I creak the door open, dreading to see what I already know is on the other side. As the dim light floods the dark room, I reluctantly take a step forward. My eyes slowly adjust, only adding to the suspense. My eyes study the small, bland closet. As I look down, my body goes numb. I try to recollect myself, but how does one stay sane with such a sight piercing his eyes? How did I even get in this situation in the first place?

“Come on, don’t be lame!” Ashley had yelled only an hour or so earlier. I took a step closer to the worn door of the abandoned home. Out of all the days to explore an abandoned building, why Halloween? Ashley always had been more adventurous than I am, even though I am supposed to be the “man.” She eagerly motioned for me to hurry my pace as I reluctantly shuffled closer.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” I said with a lazy undertone. I really was dreading going in. We had scouted the place last night, and the door was unlocked; however, we saved the “thrill” of going in for Halloween night, and so here we were. The door gave in easily to Ashley’s touch. In fact, it completely caved in to her gentle touch. As the door hit the ground, dust thickened the air. “Great, just what I need. I’m sure this will go great with my asthma,” I moaned.

“Stop complaining, Lee, geez.”

It was true. I had been complaining the whole time leading up to this, but can you blame me? It was Halloween night, and we were going in an abandoned building! I was pretty sure this is how every horror story plot goes. We both stepped inside, staying cautious of our every step. We slowly crept into the barren room. The occasional covered furniture made me assume this was the living room. Directly ahead, we saw what appeared to be the kitchen. As we entered, we scanned the outdated appliances.

“Look at this cool stove!” whispered Ashley.

I didn’t know why she whispered; it wasn’t like anyone or anything could hear us. The stove was indeed pretty cool, with retro lettering and a mint green finish. “Try to open it,” I said.

The edges seemed to be covered with a rust-like substance, but with a little prying, the hinges released and the stove ground open. It smelled of iron, almost salty. Some sort of congealed substance covered the walls of the stove. “Oh, God... What is that smell?” I managed to say while holding my nose.

“I don’t know, touch it,” she said.

To go along with my unadventurous personality, I am also very squeamish. “Ha, no way! Why don’t we look at the rest of the house?” I didn’t actually want to see the rest of the house; in fact, I wanted to leave. However, the stove had made me feel very uncomfortable for some reason, and I wanted to get away from it. None of the adjacent rooms seemed to be very interesting, other than some dusty furniture and the occasional china set. We reluctantly made our way to the stairs. By we, I mean me; Ashley was extremely eager, tugging my arm to hurry my pace. We eased up the creaky steps side by side; admittedly I lagged behind ever so slightly. The upcoming room was extremely bare, with only a ladder in the center of the room leading to, what I assumed to be, the attic. Of course, Ashley wanted to go up there, and of course, I didn’t. However, there I was climbing the ladder, right behind Ashley.

Ashley apparently had switched on a dim lightbulb.  For the first time, there was satisfaction in her tone. “Awesome,” she mumbled.

Indeed, it was, for there were all sorts of contraptions and gizmos filling every corner of the room. All of the things were foreign to us both, making them all the more interesting. Some of them had pulleys and levers, others had straps and handles. However, there was one thing in common with all of them; they all had that thick residue we found in the stove downstairs.

“Isn’t this amazing, Lee?” she asked, seeming to completely ignore that familiar pungent smell.

“The smell is absolutely horrible!” I uttered, almost gagging. She seemed surprised by my comment, but didn’t reply. Instead, she continued to marvel at the wide array of contraptions. “Ashley?” I asked with a curious tone. Again, she hardly acknowledged me. Why was she acting so oddly? As fear began to lurk in my mind, every little sound and movement was threatening: Was that a floorboard creaking, or just the wind? Was someone else there, or just my imagination? I snapped out of my imagination-fueled thoughts, and noticed Ashley wandering to a closed door. She turned the knob and walked in without hesitation. I hadn’t noticed the door until Ashley drew attention to it, thanks to the blanket of shadows covering it. Suddenly, I heard a lot of commotion on the floors below us. Surely this wasn’t my imagination again.

My heart began to race, as it tends to do when I am anxious. I peeked down the ladder, hoping no one peeped back. “Umm, Ashley, did you hear that?” I said, only loud enough for her to hear. No response. “Ashley? I’ll be right back. I’m going to go see whatever that noise was.” I eased down the ladder, keeping my eyes on the stairs leading down to the bottom floor. I tried to be stealthy as I eased toward the stairs, but my nerves made me loud and clumsy. Peering down, I saw no sign of life. However, a sudden sound abruptly killed the silence—a scream from a very familiar voice: Ashley’s. I froze in my tracks, wide-eyed and shaking. I quickened my pace and scurried back up the ladder. “Ashley!? Where are you, Ashley? This is not funny!”

She knew I was already on edge, and she decided to pull a prank on me? Ashley had quite the record of abusing my anxiety. As I exited the ladder, my breath was immediately taken from me due to the smell. It had become much more pungent than before. The door Ashley had entered before I left was now closed, but seemed different; different, yet familiar. A dark red residue covered the handle and was seeping from the crevices of the door. I knew that this had not been there before. Was Ashley still in there? Fear and adrenaline overrode my brain as I forced myself to touch the disgusting door knob. I grasped and turned, allowing the slimy residue to ooze through my fingers, thoughts racing through my brain, “What will I see when I push this door open? Will Ashley be in there?”

I learned a lot that day. I learned to never take your friends for granted, and that congealed blood smells horrible.