“You don’t really know what you have until it’s gone, so cherish every moment.”

Those were the words my mother spoke long ago, when I was still a small child.

I think it’s fair to say that she was right…

The setting Sun’s orange, warm light bled through the trees, soaking into the clothes and skin of the 5 highschoolers who were busy hiking through the nearby woods.The still air absorbed it’s rays as well, causing the group to feel as if they were under a heat lamp. Even considering these circumstances, they continued toward their destination with adventurous spirits.

“You said we’re going to an abandoned house?” asked Ben. The boy had medium length blond hair with green eyes, and was wearing a slightly oversized white hoodie, along with a pair of khaki shorts. Despite appearing athletic, his laziness was unparalleled by anyone at their school, though he was not fat or overweight by any standards.

“That’s right.” Seth confirmed with an underlying grin. He had short, black hair and light grey eyes. Today, he wore his favorite navy blue jacket which was unzipped, a pair of blue jeans. It was today that he had invited his friends, who were currently trailing behind, to explore an abandoned structure he found conveniently close to his usual hiking trail. As his shoes trampled the summer grass, Seth could barely recognize the structure in the distance, behind the crowd of trees enveloping it.

The structure was indeed a sight, though one could easily consider this a large shack. The exterior consisted of miscellaneous wooden planks that differed from each other in terms of size and color. Some of these planks had already become victim to the elements and fell to the barren ground, while others stayed nailed to each other, withering away. The roof had holes that had been created through falling branches of the surrounding trees, and the windows had either cracked or been completely shattered. Moss had grown at the base of the building on all sides, with weeds sprouting beside them. An unknowing individual would most likely be oblivious, then suddenly met with an ominous aura. Naturally though, Seth already knew of this aura, and accepted its presence. He had visited multiple times, but he never let himself in. Rather, he remained outside, admiring it.

I can finally show them that I’m not boring! And, I’ll get to go inside too! He announced in his mind whilst striking a pose, which he threw his clenched fist into the warm air.

“At least someone’s happy.” A girl with medium length red hair and dark blue eyes, named Lynn, emphasized the difference in attitude between themselves. She had on a gray beanie that was a bit big for her head, along with an olive green handbag stretching from her left shoulder to her right hip. She continued advancing toward the building Seth had been so eager to share with them.

“Ah, so that’s the thing you wanted us to look at?” She asked with one eyebrow raised, clearly unamused by what had caught her eye. “It’s so damn boring. Why’d you invite us here again?”

Appalled by Lynn’s harsh criticism, Seth shifted his head to face her, and dropped his pose. Then with commendable speed, he sprinted to be in her line of sight. “Hey! I try to bring us all together for some fun before summer break ends, and this is what I get?” He protested before her, clenching his fists.

She scoffed back at the boy, “I’m just saying what I think about your little adventure you set up. It feels as if I have no say in this.” She maneuvered around Seth, now refusing to acknowledge his presence, and kept moving toward their destination.

His head and eyes followed Lynn as she casually strolled ahead without much care, leaving them in the dust. Her pessimism had sparked something inside Seth, causing him to snap. “H-hey! You take that back!” He instantly became prepared to charge at the girl, when he felt a soft, reassuring hand at his left shoulder.

The hand belonged to Alice, a girl with bright blonde hair and light blue eyes. Her outfit consisted of a cerulean blue dress and a pair of white knee socks. She was known as a kind soul to all, helping her community in any way possible. Her mother held the title of mayor in their town, so this was expected of her. When other people and classmates asked about her community service, she would most likely respond with, “I don’t mind at all! I love helping everyone out.”

“C’mon, let it go,” she encouraged Seth, halting his attempt. The rage inside him dissipated and he returned to a much calmer stance. “You know that’s just how she is, don’t provoke her,” she advised him. Now having realized his mistake, he let out a sigh and defended himself, “I… I just want us to have some fun before school begins. And since no one brought up any ideas, I took matters into my own hands.”

Lynn glanced back at him with a sorrowful expression, before turning back toward the decaying shack.

Immediately after Seth’s explanation, Alice’s face began to glow and a radiant smile appeared. She leaped in front of him so that he was looking at her. “I think that this was a great idea!” She declared enthusiastically. As soon as the words escaped her mouth, another voice made itself apparent behind them.

“Yeah! Plus, this gave me some more exercise today,” it said gleaming with pride. His name was Elijah, although mostly everyone he knew called him Eli. His hair was black and short with many small curls, and was clearly from African-American descent. His eyes were hazel, and his face was structured well all around. He wore a green football jersey, similar to those worn by the nearby professional team, and light gray shorts made of slick material. He raised his arms above his head and stretched them out, one after the other, then let them rest at his side.

“But something about this place gives me the creeps,” Eli complained, placing his hands on his hips.

“No shit Sherlock.” Ben remarked sarcastically. To which Eli responded by clicking his tongue in disapproval.

“Eli’s right, why a place like this?” Alice’s curiosity had peaked. As she asked this, Seth froze.

“Why?” He said.

“Yeah, why here Seth? There are way better places than this.” She asked again.

Seth spaced out for a few seconds, staring blankly at the ground.

I can’t tell them I called them out here just for my personal satisfaction…

“Seth?”

He snapped out of his trance and immediately saw Alice, perplexed at his odd behavior.

“Sorry, what’s up?” He apologized, brushing it off.

“You didn’t answer my question!” She angrily exclaimed.

“Oh, right! Well…” he paused, increasing the anticipation among them, as a growing smile appeared on his face.

“That’s a secret!”

Alice sighed in disbelief, “Fine, have it your way.”

“I gladly will!” He mocked as she began walking forward.

The group made their way to the rotting shack, using the small set of stairs.

“We should probably go up one at a time,” Lynn recommended to the others whilst looking back at them, and they nodded in agreement. She went first, followed by Seth, Alice, Eli, then Ben. Each step they took made the wooden boards creak.

When Seth arrived at the door, he finally noticed a strong stench. Out of his peripheral vision, he saw a shattered portion of a window pane, and decided to approach it. But with only one step in its direction the odor’s overwhelming power grew exponentially, and he gagged while stepped back.

“Aw man, that sucks, maybe we should go do something else instead of going in there, like we should’ve done in the first place…” Lynn ridiculed his plans once again, before turning around, preparing to descend down the steps.

As soon as he heard this, he let out a sigh and began to recede into his thoughts again.

Maybe this was a bad idea. I mean Lynn isn’t having fun whatsoever, Ben seems less enthusiastic than normal, they all seem to think I’m crazy. I might as well find something else before it’s too late…

Suddenly, Lynn felt a hand clench her left shoulder, and turned her head to see Eli glaring at her.

“Hey,” his voice was deeper than before, “Seth went out of his way to prepare something for us before school returns. The least you can do is go along with this and act like you’re enjoying it.”

Ben joined in from her left, “Yep, you never know if you’ll like it until you try it.”

A few seconds of silence overcame them, until Seth spoke up, “If you really want to, we can go somewhere else. You all probably don’t want to do this anyway—“

Lynn interrupted him, making her decision, “No, I’ll come with. Let’s just get this over with…”

Seth turned his head toward her with one eyebrow slightly raised, “Are you sure? You seem pretty hesitant.”

“Yeah,” she said, appearing less agitated than before.

He let out a sigh, easing some anxiety, and warned them, “Alright, brace your noses,” before kicking the door. One kick, then another, and another. Each time, it made a loud thud and his shoe chipped at the rotting wood. With a fourth kick, the door finally gave in, and fell inward toward the inside, along with the sound of tearing wood. As it fell, a massive wave of nauseating odors escaped through the now open doorway.

“Jesus Christ!” Lynn gagged as she turned away with her hand covering her mouth. “That’s so fucking bad! Why’d you have to kick the damn thing down?”

“Yeah…” Alice asked, coughing behind them. “Why didn’t you just turn the doorknob?”

“There was no doorknob. Looks like it was torn out.” Seth said, now staring at the place where it used to be. The wood where it resided was bent out of shape, but there was something else. A small wooden rod laid on the floor. Compared to the dark, rotting wood of the abandoned shack, this looked new, freshly carved out of healthy wood. Similar to something that a hardware store would sell. He picked it up and examined it for a few seconds, turning it around. Then, he tossed it aside, hitting the floor with a light knock.

Other than the rancid smell of the shack’s interior, there existed a multitude of ancient artifacts inside. Upon entering, this level was split into two segments, one on the left and one on the right, both large in size, and a staircase just ahead between them. On the right side, a deteriorating green couch with a nice rose pattern, stained with yellow mold and enveloped in dusty cobwebs. Before it stood a small normal wooden table, with one leg snapped in half, supported by a block of concrete, and the setting Sun’s orange light that came through the broken windows allowed the table’s scratches and wearing color to be visible. Finally there were the miscellaneous glass shards lying on the floor, along with used cigarettes, and broken floor planks that created holes in the floor. On the left side, an antique dining room set with six chairs, which unfortunately was beyond repair and was similarly worn like the small table and the couch, and an iron furnace further back. Above the dining room set was a fairly large sized hole in the ceiling, and beyond the furnace was a wall and a door separating the room in two.

Seth took a few steps into the shack, followed by the rest of the group. The floorboards creaked with the pressure put upon them, clearing the silence for a few seconds. “So what should we do now?” Seth asked them.

“What do you mean, did you not have a plan as to what we would do?” Ben answered his question with another question, baffled by Seth’s apparent ignorance.

“N-No that’s not it! Not entirely… I knew I wanted to explore this place, but now having seen the interior, I’m wondering how we should explore it! That’s what I meant.” Seth quickly explained, defending his point with a hint of uncertainty.

“Huh?”

“Like, should we each go into separate areas and report back to each other? Should we go into each area as a group? That’s what I was trying to say.” Seth elaborated.

“Oh, I see.” Lynn and Ben said in tandem, while Alice and Eli looked at each other, listening behind them.

“Well Seth, if you’re so eager to look around, why don’t you do it solo so we can get out of here.” Lynn remarked, crossing her arms and lifting an eyebrow, all the while smirking clear as day.

Seth’s eyes widened, and a thought manifested itself. Solo? Maybe if I can do that…

“Yeah, I can do that, no problem at all!” He proclaimed, then giving them a smile and swift thumbs up.

“Seth, you don’t, have to do that—“ Eli said, trying to halt his enthusiasm. But before his words could reach him, Seth spun himself around to face the stairs leading to the level above, and launched his entire body with his right leg, giving him the momentum and strength to quickly ascend them. “Hey wait up! Ugh, he’s already gone.”

“Lynn, why did you provoke him?” Alice inquired, not quite pleased with her behavior.

“I have my reasons…” she answered ominously. “Besides, I have nothing else better to do here.”

“Well, I’m not sure why he was so eager to go up, but he must have his reasons” Eli reassured them, causing Alice to ease her posture and settle down.

“Yeah, you’re right,” she said as she sighed.

“But I do know one thing,” Eli started.

“What’s that?” The others listened in with curiosity.

“We definitely could use him on the track team.”

Seth swung open one of the many doors upstairs, which creaked as it rotated on its hinges. Behind it was a goldmine of books, paper, and writing utensils. The dust particles that had been dormant for so long swirled around the room once again, and a fresh stench had made itself evident, both causing him to cough up a storm.

“Fuck!” He shouted, pulling his shirt over his nose. He peered over to the nearby bookshelf, made of dark brown furnished wood, packed to the brim with old fantasy novels and old books about past wars. He walked over and skimmed through the various titles available. ‘Ferdinand’s Fatal Mistake’, ‘The Adventures of Sir Oliver’, and so on. Something then caught his eye. Then, a small book that was basking in the evening sun coming in through the cracked window, sitting up on the top shelf, titled plainly as, ‘Diary.’ Seth reached up high to grab it, but could barely get a hold of its spine. He managed to pull on the book, little by little, waiting for it to fall instead of grasping it with his entire hand.

“This place is much more refined than I anticipated,” he said, now subconsciously pulling at the book. “I wonder if I can find any valuables in here—“ he began to think, but was quickly interrupted by the book, falling off the shelf and onto the floor with a soft thud. He crouched down to pick up the diary, and noticed it was opened to a page filled with small pencil strokes that he recognized to be writing. He resumed, gently picking it up and locking his eyes onto the words.

He read the words aloud , “May 27th, 1923. Many years have passed since the completion of my new home. Quite the lonely place, as it always has been, but that doesn’t concern me in the slightest. I’ve never been happier, never more alive, never more proud of what I’ve achieved.”

Seth paused to make a statement of his own, “Huh. It seems we are different in some ways.”

“I have worked terribly hard to get to this point in my life, and I’m truly grateful for what God has given me. Thus, I made an oath not only to myself, but the lord as well, to pray daily. I must, for it is one of my many duties. I feel fulfillment, truly so. But, there is this feeling, a feeling I have sensed too many times. Dread, worry, despair. It’s approaching, encroaching on my bliss and glee. I must prevent its arrival while I still have my youth.”

Seth paused once again to glance at his phone, wanting to check the time. “It’s 5:49. Our parents aren’t gonna be happy if we’re home late. However…” he dropped his phone back into his pocket and continued to read the diary.

“I will not stand around and let fate push me around. I am strong. I can do this. I may not be perfect, but I am me, and that’s all I need. To a good day and a better tomorrow… Daniel Foster.”

Seth relaxed the hand that held the diary, and gently closed it. He let out a long, deep sigh and placed it into the pocket of his jacket, and walked to the doorway. He quietly shut the door, and muttered a few parting words, “Well, Mr. Foster, it seems we are so similar, yet at the same time so different, it’s a bit funny.” A small chuckle followed, and abated almost instantly.

Seth arrived at the next room and was about to turn the doorknob, when the peace that had enveloped them, had broken. A scream which penetrated the depths of hell, the clouds above, and the floor below. It rattled his bones and sent chills through his entire being. But it was all too familiar, he knew this particular scream.

“Alice…” He muttered, and his eyes widened, a result of his adrenaline kicking in. Backing away from the door in a panic he frantically peered to both his left and his right, trying to remember where the stairs were. Then he saw the opening, the stairs. “God dammit!” A shout forced its way through Seth’s subconscious state, and echoed off the wooden walls. He leaped forward, following it with a couple more, in order to get to the stairwell. Once there, without hesitation, he launched himself forward off the top step.

“Bad idea!” He shouted, right before his body crashed into the bottom step. He landed on his back, the pain began setting in. But to Seth, he paid it no mind and brought himself to his feet. For a brief moment, he stood still, groaning, panting, shaking.

Ouch… that hurt. Why’d I jump down the stairs? I don’t even know… No, stop! I have better things to do than complain and self-contemplate. I heard a bloodcurdling scream… Alice’s scream.

So, in a split second decision, he ran into the left side of the main level, but was unable to find anything.

Then he remembered that door. The door that he thought led to a room that didn’t matter, that would’ve served no other purpose than to be explored and discovered by his friends and himself.

It came from inside that room!

Seth made the short sprint toward the door and twisted the doorknob as if it was a final resort and out of options.

The door swung open once again, and there was a new smell. Seth knew the scent all too well. However, it wasn’t a pleasing one. It was the smell of iron, metal…

Blood.

The adrenaline inside his veins kicked into overdrive, for he felt his expectations were going to be met. He moved his eyes downward toward the floor.

Alice… Eli? Ben? Lynn?

They laid next to one another, in a large, expanding pool of blood. Such a deep red that it looked like a bottomless ocean, devoid of life.

His eyes opened wider than ever, and his body began to shake. His vision was blurring, sweating ensued, and he started to hyperventilate.

“N-No… no no no no no no NO!” The words poured from his mouth in terror, and he fell to his knees directly in front of Ben’s dying body. Still shaking, he lifted him up so that only his upper body was elevated.

“Ben! Ben, w-what happened? TELL ME!” His questions turned into meaningless shouts with only fear behind them. Then, by a little miracle, Ben lifted his hand to point beyond them, opened his mouth, and for a brief moment, a sense of relief flooded Seth’s mind.

“Knife… look… out…” Ben spoke his final three words, as his consciousness faded away and his arm fell to the floor with a soft thud.

“What?” Seth was perplexed by his response. But before he could make another move, he felt a piercing in his abdomen, and heard the sound of flesh being sliced. Peering down, there was a sharp object penetrating through his stomach, drenched and dripping with blood. “AHHHHHH!” His screams echoed across each room in the shack. The sight ignited the pain that rushed through his nerves, the feeling of being burned from the inside out. The red fluid climbed his throat through to his mouth, causing him to cough it up like splotches of paint. The object was dislodged from his abdomen, and he collapsed onto Ben’s corpse.

“It hurts… it hurts so fucking much. Of course… a knife…” Seth said to himself as his own blood seeped into the wooden floor.

Upon looking up, he saw a shadow moving across his field of vision. He couldn’t make out a face, but saw its large figure and broad shoulders, along with the large knife in his right hand.

“You… you ruined everything! YOU TOOK ALL I HAD LEFT! I’ll meet you in hell…” he yelled, coughing up more blood in the process.

I can’t die now… I have so much to accomplish.

Oh… it’s not hot anymore… my body is slowly growing colder each second that passes… I guess I really am gonna die… I just wish I could’ve experienced more, done more, felt more, talked more, loved more… lived more…

And just like that, everything went dark.

“I’ll grant you your wish, child” A voice called from a distance, echoing.

Huh? Who’s that? It sounds like a lady’s voice. It’s so… calming.

“You shall continue your life in the hopes of fulfilling your desires and feeling satisfaction from those desires. May you live a long, happy life.”

Wait what? Who are you? What’s going on? What’s going to happen to me?—

Huh?

Seth’s rampant questions abruptly ceased, as he felt something. He could feel solid ground below him. He moved his hands around to check it.

“What is this? Dirt and… grass?” Upon realizing he could speak again, Seth immediately opened his eyes. He was facing upward, and saw a wide, gentle blue sky, dotted by pure white clouds. He sat up, and laid his eyes on a sea of golden tall grass, waving in tandem with the pleasant wind. Absolutely no people, houses or signs of civilization for miles. Just him, and the great unknown.

Seth relaxed his muscles and fell back to the ground. He laid there for a couple seconds before a tear rolled down his cheek. One, then two, then an endless stream.

“Why?” He wondered before sniffling. “Out of all of them, why me?”