The Haunted House (pt. 11)

This latest discovery did not deter me in the least in regards to the pursuit of whatever it was that lurked behind all of these odd doings.  In fact, I would say that my ire was raised a bit and I began to take things a little more personally.  I admit that I had hopes that I would return to my friend with nothing to report and nothing to back up his own reaction to the place, but now I felt that I must know where it all was coming from, being as how I knew that there was something there after all.

The first thing that I then did was to pack my bag and have it ready near the door.  I had a feeling that I might need to exit hastily and I did not want to ever have to even consider returning for something that I might leave behind in haste.  I then settled into the couch again with the knowledge that I would likely be parked there for a long while.  I occasionally looked out the windows at the beautiful day passing by with loathing, for there was no chance I would partake, being that I was now locked into the course I could no longer deny and it was such a contrast to what I saw out there that the ironic juxtaposition made me all the more angry, both at myself for being a fool on a fool's errand and at the house or whatever it was that had vexed my friend and now was toying sadistically with myself.

Over time I read a great deal, drank many caffeinated beverages, and when beset by hunger finally gave in to cooking the pizza that I had brought, though my mind did not seem to want it, yet it was my gut that won out.  It was a hard battle.  Eventually there took place a wondrous sunset that seemed so very mocking in its brilliance and as the darkness encroached upon the horizon I felt that time was finally progressing after having been frozen in all of that sunlight throughout the day.  I felt that I had finally entered the long hallway that would bring me to the threshold of what it was I was now expecting.

However, it was still a long time before the real experience began.  It seems somewhat foolish now but I never thought of how all of those stories had laid such significance at the hour of midnight, but it was apt that shortly upon the striking of that hour I was taken to the depths of what many would call hell.