March 3, 2011
Rain fell onto the once palatial manor. Statuesque angels scattered across the sprawling grounds hid their faces from the downpour with protective hands. Once elegant in its prime, the large house now stood a decrepit reminder of times past. For the most part it languished in silence on the outskirts of a small town just north of Seattle. But on that particular Saturday, the heavy silence was broken suddenly by a cry of laughter. The squeak of rusted hinges betrayed the presence of two trespassing teenage boys as they pried the front door open. They stumbled inside, shaking water from their coats. Their laughter slowly died as they took in the dusty and dilapidated foyer. Faking bravado, the older of the two boys took a couple more steps in and spun around to face the other, a strained smile plastered on his face.
"Come on Jimmy! Staying in here for an hour? That's the easiest 50 bucks ever." The older boy said.
"I guess," Jimmy replied. His smile was unconvincing.
"Don't be such a pussy. There is no such thing as ghosts, man. Matt only told you that to scare you out of 50 bucks." The older boy threw his words over his shoulder as he began to walk further into the house.
"But… Brian? Where are you? Brian, this isn't funny…" Jimmy looked around anxiously, a mere 50 dollars suddenly seeming far too low a price for spending time in such a creepy old house. A floor board creaked down the hall. Jimmy jumped and spun towards the noise, squinting as he tried to see into the darkness.
"Boo!" Brian bellowed, pouncing from a nearby doorway, inspiring a near pants-wetting fear in Jimmy.
"That was not funny, you dick!" Jimmy said. He took a wild swing for Brian's head and the older teen easily dodged it.
"Yeah it was, you big baby," Brian replied with an easy laugh.
Jimmy soon found himself alone once more as Brian moved off to explore more of the house. Partially out of a need to get his breathing under control and partially out of an effort to show that he was not afraid, Jimmy remained rooted where he was. As his breath calmed down he slowly realized that he could no longer hear the rhythmic creaks and thuds that denoted Brian's exploration of the house.
"Brian?" The silence seemed to swallow Jimmy's voice. He desperately hoped Brian was just playing another trick, but the older teen didn't answer. Jimmy took a step forward, reluctantly uprooting himself to search for his friend. Wandering in the direction that he had last seen Brian, Jimmy called again.
"Brian? Come on, man, this really isn't funny." Still no answer came. Jimmy ventured further into the caverns of the dark house. "You got me, haha. Come on out now." Jimmy's pleas died on his lips as he entered what was once the dining room. A large table sat cracked into pieces and a solitary angel stood in the center of the wreckage. Jimmy recognized the angel from the weeping statues outside. Terrified beyond any thought of winning 50 dollars, he backed slowly out of the room. He dared not take his eyes off the angel. As horrible as it was to look at the angle, something told him it would be worse to turn away. He backed up, his shoulder hitting the wall on the opposite side of the hall. Frozen for a moment, he came to a decision. Jimmy broke eye contact and sprinted to the front door.