Ahh, my first blog entry. This is so exciting! It's been a long time since I kept a blog. I figured today is as good a day as any, since I actually DID something. Usually I just sit at home and mope, and/or sleep.
So, today was the big event with my volunteer group, Spectrum. We're an LGBT+ friendly youth group, and we earned a grant recently which allowed us to hold our second large event - the Haunted Walk! We gathered quite a large amount of guests, totaling in 18 people including us. This was outstanding, considering our usual numbers are around 10.
We all gathered in the YSB basement. This was pretty jarring, since normally only staff and volunteers are down there! So to see everyone - friends, acquaintances and strangers - gathering all in the same place with the same excitement on their faces made my heart happy. We managed to snag some costumes for peeps with our extra grant money, and everyone was dressed up so well! I was my usual - a black cat, though this time with E-BOY flair. Weirdly enough, I wasn't the only one with this idea; there was actually another e-boy cat there. What are the odds.
We began our walk towards the Haunted Walk headquarters. It wasn't that long, and the weather was surprisingly lovely. Nobody even needed to wear a sweater. Everyone got to wear just their costumes, which made for quite the sight downtown. We got lots of compliments and strange looks. Even though it was just a walk, it was lovely to be able to go outside with the youth I enjoyed helping so much.
Once we reached the building, our tour guide was waiting outside for us already. She was dressed in a black cape with an eerie blue lantern. When she saw us, she smiled, and to be honest... she was SUPER cute. Oh lawd. I'm gay. Thankfully, talking to my friends later, I wasn't the only person who was hella gay for our tour guide. That's irrelevant, but trust me - I was crushing HARD.
We began our walk downtown, stopping at various buildings to hear about the spooky occurrences there. Finally, we came to the main attraction - the prison. It loomed ominously in the center of downtown, and even I got chills looking at it. The guide did a wonderful job setting the atmosphere, I'll say that much. Once inside the prison, immediately I was hit with the scent; there was no wind indoors, and dust gathered in every corner. The air was heavy, and musty. I'm surprised I didn't get asthma from it - something smelled almost... moldy. Needless to say, it made the atmosphere that much more uncomfortable.
We walked slowly through the halls of the prison, seeing real gallows and nooses. It honestly almost made me cry rather than scared - at least one person here had been wrongly accused of their crimes, and hanged. That's a terrible loss. My heart went out for those who were wronged, and finally, we got to the spookiest area of all; the cells. They were so... cramped. We all stood in a circle outside one of the cell rows, when something horrifying happened. The wooden door to our left, which was NOT supposed to open, began to creak. And slowly, it drifted open, inch by meager inch. We all kind of laughed awkwardly, and even the guide was silent. Once the door had stopped, she smiled shyly and continued. And then it happened AGAIN. One of my friends had enough, and went to go check if someone was screwing with us.
There was nobody on the other side.
No windows.
Just more cells.
SO. That was horrifying. The guide went on to say that it had happened before, and truth be told they weren't sure why it happens. I do believe in ghosts, but I'm still a skeptic when it comes to actual "encounters". Yet, I can't imagine what could have caused it. There were no vibrations from upstairs or downstairs. No breeze. No people (alive ones, at least). It was extremely eerie.
Afterwards, the tour ended with us outdoors. We took one lovely groupshot (which I won't post for my own privacy), and began the trek back to YSB. Everybody was whispering about the door. I don't blame them - I was as confused as the rest. When we got back, a huge wave of sadness suddenly hit me and I began crying. I know why this happened, but I won't say as it will bring down the mood of this happy post. Thankfully, I had all my lovely friends there to calm me down. I love them all so much. Due to my poor mental health, I decided to call a ride rather than bus like usual.
And that leaves me to where I am now, at home with my kitten, Waldo. I still wonder about that door. What could have made it move? I know for a fact the tour group does not tamper with the building internals - it's a historical site. I don't want to jump to spirits, but something moved that door. To make things worse, that door was HEAVY. My friend struggled to open it when he checked things out. Yet, it opened itself without a struggle. Oof, I shudder just thinking about it.
Peace out,
-Jay
