Taylor V.

Ms. Peterson
English 9
October 27, 2015
23 Floors
The cold October breeze made me thankful for my jacket. I stood close to my
boyfriend, Adam, as we waited in line for the haunted house. This house was the kind of
house that made someone run screaming to their mom, no matter what age they were.
The line continually moved closer and closer. With every step I was regretting my
decision more and more. Maybe we should just go to a movie or something, I said to
Adam. I already paid for the tickets, and were almost in. You cant bail now, he
responded. I looked around, brittle. I didnt think this was a good idea. But like Adam
said, he had already paid for the tickets to get in. And so I wasnt going to put that to
waste. There was a person who was explaining all the rules to us before we went in. It
looked like he was bored. But he was dressed as a zombie, so it could have just been
for show. The rules were simple, if the people touched us, we were to blow the whistle
that was provided. If we wanted to leave the house then we were to ride the elevator
down to the bottom floor. And if anything went wrong, then we were pretty much
screwed. That was a very reassuring thing to be thinking about. As we started to go in
with the group I grabbed Adams hand.
The first seven floors were not scary at all. I was beginning to think that it wasnt
gonna be terrifying. A lot of this kind of stuff doesnt scare me much. I go through tons of
haunted house every year. But for some reason this one felt different. Those thoughts
left my mind soon, because I had to carry on with what was going on at the moment.

We walked up the stairs to the eighth floor. There was a door that was sitting partly open
in our way. It had something strange on it. How were we supposed to know what it was?
The people in the front of the group opened the door slowly. It creaked until it was all the
way open. We took staggering steps to past the doorway. As soon as we had all gotten
through, the door. We heard a slam. The door had shut by itself. Of course. I pretty
much saw that coming. Next we heard some moaning coming from the hallway in front
of us. But there was no one there. It was probably just sound effects, I told myself. Well
thats not creepy at all, said Adam. Right after he said that, before anyone could
respond, something popped out from behind the doorway behind us. We all turned and
screamed in unison. When our hearts had stopped pounding, and we had enough guts
to turn back around, there was a man that was standing in front of us. He had half a
face and an axe. We all let out another blood-curdling scream. As he got closer we got
pushed back into a room. He stood in the doorway, looming over us. It was really unnerving. Until we realized that he wasnt going to move. And then it was just weird. I
turned and saw some stairs. Come on guys, how about we go up the stairs. Thats
probably why he wont go anywhere. Everyone thought that it was probably the right
idea. Being that it was the only one we had. We made it through the the next nine floors
pretty easily. Well not really, but we dont have to mention that part right?
We went through the next ten floors the same way. Something would happen,
there would be a sound, something would move. Then bam, something scary would pop
out at us. But as we walked into the eighteenth floor it wasnt like all the other ones.
There wasnt anything scary about this floor. There were people just standing around.
Like they had nothing else to do. We could tell by the looks on their faces that they were

excited to see people come through. They told us that we had a choice, we could finish
the house, or leave now. If we went on there was no way for us to get out. If we left now
then we would have to do it all over again to get back to where we were. We would also
have to pay for it. So Adam and I decided to stay, along with a few others from the
group. So we went on as the others left. We went through the next floor with ease. This
one wasnt that scary. We all made small talk on our way up to the next floor. We talked
about what we were doing the rest of the weekend. And what we wish we were doing
instead of this. Me and Adam feel back to the back of the group. I thought about last
year and the haunted house we went through that year. It wasnt a very cold day, but
everyone was still all bundled up. I dont remember much, other than the fact that I
wasnt scared. And neither was Adam, it was a fun day. I got pulled out of that happy
memory by the sound of a door creaking. As we approached the next floor I couldnt
help but feel like I was gonna vomit. The smell was vulgar. I looked to my right and saw
a bathroom with overflowing toilets and sinks. One of the sinks was still running. And
there was toilet paper scattered all over the floor. I noticed that we were all gagging, and
was glad that I wasnt the only one. There were footprints on the floor and stuff smeared
all over the walls. The lights were a solemn grey. The man first appeared out of
nowhere. He was strange and not in the usual way. He walked past us and down the
stairs back to the last floor we were on. He looked like he was going somewhere, fast.
We ignored him because we knew that something was going to happen next. People
started to come out of the rooms all around us. The lights would turn all the way on,
then completely off. Then they would turn on again, but flicker back to the dim setting
they previously had. Before we knew it we were surrounded.

The people had nothing on but a white robe smeared with fake blood. Their hair
was in their face, and greasy. That was just gross. Before I could really process that,
they were slowly walking towards us. Like zombies, really gross looking possessed
zombies. They were mumbling something that I couldnt understand. I didnt really know
that I was strangling Adams hand until he started trying to pry my hand off his. I
apologized and loosened my grip. As a group we pushed our way through by the next
door. We entered the room quietly. The lights shut off. There was a rush of cold air. It
was dead silent. No one said a thing, no one moved a muscle. All of a sudden the lights
in a corner blasted on and a clown ran at us. We screamed, terrified, and ran back out
of the room. The next door was locked. Someone bent down to look in the keyhole. He
wanted to see what was in the room. He let out the girliest scream ever and ran to the
back of the group. No one else wanted to see what was in the room. We moved onto
the next room, which had a map outside of it. I grabbed it and unfolded it. The group
crowded around me to see what it said. There was writing on it that was barely legible. It
said, You have made it through the entire house. We all let out a sigh of relief. All you
have to do now is go down the elevator. As soon as you get to the bottom floor you will
be rewarded with a free sweatshirt and gift cards. Thanks for playing along! I folded it
up and looked in the direction of the elevator. We went through all that and all we get is
a sweatshirt and a gift card, someone from the back said. We all laughed, but when we
turned to see who had said it, there was no one there. We all became very silent. Um,
who said that, I whispered, unable to move. No one responded. Maybe its just part of
the house. Theyre still trying to scare us. I said that convincing myself more than
anyone else. All the lights started flashing on and off. I turned back towards the elevator

and saw a staircase. We could run, or get possibly stuck in the elevator. Guys, theres
another staircase, everyone looked at me. Then looked at the staircase. Then what
are we waiting for, someone from the back yelled. We all took off towards the stairs. Me
and Adam were in the back of the group. I turned before taking to steps up and I could
have sworn that I had seen a person following us. I brushed it off and kept moving to
catch back up with the group. We should have taken the elevator, whispered someone
among the group. Okay, well lets not panic or anything. Just take a deep breathe. We
can get out of this. I was trying my best to keep my voice even. But that wasnt really
going to happen.How many floors is the haunted house supposed to have? Someone
asked. Eighteen, I responded. We were all silently putting the pieces together. If there
was only supposed to be eighteen floors, then we were past where it was supposed to
have ended. I went up to the middle of the group, Adam trailing beside me. We just
have to trust our instinct. Whatever we just got ourselves into, theres no turning back.
What was supposed to be the end of the haunted house turned out to be only the
beginning.