Gothic Story Essay, Research Paper

Gothic Story

“So what are we going to do?”, asked Brad.

“I don?t know. We always just hang out around town until we get sick of it and go home,” I said.

“That?s so boring, though,” Mike said. “We should do something different tonight.”

“What, though,” Brad said. “Everything else costs money. And we don?t have any. You got to have a job before you get money, and why would I waste my summer by getting a job?”

“Hey! I know what we could do,” Mike said with sudden excitement. “We could go out to the Henry Farm.” The Henry Farm was a very old run down and falling down farm out in the middle of nowhere. There is no road leading to it and it is completely surrounded by old oak trees. None of us have ever been there before, but we have heard some pretty amazing stories from people that have been there. One person we know swears he felt he was being watched the whole time, and another person thinks he might have seen someone running through the trees.

“Why would we want to go all the way out there?” I said with my normal first reaction of caution. “Besides, it?s almost dark. No one has ever been out there after dark. We probably couldn?t even find it.”

“What?s the matter? Scared?” Brad said mockingly. I hate it when he does this. Whenever I show any sign of common sense he right away interprets it as being scared. Okay, maybe I am a little.

“I?m not scared,” Mike said. “I?ll go home and get some flashlights and candles.”

“Fine,” I said. I couldn?t back out now. Besides, I always wanted to see The Henry Farm but never had a reason to go out there and check it out. “We?ll meet at my house. My parents are gone and won?t stop us from going. If your parents ask where you?re going, just say you?re going to my house.”

Mike was the first one to get to my house. He should be first. He only lives two houses down the street. Brad got here about ten minutes later.

“Man, I?m lucky I made it out of my house,” Brad said. “My dad was going on and on about how some big storm is coming and how I shouldn?t be outside or I might get struck by lightning or something.”

“Maybe we shouldn?t go,” I suggested.

“No way! We?ll be fine,” Mike said answering my suggestion. “I heard about this storm too. It?s not supposed to be here till later tonight. We?ll be back before we even hear any thunder.”

“Okay,” I said giving in. “Lets go then.”

We all go in my truck and took off. It was a good ten mile drive to get to the closest place where the roads stopped. We would have to walk the rest of the way. It was kind of an uneasy drive for the last few mile, because there were no houses or people or signs of life anywhere. We got out of my truck and looked into the forest. We couldn?t see the farm, not just because it was dark but because it was too far back and the forest was too thick. We already had to use our flashlights. I wish we had thought of this earlier so we could have gone when it was still light out.

We walked for about ten minutes along what actually looked like a path on the ground. None of us knew how it got there, for there wasn?t any people that lived around here for miles. Finally, the forest thinned out.

“Wow! This place is awesome,” Mike said as he shown his flashlight around. This Henry farm has definitely been deserted for many years. There was two large silos standing about a hundred feet apart that were both crumbling from age. On one of them the roof had caved in and so was half of its side. The other one was still intact. The roof was still on it and a closed door was on the side of it. There was also a two story barn that looked like it was about to fall over at any time. Behind these three buildings was an old farm house that half of it had collapsed and the other half was still standing. I could hear the low rumble of thunder in the distant west.

“Hey Mark. Check it out!”

I went over to see what Brad was yelling about. It was the inside of the collapsed silo. “Cool,” I said. There was nothing inside, but just seeing how large it was on the inside was very impressive.

“Hey guys! Look at this.” Mike was looking at the other silo which was still standing. We walked over to see what he was so excited about.

“Look at this door,” Mike said. The door was a heavy wood door with a metal doorknob and dead bolt lock. The lock was slightly rusted but I was still surprised to see how good of a condition it was in considering how old it must have been.

“This almost looks like it?s been used lately,” Brad said questionably.

“Who could have used it?” I said, being the usual voice of reason. “There?s no one around for miles.”

“I guess you?re right,” Brad said, though still seemed confused. Suddenly there was a flash of lightning and a crack of thunder that lit up the sky overhead. It was getting very windy and I was starting to feel a few drops of rain.

“Boy that storm came up fast,” Mike said.

“Yeah,” I said. “Its going to rain really hard pretty soon. We can?t make it back to my truck so we better find some shelter. That barn could fall over so lets look at the house.”

We ran over to the side of the house that had not collapsed. We found a door that led inside. It was unlocked. The inside of the house was surprisingly comfortable. The old house had fallen almost exactly down the middle. The roof was still hanging from the middle and draped the side of the house and made a nearly perfect exterior wall. We lit some candles and put them around what seemed to be at one time the living room. All three of us were looking out different windows. You could only see outside when there was a flash of lightning, which happened every few seconds. I had a very uneasy feeling. It almost felt like someone was watching us. Then it happened.

“What the heck is that!” Brad screamed. Mark and I rushed over to the window where he was looking in astonishment. About a hundred feet from the window standing between a couple of trees was a strange figure. It was a young woman, very beautiful and innocent looking. She was dressed completely in white, which almost completely matched her skin. She looked like she was about our age. This would have been enough to give us a good scare that night, but there was something else. She was giving off a soft white light. You could see her even without the lightning, but could not see through her like you would expect if you saw a ghost. Then, just as mysteriously as she came, she vanished without a trace.

“We got to get out of here!” cried Brad. The rain and wind was pounding the side of the old house, and it seemed like the rain was falling more sideways than down.

“Mark, we got to get to your truck!” Mike yelled. “Who knows what that thing is or what it will do to us.”

“You?re right,” I said. I almost feel that I was given the burden of getting us out of here. “Should we just make a break for it?”

“Yeah, lets just run,” Mike said.

“Okay,” I said. “On the count of three we run and don?t stop till we get to my truck. Ready Brad? Brad?” I turned around and to my amazement Brad was gone.

“Where?d he go?” Mike panicked.

“There he is!” I said. Brad was being lead by the ghost white figure we saw before. We both watched in amazement. It looked like Brad was in some kind of daze and was just being lead by the creature.

“We got to save him,” I said. Mike agreed. We ran out toward Brad. Brad and the creature walked behind a large oak tree and vanished, just mysteriously as she had done the first time. I kept running to where the two had vanished, passing Mike and taking the lead. When I got there, there was no sign of either of them. The rain was deafening and I had to shout just to be sure Mike could hear me.

“They?re gone!” I shouted. “We can?t leave without him. Where do you think she took him, Mike? Mike?” I turned around but only saw the house from which I ran. Mike was gone.

“Mike!” I yelled. “Brad!” No answer. I looked all around and could see no sign of either of them. While looking, I noticed something different. The heavy door on the still standing silo that was locked before was cracked open. I ran over to the door and peered in. Inside was something no person, good or evil, should ever have to see. The inside was hollow, much like that of the other fallen silo. Hung along to the right side were numerous medieval swords, axes, knives, and other miscellaneous primitive torture devices. All of them were stained red with blood. Hung along the left side there had to be hundreds of human bones. There were skulls, arms, legs, ribs, and some full skeletons.

In the center was the young lady, still shining the strange light and was the only light that lit the room. She turned toward a large curtain that was hung to hide what stood behind it. I swung the door open and stood in the doorway. The glowing creature turned around and faced me.

“What have you done with my friends?” I demanded. She did nothing at first, only stood there and smiled at me. What seemed like hours was probably only a few seconds passed before she made a move. She said nothing, only turned and grabbed the curtain. She pulled it off and I tried to scream, but was too terrified. There, hanging on giant hooks, was Brad and Mike, gutted. There normally internal organs were laying on the floor in small piles in front of them. There eyes were still open, which means they probably never knew what happened. I couldn?t move. I could only stare. My legs would not move.

The young monster stared at me, with a smile. She started to laugh, a soft laugh at first but then became louder and more evil sounding. Finally I snapped out of my daze. I turned and ran. I ran like I never ran before. I darted through the forest in the direction I instinctively knew was the direction of my truck, and home. I crashed through the trees and tripped many times. I looked behind and saw the glowing figure following me. Every time I looked she grew closer. Finally I exited the woods and came onto the road. I crashed head on into my truck. I turned around while opening the door and to my surprise did not see her. I didn?t stick around. I drove home as fast as I could.

When I got home my parents were there. I explained what happened and they said I was crazy. I didn?t have time to convince them. I called the police. No matter how much I begged I couldn?t get the police to go out to the Henry Farm until the next day. I didn?t sleep at all that night.

The next day I took the police out into the woods and to the farm. Everything was the way it was when Brad, Mike, and I first got there the day before. The silo was locked. The police broke the door open. Inside was nothing. Completely empty. We left the farm after searching the rest of it and finding nothing. Brad and Mike were placed on a list of runaways. Everyone tried to convince me that I?m crazy and need help. I know I?m not. I know what happened that horrible night.

Sometimes when I look out my window at night I see the ghostly creature. She is smiling at me. I know someday she will come for me and there is now way I can stop her. If you ever see her, you are doomed.