Ronnie lived across the street from some factories and warehouses. One of the warehouses had closed down a few years ago, and no one was leasing it. Day after day, for about three years, not a single light shone in the windows….
The curtains in Ronnie’s living room were always open, even at night. No one ever bothered to close them. She was watching TV in there one night, and she saw a light flicker outside. She saw that it came from the abandoned warehouse. It flickered again, an orange-yellow light, then disappeared.
The next day she told her friends Sam and Gwen about what she had seen.
“Someone probably bought it,” Sam said reasonably.
“She’s right,” Gwen agreed. “I bet someone’s working in there.”
“I don’t think so,” Ronnie said. “It was just there for a few seconds, then went out. There was something else…I’m not sure, ‘cause I didn’t get a good look, but it wasn’t a person. I just have a bad feeling about it.”
“Why don’t we check it out?” Sam said. “We’ll sleep over tonight. If we see the light, we’ll go over and look.”
That night Gwen, Sam, and Ronnie camped out in Ronnie’s living room. They brought flashlights, dressed in their darkest clothes, and laughed about feeling like ninjas. For a while, all they did was watch old movies, and nothing happened.
“There!” Ronnie shouted suddenly.
She pointed out the window. The orange-yellow light hovered in the warehouse again. It danced, then flickered out, then appeared again. This time it stayed there as if beckoning the girls to come.
“Let’s go,” Sam said excitedly, grabbing her flashlight.
They walked to the abandoned warehouse. The light was still in the ground-level windows. The girls crouched in the bushes, peering through the windows. The ball of light hung in the air, as if floating with pixie dust. They saw a shadow just out of the glow the ball.
“Now what?” Ronnie asked, slight fear making her hands shake.
“Any idea how to get in?” Gwen asked.
“Over there,” Sam said, pointing to a door where the sidewalk met with the building.
They crept over and tried to door, but it was locked. Then they froze. There was a rustling in the bushes right next to them.
“What are you doing here?” Two boys from their school, Tommy and Nick emerged from the greenery.
“What are you doing here?” Gwen said.
“I asked you first,” Nick shot back.
“Same thing you probably are,” Ronnie said, remembering Tommy lived a few houses down from her and had the same view of the warehouse.
“The light?” Tommy guessed.
Ronnie nodded. “We can’t get in.”
“Well, we didn’t come out here for nothing,” Nick said as he pulled a paper clip from his pocket. He straightened the metal and picked the lock quickly and efficiently. “Problem solved.”
“Thanks, guys,” Sam said.
They walked in hesitantly. They were in a big empty concrete room. Literally nothing was in the space…except for the glowing ball of light.
The boys walked forward fearlessly. The girls, even Sam who was the bravest in the group, stayed in the doorway. Nick stopped and looked back, a mocking smile on his face.
“Are you scared of a little light?” he teased.
“Shut up,” Sam muttered.
“If you’re so brave, go and touch it,” Ronnie challenged.
“Alright,” Tommy said. “We will. Come on, Nick.”
As Tommy and Nick entered the glow cast by the ball of light, a withered, dead hand reached out and grabbed them both.