“I like to live life at the edge,” he said. “There’s so much more to do there.”  

He hopped on the scooter and took off down the mountain. I quickly buckled my helmet, grabbed my scooter and followed him. It was like a moment out of a movie; my hair blowing in the wind, driving down a windy mountain in Vietnam with the sun shining. He went far ahead but I caught back up to him. He looked back at me and smiled. I was happier than I’ve been in a while, winding down the roads in the mountains.  

I didn’t know where he was going but I knew following him would be the adventure of a lifetime.  

The sun beamed down on my face as we rode down the mountain. There wasn’t a single cloud in the sky. I put on my sunglasses and turned on the radio. I was at peace, just him and I riding down the mountain on a summer day. He said he wanted to show me something, something I’ve never seen before, and that idea excited me more than anything. The view of the luscious plants climbing up the tall, jagged mountains was something I’ve never seen before.  

 He turned off down an un-marked trail, a red sign reading “trespassing” and “caution” stood in the grass. We flew past them, the wind blowing against the signs. There was no turning back now. 

We eventually arrived at what seemed to be an old cottage at the end of a never-ending road. We hopped off our scooters and walked up to the doors of the home. He knocked on the door of the cottage but as soon as he did, we heard the noises of things crashing inside. 

“I thought you said it was abandoned!” I exclaimed. 

“I thought that it was” he replied. 

We both jumped back when the door suddenly swung open. He didn’t seem nearly as startled as I was when the door swung open. Looking into the cottage it just looked like a black abyss with nothing in it.  

“What is going on?” I stated shakily.  

I glanced at him with wide eyes as he stood there with a straight face. He made eye contact with me and as soon as it happened, I caught a glimpse from the corner of my eye of a giant hand reaching out of the cottage. I turned back abruptly as the hand grabbed me by my waist and started pulling me towards the cottage.  

“Help me!” I screamed but as much to my dismay he just stood there. 

I could see on his face that this was planned. The grin appeared on his face, and I knew that this was it for me. The one person I thought that I could trust let me get pulled into a dark abyss. 

The adventure of a lifetime turned into the end of my lifetime.