It Lives in the Barn

The wind blew softly that morning, bringing with it an icy gloom that swallowed the sun and threatened rain. The chill was bitter, piercing, and made a person long for the warmth of Summer. But, there was no warmth here, only cold. It was a miserable Autumn day.

Sitting alone, on the edge of a forgotten field, was an old barn. A dilapidated thing, worn and neglected, its paint faded and chipping. It had been there for many years, so long that even the fence that had once surrounded it had rusted and fallen away. The barn sat, shrouded in the gloom, seemingly watching, silently waiting. For what, nobody knew. What people did know was that it lives in the barn. A story from years come and gone, probably untrue, of a thing lurking in the dark, a beast hungering for the flesh of children. Yet, true or false, people shunned the place like it was diseased, and the last family to own the property went missing more than sixty years ago. It had been abandoned ever since, sitting alone, in a barren field, watching, waiting.

…

Elizabeth peered at the old barn through a pair of cheap binoculars. It certainly seemed abandoned, but she could not see anything out of the ordinary. It just looked like a barn. She shivered, and rubbed her arms. The sweater was not helping much in this damp chill. The woods surrounding the field were quiet as the grave, the trees dead and dismal. Elizabeth had not seen or heard a single living thing as her and her friends had cut through them to get to the field. It was beyond eerie, as though life itself shunned this place.

“Hey, let me see those for a sec. I want to see,” said her friend Ashley, taking hold of the binoculars. Elizabeth relinquished them, and Ashley hastily looked through them, observing the dilapidated structure intently. “Yes, this is the place,” she said, barely able to contain her excitement. “This is the barn. It lives here,” she continued happily. Ashley always had been a fan of all things creepy.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” asked Megan in a hushed voice, so quiet it might have been a whisper. She had no interest in scary places or the supernatural. The only reason she was even here was because Ashley had insisted. Ashley did not seem to notice Megan’s question. She lowered the binoculars, a wide grin on her face. She turned to Elizabeth and Megan.

“Come on, let’s go! I want to take a closer look!” she exclaimed, as excited as though her birthday and Christmas had come early. Without even waiting for a response, Ashley stepped out of the treeline and into the field, making her way to the old barn at a brisk pace. She was already halfway there before Elizabeth, and finally Megan, followed after her. The wind was blowing harder now that they were away from the trees, tossing their hair and biting through their layers. Elizabeth leaned forward, pushing against the wind, rubbing her arms to try and stimulate some warmth. She looked behind her to see Megan, the girl huffing and puffing through her scarf, her glasses completely fogged over as she struggled across the uneven ground. Ashley, on the other hand, was not deterred at all by the cold, or by the wind for that matter. It might as well have been a warm summer day for her, as she practically skipped to the barn, humming to herself.

Elizabeth kept a slow pace to help make sure Megan was not left behind. When they finally got up to the old barn, Ashley was already looking through windows, impatiently waiting on them so she could go inside. As excited as she was, she was still not brave enough to enter the barn without Elizabeth and Megan. She would have never admitted it though.

“Ugh, finally. It feels like I’ve been waiting forever for you two,” groaned Ashley dramatically. It could not have been more than three minutes. Megan pulled off her glasses and began cleaning the fog off them.

“Sorry Ashley,” she squeaked, barely audible. She put her glasses back on and they fogged over just as fast. Elizabeth held herself tighter, shivering in the wind. Was it getting colder? She looked up at the sky, dark and gloomy, threatening rain, yet not a drop had fallen yet. It had to be warmer inside, at least they would be out of the wind.

“C-come on, let’s j-just go inside and get this o-over with,” she said, her teeth chattering. She really ought to have dressed more warmly. “I-it has to be w-warmer inside anyway,” she added, pointing at the barn. Ashley looked between the two of them, her lip pouting.

“You guys, this is supposed to be fun, could you at least pretend that you’re enjoying yourselves?” she asked incredulously. “Come on, the door is over here,” she said, motioning them to follow her. Ashley led the girls to a part of the barn that was originally hidden from view, to a large barn door that had been obscured by a stack of rotten boxes. She laid hold of the door and began trying to pull it open. Elizabeth went to help her and slowly the two were able to open the door wide enough for them to squeeze through. A loud crack of thunder sounded overhead, and the rain came all at once. The girls shrieked, hurrying inside as the icy downpour fell upon them.

At first it was too dark to see, but then their eyes adjusted, and they were able to move around without difficulty. It was creepy for sure, but it did not really feel sinister. It just seemed like an old barn. At the very least, it was warmer here than it was outside. Ashley wasted no time making things creepy.

“They say it has claws, long and sharp,” she said, turning on her flashlight. She walked over to one of the walls, shining light on old, rusted equipment. “It uses them to cut and slice,” she continued, looking at a large saw hanging on the wall. Megan looked absolutely terrified, breathing heavily as she stood frozen just inside the door. Elizabeth went to her.

“It’s ok, Megan, there’s nothing to be scared of. Come on,” she said, gently taking her by the hand and leading her further inside. Ashley was not paying any attention to them. She might as well have been alone.

“They say it has sharp teeth, crooked and yellow,” she said, shining her light on a worn bear trap. “It uses them to gnaw on your fingers and toes,” she ran her fingers lightly over the rusted trap, grinning. Megan whimpered, and Elizabeth looked over at Ashley, unamused.

“Come on, Ashley, you’re scaring Megan, cut it out with all the creepy stuff,” she said, a little too loudly. Ashley was having too much fun to care, however. She looked at Elizabeth and Megan, holding the flashlight under her face.

“They say it sleeps on a pile of bones,” she said, making her voice sound creepier than it had before. “It waits for you to open the do-” A loud knocking came, sounding through the interior of the barn, and all the girls screamed at the sudden noise.

“What was that?” asked Megan, gripping Elizabeth so tightly it hurt. Elizabeth was too scared to care though.

“I-it came from up there I think,” she said, pointing up to the loft. Ashley shined her light, but the shadows were stubborn, and unyielding. She slowly brought the flashlight down, letting it shine on a wooden ladder. Megan shook her head as she realized what Ashley was thinking, but Elizabeth was the one who spoke.

“I’m not sure this is a good idea,” she said, sounding more timid than she would have liked. “Maybe we should just go.” Elizabeth took a step back, Megan coming with her. Ashley grinned, although her eyes betrayed her fear.

“Come on, don’t tell me you two are afraid,” she laughed. Another knocking, almost identical to the first, boomed through the barn, causing Megan to squeak in terror. The other girls flinched, but did not cry out this time. Ashley shined her light up once again, but could not see what waited above. “W-well, I’m going up,” she said, not sounding as brave as before. “You two can come with me or not. I don’t care.” Holding onto her flashlight, she began climbing the ladder. When she got to the top, Ashley brought her light around, shining it on the loft. Then, she climbed up onto the platform. For a long while there was nothing.

“Ashley, are you ok?” called Elizabeth. Nothing. “What’s up there? Say something!” But there was nothing, no sound apart from the howl of the storm. Then Elizabeth realized that she could not see Ashley’s light. She had taken her flashlight, so why was it so dark up there? Another loud knocking shook the barn, and a feeling of dread began to grow in Elizabeth’s stomach. She turned to Megan, taking the girl by the shoulders. “Megan, wait here, I’m going to go make sure she’s alright,” she said, trying to sound calm. Elizabeth turned towards the ladder.

“N-no, don’t g-go up there. Please, d-don’t leave me down here b-by myself,” Megan pleaded, shaking her head as tears threatened to fall down her face. Elizabeth turned back, smiling reassuringly.

“I’ll be right back. Just wait here.” Elizabeth laid hold of the ladder and Megan let her go without further protest. Slowly, she began to climb. Halfway up the dread began to creep into her stomach again. A few more rungs. The knocking came once more, louder than before. Elizabeth clung to the ladder, her courage failing. For a long while she did not move. Then, she began to climb again, ascending the rest of the way and pulling herself up onto the loft. She looked around, but saw nothing but old crates, rusted tools, and… a door? A bright red door on the far end of the loft, its paint a startling contrast to the bleakness surrounding it. It waits for you to open the door, Ashley’s voice said in her head.

Hesitantly, Elizabeth inched her way to the other side of the loft, the door luring her like an angler fish in the dark. She could not resist. Despite all her fear, her feet continued to move. She came closer, twenty feet away, and then ten. Was she really doing this? Less than five feet away now, her hand reaching out for the handle. She was about to touch the door, when a pair of hands grabbed her from behind. Elizabeth screamed, thrashing her arms and legs, and whirled around. Standing behind her was Ashley, laughing like a lunatic.

“Oh my goodness, you should see your face!” she cried, trying to catch her breath. “You shouldn’t be such a scaredy cat!” Ashley stepped backwards as Elizabeth tried to shove her.

“That wasn’t funny, Ashley!!” she yelled, her fear replaced with anger. Ashley just laughed harder.

“It was to me!” she said, giggling. Elizabeth fumed for a second, then started laughing as well. She really did feel silly, getting so worked up over nothing. It was just an old barn. She needed to stop listening to so many crazy stories. The pair laughed together as good friends do, and decided it was probably time to leave. Any later and they would have to walk through the woods in the dark. They climbed down the ladder, one after the other, grabbed Megan, who was more than happy to leave, and went out the barn door and into the wind and rain. In their distraction, they had completely forgotten about the mysterious red door, and knock, knock, knocking that had been coming from the loft.