"Come on, Rayne! What's the worst that could happen?"

I looked up at the dilapidated house that was looming over us and exclaimed,

"A lot! A lot could happen!"

She scoffed and crossed her arms, "Like what?"

I looked down at her tapping foot. She was growing impatient...

I drew in a breath and started rambling off all the situations that came to mind, "The ceiling could cave in on us! We could fall through the floor! We could trip and tumble down the stairs! Break our necks! A bookshelf could fall on us! We could be crushed! We could be burned! This place seems very flammable, Aerie!"

She smiled and said, "It's simple, we avoid the cracks in the ceiling, we step lightly, we watch our feet, if we see something start to tip we get out of the way, and as long as we don't burn any candles we won't start a fire! Besides, I have a flashlight!"

She pulled it out of her backpack and waved it in front of me.

When she was finished she set it next to her backpack and crossed her arms again, smirking.

I shook my head and told her,

"You know, you won't have that smug look on your face when you're crushed, burned, or electrocuted..."

"You worry too much!" and with that she ended our conversation.

She slung her backpack over her shoulder and snatched the flashlight off of the ground.

She gave me one last look and told me, "It's your choice... You can come in with me, or you can stay out here by yourself...in the dark...all alone..."

She turned around and started skipping toward the door.

"Oh, and you might want to cover up, it looks like it's about to rain."

When she grabbed the doorknob I glanced around.

This place is super creepy, it's just so dark and so gloomy.

And it really was about to rain, I could hear thunder in the distance.

I was so wrapped up in my surroundings that I jumped when Aerie started slamming her shoulder into the door.

"This is useless! It won't budge!"

I nearly sighed in relief.

"Too bad! We'll just have to come back in the-"

"Wait!"

She interrupted me, "There might be another way in!"

She hopped down the front steps and walked around to the side of the house.

I lost sight of her when she turned the corner.

"Please! Why can't we come back in the morning?! I really don't want to do this!" I cried out.

When she didn't answer I stood there for a few moments, looking rather helpless.

I heard a twig snap somewhere behind me and I jumped.

I finally broke down and started sprinting around the side of the house, yelling "Aerie! Aerie!" I turned the corner and ran into her, clutching at her arm.

"Shhhh!" She pried my fingers off of her arm and whispered, "Look, we can get in through here." She was pointing to a broken window that was a little higher than her.

"Aerie, I don't want to-"

She put her finger to my mouth to silence me and was looking at the sky.

She was waiting for nightfall. I frowned...

A few moments later, when the sun had finally set, she put her hand down.

"Okay, now we can go in!" She exclaimed as she jumped up and down.

She seemed so excited...

Personally, I don't see the allure of breaking into a creepy old house that was falling apart around us...

Not to mention she wanted to do all of this at night!

I furrowed my brow.

"I'm pretty sure this is illegal..." I trailed off.

She rolled her eyes, "Oh, don't worry! We're not gonna get caught!"

She looked me in the eyes and grinned, "Now help me up!"

I sighed and hunkered down on all fours, using my back as a stepping stool, she stepped up onto my back and reached for the window, she gripped the edge and pulled herself in.

I heard a quiet creak as she lowered herself onto the floor.

"Okay, I'm in!" She whispered.

I stood up and brushed the dirt off of my jeans, when I was done I looked up.

Aerie was waving at me from the window with a big grin on her face.

She whispered, "Okay! It's your turn!"

I gave her a look, "Now, how am I supposed to get all the way up there?"

She rolled her eyes again, "Run and jump!"

"But how am I supposed to-"

"Just do it! I'll grab your hands!"

"It's too high! I'll hit the wall!"

"Then run up the wall!"

This time I rolled my eyes, "That only happens in movies, Aerie!"

"Fine! Stay out there then! I'll do this by myself!"

Rain started falling from the sky.

I groaned as she disappeared.

"Wait! I'm coming!"

She reappeared in the window with a smile on her face.

"Catch me?"

She let out an annoyed breath,

"Of coarse!"

I took a few steps back and inhaled; readying myself.

I started sprinting towards the wall, coming up on it fast.

As I reached it I leapt towards it and pushed upward.

I held my hands up and Aerie grabbed hold of them.

When I fell back down my body hit the wall... hard, it knocked the breath out of me.

I was disoriented for a few moments as I caught my breath.

I was hanging there for several seconds before Aerie finally decided to start pulling me up.

She grunted as she strained to pull me in.

As she pulled me up my body scraped against the side of the old house.

"Ow!" I exclaimed.

"Be quiet!" She said through gritted teeth.

When I was close enough to the window I used my knee to pull myself the rest of the way in.

I lost my balance and fell to the dusty wooden floors, I made a loud thump.

Instead of getting up I just lied there and groaned.

Aerie shook my sore shoulder, which caused my whole body to vibrate, everything ached...

"Come on, get up! We're in!" She whispered fiercely with a grin on her face.

I suppressed a sigh.

What have I gotten myself into?