Nightmare Barn

The rain pelted us as we trudged quickly through the muddy and grassy field towards the old blue barn ahead of us. Construction materials littered the area around the barn. Loose ends of gray and royal blue tarps covering some of the materials flapped in the wind making sharp crackling noises. We were too far from our camper to turn back now. Just a year ago this barn was beyond repair.

It was almost night, and it would be too dark and dangerous to make our way back especially in this storm. As we got closer, we realized no one was around. It was eerily silent except for the rain pounding on the metal roof and thunder rolling occasionally. A sign at the edge of the barn with the name of the construction company swayed back and forth barely holding up to the tumultuous wind.

My friend Jordan who was a few paces in front of me disappeared around the corner to find an entrance after discovering the front door was locked. I approached one of the tall windows to try and peer in. I was met with instead, reflective glass deterring any chance of seeing inside. I then tried to open it and it wouldn’t budge. It was locked. As I was pulling on the last window on the right side of the barn, I heard a muffled shout from Jordan “The back door is unlocked. I’m going in.”

“Wait I called out,” I quickly moved around to the back. The rain was still pouring heavily. The back door stood ajar. I stepped in and was immediately blasted with cold air. The air conditioning seemed to be on full blast. I shivered as I ambled down the white wooded hallway. The walls were freshly painted grey. Mud from my shoes trailed the floor. I came up to a room on the right side of me that appeared to be a laundry room. Two washers and two dryers sat opened and not hooked up in the middle of the room. There was a table shoved in the corner of the room with one lonely teal towel laid over it. I snatched it off the table and wrapped it around me noting to find the thermostat to turn the air up. I was searching for Jordan when I noticed the muddy footprints leading further down the hallway. They led me to a kitchen that was massive enough to fit the camper or two in it. The cabinets were navy blue with white marble countertops but completely devoid of life. None of the main kitchen appliances were even installed. The muddy footprints stopped abruptly at a door off to the side of the counter.

I moved closer to the door to see it slightly cracked open letting the darkness creep out. I pulled the door open and called out “Jordan?” There was no answer. I stepped into the room only to be blinded by a light flashing on. I had stepped into a walk-in pantry with empty white shelves and one glass cup sitting on the step stool to my left. Jordan was not in here. I turned to walk out but realized there was another door at the end of the pantry with more footprints. I made my way over to it. I turned the knob and was met with darkness. A whirlwind sucked me into the room. I felt myself falling. I hit my head on something hard and fell unconscious.

I woke up to the feeling of grass beneath me and the stars above me. Jordan stood over me. “You made it.”

I sat up putting my head into my hands. “Where exactly are we?” I ask.

“Take a look around.”, was all he replied.

I looked around me only to see the blue barn. There was no construction. “I don’t understand.” I glanced at Jordan confusion written on my face.

“Come on.” He held out his hand for me to help me up off the ground.

Once I stood up, I followed him towards the barn. As we got closer, I could hear loud music coming from within. Jordan slid the front door open revealing tons of people which wasn’t an unusual thing. They all had permanent smiles. No one frowned. It was almost as if they were robotic. They were dancing with smiles plastered on their faces. I was pushed into the crowd. Back and forth. I was spun around and around by the people. “Jordan!” I cried out. I started to panic.

“Where are we?”

“We are in the basement. You fell in as I did. I was hungry so I was looking for the pantry. I got curious and fell here just like you did.”

“There were people…. "

He cut me off “You were having a nightmare after being knocked unconscious.

Just then a screeching sound came out of nowhere. I looked at Jordan in a panic. “What is that?!”

He whispered, “I don’t know but we need to find a way out.”

The screeching sound seemed to be getting closer. It was dark down here. I could barely see. Jordan tried his phone, but it had died. I reached to try for mine, but it was gone.

“Why are there no stairs?” I whined aloud wondering who allowed the stairs to be taken out and the door left.

“I believe to keep whatever is down here down here,” Jordan responded.

“What exactly is down here though!” I shouted.

The screech sounded off again. I then heard pounding on a door to the left of us.

“We are going to die in here, aren’t we?!” I was starting to panic.

“Shut up. we aren’t going to die. Help me figure out how to get this rope up to the door.”

“How would you even know where to throw it we can’t even see in front of us. How did you even find that.?

“Will you stop being so negative and help me'', Jordan hissed.

The pounding on the door got louder. The hinges holding the door closed started to groan as the creature tried to break through.

Jordan hurriedly through the rope to no avail. It latched onto nothing and kept plummeting back down to the ground.

I was crying now. We decided to give up and try to find a different way out. The hinges weren’t going to hold much longer. I was moving through the darkness feeling the walls until I came to a space hollowed out in the wall. I felt the air to make sure there wasn’t a wall. I called out to Jordan to come here. I found a walkway. He carefully and quickly made his way over. It was then that the creature came crashing through the door screeching at the top of its lungs. We grabbed each other’s hands and went sprinting down the dark hall. I could hear it racing after us. We could not see in front of us. I didn’t dare try to look back. We slammed into a metal door. We scrambled to open it, fumbling with the handle. It turned just as the creature made it 2 feet behind us. We pushed open and tumbled out into the grass kicking the door back shut. The creature screeched and banged on the door. We got up and took off into the night. The rain had long stopped.

We somehow made it back to our camper, hitched it to our truck, and left never to come back.