Abandoned

Finishing up their volunteering shifts at the hospital in a small town, hours away from their homes, 3 friends, Katrina, Everest, and Lauren, decided to walk to the nearest restaurant to pick up some sushi for their growling, empty stomachs. It was foggy and windy outside, which none of them liked and the walk to the restaurant was 20 minutes long. While walking, they felt wetness starting to trickle down their restless faces. They look up to see dark, empty clouds facing them. They kept walking. Then, hard, cold rain started pouring down heavily. One of the girls, Lauren, startled by the sudden heavy rain, frantically suggested finding shelter. They were in the middle of nowhere and couldn't see further than 15 feet ahead of them. There was a slight view of a creepy building across the street. The rain was washing off what looked like the green moss and vines covering the building. Lauren immediately grabbed Katrina and Everest and started dragging them towards the empty street that was dividing the girls from the building. Katrina and Everest pulled away and all three girls bickered.

“LAUREN stop! What are you doing! Can’t you see that building is abandoned?” Everest exclaimed.

“YEAH! It could be dangerous. Who knows what could be inside.” Katrina added. She had seen countless horror films which clouded her judgment. “What if it’s haunted? WHAT IF WE DON'T COME OUT ALIVE?”

Katrina was jumping to conclusions, and Lauren was getting annoyed. They were already soaked by the rain and they were all shivering. There were no trees around to hide under either, so they all continued bickering until the thunder made a roar. After thinking it over again, the girls felt as if they had no choice but to go into the building for shelter since there was nothing else around. Just an empty road, grass, and cement surrounding them. So, the 3 girls ran across the street, towards the abandoned building covering themselves as if they weren’t already soaked in the cold water. As they got closer and closer to the building, it got bigger and bigger. It seemed to have about 4 stories. The stairs leading to the entrance of the building looked as if they were going to crumble the second the girls stepped foot on them. They all stopped.

“So who wants to go in first?” Katrina asked.

“You!” Everest exclaimed as she pointed to Lauren. 

“What? Why me?” Lauren yelled.

“Because you’re the one who had the idea to shelter in this creepy, old place,” replied Everest.

“That’s true,” said Katrina.

“Ugh fine,” said Lauren.

So Lauren opened the door slowly and one by one the girls steadily walked in. First Lauren, then followed by Katrina, and then Everest. As soon as they walked in, the door slammed shut immediately. It was dark and creepy inside. Not to mention the scent. It smelled disgusting. The smell was like rotten cigars that have been hit with fart bombs. The girls also noticed that there were blood-like stains on the floor and walls and a creepy old doll inside of a fireplace next to some very old-looking dusty furniture. 

“This place is creeping me out already,” said Everest in a shaky voice.

“Well, it is abandoned. But remember that we’re only here till the rain passes,” replied Katrina.

“Hey while we’re here let’s explore and see what this place holds,” said Lauren.

“Uh, I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’s not safe,” Everest responded quickly.

“Oh come on, don’t be such a scaredy-cat. It’ll be fun! And we’ll be quick,” Lauren explained as she turned to Katrina.

“Ay, why are you looking at me?!” Katrina asks.

“What do you think we should do?” Lauren whispered.

Katrina didn’t exactly like the idea of checking the place out since in every horror movie she’s seen, when someone tries going towards the dark and mysterious to see what it holds, they never end up coming back. But because of her love of horror, she didn't exactly hate the idea because she has always wanted to go to an abandoned place just for the experience.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Okay let’s go explore I guess.” said Katrina hesitantly. She grabbed Lauren’s arms and says, “BUT JUST UNTIL THE RAIN PASSES!”

So the three girls walked through the living room, through the kitchen, and in and out of rooms. Most of the rooms had dried up bloodstains and creepy messages that were written in blood that said things like “You made a mistake coming here” and “Die, and you just might survive”. Along with those bloodstains, there were creepy doll heads and masks everywhere which made the place even weirder and creepier. Oddly enough, Katrina and Lauren didn’t mind because the blood seemed old and everything else was covered in dust. Everest on the other hand, she didn’t like any of it one bit. Soon enough, the girls found another flight of stairs. Even the stairs had blood stains. So again Katrina and Everest made Lauren go up first. Once all three girls got upstairs, there were more stains except these looked as if they came from something that was dragged along the floor. The girls looked concerned. The higher they go up the building, the more creepy and eerie it gets. Then, Everest saw what seemed to be a sliver of light flickering from far down the hall. 

“Hey? Do you see that?” Everest asked.

“See what?” Katrina asked looking up.

“What are you talking about?” Lauren asked.

“Over there you dummies!” Everest exclaimed as she pointed towards the light.

“Why is there a room with a light on?” Katrina questioned.

“Ummm guys can we get out of here? I’m starting to feel that someone else is here,” Everest said trembling.

“Dude it’s probably just a window. Calm down,” Lauren responded.

“Calm down? How can I calm down? I knew this was a bad idea. I should’ve just stayed outside and kept walking!” yelled Everest.

“Hey! Everest! Take deep breaths okay, deep breaths.” Katrina calmly said.

“Let’s just go see what that light is” Lauren whispered.

So Katrina and Everest slowly followed Lauren towards the light. As they were walking, they noticed more bloodstains, but this time they were different. They were wet! 

“Is...is that… WET BLOOD?” yelled Everest.

“Umm...uhh...umm...” muttered Lauren.

“I feel light-headed” murmured Everest.

“OH NO!” yelled Katrina.

“I- I CAN’T- I CANT BREATH!” Everest gasped.

“Oh my god! She’s having an anxiety attack!” screamed Katrina.

“Okay Everest just breathe slow and steady,” Lauren said, “I’ll be right back okay.” she continued. 

“Oh- Okay,” said Katrina starting to panic as well.

Lauren ran to the light and opened the door that it was coming out of. 

“LAUREN STOP!” Everest yelled.

But it was too late. She just disappeared. One moment she was running towards the flickering lights, and the next, the door opened and closed and it's dark again. Lauren was gone and it was just Katrina and Everest. The girls were just waiting down the hall for the door to open up again, hoping that Lauren would come out completely fine. Two minutes pass by, then five, then ten. They were losing hope, about to get up and leave, then the door opened again. A shadow that seemed to look like Lauren came out, but not alone. She looked like she was signaling someone to come out of there. Moments later, 6 other shadows were alongside Lauren’s shadow out of that door running back towards Katrina and Everest. The other two girls got up and started running back towards the stairs to get out, but Katrina and Everest were stuck. Seven shadowy figures were chasing them and there was a dead end. Everest grabbed Katrina and they held each other in their arms. They were hugging so tightly that it was getting hard to breath. They accepted their fate. The shadows were still running towards them down the hall and were getting bigger and bigger as they got closer. Katrina and Everest shut their eyes, hoping these weren’t their last moments on Earth. Then, it got quiet.

“I’m sorry but…”

It was Lauren. The girls opened their eyes and let go of each other.

“Is this the afterlife?” Katrina asked, still shaking.

“WHAT? NO!” Lauren quickie exclaimed.

Lauren sighed and said, “I’m sorry but this was all supposed to be a prank.”

“A what?!” yelled Everest angrily and confused.

“Yeah I thought it would be funny to pull a joke on you guys, but it kinda sorta failed and I’m so, so, so very sorry for all of this mess that I just created.”

“You did this? All by yourself?” asked Katrina. “How”

“Well you see, I knew there was going to be rain, and I knew that after our shifts at the hospital, we were going to be hungry. So I had some help from these guys” Lauren said while pointing to her other 6 friends, “But that’s beside the point okay? I’m trying to apologize to Everest because this was my idea and I didn’t mean to cause a whole anxiety attack. I thought it’d be funny.” Lauren said in a guilty voice. “I’m so sorry. To both of you.”

“Your sense of humor is broken Lauren” Katrina said.

“I forgive you.” Everest told Lauren.

“You what?!” Lauren excitedly asked.

“Yea I know you didn’t mean to cause all this. I probably overreacted anyway.”

“So we're good?” Lauren asked.

“Yes! I could never be mad at you guys, but you need to promise me that we will never prank each other like this again,” said Everest strictly.

“We promise!” Katrina and Lauren exclaimed together.

So all the girls made a pinky promise to never prank each other like this again. However, secretly, behind her back, Everest was crossing her finger. Her mind being full of thoughts for her revenge prank on Lauren.