Three figures crested a hill on a dark moonless night, their clothing a mix of blacks and grays covering them head to toe so they blended in. No one would have been able to see them in that darkness without a flashlight and considering they were miles away from the nearest person there was no risk of a stray flashlight beam unveiling there presence. Since they were so far away from people, they probably didn't need to wear the dark ski masks, but there were rules to these things. even if you don't encounter anyone, if you break into a house in the dead of night, you have to look the part, much to the annoyance of their third member.

"I am not hiking back down wearing this," Sophia demanded. She was panting hard and had me at one point me her up a difficult part of the terrain.

"Well, of course not," I responded," these clothes in the morning would be ridiculous; anyone that saw us would immediately know we're troublemakers."

"Of course, utterly ridiculous," Sophia said sarcastically. She might have continued complaining if it wasn't for the fact that after talking, she had to spend a few moments just to focus on breathing.

Their target had been a seven-hour hike to get to, roughly in the middle of nowhere, which made the allure of it so much greater and the actual journey much more tiring, especially with ski masks on. The target in question was a small ghost town, the residents of which either disappeared or moved away. It wasn't much to look at: a few houses, some sheds, a well; four of the places had turned into little more than a pile of rubble, but two little farmhouses still somewhat remained, although looking as if they could come down any moment, and then there was the manor which as far as manors go was very small and unassuming. However, it survived the test of time better than the other few structures, as it looked only a few decades old.

"Well, I think there's a ghost town waiting for us," Jeremy said, rising; he was the fittest out of us and almost as excited for this as I was. No doubt, excitement filled his chest with energy just as it did for mine.

The group started on the houses closest to them; the doors were either missing or unlocked, letting them easily break into the ruined structures. Most rooms that hadn't collapsed looked like they would at any moment they all held nothing of value but rotted planks and destroyed furniture. The most exciting thing they found was a few old coins that Jeremy had spotted after exploring a small opening under one of the toppled houses. A few hours passed, and they examined the ruined houses with awe and joy until only the manor was left to explore.

Jeremy opened the manor door slowly, really drawing out the creaking sound that the doors' rusty hinges made. After a few moments, the creaking sound reached a crescendo as the door stopped against the wall with a resounding THUMP that could have been the stomp of a giant for as loud as it was, showing them an interior not seen by any man or woman in maybe a century! My heart raced with excitement as I powered on the headlamp and saw a message written on the wall in bright red blood! I stepped back, grabbing a handful of salt from my salt pocket as my eyes tried to parse the demonic language written there.

Derek was here

Oh, okay, not blood spray paint; it was spray paint. In fact, the can that it had come from was still lying on the ground a few feet away. There were a few other signs that someone had been here as well: backpacks, beer cans, and other things. It looked like someone had even tried to start a fire in the middle of the room, a circle of char marked by a surrounding ring of stones.

"Well, that sucks," Jeremy said. I nodded along with him. It felt more like I was the second person to walk on the moon instead of the first.

"It's not a good atmosphere for a haunted mansion," I replied. Sophia chuckled a bit, pushing past me into the manor; she grabbed the old-looking backpack on the ground and started rummaging through it. I walked over to the spray can and hit the nozzle. A small stream came out.

"Still has some in it," I noted, shaking it slightly. It took some work, but after a few minutes, I turned the few graffiti lines into something more fitting.

Beware!!!

Derek WAS here

He isn't ANYWHERE now

Cursing your pussycat

"Cursing your pussycat?" I turned my head to Jeremy, who looked at my handiwork with, well, it wasn't a look of pride.

"Don't judge; you should have seen it before," I said.

"What was it before," he asked?

"I'd rather not say. "

"Sin, I think you're wrong," Sophia said, butting in. There was a pile of stuff around her while her eyes darted all around, thinking rapidly.

"Me? Wrong? I'm never wrong," I said," but if I was, what would I be wrong about." Jeremy and I both approached; as I did, I came up behind her and wrapped her in a hug.

"You said this isn't a good atmosphere for a haunted house, but I think it's a great atmosphere," she explained, getting excited," the stuff here tells a story; look at these bags real quick. What can you see." We both looked at the bags. There were four, where she found the other two; I had no clue, but next to each bag was a neat pile of stuff, most likely the contents within. It was grouped into three piles, though, with two bags in the same general pile, which made sense as, up close, the two bags were similar. The two backpacks were nothing special, just two regular, if dusty, North Face backpacks that looked a few years old. Then there was the next bag which was yellow with flowers; or had been before it had been covered in grime. Then there was the third one, a leather suitcase that was more leather scraps than suitcase.

"Alright, some people left bags here," Jeremy said," so what."

I sighed, pulled out of the hug, and looked at a pile near the suitcase. There was a bundle of cash there; I gingerly leafed through it; the bills were brittle to the touch and reeked of age.

"Two hundred and thirty dollars," I said, surprised. It was interesting, the money itself might be worth more considering the age, but I focused on something else. "You found this in the suitcase?"

"it was in the suitcase lining," she said," the only reason I found it is that some rats have nearly chewed the case apart."

"I'm guessing this suitcase is at least several decades old, maybe more. That was a lot of money back then; why just leave it?"

"That's the thing. There are also a few valuables in the other bags, Why would someone leave without these things?"

"Maybe they never left," Jeremy said, walking off to the edge of the room. "Let's split up and look around for anything interesting; also, one last thing." he turned his head to look back at us, my headlamp only illuminated enough to see his face wrapped in shadows. The image brought to mind a predator raising its head slightly above water, ready to deliver a fatal strike. "If any of you hears a scream, don't investigate it, run away, and don't look back." Then he was gone. I turned my head to see that Sophia had also left me; damn, I had planned to find the nearest flat surface and start making out; that was like catnip to bad guys in horror movies. I guess id have to find the serial killer the hard way, accidentally stumbling into him.

I set down my backpack next to Sophia and Jeremy's; I stared at the pile and grimaced. The house's collection of abandoned bags was growing. Would we come out to pick these up, or would we suffer the same fate as the ones that went before us, leaving these bags abandoned for the next group of people to find? I shook my head and started to leave.

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"Hello," I called out as I entered the fourth room in my search, the kitchen. Cobwebs covered the rotten cabinets, well, those that hadn't crumpled into shards of wood yet. A cast iron skillet filled with muck sat on the wood-fired stove. The table was likewise falling apart. It sure looked like that shadowy figure in the corner hadn't done much to take care of the kitchen's upkeep.

"You know it's polite to say hello back," I stated, keeping the table between us. It wouldn't do much to help me; with the two broken legs, it was more of a ramp in my direction than an obstacle. It would be an inconvenience but only a small one. The figure stepped forward, one step and then another and then.

"Dammit, Jeremy," I said, calming down, "I thought you said you wanted to split up."

"Yeah, so I could scare one of you; I hoped it would be Sophia. She at least gets scared." I punched him in the shoulder.

"Dick."

"Yes, but a dick that's found something," he said.

"Already," I voiced excitedly," all I've found is old knick-knacks and junk."

Jeremy went down a hallway where a wall section was pulled back to reveal a hidden passageway leading down. The spiderwebs and dust that streamed from the fake wall to the opening suggested this had been open for years. A huge grin settled on my face. I've been searching for adventure for years; before today, the most remarkable thing i'd ever found was an abandoned car that a tree was growing through. This reeked of adventure.

"It's unfortunate; someone found it first," I said, staring into the tunnel" Jeremy tried shifting the door, but it wouldn't budge.

"Looks like the mechanism to close it is broken. We should check the other walls for buttons or levers. There might be more secret passageways." I nodded before stepping into the passageway, which looked like stairs leading down into the basement.

That's because, as I soon found out, It was indeed stairs leading down into a basement, or well a cellar, a dark, dreary underground room.

"Something's wrong here," Jeremy said.

"Oh?"

"Yes, I feel like how we found this place was pretty lackluster; we didn't even open the secret door."

"Really, I was going to say that the weird circular tunnel in the wall and the glowing green light coming from it is pretty strange, but hey, to each their own." he just shrugged at that as if the tunnel was normal for him. the cave tunnel was smooth with no marks rough spots, it was smooth enough that it couldn't have been dug out by a drill. Still, it also couldn't have been erosion either, as it was a perfect circle.

"Well, if it makes you feel better, the floorboards above us look pretty rotted. A good jump would probably send you through." He looked up and grinned.

We backtracked, and a few moments later, I was back in the kitchen when I heard the sound of wood breaking and something crashing. I jogged to the sound ending up in a small piano room with a new hole in the floor. Sophia came through the door seconds after me.

"You okay, Jer?" he didn't appear to be hurt, which was good because breaking a leg here would have been terrible.

"Guys……. I think I found something," Jeremy said, lying on the ground surrounded by a pile of broken wood; green light danced across his face. Yeah, this felt much better than just stumbling onto an open door. I took out some rope and tied it to the old piano, rappelling down. I waited for her to come down after me, but she went down the stairs instead. Her finger pointed at the dust-coated floor, which along with her footprints showed two other sets of fresh footprints. She glared at the two of us and opened her mouth before her glare softened and her mouth went slack. The three of us stared at the strange tunnel that went through the wall and spread on for as far as I could see.

"We need to leave," Sophia ordered.

"We have spelunking gear with us," I replied, earning me a slap from her.

"That," she pointed at the tunnel," is very bad; nothing glows like that. What if its radiation?" horror danced across her face.

"Or some person forgot a flashlight," Jeremy said," we can't just run away; for once we’ve actually found something."

"Well, you're more than happy to check it-SINBAD WHAT ARE YOU DOING" The sudden shift in tone made me pause while they were about to have one of their good ol' arguments. I started to walk down the tunnel.

"It's fine. I'll check it out and see if it's safe," I responded before winking and turning a corner.

"You're not immortal sin. Be careful," she said, worried. I chuckled at that; I knew that fact more than anyone. The tunnel only went a little farther; the more I walked, the brighter it became, and the more the tunnel became cramped. It finally reached the point where I had to go forward on my hands and knees; thankfully, it wasn't much further until I found both the source of the light and the end of the tunnel.

There was what looked like a round two-foot-tall football sticking out of the ground. It had a glass cylinder which was set in the center of two metal cones. Inside the device was a green ball resembling a miniature sun. The capsule was embedded at the end of the tunnel like someone had been excavating and stopped halfway through digging.

I touched it instinctively; it was warm and comforting. It reminded me of a summer day years ago: being with my then-foster father in a leather recliner warmed by the sun. I nearly smiled at that sudden memory. It was a forethought after a moment, however, because not long after I touched it, my head felt something foreign and weird, almost like a worm was digging through my brain. It didn't hurt, but at the same time wasn't pleasant; something popped up on the surface of the machine.

Do you want to go on an adventure?

Yes ______No

I jolted back at that; as I raised my head, the prompt followed; it stayed in the center of my line of sight. It hadn't been on the surface of the machine. It had been in my vision, I yanked back my hand, but that did nothing to the words that now hung in my vision.

Do you want to go on an adventure?

Yes______No

"What the hell," I asked? I started to calm down the second time I read it. I tried shaking my head or blinking, but it wouldn't disappear. It was small and somewhat transparent, so it didn't stop me from seeing anything past it, but it was annoying having it in my vision. What it offered wasn't annoying though: an adventure. I would never turn down an adventure. It's why Jeremy and I were out here. A part of me wanted to say yes right there; another part of me knew that I should at least talk to Sophia, who was far more intelligent than I was.

"What's wrong, bro," Jeremy said, making me jolt again, bumping my head into the ceiling with a wet thud this time.

"I thought I was going to check it out and make sure it was safe,” I groaned, rubbing my temple.

"Come on, I'm not going to let you take all the fun," he said with his hand on my shoulder," so what's up with this thing? Did it hurt you?"

"No, I just… I just touched it, and now I see words that won't disappear."

"Really, what's it say?"

"Do you want to go on an adventure: yes or no? It looks like some sort of game prompt, like when I'm playing on Sophia's virtual reality headset."

"Strange," he then tried to touch it. My hand bolted out, grasping his when it was a few inches away.

"Jeremy, no," I reprimanded. "Let's talk to Sophia about it." Jeremy made a face, and I started crawling forward, budging into him to make him leave," Come on."

"Fine," he sighed before yelling," Sophia, it's safe!"

"We don't know that," I hissed, my ears hurting.

"What do you think it is? Maybe a bomb someone snuck out here to detonate."

"Why would they detonate a bomb in the middle of nowhere?"

"I don't know, maybe it's a strong bomb, strong enough to blow up half the state or something." I shook my head. It sounded ridiculous. While contemplating his question, I saw his hand snake toward the machine from the corner of my eye.

"Oh no, you don't."

A few moments later, Sophia crawled around the corner to see me lying on top of Jeremy, holding both his hands down.

"Get a room, you two," she said, looking at us with so much disappointment. Then she saw the machine," what's that?" I explained to her the prompt I'd been given while Jeremy tried to escape from under me.

"Weird," she placed her hand on the machine so quickly that I had no time to stop her; she paused and then shrugged.

"It's a different prompt for me."

"What is it," both of us asked.

"It's different; I guess that it's not fatal, or at least it's not meant to be; the fact that it affects our minds like this means that it must have been made by someone advanced, with the purpose of communication in mind."

"Okay, that means I can touch it then," Jeremy said," get off Sinbad." I did so with a sigh; Jeremy had a knack for making things more complicated when he was involved.

"Jer, please don't do anything stupid."

"When have I-" I glared at him as he tried to defend himself, stopping his defense before it could start. He crawled forward, slapping the machine, making Sophia and I wince.

"What's it say?" He just paused. His usual smile was gone, replaced with a deep-set frown; He looked at me, his eyes filled with some emotion I couldn't parse.

"Can't tell ya. I'll be back… I think," he said solemnly," Sorry." It took a moment for me to understand what he was talking about. No.

"Jer, wait!" I jumped for him while he outstretched his finger and tapped the air; I was inches away from tackling him, and then he wasn't there; it was just the metal football which I then ran into.

"What happened to him," I said, my nose hurting; it was one of those questions you asked for the sake of asking; Sophia knew as much as I did. She shrugged. "Do you think he's dead?"

"Maybe, but I don't think so; like I said, it's advanced; if its creator wanted it to kill us, I feel like we would already be dead.” I stared at the prompt which had a slight alteration from before.

Do you want to go on an adventure with your best friend?

Yes____________ No

Sophia was focusing on her prompt, staring at it, but no matter what they offered, she wouldn't take it. She was smart enough not to answer some mysterious question, but I couldn't say the same. Adventure and danger were usually tied together. You couldn't have one without the other, and if Jeremy was in trouble, could I leave him alone? I have no idea what they offered him, but as soon as he hit that button, it was decided that I would follow.