“Look at this,” Avery said, shoving her phone towards her friends, Noelle and Brody. The phone played a video from YouTube showing a pond. It talked about the rumors of the lake being haunted while eerie music played in the background. “That’s only 20 minutes away from here.”
The three had been hanging out at Brody’s house after school and wanted to find somewhere to go that wasn’t boring. Noelle and Brody laid on his bedroom floor while Avery sat on the bed.
“Isn’t that on private property though?” Noelle asked after the video had finished playing. Avery took her phone back and paused the video that had begun its loop.
“So what?” Brody shrugged. “It would be more fun to explore.” He reached over to a black mini fridge that he had recently gotten and pulled out three sodas. He handed one to Noelle and Avery before cracking open his own.
“Do you think it’s actually haunted?” Avery wondered aloud after the pop of her soda quieted.
“Maybe,” Noelle responded.
“I don’t think so,” Brody sighed, taking another sip of his soda.
Avery looked back down at her phone and opened the comments on the video. Most of them read things about creepy experiences there or just superstitions. “The comments think it is,” she said, not looking up from it.
“We should go,” Brody said, sitting up. “We’ve got nothing better to do.”
“What’s the name of the pond anyway?” Noelle asked, looking towards Avery.
Avery glanced up and quickly looked back down at her phone to read the name. “It’s called Ghost Pond.”
“Wow, not creepy at all,” Noelle chuckled sarcastically.
After some more research they found out that it was in fact rumored to be haunted and that two kids died there a couple years ago. There were some articles saying to never go there because of some invisible danger that no one could figure out and some videos of kids illegally exploring there.
“In each of the videos the kids end up being chased out,” Avery observed.
“We should go!” Brody said, crossing his arms. “It’s probably not actually haunted. And plus, what else are we going to do, sit around in my room some more?”
“I agree with Brody, we should go,” Avery said to Noelle. Noelle paused for a moment, thinking it over. “It’s going to get dark soon,” Noelle said, looking towards the window.
“That’ll make it more fun,” Brody said, grabbing her arm and shaking it. “Come on Noelle!”
Avery laughed and her and Brody began chanting; “Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!”
Noelle giggled at her friends and then gave in. “Okay we can go,” she sighed, still smiling. “But don’t come crying to me when we get attacked by a ghost or something!”
* * *
After Noelle had packed a tote bag with literally everything they could possibly need, Avery drove them to Ghost Pond. They parked on the side of the road and the car doors made loud slamming noises when they shut behind them.
“Let’s go” Brody said and stepped in the ferns that led into the forest. The girls followed and they soon made it to a tall, metal chain fence. Zip-tied to it was a red sign with white lettering that read, ‘PRIVATE PROPERTY – NO TRESPASSING.’
Brody took one glance at the sign, took a couple steps back, and ran at the fence. It made a loud clambering noise as he scaled it. Avery and Noelle just tilted their heads up as they watched Brody climb. When he got to the top, he carefully got to the other side, climbed down a bit farther, and then jumped. His short brown hair lifted as he fell.
“Come on!” He waved them over but Noelle and Avery exchanged glances and then looked back to Brody.
“I don’t think I could do that,” Noelle said, looking from Brody to the top of the fence, then slipped a hair tie off her wrist and put her long hair in a bun. In the dark lighting her hair looked black instead of its normal dark brown.
Avery looked to the left, hoping to see some other way in. Luckily she saw a small hole in the fence and below that was a pair of wire cutters. “Noelle, this way,” she said, nodding in the direction of the hole.
“That’s useful,” Noelle said and watched as Avery picked up the wire cutters.
The hole was slightly too small for them so she planned to widen the hole but a dark liquid seeped into her gloves. It was too dark by now to see the color and Avery shivered as she felt it touch her skin. ‘It’s just mud.’ She silently reassured herself.
Noelle shivered beside her as a cold autumn breeze brushed past them. Avery ignored the liquid on her hands and cut the wire a bit wider.
“You guys are such wimps,” Brody teased as Avery followed Noelle through the fence. “Couldn’t even jump it.”
“Sorry I don’t wanna break my ankles, Brody,” Noelle teased back. “Right Avery?”
Avery quickly snapped her thoughts back from whatever was on the wire cutters. “Y-yeah, right.” She said, agreeing with whatever Noelle said. Brody shrugged and he and Noelle began walking.
Avery paused for a moment, staring at the wet spot on her glove. Realizing her friends had walked farther, she jogged forward to catch up, but she couldn’t get the thought out of her head that it wasn’t just mud.
Before she could say anything, they walked into a clearing and were taken aback by the sight of the pond. The moonlight glistened on its surface and the water seemed as if it was completely frozen by how still it was. Fog crept around the corners of the trees and it looked like they were on a horror movie set.
“If a ghost walked out of those trees right now I wouldn’t be surprised,” Noelle said as they all stared at the lake, jaws wide open. Avery and Brody silently nodded in agreement and Avery began walking again.
They slowly made their way around the pond but they were all much quieter than before. An owl hooted somewhere in the trees above them and besides that, the forest seemed completely quiet.
“Hey look,” Noelle breathed, pointing into the forest. Brody and Avery whipped their heads around to see a cabin, just a bit bigger than a shed. It was made of wood with vines and moss growing up the sides. The window that was facing them was broken and glass shards stuck out of the sides. The wind harshly blew and the door swung open, making a loud bang on the wall, startling them.
Brody began making his way towards it and Noelle grabbed his arm to stop him. “Brody! Where do you think you’re going!?” she hissed.
“I’m going to check it out,” he said, pulling his arm out of her grasp. “Come on guys, it’s abandoned.”
“There could be someone in there,” Avery began.
“Yeah and if it’s the owners of this property then we’re all screwed,” Noelle added.
“There’s no one in there,” Brody said firmly, and kept walking. “I’m checking it out, if you don’t want to come, stay here.”
Noelle and Avery exchanged glances and silently agreed to follow Brody. “If you get us all killed right now I’m blaming you,” Noelle said, pulling her foot out from under a tree root. Avery laughed nervously at her joke and kept walking.
Brody opened the door and Noelle and Avery stayed close behind him. Their boots made stomping noises on the wood beneath them that creaked uneasily.
The shed was very small with not much inside. A fowl smell drifted throughout the single room, and there were various hardware tools hung on the wall. On one side there was a table with an open beer can and an old fashioned lantern with a dimming candle still lit on it. Next to the table was a corner with two black trash bags that looked full but they couldn’t tell what was inside. All of the windows were broken and some glass shards were on the floor along with many pieces of trash.
“It’s creepy in here,” Avery said, her legs beginning to tremble. Brody stepped towards the table and picked up the lantern. It almost slipped in his gloves but he got a hold on it and lifted it to attempt to see better. “We probably should have brought flashlights,” Brody said, squinting to examine the tools on the walls.
Noelle began searching her tote bag, making loud rustling noises with all of the stuff she brought. “The one thing I didn’t bring!” she exclaimed, slapping her palm to her forehead.
Avery giggled at her friend. “Why did you bring all that stuff anyway? We don’t need half of it.”
“You never know,” Noelle shrugged and began readjusting the items in the bag.
Avery turned away and started looking at the tools as well. Brody was looking at a small handsaw. The lantern didn’t do much but it gave it a bit more color. The blades were covered in some substance but it was all dried up. It looked very similar to whatever was on the wire cutters.
“What’s that…?” she asked warily to Brody.
“What?” Noelle asked, walking over to them.
“I don’t know,” Brody said, moving the lantern closer. “Do you think it’s blood?”
“Oh come on Brody,” Noelle laughed nervously. “Stop trying to scare us.”
“Y-yeah,” Avery stammered, backing up and crossing her arms. She didn’t want to think about the fact that it could be blood and it’s what was on her glove.
“Jeez okay guys,” Brody said, backing up. “Just thinking aloud.”
“Let’s get out of here,” Noelle said, seeming happier to get away from that topic. “That smell is giving me a headache.”
They walked out of the door and Brody started walking behind the cabin. He turned around for a moment and said, “I’m going to go to the bathroom real quick, be right back.”
Noelle gave a thumbs up and Avery inched closer to her, goosebumps all over her arms from the cold. Barely a minute before Brody had left, he quickly ran back to them, almost knocking them over. “There’s a b-body back there!” He said while his voice and body shook, his eyes wide.
“What??” Noelle and Avery said, almost in sync, and Avery clung onto Noelle. “A-are you sure you’re not seeing things??” Noelle asked. “This better not be a trick Brody, because it’s n-not funny.”
“No-! He’s dead!” Brody grabbed Avery’s arm and began pulling them away from the cabin. “We have to leave-” he completely froze and they all stayed silent for a moment.
Coming from the forest behind the cabin, they heard bushes rustling and grunting heading towards them. Noelle and Avery shrieked and began running with Brody trailing close behind them.
Just then a gunshot rang through the forest and adrenaline filled up Avery, making her run faster. Soon Avery looked to her sides and realized that they were all getting farther away from each other.
Another gunshot pierced through the forest and it distracted Avery, causing her to catch her leg on a tree root, twisting her ankle. She fell to the ground, gritting her teeth in pain and mud soaking into her clothes. When she looked up she saw Noelle and Brody still running. They hadn’t noticed that she’d fallen.
Stomping noises came close behind her and she scrambled to her feet. She couldn’t run very fast and she winced in pain at every step.
Not able to bear the pain any longer, she hid behind a tree. Another gunshot made her ears start to ring and she covered her mouth to attempt to quiet her panting breath.
A scream echoed through the forest and Avery froze in fear. The scream sounded like Noelle’s.
The pain in her foot became extremely painful and she bit her hand to try not to yell.
“NOELLE!?” Avery heard Brody scream through the darkness. “AVERY!?”
Avery wished she could call back but she was frozen in fear. Some bushes rustled behind her and adrenaline spiked through her again. She shot forward, almost forgetting about the pain in her foot. The sound of the gun reloading was behind her and sped through the forest, weaving in between the trees, praying she wouldn’t get shot.
Avery had reached the pond and she stopped at the water’s edge. She fearfully looked behind her but then she heard Brody call her name. She turned her head to see him at another edge of the pond. “Brody!!” she gasped, glad to see him.
The happiness on Brody’s face only lasted for a moment because a second later he went pale and his eyes widened. “AVERY WATCH OU-” his screams were cut off by a gunshot that came from behind Avery.
Suddenly her whole body felt warm, her ankle felt as if she had never twisted it. A wave of dizziness washed over her and she fell over, twisting onto her back. Her hand splashed in the water next to her but she couldn’t feel its coldness.
Her ears rang and she could barely hear Brody’s sobs. Avery coughed and stared up at the stars, feeling as if the world had frozen around her. Her eyes felt heavy and she tried to stay awake but the darkness soon overtook her.
