Out of the Darkness

7

He seemed almost entranced by the thing. "There's so many of them," Jake said, taking them out, one by one, and setting them on the counter. Sam zoomed in, making sure to show them all, then backed up a little, staggering. We heard a loud bang come from somewhere else in the house. "Sam, bro, you good?" I asked, reaching out to grab his sleeve. "What the fuck was that?" Corey exclaimed, looking towards where the noise sounded from. Sam lowered the camera, and I took it from him. "Yeah man. I don't now what that was. Just got a little lightheaded or something." "Here," I said, pulling a mask out of my back pocket. "I forgot I had these on me." I passed them out till everyone had one. "That's probably all it was," I said, not sure if I was trying to convince him or myself. "You know it wasn't. It's just a coincidence that the noise happened at the same time Sam started to almost faint? Bullshit," Corey replied, shaking his head fiercely. "We need to go. Let's go. It's time to go. Come on. This way." He was motioning with his arms back towards the living room so that we could go out the front door. "I wanna know what that sound was," Jake said, walking into the darkness. His flashlight was barely making a dent in the black void. "Jake, wait up. I don't think we need to seperate," Sam said, trying to catch up with him. "You coming?" I asked Corey, moving towards the area they had just walked through. He stood there shaking his head. "This isn't a good idea Colby. Something about this place isn't right." I sighed, and nodded. "I know. I feel it too but we've never had anything serious happen to us. Or at least nothing that we couldn't get out of. Come on, let's just finish the tour...or I guess you can just go sit in the car by yourself," I added, when he didn't make a move. I was worried that we were going to lose Jake and Sam even thought the house wasn't that big. Corey looked out the dark kitchen window, then shivered. "I'm coming," he said, pushing past me to go out the door. "Jake, Sam! Where are you guys?" he called out. The doorway had led us into a dark, dusty hallway. The walls were lined with framed photos but they were extremely old. Black and white photos that were yellowing with age. Young girls, the same young girls, were in every photo. There was a man standing next to them in each photo. I slowed down and pointed the camera at them. There were really faded numbers, crudely drawn in the corner of each photo. "What is that?" I muttered, reaching my hand up to swipe away the dust.  1896 is what it said. A year, I was guessing. I swiped my thumb over the next photo. It looked like the exact same girls, and the man. Only the man looked a little older, a little different. Nothing drastic but you could definitely see the change. How did the girls look the same? Maybe it was his father or something, someone who looked like him. I looked at the numbers at the bottom. 1906. This couldn't be a date then. The girls looked exactly the same. If this were ten years later, that wasn't possible. I went down the hall, swiping my thumb across the bottom of each dusty picture. The numbers changed each time, adding ten to each one. 1916, 1926, 1936, 1946 and on up until the last one. It said 1966. The man had disappeared after 1946, leaving just the girls looking exactly the same as they did in the first pic while he grew older in each one. Their clothes changed, but that was it. They wore the same expression, the same innocent young faces, maybe in their late teens, early 20's. I felt a shiver run up my spine like someone was watching me then. I turned slowly, making sure that the camera light was pointed correctly so that I could see. I fully expected to see something standing right behind me, my anxiety rising with each inch that I turned. I took a deep breath, and jerked around the last few inches, staring straight in front of me. There was nothing there...only I knew that there was. I just couldn't see it. I reached out in front of me, feeling a cold draft envelope my hand. I yanked it back, feeling tears of fear start to prick my eyes. "help" I swung around to my right side. I had heard that. It had been right in my ear, so close I should've been able to feel warm breath. Still nothing there. "What the fuck is going on?" I whispered, noticing that the camera was shaking a little. I needed to find the guys. The house was so quiet now. I should have been able to hear them walking, talking, or something. It was like I was here, all alone, but not. "Sam," I whispered, turning back to the direction they had went. "Sam!" I said a little louder, my steps sounding like they were thundering through the house. I glanced over my shoulder, feeling someone following me, but the darkness was too thick. "SAM! JAKE, COREY! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU GUYS??" Fuck being quiet! I didn't care if I pissed off whatever spirits were in here with me anymore. Now, all I wanted was to find my friends. I kept calling their names, rushing through each room, waiting for them to answer me. "If you guys are playing a joke, THIS SHIT ISN'T FUNNY!" I yelled into the black void of the hallway. "GUYS!" I yelled again, turning the knob on a door at the end of the hallway. It swung open, leaving me staring into nothingness. An extremely cold draft wafted out, making me break out in goosebumps. I had given up filming at this point, but the camera was still rolling because I was using the light.