Abandoned

Chapter 1

Apprehensively, Jessica approached the dingy, unkempt path that led to a very overgrown-looking building. Biting her nails, she shyly took a step forward, placing her black combat boots on the pathway. Her knees were wobbly, but she had done this before many times. Exploring abandoned buildings was one of her favourite pastimes however, something was different this time, she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Long, straight, jet-black hair covered almost her entire face, only revealing her main facial features: a small, pointed nose with wide nostrils, small puckered lips that naturally had a rose-red tint, and oceanic blue eyes that shone like diamonds.

Curiously, Jessica gazed at the building, bewildered at the fact that it's still standing, even after all these years. She stood with her best friend, Todd, who she had known practically her entire childhood. He was the most outgoing of the pair, and also the most mischievous. Todd was the epitome of confidence, with his flowing dark brown hair and heroic and muscular stature, he was the heartthrob of the school - somewhat of a bad-boy. Despite his popularity, he always remained loyal to Jessica, regardless of her low social status at school. "I'm not too sure about this one Todd", she confessed, continuing to bite her nails. "C'mon, you're overthinking this. You know I won't let anything bad happen to you", Todd explained confidently, with his chest pushed out and his head held high. He nudged her forward and they proceeded further up the path.

Gloomy, dark, miserable clouds began to form in the sky like a flock of black sheep, bursting with the urge to let their icy tears plummet to the ground - each teardrop was an iron dagger, stabbing sharply into the crumbling cobblestone pathway. Waves of mist flooded the sky, completely camouflaging anything but the decaying house that stood intimidatingly. Jessica's stomach turned, she felt an overwhelming sense of dread. Her naturally dry skin was now worsened by the sudden shift in temperature, making her exposed arms scaly and snake-like. Pulling down the sleeves of her hoodie, she hurried to the porch to shield herself from the harsh rain. As she waited for Todd to catch up, she took a deep breath to prepare herself to enter the home; the air reeked of mould, damp wood and musk.

Boards of wood covered the door to prevent anyone from accessing the house, however even those were starting to decay, and Todd easily managed to pull off the planks. Jessica and Todd stood at the doorway and stared into the hall, cobwebs and dust covered everything in sight like a sheet of grey snow, and the room was pitch black due to the absence of windows. The furnishings were clearly from the Victorian era, and they had quite an elegant look to them; the chairs looked like they belonged to royalty (if you ignore the stains and dirt that covered them). Todd placed his finger on the table next to the door, and slowly moved it across the coarse wood, he lifted his finger and it was coated in dust. "That is... disgusting" Jessica chuckled, finally feeling somewhat at ease now that she was inside. Todd giggled and moved along to the bottom of the stairs, "You coming then?" he asked excitedly, gesturing to the stairwell. It looked extremely unsafe, some steps were missing and the entire foundation looked as though it was hanging on by a thread. That didn't put them off though. With a bit of climbing, they managed to make it to the second floor with ease, this was just another walk in the park for them.