My friend gave me a mask he found on the floor at a haunted house. It was a massive mistake.

I’ve done haunted houses a thousand times. I love them. I go to at least one every night of every weekend close to Halloween. <br><br><br>A few weeks ago, my friend put a post on Facebook offering an invite to a haunted house out in the middle of nowhere. It’s more of an adventure than a haunted house. The place is deep in the woods, and you hike through the trails of the forest. There are plenty of actors dressed up, and all sorts of props and decorations. The trail is about a mile long, and it takes about 45 minutes to an hour to get through it. I’ve gone about five times. <br><br><br>My friend Mike texted me yesterday and said that he had an extra ticket and invited me to go. We arrived at about 8:30, and got in line to wait for our group’s turn to start. We were all sitting on some benches, and this girl was talking about what had happened to her the night before. I assumed she was an actress working there, but Mike said she worked at the front gate. She had gone through the trail with a group of friends the night before just for fun, and had a weird experience. <br><br><br>She said she found an actor’s mask on the ground, and she picked it up. She said she thought it was cool and decided to keep it. She said she ended up bringing it back to work the next day and turning it in to the lost and found. She said that it was driving her crazy because she kept having these bizarre and terrifying dreams. She said she thought they were just dreams, but they were so real that she wasn’t sure. <br><br><br>I laughed when she said her story, and she said it wasn’t a joke. She pulled out her phone and showed me some pictures of the mask. It was a simple porcelain mask. White, with red paint around the eyes. It looked like something you’d see at a venetian carnival. I thought it was cool, but didn’t think too much of it. <br><br><br>We got to the front of the line, and they made us wait for about 20 minutes to start. It was getting really cold, and I asked if we could go inside and stay warm. They said no, but offered to let us in a few minutes early for $20 each. We took them up on the offer, and headed into the trail. <br><br><br>It was dark out, but there were some flood lights along the path. We could sort of see where we were headed, but it was still dark enough to not be able to see everything. The hike was about half a mile to the starting area for the haunted house. We walked at a slow pace, and enjoyed the scenery. It was beautiful, with the leaves changing colors and all. We neared the starting area, and saw a small building. <br><br><br>One of the staff came out and told us the rules. Don’t touch anything. Don’t try to touch the actors. Don’t try to remove the actor’s masks. They’ll scare you, but they won’t touch you. Stay on the trail. If you leave the trail, you’ll be escorted out. <br><br><br>As we got ready to start, I asked her about the mask that girl had found earlier. I asked if it was okay to pick it up and wear it if we found it. She said it wasn’t there anymore, and that it was gone. <br><br><br>We had to wait for about 10 minutes. Then some fireworks went off, and we started. The hike through the trail was normal at first. Typical haunted house stuff. Actors dressed up in different costumes. Some jump scares. It was a lot of fun. <br><br><br>Then I saw it lying on the ground. I picked it up and examined it. It was the same mask from her pictures. I gave it to Mike, and told him to put it on. He did, and we kept going through the trail. <br><br><br>At first, everything seemed normal. Mike had the mask on, and we were just walking along. We turned a corner, and one of the actors jumped out at us and scared us. That’s when things started to go wrong. <br><br><br>I noticed something was up when we rounded the next corner. There was a large crypt in the middle of the trail. The crypt wasn’t there before. I’d been enough to recognize it, and I don’t remember that specific large prop being there before. Mike didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary though. I remember him saying that it looked like something you’d see in a real cemetery. I should have said something, but I didn’t. <br><br><br>We kept going through the trail. The actors didn’t seem to be acting. They were doing things that were just out of the ordinary. One of them complained about his back hurting. Another one talked about how cold it was, and how they had to stand outside all night. <br><br><br>I tried to get Mike’s attention, but he didn’t respond. I looked over at him, and he was different. He looked like one of the actors. He had the same mask on, but he had a long, black coat on. His pants and boots were black, and he had a hood covering his hair. I looked at his face, and it didn’t look like him anymore. It looked like some monster. I didn’t recognize Mike at all. <br><br><br>At that point, I knew I had to get out of there. I took off in a full sprint. I ran as fast as I could, and I could hear Mike behind me. He was running through the underbrush, and I didn’t stay on the trail. I could hear him crashing into things, but he was catching up to me. <br><br><br>I remember being terrified. I could hear him right behind me, and I thought he was going to catch up to me at any second. I kept running, and I saw a light in the distance. I thought it was the exit, but it wasn’t. It was a parking lot. There were about 20 cars parked, and I thought I was safe. <br><br><br>Then I saw all the people walking around. They were all wearing masks, and they looked like the actors. I ran up to someone and asked for help. They just stared at me and didn’t say anything. <br><br><br>I ran across the parking lot, towards some stairs. I went down the stairs, and found myself in a long hallway. The walls were made of concrete, and there were bare light bulbs hanging from the ceiling. There were white doors at either end of the hallway. I ran towards one of the doors, and it was locked. <br><br><br>There was a door in the middle of the hallway. I tried the knob, and it turned. I went inside, and locked the door behind me. <br><br><br>I’m inside now. I’m sitting on a desk, writing this. I found a pen and some paper, and I’m writing by the light of my cell phone. I can barely see what I’m writing, but I don’t want to turn on the lights. I feel safe with the lights off. <br><br><br>I don’t know where I am, but I think it’s under the haunted house. I can hear footsteps and voices outside the door. They know I’m in here. I don’t think they can get in, but I’m not positive. <br><br><br>I’m going to wait until they give up and leave, then I’m going to try and find a way out. I think the door at the other end of the hallway might be my only chance at escape. <br><br><br>I’m going to put my phone up, and wait it out. If the door opens, I’m going to kill myself. I don’t want to be caught and be a part of whatever this is. <br><br><br>Wish me luck.