Abandoned

Danny had always loved exploring abandoned places. And everyone always followed Danny. He was the fun one. He made the days exciting, and interesting, and entertaining. There was never a dull minute with him. So, when Danny said he wanted to something, everyone agreed to do it.

I always followed along, of course. I didn’t want to get left behind. But I hated every second of it. The threat of toxic gases, the threat of disease, the threat of unsafe structures, the threat of strangers. It was high risk, low reward.

Danny claimed some grand new story with every place we explored. But once you had seen one abandoned building, you had seen them all. There was always mold, moss, graffiti, and broken-down structures. There was hardly anything of note that set any abandoned building apart from the last.

I always ended up back home tired, sore, disappointed, and sneezing from all the dust we had kicked up. Martha’s posts would be up not long after. It made the whole thing even more ridiculous to me. Even through the artistic lens of her expensive camera, you couldn’t tell one location from the other. It was the same stuff over and over and over. And we were risking our health and safety for it.

Danny was elated when he had found the museum. Since the moment he learned about it, he could not stop talking about it. To Danny, this would be the magnum opus of abandoned building exploration. We had to go there.

Sometimes I couldn’t tell whether he was more like a detective or a serial killer when it came to his research. He was thorough, I had to give him that much. Cork boards with pictures and yarn, manila folders stuffed with articles, and lectures on all the information he had found. Danny never came unprepared when presenting us with a new find.

The museum had been placed off the highway about thirty minutes out of town. The distance was already a point of contention between us. Everyone else was excited that it would be more of a private exploration and that it wouldn’t have been as “discovered” as the places in town. All I could think of, I argued, was that if someone inhaled something toxic, or got impaled on a rusty piece of metal, or attacked by a stranger it would just take that much longer to get help.

Everyone quickly waved me off. Tommy reminded me that we had never gotten injured exploring before. To him, that meant it would never happen. He and Larry were even more reckless than Danny when it came to exploring. They didn’t realize it was a miracle that they hadn’t been injured yet.

With my concern ignored, Danny continued on. The museum had hoped to garner business from people driving into town. But a newer highway had been built. It was wider, smoother, and safer. So, the traffic faded away, as did any business for the museum. Eventually, with no money or visitors coming in, they had to shut down. By the time that happened, they didn’t have the funds left to put the exhibits into storage. There was a short outcry from some concerned historians. But nothing in the museum had been deemed “valuable enough” to take action over. So, the museum and everything inside stood on the side of highway, wasting away- a perfect place for exploration.

All research was done by Danny. He would gather all the info, pick the date, and make the plan. Tommy and Larry packed the bag. They filled it with flashlights, ropes, walking sticks, and tons of other crap we hardly ever used. But I didn’t say anything; it was the only time Tommy and Larry overprepared for anything. I packed water bottles and snacks. I also made sure we had some cash in case we needed it. Martha drove. She was the first to get her license, so she had always taken that job.

Of course, this car trip was a bit longer than usual. The thirty minutes seemed to stretch on forever as I watched the sun get closer and closer to setting. I had asked, of course, why we couldn’t at least go during the day since there was less likely to be interference out there. But I was told we would keep the tradition of exploring at night.

The sky was orange by the time we reached the museum. The boys got out and stretched while groaning loudly. Martha rushed out to take pictures of the building before the sunlight was completely gone. I stared at what was in front of me.

“Shouldn’t it look… worse?” I dared to ask. There were no vines rushing up the walls, no signs of water damage, no broken windows, no discoloration, no dirt, no dust. I would have never thought it was an abandoned building. “Was it recently abandoned?”

“No, it’s been decades,” Danny said with his arms stretched over his head. I turned back to the building. It didn’t look like it.   

Tommy broke us in with a crowbar. I always cringed when they did things like that. The more destruction we caused, the more it felt like challenging the universe to hand us a consequence.

Looking inside felt like looking through one of the filters Martha put on her pictures. Everything seemed as though it had an orangish-brown hue. Everyone was shocked the see what the museum held. A giant mammoth was suspended above us as soon as we entered.

“I thought it was like… town lore,” Larry said.

“It is,” Danny said. “But it’s everything that’s ever happened here. What prehistoric creatures were here, which indigenous groups were here, what it looked like during colonial times, so on and so forth…”

“Should we split up?” Tommy suggested.

“I don’t know, it might be best to stay together at first…” I wasn’t sure about this place.

“It’s too big for that,” Danny shook his head. “Let’s split.”

The boys didn’t wait for an argument, they simply took off. I assessed the mammoth above us. I really hoped this place was as structurally sound as it looked. Martha adjusted the settings on her camera as the darkness grew. I tested the flashlight that the boys had left. Sometimes they forgot to replace the batteries, but this one seemed to work fine.

“Should we check out over there first?” Martha gestured to the left. An archway opened up to a different wing of the museum. I nodded and started walking. The quicker we explored, the quicker we could leave.

The letters above the archway read “PREHISTORIC TIMES.” That was appealing. At least this part of the museum wouldn’t be boring. We were greeted with the sight of more mammoths, some dinosaurs, and large ocean creatures.

Marth flashed some pictures, “It really emphasizes the marine life.”

“Hm,” I hummed as I tried not to get in her way, “during that time, this whole place would have been underwater.”

“I didn’t even know- Woah! Look at that!”

Martha rushed further into the darkness. I jogged to keep up with her. The flash of the camera stumped my vision for a second. When I could see again, I read the sign that had interested her so much.

It was called the “Labyrinth.” It had fun, bubbly writing above a picture of a maze. “What was the largest ocean creature during prehistoric times? Find the center of the labyrinth to discover it!”

“Oh, that’s cool. You had to complete the maze to answer the question.”

“Wait ‘til you see what the maze was made of,” Martha faced into the room with her camera. Another flash. The light spots cleared from my eyes. I saw the maze.

It was made of tanks. Fish tanks propped up on wooden stands.

“So fun! They must have had aquariums to fit the ocean theme!” Martha took several more photos. It looked anything but fun to me.

“Shouldn’t there be some damage? Shouldn’t the water have leaked out or something?” I asked. Instead of leaking or evaporating, the water had stayed there. Except, it had turned pitch black. It filled the tanks to the top, making it impossible to see through or above them. “Gross, there must be so many dead fish in there.”

“What? Are you afraid a fish ghost is gonna haunt you?” she teased. “Let’s go in!”

I wanted to say no, but she looked so excited. We entered.

There was no visibility in the water even when the flashlight or camera light shined on it. It remained impenetrable. I walked a bit ahead, trying to figure out the path while Martha took photos. It didn’t seem like too tough of a puzzle, they must have anticipated children possibly getting lost.

For some time, there was no sound other than our footsteps and the shutter of Martha’s camera. I couldn’t even hear what the boys were up to. They must have gone straight upstairs. I worried about it for a moment, but my thought was cut off by the sound of a distant thump. I hoped that wasn’t the boys, that they weren’t doing something stupid.

I continued on. I only made it down one more path before there was another distant thump. “Did you hear that?” I turned to Martha. She was no longer behind me. I rolled my eyes. The buddy system didn’t matter to her. She always ran off to tell the guys about her discoveries.

Whatever, it probably meant she’d bring them to the maze. That way we’d all be together again and I’d feel less nervous about what everyone was doing. I decided to finish the maze. It would be better to know my way around before they all arrived.

I continued on, trying not to stare too hard into the black water that surrounded me. I turned another corner. There was another thump. I sighed. “What are you guys doing?” I called out, hoping it was loud enough to reach the other group.

“Nothing!” the distant call returned. I rolled my eyes. That noise wasn’t happening for no reason. They were definitely getting up to something.

I continued on. I took a few more turns. Surely, I’d reach the end soon. It started to feel like too long. Maybe I had lost my way in a maze made for children. I stopped to think of what to do.

But then, the temptation to look into the water suddenly grew. If I was going to be stuck for a bit, I might as well see if I could spot anything. I shined my flashlight directly into the water. I stared for a long time. There was nothing. It was impossible to see into the blackness.

There was another thump. The reflection of light on the glass shook as it happened.  I realized several things far too late.

It was strange that this place had shut down. It shouldn’t have looked so good for how long it had been left alone. I couldn’t remember the last camera click I had heard before Martha had disappeared. And I hadn’t heard her voice when everyone had answered my call. Most importantly, I had severely misjudged the distance away that the thumps were coming from.

They hadn’t been made by the boys across the museum. They were coming from inside the glass. Whatever was making the noise was thumping against the glass right in front of me. I still couldn’t see anything. But the thumps became more aggressive, like something was ramming against the glass from the inside. But I couldn’t see anything.

The thumps grew harsher and harsher, quicker and quicker, louder and louder.

The glass cracked.

My flashlight ran out of battery.