Nothing to Worry About

"C'mon Jack! It's Halloween! You have to come with me!" First of all, my name's Jack, Jackie Lawrence to be exact, and I'm a nobody.

Really, I am a nobody, just another typical teenager with the same problems as any other person. I have an average life, with average parents, and average friends. There's exactly nothing special about me, except for a few things. No wait, scratch that, there's nothing that special about me, and I'm okay with that too. I'm not one to stick out of the crowds, I'm usually one of those people that are in the background that just stare. I guess you can call that an anti-social, but I talk every now and then, I'm just that kind of person that stays quiet to sit back and watch.

"No, Mason, I'm not going to risk my life in that hell hole you call a haunted house. It looks like it's about to come crashing down on the next person who enters the damn thing!" I argued. Sometimes I think Mason is just a big idiot, either that or he is one of those thrill seekers I always hear about.

Mason's just my next door neighbor that happens to have a huge crush on my sister, but he thinks it's something meant to be, like soul mates or some shit. His way of thinking is that he tries to enlist my help to get to her, who is way out of his league.

"Jack, don't be a pussy, you're scared, just admit it!" Mason pointed at me. The fact that I don't tolerate people calling me a coward made me want to cave his face in with my foot. I had to show him that I wasn't a pussy, I had to go inside that house.

I wouldn't just let some bitch-ass neighbor push me around like this, and usually most of the time I wouldn't. Socially wise, this would be a milestone, considering that he's one of the most popular kids at my school. Though, I don't really care about the popularity system, as I would be considered one of those "anti-socialites," not that it matters to me, because I know I am one.

This house gave me the creeps, as if someone, or something's watching me, and I don't ever get that feeling unless someone, or something really is watching me. Something about this house made me feel different, different in a bad way. I didn't have to like it, because the only reason I'm going inside this thing is because of a dare. Fucking Mason, always trying to make me do something I never want to do.

Aside the fact that it's Halloween, I wouldn't have come out here. I was just in it for the free candy honestly, and only to let it waste away in the corner, because I never get around to finish eating all of it.

This Halloween, I was dressed as a post-apocalyptic survivor, where I had a black bandana around my head, Solid Snake style of course, and I also had a worn down black dress shirt with my sleeves rolled up, and there were straps inside the sleeve to keep it from undoing itself, I also had heavily weathered jeans on, with multiple sewed patches and a few more holes here and there, and believe it or not I had a little bit of stubble on my face too, for added effect. In a way I looked just like Joel, which was cool all on its own, besides the fact that Joel's in his late 40s, I'm just a 16 year old teenager. There was a reason why I had this on, other than it's Halloween, screw it, I'll explain later.

"Are you going in or what?" Mason teased me, causing me to snort air out of my nose.

"Chill out, I'm going in." I complained. This is gonna be the death of me somehow, and I know that for a fact, I just don't know exactly how I'm gonna go out, not like it matters anyways.

"Mason, if I die... Tell sis that she can have my stuff." Hell, if I could probably take her in the haunted house with me, I could probably focus more on blocking out her bitching rather than getting myself trapped inside by some sort of catastrophic accident of some sorts, which is bound to happen somehow.

"Oh yeah, and stop making goo goo eyes at her too!" Mason has always had a thing for Jessica, probably since she's one of the most popular fucking kids in high school. Team Captain of the Cheer Team my ass, that girl is more than just looks, I mean, she's really smart as well, so she's loved by all of her teachers too.

"W-What do you mean? You think I have a thing for her? Hell the fuck no! You know what, are you going in or are you stalling?" A flipped a middle finger at Mason, and he seemed to only laugh as a response, much to my disappointment.

I grabbed for my flashlight out of my backpack and opened the door rather slowly. The reason I had a backpack is because I just got back from camping, and I didn't have any time to go home and change when it came to getting free candy on Halloween, plus it went with the get-up I was wearing too.

The door creaked open and I shined my flashlight into the darkness. There wasn't really anything out of the ordinary, except for the occasional stuffed fish or deer head hung up against the wall. This was was truly abandoned, and I'm surprised the bank hasn't taken it yet either, considering it's been abandoned for a good 5-6 years now. I don't remember the exact date it was abandoned either, much to my disappointment.

I looked into the old rotted cabinet, seeing that there was a dusty box more than a meter long, and it had something engraved on the side that said, "Ol' Painless."

I opened the case, and I saw a Remington Model 770 Bolt-Action Rifle, because it said so right on the side of the case. As an added bonus it had a scope on it too, as well as the original iron sights.  It also had a small box of ammunition to the side, containing nine .308 Winchester rounds inside. I knew my way around a gun, but I've never actually fired a bullet size higher than a .22LR at birds or small rodents. Against my better judgment, I took the rifle and strapped it to the side of my backpack, stashing the bullets in one of the many pouches my backpack composed of.

Since there was a gun just lying there, I couldn't help myself but to grab it, because one way or another, I was gonna need it, because I had a gut feeling somethings gonna backfire on my ass, and I want to be ready.

"See anything yet?!" Mason shouted from outside.

I was pissed at my so called "friend," because all he was good for was getting in the way. So, I decided not to answer him, just to freak him out. Looking further into the cabinet, I also found a Berretta handgun, along with five 9mm rounds for that. I didn't know the exact model because I forgot, but all I know is that it's what the U.S. Military uses. Whoever lived here, they must've been waiting for a zombie apocalypse, because I've seen several spent cases lying all around the floor, as if something came for them.

This didn't look good for me, because knowing what happens in the movies, I'm gonna open the closet door and some sort of parasite jumps at my face, trying to infect me and turn me into a zombie or an alien. Though, I do have to admit, these folks had the hookup, being so generous enough to give me guns and ammo for a going away trip to Hell.

"Jack? Are you in there?" Mason called for me again, and I'm still not going to answer, because I'm just a douche like that. Besides, Mason's not really my friend, nobody I know at school are my friends. Most of the friends I actually know are on my friends list on Steam or the Playstation Network, and they live probably in another state across the country.

I stuffed the handgun into my pants, and I loaded the remaining bullets into the magazine. I didn't know what to expect, but it's like whoever lived here before was preparing me for a boss fight, much to my enthusiasm. I aimed the light at the hallway, deeper into the house, seeing that there was two possible ways I could go: upstairs, and into the basement. Seeing that I actually wanted to get outta here alive, I would go upstairs first.

My iPhone had started ringing, and saw that I had about twenty unread messages, like I care. The most recent message was a missed call from my parents; well it's happy to know that they actually give a fuck about me, I should celebrate with some cake, if I had any.

The next thing you know, the floorboards give out, causing me to fall two floors and into the basement, whoopee. I grab my now writhing leg to try and make it feel better, but from what I could tell, I'm not going to be walking on that sucker for quite a while, unless I can get some crutches.

Now that I'm at the bottom of an old dry-rotting house, I had to figure out how to get outta here. I had a few ideas in mind, maybe not the most logical ideas, but nonetheless ideas. Perhaps I can talk to dead people, I haven't tried it before, but it's worth a try.

"You folks gonna get me a wheelchair? I mean, you already gave me a few guns, so why not?" I prayed, only to get nothing in return.

I saw an old chest, across from me and to the right. It seemed to have an old rusty lock on it, hopefully I could find some bull-cutters somewhere nearby, probably not, but I do have bullets. From my experience with a gun, I knew how to load in cartridges into a magazine, turn off the safety, and squeeze the trigger, but I don't know how to do shit when it comes to cleaning them. My only weakness.

I looked down the night sights on the Berretta, and aimed towards the rusted lock. I got closer to the chest and popped the lock right off, smoke still coming out of the end of the barrel. I opened the chest, and I saw that it was filled to the brim with gold pieces. It seemed to have a horseshoe stamped on on side, and a Unicorn stamped on the other, I have no idea what that means either. I reached for a few bags worth of the shiny gold coins, and all of that weighed about two pounds altogether, and put it into my backpack. Hopefully I could get rich off of it if I don't die from who knows what.

I looked to the left of me, and I saw a glass orb on the ground. I picked it up and examined it closely. Upon inspection it looked like it had a pink nebula contained inside the glass, when I started to rub it clean, it started to emit a faint glow. I looked closely to find out that the glowing light got brighter, and I panicked.

I dropped it on the ground, and it cracked a little bit, rays of energy seeping out of the fractures. I tried to move away as fast as I could, but my broken ankle was still in great pain, due to that fact that I fell through the fucking floor of a who knows how many year old house! The least I could do was hide behind that chest I found all that gold in, not that it was going to help in any way.

"Oh god, what have you done now Jack?" I asked myself, closing my eyes when the room lit up a crisp white.

The next thing I saw was complete and utter darkness, my left leg that I fell on still throbbed with pain, and I think I'm gonna need a doctor sometime soon, unless I want to stay broken. Hopefully, when I wake up, I'll either be dead and waiting for my judgment, or I'll be alive inside of a hospital room.

What I saw, was neither option. Instead, I heard the sound of the wilderness, as if I was back camping again, and hopefully, it was all a dream. Sadly, I was mistaken, it was far from a dream, if anything, it was a nightmare.