore and have fun!" Alex said, opening the door and walking into the house with no common sense what's so ever. 

  Auriza glanced after Alex, before slowly walking up to the doorway before she stopped and froze. It was like she couldn't move a muscle in her body and like she was in a huge block of ice. She glanced behind her and she thought she saw a person, watching her. Once she could finally move again, she quickly headed inside the house and followed Alex. 

    ......the last thing she remembers clearly is looking out a window on the second floor of the building and noticing the person outside again, staring up at her with cold eyes; then...everything went black.