Kaede

With a huge smile on her face, Kaede displayed her pearly whites for me as she motioned ahead of us...and I could see the rundown cabin in the middle of the woods. It was still a good fifty feet ahead of us through the trees and bushes, but we had located it. Correction: She had located it. How, I'm not exactly sure, but she had found it.

"Pretty spooky, huh?" She asked me as she shined her flashlight in the direction of the dilapidated structure. I could see the eagerness on her face and knew that she was looking forward to journeying inside the ramshackle, little building.

Standing right next to the black-haired beauty, I took a moment to appreciate the sheen on her skin from the perspiration of hiking through the woods for the last hour. Her athletic build was incredibly appealing, but seeing it glisten with sweat made me want to reach out and touch her. Of course, I was able to refrain myself from doing so. I had always prided myself on control around women and never acted without letting them okay it first. I may not have been as experienced as some of my friends at that point in my life, but I had never been accused of being anything less than a gentleman.

"My camcorder has night vision on it, Marcus," Kaede then informed me as she started playing around with the gadget in her hands. She asked me to shine my flashlight on what she was doing so she could better set it up.

While keeping the light steady, I perked up and told her to be silent for a moment. She became just as alert as I was and took a moment to listen. When she was apparently unable to hear what I had picked up on, she whispered, "What is it, Marcus? Do you hear something?"

"Nothing bad," I reassured her since I had unintentionally frightened her. "To our left, I think I can hear running water. There must be a stream or something nearby."

"What way is that direction-wise?" She queried.

Trying to properly position myself, I answered to the best of my ability by saying, "I think that would be west. Without the sun, I always get turned around."

"Well, that's good to know," the raven-haired woman said as she went back to work on the camcorder. When she finally had it set up to her liking, she glanced up at me with that sly smile spread across her face while saying, "If our little trip ends up being a bust, we can always go for a skinny-dip in the stream!"

I prayed that she didn't notice my face contort into an "O" when she offered the suggestion. I was pretty sure at the time she was joking, but she seemed to messing with me an awful lot. It was actually kind of a cruel form of torture to keep egging me on with such comments since we had a bit of history together.

"Come on," she then regained my attention as she led the way through the trees and toward a small clearing in front of the rundown cabin. She swatted at a few insects that I'm sure were mosquitos as she made her way forward. Conserving the life of her flashlight, she had me use mine from two feet behind her as she decided to start relying more on her small camcorder. As we trudged forward, she suddenly confessed, "I probably shouldn't have had all that soda on the way here."

"Are you feeling all right?" I asked with concern in my voice. The way she reached for her stomach, I couldn't help but wonder if she was getting a little queasy from all the walking and all the grape beverage she had consumed during our little road trip.

"Oh, I'm fine. I just have to piss like some rushing rapids...and hearing that water in the distance isn't doing me a whole lot of good right now!"

I couldn't help but laugh since Kaede had that way about her. She could take the smallest detail and make it funny somehow. I don't know if her natural charm had something to do with it, but the woman was downright amusing without having to try very hard.

"Hold this, would you?" She asked as she handed me the camcorder. Once I had it safely in my hands, she turned her flashlight back on and shined it on a few oaks and willows only yards away from the cabin. "I'm going to go over there to take a pee. Don't let any spooks get me, okay?"

I nodded since her straightforwardness kind of caught me off guard. I knew she trusted me to keep watch for her, but it also made me tingle just knowing that she didn't mind going within earshot of me. Of course, it wasn't like we hadn't seen each other naked before. Still, relieving oneself in front of somebody else was an altogether different story.

I walked with Kaede and then branched off in order to give her privacy. I wanted to be close by not because of any perverted thoughts, but because I wanted to indeed protect her in case anything happened. We both knew it was unlikely that there was anybody else around, but I felt that we couldn't be too careful. I wasn't about to let some maniac hurt her. I have to admit that I'm not much of a nature enthusiast, so for all I knew, there could have been wolves or bears in the surrounding woods.

From where I stood in front of the decaying cabin, I could see the beam from Kaede's flashlight moving about as she went to the bathroom. I tried to remain silent so I could listen closely: Again, not for immoral reasons, but to make sure that the sound of her peeing was the only thing that could be heard in the vicinity.

When Kaede was done, she walked around to the front of the cabin where I stood. I shone my light on her and saw her jump a couple of times in the air as she dramatically pulled her pants up and made sure they were where she wanted them. I chuckled since I knew she was doing it for attention.

"Thanks for holding the camera!" She exclaimed as she placed her hand out. When she had it back in her grasp, she raised an eyebrow as she looked at me and added, "Glad to know you aren't into any of that freaky shit!"

"Come again?" I asked since I wasn't quite sure what she was getting at.

"Just didn't want you filming me taking a leak so you could go and put it on the internet for all to see!"

"I wouldn't do that to you, Kaede!" I laughed along with her since I felt like she was testing me every few minutes. I don't know what made me think of it, but I decided it was my turn to test her when I said, "I maybe would've filmed you sucking my dick if I had had this camera at the time, but filming you while you're in the middle of relieving yourself is where I draw the line!"

"Touché!" She exclaimed with a laugh. She then turned her eyes toward the entry of the cabin and could clearly see that the door was missing. It looked like a yawning void leading into despair and disrepair. She turned her camcorder's night vision on and pointed it at the gaping maw. "Well, this is it!"

"Are you telling me not to say anything stupid from this point on since the camera's going to be on?"

The dark-haired woman flashed me one of her dazzling smiles. "Too late! I caught that lame comment!"

I chuckled while letting her lead the way. The porch looked just as decrepit as the rest of the place, so I quickly offered to check the steps before she ascended them.

"Very gentlemanly of you, Marcus, but I'll be just fine!" Just as she had said, the raven-haired woman climbed them with no issues. They didn't bow under weight or anything. That wasn't exactly surprising since Kaede was in such great shape, but I figured the age of the wood alone would be enough to snap them in two. Apparently, the place had been built to last.

"So," I spoke up as I slowly followed her toward the doorway. "What exactly is it that people claim to see around here?"

"Every place has its ghosts, Marcus," Kaede responded while making sure to capture everything she possibly could. She scanned the entire porch before stepping through the threshold and entering the "haunted" structure.

I wasn't trying to crowd my friend, but I wanted to remain close to her at all times in case there was any kind of trouble. The fetor of age assailed my nostrils almost instantly, and I was surprised that Kaede hadn't reacted more to the stench. I quickly remembered how tough the young woman was, and I recalled how on the car ride up to this whimsical place, she had told me how this wasn't the first creepy home she had ever explored.

Since Kaede was using her night vision, I wasn't sure if using my flashlight would mess up what she was doing. I did my best to aim my light in the opposite direction of where she was filming, and I also did my best to remain quiet. I could hear her softly speaking as she cautiously stepped through the debris in the cabin, and I could plainly tell that she was trying to narrate our adventure.

As Kaede documented everything she was doing, I looked around and took in the sights. What little furniture sat in the place had been upturned and looked as if rats had made giant nests of anything they could get their paws on. There were holes in the upholstery of each chair and the couch, and stuffing had fallen out onto the floor.

I also noticed that the cabin -- while appearing structurally sound -- had plenty of water damage. It was evident just looking at the wood of the ceiling, and since most of the windows had been broken and weren't boarded up, it was a good bet that rain and countless winters had crept inside throughout the flow of time. Upon making my examination, I reached out and touched Kaede's arm so I could get her attention without interrupting what she was doing. When she turned to look at me, I whispered to her that some of the flooring beneath us was warped and that we needed to be careful.

Surprisingly, the raven-tressed stunner abruptly swung the camera toward me and started filming my mug as she announced, "This handsome fiend accompanying me on this little adventure is Marcus Veovin! He's been watching out for me every step of the way, and if everything goes according to plan, his night should end in a very satisfying manner!"

I had no idea what my partner in crime meant by her words, but I held my hand out to somewhat obscure her from getting a decent shot of me. I've never been the most photogenic person, so I didn't want to be seen on her video. I continued to act difficult as she continued to tease me and asked me to move my hand numerous times. We went back and forth for a good thirty seconds until we both heard a loud thud.

Kaede whipped around and I became alert. I'm no detective, but I could instantly deduce that what we had heard hadn't been the place settling or anything that could have happened under normal circumstances. There was something in the cabin with us. Thankfully, we were right next to the open doorway and had an easy escape route.

Unfazed by the loud noise, Kaede continued to creep across the floor of what had once been a living room and cautiously stepped over the debris littered about the area. The girl had guts...and she wasn't about to back down.

"Kaede!" I spoke her name in a raised whisper. I wanted to rush forward and grab her, but I was nervous about putting too much weight on the floor near my friend. I thought if we stood too close together, we could crash through the wood...and from what I had noticed outside, the place definitely had a basement.

"Come on, Marcus!" The determined stunner mouthed to me as she held her camera out in hopes of picking up any kind of footage that would prove her beliefs. "We have to prove that what we heard wasn't just a stray animal bumping around in the basement!"

I sighed after hearing her words. I was afraid she had noticed the same thing I had and she confirmed my fears: The thudding sound we had heard had indeed originated in the basement. It wasn't that I was afraid to go down there by any means...I was just afraid to have Kaede go down there. I know she feared absolutely nothing, but I feared for her safety. If anything happened to her while we were in this withering abode, that would be on me.

"Look at these old cabinets," my eager comrade suddenly regained my attention on the far side of the room. "I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I think this is cedar."

"Might be a little too warped to tell for sure," I told her, doing my utmost best to sound smart. I wasn't too sure about some of my grains of wood, but I didn't want her to think she had dragged a moron along for the ride.

Kaede continued along and moved to her left into what appeared to be a study. There was no wall separating it from the living room area, and the only reason I would've called it a study was because of an old desk and a few empty bookshelves. A thick layer of dust covered most of it, and strands of old cobwebs hung from the ceiling. I hoped Kaede wasn't getting any of them in her lovely, black locks.

I poked my head around the wall where the cabinets were and noticed a kitchen on the other side. It didn't smell nearly as bad as I was expecting it to, but that probably had a lot to do with the fact that there didn't appear to be a shred of food in the place. Nothing had been used in years, and that put me at ease. Whatever we had heard in the basement had more than likely been just an animal and not a squatter.

I chided myself for not thinking ahead and bringing any kind of weapon along. I should've had a knife or something in case we did actually encounter any kind of threat to our lives. My dad had plenty of tools in his garage back home that I could have chosen from. Even a blunt object like a hammer would've been preferable to nothing at all.

"Look at this, Marcus."

I followed the sound of Kaede's voice and carefully made my way over a tipped stool in the study. When I reached the young woman's side, she was staring out the back entrance and into a what had probably been a really nice backyard at one time. It was now overgrown with weeds and thistles, and vines wrapped their way up the closest trees where a couple of birdhouses hung after so many years. A fenced in garden sat on the far edge of the yard and obviously hadn't been tended in years.

"I bet this place was beautiful at one time," Kaede said in a voice that almost sounded melancholy. "It's so sad to see the hopes and dreams of people from our past dashed in such a way in the present."

Hearing the sadness in her voice made me want to aid Kaede in any way I could. I didn't think it would help, but I placed an arm around her and gently shook her to let her know that I was there for her. I was more than a little surprised when she leaned in close to me and placed her head on my left shoulder for a few seconds. She continued recording the backyard while doing so.

After an all too brief moment of tenderness, the young woman got right back down to business and once more started moving about the cabin. She filmed a bit of the kitchen and even went through a few cupboards before telling me that she wanted to go down to the basement. I didn't think it was a good idea, but I knew there would be no stopping her. I wasn't about to let her out of my sight.

Kaede led the way and I followed her as closely as I could without being annoying. On our way through a hallway, she noticed a bedroom off to the side before we found the stairs leading into the depths, so she placed a hand out and opened the door that was actually still there. The minute she went to push it open, we both received a small jump when it fell off its hinges.

After we had a small chuckle and regained our bearings, I told the raven-tressed woman I'd be going in first. At first, she somewhat argued since I think she felt like she was a diver discovering a treasure that had sank to the bottom of the sea decades earlier, but I convinced her I was only doing so for her safety. She quit quibbling when I jested, "You have to make sure you live long enough to get the tape into the right hands so you can become famous. I'm simply expendable, remember?"

She laughed since she believed I was just joshing around, but deep down, I was willing to defend this woman with my life if it came to it. It wasn't because I was in love or anything of the sort: I barely knew Kaede. Our three-hour trip in her car had been the longest we had talked to each other in our lives, and although we had been friends during our final year of school and shared in a naughty moment we probably shouldn't have committed, we still didn't know a whole lot about one another. However, that didn't stop me from having a fierce sense of pride, and the fact that my father had taught me to respect all women also played into things. I would be this woman's shield no matter what.

After realizing that the room was full of nothing more than a bunch of broken junk and an old bed that had seen its time many years earlier, I told Kaede that everything was safe and she could venture in if she wanted to get a shot of the old chamber. She did just that and continued to narrate our little adventure while I waited just outside of the room in the musty hallway.

I flashed my light back into the main room we had already been in, and then I turned and glanced in the direction of the staircase we would be descending shortly. I tentatively stepped toward the top of the steps and glanced downward. I could see that they went down to a very small and cramped landing before a second set continued downward out of sight. The place apparently went a little deeper than I originally thought it had.

"Boo!" Kaede said from behind me, but didn't manage to rattle me. Her little trick might've worked if I hadn't heard her coming. "Aw, poo! I was hoping to make you jump on camera!"

"You'll have to try a little harder than that," I chuckled as I watched her study the stairs before us.

"The night is young, my Marcus!" She said in her best spooky voice as she placed her left foot on the first step. "You never know what kind of horrors await us! Mwa, ha, ha!"

Not wanting the athletic woman to get too far ahead of me, I accompanied her down the stairwell just a step behind her. I would've walked side by side with her since there was room for us to do so, but again, I didn't trust that the decaying building could handle our weight together. I have no idea how far we would've fallen if one of the steps gave way beneath us.

When we reached the bottom floor, we could see that a hallway stretched out before us and led to four different doors at our right. Instead of a wood floor, it was earthen and nothing more than packed dirt. On each side of the puny hall were two wooden portals and nothing more.

"Kind of a boring setup down here," Kaede groaned as she led the way. "Oh, well. Maybe we'll find something neat in one of these rooms."

The air was staler in the basement than it had been upstairs, but that wasn't surprising. There were plenty of windows and a couple of open doorways for fresh air to seep in and attempt to overtake the rot of the building upstairs, but down here in the belly of the beast, there was absolutely nothing.

Just like upstairs, Kaede had reached for a doorknob and slowly turned it...only to have the door fall off its hinges and into the room we were attempting to enter. This time, the crashing piece of wood didn't frighten her. As she did her best to push it out of the way with one of her feet, I held out a hand for her to hold so she wouldn't fall. She took it and thanked me for the appendage at the same time.

I followed my friend into the room and looked around. Like the room upstairs, it looked like an old bedroom. I couldn't tell when the last time it had been used was, but if I had to venture a guess, I would've said that it had at least been decades.

Kaede truly was fearless. Most girls I knew wouldn't have been caught dead walking around a dank basement full of dust and cobwebs, but the raven-haired stunner was having the time of her life. She handed me the camcorder and asked me to keep it rolling as she walked over to the covered bed and slammed her hands down on it. A large cloud of dust flew into the air and caused her to back up so quickly that she almost tripped over an old piece of wood that I assumed had at one time been attached to the ceiling. I darted forward with great haste and made sure she didn't fall.