What if I did go?

One night when I was 15, I was at my old house in Pittsburgh with my good friend, who I'll call Tray. We were in my room playing Wii for about an hour, since it was the only gaming system I had at the time. Tray said he was getting bored because we didn't have many games to play. He said he might just go home to get ready for school the next day.

Not wanting my friend to think I was boring, I quickly suggested we go for a walk around the neighborhood to try and find something exciting before he left. Surprisingly, Tray agreed that sounded fun. However, he said he had to use the bathroom before we headed out.

While sitting on my bed waiting for him, I suddenly got a sharp headache that went away after just a couple seconds. When Tray came back, he said he actually didn't need the bathroom anymore, but thought of a cool place we could explore nearby. I agreed to check it out as long as it wasn't too far.

As we headed out of my house, Tray was speed walking in a sneaky way like he was trying to slip out without anyone noticing. I thought it was funny so I copied him. During the quiet 5 minute walk, I tried talking to Tray but he wouldn't respond, which I found odd but figured he had a lot on his mind.

We arrived at a big empty building and Tray spoke up saying "Okay we're here, let's explore and have some fun!" We found a way in through a side window. As soon as I entered, I got a cold shiver down my spine as if my body was warning me of danger. I asked Tray if he felt weird too, but he slowly said in a deep voice "I don't feel anything."

I felt uneasy but tried to shake it off since we were together. We headed for the stairs and could go up or down. Tray suggested going downstairs first in an excited tone, saying it would be more interesting. I agreed and started down the steps with him close behind.

When we reached the door at the bottom, Tray rushed past me, stopped and said "Are you coming?" in that same deep tone as before. Something inside screamed "NO!" I got scared and said I was going home instead. Tray said "Fine, suit yourself" and that he'd explore without me.

I didn't care - I just started running home. Two minutes after I got in, Tray was sitting on my bed saying "Alright, let's go exploring now since you're done being weird." I was confused and asked how he beat me home and got inside. He acted like he didn't know what I was talking about and said I never left.

Terrified, I asked where I had been then. He claimed that after he used the bathroom, I told him I wanted to sit and talk downstairs instead of exploring. He said it was odd, so he stayed in my room while I supposedly went down there. I stood in fear, crying, while Tray didn't know what to do and ended up leaving. I wanted to tell my parents but they didn't believe the first story, so why would they believe this? Still, I often wonder - what if I had said yes and gone into that basement with him that night?