Speaker 1: If you grow up in the city, adventure is something
you watch on a screen. You sit in front of
a TV watching kids your age climb trees, build forts,
sneak through the woods with flashlights. You see them find
things you could only dream of, exploring, hidden and forgotten
places one's adults don't go to. But when you step outside,
there's no wilderness waiting for you, No abandoned cabins with
secrets inside. Just endless concrete sidewalks, chain link fences, apartment rooftops,
dead ended alleys, a world where every inch of space
is mapped, numbered, owned by someone else. The closest thing
to adventure was jumping between buildings, sneaking into construction sites,
tagging a name on walls that won't be there in
a year. It wasn't enough, not for Liam. I've known
Liam since we were kids. He was always the loudest
voice in the room, the one with the biggest ideas.
He could make you believe in something just because he did.
If Liam said We're going to sneak into the old
rawyard and see if we can get on top of
a train before it moves, then yeah, you were going
to do it. If he said this abandoned apartment tower
is safe to climb, no one ever checks inside. You
trusted him, and most of the time he was right. Ethan,
on the other hand, was the opposite. He was quiet, thoughtful,
always last to agree, but he never backed out. Here
we stood just behind Liam and I, arms crossed, scowling,
always looking like he was seconds away from saying this
is stupid, but ever actually did. Ethan didn't love the
things we did, but he loved being there. I fell
somewhere between them. Liam led, Ethan hesitated, and I was
the one who said, screw it, let's go. That was
our balance. That was how it had always been until
Liam said I think I know what we should do,
and we said what And he said, let's get out
of the city. We were sitting on the roof of
a half finished apartment complex, watching cars blur below us,
the hummer the city swallowing our words. Liam was scrolling
through his phone, flicking between photos of forests, lakes, abandoned
buildings half swallowed by trees. This is what we're missing,
he said. We waste all our time sneaking into places
that suck. Look at this, actual abandoned places out in
the woods. No cameras, no fences. We should do this.
He want us to go camping, Ethan asked, skeptical, not
camping exploring. Ethan sighed, how do you even find a
place like that? I already did, Liam said, grinning. He
turned his phone, showing us a grainy satellite image a
patch of woods just past the city limits, near an old,
unnamed road. There's something there, a building or I don't know,
but no one goes out that way, no one talks
about it. It's just there, sitting in the middle of nowhere.
How do you know it's not private property? I asked,
How do you know it isn't? Liam shot back. Ethan scoffed,
that's a solid argument, dude, really air tight. Liam ignored him,
leaning forward, eyes bright. Come on, just one trip. We
leave Saturday morning, check it out, and come back before dark,
just like the kids in the movies. Just one time.
I could see it in his face. He'd already decided,
and part of me already knew that I had as well.
Ethan sighed, shaking his head, but he didn't say no.
The weekend came and we went. It felt weird stepping
onto a bus that took us away from the city
instead of deeper into it, watching the skyline shrink behind us,
disappearing behind hills and stretches of open road. I caught
Ethan staring at the window, watching the trees go past,
hands clenched on his backpack straps. Liam was grinning. He
kept checking his phone, double checking the location he'd found.
Almost there, he said, eyes shining. The bus let us
off at a half empty gas station where the only
road aheads stretched into the trees. It felt different here.
The air was quieter, almost peaceful, like we had stepped
out of our world and into another. Liam was the
first to walk toward the tree line, sneakers crunching against
the dirt. Let's go, he said. We followed. The woods
were bigger than I expected, not just taller, but deeper.
The city was all about height, skyscrapers, bridges, endless metals
stacked toward the sky. This was different. It fell old
and alive. The trees stretched high above us, branches twisting
like veanes against the sky. The air was cooler here,
thick with a scent of dirt and pine. The only
sounds were her own footsteps, the occasional snap of a branch,
and the distant hum of something unseen when through leaves,
or something else entirely. For the first time in my life,
I felt small, and from the look on Liam's face,
he'd never felt bigger. See he said, spinning in a
slow circle, arms outstretched like he was soaking it in.
This is what I'm talking about, this is what we've
been missing, Ethan muttered as he kicked a rock, but
I could tell even he was feeling it. We ran
through the trees like kids, throwing rocks into a half
dried stream, scaling fallen logs like we were climbing mountains.
At one point, Liam grabbed a branch, swinging from it
like Tarzan, whooping before dropping into a pile of leaves.
We were in it, a real adventure. For once. This
wasn't something we were watching on a screen. We were
living it. And then Liam found the building we'd been
looking for. It was almost hidden, swallowed by the trees.
At first, it looked like a hill covered in vines
and dead leaves, like the forest that tried to pull
it underground to erase it. But then I saw the
edges of a structure, concrete cracked and weathered, barely visible
through the overgrowth, and when Liam puts forward, brushing aside
the vines, the truth became clear. It was a building,
half buried, lopsided like it had sunk into the earth,
a sagging roof, broken windows, and a doorway gaping open
into darkness. Liam's eyes went wide. He stepped forward, running
a hand along the crumbling wall. This is it, he
exclaimed with joy. Ethan stiffened. What there was some urban legend,
Liam said, absently, still staring at it, someplace in the
woods where I don't know people used to go and
never come back. Ethan scoffed, cool, that's real comforting, man.
But Liam wasn't listening. He was already walking toward the entrance.
I felt something shift in my stomach, a feeling like
we had stepped over an invisible line, like up until
now we had been on safe ground, liam, Ethan called,
his voice sharpened. Now maybe we should But Liam had
already stepped inside, and like always, we followed inside. The
air felt wrong, not just stale, just still. We could
tell no one had set foot in air for years,
maybe decades. The floor was covered in dust, except for
where rain had dripped through the cracks in the ceiling.
Leaving dark water log stains. The walls were made of
concrete and rusted metal beams, part of them buckling inward,
threatening to collapse. A long hallway stretched ahead of us,
dark doorways gaping open, leading deeper into the unknown. And
yet despite all of that, Liam was grinning. This is insane,
he said, stepping forward, his voice echoing through the empty space,
Like how the hell has no one found this? Maybe
because they don't want to, Ethan muttered. Liam ignored him.
He ran his hand along the walls, kicking had a
fallen chair. The sounds sharp in the silence. You feel that,
he asked, looking over his shoulder. That energy like something
big happened here. Ethan scoffed. Yeah, pretty sure. The big
thing was time and gravity. Dude, this place is falling apart.
Come on, Liam said, still grinning. A little imagination never
hurt anyone. For the first few minutes, it was fun.
We kicked through old furniture, picked up faded scraps of
paper that had long since become unreadable, made up stories
about what this place used to be. An old military bunker,
a cold tied out a secret government lab. The only
thing we were missing to truly make this a movie
was a big camera. But then after a while Ethan
stopped playing along. I noticed it when he started hanging back,
keeping his arms crossed, not really looking around anymore. Liam
noticed it too. Okay, what's up with you, Liam said,
turning to him. We finally get to do something cool,
and you're standing there like a dog just died. Ethan
didn't respond right away, Then finally he let out a
slow breath. You ever noticed how this happens every time time,
he said, voice quieter than before. You always find something
fun to do, and at first, yeah, it's great, but
then you always always push it too far. Liam's grin
flickered for half a second. What are you talking about?
You don't know when to stop. Ethan shifted his weight,
running a hand through his hair, like that time with
the train yard, or when we climbed that tower and
the stairs gave out. Well, heck this, we should have
turned back before even got on the bus. Lilliam's face
darkened like Ethan had crossed the line. But then instead
of snapping back, Liam hesitated, And that alone was weird
enough to make me feel weird. He exhaled through his nose,
looking down at the ground. You ever think, Liam said
slowly that maybe I don't want to stop. Ethan frowned.
What Liam stuffed his hands in his pockets. You think
I don't know when I'm pushing things too far? His
voice was quiet. I know I always know silence. Ethan
and I exchanged the glance for once. Liam wasn't boasting,
he wasn't brushing it off. He was being honest. I
just Liam ran a hand over his face. I don't
like being home, okay, It's like every time I'm there,
I feel like I can't He stopped, readjusting his posture.
Then finally, I just don't want to feel the way
I feel at home. The words hung there for a moment.
None of us spoke. Ethan looked like he wanted to
say something, maybe something important, But before he could, something moved,
a rustling noise somewhere deeper into the building. All three
of us froze. William's head snapped up. Did you hear that?
Ethan took a step back. It's probably just this old building,
you see the state it's in, he muttered, but there
was no conviction in his voice. Then it happened again,
a shuffle and a scrape, something was in here with us.
William's eyes flickered toward the dark hallway ahead. Her shadow
stretched a long against the far wall, cast by something
moving just out of sight. Ethan grabbed my arm. Guys,
let's go, but Liam pushed forward. It's probably just rats,
he said, but I could hear the edge in his voice. Now,
come on, we didn't come all this way to turn back. Now,
we should have turned back, but instead we followed, and
we went deeper. The deeper we went, the worse the
air got. It became wet, almost despite the dust, like
something rotting in the walls. The floor dipped downward, leading
us to what used to be a staircase. Most of
it had collapsed, the steps crumbling into a mess of
broken concrete and rusted metal, but at the bottom, barely
visible in the dinner light, a lower level, a basement
half submerged in stagnant water. Liam turned back to us,
eyes alight with curiosity. Okay, he grinned, this is actually
kind of sick. Ethan stood stiffly behind him, arms crossed
tight or hear me out, we don't go into the
creepy basement, and instead we turn around and go home.
Liam laughed, Come on, man, you've never wanted to find
something real. Ethan's jaw tightened, but Liam wasn't waiting for
an answer. He crouched near the edge of the staircase,
gripping one of the railings and peering down into the darkness.
Then he made a face holy. He pointed at something
on the ground. I stepped closer and felt my stomach
chin scattered across the bottom of the stairs were rats,
not just stared mutilated. Some were half drowned in the
stagnant water, their small bodies bloated in misshapen. Others lay
twisted and broken, their furs slick with something dark and drying.
They hadn't been eaten. Something killed them then left them.
I took a slow step back, pulse pounding in my throat.
If it wasn't the rats that made that noise earlier,
then Ethan excelled, sharply, rubbing his hands down his face.
Then what made that noise was whatever did this to
the rat? A rabbit animal? We should really get out now, Liam,
though Liam just stared a flicker of doubt, a tiny,
unspoken realization like the edges of his adventure had suddenly
sharpened like maybe, just maybe he'd finally pushed too far.
But then he stopped breathing, not literally, but he froze completely.
His whole body tensed, his hands gripping the railing tight.
His lips parted just slightly, like he was about to
say something but didn't or was too afraid to. Ethan
frowned Liam. Liam shook his head, not a no, not
a yes, just a barely. Their movement slow but unsteady,
A big crash came from behind us, like dynamite exploding.
My head snapped back. Dust rose up from the stairs
and slowly settled as we stared. When the noise faded
into the distance, What was that? Even let out a
half whisper, half shout. Wait, Liam said, sharply, silence again.
I didn't understand at first, but then I heard it.
Something breathing. It wasn't any of us. It came from below,
from the basement, and as we stood there, frozen, ears straining,
something shifted, something unfolding itself, something rising. We ran, not
because we had a plan, not because we thought we
could get away, because there was nothing else we could do.
The sound behind us wasn't footsteps. It was worse, a deep,
cultural clicking, reverberating off the walls, filling every space at once,
like something shifting, rearranging itself as it moved. I didn't
look back. I couldn't, but I felt it. I felt
it breathing down my neck, even though it was nowhere
near me. The hallway. My head twisted and turned, the
walls seeming to close in on us, the darkness swallowing
us whole. My eyes burned. Ethan stumbled, gasping, but Liam
grabbed his arm yanking him forward. We need the main door,
I yelled. The way we came in, We turned a corner,
practically skidding into the entry hall and stopped. The ceiling
had collapsed. The entire doorway was chocked with debris, thick
slabs of concrete and rusted beams blocking any way out. No, no, no,
Ethan gasped, eyes darting frantically. There has to be another way.
Liam spun, searching, his head snapped upward. There. I followed
his gaze and saw it. A hole in the ceiling,
a small opening where the structure had rotted away, just
wide enough to squeeze through. Hope searched my chest. This
was it. We could get out. Liam grabbed the edges
of the broken ceiling and hauled himself up first, grunting
with effort. He reached down immediately, his fingers closing around
my wrist. Ryan, come on, I scrambed my feet, scraping
against the crumbling walls as I kicked off, prushing with
everything I had, and then I was up. We made it.
We were going to live. Then I heard Ethan struggle below.
I turned back, looking down, and my stomach dropped. Ethan
was too slow. His hands were clawing at the edge,
trying to pull himself up, but his arms shook violently
from exhaustion. His sneakers slipped against the slick, broken walls,
failing to find any purchase. And beneath him, in the dark,
who was coming? A shadow, twisting, shifting, a blur of
something impossibly long, impossibly wrong. Liam saw it too, and
he made his decision before I even realized what was happening.
Liam looked at me and he smiled. It wasn't cocky
or forced, like he'd finally found what he was looking for.
He'll tell a good story about this, he said, and
dropped back down. Liam landed hard, his feet slammed into
the hard concrete below, and for a split second I thought,
for a second that he could still climb back up,
that this wasn't the end. Then it moved something in
the dark. It didn't lunge. It unfolded. A shape crawled
out from the blackness beneath a broken stairwell, stretching tall
and thin, its body unnatural, wrong. I saw its arms, first,
long appendages with countless joints, all cracking in unison, fingers
shaped like hooks. Then its head tilted up. It had
no eyes or face to speak of, just the smooth
stretch of bone, white skin, pulled tight over a shape
that resembled something between human and the dog. It didn't
make a sound. Liam spun toward Ethan. Go Ethan froze.
He just stood there, wide eyed, lips moving, but making
no sound. Liam grabbed him, fingers twisting the fabric of
Ethan's hoodie, boosting him up. Ethan gasped hands, scrambling for
the ledge, one foot kicking against Liam's hands, the other
trying to find a leverage on the bare wall. But
Liam wouldn't let him fall. With one final heave, he
threw Ethan up. Ethan crashed over the edge, scrambling away
on his hands and knees, gasping for breath. Liam I
reached for him, Both of us did, but it was
too late. The creature's arms shot forward and Liam screamed.
He wrapped around his chest with impossible speed, pulling him
backward and back down to the ground. His body skidded
against the dry concrete, sending dust and debris into the air.
He tried grabbing anything on the ground to hoist himself up.
Ethan reached down as far as he could, so far
that he would have fallen back in if I hadn't
caught him. But it wasn't enough. The ceiling creaked under
our weight. The walls groaned, dust and stone raining down
from above, shifting beneath our weight, a warning. If we stayed,
we'd all die. The thing yanked him backward. The ceiling
gave way a violent crack. Dust exploded into the air,
chunks of stone crumbling beneath us. Ethan grabbed my arm,
yanking me back. Liam I tried to scream, but the
noise of the collapse swallowed his name. We had to run,
and Liam, Liam couldn't. We ran until our legs gave out.
We didn't stop the think. We didn't want to through
the trees, past the empty roads, until the gas station
came into view, the first sign of normalcy, of civilization.
By the time we stumbled inside, breathless and shaking, the
old man behind the counter barely had time to ask
what was wrong before Ethan collapsed against the shelves, hands
on his knees, gasping. Call the cops. We told them everything.
We told them about the building, about the creature, about Liam.
They didn't dismiss us, but they didn't believe us either,
just two hysterical kids, filthy and bruised, talking about monsters
in the dark. Still, they sent a search team out.
By the time we were allowed to go back to them,
the sun was rising, the world slowly bleeding back into reality.
I remember how silent it was standing at the edge
of the wreckage, because that's all that was left. The
building had collapsed, a pile of broken concrete, shattered wood,
twisted metal. The entrance was gone, buried. There was no
sign a thing, but there was a sign of Liam.
I saw him first, what was left of him. The
police had to pull us back, keep us from getting
too close, but I saw enough. A body crushed beneath
fallen debris, his face blooded and unrecognizable. Just the boy
who got trapped in a crumbling building. That's what they said.
That's what everyone would say. There was an article written
about it in the local paper. Three kids, when exploring
somewhere they shouldn't have was the headline. They found an
abandoned building. They went inside. It collapsed. Two of them
made it out, one of them didn't. A tragic incident.
The police called it unstable structures, that they dangerous. You
boys were lucky. They shook their heads when we told
them the truth. They told us that there was no creature,
no thing in the dark. Whatever you thought you saw,
one of them told us, was just panic. Feared us.
Weird things to the mind. Ethan and I never spoke
about it again. Not because we didn't remember, not because
we didn't think about it every night when the city
lights flickered through our windows, but because there was no point.
No one would ever believe us. Maybe it was better
that way. I could never quite figure out why Liam
decided to jump back down the way he did not.
At first, I thought about it constantly, that the final
moment when his feet hit the ground, when He looked
at me with that expression of finality as he said
his last words to me, He'll tell a good story
about this. The look in his eyes was something I
couldn't understand. At night, I'd stare at my ceiling, replaying
it over and over. What did it mean? Why would
he do that when he knew he was going to die?
I couldn't ask Ethan. He wasn't talking about it. We
didn't call for so much as text. The few times
we ran into each other at school, we barely looked
at one another, like if we didn't acknowledge it, maybe
it wouldn't be real. And maybe Ethan hadn't heard it
Liam's last words. Maybe he didn't know, but I did,
and I couldn't let it go. A few weeks later
I saw Liam's parents. They were walking down a busy street,
lost in the crowd. I stopped in my tracks, my
heart slimming against my ribs. I expected them to look different, weaker,
grief stricken, lost. Instead, they looked normal, not exactly happy,
but not broken either. Definitely not the way loving parents
would look after they'd just lost their child in such
a tragic way. And they didn't recognize me Liam's best friend,
the kid who had spent years by his side. They
walked right past me, no sign of recognition on their faces.
I was just another face in the city to them.
That was when it clicked. Liam never liked being at home.
He never talked about it, not directly, but looking back,
all the signs were there. The way he'd always want
to be anywhere else. How he'd never invite us over,
how he'd change the subject at any time we asked,
The way he threw himself into every stupid, reckless adventure,
as if standing still was worse than falling. And that's
when I knew it wasn't just about a thrill. He
just wanted to escape. Every rooftop, every train yard, every
broken down place we snuck into. It was about something
more than fun for Liam. He had been running his
whole life, and in the end he got exactly what
he wanted, the ultimate adventure, a place no one else
would ever go, a place where no one could follow
because it finally escaped