The Best Haunted House

Halloween is my favorite holiday. I just love the thrills, chills, scares, and everything else that goes with Halloween. Aside from dressing up, my favorite part is the haunted houses. My friends on the other hand are classic mindless sheep, scared of damn near everything. For weeks, I’d been trying to convince my friends to go to the best haunted house with me. Finally, on Halloween night, they agreed to make the two-hour drive into another state to entertain my need for fear. The drive sucked for two reasons. One, all they kept doing was try to convince me to go to the bar, and two, they brought along this single guy in attempt to set us up. He was cute but every time, they tried to do this, the guy usually left because I was too weird.

Finally, we made it to this old farm house with three big barns. It was creepily lit with a homemade sign that read ‘the best haunted house in the state’. I got out of the car, and instantly heard screams. There was a small line of pale faces with deer in the headlight looks on their faces. A small card table with some eerie orange lights had been set up to take people’s money. I could feel the excitement rising in my blood, and I didn’t have to look in the mirror to know my eyes were shining. “Are you sure this is the best haunted house?” Angela said in almost a whiny voice. If we were in a scary movie, Angela would be the first to die merely because she’s a dumb blonde with a voice that made my ears hurt. “Relax.” I said. “A haunted house is supposed to scare you.” “Charley, this place looks like Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” “Good movie.” The single guy, I believe his name was Brian, said. This shocked me. He really hadn’t said much on the way down here, which who could blame him; he was in the backseat with two nagging women. Something caught my eye in the corn field opposite of the house, something shiny, but from across the road I couldn’t make out what it was. I dismissed it as a glare from the moonlight. Angela continued to carry on about the place, but I had tuned her out, as I so often did.

“Come on, guys.” I said trying to contain the excitement. Angela frowned but grabbed her player boyfriend by the hand. Jessica followed the suit, and pulled her punk boyfriend into line. Brian looked at me and smiled. “Ladies first.” This made me smile. I stepped up behind Zeke. “I should probably be first since there’s no telling how well these guys will do with being scared.” This made him chuckle. We stood in line for several minutes before finally making it to the card table. A guy with short black hair and a goatee was sitting at the table looking somewhere between bored and mischievous. “$5” He said. Each one of us paid the fee, and then waited some more. I was becoming comfortable around Brian, which was interesting. While we stood in line, the next group made their way into the house, and almost instantly, we heard screams. All I could think was what a bunch of pansies. We moved up to the door, and there was a list of rules which struck me odd. It was dingy and spotted with something dark. “Rule one, walk….don’t run. Rule two….don’t get caught. Rule three…don’t scream. Good luck! You’re going to need it.”

The door opened, and a burly man with a thick beard and big hands ushered us in. He was dressed in overalls and just stared at us, particularly me. He grinned, and it sent chills down my spine. “Fresh meat.” He bellowed, and slammed the door closed and slid a lock into place. Angela screamed, and Jessica gasped. I had a really bad feeling in the pit of my gut. “Angela, keep moving.” I said feeling more confident than I felt. We were in a narrow hallway but it was the type of hallway that was furnished with old boards nailed to the studs. It was hard to see because the only light was coming from a room ahead. Not to mention, the room reeked of blood and had an underlying earth smell. I had a fleeting thought that this was what it was like to be buried alive. I heard the click of a spring, and yelled “STOP!” Angela actually listened to me for once in her life. A board with nails sprung out from a trap door stopping literally an inch in front of her face. I now understood why the group in front of us was screaming. I could see fresh blood dripping off the nails. Angela looked very pale and nearly passed out. “Mike, get a hold of her please.” I said sharply as I looked for a way out. The guy who let us in was gone but there were more locks on the door. I had a feeling that he wasn’t far away though, and I was right. I took a few small steps towards the door when he jumped out wielding a hatchet. “The only way out is forward.” His voice was deep, and his eyes held a menacing glow.

I turned away and made my way to the front of the line. I ducked under the board and made my way down the hallway towards the light. It was a small room with one flickering light bulb hanging from the center of the ceiling. The room was dusty with a door opposite of me. I cautiously walked through the other door. I’d gone into command mode which where someone takes charge when shit goes wrong. We made it through another hallway before we encountered the next trap. I heard it about a second too late, the soft flick of a switch, and then suddenly, the floor dropped. The area was just big enough for a person to fall through. I was very aware of how heavy Angela was as she damn near pulled my arm out of socket when the floor disappeared. She was screaming, and digging into my arm with her nails. I shifted my weight slightly, and was able to pull her up before she pulled both of us into that dark tunnel of, no doubt, doom. She was crying and stuttering. I couldn’t make out all of it but I did catch that she wanted to go home, and she had lost her shoe. Finally, I managed to calm her down. It was kind of funny because one would’ve sworn, we were lovers the way she clung to me. I guess her player boyfriend just didn’t compare.

We were no more in the next room when a man jumped out, waving a machete. He had fire engine disheveled hair, dirt on his face and hands, and to add to the deliverance theme, he was missing most of his teeth. “To git to the next room, one must fight wit me.” His accent was thick with hillbilly enunciation. I looked around the group and knew it was going to be me. The only other option was Brian. He was assessing the situation just like I was, but I was closer. I gently pushed Angela into Mike’s arms. I stepped up. He smiled. “It’s a shame such a pretty thing is going to lose.” He grinned as he raised the machete. He charged at me. I didn’t think; I just reacted. A quick punch to the throat was all the fight he needed. “I do believe we’ve earned passage.” I said as I walked next to him. I led the group through room after room, avoided trap after trap, when finally, we made it to a back-porch area. There were all sorts of farm tools on the wall, most of which were stained with blood.

This area was screened in and lead to one of the barns. There were boards nailed to the studs, as had become accustomed, but you could see through the planks. This looked like a combination between a horse barn and a black smith’s work area. There was a fire in the middle of the room with several slabs of wood surrounding the fire. On two of the slabs were dead bodies. I didn’t have to look a second time to know that they were from the group in front of us. It was when the big bald guy with the wandering eye took a knife and began to slice the skin off the bodies that Angela completely lost it. She began sobbing and backing up. I tried to grab ahold of her but she pushed me away. She finally just turned around and ran away. I called her name several times but she didn’t even acknowledge my voice. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.” Brian grabbed my arm. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?” “Yeah, I’ll be fine. Just keep these guys here. She couldn’t have gone too far.” I retraced the path we’d taken, straining my ears in hopes that I could pick up some trace of Angela. I rounded a corner to a sight I didn’t want to see. There was a man with his back to me, and Angela slung over his shoulder. There was blood on his shirt and puddling on the floor. Angela’s blonde hair was matted with blood. I flattened myself against the wall and turned back the way I came. Before I high tailed it out of there, I noticed Angela was holding a pink shoe. The group was still standing where I’d left them but half of them were a nice shade of green. “Did you find her?” I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to frighten anyone else worse than they already were. “We need to go.” He said quietly. I didn’t question, I just assumed leader. I looked back at the fire pit, and instantly, understood why they were queasy. The bald guy was taking out organs from one of the bodies. I vowed I would try to get everyone out alive.

We came to an outside path. The wind blew and chilled my bones. The moonlight cast an eerie glow on us. I heard a distant faint scream but nothing else but the rustling of leaves. I’d half contemplated an escape but on either side of us, there were huge metal fences with barbed wire intertwined. As tempting as it was, rule number two kept repeating through my mind. Don’t get caught. We made it inside another barn, but it was pitch black. I instantly stopped causing Mike to run into my back. I pulled out my cell phone and flipped on my flashlight. I didn’t really want to see but I wasn’t taking another step without it. I instantly regretted turning on the light because I was face to face with a gutted corpse. I could tell from the small light that there were several bodies handing, most were gutted. “Everyone take out your cell phones. Just a forewarning, there are gutted corpses hanging from the ceiling.” I heard Jessica gasp. “Charley, are we going to make it out of here alive?” She sounded close to either fainting or puking. “I sure as hell hope so.” I said quietly feeling less confident than I sounded. I pushed past the bodies, looking for a way out. Finally, I spotted a door. “This way.” I said, although I didn’t really have to worry about them not following me. They were pushed so tight against me, if I farted, they were all going to catch a whiff. The door was stiff and didn’t want move. My guess was not too many people made it this far. Finally, it creaked open. It led outside.

The wind felt good on my face, giving me a sense of calm. As soon as everyone was outside, I rubbed my hands down my jeans, trying to erase the feel of the cold, dead skin. I scanned the area. We were at the start of a field, but I had the feeling things were not as simple as they seemed. I looked for a path or some sort of sign but I didn’t see anything. It was Zeke who broke next. Before I could say anything, he started running into the field. I yelled for him to come back, but he didn’t listen. I’m not even sure what made him snap, considering we were out in the open. I figured it would’ve been all the horrors we saw in the house, but it must’ve been the perspective of freedom and possible safety that drove him to that point. Jessica grabbed ahold of my hand. I could tell that she wasn’t herself because she was incredibly pale. It made her purple hair contrast against her even more. “Why would he ru…” Before she could finish her question, we heard a howl of pain. “Guys, there’s probably still traps out in this field. Be careful.” I said, hoping to instill some sense into everyone else. I headed towards the sound. The field was overgrown and hard to maneuver through. Some of the weeds were taller than I was. Finally, after several minutes, I found Zeke. He was sitting on the ground holding his ankle. I realized that he had stepped into a bear trap. The massive iron claw was digging into his skin. His face was pale with drops of sweat popping over his forehead. “Charley.” He ground out. I knew I didn’t have the strength myself to open that trap but maybe if the two guys helped. I looked at Brian, who was already stepping up, and then to Mike, who was nearly standing on my back. “Mike can you help Brian? I am not strong enough to open that trap.” He looked like a kid who had been told that he couldn’t have any more cookies. His face contorted into a pout, but he didn’t say anything. They bent down and began trying to pry the trap apart. I thought I heard something. I scanned the area but really couldn’t see anything. “What is it?” Jessica whispered. I shook my head, not saying anything and trying to calm my prickling nerves. There was something out there, but I didn’t want to alarm everyone. The last thing I needed was everyone running through this field like a bunch of rats trying to jump ship. They finally were able to get the claw open enough that Zeke could pull his ankle out. It was literally a second after he was free when a small whistling sound caused me to duck and pull Jessica down with me. It was a good thing we did because a machete was flipping through the air. Before I could say anything, it landed in Mike’s chest. He looked at me, coughed really hard causing blood to coat his lips and dribble down his chin, and then sank to his knees. I was acutely aware that Jessica was screaming, but also that there was a man standing just a little way away from us. “I claim both.” I stood up on legs that weren’t quite steady. “Both?” I asked, knowing he was referring to both Mike and Zeke. He smiled an eerie grin. I noticed that he was missing several teeth. “The one who got caught and the one who died.” I was trying to figure out a plan, when my mouth took control. “You can’t have Zeke.” His face contorted into a snarl and he seemed to turn into an animal. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but what he did wasn’t on the list. He seemed to take a minute to calm down, and then just smiled. “You’re a fighter.” It wasn’t a question, just an observation. “Fine, the injured one can go for now but he won’t be so lucky the next time, nor will he have you to stand up for him.” The way he looked at me, then at Jessica, and back to me sent chills down my spine. I didn’t want to think what would happen if we were caught. He walked up to Mike, grabbed his foot, and began pulling him towards the house. Brian was looking around for something to splint Zeke’s leg and also to use as a make shift crutch. Judging by the enormous size of the field, we were going to need all of our strength to get out.

Finally, after several minutes, we had Zeke taken care of for now. All eyes turned towards me. “What do we do now?” Brian asked calmly. I had a feeling he felt like I did, scared shitless but trying not to show it. I looked around for a minute. My internal compass told me that we were facing East. We had driven southeast to get here. Logic stated that if we went northwest, we would come to the road. The only trouble with that was the house and barns were northwest. From this angle, I could see iron fences with barbed wire wound through the metal blocking the house. The only way out of this was through this field. They had designed it this way. I stated this fact. Everyone let out a deep breath. “I was afraid you were going to say that.” Brian said under his breath. “Everyone just walk slow and keep an eye out for any traps. Remember rule number two. Don’t get caught.” Everyone looked at me strangely. “Did nobody else read the rules before entering the house?” I looked from face to face. The answer to that question was a no. We began maneuvering through the field. It was slow and tedious. I always double looked before I stepped. I didn’t want to end up in a bear trap or worse. Brian was helping Zeke while Jessica was damn near on my back. An image of the old cartoons where the ma and pa were looking for something, and the ma mimicked every move pa made flashed through my mind. That was how Jessica was. She had almost climbed on my back. A thin coat of sweat drenched my back, and I knew that feeling was panic threatening to overtake me. As strong as I had been, the field of horrors made my knees weak. It felt like we were never going to get out because of how vast the field was. It didn’t help that the weeds were at least waist high on me, sometimes even taller than that. I stopped and made myself take ten deep breaths. Jessica didn’t say anything, but I think she knew my metal armor was starting to have chinks in it. I felt better, especially since there wasn’t any disgusting smells out here. There was just the smell of hay, and the feel of the cool breeze on my face. We continued on, finally, making it to an area of the field where there wasn’t as many weeds. On top of that, they weren’t as tall. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up alerting me to something. I couldn’t tell what, but something was watching us. “Guys, be careful. This may lead to more traps.” I almost mentioned that something or someone was watching us but I didn’t want to panic anyone. The pace had slowed down, as if everyone else in the group could feel what I felt. Even if they hadn’t felt it, they believed me. I scanned the field once more. I didn’t see anybody but definitely felt like the lion’s prey. I also saw a forest ahead of us. This could be both a blessing and a curse. I was starting to truly hate this place. Nobody ever left. We headed towards the forest when suddenly Zeke disappeared. I heard a strangled yell, and when I found him, my stomach turned. He had fallen in a pit full of stakes. The pit had been four maybe six feet deep but was lined with sharpened stakes. His contorted body was stuck on several stakes. It almost looked like he was floating in the pit. I tried to keep Jessica from seeing, but I was a second too late. I figured she’d run like Angela did but she turned from me, vomited and then held onto me for dear life. “Charley, what are we going to do? If we keep going, we’re going to die.” Her voice was uneven. I knew that the chances of us getting out alive were slimming down. I also knew that if we went back to the house, we would die for sure. “The only way out of this is to keep going.” I said softly, trying to keep calm. Brian came over to us, and even though he looked as green as Jessica did, he kept his composure.

We walked in silence through the rest of the field. I was thankful that there weren’t any more traps. My suspicion that most people didn’t make it this far was correct. There had been less traps and less rednecks threatening us. Hopefully, the woods would be less dangerous. It was a slim hope but it was what I clung to as we entered the forest. There was hardly any light penetrating through the dense trees. This made it even harder to see if there were traps. I once more pulled out my cell phone and put my flashlight on. The other two followed the lead without being told to. I think they knew I was probably their only hope of getting out alive. I’m not really sure how I’d been nominated but sometimes being the leader sucked. We walked for a few minutes when a trap sprung. It was damn near silent but it was a counterweighted trap. Jessica had stepped in a rope trap that pulled her up by her foot. I wouldn’t have even known it was there if she hadn’t been screaming. I went over to her, trying to calm her down. Her face was painted with fear. I finally was able to get her to stop full on banshee screaming. She was reduced to a sobbing mess. I examined the rope, and made the biggest mistake. I gently pulled Jessica down only to realize there was more than one trap. Stakes that had been on a trigger tied to the rope shot out from a tree. Most of them hit Jessica square in the chest, causing her to gasp and spit blood. One of them was lodged in my bicep. I watched the light go out of her eyes, and the last rugged breath leave her body. I was vaguely aware that Brian was gently pulling me away. He kept whispering that if I was caught, they would take me too.

After a few minutes, we made it to a little creek. I sat on the edge of the bank, and the realization of the horrors we’d been through hit me hard. I began crying. He walked up behind me, braced my shoulder, and then pulled out the stake. I felt my stomach drop. I took a few deep breaths in attempts to calm myself. I was trying really hard not to puke. He ripped a piece of my sweater off and wrapped it around my arm. I looked up at him, and realized he’d been just as scared as I had. He did something I didn’t expect. He pulled me into a hug. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” I whispered into his chest. It didn’t matter because everyone that had been against this was dead, but I felt better after saying it. He didn’t say anything; he just held me for a minute while I regained my composure. We walked deeper into the forest. I was certain that we were completely lost and that we wouldn’t see the light of day. After what felt like an eternity, we came to a road. I was almost to the point of hysteria, because we’d made it. We had survived. Out of the six of us, Brian and I had made it.

I wasn’t sure how many miles we’d walked, but it felt like we’d walked all over God’s green earth. The clock on my phone said that it was past midnight, which meant this night of horrors had been going on for nearly four hours. I could see the moonlight shining on a building. I wasn’t exactly sure what kind of building it was, but maybe we would be able to stop for a few minutes and regain some of our strength. I was completely beat as the adrenaline had left my body a while ago. As we got closer, it looked like a shed or a small barn. I had an uneasy feeling deep in the pit of my gut. I told Brian about this gut feeling. He let out a deep breath. “Charley, I hope that it is from the horrors we’ve seen and not that one of us is in danger.” I did too but I couldn’t shake it. We walked up to the building. The door had a huge padlock on it. “Brian, let’s just keep going.” I whispered trying to find the courage I’d had at the beginning of the night. He looked at me and agreed. We tiptoed past the building, trying to keep to the shadows as much as possible. The moon was a spot light though. I heard the click of a door, and instantly froze, panic racing through my veins. I turned to be face to face with the guy who had taken our money. “Well, well, we seem to have a couple of survivors who just happen to be trespassing.” My heart had literally stopped beating, and my breath was caught in my throat. Brian was a couple of steps behind me, and I could tell he was just as scared as I was. The redhead who I had throat punched, was behind the first guy. “That one punched me in the throat.” He looked somewhere between pissed and a sudden happiness. “I want er.” He pointed to me. It seemed he had a score he wanted to settle. The other one chuckled and reached for Brian. He took off running. The first guy pushed me down and sprinted past me. The redhead was quick and grabbed my arm. I watched that guy chase Brian down and violently kill him, as if he were some prey. And that was when I lost my senses. I spun around and struck the redhead in the chest. It was enough to catch him off guard, but I didn’t stop. I kept hitting him until there was blood on my fists. The other one came back smiling until he saw what I had done to his friend. He reminded me of a bull in the way he charged me. I moved quickly tripping him. He fell to the ground. The knife that had been in his hand flew across the grass. As quick and nimble as a dancer, I grabbed it, and before another thought entered my head, I plunged it into his chest. He coughed and blood coated his lips. It didn’t take long for the light to leave his eyes. I pulled the knife out of his chest and wiped it on my jeans.

Something in me changed. I was no longer just trying to survive, now I was seeking revenge. I headed back the way we had just come. It didn’t seem to take as long as the first go around. I wasn’t sure if it was the adrenaline or the lack of traps. At this point, I didn’t care if I got caught in a trap. I wasn’t going to go down without a fight. I nearly sprinted through the woods until I saw a flash of light ahead of me. Two rednecks had found Jessica’s body and were in the process of some sort of necrophilia act. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and snuck up behind them. They had violated her in ways I didn’t want to think about. I threw the knife, and my luck held out because I struck one of them in the throat. I had never thrown a knife in my life; I chalked it up the adrenaline beating through my veins. The other one was just as surprised, but it didn’t last long. He ran towards me, not caring that he was butt ass naked. It was the forest that was on my side because he tripped over a fallen log. I went over to Jessica, sucked in a deep breath and pulled out one of the spears that had sealed her fate. I laughed a wicked laugh as I dug that spear into his chest. The scream he let out was truly worthy of the best haunted house. I had no doubt that his scream would alert the others, but that was fine. They could come to me. I collected my weapons and positioned myself in the bushes. One of the rescue posse was the burly man with the wandering eye, the other one was the huge man who had first barricaded the door. I’m sure that on a normal day they would have been able to snap my bones like the turkey wish bone, but today was not a normal day. And I was not the prey.

Excitement shot through me as Mr. Wandering eye walked right next to me. I reached out and cut his leg. I was aiming for his Achilles tendon but he had thick boots on. He yelped and reached down. I thrust the knife into his jugular vein. Blood squirted all over me. On a normal day, I might have puked but like I said this wasn’t a normal day. The other burly man charged. I was truly impressed with his agility as he maneuvered through the forest. Without thinking, I grabbed the spear and like a roman gladiator, I speared his belly. He sank to his knees and uttered a small cry. I gathered up any and all weapons or items that could be used as a weapon. I kind of felt like Rambo, but I’m sure I looked less threatening. After what felt like an eternity, I made my way through the field of horrors. Standing near the pit of doom was the hillbilly who had claimed Mike. “Awe, the fighter has survived and has returned for some action.” His smile sent chills down my back. “I just want to go home.” My voice was soft but I braced myself for the fight. He chuckled as he rubbed his machete against his cheek. I could hear the blade rubbing against his facial hair. It was a whole thirty seconds before he moved and he moved quick. I barely missed the knife flying towards me. I had never in all of my life thought that I could move that quickly. Once again, I gave the credit to the adrenaline. Another knife flew through the air, but this time I wasn’t as lucky as the knife landed into my thigh. He came over to me. A look of triumph crossed his face. “My prize.” He bent down closer to me. I sucked in a deep breath, pulled the knife out of my thigh, and before he could react, I buried it into his cheek. Warm blood flowed down my leg. I’d never heard such a yell but what came from him was completely terrifying. I had to act quick because he wasn’t dead; now he was just pissed. I picked up the machete he’d dropped, took a deep breath and buried it into his skull. It was almost like hitting a baseball that turned to oatmeal. My stomach churned slightly. I sat down, well maybe not as graceful as sit, it was more of a cross between sinking and sliding. I ripped another piece of my sweater off to make a bandage for my leg. It was funny but I almost mourned my sweater. It had been one of my favorites, but like myself it was holding on by mere threads.

Were they all dead? There couldn’t have been that many more. I did a mental tally and figured I might be safe to try to climb the fence. I wasn’t going back through the house because even though the redneck posse was dead, there were still traps. I mustered up my strength and got to my feet. My body ached and screamed in protest. I could feel the small trickle of blood down my leg. I was going to have to make this quick before I bled to death. That would suck to survive the best haunted house only to bleed to death. I hobbled over to the metal fence. As I’d seen before there was barbed wire intertwined throughout, but if I was careful, I should be able to make it over. I stepped onto the fence; thankful it wasn’t electric. I had to take my time for two reasons. One, I didn’t want to get caught in the fence, and two, my body hurt all over. I groaned as swung over the top. I wanted to take a bath and have a drink. I made my way down the other side. I was so happy that tears streaked through the dirt, blood, and grime on my cheeks. There was my car just as we’d left it. My guess was that they took care of all the cars the next day. I scanned the area. I didn’t want my happiness to cost me. There wasn’t anyone there. I fumbled the keys out of my pocket, but kept looking for one last opponent. I bent down for just a minute to check underneath my car. There wasn’t anyone there. I unlocked the car and looked around as if I’d gotten caught with my hand in the cookie jar. Nothing. I opened the door, checked the back seat, and after confirming that there wasn’t anyone with me, I slid in and locked the door. I was so happy but I wasn’t going to celebrate until I was at a hospital somewhere. I backed out of the spot, headed back the way I’d came so many hours ago.

I’m not sure how long I drove for but I finally found a little town. I pulled into the small building marked hospital. The look on the receptionist’s face could only be described as pure horror, but she quickly regained her composure. They got me back to the room and began to look at my wounds. My bicep wound ended up needing eight stitches, but my thigh wound needed thirty-two. Other than the scrapes and bruises, those were the only two major wounds. The sheriff walked in an eternity later. He asked me all sorts of questions after hearing my story but the final question was the one that turned my stomach. “How could you do this?” How could I do this? How could I do this? This wasn’t exactly what I had planned. I would’ve loved to have made it out of this with my best friends and without any life-threatening wounds. He left without any explanation. The nurse who had been sitting there finally spoke up. “He has a brother that lives in the direction.” That time my stomach did not quiet down, and I expelled all of my stomach contents. “When can I leave?” I asked after I stopped puking. “We really want you to be admitted so we can keep an eye on you.” I shook my head. I didn’t trust this small hospital because if the sheriff went out to the farm of terror, he was going to come back one of two ways. Either extremely grateful or extremely pissed. “Well you’re free to go then.” I was glad that I had refused any meds. That would’ve been a reason for them to hold me. I hobbled out to my car and pulled away. I wanted to be long gone before the sheriff came back.

I was never so relieved to see my own state welcoming me. I didn’t go home though. I went to my mom’s place for a couple of reasons. One, my mom was a nurse and would be able to keep an eye on me, and two, I wanted to give it a few days before I tried to go home. I wanted to see what was going to happen with the sheriff. Of course, when I knocked on my mom’s door early in the morning, she nearly panicked. But then she’d seen I’d gotten medical treatment and relaxed a little bit. I hobbled into the shower, promising my mom I’d tell her the story. I scrubbed the grime and blood off. Finally, I managed to get out and dry off. Mom had found me some clothes. I did feel better. My mom had the news on which just happened to be showing a broadcast in the next state about a house of terrors. I sat down and nearly choked when I saw that it was the best haunted house. They were going through the house finding victim after victim, and then through the field which showed the last guy I’d encountered. They were talking about how this was one of the biggest murder scenes they’d ever seen. The sheriff came on and was talking about how a young girl had killed his brother. I was extremely glad that he hadn’t run my license. I decided to call my local sheriff to cover myself. I didn’t want this to come back and bite me later. He came out and took my statement but mentioned that I was probably safe, even if that sheriff did come looking for me, there wasn’t really a lot he could legally do. It had been in self-defense. I wasn’t afraid of what he’d do legally; I was terrified of what he’d personally do. I laid down while mom called her lawyer. I was so exhausted but as soon as I closed my eyes, horrible images filled my mind. People dying in brutal ways made my sick to my stomach. Finally, mom gave me a sleeping pill and I was able to rest. When I woke up, I felt groggy but a little better. I hobbled down the hallway to find mom sitting in her chair. “Hey, how are you doing?” I moaned as I sat down next to her. “I’m alive.” “We’ve got good news.” I raised an eyebrow at her. “What’s that?” She reached over and patted my arm. “Your gun loving cousins have agreed to let you stay with them for the next little while until this blows over.” That was almost a relief because they had their own armory.

I stayed with my cousins for almost two weeks without any issues. Nothing ever came of the best haunted house except a lot of therapy and meds to help me sleep. My doctor was pretty sure I had PTSD, which I hadn’t doubted for a minute. Every time, I closed my eyes, I would see the best haunted house and all of the terrors that had been inside. Needless to say, I didn’t love haunted houses anymore, and on top of that, I spent more and more time with my mom since all of my friends had horrifically died. I found out later that the sheriff had been charged with manslaughter. The authorities had raided his place later and found victims in his basement. None of them had survived. I’d expected to be hauled into court and required to hash out my side but it never happened.