"Come on it's this way" Jerry commanded his group of mischievous friends as they pedalled down the Ravenswood road lonely road. His GPS led him straight to the old keep-out house.
They were headed to the "Keep Out" house in search of toys for Max's acceptance party. It was a ritual amongst the kids in the hood for any new kid in the block to host an acceptance party before he could be seen as one of them. And since they had no cash to buy toys for Max's acceptance party. Jerry suggested they steal some from the abandoned keep-out house on the outskirts of the town.
"Dude, I still think this is a bad idea" Mary voiced out from behind, her voice filled with fear as she kept on pedalling.
"Don't worry babe I got you. I won't let any harm come to you" Max, the newest in the group replied, trying hard to comfort his love interest.
He has been trying for weeks now to woo Mary, Ever since he got to know her through Jerry when he moved into town with his parents. But Mary on the other hand has resisted his advances with reasons best known to her.
"Come on guys, it's just an abandoned house. You are all old enough to know that ghosts don't exist. They're all fairytales used by parents to get their kids to behave or fear the night" Jerry explained, still peddling his bicycle with so much zeal.
"But I still think this is the wrong house to steal some toys we need for the party" Mary countered, pedalling behind him. Her breath came in shorts.
They got to the Keep Out house gate and dumped their bikes. They all stood staring at the big gate, which gave outsiders a view of how gigantic the house was. Shrubs grew on its pathway and walls a sign of how abandoned the house had been. They stood there staring at the house as if to give it their last thought if it was a nice idea. But then Jerry asked again.
"Do you have the cash to purchase the toys we need for the party, tonight?" He asked looking from Mary to Max
"No". Mary replied.
Max shook his head in reply.
"So this is our best shot. My Dad told me of how the former occupants of this house were so rich that they bought their kid whatever she needed. They threw the biggest kid party in town. But left it all as they flexed the house when their kid died a mysterious death. So this is our best shot at getting the toys needed for Max to throw the biggest acceptance party in town" Jerry said as he made his big speech to motivate his friends.
With that, he led the way, by scaling the gate into the house. He helped Mary too and let Max find his way in. Gently, they proceeded into the house.
Just at the big door that led into the building a big sign read "Keep out". Jerry pulled it down before the others would see it and change their minds. He got to the door, held the handle and looked at his friends as if he needed confirmation to do what he was about to do.
"Ready?" He asked.
"I don't know," Mary replied.
"I guess," Max said.
With that Jerry pushed the door which creaked open, to reveal an empty, dark space. Gently, they stepped inside.
The house oozed decay and dust. There were cobwebs everywhere. And no signs of kid toys anywhere. Jerry switched his phone torch to find the light switch as everywhere was dark. He found it and flicked it on.
"I see no toys anywhere" it was Max.
"Must be inside the house. Nobody leaves such toys lying around the sitting room." Jerry explained "Come on we have to climb stairs" he ordered.
They all made their way upstairs. Mary was shaking by now but she had no other option than to tag along. Besides, she was in too deep now.
The floorboards creaked at their feet, and they heard strange noises which Jerry attributed to the howling winds through the broken windows.
They got upstairs to the rooms and with each door that opened it was empty, except for one that was strangely locked out. Jerry brought out a wrench from his jacket as his friends stared at him surprisingly.
"How do you have a wrench?" they asked together.
"What do you expect? We are breaking into an abandoned house. I had to come prepared"
With that, he broke open the lock to reveal a room filled with toys. They looked at each other and smiled.
"Quick, the bag. Grab as much as you can" Jerry commanded.
And with that, they filled their bags. When satisfied and were about to leave. The light went off and a strong mysterious cold wind blew. They turned the switch on again but the lights weren't coming back on. Jerry tried using his phone but his battery mysteriously went low.
"Try your phones," he told his friends.
"Low battery too. But I charged my phone this morning" Mary announced.
"Same here, low battery," Max said.
What was going on they murmured in fear between themselves. The air between them was suddenly filled with panic. Then they heard footsteps from the dark room with the toys.
"Shhh!" Jerry shushed them. "Did you hear that?" He asked.
Max and Mary nodded.
"Something is here" Mary let out a cry looking around scared
Immediately a shrill invisible voice that sounded like a kid, yelled "Leave my toys alone!"
At that moment they needed no soothsayer to tell them that the house was haunted.
"Run! " Jerry shouted in fear.
With that, the group of friends dropped their bags and ran their way downstairs with fear and hated breath. No one dared look back. The only thing on their mind was running out of the haunted house.
As they ran it felt as if the distance to the door kept increasing. Finally, they got to the big entrance door and ran outside. They locked the gate and the scale to get in was wide open now. But they didn't stop to wonder how it got open. They ran through it outside and into their bicycles and the gate shut close by itself.
They rode all the way home, scared, washed up and tired. They couldn't mention a word of what happened amongst themselves for days.
They were traumatised by their experience and they vowed never to step foot into the keep-out house again.