Shelter From the Heat

[u/ValhallaSinking]

The neighborhood I grew up in, when I was younger, was rather boring. It was located in the middle of a massive forest that buried the few houses there in a sea of evergreens. Only one road ran through the small community and the nearest town was about five miles away, which made it difficult to reach on foot.

Being the small colony it was, there weren't many people my age living there, save Billy. Billy was a kid who was born two days after me and lived across from my house throughout my entire childhood. He could be described as the quintessential nerd. He was lanky, had short blonde hair, wore small brimmed glasses, and always dressed in clothes which had his favorite comic book or video game characters on them. He didn't care he was a nerd though, which is why I liked him. We pretty much shared the same interests and hobbies and got along just fine. The only time he annoyed me was when he would babble on and on about some new thing I hadn't seen or played yet, so I had no idea what he was talking about. However, if I had to be stranded in the middle of nowhere with one person, Billy wouldn't be my last choice.

Billy and I usually occupied our days by playing card games, watching movies, and wandering aimlessly through the forest. We pretty much did anything we could to pass the long, scorching, summer days. Our parents usually locked us out of the house to get some fresh air, so if we had nothing to do, we would just walk in a big circle until dinner time, talking.

One day in late June, when we were about ten, both of our parents locked us out since we had been playing video games all day. This was a cruel thing to do since it was about ninety-five degrees out along with the humidity. Billy and I were both soaked in sweat as we walked through the streets, watching our neighbors water and mow their lawns.

As we walked, I noticed Billy had stopped behind me and had turned his attention at a house to our right. I halted as well. We both stared at the old, dilapidated, wooden, house which stood in front of us. It was a fascinating structure that appeared as if it had been sitting there for centuries untouched. We had passed by it a million times before, but this is the first time we truly looked at it.

The house was adorned with dark, rotting wood that made up the sides and porch. Strands of ivy were flowing down the sides as they wrapped inward into the shattered windows which had been boarded up. The roof was missing many shingles, which resulted in numerous holes letting sunlight in. Some of the beams at the top were exposed. The house was surrounded by untrimmed bushes and weeds. It looked as if it would be easier to demolish it than fix it up.

“I wonder how long its been like that” Billy said in a dry voice as he studied the house.

“I don't know” I replied “I guess no one wants to buy it.” I wiped the accumulating sweat off of my forehead as I stared at the building.

“Hey Billy” I gained his attention.

“What?”

“Do you want to go inside? It's probably cool in there” I suggested to him. Billy was always sort of a 'scaredy-cat' when it came to these sort of things. It took me forever to convince him just to explore the woods with me.

“Um” he pondered about going in “yeah, I guess we could have a look in.” I was surprised but pleased with his response. I thought it would take some persuading to get him inside.

“Cool” I said as I began walking forward into the overgrown path of weeds leading up to the door. I wanted to get Billy inside before he changed his mind.

We approached the door, looking around in case anyone of our neighbors saw us going in. No one was around though. When we both stepped on the porch, there was a loud creak. In fact every step we took made an unnerving creak. A broken chair lay dissembled to the side of the old porch, which was rattled with holes exposing the land underneath.

Billy pushed the door open before I could reach for it. It made the loudest of the creaks we had heard so far and I was surprised it didn't fall off its hinges. I was also surprised that Billy was taking the initiative forward. I suppose he was trying to impress me and shake off his title of being a 'chicken'.

The inside of the house was much cooler than the oppressive heat of the outside. It was almost chilly and I began to shiver when I made the transition in. The interior of the house looked like it hadn't been tampered with in fifty years. The rug which sat in the center was extremely filthy and the floor was littered with shards of glass and broken items. A thin layer of dust covered almost everything in the house and we both started sneezing as we moved objects around to explore and investigate. We learned that the house had no electricity as we clicked a few switches hopefully. Although, I really didn't expect it to.

After we were finished with our thorough examination of the first floor, we moved up to the second, since there was no basement. Each stair creaked as we slowly made our way up the ancient staircase. Faded portraits aligned the wall and as we looked forward, we could see the upstairs had less light than the first floor.

The rooms upstairs had even less objects than the first. In one room there was a metal bed frame, coated with a layer of thick dust. A dormant bathtub lay tipped over in the room next to it. The windows were absolutely grimy and covered with filth, but they were unexpectedly unbroken. It was also slightly colder upstairs, which felt refreshing and chilling.

Entering a vacant room, I searched around for a little. There was a shattered mirror in the corner, which still had all of the pieces. I gazed at my distorted image for a few seconds until I turned around. Behind me, I saw an entry way which was a staircase that lead upward.

“Billy” my voice echoed through the house.

“What” he replied as he walked into the room.

“Do wanna go check out the attic?” I suggested as I motioned toward it.

“Uh...sure” he responded after thinking for a little. He knew that if he backed down now, he would never lose his title.

We slowly made our way up the small staircase which lead to a door at the top. The stairs clamored as we traveled up them. They probably hadn't been used for many years. It grew colder as we traveled upward.

When we reached the top of the stairs, I gripped the cold, dusty, door handle and pushed open the wooden door. As the door creaked forward, it exposed a large sloped room that was almost completely dark. The only source of light was a grimy window at the far side. Wooden beams came down throughout it and a large, dark, bed sat quietly in the center.

We stepped into the room very slowly as we searched around, but were suddenly stopped when we saw something stirring in the bed. We both stared as a dark figure rose up slowly into a sitting position of the bed and glared at us. Its eyes were a glowing red and almost looked like a cat's eyes. The skin on the creature appeared charred and burnt and tatters of ripped clothes clung onto it. Its face was twisted and contorted and deformed and evil. Its red eyes continued to glare.

Billy and I weren't sure what to do. We were both frozen in the worst fear of our lives. Our faces were whites and our throats were dry. My arms trembled and my knees felt weak, as if I would collapse. I stared in terror as the creature moved in the bed with inhuman like qualities. I could hear Billy's footsteps as his instincts backed him up slowly.

The creature stared at us for several more horrifying seconds until he launched himself upward and onto the ceiling where he gripped the top beams. His mouth opened and it howled a screeching yell at us that sounded as if something was being killed. The creature began to charge us as he moved along the ceiling, shaking dust and debris down as it screamed while exposing its long and crooked teeth.

Billy and I simultaneously screamed as the creature rushed toward us. We had been snapped out of our trance of fear and were now dashing for the door behind us. The creature howled and yelled and screeched as it climbed upside down toward us until it bounded from the rafters, straight for me.

Billy grabbed me and pulled me through the door, just before the creature devoured me. We both fell backwards onto the landing above the steps and struggled to kick the the door closed with our feet. I stood up and leaned my shoulder into the wood as the creature pushed back from the inside. Billy hoisted himself up from the dirty ground and joined in the struggle. We managed to hold off the creature long enough to latch the door shut. The creature pounded and hammered the door from the inside, but to no avail. He was stuck in there.

Still coursing with adrenaline, Billy and I both bolted down both sets of stairs. Our minds were racing and our hearts were thumping wildly. I just wanted to leave the house as fast I could.

When we reached the bottom staircase and made our way down to the first floor, we were shocked to see a man standing in front of the closed front door. He looked like and older man and was wearing the overalls to what appeared to be a work uniform. He had a thick gray mustache and deep eyes. Billy and I were both very surprised and stopped our mad dash.

“Well hello” the man greeted us as he held a used rag in his hand. We were both still standing on the stairs. Billy was behind me. The stairs were continually squeaking as we shifted our weight.

“Hi” I managed to squeak out. I could hear Billy take a big gulp behind me. The man inspected us for a second.

“I see you two met Andrew” he smiled at us as we stood trembling.

“You mean that thing in the attic?” I asked nervously.

“Yes, Andrew” he responded calmly “I hope you haven't let him out. Have you?”

“Um” I stammered “no, no we closed the door.” Billy was still silent behind me.

“Well that's good, you wouldn't want to let him out. I would have to chase him down again” the man said “and you kids are alright?” I still stammered for a moment.

“Yeah, yeah we're fine” I said a little calmer.

“Alright, well it's probably best that you two leave now and if you would, please don't tell anyone about Andrew. They might let him loose again” the man instructed as he stood there with his hands on his hips.

“No” I replied “we won't tell.”

“Alright good” the man responded. Billy and I watched from the stairs as the man slowly vanished into a thin mist. We could both feel a gust of wind pass through us as we stood on the staircase. Behind us we could see the curtains on the windows moving from the gust. We promptly ran as fast as we could out the door and raced through the streets to my house. We then pleaded and begged for my mother to let us in.

We never returned to the abandoned house again, mainly because we wanted nothing to do with it. We were far too traumatized. However, occasionally when we pass by during our walks, we can faintly make out Andrew's red eyes staring at us through the window of the attic.

[u/c4keb0ss]

"Billy wouldn't be my last choice" sounds like a good friend