Someplace Else
Isaac sits alone in his bedroom. The window is open, and a gentle breeze rolls through, rustling the pages of a comic book lying open on his bed. The walls are covered in posters of various sci-fi and fantasy movies. A desk in the corner holds a stack of books, a GameLad with various cartridges scattered about, and some action figures. He sits cross-legged on the bedroom floor, sorting through a collection of Creeps-N-Cryptids trading cards. He seems engrossed and is smiling to himself, clearly enjoying the task.
Isaac stops and leans back. Thinking about what him and his friends are going to do this summer. Games? Movies? Fight off hordes of zombies? Or just more of the same?
He thinks he remembers Kim saying something about going to Hawaii or something on a trip which would suck because he wants all of them together.
His thoughts loop in and cycle nonstop over and over again. Until they’re interrupted by a loud BANG!
He jolts knocking over a stack of cards. The sound came from his outside wall. He goes over and leans out the window to investigate.
What sort of interloper would interrupt such an important part of his day?
His good friend David is standing in the grass grinning ear to ear and tossing a football up and down in his hand.
“Is your doorbell broken or something?” He asks jokingly.
The doorbell is most certainly not broken.
Isaac shouts back, “You know knocking would’ve like, worked better!”
Isaac, now angry, leans farther out of the window, shaking his fist and yelling down at David for throwing the ball at the house. His face is tight with frustration.
One hand grips the window sill for support while the other gestures wildly as he shouts.
His grip slips.
Isaac now lies tangled in the bushes along the side of his house. The branches are thick and cushioned his fall, but they twist around him awkwardly.
David walks over toward him, dragging the two bikes along the grass. He’s still wearing a wide, unapologetic grin.
Isaac exhales and stares annoyed.
“So uhh…where are we going, by the way?”
David leans closer, peering down at him.
“Well, the girls said they found an abandoned super haunted building by Wolf Creek bro,” he says. “But they didn’t want to go in without us. So this’ll be a classic brains meets brawn scenario!”
Isaac’s eyes narrow, confused by what was just said. After a moment, he decides it’s best not to question it.
He stands, brushing himself off, then flexes dramatically.
“You’re the brains, then!”
They come to a stop at a rusted fence.
Beyond it stands a large, abandoned building, looming and forgotten. It looks like it might have once been a school of sorts. Wide and imposing, with ivy creeping up its crumbling walls and broken windows staring back like empty eyes.
The forest presses in all around. Tall trees cast long, dark shadows across the ground, deepening the building’s eerie, ominous presence.
David is the first to climb over the rusted fence, swinging himself over with zero hesitation and Ashley is quick to follow, barely slowing down as she makes her way over.
Isaac and Kim climb up after them, but they both pause at the top. They sit there silently staring toward the building ahead, their chests filled with unease.
“Is it true what they say about it?” Kim asks quietly.
“About the monsters?” Isaac says. “The ghosts? Or the janitor that died there?”
Kim stiffens. Her grip tightens.
“Someone died here?”
Isaac stammers, his words stumbling over each other as he scrambles to reassure her.
“Oh!, well?, um, that’s just some rumor I heard! It’s nothing. Totally nothing.”
Kim looks at him.
“Promise?”
They both hop down from the fence and start toward the front of the building.
“I promise.”
All four of them stand at the front of the building now. David saunters forward and kicks at the door violently, metal rattling loudly against the frame, the sound echoing across the woods.
“Damn thing’s rusted to hell and back!”
Ashley watches from the side, arms crossed, a small laugh escaping her.
“Any day now, captain.”
David stops. He straightens up, clearly annoyed.
“You know what?” He points at the door.
“You try.”
Ashley grabs the door handle and yanks at it, twisting and pulling with her entire body. The metal groans loudly but doesn’t give an inch.
David steps back, watching the whole thing and enjoying the spectacle.
Ashley tries again. Harder and harder. She tugs and twists wildly, growing more and more infuriated with every attempt.
David bursts out laughing, his cackling echoing off the building’s walls.
Ashley whirls around on him.
“WHAT was that, doofus?”
The two immediately start squabbling, voices overlapping in a cacophony of anger and frustration.
However, while they’re distracted, Isaac quietly moves over to the other side of the double doors, twists the handle and bumps it once with his shoulder.
The door pops open.
They stand there, gazing into what was once a school, now hollow and abandoned. Barely any light reaches more than a few feet past the entryway, swallowed quickly by shadow.
Cobwebs cling to every corner, stretching out as if waiting to trap whatever might still wander inside. Broken glass and smashed lockers litter the hallways, as though something had torn through the building in a violent rampage long ago.
The lockers that remain sealed are caked in rust, frozen in place as if time itself decided they should never open again.
They step inside slowly, moving like cautious animals in an unfamiliar place.
“I really, really, really didn’t expect it to be this dark,” Ashley whispers.
“What?” David says. “You expected the lights to still be on?”
“Urk!”
David grunts as Ashley smacks him in the stomach.
“My bad…” he mutters.
Suddenly, a beam of light cuts through the darkness.
Kim’s flashlight clicks on, catching the others off guard before the relief sets in. Shadows scurry back as the narrow beam sweeps across the hall, giving shape to what the darkness had been hiding.
“I always try to be prepared,” she says flatly.
“Now, lead the way,” Isaac says, gesturing forward. “Our ever reliable prepper.”
Kim hesitates for just a moment, then steps forward with a smile, the beam of her flashlight cutting into the darkness.
The group follows behind her, moving deeper into the derelict building, the shadows closing in as they go.
They wander through the derelict school, slowly inching their way deeper into its winding depths. Darkness presses in around them, thick and suffocating, their single beam of light the only relief from its grasp.
A staircase rises ahead.
They climb it carefully. The handrails draped in thick spiderwebs, brushing against their hands as they pass. Each step creaks and echoes, the sound carrying far into the darkness above and below.
They come to a stop inside what looks like an old chemistry lab. Dusty counters line the walls, littered with shattered beakers and long forgotten equipment.
Ashley straightens up, brushing herself off. Her eyes glint with mischief.
“How about we make this a little more fun?” she says, a wide smirk spreading across her face.
Isaac perks up immediately, his unease replaced by excitement.
“A challenge?” he asks, a smirk creeping across his face as well.
Ashley’s grin widens even further.
“Exactly...Nothing interesting ever happens when the gang sticks together right?”
Kim and David both freeze, their expressions shifting to outright horror.
Across from them, Isaac’s eyes light up, sparkling with excitement, almost like stars.
“How about we each venture into the dark to find something interesting!” Ashley declares, her voice bright with adventure. “A trophy left behind. Treasure even…or maybe something far worse! And whoever brings back the most impressive find wins.”
David stares at her, pale and visibly uncomfortable.
“And what,” he asks slowly, “on earth is worth going into the dark for?”
Ashley reaches into her pocket, dragging the moment out as much as possible. The tension growing with each second. Her fingers fumble around before finally pulling free a small slip of paper.
She straightens up and raises it high with a dramatic flourish, holding it there for everyone to see.
“One free combo meal from Captain Yums!” she announces proudly.
The whole group stands in silence. Staring. Unmoving.
Kim suddenly springs to her feet, the chair screeching as it tips and clatters to the floor behind her. She snaps into a sharp, exaggerated salute, standing stiff as a board, eyes blazing with unshakable determination.
Isaac freezes mid-thought, staring at her in stunned silence, caught completely off guard.
“I’m coming, Captain!”
Kim spins on her heel and takes off down the hallway, her footsteps slapping loudly against the floor as she disappears into the darkness. The beam of her flashlight jerks wildly with each step, bouncing shadows along the walls.
Isaac jolts into motion a half-second too late, nearly stumbling as he lunges after her.
“You food goblin!” he shouts, his voice echoing down the hall. “You’re the only one with a flashlight!”
Isaac and Kim race down the dark hallway, their footsteps pounding loudly as they cut through the silence. Kim darts around corners like she’s possessed, the beam of her flashlight bobbing and swinging wildly.
Never slowing. Never looking back. Her focus locked on the promise of fries and fizzy drinks, the thought pushing her forward as her legs move like the wind. The world narrows to the path ahead, everything else blurring past as she charges deeper into the building.
Kim finally comes to a stop. She stands tall and still, scanning the darkness like a soldier on a mission.
Isaac stumbles up beside her, doubling over with his hands on his knees, gasping for air.
“You ab…solute… goblin…” he wheezes between breaths.
Kim doesn’t react. Her focus never wavers, her mind locked onto a single purpose.
“There was some kind of P.E looking room downstairs that we passed,” she says, tapping her chin thoughtfully. “If anythings worth grabbing is still in this place, it’s gonna be in there.”
“Downstairs?” Isaac asks as they begin descending the stairwell. “I didn’t see anything on the ground floor.”
“Oh, it was off to the side,” Kim replies. “A staircase leading down to some sort of basement, I imagine. There was a football just sitting on the steps.”
They continue downward.
Until a sound rolls up from below.
A low, groaning noise echoes through the building.
Both of them freeze.
The sound seems to come from somewhere beneath them…
Or maybe from everywhere at once.
The air turns cold.
“What…what on earth was that?” Kim whispers, her earlier confidence vanishing in an instant.
“Shhhh,” Isaac murmurs, raising a hand. “Listen.”
They stand frozen on the staircase. Neither of them dare to breathe too loudly.
The groaning sound continues for several seconds, deep, distant, and unnatural.
Slowly, it fades into silence.
Isaac swallows and grins weakly,
“Just the wind.”
Neither of them move.
“Isaac…I don’t…uh… I don’t feel good about this anymore,” Kim whispers, her voice barely rising above a breath. She swallows and glances back up at him. “You lead.”
Isaac hesitates. For a moment, he doesn’t move.
Then he reaches out and gently takes the flashlight from her, the weight of it settling into his hands.
“…Okay.”
They begin to walk again, one careful step at a time. The beam of light creeps ahead of them as the stairwell closes in, shadows stretching and swallowing them as they descend.
They step off the last stair and onto the ground floor.
The darkness feels heavier. Denser than it was before. The air is cold, and each breath faintly traces in the beam of the flashlight. Somewhere in the distance, a creak, the sound stretching through the hall like the building itself is breathing around them.
The walls feel closer, tighter, now. Their cracked and peeling surfaces twist in the shifting light, almost giving the impression of watching eyes, glaring at those who walk past.
Isaac holds the flashlight steady. The narrow beam barely pushes back and cutting through the gloom ahead of them.
Slowly and ever carefully, they press on.
Kim prods Isaac lightly in the side, pulling him away from his focus.
He glances over his shoulder.
“I think it was over there,” Kim whispers, pointing nervously down the corridor. “around the bend…”
The hallway turns ahead, disappearing into the shadows.
They round the corner and come to an abrupt stop.
The staircase drops sharply downward. The steps stretch into darkness, descending into what looks like a yawning abyss.
At the third step down, right at the edge where the light begins to fail, sits the football Kim had mentioned.
It rests there quietly. Almost like it’s waiting for them.
“Ready?” Isaac asks, his voice barely rising above a whisper.
Kim doesn’t answer right away. Her eyes stay fixed on the black void below.
Then she gives a small nod.
Together, they take the first step down.
Slowly, carefully, they descend the stairs, the darkness rising to meet them.
They reach the bottom of the stairs, swallowed by near total darkness. Only the thin beam of the flashlight cuts through it, carving a narrow path ahead.
They move forward carefully, gently, each step deliberate, mindful of what could be waiting underfoot.
It appears that this was once some sort of athletic room. Abandoned weights and rusting dumbbells lie scattered across the floor. Pieces of toppled gym equipment rest where they fell, like forgotten relics left behind in the dark.
Isaac sweeps the flashlight across the far wall.
The beam settles on a pair of old double doors, likely some kind of storage closet.
Just beside them, gaping like a wound in the building, is a long, pitch black tunnel stretching off into nothingness. Isaac stares at it, his eyebrows drawing together.
“Why a tunnel? Here, of all places?”
Kim steps closer, squinting into the dark.
“Maybe…some kind of access for utilities or something?”
Inside is an old equipment closet, crammed with forgotten sports gear. Helmets hang from crooked hooks. Deflated balls sit half buried beneath tangled nets. Cracked plastic bins are stacked against the walls, and folding chairs lean in uneven towers.
Isaac scans the cluttered shelves lining the closet walls, his flashlight beam sliding over helmets and dusty trophies.
Something catches his eye.
He reaches up and pulls down a strange, heavy metal cube from the shelf. It’s cold to the touch. Solid. Weighty. Almost like the top of a trophy… but not quite.
“Bingo,” he mutters.
He pauses, glancing back toward the doorway.
“Kim’s gonna need something too,” he thinks, already turning back to the shelves, searching through the forgotten gear.
Isaac eventually pulls a worn baseball from one of the shelves. Its surface is yellowed with age, scrawled with faded signatures barely visible in the dust.
“Oh wow…now this is ancient,” he says with a small smirk. “Kim, check this ou-”
He turns, and she’s gone. The doorway stands open. Silent, empty, waiting.
He stumbles forward, dropping his flashlight.
It clatters to the ground, the beam flickering violently as it spins in place. Shadows lurching and twisting across the walls.
He gasps and drops to his knees, snatching it up. His hands tremble as he grips it tight and rises slowly.
“…K-K-Kim?” he calls, his voice cracking.
The flashlight sweeps across the room. Helmets. Nets. Dust. The darkness inside it feels deeper now. Thicker. As if something has shifted. He swallows hard and takes a cautious step forward.
Then another. He holds his breath as he steps through the doorway.
Kim stands just outside the tunnel entrance, barely caught in the edge of the flashlight’s glow. Her body trembling.
“Kim, what the hell?” Isaac hisses, his voice low and strained.
She doesn’t turn around. She only whispers.
“There’s something…down there.”
Isaac steps closer, lifting the flashlight and angling the beam down into the tunnel.
The narrow light stretches far ahead, but its end is swallowed completely by darkness. The tunnel seems endless. Cold. Still.
Then, from somewhere deep within, comes a low groaning sound, but this time, it doesn’t sound like wind.
It’s slower. Ragged. Almost like breathing.
Isaac’s grip tightens around the flashlight.
“We need to go. Now,” Isaac whispers urgently. He grabs Kim’s hand and pulls her with him, and they run.
Behind them, the groaning grows louder, and closer, ever closer. Breathing at their backs.
Their footsteps thunder through the basement as they race through the darkness, shadows stretching and snapping at their heels.
Feet pounding against the concrete they reach the stairs and bolt up. Isaac takes the lead, the flashlight beam jerking wildly as they scramble higher.
Halfway up, Kim’s foot strikes something. The football.
Kim crashes down onto the steps with a sharp gasp, her pain echoing through the stairwell.
Isaac spins around, reaching for her. His hand outstretched, but he stops.
Just for a moment. At the base of the stairs, where the darkness swallows the basement whole, something stands.
Too tall. Thin.
Not human. Wrong.
Isaac’s blood runs cold.
Isaac snaps back to the moment just as Kim’s hand grips his.
Their eyes meet filled with fear. Adrenaline surges through them like fire. They move as one. Scrambling, stumbling, they tear up the rest of the stairs, feet slamming against the steps as they race away from the dark. They sprint down the hallway, shadows whipping past them as their footsteps echo off the walls. Twists. Turns. The corridors feel endless, shifting, almost, like the building itself is trying to hold them in. A confusing maze of rotted lockers and cracked tiles grips at their legs, pulling them deeper, until they round the final corner.
The golden light of the front doors glows, with a burst of renewed energy, they dash toward the exit, their footsteps pounding against the floor.
But just as hope begins to bloom, their faces twist back into horror. A large, shadowy figure steps into the doorway, blocking most of the light.
It towers over them, a massive silhouette. A guttural, unnatural sound rumbles from it. They skid to a halt and scream.
Suddenly, laughter bursts from the figure. An unmistakable, familiar laugh. The silhouette shifts as the figure lowers what it was holding.
It’s David holding a jacket above his head to make himself look larger, his grin infuriatingly smug.
Ashley steps into view beside him, arms crossed tight over her chest, clearly not impressed with his little performance.
“Ohhh,” David chuckles, grinning. “Looks like two scaredy cats got more than they bargained for.”
Isaac and Kim just stand there. Stone faced, exhausted, and emotionally drained.
“You may be the worst person I’ve ever met,” Isaac says flatly, his voice hollow, completely devoid of emotion.
“Agreed,” Kim mutters, equally lifeless.
“Oh, come on,” David says. “It was just a joke.”
Isaac isn’t smiling. He gestures sharply as he talks, clearly not amused.
“You don’t get to do that,” he says, his voice tight. “Not after what we just saw man.”
As the four of them head back toward the fence line, Ashley slips an arm around Kim’s shoulders.
“Hey,” she says lightly. “Cheer up. It’s foooood time.”
Kim exhales a long, dramatic sigh. Then, despite herself, a small smile tugs at her lips.
“Fiiine. Whatever,” she mutters, the faintest hint of a laugh in her voice.
The four of them climb back onto their bikes, the late afternoon sun stretching long shadows across the sidewalk.
But Isaac lingers. He turns back toward the abandoned school. That thing at the bottom of the stairs…was it real?
A trick of the light?
He isn’t sure. Not completely. He watches the building for a moment, the windows dark and unreadable.
Then he turns away and pedals after the others.