One
Mel
It was time.
Plastering a grin on my face, I turned the phone camera towards me and said, “Hey guys, welcome back to my channel! Tonight’s Halloween, AKA the most awesome night of the year!”
My declaration was half true. It was October 31st, and at any other time of my life, this would’ve been the day I’d look forward to all year. Fun costumes, horror movies and candy... What wasn’t to love? Even as an adult, it was my favorite so-called holiday despite my parents being disappointed about me enjoying it past my 18thbirthday. But that wasn’t the only reason they were disappointed in me, so whatever.
But it was no longerjustHalloween. With my landlord constantly breathing down my neck, it was now 'the day before my gradually increasing rent was due, and by the way, did I mention I didn't have areal jobso I struggled to pay it?'
Yeah.
Did I mention my parents thought I was a disappointment?
Tonight, though, I refused to let any of that get me down. Because on top of being Halloween and the precursor to my looming rent payment, it was also the birthday of my number one passion—my Viewtube channel.
I’d started it a year ago after losing my job at the local bagel shop—disappointment, remember? With no direction in my life, I experienced a huge wake-up call. I didn’t want to bake bagels for the rest of my life, especially when my parents stuck their noses up at my job.
So I chose to follow my passion and make a living out of it. Hosting a ghost hunting Viewtube channel wasn’t the career my parents envisioned for their only omega son, but it was my life, not theirs.
And it paid the bills. Most of the time.
Okay, fine,sometimes.
If Christmas was the day for mall Santas, then Halloween was the day for me, Mel Michaels, ghost-hunter extraordinaire. My new video would feature my exploration of an abandoned house next to a local cemetery. There were no other videos online about this particular haunted house, so it was a great opportunity for me to break into an untapped market.
Was it actually haunted? I didn’t know, but I was going to find out.
I cleared my throat and adjusted the camera. “Today—or I should say, tonight—we’re gonna explore the scary, abandoned house on Raven Hill.” I paused so I could edit in some spooky sound effects during the silence. Then I flipped the camera to take in the surroundings. “You can see over the iron fence—at least, I hope you can see, it’s pretty dark—we’re right next to a cemetery. Obviously, I won’t be going in there, ‘cause we keep things respectful here at Mel’s Hauntings. But wewillbe, uh, doing some legally-gray urban exploration.” I turned the camera over my shoulder, half as a joke and half to make sure nobody lurked behind me. I winked at the screen. “You didn’t hear that from me.”
I shut the camera off while I approached the house. Talking about exploring it was one thing, but actually reaching it was a hurdle. Both the cemetery and abandoned house were fenced off—and since it was Halloween, a stoic security guard was stationed outside the gate. Unfortunately, some people took mischief night as an opportunity to be total dickheads. As someone who enjoyed the innocent fun of Halloween, that never sat well with me.
Then again, I was the one technically breaking and entering... but hey, I wasn’t hurting anyone.
The night was quiet and dark. A thick slice of moonlight floated in the black sky, blanketed once in a while by wispy clouds. Fallen leaves danced in the wind like sentient creatures. In the distant background, I heard the hustle and bustle of the city on Halloween night—people laughing, kids squealing, animatronics cackling...
It all made me feel so alive. I only wished I had someone to share my passion with...
I shook off the feeling. No way was I moping on Halloween. Screw the fact that rent was due tomorrow and my finances were struggling. It wasmynight, dammit.
Gathering my courage, I walked up the path to the cemetery. The guard outside the gate narrowed his eyes at me. I wasn’t wearing a costume—just my usual red flannel and jeans—so I didn’t think I looked unusual or suspicious. But whoever hired him clearly paid him to be wary.
“Um... hello,” I said, smiling.
“You here to visit someone?” he asked sternly.
I couldn’t lie. It wasn’t in my nature, especially in a place of peace like this.
“No,” I replied. “I’m, um, trying to get to the house on Raven Hill.”
The guard raised a brow. “The abandoned house?”
“That’s right.”
Without budging an inch, he looked me up and down. “Why?”
“Er... I’m filming a documentary.”
