The House on Benson Hill

Darkness surrounds the musty room I nestle myself in. The only source of light flickers from a simple candle upon the windowsill. What beauty is to behold this single light dancing among the encroaching stillness. Tears roll down my eyes as I hold my head with my hands. My thoughts run with this nights horrible outcome.

I went out on Halloween night. Nothing like a little fun with my best friends. However, they wanted to have a different kind of fun then what I expecting. The House on Benson Hill that sat up on the hillside loomed over the three of us as we stood on the front porch. It looked like a house built with love and care, just to be abandoned to rubbish.

I stared at my friends Lizzie (the prep that wore that slutty bunny costume they wear in movies) and Tiffany (the sporty type that’s dressed up as a basketball since it’s her favorite sport.). I chose being a runaway bride with white converses and a cheap wedding dress since marriage seemed pointless to me.

“Rosie, you go knock on the door,” Lizzie said by sneering at me.

“Why don’t you Lizzie? You practically drug us to this place since you got bored,” Tiffany interjected.

I waved my hand at the both of them. “I’m not some wuss. If I’m going to make this night worth remembering, I might as well end it with an adventure!”

They both blinked at me and said nothing. As I stared at the splintered door I was about to rummage around in, I pulled up my lace sleeves and reached for the handle.

“Seriously Rosie, you don’t have to do this-“ Tiffany said.

I interrupted her. “No. I’m gonna do it. I’m going to make my mark on this tiny town, and once I’m out of here, I’ll remember this dumb night like it was worth it!” I marched inside, to the horror of my friends.

I turned on the flashlight on my phone to see the place around me. Nothing but old furniture, I told myself as I looked around.

I heard a creak come from above me, and that’s when the fear started to reach me. I was in the haunted house. Alone. My friends decided to stay outside and wait for me.

“Hello?” I called as I rounded the corner to the stairs. As with creepy abandoned houses, the steps had to groan with every passing step.

Suddenly, I was faced with something my mind could not process. I screeched at the top of my lungs. My friends rushed inside to find me.

“Rosie!” Lizzie called while searching for me. They started up the stairs when they found me at the top clutching my chest.

“Why’d you scream like that-“ Tiffany began until she saw what truly frightened me. Liz you bounded right behind her and shrieked.

There it was, a body hanging from the ceiling by a noose. This was no random body, but the one of my missing brother of 2 weeks. Nothing could disturb me at that moment more than that. I took a step back, my mind running through everything that would’ve made Derrick believe this was the best option. I didn’t realize how that one step ruined my existence. I lost my footing and fell backwards. My friends tried to hold me up as best as they could, but we threw tumbled down to our doom. My neck snapped on the fifth stair down. Tiffany’s throat closed in and she smothered to death. Lizzie survived the fall, but as she turned to us and saw our unfortunate demise, she physically scared herself to death.

Now here we are, roaming this god forsaken house to forever live our tormented death. Derrick forever hangs on the ceiling, even after they have taken his physical body away. A bystander who heard our shrieks came in to find our remains. Unlucky for them.

Tiffany hasn’t left her place at the stairs. She is still too tormented with the unfortunate end of her sports career.

Lizzie screams every now and then just to try to make herself known again. Popularity cannot be heard from the dead. I even met the couple who built this house, who actually shot each other due to their cheating habits. The rest of the people that have found death in these walls still relive every gruesome death that they still face every other second or so.

That is why I hide in this room. That’s why I shrink away from the candle on the windowsill. If I look out, I relive this horrible Halloween night over and over again. Dying every single time I leave the comfort of this darkness. Eternity is unrelenting, and I’m still waiting for a way out.