“c’mon, whats taking you so long?”
I look up to see Colin smiling at me. His round, pudgy and usually slightly pink face looks pale tonight, almost plaster-like. Maybe its just the moon that makes him look pale, or maybe its genuine fear for what’s waiting for us.
Me and Colin are what we like to call “amature urban explorers”, which is a pretty flashy term for what some people may call “stupid kids looking for trouble in abandoned buildings”. We’ve been doing this for several months now, after the two of us paired up for a school project about the history of our town. Colin suggested we go to one of the old abandoned colonial-era cotton farms not far from town and take some pictures. I didnt have any better ideas, so i went with him. But even after we presented our project (got A+ for “outstanding work, dedication and photography”), we kept exploring abandoned places, taking pictures and little souvenirs from each place. Our combined curiosity knew no limit. We filmed the whole thing and Colin uploaded everything up to an internet site that he opened. Our site became an overnight success. Our videos got views by the thousands. But as our popularity grew, so did the viewer’s demands for more exciting places than old farms and factories, places more… terrorizing.
So we moved on from the farms amd factories to hospitals, derelict mansions and even parts of the local sewer system (gross, but brought us a lot of views). But tonight is going to be our biggest hit: the Golden Bay amusement park, standing empty since the late 70’s after a freak accident in which a whole family vanished inside the house of mirrors, leaving behind nothing but large smears of blood all over the place. Blood may wash off, but reputation sticks, and the Park was closed just a few months after due to the loss of visitors. Colin and i knew this place was a gold mine for views, so we agreed to go tonight.
I’ve never seen Colin so excited before. Usually he lagged behind me, panting heavily as i went forward, but tonight he walked in front of me, stepping lightly and hastily. the thought about the views we were going to get from the video of the park, especially the house of mirrors, made him very energetic and enthusiastic.
As we stand outside the sealed gate to the park, the huge, rust-covered “welcome” sign towering above us, i fill a cold shiver going through my spine.
“I dunno Colin, this place just gives me the creeps”, i say. Through the gate bars i can see the old rides, standing like monolithic relics from ancient times. Time sure took his toll on the place.
“O.k, so how do you plan to get us in?” i ask Colin.
“You didnt read the mail i sent you?”
“Hell, Colin, i never read the stuff you send me”
“Well, if you were’nt so lazy and opened the mail, you would’ve known about the small maintenance door the staff used”
“How about you show me this door instead of standing there and being a smartass”
Colin smiles at me.
“Come with me”
I follow him as we get off the road that leads to the park and into the woods that surround the park’s wall. i walk behind him for what seems like 15 minutes, before we stop in front of a large iron door, stained with rust and with a worn out sign that says “staff, do not enter!” in Capital red letters.
“And how do you expect to open this?”, i ask.
“Well, lets just hope the lock isnt busted”, he says as he reaches inside his jacket and pulls out what a couple of lockpicks.
“Where the hell did you get these?”
“You would’nt belive how easy it was to find a place who sells those things without asking too many questions”
he gets down on his knees and inserts the lockpicks into the keyhole. i stand behind him, looking around for any signs of movement. the cops dont take kindly to self proclaimed “urban explorers”, and there are plenty of things in the woods that can injure you badly.
“How much longer?”
there’s a sound of a small ping
“Got it”
He gets up
“Wanna give me a hand?”
i stand beside him and we both lean on the door. we push it hard, the rust and neglect makes it harder to push it open.
The door suddenly opens with a loud creak. We both fall forward on the ground. Colin falls on top of me.
“Argh, you fat jerk, get off me before you break my back”.
“Screw you”
We get up, and i Brush the dust off my jacket. I look around the place. 40 years since the place was closed, 40 years of nature taking his toll. the park roads are covered with grass, old trash and debris. the rides look even bigger and older, which does’nt really help the general atmosphere around the place.
Colin takes out his video camera and starts recording.
“Welcome back people. Tonight we’re at Golden Bay amusement park, and we’re gonna take a look at the infamous “House of Glass”, where a whole family just vanished from the face of the earth, leaving behind nothing but blood and broken mirrors. OOOOOOHHHH!”
“Dont be an a*s Colin”
“What? we gotta have a little humor here and there”
“If you say so, but where is that “infamous House of Glass” of yours anyway?”
“Lets follow the signs and see where they take us”
****************************************
The “House of Glass” was the most terrifying place i’ve seen during my time as an urban explorer. Standing just outside of the huge, rotten wooden doors, both of us stared with awe at the mansion-sized ride. The building was built in kind of combination between gothic and victorian era architecture, making it look menacing and awe inspiring yet elegant in an old-fashioned way. If it was’nt left empty and unattended for almost 40 years, maybe it would’nt look so goddamm terrifying. The building was now covered in moss, the stones covered in cracks, power lines hanging loose from the air…
But the scariest thing was the torn barricade tapes that hung loose across the door.A set of lock and chains are hung tight around the door handles, and a large sign is nailed crudely above it:
“ATTENTION! THE RIDE IS CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE DUE TO ACCIDENT. TO AVOID FURTHER ACCIDENTS, DO NOT ENTER! HAVE A MAGICAL DAY, GOLDEN BAY MANAGEMENT”.
“Well thats a good sign”, declares Colin.
“Good sign for what? that we might get killed!?”
“You say it like you’ve never done this kinda thing before”
“Maybe you’re right, but i dont like this place, something in the air is just… wrong”
“Well, if you wanna chicken out, you know the way back, but im committed, and im not leaving this park ’till i get my vid”
I stare at him for a moment. his face turns red from anger and frustration. I release a long sigh.
“Fine, fine. I cant leave you all alone here anyway, or your mother will never forgive me”.
“Glad to hear it”
He takes out the lockpicks again, and after a long minute he opens the doors. The chains fall to the floor like a thundering orchestra, sending another chilling vibe through my body.
“Ladies first”, he says as he opens a crack in the door.
I give him the finger before going in.
****************************************
I turn on my flashlight as Colin squeezez in behind me. I look around, lighting up the room with the thin beam of light. The place is a mess, the walls are crumbling, the floor is cracked and covered in puddles of water, the ceiling is leaking, the drops falling slowly, breaking the silence with little splashes. And the stench…
A bright light is turned on behind me. Colin turned on the camera and the flash is almost blinding.
“We’re inside the “House of Glass”, bots and girls. Rumors say that the the park management never bothered with cleaning up the blood and mirrors since the accident. Lets find out if thats true”.
He rushes forward, the sound of his footsteps and the splashing of the puddles are like thunder in the silence.
“Colin, be careful, you f*****g idiot. i cant afford to drag your body outta here if something happens to you in”.
I dont think he can hear me. I keep muttering as i follow his tracks. They take me through a long hallway that ends with two large iron doors, one is half open. I think i can see the camera’s flash through the small opening.
A loud noise comes from within the room, the sound of shattering glass. I freeze in my place behind the doors. Then i hear a sharp, agonizing scream, followed by loud cracks, like the sound of a bone breaking and knocks on hollow wood. My heart is racing, i breath fast and hard, trying to think what could’ve made the cracking sound.
I look inside carefully, using the flashlight to light the room up. the light comes right back at me. Its a f*****g mirror maze. and somewhere in this place, Colin is in need of my help.
With what little courage i have left, i shove the door and storm inside. the light returned from the mirrors blind me, but i dont care. I need to get to Colin, fast. I put my right hand on the mirror wall and go forward. As i go forward, i feel that the air suddenly gets cold, to the point that with every breath i take, vapor fills the air.
“Colin, where are you!?”
No answer. just cold, dead silence.
As i walk through the maze, i suddenly feel a sharp pain going through my hand. i Scream in pain and look at my hand. A huge glass shard broke from the mirror and cut a hole through my hand. I Moan in Pain as i pull the shard out, and look through the bleeding hole in my hand. As i look through it, i suddenly notice the trail of blood on the floor. Its fresh. All of a sudden i forget the pain and just rush forward, following the trail like a bloodhound.
I reach the end of the trail. Its a dead end in the maze, im surrounded by mirrors. There’s a huge stain of blood on the floor, which goes up onto one of the mirrors. Theres a crack in the middle of the mirror, blood slowly dripping from it. I can feel my whole body shaking as i watch the blood slowly going down the mirror.
I know whos blood is that.
I feel sick, i feel tears going up, but more than anything i feel something thay i’ve never felt before:
The feeling of pure Terror.
I turn around, ready to run back outside, when i notice that the path from which i came from is no more.
I’m staring at my own image from a mirror.
Im surrounded by mirrors.
Im trapped.
as my mind race, i hear shuttering glass all around me. And when i turn back around, i feel a sharp, cold, agonizing pain in my stomach.
But the pain is nothing, compared to the terror i feel as i look at the thing in front of me.
its tall, taller than me by at least a head. it has humanoid shape, lithe and
gaunt. his skin is white as snow, but bloody cuts and jagged pieces of glass cover all of it. his hand is deep inside my torso, i can feel his glass fingers moving through my guts.
I look up from my bloody wound, and my gaze meets his.
It has a long head, glass shards and spikes covering it. It doesnt have a mouth, or nostrils either. The only features in his face are the eyes:
two large pools of obsidian, their inner white light radiant in the darkness.
I try to scream. Nothing but vapor comes out.
It raises its other hand up, his fingers are ten inch long obsidian spikes.
It twists its head a little to the side as it pierces my eyes with its long fingers in a sharp move.
I scream, the pain overcomes all other feelings. i feel it dragging me on the floor as i cry. i can hear the sound of glass shattering again, as it stops dragging me for a moment. I think it stands in front of a mirror. Than, it starts dragging me again, and i can feel cold glass shards slashing my back, and than a freezing wind goes through my whole body.
The last thing i hear is the sound of glass shards being joined together.
And then nothing but cold, cold bliss.