Saturday, October 2, 2021 at 10:31 AM

The cold autumn wind was blowing strong that Saturday morning as six high school students stood in front of an abandoned house after ditching detention. The students stood in front of a large, rusted and slightly opened gate, that lead to an even larger plot of land with dried out grass and withered trees. The building itself had a strong and disgusting smell, the windows had become large openings without any glass, the white paint was covered in layers of dirt and people clearly hadn't come close to that place in years.

Nowhere around the students was anyone to be seen. People who lived close to the house didn't even dare to go outside unless they really needed to. Birds weren't even singing, but rats seemed to gather around the plot of land. Even the clouds seemed to be darker above the building than above anywhere else. The only thing missing from the scene was the ominous music one hears in the background of horror movies.

"What a dump man, even the Munsters wouldn't live here."
Scott took a drag off the homemade vape, he uses to hide the fact, that he is smoking weed.
He offered a hit to Evan," It's cherry flavored."
Scott picked up a rock, took aim at some hanging broken glass in the attic window frame.
*THUNK*
The rock thudded against the side of the frame, "Baseball was never my thing."
"You guys ever heard the stories about that place?"
Scott took another drag off the vape, "Bunch of trick or treaters were kidnapped by a clown, and tortured in the basement, happened around thirty years ago, my cousin told me about it."

"You would believe something like that." Evan accepted the vape taking a quick hit of it before handing it back to it's rightful owner. He opened a slight, amused grin at Scott's very poor attempt at vandalism, and shook his head.

"That's a ghost story people tell to keep kids from going in there and stepping on one of the leftover needles." Evan addressed the rest of the strange little group they'd formed to sneak out of detention "It's just an abandoned crack den."

A sudden gust of wind made Mikaela shiver. She pulled the jacket tighter around herself, not at all happy with the current weather. Since she was mildly anemic, one of the lovely side effects was feeling colder than most, as was the case now.

Running low on patience from hearing their nonsense, the girl pushed past the talking pair to step closer to the dump house. It was actually impressive how shitty it looked, almost as if it were made for a movie. "Are we gonna go in or what?" she added, looking over the structure. It looked dark inside, but given it was morning time, they shouldn't have a problem with lighting, especially since they had phones with flashlights.

“On second thought, I’m not sure that’s a good idea... Guys, that house has been condemned for a while now. We might not find a killer clown in there,” Adele glanced over at Scott as she spoke, “but the ceiling may come crashing down on us at any moment. Are we willing to risk it?”

Practically every instinct spoke to Adele against going into the house, though it appeared they weren’t turning back now. First landing in detention and then ditching it, and then trespassing into an abandoned property. Her parents were going to have a field day with her once they found out about the mess she had gotten herself into.

"Right. Cancel the plans, everyone, the place is too poor for Adele's liking." Evan turned back to her, with a raised eyebrow and a mocking expression "You know that not every place that isn't a mansion is falling apart at the seams, right?"

Evan took a couple steps further, leaning against the wobbly gate that separated the street from the dreaded building.

"It's an ugly house that some poor people were probably chased out of and everyone made up some urban legends about it. You guys are being pussies, I've been in there a bunch of times, it's no big deal." The dark-haired boy lied, as he often did on every subject "It's actually kind of the perfect place to hide. You think any teacher is setting foot in there?"

Opening her mouth to say something, Adele quickly changed her mind. She sighed in defeat, readjusting the bag hanging from her shoulder. Evan had taken a shot at her and in turn, she had no quip of her own to fire back at him with.

“Sorry, I was just trying to look out for you guys.”

Did she want to go? No. Did she have much of a choice? Not really. Adele didn’t see the point in arguing against the idea. What would she do, go back to school and tell on the rest of them? Certainly not. That was just not happening. Instead, she would simply just deal with whatever awaited for them inside. She was already there, might as well press forward.

"I call bullshit, when have you ever been in there, Evan?"
Scott took another drag as he stood beside Evan, and then kicked open the gate.
" Prove it dude, let's go."
Scott whirled around to look at the others, "We aint got nothing better to do, plus who knows, could be bitchin."
He walked up to the door, pausing briefly, dont be a pussy now
Scott tried to kick the door open, "What the fuck man, the door won't budge!"
Pissed off, Scott moves over to a window and tries to remove the board over it, but ends up pinching the skin on his finger until it bled.
"Motherfucking [bleep]!"

"You don't know my life, man." He snorted, and let Scott be reckless as he usually was "Really? I Love Lucy? In 2021?" Evan mumbled as he shook his head, hands in the pockets of his hoodie. It was an atypically cold day, and there was something other than the cold wind that was throwing him off...though he couldn't quite place what.

Evan turned to the two girls standing behind him, a slight grin on his face "Mikaela, Adele...ladies first?"

Xander didn't move... couldn't. He was a horror buff so he had seen all manner of fantastical terror simulated with actors, video games and other various mediums. He had developed a mental callus to it, or so he thought. But as he witnessed what was transpiring before him, he could not help but allow the paralysis of awe, shock and dismay to take over. He couldn't believe his eyes, his mouth agape in silence. The images played through his mind in a never ending loop, silently terrorizing him and testing the very fabric of his santiy.

The subtle string of spit acting as a bridge between Scott's lower lip and the mouthpiece. The tension as Scott pulled it away from his mouth before the string finally split and reformed in a gelatinous puddle upon the vape. The eager fingers of Evan as he seized the device and brought the glistening piece to his own mouth before taking it in.

"They... seem... close," he awkwardly concluded out loud to anyone within earshot. His eye began to twitch for a moment.

As attention began to refocus on the creepy house, Xander stood back while Scott took out the door by force. "Cool, cool, cool. Breaking and entering. Because High School detention wasn't enough. You want to try grown up, poke-you-in-the-ass prison." Xander ran a nervous hand through his hair as he tried to decide where this was headed and how involved he was willing to get. "I'm going on record as saying this is such a stupid idea. But, fuck it," he finally sighed. "If we all get murdered, at least we get murdered together!" he cried gleefully with fake enthusiasm. "Bring it in, everybody," he announced as he put his open hand in the center of the group. "Team Dumb Shits on three. ONE! TW- Anyone? No? Why isn't anyone putting their hand in? Oh we're actually going in now? Great..." Xander reluctantly began to follow the herd, dragging his feet with each step.

The only immediate response from the girl was a side glance followed by an eye roll. "We'll go in first, sure, gotta make sure y'all don't wet your pants." Not waiting for a response, Mikaela grabbed Adele by the wrist and pulled her along with her. In turn, Adele started to protest but realized that she was going in whether she wanted to or not. Despite the boys blocking the way, Mikaela carelessly pushed through them to stand in front of the door, however when she tried to turn the knob, nothing happened.

" Hey Adam, buddy, come over here bro."
Scott dug his hands in his front pockets, "Why?, cause I need to borrow your face man."
Kicking the dust with his sneakers, Scott snickers"I figure if I slam your face against the door enough times, it'll surely give."
Scott laughed uncontrollably,"I'm just joking, retard.
He flipped Adam the bird, before walking over to the girls.

Adam finally made his way to the house, stumbling over to the group huddled around the entrance.

"Sorry I'm late guys!! Just needed to catch my breath..."

He stopped to rest his hands on his knees, taking in mouthfuls of air. Never the athlete, all the escaping and running and adrenaline rush were finally catching up to him. Not gonna lie, he definitely had no desire to be here. He had heard the rumors about this place. There were so many local urban legends surrounding the house that it's no wonder even demo crews wouldn't just demolish it already. Instead, it was left to rot and fester like a curse. Just looking at it gave Adam the heebie jeebies.

If it weren't for peer pressure, Adam would've just served his time in detention and let the others be the delinquents they were. This wasn't like him, Adam Harvey didn't get in trouble. He just wanted to fit in and detention made you a cool kid, right? When the girl he covered for in class sent him that smile and mouthed "thank you", the hopeless romantic in him plastered the goofiest grin on his face. But that grin didn't last long when he saw who he had to share detention with. Instant regret. Scott Larue, asshole extraordinaire. Even more regret when the five of them started plotting to escape detention and "have some fun". He wasn't sure who came up with the idea first but soon enough they were all sneaking their way through the halls and out the courtyard. Adam wanted to stay behind, the idea of playing hookie terrified him. Landing detention was bad enough, how was his father going to react when he found out?? But someone just scoffed and said something along the lines of not taking any chances for him to snitch and dragged him along with the rest of them.

Upon approaching the group, Scott made a comment about using his face as a battering ram, making Adam visibly cringe. Even though he said he was only joking, Adam definitely knew better.

"Jokes are supposed to be funny..." he muttered under his breath as Scott walked away. Readjusting his backpack, Adam took a deep breath and looked up at the house looming ominously under the unnaturally grey sky. It was too quiet and Adam hated quiet. The world was so naturally full of sound that when it was quiet like this, it just felt so wrong somehow... But always one to try and find the silver linings in things, Adam figured this was the big test. One giant trial to pass to FINALLY be accepted. This was Adam's chance to finally prove that he could be a nerd AND cool....

"Xander, shut the fuck up." He rolled his eyes at the theatrics. The erratic clown behavior easily got on his nerves, but so did most things.

Evan laughed at the unnecessary attack on Adam, leaning against the outer walls of the off-putting house, hands on the pockets of his black hoodie.

"Cut it out, man, his face is fucked up enough as it is." He grinned, watching the boy in glasses mumble to himself, all defensive. He had no problem with the kid, not really, he just made himself way too easy a target. Evan himself was scrawny, lanky and weird, but he'd gotten enough of a reputation for himself that people left him alone. It helped that most of the popular kids bought their weed from him.

He showed his teeth as Mikaela dragged the rich girl "At least Mika's eager, she's the only one here who isn't dicking around." He glanced at the other boys as he said it, with a shit-eating grin that annoyed most people who talked to him.

Pale hands still buried in his pockets, Evan took a few steps forward towards the house.

"Yo guys, I know exactly what we need, I'll be back." Scott said as he took off jogging down the street.
Turning around to face them, as he jogged backwards, he shouted"Don't go in until i get back."
It wasn't a long run to where Scott was going, he knew Teddy wouldn't be working today,and if he knows Teddy, which he does, the fridge will be stocked with beer.
Scott didn't call him dad, and that was fine with Teddy, cause they both hated each other.
Just as Scott thought, Teddy's big rig was parked in the driveway.
He stealthily moved to the back of the house where the patio doors led into the kitchen.
Sliding open the door as quietly as possible, Scott snuck inside.
He could hear the TV blasting some old scifi movie, as he opened tbe fridge.
"It's Miller time baby."
Scott stuffed his hoody jacket's pockets with bottles of beer.
He was about to close the door, but at the last moment, he grabbed something special for Adam.
Clinking and clunking as he stepped, Scott snuck back out , and walked away from the house, forgetting to close the door back.
About thirty minutes later, a white firebird pulls up, and Scott gets out.
"Hey thanks again for the ride, bro."
Scott walked up to everybody, handing them a cold Miller beer, except Adam.
"Yo Adam, I didn't forget you buddy." said Scott as he handed him apple juice in a sippy cup.

The first floor

The front door of the house led to the hallway. All over the walls and floor were spiderwebs without any spiders or insects, the wooden planks that formed the floor were coming loose and the wallpaper tended to fall off the walls. There was a stairs to be found on the right side, whose side was covered in creepy clown paintings. On the left side, there were two doors. The first door led to the living room, whereas the second door led to the room that served as both a kitchen and a dining room. In the corners of the room, there were plants that had died a long time ago.

In the living room, one could see a sagging couch in a dark red color, next to which was a side table carrying a table lamp that miraculously still worked perfectly. In front of the couch was a very old, thick television which was not able to show the images in color, only in black and white. In the corner of the room, there was a wood heater. The floor of the living room was covered in numerous handmade dolls, seemingly from a child. Three doors were to be found in the living room. A first door led to the hallway, a second door led to the playroom and a third door led to the kitchen and dining room.

The kitchen and dining room had a refrigerator, which contained a very big amount of expired food and which clearly didn't work anymore. Although the kitchen stove did still work, it seemed to be burnt and thus not safe anymore. There was a wooden table with eight chairs, one of which was broken. The kitchen should give a wonderful view to a beautiful garden, but the view was blocked by a piece of cardboard and the garden... well... looked just as disgusting as the house smelled. There were three doors in this room, which led to the hallway, the living room and the bathroom.

The playroom was pretty empty. One could see that children had been there, because of the drawings on the walls and floors and because of the dollhouse, but it seemed as if the children were neglected. If one would look really closely at the dollhouse, one would see that the dollhouse looked exactly like the house they were in... and the dolls looked exactly like the six students in the house. The ceiling was covered in paintings of cute, little stars. There were two doors, which led to the living room and the bathroom.

The last room on the first floor is the bathroom. The bathroom contained a bath, which also served as a shower, a sink, a toilet and a potty, so a toilet for children. There were two doors in the bathroom, which led to the playroom and the kitchen and dining room.

The second floor

If one would follow the stairs upstairs, one would end up in a hallway that looked like an exact copy of the one on the first floor. There were two doors, which led to the two bedrooms.

The first and the second bedroom looked exactly alike. They both contained a double bed, a children bed and a bookcase with creepy horror stories about all kinds of bad things that could happen to children - from getting locked in the basement as a punishment to getting killed and eaten. Both bedrooms had a door leading to the hallway and a door leading to the storage room and there was also a door connecting the two bedrooms. The only difference between the two bedrooms was that the first bedroom had old fashioned clothes for woman and that the second bedroom had old fashioned clothes for men.

The storage room contained so many junk that it's too hard to describe the room. It's already to hard to get into the room with so much stuff blocking the door. One thing that could draw the attention of anyone entering the room was the family picture of two, strict-looking parents - a man and a woman - and their two children, an older daughter and a younger brother.

"Hey, uh who opened the door?"
Scott shrugged it off, maybe all the kicking he did earlier, loosened it up.
Walking inside the old house, reminded him of every horror movie he has seen.
Scott stopped in front of the clown paintings, "Hey Adam, they got paintings of your whole family here.
Scott opened a door, inside was the kitchen, "Wow, what a shithole."
"I'll take door number two Phil, Johnny tell em what they won."
Swinging the door open, Scott stepped into the living room, as he finished off the beer.
He flopped down on the dusty moldy smelling saggy couch, and was nearly swallowed up by it.
"Man, this place sucks."

Xander stood outside, silent panic creeping up on him as he saw Scott breach the threshold of the horrific place. He looked at the beer in his hand and then back up at the dark windows of the second story. As much as the gang was already poking at Adam, he knew if he chickened out, he wouldn't hear the end of it.

With a clumsy pop of the beer can's top, Xander began drinking as quickly as he could, hoping for a bit of liquid courage. After a hearty 2 seconds, he came up for air with a dramatic gasp. Chugging was not his strong suit. This was going to have to be a drink to-go. With each advancing step toward the house's entrance, he took another sip.

Scott had mentioned the paintings on the hallway walls. Xander looked at them... and froze.

"Dude..." he managed to mutter. "DUDE! Fuck this, man! Do you see this shit?!" He motioned with his beer hand, pointing to the aging, creepy clown paintings. "You know what kind of sick fucks have clown paintings in their house? OTHER FUCKING CLOWNS!" He forced himself to take another toddler sized gulp of the brew. "I knew this was going to be some bullshit," he said in a loud whisper to himself while simultaneously rattling off a chain of several creative and vulgar curse words in his head.

She was reluctant to take the beer, but peer pressure was a bitch. Adele didn't so much as look at the bottle when she offered it to Mikaela, who subsequently dismissed her with a wave. Sighing softly, the young girl stepped into the house and the sight she laid eyes upon once inside immediately made her skin crawl. She knew it was going to be bad, but she didn't know it'd be this bad. Adele's heart starting beating a little bit faster, the hand holding the beer bottle as well as her free one trembling despite some level of effort to stop herself from shaking. "So this is what we left detention for?" she whispered mostly to herself with a surprising hint of bitterness in her tone.

Scott finished off the beer and threw it against the wood heater, shattering the bottle.
He had to climb his way out of the sagging couch.
" I gotta drain the lizard."
Belching, Scott exits back into the hallway, and swings open the door.
"Definitely not the bathroom."
Closing the door, Scott opens the door to the Kitchen, and sees another door.
""Weird place for a bathroom to be?"
He opened the door to find a small walkthru to another door, "Fuck man, I'll piss myself before finding a damn bathroom!"
Scott opens the door and much to his relief, he found the bathroom, and thank goodness he did, because his stomach rumbled.
"Damn breakfast burrito and beer don't mix well."
He takes a seat on the cracked porcelain throne, before noticing there is no toilet paper, "son of a...."