p style="margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; color: #800080; font-family: cambria; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify;"The rickety old house on the corner of Eastman and Dale had been falling apart long before it was officially declared abandoned by our neighborhood squad. Cam and I stood leaning against the twisted wire fence and let it squeak as we swayed against it in the wind. The air climbed and fell through the creaking panel home a couple of yards in front of us, letting out an awful moaning sound that gave both of us the chills./p
p style="margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; color: #800080; font-family: cambria; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify;""How much longer?" I asked uneasily. "They should be here by now."/p
p style="margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; color: #800080; font-family: cambria; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify;""They're coming." Cam checked her phone for the time, and to see if Hunter had answered her texts. She furrowed her eyebrows and stuffed it back in her pocket. "If no one gets here in ten minutes, we'll go in ourselves."/p
p style="margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; color: #800080; font-family: cambria; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify;"I swallowed hard –even with Cam there, the two of us couldn't keep each other safe from anything that lurked in the darkness. If only we'd agreed to this during the daytime, I might have felt a bit more adventurous, but the sun had set three hours ago and we were both due home for dinner. Dad would be pissed if he found out where we actually were. "I told you that Hunter kid is bad news and you went behind my back to get into trouble with him!" But Cam assured me on our way over that the only way Dad would find out anything was if we got caught snooping, and were brought home in a police car. That didn't help./p
p style="margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; color: #800080; font-family: cambria; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify;"Hunter arrived nine minutes later with a cocky-ass grin on his face, like we were subjected to him and would've gone on waiting. But my sister was having none of his shit, and went off. "Fucking douche canoe, what took you so long?"/p
p style="margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; color: #800080; font-family: cambria; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify;"I stood still against the fence as they bickered, first very genuinely peeved off at one another but eventually softening into their fond banter. I almost gagged at how they loved to hate each other, but didn't let myself move, afraid the creaking fence would draw attention to me./p
p style="margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; color: #800080; font-family: cambria; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify;"Allen and Derek, who I didn't know as well as Cam's part-time lover, arrived a few steps behind the self-appointed leader of our squad. Well, their squad; I mostly was dragged along by my twin or tagged along in sheer boredom. I was wishing I would've put more effort into something I could do that night, other than this./p
p style="margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; color: #800080; font-family: cambria; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify;""We going in?" Cam was growing impatient, bouncing on her heels. She gave Hunter a look that said 'if you try to put this off longer I'll elect myself new leader and drag us all inside,' and Hunter couldn't make her wait another moment. We hopped the fence and trekked through the dark up to the door. Allen was our specialty lock pick./p
p style="margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; color: #800080; font-family: cambria; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify;"The smell inside was revolting, a stale combination of alcohol and cigar smoke. I coughed and Derek told me to shut up before we got caught. I managed to catch the next expulsion in my throat. The place wasn't left to ruin long enough for anything to have gathered cobwebs or even much dust, and everything was intact so we must've been the first to break in. My stomach turned as I had to remember what we were doing, and pushed it out of my mind with more difficulty than before./p
p style="margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; color: #800080; font-family: cambria; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify;"Cam and Hunter took turns at the head of the pack, Derek and Allen a couple of feet behind –I brought up the rear. Hunter told me that if I was gonna drag my feet so much, I could at least make myself useful and keep an eye out for trouble./p
p style="margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; color: #800080; font-family: cambria; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify;"So while the others explored, I watched everything. I caught Derek and Allen looking through empty silverware drawers in the kitchen. They didn't take anything. Hunter was examining a mirror above the mantelpiece, and there various knick knacks that sat in front of it, but he left them right where they were when he returned to Cam. Cam was looking through some drawers across the living room, as if looking for something. I was worried she might be the one to stuff something valuable into her pocket, so I looked the other way./p
p style="margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; color: #800080; font-family: cambria; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify;""Hey!" Hunter called out in a harsh whisper to gather us round. "Seems there's nothing else on this floor. Cam and I are gonna check upstairs, you three go downstairs."/p
p style="margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; color: #800080; font-family: cambria; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify;"There was a door next to the kitchen that must've led to the basement. I would've preferred to go up to the second floor and not down into the blackness that awaited us here, but the two of them were already upstairs./p
p style="margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; color: #800080; font-family: cambria; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify;"Derek turned the knob but struggled. "It's locked. Allen, help me out."/p
p style="margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; color: #800080; font-family: cambria; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify;"Allen pushed his glasses up on his nose and knelt down to work his magic. Derek stared at me for a moment until I looked away. A moment later, the knob turned, and Allen swung it open only to be met with the most blood-curdling sound I'd ever heard. It sounded like something between a scream and a sob, and I couldn't make out something like "Please!" from a strangled voice down in the basement./p
p style="margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; color: #800080; font-family: cambria; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify;"I froze in place; all of us did. The place wasn't abandoned, there was somebody down there! Once the immediate shock wore off, Allen and Derek bolted, sprinting and tripping across the living room and out into the night./p
p style="margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; color: #800080; font-family: cambria; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify;"Hunter and Cam must've heard either the same thing we did, or just the stomping of four feet racing out of the house. "What the fuck!" Hunter shouted, voice cracking when he tried to keep it soft enough so neighbors wouldn't call the cops. "What was that?"/p
p style="margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; color: #800080; font-family: cambria; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify;"My hand flew up and a shaky finger pointed downstairs./p
p style="margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; color: #800080; font-family: cambria; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify;""We better check it out." Cam was first to be unafraid by the sudden presence, and was stepping closer, until Hunter lifted a hand to hold her back./p
p style="margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; color: #800080; font-family: cambria; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify;""Let me." Even in the darkness I could see the softness in his eyes when he looked at her like most guys wouldn't. She couldn't find words to argue./p
p style="margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; color: #800080; font-family: cambria; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify;"Hunter headed down, and a moment later there was more screaming and crying from that same person from earlier, and suddenly Hunter was back upstairs and out of breath, eyes wide. "You guys gotta see this."/p