• “What’s the emergency?” I was still groggy from being dragged out of my bed in the middle of the night, I wiped my eyes to try and clear my hazy vision.

    “You’ll see.” His voice was cold and sinister, I wasn’t sure that this was really my friend. He stepped outside of my one bedroom apartment, and down the narrow hallway of the apartment building. It always had this strange mothball smell to it, but it was something that I had gotten used to.

    There were six rooms on this floor; I never cared enough to get to know my neighbors. I guess I wasn’t the most sociable guy around, more importantly, I found it hard to meet new people.

    The building itself was quite old, the cheap paint of the walls was beginning to peel off, the red carpet was starting to darken with dirt, and the floorboards would creak with every step.

    I slipped on some clothes that I had worn earlier today: a T-shirt and pair of jeans, and then followed after Viktor.

    I had known Viktor since I was a kid; he was usually a gentle, selfless, and considerate person. That’s why it kind of shocked me, his tone of voice, the unruly hour, and now he was leading me god knows where.

    Viktor was a large, fit, and athletic man. His chestnut brown hair was considerably short, slicked back, and layered with sheen. He wore a black wool coat over a red Nike T-shirt, denim Levi’s, and a pair of worn out black leather boots.

    He had a thick Irish accent when he spoke, despite being born and raised in the States. His skin was light, his eyes were hazel, and going down the middle of his right eye brow was a small scar.

    I was sort of the opposite, I was skinny, dark skinned, and had black hair longer then his. It was coarse, messy, and curled a little bit. I was clean shaven, had brown eyes, and no interesting accent.

    We descended down one flight of steps, and then stepped out onto the streets. It was winter time, so the weather was frigid and unforgiving. The sidewalks were covered in salt and piles of shoveled snow. Cars race passed us even at this time of night, and the sounds of people conversing were heard from a nearby bar.

    Viktor moved up the ascending sidewalk despite out treacherous left over ice could be, and continued to walk in silence. I felt like I should say something to Viktor, it was very unusual for him to act like this, and not to mention I was his best friend.

    “Viktor…” I paused to try and think of a way to get him to open up, but I was speechless. He didn’t even turn back to see what I was going to say, it was like he was oblivious to his surroundings.

    “Stop talking, Ben. We’re almost there…” He told me after a few moments, to which I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me, and looked up at the huge building standing before us. It was another apartment building only a few blocks from mind, but it was a much more expensive. It almost looked like an insane asylum, because of the iron bars that covered the windows of the first floor.

    Viktor ascended the steps to the front door, and grasped hold of the doorknob. He turned it roughly and pressed his shoulder into the door, but it was locked. I was surprised when I saw him raised his elbow and strike the window on the door, and then unlock it from the inside.

    “What the hell are you doing!? That’s breaking and entering, what the hell is your problem!?” I demanded, now becoming quite scared from the way he was acting. He didn’t look back at me, he only pushed the door opened and walked inside, and then was engulfed in darkness.

    “C’mon Ben, there is no one living here.” I could hear him call from inside, but I was still skeptical about it. As I climbed one more step, and then I was met by the smell of something that can only be described as death. The floorboards creaked in an eerily similar fashion as my apartment, but there was an ominous aura here. I flinched when I saw a flash light click on, but it was only Viktor with his arm extended towards me. I let out a sigh of a relief, and then took the flashlight that was being offered to me.

    He pulled out another one and clicked it on, and then passed by the receptionist’s desk. There were papers scattered across the desk and floor, it was almost like someone was in a hurry to get out of here. Contrary to what I had just seen, I spotted a black leather suitcase on a chair. Now I know for certain that no one would leave that behind without good reason.

    I turned my head to see that Viktor was gone; I could hear creaks from the floor above. It came from several different areas, which led me to believe that it wasn’t just Viktor up there. Was he trying to play some kind of practical joke on me? Naturally I was too afraid to climb the steps without knowing if Viktor was up there, so I moved to the first step and shined the light above me.

    “Viktor?” I knew my voice was too low to hear, but I could hear the creaks coming closer. There was an uncomfortable feeling in my throat, I wanted to leave, but not without Viktor. The creaks came to a stop, but there was still no one in sight.

    “V-Viktor!” I screamed loud enough for it to echo across the second floor, but there was no reply. I could hear some more creaks in the distance, except they were much louder than before, and coming at me at an alarming speed. I took a step back, but was sure to keep my flashlight on the steps. I held the flashlight with two hands to keep myself from shaking; I was shivering with fear when I heard the sound of a foot colliding with one of the steps. There was a long pause, and then the sound of the foot being withdrawn from the first step was heard. The creaks started to move away from the steps, so that was my sign the coast was clear.

    Of course this was enough to make anyone runaway in fear, but Viktor was my friend. I couldn’t live with myself if I left him and something might’ve happened that I could’ve prevented. I had to face my fears and go to the second floor, and then find Viktor. Hell, that was probably him before; he probably thought I left because I was too afraid.

    I moved to the steps again, but I stopped at the first step again. My feet were shaking violently as I climbed the second step; I closed my eyes tightly, and then forced myself the rest of the way. The hallway was considerably wide, and it forked into three different directions ahead. I couldn’t quite make anything else out in the dark, so I placed my hand on the wall to guide myself.

    “V-Viktor…” I whispered to myself, I wouldn’t call out for him like I did before…Not this time, not after what I had heard. I came to the fork very slowly, and then shined the flashlight in every different direction. As I brought it to the western fork I could hear something breathing heavily, a chill had begun to run down my spine. Suddenly I heard a loud scream, causing me to drop the flashlight, and retreated down eastern the eastern hallway.

    I could hear whatever it was hot on my tail; I didn’t look back as I tried to find a way out. I skidded to a stop near a half opened door, and then slipped inside; being sure to slam the door behind me. I locked both locks on the door, and then withdrew backwards into the mysterious room. I could hear whatever it was out there breathing heavily from behind the door, as I continued backing away, I slipped and fell onto my back.

    The room was dark, and there was a horrid smell in the air. I just wanted to get the hell out of here, Viktor or no Viktor. There was someone or something out there, and I wasn’t sure whether it was trying to kill me or not.

    As I moved my hands across the ground to push myself up, I could hear the footsteps moving away from the room, and then it turned into creaks in the distance. I rose slowly, and scanned the wall for a light switch. After finding one I flicked it on, and was met by a pretty average looking two roomed apartment, there was a cheap brown leather couch, a television set, and a kitchen in the back.

    It never occurred to before, but why was there power in an abandoned apartment building? That was definitely strange, but was even stranger was the fact that it looked as if someone was living here not long ago. My first assumption would be that it was shut down not too long ago, but after examining the materials in the house…It almost seemed as if someone left, but didn’t bring any of their things with them.

    The bedroom was small, it consisted of: a bed, a large brown burrow, and a small closet in the back. There was a sliding glass door that led to the balcony, I almost contemplated using it to leave the apartment building…I suppose anyone who was smart would’ve done it, but now that I was safe, and away from whatever was in the hallway…I could focus on looking for Viktor. I dug into my pants pocket, and then pulled out my cell phone. I took a seat on the brown couch, and navigated quickly through my contacts until I found Viktor’s name.

    I was almost relieved when I heard the phone begin to ring, because I had this silly idea like I was stuck inside some kind of horror movie, where all the wrong things start happening. Of course I was a little disappointed that Viktor didn’t answer, but I decided to leave a message.

    “Hey, Viktor, it’s me…Ben. Dude…Where the hell are you? If this is some kind of joke, I’m not laughing. I’m in a room on the second floor, please call me back man…I want to get the hell out of here already.” I hung the phone up after recording my message, and then placed it back into my pocket. Naturally I contemplated calling the police, but how would I look calling them from an abandoned building which my friend had just broken into?

    I would just have to trust that Viktor would call me back, and that this would all turn out to be some kind of joke. It’s almost a little weird that I’m hoping for something that would piss me off, but at this point…Who wouldn’t want this night to have a happy ending?