1
00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:07,240
Speaker 1: Back then, I was in my early twenties and had

2
00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:11,400
a relatively small group of friends. It was mainly just me, Andrew,

3
00:00:11,480 --> 00:00:14,400
and David. Most of the time we spent together was

4
00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:17,079
just walking around in the nearby forest and talking, or

5
00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:20,679
going off and exploring random things. But one night Andrew

6
00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:22,559
came over to my place and told me about this

7
00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:25,440
creepy abandoned building one of his friends had told him about.

8
00:00:25,879 --> 00:00:27,640
He said it was off a trail in a woody

9
00:00:27,679 --> 00:00:30,640
area not too far from here. Of course, I asked

10
00:00:30,679 --> 00:00:33,039
him what the place was, to which Andrew replied that

11
00:00:33,119 --> 00:00:35,520
he didn't know, and his friend didn't even go near it.

12
00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:38,920
This actually got me pretty excited, and we both called

13
00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:41,079
up David to tell him about it as well, and

14
00:00:41,159 --> 00:00:44,479
he seemed pretty pumped about it too. It was already

15
00:00:44,479 --> 00:00:47,039
five o'clock, but the sun didn't set until seven, and

16
00:00:47,119 --> 00:00:49,960
the darkness would only make it more exciting anyways, So

17
00:00:50,039 --> 00:00:52,880
Andrew and I packed up some basic stuff like flashlights

18
00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:55,200
and some snacks, and then we headed over to David's

19
00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:58,039
apartment and picked him up. I parked the car next

20
00:00:58,079 --> 00:01:00,159
to a local grocery store that was just a couple

21
00:01:00,159 --> 00:01:03,320
of minutes walk from the edge of the woods. Supposedly

22
00:01:03,479 --> 00:01:05,359
there was a half mile trail that led to a

23
00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:07,760
small lookout, but if you continue past the end of

24
00:01:07,799 --> 00:01:10,319
the path for a few minutes, you'll find the abandoned building.

25
00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:14,280
Knowing this, we found the trailhead and continued down, passing

26
00:01:14,319 --> 00:01:17,760
several other people as they were heading back. Honestly, I

27
00:01:17,799 --> 00:01:20,120
started to lose the excitement a bit because I began

28
00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:22,879
feeling like this was just a prank. The trail seemed

29
00:01:22,879 --> 00:01:25,560
pretty populated, so how could we have not known about

30
00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:29,519
this place before? Anyway, we continued and eventually made it

31
00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:32,319
to the lookout. The sun was still partially up at

32
00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:36,439
this point, but the woods began to darken gradually every minute.

33
00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:38,359
We took a quick break at the lookout to get

34
00:01:38,359 --> 00:01:41,159
the flashlights out, then we continued past the area and

35
00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:44,920
into the trees. It wasn't until maybe fifteen minutes in

36
00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:47,959
that we all started to get annoyed. We'd been navigating

37
00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,040
between thick trees and bushes and the partial darkness for

38
00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:53,439
a while now and hadn't seen a single thing.

39
00:01:54,239 --> 00:01:56,079
Speaker 2: You sure this isn't just some stupid joke.

40
00:01:56,200 --> 00:01:59,079
Speaker 1: Andrew David passive aggressively asked.

41
00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:01,319
Speaker 2: No, this guy was serious.

42
00:02:01,519 --> 00:02:04,480
Speaker 1: Trust me, he responded, trying to assure us the best

43
00:02:04,519 --> 00:02:07,640
he could. Just a second later, we heard a bush

44
00:02:07,719 --> 00:02:11,240
nearby rustling around, and immediately we all flicked our flashlights

45
00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:14,800
towards the sound. It made me jump a bit, seeing

46
00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:17,080
the bush moving around as if an animal had jumped

47
00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:19,400
out of it or something. But right behind it, in

48
00:02:19,439 --> 00:02:22,599
the distance we could make out an old structure. That

49
00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:25,360
rush of excitement filled my body again, and we all

50
00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:29,000
made our way towards it. The building was very strange, though,

51
00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:30,960
in the way that it just didn't seem like it

52
00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:34,280
belonged alone in a forest. It looked like a small

53
00:02:34,319 --> 00:02:37,639
work building, maybe used to be a woodworking station or something.

54
00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:40,960
I don't know. The old wooden front door was laying

55
00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:43,039
on the ground right in front of the structure, though,

56
00:02:43,319 --> 00:02:47,680
as we all made our way inside, immediately upon entering,

57
00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:51,800
the most awful and disgusting smell hit us. We glanced

58
00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:55,400
at each other, all clearly nervous, but even more curious.

59
00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:59,479
The first floor consisted of three rooms. The first was

60
00:02:59,479 --> 00:03:02,240
an open room with a large wooden table or work bench.

61
00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:05,000
There was a ton of trash lying around and really

62
00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:08,360
rusty tools that had been left behind. I followed David

63
00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:10,639
into the hallway that led to the other two rooms,

64
00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:14,439
both with closed doors. The smell was even more potent

65
00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:17,080
the closer we got to the door, so much so

66
00:03:17,159 --> 00:03:21,120
that Andrew backed away and put his shirt over his nose. Guys,

67
00:03:21,159 --> 00:03:24,439
we should just leave that smells unbearable, Andrew muttered to

68
00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:28,240
us as he moved his flashlight around. We both ignored him,

69
00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:30,400
though I did start getting a really bad feeling.

70
00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:31,560
Speaker 2: I shined my.

71
00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:33,960
Speaker 1: Flashlight over to the other door and took a few

72
00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:36,879
steps towards it, while David opened the other and stepped

73
00:03:36,919 --> 00:03:41,639
inside the room. Almost instantly, David screamed and quickly backed

74
00:03:41,639 --> 00:03:44,599
out of the room, making both me and Andrew jump.

75
00:03:44,759 --> 00:03:47,840
This was followed by multiple loud thuds echoing through the

76
00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:51,639
building from behind the third room's closed door. We sprinted

77
00:03:51,639 --> 00:03:55,039
out frantically, not stopping until we were completely out of breath.

78
00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,840
What the fuck just happened, Andrew said, in between his breaths. Guy,

79
00:04:00,759 --> 00:04:03,240
there was a body on the ground in that room.

80
00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:06,800
I swear to god, there was a body there. David

81
00:04:06,919 --> 00:04:10,319
was freaking out, looking all around. I could see in

82
00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:13,000
his eyes that he was seriously traumatized by what he'd

83
00:04:13,039 --> 00:04:16,399
just seen. I mentioned that we needed to keep moving

84
00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:18,079
and that I thought there was someone else in that

85
00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:20,879
third room hiding. We were able to make it out

86
00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:23,920
relatively quickly, basically just running in the direction that we

87
00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:26,639
knew led to the road. When we got back to

88
00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:28,759
the car, I drove us all down to the police

89
00:04:28,759 --> 00:04:31,720
station a couple blocks away, where we explained the encounter.

90
00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:36,000
The officer that took our account honestly looked ashamed of us,

91
00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:38,240
as if we were stupid for having even gone there.

92
00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:40,480
I mean, sure, it may have been a dumb idea,

93
00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:42,680
but we also had just explained that we may have

94
00:04:42,759 --> 00:04:45,240
encountered a murder scene, and this cop was just giving

95
00:04:45,319 --> 00:04:49,639
us an annoyed attitude. Anyway, they sent a couple officers down.

96
00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:52,759
We actually stayed in our car outside the police station

97
00:04:53,079 --> 00:04:55,680
waiting to get an update for over two hours, until

98
00:04:55,720 --> 00:04:57,600
finally I got a call and we all went back

99
00:04:57,639 --> 00:05:00,920
inside to talk to a group of cops. They found

100
00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:03,319
spots of blood, as well as signs of someone having

101
00:05:03,399 --> 00:05:07,319
been there recently, but nobody. They did seem to take

102
00:05:07,319 --> 00:05:10,439
the situation more seriously now, though, and questioned all of

103
00:05:10,519 --> 00:05:14,560
us more thoroughly. Fast forward a couple weeks later, they

104
00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:16,839
found what was likely the body that David had seen

105
00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:20,399
poorly buried several hundred feet away from the abandoned building.

106
00:05:21,399 --> 00:05:23,639
I believe they determined that the person had been dead

107
00:05:23,639 --> 00:05:25,959
before being brought to the building, so I guess it

108
00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:28,120
was just where they hid the body before dumping it.

109
00:05:28,879 --> 00:05:31,000
As far as I'm aware, the case didn't end up

110
00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:33,120
going very far, and I don't know if they ever

111
00:05:33,199 --> 00:05:37,560
even found any real suspects. It was a crazy experience, though,

112
00:05:37,759 --> 00:05:39,680
and the fact that we were all so close to

113
00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:42,560
a possible murderer is still unnerving for me to think

114
00:05:42,639 --> 00:05:52,800
about today. I live in Detroit, Michigan. If you aren't

115
00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:55,240
already aware, Detroit has some of the largest amounts of

116
00:05:55,279 --> 00:05:58,759
abandoned buildings in the United States. I'm not sure why

117
00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:01,519
it is exactly. I've always grown up living in towns

118
00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:04,439
that were neighboring these old, worn down buildings, so I

119
00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:06,759
was used to it. A lot of people would hang

120
00:06:06,759 --> 00:06:09,319
out in them or explore them for fun. It was

121
00:06:09,399 --> 00:06:12,319
just a regular thing. When I was in middle school,

122
00:06:12,399 --> 00:06:15,439
I had a best friend who I'll call Philip. During

123
00:06:15,439 --> 00:06:18,160
our middle school years, both of us began to find

124
00:06:18,199 --> 00:06:21,240
interest in these abandoned buildings. Thinking about what had happened

125
00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:23,759
before they were abandoned, and what could still be inside

126
00:06:23,759 --> 00:06:27,279
of them. Obviously, we knew it was somewhat dangerous to

127
00:06:27,279 --> 00:06:30,480
go exploring them, but having just become teenagers, we felt

128
00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:32,839
like badasses for some reason, and so we kind of

129
00:06:32,879 --> 00:06:36,079
forced ourselves not to be scared of them. We knew

130
00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:38,800
gangs would sometimes hang out in the abandoned neighborhoods with

131
00:06:38,879 --> 00:06:41,079
all the buildings next to each other, so we did

132
00:06:41,079 --> 00:06:44,000
at least avoid those places. But there were a lot

133
00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:46,839
of other buildings nearby that were mostly isolated in the

134
00:06:46,879 --> 00:06:50,160
forested areas, so we began exploring those. Over the next

135
00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:53,279
few months, we had gone to maybe three or four.

136
00:06:53,439 --> 00:06:56,399
It would make each one our designated hangout spot for

137
00:06:56,439 --> 00:06:59,519
a few weeks before finding a new place. And that's

138
00:06:59,519 --> 00:07:02,959
when things got bad. Philip and I were traveling down

139
00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:06,000
an overgrown and cracked cement road that led to several

140
00:07:06,079 --> 00:07:09,680
abandoned homes that we'd already been to. We continued further

141
00:07:09,759 --> 00:07:11,959
down this time, however, in search of a new and

142
00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:15,519
interesting place. Most of the homes were just a short

143
00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:18,079
minutes walk between each other, but as we got further

144
00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:20,399
along the path, we noticed that we'd been walking for

145
00:07:20,439 --> 00:07:24,120
almost five minutes and hadn't seen another house. With this

146
00:07:24,199 --> 00:07:28,120
in mind, we continued, unsure of what to expect. The

147
00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:31,000
thing was, there was still a concrete path, so it

148
00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:35,680
had to lead to something eventually. Maybe another five minutes later,

149
00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:39,079
we reached the end of the concrete portion of the path. However,

150
00:07:39,319 --> 00:07:42,680
there was a faint gravel trail that continued. As far

151
00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:45,199
as we could see. It was just trees, but we

152
00:07:45,199 --> 00:07:47,240
were sure it had to lead somewhere, so we kept

153
00:07:47,279 --> 00:07:51,000
going forward. Only one or two minutes later we finally

154
00:07:51,079 --> 00:07:54,240
reached a house. It was odd looking, kind of like

155
00:07:54,279 --> 00:07:57,240
a townhouse, but a random townhouse this far out wouldn't

156
00:07:57,240 --> 00:08:00,000
make much sense. All of the windows were borded up

157
00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:03,199
up and the front door was closed, but the garage

158
00:08:03,279 --> 00:08:05,720
was cracked open, leaving a few feet of space at

159
00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:08,720
the bottom for us to crawl under. Philip banged on

160
00:08:08,759 --> 00:08:10,920
the metal garage door a few times to make sure

161
00:08:10,959 --> 00:08:13,399
it was gonna hold, then we both knelt under it.

162
00:08:14,199 --> 00:08:17,079
Inside the garage was pretty much nothing, a bit of

163
00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:19,920
garbage and dirt, but the door leading into the house

164
00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:23,519
was closed. I pressed up against it, turning the knob

165
00:08:23,519 --> 00:08:26,319
and pushing hard, but it wouldn't budge.

166
00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:28,560
Speaker 2: Hey, can you give me a hand with us?

167
00:08:28,879 --> 00:08:31,079
Speaker 1: Both of us pushed and we were able to get

168
00:08:31,079 --> 00:08:34,320
it open enough for us to squeeze through. The first

169
00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:36,879
thing we noticed was a huge dresser that was pressed

170
00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:40,159
up against the door. I gave Philip a confused look.

171
00:08:40,399 --> 00:08:42,240
Then we both climbed over it and made our way

172
00:08:42,279 --> 00:08:45,840
into the kitchen. From where we were standing, we could

173
00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:48,399
see down a hallway that led to some stairs going up,

174
00:08:48,639 --> 00:08:51,919
as well as what looked like the living room. Oddly, though,

175
00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:55,080
the place wasn't in very bad shape, not much trash

176
00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:58,679
inside and relatively clean. We could tell people had been

177
00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:01,240
there before, though, as there were a bunch of footprints

178
00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:05,080
on the dusty wooden floors. As we started walking through

179
00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:08,399
the hallway, a sudden, soft bank came from the other

180
00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:12,039
side of the house. It sounded as if something small

181
00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:15,559
had dropped on the floor. We exchanged glances and stood

182
00:09:15,639 --> 00:09:19,279
quietly in the hallway, listening for anything else. I don't

183
00:09:19,279 --> 00:09:22,120
know about Philip, but I was definitely getting pretty worried.

184
00:09:22,759 --> 00:09:25,000
The front door was just ahead of us, though, so

185
00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:28,120
after a few seconds of silence, I slowly started toward it.

186
00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:32,879
A little over halfway there, in ear piercing loud, metal

187
00:09:32,919 --> 00:09:36,639
scraping sound vibrated through the house, followed by an enormous

188
00:09:36,679 --> 00:09:40,159
crashing bank from the garage. I swung the front door

189
00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:43,080
open and we sprinted out of there. My heart was

190
00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:44,919
beating out of my chest, and I could feel my

191
00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:48,879
adrenaline rushing through me. As we got back on the path,

192
00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:52,559
I looked back, seeing the garage was fully closed. Now

193
00:09:53,559 --> 00:09:55,840
we pretty much ran all the way to Philip's house.

194
00:09:56,440 --> 00:09:59,600
Neither of us were sure what happened. Philip thought it

195
00:09:59,679 --> 00:10:02,039
was just the coincidence that the garage happened to have

196
00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:04,919
fallen while we were there, but I wasn't so sure.

197
00:10:05,559 --> 00:10:07,559
I believe someone may have set the place up as

198
00:10:07,559 --> 00:10:09,799
a trap, waiting for people to go in through the

199
00:10:09,799 --> 00:10:12,840
garage and then closing them in. Why else would the

200
00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:15,159
door have been blocked by a dresser while the non

201
00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:18,879
functional garage was dangling open. I don't know if they

202
00:10:18,919 --> 00:10:20,879
thought we were still in there and that's why they

203
00:10:20,919 --> 00:10:23,200
closed it, or maybe it was just to scare us,

204
00:10:23,279 --> 00:10:26,679
having already known we escaped. We never went back to

205
00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:29,840
find out, though, and we since decided to only explore

206
00:10:29,879 --> 00:10:36,919
the places that were nearby and not deep in forests.

207
00:10:40,279 --> 00:10:42,399
My best friend Jack and I always had our little

208
00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:44,720
places where we would hide from the rest of the world,

209
00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:47,279
whether it was a corner in the school yard or

210
00:10:47,320 --> 00:10:50,320
the skate park nearby. When we were tired of the

211
00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:53,120
grown ups around us or our siblings, we just took

212
00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:54,360
our comics and left.

213
00:10:54,159 --> 00:10:54,720
Speaker 2: For a while.

214
00:10:55,399 --> 00:10:58,120
Speaker 1: After a few years, we built a treehouse in Jack's

215
00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:00,480
backyard and spent a lot of time in there, But

216
00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:03,080
whenever his younger brother came up to join us and

217
00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:05,039
we were unable to kick him out because of their

218
00:11:05,039 --> 00:11:08,000
mother being around, we often left for the woods instead.

219
00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:11,200
With our books and flashlights. We stayed out all day,

220
00:11:11,519 --> 00:11:14,960
and over time the treehouse became more often occupied by

221
00:11:15,039 --> 00:11:18,000
Jack's brother and his friends. His mother said we were

222
00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:22,320
getting too old for it anyways, which we fullheartily disagreed on. Still,

223
00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:25,720
we were forced to find a new hideout, so one

224
00:11:25,799 --> 00:11:28,080
day we grabbed our stuff and went into the woods again,

225
00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:31,799
going farther than we'd ever been before. We tried to

226
00:11:31,799 --> 00:11:34,080
build a new shelter, but it didn't even get near

227
00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:36,200
to the greatness of the tree house, and we got

228
00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:39,559
home disappointed. My mother sent us into the woods again

229
00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:41,840
the next day to walk our dogs Sammy, and we

230
00:11:41,879 --> 00:11:45,039
went even farther than before, determined to give the search

231
00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:49,000
a second try. Sammy, however, wasn't very keen on sniffing

232
00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:51,799
out the best possible places, and he never even waited

233
00:11:51,799 --> 00:11:54,360
for us while we judged a certain spot on its potential.

234
00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:58,080
One time, even when he dashed off again, he didn't

235
00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:01,440
come back. Jack was the one who noticed, and after

236
00:12:01,480 --> 00:12:04,759
thirty minutes of calling, searching, and whistling, I called my

237
00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:08,120
mom in a panic. She quickly dispelled my worries and

238
00:12:08,159 --> 00:12:11,000
assured me that I would probably find him soon. It

239
00:12:11,039 --> 00:12:13,440
wasn't the first time he'd done that, and every time

240
00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:16,679
he'd come running back. So Jack and I walked on.

241
00:12:17,039 --> 00:12:20,519
Even when twilight began to fall. We put on our flashlights,

242
00:12:20,639 --> 00:12:23,840
and Jack suddenly signaled for me to stop. He said

243
00:12:23,879 --> 00:12:27,320
he heard barking, and standing in silence, I heard it too.

244
00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:30,840
We hastened to where it came from and found Sammy

245
00:12:30,879 --> 00:12:34,399
in front of a small stone building, barking at seemingly nothing.

246
00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:37,799
Speaker 2: What you got there, bud, We've been looking all over

247
00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:38,080
for you.

248
00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:42,159
Speaker 1: I got the leash and Sammy began growling at something.

249
00:12:42,960 --> 00:12:45,440
I connected the leash back to Sammy's collar and we

250
00:12:45,480 --> 00:12:48,919
both started heading out. We took one last look at

251
00:12:48,919 --> 00:12:51,759
the building, though, agreeing that Sammy had helped us find

252
00:12:51,759 --> 00:12:54,600
a hideout after all, and we came back the next day.

253
00:12:55,519 --> 00:12:58,360
It was already twilight by then. Having finished our school

254
00:12:58,399 --> 00:13:01,799
work and dinner first, we left Sammy home and only

255
00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:05,120
took our flashlights, phones and batteries with us, ready for

256
00:13:05,200 --> 00:13:08,080
the dark. The stone building turned out to be an

257
00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:12,080
almost square, singular structure with a creaking metal door as

258
00:13:12,080 --> 00:13:15,679
well as a corrugated iron roof and no windows. There

259
00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:17,919
was nothing inside, and the floor was made of the

260
00:13:17,960 --> 00:13:21,279
same cold stone. We took the next day to bring

261
00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:24,120
over some old blankets and cushions, and even a lamp

262
00:13:24,159 --> 00:13:27,759
that worked on batteries. The tree house was all forgotten,

263
00:13:27,960 --> 00:13:30,200
and we spent the last semi summer days with the

264
00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:33,120
metal door open while we sat reading in the little building.

265
00:13:34,039 --> 00:13:36,639
We closed it when fall came along. It didn't really

266
00:13:36,679 --> 00:13:39,360
bother us. It was dark outside now too, so it

267
00:13:39,399 --> 00:13:43,799
didn't really matter. Our interior had gotten some updates as well.

268
00:13:44,159 --> 00:13:46,360
We hung a garland with little lights above our heads

269
00:13:46,399 --> 00:13:50,200
and put posters on the walls. This hideout, so we thought,

270
00:13:50,399 --> 00:13:53,600
was going to last forever. We went there every day

271
00:13:53,639 --> 00:13:57,759
by default, even when it rained, especially when it rained. Actually,

272
00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:00,399
the sound of the drops on the iron room had

273
00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:03,039
to be the best thing to exist, ticking calmly in

274
00:14:03,039 --> 00:14:05,519
the background while we both listened to our own music

275
00:14:05,559 --> 00:14:09,200
with headphones. On one day, we were listening to the

276
00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:12,240
same music on my phone, lying lazily on the cushions

277
00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:16,440
with our schoolwork untouched in the corner. It rained pretty heavily,

278
00:14:16,799 --> 00:14:20,320
the winds howling around the building. After a while, my

279
00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:22,840
phone died and we had no more music to listen to.

280
00:14:23,759 --> 00:14:26,799
Jack hummed a little instead, prepared to do anything to

281
00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:31,120
avoid his homework. He flinched when the door creaked suddenly

282
00:14:31,279 --> 00:14:34,480
and his humming stopped. We stared at the entrance before

283
00:14:34,519 --> 00:14:37,519
looking at each other. I shrugged it off, and as

284
00:14:37,559 --> 00:14:40,480
I reached for my notebook, footsteps were heard around the

285
00:14:40,519 --> 00:14:43,759
back of the building. I remember both of us being

286
00:14:43,759 --> 00:14:46,919
pretty shaken. I was just hoping it was someone harmlessly

287
00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:50,000
exploring the woods or something, but it was pouring outside

288
00:14:50,039 --> 00:14:53,639
and we were fairly deep in the forest. Jack, I

289
00:14:53,799 --> 00:14:57,399
think we should leave, But before he could answer, we

290
00:14:57,480 --> 00:15:00,559
heard running footsteps going around the building, followed by the

291
00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:05,320
door slamming open. Wind and rain violently blew into the room.

292
00:15:06,039 --> 00:15:09,519
Jack screamed and I was just as shaken as he was.

293
00:15:09,639 --> 00:15:12,559
Both unable to move, We watched into the darkness of

294
00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:15,399
the woods until we realized that no one was there,

295
00:15:15,879 --> 00:15:20,279
at least not anymore. Eventually, I found the strength to

296
00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:24,679
stand up and close the door. We agreed to leave

297
00:15:24,799 --> 00:15:28,039
soon after, and when we came home soaking wet, we

298
00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:30,679
decided not to visit the hideout during the dark again

299
00:15:30,879 --> 00:15:33,399
because we didn't know who had opened the door and

300
00:15:33,519 --> 00:15:35,879
we didn't want to stay another night to find out.

301
00:15:36,519 --> 00:15:38,919
As a matter of fact, we still don't