"Well?" He asks, as if he's expecting something.

I have no idea what he's talking about, but I get up and follow him anyway. I hand him one of the two flashlights and we quietly head down-stairs and out the front door. Ben takes something out of his pocket—it's the map. He holds up the map, points down the street, and into the woods. It looks daunting, even from here.

"Where are we going?" I question, my voice filled with curiosity and the tiniest bit of fear.

Ben doesn't answer my question. Instead, he keeps walking and mumbling to himself. So we walk in silence. After about ten minutes, we make it to the edge of the woods. Ben keeps walking, but I hesitate. He turns around and asks,

"You coming?"

Still hesitating, I reply with,

"Not until you tell me where we’re going."

He looks at me as if where we're going is obvious. Then it hits me--we're going to the old, spooky cabin in the woods. Before I even have time to react, he is pulling me by the sleeve of my dark blue hoodie deeper into the woods. Slightly struggling, I shout,

" N-Wait! I didn’t actually MEAN it! I-I was only kidding!"

He stops pulling me and turns to face me.

"Dude," he starts slowly, " It was YOUR idea...so, c'mon, like you said "What better place to go on Halloween than a spooky old cabin in the woods?"

I sigh, and we keep going. I'm not completely on board with this, but I let him pull me. He pushes aside some low-hanging tree branches and pulls me along. Now, it's too late to turn back—we're here.

We stop in front of the old cabin. It's really peaceful in the woods--minus the daunting cabin. Ben opens the door. We both hesitate, but then we slowly go in. We turn our flashlights on and look around—half expecting something to jump out at us. After some looking around, we decide it's safe, and find a place to sit down. We come to a dusty part of the cabin (though, pretty much ALL of it is dusty...). I think it's the living room. We find two red, velvety arm- chairs to sit on. This is better than what I would've expected. We sit in an eerie, awkward silence for what seems like an eternity, then I break the silence,

"So, what about that story?" I ask, trying not to be awkward.

Ben looks at me with a confused expression on his face.

"Huh? What story?"

"You know, the one you were about to tell me before your mom shouted up the stairs..."

We sit in an awkward silence while he tries to recall what I am referring to. Finally, he remembers.

"Oh, right..." He says with a nervous chuckle, "Ok, where should I begin..."

Then he starts.