Out of the Darkness

5

The window panes were busted out and cracked in places, the old wooden panels cracked and splitting. The wooden stairs were missing a step, and the front door was boarded up. "How are we supposed to get inside?" I asked Sam, whispering the question. It seemed like the world stood still out here, and that something would be very angry if we upset the peace. "Um, the owner said that the back door was open," he replied. He was whispering too, so it wasn't just me that felt this way. "HA, you should be used to going in the back door Colby!" Jake laughed out loud, the sound a piercing contradiction to what surrounded us. "Jake, shut up," Corey whispered forcefully, staring out his window into the darkness. "I don't like it here. Doesn't feel right." We were all quiet for a moment, just staring at the house and the surrounding darkness. "It's fine. Just a spooky old house. Nothing more. We've been in worse," Sam said, making his voice go a little higher than a whisper. "Let's go see it then," I sighed, and killed the lights. Darkness enveloped us immediately. It wasn't just dark, it was that overwhelming darkness that obscured everything in sight. The kind that made you think the entire world had disappeared and you were just there, stuck in some kind of indescribable emptiness. I moved my hand in front of my face, and couldn't even see the outline of it. There was just nothing. Jake turned his flashlight on, and it almost seemed intrusive. My stomach was jumping, and I noticed that my hands were shaking a little as I flipped my own flashlight on. I didn't understand why I was so nervous, but this place was freaking me out more than usual. Sam and Corey followed suit, turning their lights on and we climbed out of the car. Sam's light was brightest because he was using the light on the camera. He walked behind me, lighting the way, as I stepped us the rickety wooden steps. "Let's check the front first, just to see if we can get in this way," I said quietly. I didn't really want to go behind the house, unless absolutely necessary. The owner might've cleaned up the trash, and thinned out the overgrown driveway but the back was still surrounded by bushes, and weeds that stood almost as tall as us. The door was boarded over, making it impossible for us to open. I checked the windows, and found one that wasn't locked. It had missing panes on the upper part, but that part was boarded up. Thankfully, it wasn't nailed to the house, but to the window seal itself. Which meant that I would be able to lift the window, and we could crawl inside. "Found one," I said, still keeping my voice low. I passed my flashlight to Sam, who pointed both lights at the window. The seal and trim as warped with age and weather, making it hard to push it up. I struggled with it for a moment, wiggling it, trying to free the window from the home's grasp. Finally, I felt it give. I pushed the window up, hearing the sides scrape against the trim. "It's going to be a tight squeeze but I think we can do it," I said, holding my hand out for my flashlight. Once Sam passed it to me, I pointed it inside the window. Dust particles swirled in the light, and the smell of old, forgotten musk wafted out to us. "Oh my God, it smells like old people," Jake said, fanning in front of his face, then holding his nose. "It smells like death," Corey added quietly. None of us said anything to that, because we all felt the same way. That thought was terrifying. "After you," Sam said, motioning for me to go ahead. I really didn't want to go first but I knew that I was. I took a deep breath, grabbed onto the window seal, almost feeling the old wood crack beneath my fingers, and slid my body into the small opening. My feet hit the ground, and I pointed my light into the darkness, shining it into every crevice I could see. The last thing we needed was some homeless person, or worse, a crazy person, hiding in the shadows. "Ouch," I muttered, yanking my hand away from the window. Something sharp had hit my finger. When I used the flashlight to get a better look, there was a thick, sharp splinter poking out of my ring finger, a small ring of blood surrounding. "Damn, I've never had a splinter actually make me bleed before," I said, thankful that it was sticking out of my finger enough to where I could yank it out. "You good," Sam asked, passing me the camera so that he could crawl inside. I nodded. "Yeah, let's just get this over with. This place is creepy." I looked around with the camera and saw a fireplace mantel, big enough to balance our camera on to film the video intro. I tried to put a smile on a few times, but little noises kept making me jump or look around. Since this was supposed to be a creepy video, that just added to the ambiance. Once we finished that part, I grabbed the camera and filmed the others, while Sam told the history of the place. "It's said that people have entered these four walls and were never seen again," he said, keeping his voice a low whisper, but loud enough for the camera to pick up. "Bro, I just got chills," Corey said, holding out his arm to the camera. He wasn't lying. Goosebumps were popping up all over his arm. I felt a shiver go up my spine, like someone was watching me, so I swung around, shining the camera light in the corner of the room. I didn't see anyone but I still had the feeling like someone was watching me. "Do you guys feel that?" I asked, raking the room with the light again. Corey nodded, and met my gaze.