“Come on, Ty! Let’s get out of here,” Lisa whines behind me. “This place gives me the creeps.”
I roll my eyes before turning back to face her on the porch. Her arms are firmly crossed in front of her chest, making her boobs pop out a little on top. I find myself distracted. If she gets scared, she’ll cling to me. Shaking my head, I force myself to look at her face and try to snap myself out of the thoughts she sends through me.
“Come on!” I mimic her tone. “It’s just an abandoned cabin.”
I turn back around. The sign clearly says, “No Trespassing,” but I don’t care. Shoving the signed door open, I start to walk in. And then she yells.
“Tyler!”
An exasperated sigh leaves me. Swearing to myself this is the last time I turn around for her, I grab her hands and beg.
“Come on, Lees! Don’t be such a baby. We’ll be in and out, I promise.” She gives me a worried look. “I just want to see the place.”
Now she’s looking everywhere except at me. When she looks into my eyes, I pucker my lips in a pout. Only a couple moments later, she caves. “Fine! But in and out, okay?”
Finally! I smile at her. “Okay.”
When I go to drop my arms, Lisa holds tight to my left hand. Damn, you’d think I’m taking her to her death here. It’s just a moldy old cabin!
That’s what it smells like at least. The wooden slats covering the floor seem to have been soaked through. They don’t creak under our weight, but our footsteps sound heavier than they really are. The walls have a dark green growth on them. A moist scent reaches my nose; it’s sort of pleasant but not. Above a brick fireplace, there’s a large cracked mirror. Whoever lived here last also left behind a ripped couch that is lopsided for some reason. Not that I’m surprised–who would want it anyway?
This is awesome.
I run my hand along the peeling wallpaper. It’s sort of oily and greasy; I can’t tell which. My hand comes to an open archway into another room.
Without warning, a few bats fly past us and out the door. Lisa shrieks and I’m partially deaf for a few seconds. Her grip on my hand is like a fucking vice so I try to lessen it. I’d like to keep my fingers, thank you.
“You can’t let me go!” she whispers as she clings, instead, to my jacket. “That scared me.”
“Like I said before,” I say, “baby.”
“I’m not a baby,” she pouts. She looks adorable so I can’t help but laugh at her.
“Then prove it,” I say, throwing my arms out to the sides. She is taken aback for a moment. But after considering it, she sticks her nose in the air and walks bravely into the room the bats came from. Whether that’s true bravery remains to be seen.
“See?” she says as she stands in the middle of the insanely dark room by herself. I’m not sure if it’s meant to be a dining room or study. Either way, it’s too dark to get anything done in now. I can barely see the outline of her figure which sends my mind spiraling elsewhere and I consider taking her right here, right now.
“Oh, yeah,” I chuckle. “How courageous.”
I walk into the room. Before I’m barely two steps in, Lisa says something that makes me stop.
“Are you touching me?”
“Huh?”
“There’s a hand on my leg. It’s yours, right?” Her voice gets higher with nearly every word. My own hair starts to stand on edge.
“How can it be?” I ask, completely baffled. She had to be pulling my leg because I’m certainly not pulling hers. “I’m, like, four feet away from you.”
“Seriously, this isn’t funny, Ty!”
I don’t know what’s touching her, but it’s probably nothing. Probably a left behind blanket or something.
“I’m not touching you,” I assure her. “Just come back to the entryway, okay?”
It’s silent for a moment.
“Lisa?”
“Tyler,” she whispers again, and I freeze. Something doesn’t feel right. “I can’t move.”
That does it. I make my way back into the dark room, feeling my way around trying to find her. The shape of her body has disappeared in the darkness. I’m not sure where she is.
“Okay, Lisa, don’t worry, okay? I’ll get you out of here. Say something so I can find you.”
She says my name softly but it sounds like it’s coming from all sides of the room. That doesn’t make this any easier.
Then I step into something wet. Really wet. It feels like I have submerged my foot into a puddle.
“Lisa?”
She doesn’t answer; a gurgle of water does.
Before I know it, what felt like a puddle has traveled up my legs to my knees.
“Lisa!”
I bolt back to the entry way as fast as I can. I won’t be able to do any good if I don’t get out of there. Water splashes up on me. I swear I’m stepping on things I don’t remember being on the floor on my way in here. When I make it past the door frame, I can see the water spilling into the rest of the landing, all from that room.
Under the water, a hand and an arm reach outward. A fake green gem sparkles up at me. Lisa. But that hand isn’t dead. It’s clawing it’s way towards me. As I turn to run, the hand grips my foot. I trip and fall face forward. With strength I’m sure Lisa doesn’t have, I’m yanked back into the dark room and under the water.
I try to climb out, but it’s like I can’t help myself as I seep into the depths of the house. As soon as my head’s under water, a song starts to resonate around me.
You hear the door slam and realize there’s nowhere left to run
You feel the cold hand and wonder if you’ll ever see the sun
My eyes snap open and I’m looking up at my blank ceiling. Thank God… just a dream.
I roll over and snatch up my cell phone. It’s Lisa.
You close your eyes and hope that this is just imagination, girl!
But all the while you hear the creature creeping up—
“Thriller” ceases to play when I answer the call.
“Tyler! Where are you?” Her voice is startled. I’m taken back to my dream for a moment.
“Sorry, I fell asleep. I’ll meet you in 15?” I say, rubbing my eyes.
“Oh, okay!” She sounds so happy and carefree that I smile. She’s okay. It wasn’t real even if it felt like it. “What did you want to do? Get costumes or carve pumpkins? Or are you still dead pressed on checking out that creepy old house?”
I pause as I remember that abandoned house I kept passing on my way home from work. The one with the “No Trespassing” sign on the door right by the lake.
“Your choice, sweetie.”
She pauses for a moment too. She probably wasn’t expecting that. “My choice?”
“Yes, your choice.”
