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Nathan looked out across the horizon as he drove. The sun was setting; it would be dark within the hour, just the way Nathan liked it when he went to explore creepy places. Exploring in broad daylight just wasn’t as fun. Besides, the dark made his photos much more intriguing. Over the past year, Nathan had grown a small following sharing his hobby and photos with the Internet. He’d drive to abandoned houses, churches, schools, and creepy places like that, look around, and take pictures. Then when he’d gotten home, he’d share his findings with the Internet. Some adventures were more eventful than others. Sometimes he’d find shelves of creepy dolls, some of which would even blink on their own, and sometimes he’d find nothing more than empty, cleaned out rooms with cobwebs in the corners.
Nathan had a good feeling about tonight, though. He’d caught wind of an old house across town, a big one once owned by a strange, reclusive man. Nathan smiled as a large silhouette came into view. He was almost there.
“House” did not do the place justice. It was more comparable to a Victorian mansion. Not so incredibly large that Nathan would get lost inside, but large enough that he could imagine most rooms going unused. Nathan stepped out of his car, grabbed his camera, and snapped a picture of the mansion. The way the mansion stood against the bright orange sunset and the dark clouds starting to roll in made Nathan smile to himself. He stepped around to the side of the mansion. The grass had grown high; it seemed as if the grass was trying to drag the mansion into the earth to swallow it whole.
Nathan walked around to the back of the house to find an overgrown garden, taking pictures as he walked. Weeds and flowers sprouted up in a cluttered mess of greenery. Nathan felt a tickle in his nose as he passed around the garden, his eyes watering a little. Something in the garden was irritating his face. Beyond the garden, a small hill caught Nathan’s eye. As he approached, he saw a tall cross sitting on top of the hill. Once he reached the top, he saw that the metal cross was attached to a tombstone. After taking another picture, Nathan knelt down to read the engraving on the stone: “Here lies Dreadbear”
Nathan raised an eyebrow. What kind of a name was that? And what were those symbols lining the edges of the tombstone? Just another mystery for his Internet followers to speculate on, he guessed. He wiped the dirt off of the stone to take a closer picture of it. As he did, a strange feeling ran up his arm and down his spine, like an electric chill. He took a moment to shake the feeling before snapping a picture of the tombstone.
Nathan walked back toward the house, avoiding the garden, and tried the back door. Unsurprisingly, the door wouldn’t budge. So he went back around to try the front door instead. He was really hoping he wouldn’t have to break a window and risk cutting himself on the glass. Luckily, as he pulled on one of the heavy double doors in front, it swung open with relative ease.
Nathan stepped inside, the door shutting behind him with a loud bang that echoed through the house. He pulled a flashlight out of his jacket’s pocket and turned it on. Through the dust, he could see several couches and chairs around a coffee table. On either side of the spacious foyer was a staircase, which joined around back into a wide banister spanning across the wall. At the back of the room was a large fireplace, its chimney extending up the back wall, dividing it neatly in half. Nathan turned and looked at the wall. Beside the front door was a light switch. Hopefully, Nathan flicked it. To his surprise, the large black chandelier hanging above the room flickered to life, dimly illuminating the room in gold. The chandelier’s light revealed a pair of dusty shelves full of decorative china on either side of the room. Many doors were placed symmetrically around the room, two on either side of the banister.
Nathan chose the leftmost door on the lower floor and entered. He coughed and cleared his throat as he searched for another light switch in the dusty hall. Countless doors lined one wall, matched by grimy windows on the other. He’d be here all night if he thoroughly searched every single room. Nathan flicked on the light and took a photo of the hall.
Usually, Nathan wasn’t afraid of dark, dirty buildings like these. He’d long since grown used to them, and learned there was nothing to fear in there except the spiders and rats that liked to inhabit them. Tonight, though, his earlier optimism was replaced by a cold sense of apprehension.
There was a tapping, and it grew louder quickly. After a flash of light outside, it became clear that the tapping was rain beginning to pour onto the house. It was only the rain . The rain picked up as Nathan walked farther down the hall.
The peeling orange walls were littered with dusty framed photos, and the dirty blue carpet crunched beneath Nathan’s feet. Lightning flashed outside, and Nathan walked up to one of the windows. He struggled to lift it, the window letting out a pained squeak as he pulled it open.
Outside, the clouds were dark and ashy. The rain was gentle, but lightning still crackled through the clouds ferociously. Nathan squinted as he watched the sky. The lightning had an unusual greenish tinge to it. Nathan pulled out his camera and recorded the sky for a few moments. He watched the sky for a little longer before shutting the window again.
Once he’d reached the end of the hall, Nathan came across a stairwell leading down into darkness. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and he turned away. He decided instead to search a couple of the rooms lining the hallway, snapping pictures as he went along. Many rooms were locked, and several were empty, save for a few bare shelves, tables, and chairs. One room appeared to be a guest bedroom, yet it was empty of much else besides a sheetless bed and a single dresser against the wall.
Nathan turned back toward the stairwell. Sighing, he pulled out his flashlight and walked into the basement. Unlike the rest of the house, which had a typical “old house” smell, the air in the basement was different. It had a smell Nathan could only describe as the smell of static electricity. As he searched around the basement, he saw tables of equipment and machines he couldn’t imagine uses for. He held his flashlight in one hand and his camera in the other as he looked around. Bookshelves lined the walls, a few of the books scattered along the various worktables. He flicked a light switch on the wall, and to his surprise, the lights in the room flickered to life.
In the back of the room was another work table, mostly bare but much larger than the others. On a smaller closeby table, several tools were scattered around; screwdrivers, wrenches, electrodes, and syringes. What kind of work was being done down here? Nathan took another picture and looked around the walls. The back wall was lined with shelves of jars filled with various liquids that Nathan decided would be best not to inspect.
One book caught Nathan’s eye. It was a dark red book, with gold printing of a skull surrounded by flower petals on the cover. Nathan opened the book and flipped through it. The whole book was written in strange symbols he didn’t even recognize. He took a few pictures and began to inspect the other books lining the walls. There were books on anatomy, botany, neurology, robotics, as well as more unusual books about spirits and curses and mystical energies. He took a picture before turning away.
Thunder rumbled outside as Nathan ascended a stairway parallel to the one he’d walked down a moment ago and came out into a similar hallway. He walked down it quickly, not bothering to check any of the doors before coming back out into the foyer. He looked around for a moment, unease rising in his gut, before he climbed up one of the staircases leading to the banister.
Nathan opened a door to find, for once, a fully furnished bedroom. More bookcases lined the wall. On the nightstand sat a book with a lock. Nathan picked it up and read its cover: “The Diary of Dr. Gene Shelley.” Nathan tried unsuccessfully to pry the book open before putting it down and snapping pictures of it and the rest of the bedroom.
As Nathan walked back down the stairs, the house began to shake and rumble as a bright light flashed through the windows. Nathan held onto the railway until the rumbling stopped. He turned and ran back up the stairs and opened a window. He leaned his head out and looked to the cross on the top of the hill. It was now sparking, green electricity running down it and into the ground. Nathan took out his camera and recorded as the last few bits of electricity ran into the ground beneath the grave.
Nathan watched out the window for a minute or two before going back down the stairs and heading into another doorway. He ran his hand along the walls before flicking on another switch. This room appeared to be a small kitchen, with cabinets along the walls. A fridge and oven sat at the end of the room.
As Nathan started opening cabinets, a loud bang sounded. Then another. The house shook. Nathan walked to the other side of the room and peeked out toward the back door of the house. It rattled and shook as something pounded against it. The lights in the house began to flicker rapidly. Nathan took out his camera and started recording as he ducked behind the corner. The doors burst open as the lights went out. A tall figure with glowing green eyes filled the doorway.
It looked like some giant robotic bear with a small top hat. The bear entered the house with loud, heavy footsteps. The doors slammed shut behind it. The creature’s joints clicked and squeaked as it turned its head back and forth, scanning the room with its bright green eyes. It turned its head to the doorway Nathan was hiding in, and took another step.
Nathan turned off his camera and ran back into the foyer. He ducked behind a display case of china and held his breath as footsteps slowly thudded closer. The clicks and grinding of gears grew louder and louder. The bear stomped into the room and threw a couch off to the side. Nathan could see the creature from the corner of his eye as it pushed over a chair. It began to move in Nathan’s direction. Nathan crossed his fingers and braced himself as the creature moved closer.
The display case was wrenched away and thrown to the floor. The glass shattered as the bear towered over Nathan. Its jaw opened, showing its big blocky teeth as it reached for him with a clawed hand. Nathan hopped to his feet and scrambled to the hallway. He ran down the hall and tried the doors.
Locked.
Locked.
Locked.
Finally, one door opened for Nathan. As the footsteps approached the hallway, Nathan ducked into the room and closed the door. He flicked on his flashlight and searched the room for a place to hide.
There wasn’t one. The room was completely empty.
Nathan heard the bear walking down the hall. He couldn’t get out. There was a loud bang outside. Then another, a little closer. Then another, this one even closer. It was opening the doors.
With no other choice, Nathan flicked off his light, pressed his body against the wall beside the door, and held his breath.
Moments later, the door burst open, pushing against Nathan’s body as the bear leaned its huge head into the room. The bear scanned the room, green light waving left and right against the wall. The bear reared its head back and turned away, slowly making its way farther down the hall.
Once the footsteps were far enough away, Nathan made his way out from behind the door and peeked down the hallway. The bear was gone now. It had left giant footprints showing its path.
Nathan took a deep breath and ran back to the foyer. He ran for the door and pulled. It wouldn’t open. He pulled harder to no avail. Nathan tried to lift the windows on either side of the door. Still nothing.
Nathan ran up to the banister and ducked back into the bedroom. He shut the door and caught his breath, putting his hand on his chest. His heart was beating fast.
He heard the footsteps coming closer. Nathan cracked open the door and got low, pulling out his camera. He hit record as the bear walked back into the foyer. Nathan zoomed in and tracked the bear as it wandered aimlessly. Its suit was leathery and stitched together in several places. Part of its ear was missing, and the other was stitched halfway down. It walked toward the kitchen and stepped inside.
Nathan heard the crashing of plates and pots from below. He got up and took a step backward, bumping into a desk and knocking it over. Its contents spilled out onto the floor. Nathan waited and listened, but the crashing and shattering below continued. Nathan looked at the papers and turned on his flashlight.
Among the papers were personal letters, unopened mail, and blueprints. Nathan picked up the blueprints, showing outlines of the mechanical bear storming through the kitchen down below. What disturbed him most was what appeared to be the outline of a human brain drawn inside the bear’s head.
Nathan stuffed the blueprints into his jacket pocket and closed his eyes, thinking. He listened, hearing the creature downstairs make its way out of the kitchen and toward the back door. He listened a moment more. The footsteps softened, and went off to the side. It was in a hallway, but the footsteps sounded more often than before. Nathan had a plan, but he had to be quick.
Nathan quickly but quietly tiptoed down the stairs and into the hall opposite the bear. Nathan ran down the hall toward the basement, hearing the bear smashing its way into rooms on the other side. Nathan flicked on his light and searched around the tables, the bear above moving faster. He settled on a large, heavy wrench and grabbed it.
He made his way back up the stairs and toward the back door. He gave it a pull, but, as he figured, it was locked. Without hesitating, Nathan took the wrench and slammed its head against the corner of a window with a resounding thud. Footsteps started approaching. Nathan reared back and slammed the wrench against the window again, this time cracking it. The footsteps were closer, halfway down the hall. Nathan slammed the window harder, the glass beginning to give and fall away. The footsteps were even louder, more frantic. With one last heave, Nathan swung the wrench into the window, sending glass flying outside.
The footsteps were close now. The wall around Nathan lit up with green light as he ran the wrench around the sides of the window, clearing most of the remaining glass. Mechanical clicks and whirrs filled his ears as he dove through the window.
Nathan landed in the grass and groaned. He scrambled to his feet and ran around the side of the house. He bolted to his car and slammed the door, panting heavily. He had a long scratch on the side of his arm, many shorter ones scattered across his legs. He started the car and peeled away from the mansion.
Nathan panted and let out a tired cheer as he drove away. Some people had to believe him, especially when he showed them the videos and photos he took. He set his camera in the passenger seat. He knew most people were going to think he was lying, but he was going to tell his story either way. Nathan drove, letting out a long sigh as the mansion faded out of view.