Go In Scared, Come Out Terrified by Jack Rega

"Go in, you won't do it you wimp," my friends mockingly said to me. They were referring to the "haunted" house that reeked of damp, old, musty water and fish. The water of the lake caused an erie mist to flood the house like a tsunami over a small city. The bright, yellow lights from the dock dimly illuminated the house, allowing only shadows to be seen. This created the illusion that you were being watched by a ghost. "Fine!" I said in an annoyed yet confident way. Retorting this, I was trying to act brave even though everyone knew I was terrified (including myself) and shaking at the knees, literally. I crept slowly toward the large, heavy, taunting wood door that led into the house. I stared back at my friends Colin, Pat, Stone, and Peter with every step I took, trying to say "No, please don't make me do this" but the words did not come out, only awkward noises. I hesitantly put my hand on the bulky door, it was damp, and strangely warm. I felt the old wood shift under the pressure of my hand which was tightly gripping the handle. I decided to use the "band-aid" approach and get the pain over quickly. As the door flung open, I flinched as if I was expecting to be hit. I peered at my friends’ excited faces as they were on the verge of loosing it and laughing very hard. They acted as if they would go in the house without a second thought and I was being a baby for acting cautiously. My scared, angry face shot them a look that said "You owe me big time and you better never wimp out on a dare ever again." I wanted to stop and go back to the safety of our house on the lake but Colin said "Nos it’s too late now, you have to do it, you can't stop now." I didn't say anything back because I knew Colin would act the same way I am, reluctant but willing to do it. Peter and Pat said "Yeah, do it." My face gave them a confused look where my eyes squinted and I half smiled saying "Shut up! Neither of you would do this." Stone, however, remained quiet over the past 45 seconds because he knew he wouldn't have gone this far. After all, I was the only one going in, so they should not be saying anything. At least Stone wasn't trying to act braver than he is. I swallowed my pride and slowly and carefully placed my right foot down like I was walking through a mine field. The house creaked and shrieked like a five year old getting a flu shot. There I stood like a flamingo with one foot on the floor and with my arms over my head as if something was going to fall from the sky and hit me, providing the illusion I was indestructible. The house slowly but surely quieted down along with the whispers and giggles of my friends. The only sound occupying the space was the peaceful noise of the waves crashing up onto the shore and onto boats tied to the wood dock. Letting my guard down was the worst decision I made that night. The next three steps were easy as any three steps I had ever taken and I was thinking "Ha! This isn't even bad. I'm all good." My fourth step made my stomach go into my throat. A bright light shined on me like a police helicopter onto a criminal. My mind was playing tricks and the first thought that came into my head was "GHOST! SERIAL KILLER!" I screamed and became terrified for one of the first times in my life. The scream sounded like a baby crying mixed with a dying deer. There was a zero percent chance I was staying in that house. I bolted to the door. My feet were moving faster than I could think. I kept telling myself "It's not real! Your mind is just playing tricks on you." It did not occur to me that I would need to remember the way I was forced into the house, I was lost in this dark, creepy, possessed place. The big, termite infested slab of wood I came into the house through was no where to be found. I gave up on trying to find it in a heartbeat (which was about 500 beats per minute.) As if I was not terrified enough the light went back out again, and I froze up like brick. For a moment, I swear my heart stopped beating. Panicking, like a little kid who lost his parent in the supermarket, I ran back into the main room where the light first shined. My face was scrunched up and I was making these weird moaning sounds that people make when they are scared, which really just sounds like breathing with a duck stuck in your throat. The light shined back onto me again and it made me forget how good it was to me, allowing me to see before. "This thing is haunting me! Holy cow! Get me out of here!" I screamed, expecting my friends to be nice for once and actually help me get out of there. I was running in circular square type shapes, not really knowing what else to do. During my spastic track meet, I ran into a door and my first instinct was to open it. I did and continued to run, but hit wall after about two steps. I shuffled my way into the corner, where finally my brain was able to determine that I was in a closet. At first this seemed safer than the open house, but after a few minutes my mind played tricks and the first thought that came to my head was, "People in horror movies get murdered in closets all the time." After this thought I tried to run through the door, but it would not budge at first. I felt like I had been trying for twenty minutes  to open the dang door, but in reality I had only tried once. I screeched "It’s trapping me! This darn house wants to kill me!" I busted through the closet door like the horses out of the gates during the Kentucky Derby. The first thing I saw out if the closet was the lake, offering a new welcoming safety and hope that I wouldn't die in this house. I ran right to it not even thinking about my path out of the house. Was I running through another open door? No, it was a big plastic window. I was dazed, I was running pretty fast and hitting an object that’s stronger than you is not a good feeling. The light was back on and I could see the figure of a door way, I was not sure if this was real or I just saw it because I wanted it to be there. There was no reason not to try, so I did. Thank God it was actually there. I ran to it and my shaking hand grabbed the door handle and shook it a few times before it opened. I couldn't shake the feeling of someone watching over me. I threw the door open and broke one of the hinges in the process, but that was the least of my worries. I ran onto the wooden deck into fresh air and saw my friends laughing so hard they could barley breathe. "Shut up!" At least I did it!" I hollered. After about five minutes of them dying laughing we finally went back into the safety of our nice, not haunted lake house. As I sat there on my bed looking out the window the haunted house stared back at me.