One Stupid Thing

1:6:23

"I can hear you, Leon!" Mrs. Crain growls, as she limps past, using a fire poker both as a cane and a probable weapon. Sarah lets out a whimper, undoubtedly giving away our location. "I've been waiting all night!" she shouts, turning to face us. Old Mrs. Crain may be blind but unfortunately she isn't deaf.

"Go! Go! Go!" Kiara yells, pushing a frightened Sarah out of the way. I scream, barely dodging a blow from the old woman's fire poker, and run after them. Thankfully, Mrs. Crain's poor health slows her down, making her easy to outrun, but she knows her own house way better than we do.

"Where are you, Leon?" Mrs. Crain screeches hauntingly.

Kie disappears around a corner and Sarah and I duck under a table to avoid the old woman. The alarming sound of a struggle urges us out of our hiding spot. Sarah and I rush in the direction Kiara went to find Mrs. Crain having trapped our friend in a corner. As the lady is just about to swing her weapon, Sarah grabs it and throws it far out of reach.

"C'mon, c'mon!" Sarah urges as she grabs Kiara's hand, pulls her up off the floor, and drags her back the way we came. We run into what looks to be an old office and close the door behind us, but right when we think we have escaped her, Mrs. Crain's fire poker breaks right through the door. She screeches with effort as she continuously chips away at the wood.

"This way!" Sarah screams. "It goes underneath the house!" She leads us to a door and down a flight of steep stairs

"Go, go, go, go, go!" I urge.

"I'm trying!" Sarah replies.

"Go!" Kie says.

"Guys! Guys!" My sister yells down.

"Guys! I scream. We emerge into the basement. The creepy, unfinished room is only lit up by flashlights. JJ and Pope are manning the pulley which must mean that John B is down in the well.

"Woah, woah, what's going on?" Pope asks. Both boys look at us with worry-filled eyes.

"Mrs. Crain! She's up there!" Sarah pants. She bends over with her hands on her knees to catch her breath.

"She tried to kill us with a fire poker, guys. We gotta get the fuck out of here," Kiara tells them between breaths.

I lean against a wooden post for support. "We locked her in the parlor, but we gotta go. It won't hold her for long."

"Okay, that's Code Red. That's Code Red!" JJ panics.

"We have to go!" My sister urges them.

"Hey! John B!" JJ yells down the well. "Get back on, man!"

"JJ! Hold on, man! I'm comin'!" John B's voice sounds up the shaft, but you can hardly make out words. It's too damn echoey in here.

"Come on!" Sarah gestures to Kiara and I. We follow her lead, grabbing onto the rope and preparing ourselves to pull our friend out.

"Three, two, one, pull!" Pope conducts. With all of our might we tug at the rope, but we all fall back onto each other. To our surprise where was no weight on the other end.

"Jeez!" JJ exclaims. He lands right on top of me.

"Where the hell is he?" Pope asks us. We all scramble to the edge of the well for any sign of John B, but there is only darkness. In a panic, my friends call out to him. I hear an echoey voice sound from below, but I can't understand anything with all their yelling.