The Haunted House (pt. 3)

From the light pouring forth from the windows I could discern a break in the foliage at the back of the property where what seemed the beginning of a wooden handrail jutted forth, ideally indicating the start of some type of stairway down to the beach.  In my haste to get on with the adventure I had forgotten to bring from home any flashlight, along with what I was sure would be many things that I had yet to think of.

I left the lights inside the house on for all of the aid that they would avail me, locked the doors, and made my way to the spot that I had espied. There was indeed a set of wooden steps that started there and made their way into the dense vegetation, quickly disappearing from the light of the house.  I slowly began to make my way down them, trying to remember to test each step before lending it my full weight and then moving on to the next.

The moon must have been large behind the clouds for even without the light from the house, once it had been left behind, my eyes began to see a great deal of what I was heading into, though not enough to ease my fears.  Many times the stairs would fall into complete shadow from the bordering plants and there really was no way to be sure that they continued beyond that blackness.

It seemed to take forever, but I finally reached the lowest level of the cliff face and set foot on a fall of loose rock that sloped at an incline to the sand of the beach.  I made doubly sure to take note of the setting so that I would recognize it upon return, getting lost down there being a very real concern at the time.  I then turned north and began to walk along the roaring ocean for some distance.

It was hard to know how far I had gone when I was seized by a weird panic upon seeing what I had caught a glimpse of.  Off in the distance was a small light, jumping and weaving in an unnatural manner, the sort of thing that you might expect of the fabled "will-o'-the-Wisp".  I froze in place as I watched it moving about, my unease increasing as the random pattern continued.  Eventually, though I was feeling no more brave, I continued forward on a course to take me to whatever it was that was causing me to shake so.