I'm relieved when the door seems to be locked. She walks over to the window to the right of the door and wipes some of the dust and grime away before looking in. She stands there with her face to the glass and both hands cupped around her eyes keeping the sunlight out, trying to peer inside.
I'm all for an adventure, but potentially trespassing on someone's property could get us into trouble, legally or personally with the owner. If we got into legal trouble there goes my scholarship and I'll have to move back home.
Mae turns around and hollers at me, "Riley, this place hasn't been inhabited in a long time. There's nothing here!" She walks down the stairs and stands in front of the house looking out towards the tree line and I walk over to her. "Just a bunch of old dusty furniture." She says with slight dissapointment laced in her voice.
"Well thank fucking God for that. What were you thinking, Mae! Be careful next time!" I shouted, throwing my arms in the air for emphasis. "What if someone was here? They obviously don't want company; you could have gotten yourself shot!"
I place my hands on my hips and stare her down. I may be acting over dramatically, but I don't care. I don't know how people are here, but back home you're liable to catch a bullet if you walk up on someone's property unannounced.
"Jeeze I'm sorry." Mae looks down at her feet and crosses her arms, avoiding eye contact with me. I sigh and let my arms fall down to my sides, I think I was a little too hard on her.
Shit, now I feel bad. I irritatingly think to myself.
"Okay, I'm sorry. Just think next time, okay?" I say this softly, and she brings her head up and nods. "I'd like to live a while longer if that's okay with you." I mutter, crossing my arms while I glance around the area.
I look over to the very left corner of the clearing to a small cliff wall; there are vines hanging down and some trees in front of it. However, I see where some of the vines are blowing inwards from the wind hitting the side of the wall indicating a break; a cave.
I turn to look at Mae and she's staring at it too, she looks sideways at me with a mischevious grin.
"You're gonna go explore it, aren't you?" I can't help but grin at her, I know that look.
"You can't tell me you're not curious."
She's right, I am curious. I used to be much more adventurous than I am now, but as I grew a little older I realize it's not because I'm not adventurous or fun anymore. It's because I now know that I have to be more conscious of my actions and their possible repercussions. I can't be carefree anymore. I can't look at someone having fun, racing a four wheeler with no helmet, and not remind them that it comes with consequences.
I can't let my parents lose another child. But sometimes maybe it's okay to forget and let loose for a while.
"You're right, I am curious. Let's go." Mae looks at me with a surprised smile and grabs my hand, pulling me towards the cave.
As we walk away from the cabin something moves in my peripheral vision and I snap my head back towards the right side of the cabin; but I don't see anything. I could have sworn I saw something run into the trees there.
Probably a squirrel or something, settle down.
-
"Oh my gosh, this is so COOL!" Mae exclaims as we step inside the mouth of the cave, the vines falling back in place behind us casting shadows across the ground. I turn back around and take the pony tail holder off my wrist, loosely tying the vines to the side to let a little bit of light in.
It was cool and moist inside, the "ceiling" was about 10 foot tall I'd say and it was about equally as wide. The ground was flat for a few feet then became rough and uneven. I could hear the faint sound of water droplets from further inside, other than that it was quiet.
I nod in agreement, I've been in a few caves back home but it's always cool to find a new one you've never been to before. Usually the ones home were connected to the mines, making entering them sketchy.
We walk a little bit inside, however the sunlight doesn't reach very far and we can't go any further without a light.
"I thought to pack everything except a flashlight." I mutter, feeling a little disappointed in myself.
"Can you imagine the cool parties we could have here?" Mae asked me as she's touching some moss growing on the side of the cave wall. "We have a cave, the cabin, and a fire pit. It's perfect."
"Mmhmm yes, but we still don't know if this place belongs to anyone. Just because someone isn't here now doesn't mean they're not coming back. Also, no one is gonna want to hike an hour to a bonfire." I smile and shake my head, imagining the trouble it would be having drunk girls trying to walk an hour back to their cars at 3am.
"Yes, but we could have four wheelers transporting back and forth..." Mae rambles on about the parties, I'm only half listening when the hair on my neck stands up. I stiffen and strain my ears, looking into the darkness of the cave.
I could have sworn I just heard something.
The noise comes again, just barely audible but I hear it clearly this time. A sort of sighing sound, like someone breathing too hard trying to muffle the noise.
"Mae, stop talking." I say in a hushed whisper, my voice strained enough to make her look to me, eyes wide.
My heart thumps in my chest, and I look sideways at Mae. She's frozen in place, hand still touching the moss but she's looking at me. I can see her breathing is erratic, panic slowly taking over.
A few minutes go by quiet and I can see Mae start to relax a little; she lowers her arm and quickly moves to my side and intertwines her fingers in mine looking for comfort. We look at each other and weakly smile and squeeze hands, reassuring each other, and start to turn to leave.
My heart stops when we hear a shuffling sound behind us followed by a loud thud and a wispy moan, closer to us this time. Mae and I break into a sprint towards the opening, tripping over the uneven floor and we hear footsteps behind us coming from the darkness.
We high tailed it out of there as fast as we could with our hearts racing in panic. Past the cabin, past the tree line, and down the hidden trail we never should have entered. In a matter of minutes we reach the main trail and we keep running. Lungs burning, trying to keep up with our pace.
I knew I was just being paranoid, but my mind kept hearing footsteps in the woods behind us. I could hear the crunching of leaves and twigs breaking, I could hear the forceful breaths of air coming from a winded body. When I looked back, all I saw were trees and forest.
A forest that's going to be dark soon if we don't hustle.
-
We had made it to the car as soon as the sun was setting, with only a few minutes to spare. Even if I had packed a flashlight I still wouldn't have wanted to be out there past sunset. My adrenaline was pumping so fast I didn't even remember getting in the car and driving away. The ride home was pretty much quiet, neither of us really having the words to try and explain what happened.
We got back to the apartments, once inside we both agreed never to go back, not wanting the same experience. After our discussion she got her stuff from her brothers' place before heading home. I went to my apartment and settled in for the night, leaving the hall light on so my bedroom wasn't completely dark. I felt like a child, but after today's events I didn't care.
I glanced at my wall, and secretly wished I had someone here with me.