After Dark

A Short Horror Story

A hand playfully punched my right shoulder as Travis stepped up beside me. He smirked, knowing full well how terrified I honestly was about our little adventure with the rest of the guys. I don’t know why I let them talk me into this, but they claimed that everyone experienced the event as tradition.

“Stop looking at me like that,” I told him, to which he giggled.

“You’ll love it, trust me,” Travis replied.

“Hardly.”

“Oh, come on, Sam, it’ll be fun!” Ben called from the back. “We’ve all done it!”

“Have you now?” I questioned him, looking towards each person, though nobody spoke.

Our group consisted of Travis, Ben, myself, and George, Barry, Caleb, and Veronica. I’m the newest edition to their group, having just moved to this town not too long ago, them being the first to welcome me. It felt nice to be noticed right away. In the many moves my family had undergone, this was the first time I felt good about the move.

Now, however, maybe I was wrong to accept them so quickly. Either they were telling the truth about tradition, or they had an ulterior motive when it came to welcoming me into their fold.

“Why are we here again?” I asked, wanting clarification that they had been as of yet unwilling to part.

“Okay, guys, I think we can tell him now,” Travis said.

“But we’re almost there,” Barry moaned, “He can know soon enough.”

“Does it have to be at night?” I asked, going for something more specific to see if they would at least give me that.

“It’s not nighttime,” Travis replied, “The sun is only setting. Twilight, if you will.”

“That didn’t answer my question,” I shot back.

“Because it’s more fun that way,” Ben said, “Now stop being a party pooper! We’re almost there.”

I, at least, knew where we were going. It was evident because of just how large the building was. An old, abandoned mansion rested on top of a hill in the forested area of the small town. I didn’t know the backstory, though, but I felt our adventure dealt with it tonight.

Approaching the mansion, I was amazed by its beauty. The owners didn’t skip out on design, and while rusted and in ruin, the once white building still had glimmering golden archways that led to the massive front doors that hid behind giant white pillars. A dead garden covered the front yard, and near it, a driveway was being reclaimed by nature.

A light push on my back towards the front doors led our group onward. Though rotten, the doors were black painted wood, with one slightly ajar. Travis was first through, then I. Once inside, I gasped at the lobby entrance. The setting sun gave a lovely glimmer over the lobby, revealing the grand staircase to the second floor. Many hallways led off to the left, right, and behind the stairs.

“The Marrow Mansion belonged to David and Claire Marrow,” said Travis, pointing to the giant insignia on the rug in the middle of the lobby. “They were, as you can see, a wealthy couple who owned the mine on the other side of town. Exploiting workers’ hard work by giving them little allowed for the two to pay for this.” Travis gestured to his surroundings.

“They were loved and hated,” Caleb continued, “And some think their deaths were because the miners revolted. That they stormed the mansion to plea for better work environments and pay but were disregarded. David and Claire were confident individuals, but even they didn’t expect to be killed right in this very room.”

A chill sprung down my spine. I couldn’t tell if there were telling the truth or not, but it felt real enough to give me concerns.

“It was said their bodies were lost in the mansion, hidden by the miners, guilty of what they’ve done,” Travis continued, “One by one, the miners all died, each body being found in this mansion, all in the basement.”

That part had me doubting their claims, “You can’t be serious.”

“As serious as ever,” Celeb replied, “Don’t believe us? Go down to the basement and see all the bodies for yourself.”

I didn’t believe them, but I still felt no will to go to the basement. Ever since I was a little child, I have been afraid of the dark. I still used a nightlight to this day because of my phobia. The only reason I came with the group tonight was that the amount of us made me feel comfortable enough to go. If they expected me to go alone into the darkest part of the mansion, they were kidding themselves.

But that’s where the prank was. That’s where they wanted me to go to get scared, and then it was all over. Their tradition. I wanted this night to be over anyway, and this was the best way because there wasn’t any chance they’d let me leave. And I wasn’t about to be bullied back at school for chickening out. I had to live here for a while.

“Fine,” I said, “Show me where.”

Travis put his hand on my shoulder and said, “Right over there.” He pointed to the door on the right side of the grand staircase. It looked ominous, more than ever now.

“Okay,” I told myself rather than them.

With as much confidence as possible, I shakingly walked over to the basement door. The air felt cooler the closer I got, but I couldn’t tell if it was just my anxiety playing tricks on me or not.

Reaching out for the doorknob, it felt ice-cold, I opened the basement door, blasted with cold air. I turned towards my group, screaming when Travis appeared right behind him. I hadn’t even heard him coming.

“Good luck,” he said as he shoved me through the door and closed it behind me. “We will come to get you in the morning!”

“Hey!” I shouted through the door, trying to open it, but it didn’t budge. “What is this? I thought there was a prank; you can’t leave me here!”

“Scouts honor, we will come get you!” Ben called back.

“Come back here!” I screamed, but they no longer responded.

I turned around to the eerie silence. The staircase descended to nothingness, but I had nowhere else to go. My only hope now was that there might be an alternate exit.

Creeping down the stairs as carefully as I could, every one of them creaked loudly in the complete silence. Each one caused me to remain still for a moment, listening for any threat, both natural and supernatural, that could be lurking down there.

All I heard was my heartbeat.

“Wait,” I whispered, then cringing at my stupidity of speaking.

I pulled out my phone, hoping to get a signal to call for help. But there were no bars where I stood. If I could find a window, then there could be a chance. But I wouldn’t get many opportunities; my battery sat at 2%.

Reaching the bottom of the staircase, I held out my arms to help prevent from running into something I couldn’t see. I didn’t want to waste battery using the flashlight. It was hard to tell what I felt, but from what I could tell there was a large amount of junk down here. Wondering off to the right, I stumbled into something tall. I felt around it, trying to understand what it was I was feeling.

It felt skinny, with different branching paths, 5 to be exact. They were long, with one being very short and wider. I fell backward at the realization.

Turning on my phone’s flashlight again, disregarding my concern before, I shined it at the figure that loomed over me. A breath of relief came once I saw it was only a mannequin. Yet, it didn’t make me feel any better to see just how many were in the basement.

I stood back up, turning my phone light off after spotting a small window nearby. It wasn’t enough to fit through, but just the right amount for light to find its way down here if it were during the day. I peeked outside, pulling out my phone to dial 911.

“911, what’s your emergency,” the dispatcher said.

“Hi, hello…um, I know this will sound stupid, but,” I started, trying to find the words to explain my situation, “My friends thought it would be a brilliant prank to lock me in the Marrow Mansion’s basement for the night. Can somebody come get me out of here?”

“You’re in the Marrow Mansion?” the dispatcher asked.

“Yes.”

“What’s your name?” the dispatcher said.

“Sam Mills,” I replied.

“Okay, thank you, Sam Mills,” the dispatcher continued, “We will contact your family to inform them of your passing. Have a nice night.”

“Wait, what?” I yelled into my phone, but the call was already cut. A few seconds later, my phone died.

Before I had time to make sense of what I was told, a scream was heard from outside, though muffled. I looked back to see Veronica making her way to the house, terror in her eyes as a dark figure crawled on all fours at an impressive speed closer and closer to her. It looked human with very little clothing wrapped around it, like the clothes had rotted away over many years. Its screeches chilled every bone in my body.

Then with a powerful pounce, it shot through the air to her as she collapsed under its force. I turned away once it started digging into her, breathing heavily at the sight.

Scattering came from behind, and I screamed instinctively while turning around. Lights flickered on but remained flickering erratically.

The mannequins had moved. All now looking at me. Blood pooled from all the slits that allowed for their arms and head to move. And with them stood another one of those freakish ghouls, a sinister smile to it before it screeched loudly as it darted for me.

In my last moments, I could see behind the mannequins stood a couple, smiling at me.

“Welcome to the family.”

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