This was a stupid idea. You knew it, yet here you were, staring up at the looming house that was cast into deep shadow by the dying sun that was hidden behind it. This was trespassing and you knew it. Your cousins knew it too, and even though this house was slightly secluded by the large towering bushes that reached up to ten feet, you felt as if you were being watched. Behind you, your cousins (plus a few friends from the neighborhood) muffled laughs and gave you some words of encourage. They were watching you, but it was something else that was making the hair on your skin rise. Maybe it was the uneasy feeling you were getting when you looked through the window and into the darkness inside. The black abyss seemed to stare right back at you. That was impossible, of course. According to your cousins, the house had been abandoned for over twenty years and not a soul lived in there now. Perhaps a few rats, but really nothing else.
Hesitantly, you walked closer to the house. The old peeling white paint on the house curled towards you and the wood boards were warped from weather. The door was tilted, slightly unhinged, but still managed to hang on despite the passage of time.
"Remember, you have to stay in the middle of the house for twenty minutes!"
You turned, hearing the words, and nodded. Yeah you knew what you had to do. It was a ridiculous dare from a ridiculous game. Truth or Dare. Why the heck had you chosen Dare? Then again, in your defense, you had not known that your cousins lived in a neighborhood with a convenient creepy, abandoned house just a few minutes away. Apparently this was a dare used often because your cousins and their friends seemed to have sneaking out to an art. Not too mention the rules were highly specific.
You glared at the splotchy doorknob as if it were the cause of this mess. Being angry was a lot easier than admitting you were nervous. Nervous not only because there was a chance you could get into some serious trouble with the authorities, but also because this house was freaking creepy. Everything about it was demented and dead. Even the yard was a sickly yellow and the dark brown tree was bare of any leaves. Its branches gnarled branches seemed to reach out as if for help. This yard was a sharp contrast to the emerald grassy lawns with blooming trees in front of the other houses in the neighborhood.
This was a stupid idea. The thought kept circling in your mind. However, you had chosen Dare and so you had to do it.
The splotchy doorknob was cold against your touch, which slightly surprised you. The night was rather warm. With a small twist of your wrist, you were disappointed to find that it turned easily. The door creaked as it swung inward and a void of darkness greeted you. You had thought that maybe the door would be locked and you could get out of the Dare. You chided yourself for the thought. Your cousins wouldn't have given you this dare if they knew you couldn't get inside the house to begin with.
Behind you, the group cheered you onward and some taunted you to not be a chicken. Swallowing, you lifted your chin, pulled your shoulders back, and walked into the house.
Inside the house, it was significantly cooler than the outside realm. Shadows stretched and curled around you. The dying sun shot golden rays of light through the cracks in the walls and through some of the windows. It made the house an alternating domain of thick shadow and dim light. The floorboards creaked underfoot as you made your way deeper into the house. Your foot kicked against something hard causing you to frantically swing your arms for a few seconds as you tried to maintain your balance. A painful throb engulfed your foot and you muttered a small curse. You had walked right into a piece of broken furniture. Squinting in the dark, you moved more carefully through the house. Broken beer bottles and their aluminum counterparts were everywhere in a room to your right. It looked like most of the furniture was put into a circle and graffiti marked the walls. This house was probably a party spot on the weekends.
You passed the room and came to the bottom of a stairway at the end of the hall. Further down the way was a window that gave you some more light to see. Glancing around, you figured this to be a good spot to wait the twenty minutes. You pulled out your cell phone to check the time. The soft glow told you that you had about seventeen minutes to go. Your phone chirped and a flashing red bar blinked on the screen. Then the phone went silent and the screen flickered to black. You frowned as you stared at the dead phone in your hand. You could have sworn you charged it earlier that day.
A light creak made you look up. A chill went through you, so deep that your entire body shuddered and goose bumps rippled across your skin. Again, the sound of creaking floorboards moaned through the house.
Your throat went dry as you stared into the darkness down one of the hallways, "Hello?"
Silence answered you. Unease crept through you and your heart pounded in your chest. You shivered in the coldness. Above you, dust floated down from the ceiling as the floorboards shifted and moaned. You could hear footsteps above.
This had to be the work of your cousins. They were screwing around with you. The footsteps continued as they passed above you and you turned your eyes to the top of the stairs. It was like staring into a black wall. None of the sun's light seemed to reach the upper banister. But even then, you could barely make out something...A darker shade in that blackness. The dark form of a figure moving closer to the top step. You backed away, afraid of looking away from whatever was at the top of those stairs. There was a weight in the air and you knew with sudden certainty that whatever was up there was staring down at you. Watching.
Something tumbled down the stairs, clacking loudly with every hit. You backed away quickly until a wall stopped you. You flinched slightly as you watched the small object continue its descent. It finally hit the ground floor and the noise stopped. The house was absorbed into silence once more. Your breath was shaky as you could not help but peer downward at the object that had fallen. It was a small toy car that was rusted away from time and dented from the fall. Some how, it had managed to land on its wheels. The wheels wobbled as the toy car rolled forward, towards you...
A bang on the window nearby made you jump a mile high and a silent shriek escaped from your lips. You heard laughter outside and saw a pale hand bang on the window once more.
"They are so dead!" You muttered angrily as you realized it was your cousins.
Your hand went to your heart as you tried to control your ragged breathing. Despite the coldness, your skin was clammy. Annoyed, you began to make your way to the entrance of the house. Again there was laughter, low and rich as it spread from the heart of the house. You crossed your arms to hide your trembling hands and you turned to look at the stairway. The toy car was not moving now. It had somehow managed to turn and face you. It stared at you silently. Its shadow swept across the floor. You shuddered and hurried to the entrance.
Outside, the group was laughing, near breathless. The warm air plus your anger brought the life back into your shuddering body.
"Hey, you still have one minute to go!" One person said.
Another added, "Did you have a fun time inside?"
You glared at them, "Who was messing around with me inside the house?" Whoever it was, was so going to die.
There was some laughter, "Relax," one of your cousins began, "It was just a little pounding on the window."
You shook your head angrily, "No. I'm talking about inside on the second story! Who was inside the house with me?" You eyed them all suspiciously, but were only given puzzled stares.
Your cousin frowned, "None of us went inside the house. You were in there by yourself the entire time..."
--- Phantom Anon
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