I heard the familiar sound of a loud truck engine as I was forcing my lengthy brown hair up into a high pony. The sound of the familiar engine made my heart leap. I quickly slipped my flip-flops onto my feet and bounded down the stairs. My mom had got to the door before me and opened it up to see Brayden standing on our porch. “Good evening Evelynn,” Brayden said to my mom sweetly.
“You always were good with your charm,” my mom told him as she opened the door wider. “Come on in.”
As he stepped inside, I was halted by his good looks as I always am. He had messy brown hair that always fell across his forehead and sometimes got into his eyes. His eyes were such a bright blue that I always told him they looked like the ocean. Not to mention, he also had dimples to die for. How did I ever get so lucky? He reached out his hand to me. “Are you ready to go?” He asked.
I grabbed his hand and gave a little squeeze. “I’m ready. I will be home soon mom,” I called back to her as Brayden pulled me out the door and to his big Dodge truck. He opened the door and continued to hold my hand as I jumped up into his truck. He shut the door behind me and then proceeded to get into the driver’s side. Once he had backed out of our driveway I asked, “So what’s the adventure on the agenda for today?” He gave me a mischievous smile and avoided my question. “Brayden, I certainly do not like the looks of that smile.”
With Brayden, there seemed to always be an adventure. There was never a time that our dates consisted of walks on the beach or going to a movie like normal couples did. Brayden is always on the go and looking for new adventurous things for us to do. It made my mom nervous most days.
He grabbed my hand with his free hand and squeezed. “You’ll like it, I promise.”
“Will you just tell me? The suspense makes me nervous with you.”
“Alright, alright. You know that old road right on the outskirts of town? The road that you can barely see anymore because of the overgrown weeds?”
I thought for a second trying to remember any specific road like that. Then I remembered the road he was talking about. That road hadn’t been traveled on in ages; nobody really knew what was on that road. I wasn’t quite sure I was going to like his idea like he said I would. “What about the road?”
“Have you ever gone down it? Do you know what’s back there?” His grin grew wider and wider as he talked about it. I could certainly see how excited he was getting.
“I can safely say that I have not.”
“Well neither have I and that is why we are going to travel it and see where it leads.”
I could feel a chill run up my spine. “Are you sure about this? That road gives me a major case of the creeps.”
“That’s the whole point Alice! It creates an air of excitement and it gets your adrenaline pumping just for the fact that the road itself is creepy.” His excitement just seemed to be brewing more and more.
“I don’t know…”
He gave my hand another squeeze. “Sweetie, you don’t have to worry about a thing. I promise that I will keep you safe, okay?”
“You can talk me into almost anything, you know that right?” I rolled my eyes and stared out the windshield seeing us getting closer and closer to the outskirts of town.
“Oh I know,” he said with a gigantic grin and a laugh. He leaned over and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. Fantastic, I let him talk me into some sort of treacherous journey down an old dense road that leads to who knows where. It didn’t take much longer before Brayden was pulling his truck over to the side of the road. He got out and came around the truck to open my door. “What’re we doing?” I asked. “We aren’t driving down it?”
“Of course not Alice. I don’t know what we would end up hitting if we drove down it.”
“What if something happens? We certainly won’t have a quick getaway. Your idea is sounding worse and worse by the minute.”
“It was the plan the whole time to hike sweetie,” he said with a wink. “I don’t know what you’re so worried about, it’s just a road.”
“Well thanks for letting me in on this plan.” I was slightly annoyed with the fact that he hadn’t told me the whole plan; I certainly wasn’t dressed to hike. “I would’ve worn tennis shoes versus flip-flops, and something comfier than jeans.”
He reached into the backseat and pulled out his tennis-shoes. They were going to be humongous but I guess they were better than flip-flops. I took his shoes from him and put them on lacing the shoe laces as tight as I could so they wouldn’t fall off. He offered me his hand to help me out of the truck but I ignored it and just jumped out nearly falling on my face. I heard him try not to laugh at me, which just made me more frustrated. I took a good look down the road and was about ready to back out of the plan. The large oaks were gnarled, dark and gloomy while the thick dense leaves from the trees and shrubs were overhanging the road. They were dripping wet with raindrops from the rain the night before. The grass was so overgrown that it would probably reach to the top of my shins once we began our hike. I let out an involuntary groan. This was not going to go well.
I jumped when I felt a pair of arms go around me. Brayden leaned around and kissed my cheek. “Sorry to startle you. You know I love you right?”
“Yeah I know.”
“And you love me right?”
“Judging by this trail and your terrible idea, I’m not so sure anymore,” I joked.
He dipped me down and began covering my face in kisses. I tried to fight him off and remain frustrated but I couldn’t help myself. I gave in and started to laugh. Once I was laughing so hard I could barely breathe he stopped with a final kiss on my lips. I kissed him back passionately and forgot where exactly we were for a moment. When he pulled away he just stared into my eyes for a moment. “What would I do without you?”
“You’d probably die,” I said with a chuckle.
He grinned and his dimples showed on his cheeks. My heart melted a little at the sight. “I wrote you another poem,” he stated.
“Alright, let me hear it before we both die on this treacherous road.” He rolled his eyes and began to recite the poem as we walked to the other side of the road.
“Hair the color of chocolate; she’s just as sweet too
Eyes the color of the deep blue ocean; she pulls you in just as easily
Her body moves graciously; like the leaves blowing gently in the wind
Her beauty is dream-like; how could anyone be so perfect
I do not know how this woman could be all mine.”
I stopped right on the edge of the road and looked up to Brayden. “You really mean all those things? That was beautiful.”
“I meant every word. If I ever lost you, I’d be losing half of myself.”
I stood on my tiptoes and gave him a long, sweet, meaningful kiss. “I love you a lot, and it is only for this reason that I agree to take this journey with you.”
“I love you too, now let’s go.” He grabbed ahold of my hand and we took our first step down the road. He began to lead the way down the mysterious road to nowhere. With every step we took it seemed we were pushing hundreds of damp weeds and leaves out of our way. My pant legs were soaked from the knee down because of the two-foot high grass. Every single time we pushed the weeds out of our way, the droplets of water dripped down our shirts and our back giving me chills. Brayden felt me shivering so he pulled me up to his side and held me close as we walked. After about another mile and a half, I took the time to take a look around and noticed that it was starting to get a little darker. The sun was slowly starting to set; the sky was starting to turn a deep orange. I tugged on Brayden’s arm making him stop.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s starting to get dark out and we don’t know how much farther it is. Don’t you think we should be turning around?”
“Alice, it will be fine. I think we are almost there anyway,” he replied pleading with me.
“I don’t know… I’m just worried it’s going to be pitch black by the time we head back. Nobody knows where we are.”
“We are almost there, trust me.”
“Okay…” He smiled at me and then continued down the road. My stomach began to toss and turn with a very terrible feeling. I shook it off and just ignored it. It wasn’t much longer before we stepped into what seemed like a clearing. One more look around told me it was much more than that. Looking straight ahead, all I could see was a giant dilapidated house that looked like it came straight out of a horror movie. The house could be no younger than eighty years old. The wood that the house was made of was rotting, and dark green vines were beginning to grow up the side of the walls. The shutters on the windows were crooked and about to fall off. The windows looked like they were about to shatter, and by the looks of the porch, you would fall right through into a bottomless pit if you stepped up onto it. When I took a deep breath in, all I could smell was rotting wood mixed with a musty basement odor; it was not a very pleasant smell. The old house was creating all sorts of creaking sounds and I could hear the quiet bang, bang, bang of the shutters.
“Well this isn’t what I expected,” Brayden exclaimed. “Let’s go inside and check it out!”
“But maybe there are people living in there,” I said, trying to find an excuse not to get any closer.
“You’ve got to be kidding me Alice, you think people would live here?”
“Well, no I guess not.”
“Come on, there can be something interesting in there.”
“But it looks quite dangerous.”
“I promised I would keep you safe remember?” He grabbed my hand and tugged me closer to the house. The closer we got, the stronger the odor of rotting wood and musty basement got. We walked up to one of the windows and I stood on my tippy toes to peek inside. The inside was even eerier than the outside. There were remnants of the past all around the house. There was an old tattered couch with a drape over it, something that looked like a dusty old piano, and pictures hanging all over the walls. The wallpaper that covered the walls was beginning to peel off and fall to the floor. It looked hazardous. Of course Brayden said, “We should find a way inside.”
“You’re joking right? Do you not see what it looks like in there?”
“Please? We won’t get hurt. We have to find a way in!”
“Sometimes you can be quite frustrating.” He gave me a huge bear hug before we walked around the house to find a way inside. My hopes were escalating as we were finding no way to get inside; the front porch appeared too dangerous to just walk right through the front door. My hopes went back downhill once Brayden pulled me down to the ground and pointed. “We can fit through this basement window. I will go first to see if it’s safe.”
“Are you sure about this? I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I will be fine!” He gave me a reassuring kiss before lifting up the basement window and wiggling his way through. I heard a crash and my heart stopped. “Are you alright?!”
“Yes, I’m fine. There’s just a bunch of boxes down here. If you hop down you will be alright.” I stuck my legs through the window first and fell down landing on my feet. The instant I was inside the musty basement smell escalated. I took a quick look around and realized that Brayden was right; this ancient basement was filled with all kinds of boxes that hadn’t been opened in years. Out of curiosity, I walked to the nearest box and flipped the flaps open. Inside the box were children’s’ dolls from the early 1900’s that were beginning to fall apart. I shuddered and shut the box instantly. There were so many boxes that it looked like somebody had just gotten up and left leaving everything behind. Or they never left, I thought.
“We should look for a candle or something,” I heard Brayden say.
“Or maybe we should just get out of here. I’m getting a really bad feeling about this place.”
“I promise we will leave once we check out the upstairs okay? But we really need a candle for light. Or a flashlight if we are lucky.”
I sighed and nodded my head. His face lit up once again and we carefully made our way up the creaky old stairs in case the boards were as rotted as they were outside. I went to grab onto the railing but pulled my hand away the second I touched it. The railing was covered in layers of dust and some sort of slimy substance. I wiped my hand on my pants and continued up the stairs. Luckily, we made it to the top of the staircase with no problem. Looking around at the rest of the house was sort of terrifying.
There were pictures of an older man and woman hanging all over the house. They looked like a very mean couple. I clutched Brayden’s hand and just followed him. He was leading us into a room that looked like it would be the kitchen. Before we entered I saw a desk covered in filth and grime right before the entrance. There was what appeared to be a journal laying on the top. My curiosity got the better of me; I let go of Brayden’s hand. “You search the kitchen drawers for candles and a match. I have to see this journal. Be careful.” He nodded and continued into the kitchen as I blew a layer of dust off of the journal. I opened it up to the first page:
May 11th, 1917
My husband and I have been hearing and seeing strange things all over this house of ours. I told him that I am frightened of these noises, but he just tells me that it is nothing. Even when I show him our broken china that mysteriously gets thrown around or the scratches on my arms- he believes I am doing these things myself to make him believe me. God help me, this place is not safe.

My heart was beginning to beat a little faster and I could feel a bead of sweat drip from my forehead. I couldn’t help but turn the page:
May 15th, 1917
I have gone against my husband’s wishes to find about the history of our house. Maybe once I show him what I have found he will believe me. I will not stay in this house any longer after finding out this information. I will leave with or without him. There was a man that committed terrible acts of violence in this house- murders. When the people of the town found out about his wrong-doings, they got together and murdered him the way he had murdered others. People are saying that he forever haunts this house- causing mayhem to anybody who dares step foot inside. I will tell my husband tonight that I am leaving in the morning. The only way for us to remain safe is to be outside of the house- to leave it forever.
I was about to turn the page yet again when I felt a hand go down on my shoulder. I let out a squeal and turned to see Brayden standing behind me. “Sorry to scare you, but I found a candle and a few matches.”
“Brayden, I really think we should get out of here now. Reading this journal, terrible things have happened in this house. We need to go. I will explain later.”
“But we’ve just started…”
I cut him off and tugged his hand. “Please, just this once listen to me.” He must have seen the fear in my eyes and how frantic I must have looked to get out of the house because he actually nodded his head and agreed. “Alright, if you feel that afraid.” He stuck the candle and matches in his pocket and began leading me towards the basement door. I held onto the journal; I needed to finish reading it later. We were about to head through the basement door when it slammed shut in our faces. I let out a scream and even Brayden had a frightened look on his face. He grabbed onto the handle and pulled with all his might to get it open. It wouldn’t even budge an inch. “We have to go out the front door. Be careful on the porch.” We ran for the front door, but that door would not budge either. My heart was beating so hard I was afraid it was going to jump out of my chest. My legs felt like they were made of jello and I could feel myself begin to sweat.
Brayden tried barging his way through the door with his shoulder but that did not work either. He gave up with the door just as we heard a loud BANG from upstairs. I let out a scream and Brayden pulled me in close. “We need to get out of here before it’s too late!” I yelled. Then we heard the footsteps. They were very loud like somebody was wearing very big boots. “Who’s there?” Brayden called out. When there was no answer I said, “Brayden, we need to get out of here NOW.” My heart began to hammer even faster. The footsteps were coming down the stairs from the second floor. Brayden gripped my hand hard and pulled me behind him towards one of the windows. I watched behind us as he tried to pry the window open.
Things began to fly around the kitchen and the living room; books, pans, silverware, and lamps flying everywhere. It wasn’t long before they were being thrown at a target; us. “Brayden!” I yelled as I began to tug on his shirt. I doubled over as a book hit me in the stomach knocking the wind out of me. Brayden helped me up and looked at me very worried. “This isn’t working. We need another way out.” Books and pans were smashing into the walls next to us and hitting the floor right near us. Brayden picked up a wooden chair sitting next to the couch and threw it at the window he had been trying to pry open. It shattered and covered us with tiny glass shards. This made the entity even angrier because we had ruined his house. We heard a very loud growl that seemed to vibrate through my chest. I was now shaking with fear.
“GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!” We heard a deep voice growl. Then we heard blades being rubbed against each other and saw that the knives were being pulled out of the kitchen drawers. I began to shake even more. Brayden grabbed my hand and yanked me closer to the window.
“Alice go!” Brayden yelled.
Tears sprang to my eyes and my heart was starting to beat faster and faster. “I don’t want to leave you behind.”
“Go!” He practically grabbed me and pushed me out of the window. I wiggled the rest of the way through and landed on the ground outside the window with a large thud. It was almost completely dark now. Brayden was halfway out the window when I heard him grunt and he fell the rest of the way out landing next to me. I heard the knives stick into the walls where we had just been standing.
I got up and began tugging on Brayden. “Let’s go! We have to get farther away!” I yelled at him. He struggled to get up and I saw why when I spotted a puddle of blood on the ground where he had been lying. He had been stabbed by one of the knives. He must have pulled it out already because there was no longer a knife in his back. I put my arm around him quickly and helped him run back towards the road. We didn’t even make it to the edge of the road when Brayden collapsed and the windows from the house exploded throwing glass shards all over the yard that showered over us. As long as we are outside, we are safe. I got on my knees next to Brayden.
“You’re going to be okay Brayden but we need to make it back to your truck. There’s no cell service out here to call for help. You’ll be okay.” He was struggling to breath and the blood was beginning to come through the front of his shirt as well as the back. The knife had gone all the way through. I slipped my sweatshirt off and pushed it onto his stomach where the blood was coming from and applyed pressure.
“Alice, I was stabbed with one of those knives,” he struggled to say. “I’m not going to make it back to the truck.” He struggled to breath and coughed up some blood. “I may not make it at all.”
“Brayden please don’t say that. I can’t live without you; you’re everything to me. I love you so much.” I grabbed onto his hand with my free one and squeezed it hard. He gave a squeeze back. His blood was beginning to seep through the sweatshirt and it covered my hands.
“I love you so much Alice. I should’ve listened. I should’ve…” he couldn’t finish his sentence because he began to cough uncontrollably. When his coughing fit was over, his hand went limp in mine, his eyes closed, and I heard him breathe his last breath. Tears began to stream down my face and my heart broke in my chest.
“Brayden, you need to come back for me. Brayden… you can’t be gone.” I leaned my head on his chest and sobbed for who knows how long. This can’t be happening. It’s all my fault, I shouldn’t have given into him. I should’ve been stronger and just said no to this adventure. When I began to run out of tears, I noticed that it was now pitch black outside and I had no idea what to do. Then I remember the candle and matches. I reached into Brayden’s pocket to retrieve the candle, but the matches were covered with crimson blood. They weren’t going to work. Seeing the blood made me begin to cry once more.
It was a big flash of light in the darkness that halted my crying; I had to shield my eyes it was so bright. Once it had dimmed, I opened my eyes back up and saw a woman standing in front of us. She was wearing a long white dress that trailed behind her, and there were white translucent wings coming from her back. I knew instantly that she must be an angel. But angels aren’t real. There’s no way they are real. I didn’t know what to do or think- I was stunned. It took a few minutes of staring at her to make sure she didn’t disappear before I got up the courage to ask, “Are you… an angel?”
“My name is Lillianna and I am indeed an angel. I am your guardian angel.” Her long bright blonde hair reached down to her lower back and her green eyes contrasted brightly from the rest of her.
“But shouldn’t Brayden’s guardian angel be here? He is the one that needs help, not me!” I was becoming slightly frantic and in denial of what had happened to Brayden.
She kneeled down next to us. “My dear, you are the one that is upset and frightened, not Brayden. Brayden has left this world and has started the journey of moving on. That is why I am here and not his guardian angel.”
Tears began to once again stream down my face. “Isn’t there anything you can do? Please?! Take me instead, anything!”
She placed her hand on my cheek, catching the tears. Her hand emanated warmth and it seemed as if she was slowing my tears. “There is one thing I can do, but you will not like it. I can bring him back but there will be a consequence.”
“I don’t care, anything just please bring him back. I can’t lose him.”
“Do you not want to know the consequence?”
“No, just please hurry Lillianna! Please!” She removed her hand from my cheek and placed it on Brayden’s chest. She closed her eyes and I watched a golden hue leave her hand and flow throughout Brayden’s body. He stirred but he had not woken up. Lillianna moved her hand away and stood back up.
“I have done what I can do.”
“Thank you Lillianna! Thank you so much! He will wake up right?”
“Give him time, and he will be back.” She glanced at the candle that I was still holding in my hand and she lit it instantly. She gave a little smile and then disappeared again with a flash of light. I laid my head down on Brayden’s chest and listened to his very slow heartbeat. My mom must be worried sick. I hope she won’t be too mad. The darkness and the woods around me somehow didn’t frighten me when I thought about the ordeal that I had just been through. Nothing else bad can happen.
I must’ve fallen asleep because when I woke up to Brayden moving around, the sun was beginning to rise. My heart began to pound with love and excitement as I watched Brayden’s eyes begin to slowly open. I got up on my knees and held onto his hand. When he fully came to, he looked around seeming very lost. “Brayden, I’m so glad that you are okay,” I said to him gently. He looked around a little longer.
“Where am I?” he asked.
“We are still at that house we walked to.”
“We came here? But I have no idea who you are.”
“Brayden please don’t play around with me. Now is not the time for your usual playful self.”
“Honestly,” he said looking quite confused. “I have no idea who you are.”
My heart stopped beating as I looked down at Brayden; the guy who I fell in love with and who fell in love with me. The guy who was always writing poems for me. The guy who I had planned on spending the rest of my life with. The guy who now no longer knows who I am. I collapsed onto the ground. This was my consequence.