Short Story Two- Lighthouse

A number of things were unsettling about the scenery they were in, to say the least. A tall, thick structure at the top of high cliffs, flashing them with blinding light every five seconds. It was positioned a small distance from the edge of the grassy cliffs, which were constantly having a battle with the waves below, but never losing. The St. Augustine Lighthouse was known for having a crude history, which left a questionable feeling for everyone that came near it. The white lighthouse had an unusual paint, a black stripe rotating over the white color, from base to tip like a snake capturing its prey. The blood-red crown which served as a protective fence at the upper end of the structure did not give any good signals. In the abandoned area, it was clear who was still ruling. A mighty emperor, watching over the land with an eerie aspect.

"I'm not tryna scare any of y'all, 'cause I know how you are, buuuuut.."

"Of course there's a but, Anthony."

"Tommy, you just said butt." A wide grin on Anthony's face made him forget what he wanted to say, instead of being taken over by childish humor that gave everyone else in the group an united sigh.

"Let's just keep on going. This thing makes me feel like if it catches me moving, it'll eat me." Emma let her mouth run free, which apparently lit another smile on Anthony's face.

"That's exactly what I wanted to say, holy shit! Great minds think alike, no?"

Alexa, on the other hand, didn't find anything great in that.

"Are you kidding me? How is that not supposed to scare me?!" This was not her type of thing. If she didn't have a friend group that forced her to celebrate her birthday like this, then she would have been home drawing and listening to some music.

"Shut up and play Despacito, will ya?" a recurring joke in their group, because of Alexa's name, Anthony never failed to make himself laugh, and Tommy chuckle even a little. He thought he could see Emma showing a small smile, even. Alexa liked the joke, but in this scenario, it didn't amuse her even in the slightest.

They were two guys and two girls. Anthony, Tommy, Emma, and Alexa. June 3'rd was Alexa's birthday and she had never liked to celebrate it until she met those three. And she would never go out in a place like this at night, but being good friends for over three years changed her mind about things. But now she cursed every fiber in her being that accepted this offer. They said it would be memorable, that it was something she could remember forever, unlike her previous birthdays. When facing them with the argument that she did remember how she celebrated before, Anthony jumped in and dared her to say anything about them. That was when she knew she was defeated and had no other choice than to accept. Now, though, she was mad at her brain for retaining no information about her previous birthdays. Because not only she felt watched, but she had an impression of what was watching her. That rotating light at the tip of the lighthouse, which gave the feeling of one of those paintings of people that would have their eyes follow you on every move.

"If you're done with the arguing, let's keep on moving. I don't want some fat guard seeing us and then failing to catch us while we're running away."

"Great idea, Tom. Or, if they see us we could kill them. That would be even more memorable than going up in a lighthouse. Imagine, a secret you would have to take to the grave." Weirdly, the specific ideas Anthony was spewing out seemed to light his eyes, but no one else's.

"How about we tone down the murder meter just for these few hours? This place is tense already, I don't need to have to think about how to hide a body."

In times like these, Alexa regretted getting out of the house that day. She wasn't sure what unnerved her more. The fact that Anthony even thought about that or that Emma joined in on the conversation. They were 5 minutes of walking away from the lighthouse, but even from a distance, it seemed too great and too proud to be disturbed. And what they wanted to do made her uneasy, like committing a crime. But this time she kept it to herself, as the previous times she tried saying anything about the idea ended in just an accusation of being scared. Learning from her mistakes, she started walking along with her friends, a straight, direct way from their current position. It's like the road they were walking on was specifically made for that. Alexa's paranoid behavior forced her to look behind, only to have her heart calmed just a bit before she looked back in front of her. Everything had vanished, except one thing. The lighthouse, which was not rotating anymore. The light was set on her and her only. In a dark, empty space, she had the impression that she was truly alone, for the first time in her life.

She tried looking for other things, other ways. But everything around her and even below and above, all dark voids. There was only one way. The lighthouse. And as if the lighthouse had entered her mind and knew what she was thinking, the moment where she realized where she had to go, the structure let out a deafening sound, similar to the horn of great ships, being guided by structures as this one.

Placing her hand over the stomach and feeling like there was something holding it, she realized that this is what maximum anxiety could feel like. It was a situation she could not avoid but was scaring the hell out of her. Her hands were shaking and her breaths became quick, merging inhaling, and exhaling into one. But she started walking.

And the light was following her.