Urban explorer: A person who explores man-made structures as a pastime, especially in areas not generally open to the public.

My name is Clent, I live in this little town in the middle of nowhere Tennessee. Within this small town, there isn’t much to do, so I started to explore around my town. I have found so many things: An old computer from the ’80s, a diamond ring, and much more. But this hobby has lead to one deadly circumstance, which I will tell you about now. 

It was summer, which meant heat, hot girls, and mostly exploring. I was in the garage of my house when my best friend Lacy pulled up in her truck.

“Want to go down to the forest where that old house is?” Asked Lacy.  

“Sure, but I have to get my gear,” I replied. 

I jumped up from the ground where I had been working on my motorcycle and headed for the door. Once I was inside, I grabbed my waterproof boots, headlamp, and backpack which had water, a pocket knife, bandaids, and a map of the town, and headed out to Lacy. 

“Are you ready to go?” I called. 

“ Yep. Are you riding in my truck or are you taking your bike?” Lacy asked. 

“With you,” I said as I headed for her truck. 

Ten minutes later we sat in the cab of her truck in front of the road that headed into the forest. “They say it’s haunted,” whispered Lacy. 

“Yeah right, let’s just go,” I said. 

After a mile of walking, I saw the place: a two-story house with a wraparound veranda.  “Creepy,” I said.

“Nah, that sewer last week was creepier,” stated Lacy. 

As we walked inside, we went in separate directions; I went towards the kitchen, and Lacy went upstairs. As I looked around, I kept hearing a cry for help from somewhere in the house. When I found the basement, the cry was louder. This kinda spooked me, so I ran for the stairs to get Lacy, so we could go down together to investigate. 

As we took a few steps, I heard the front door slam. “Ugh, the wind is picking up,” I remarked. 

“Um… no… there is no wind,” said Lacy.

We both turned to bolt back up the stairs, but at the top, a shadowy man was standing in front of us. “H…Hello,” I stammered. 

The shadow figure shifted, ran straight at us, and then disappeared as it seemed to collide into Lacy. Lacy shivered then smiled at me. “You want to see the basement, Clent?” She said in such a weird way.

“Sure,” I said as I took a hesitant step back down toward the basement. When I reached the bottom, the door closed, but Lacy was nowhere to be seen. Since I was down there, I took a quick look around the basement and saw a man’s body hanging from the rafters. It was eerie and freaky, and I swore it was the shadow man we had just seen at the top of the stairs. I screamed and ran for my life. Once I made it outside of that creepy house, I yelled for Lacy. 

What I heard next will forever haunt me – it was the chilling laugh of a man as Lacy came out of the house smiling.