Mason Jones and the haunted house Mason stood in front of an old rundown house in his street. The house was badly damaged when a fire broke out a couple of years before. Luckily, the house was empty when it happened so nobody got hurt, and the original owners never fixed it, choosing to move to a new place instead of repairing the old house. The house stayed in that condition, with various legal troubles stopping the city from tearing it down, as the old owners refused to sell it or repair it. Mason knew the couple, they were middle-aged people without children. He only saw them a couple of times, as they weren't exactly the most outgoing of people. Now, people have reported hearing noises coming from inside the house recently. With it being abandoned, everyone suspected it to be either stray dogs or homeless people looking for shelter. The police came a few times looking for the source of the noise per request of nearby residents, but they weren't able to find anything. And the noises didn't stop, prompting people to consider the house to be haunted. Mason was not among those believing the house to be haunted. Nor was he going to sit around when such a mystery was right in his neighborhood. Armed only with his smartphone, Mason already went there once during the day and failed to find anything. It seemed that all there was inside was a bunch of rubble and burned furniture. So he decided to come back at night as well, sneaking out of his home without his parents noticing. They didn't exactly approve of his snooping ways, fearing that his curiosity could get him into trouble, or worse. But that didn't stop him from continuing his little investigation. It was past midnight when he entered the house, with his smartphone serving as a flashlight. Everything was quiet. No signs or anyone or anything being around. Mason slowly crept through the burnt hallways, careful to make as little sound as he could, but the creaking of the wooden floor gave away his every step. He searched the house again, checking all of the places he saw during the day which stroke him as suspicious. But he couldn't find anything. After a while, he was about to give up his search and go home when he finally heard it. A faint sound echoing through the halls. But after carefully listening to it, it didn't sound like ghosts. It almost sounded like people talking. Mason turned off his flashlight and slowly moved through the house, searching for the origin of the sound. Moving into the old living room, something caught Mason's eye. Along the floor, he noticed a small line of light. He took a few steps forward when the noise stopped. Dropping to his knees, Mason ran his hand across the floor. "Jackpot.", Mason whispered, as he was able to feel what felt like a trap door under his hand. But before Mason could search for a way to open it, the hatch burst open and a pair of slender hands pulled him into a small tunnel. Mason fell down on the cold floor. He felt a knee between his shoulder blades that pinned him to the ground. In a swift motion his arm was twisted behind his back. "Ow, let go!" "Shut up, you little brat." Mason couldn't see the person giving him the order, but he could see a knife being held inches from his face. Turning his head the other way, Mason saw a man approaching which he recognized as the old owner of the house he was snooping in. "Shit, shit, shit. What do we do now?" "Shut up." Mason realized by the sound of the voice that the person pinning him down to the floor was a female, probably the man's wife. Looking around as much as he could in his position, Mason realized he was in a small metal room, surrounded by stacks of bags filled with white powder. "Finish taking out the stuff. With this last batch we will have taken all of the merchandise we had stashed here and we can finally skip town." "What about the kid?" "We'll stash him here. If they ever find him and learn about this place, we'' be long gone by then." The man picked up an empty box and began packing the bags inside. Meanwhile, the woman pulled Mason up on his feet, putting the knife to his throat. "You try anything funny, and you're dead. Understand." She said with a vicious look on her face. Mason nodded. The woman picked up a roll of duct tape from a small table nearby and led him towards a small pipe in the corner of the room. Mason took a good look around. The table was filled with various tubes and glasses, and a few larger machines were scattered around the room. This was probably the reason they didn't want the house gone or sold. And they didn't want to risk anyone fixing the house stumbling across their little operation. Apart from the hatch he came through, there was a tunnel leading out of the room, through which the man carried the boxes filled with drugs. "Sit down." Mason was forced to sit down in front of the pipe, after which his captor pulled his hands behind the pipe and taped them together. Then she taped his ankles. "Just two boxes left honey.", the man said as he returned from the tunnel. "Excellent.", she responded, before ripping a piece of tape which she slapped over Mason's lips, gagging him. She smoothed out the tape and pressed it a few more times against Mason's mouth to make sure it stuck tightly to his lips. "That takes care of this little nuisance.", the woman said as she got up and helped her husband carry the last box out through the tunnel. Meanwhile, Mason tried to break free from the tape binding him. But it seemed that the many layers of tape around his wrists and ankles were stronger than he anticipated. And the tape stuck tightly to his lips, no matter how much he tried to pull his lips apart. It seemed there was nothing he could do to escape his predicament. And with no one knowing about this place, or him being there, it seemed he was trapped. He could hear his captors loading the boxes, a faint sound of movement echoing through the tunnel all the way to his ears. As Mason wiggled in his bonds, suddenly he felt something in his back pocket, and his mind lit up. His phone was still in his back pocket. At first he thought it fell out when he fell on the floor, and then, with everything going on, he had almost forgotten about it. Squirming and wiggling, Mason was able to pull himself as close to the pole as he could, until he was able to reach his phone with his bound hands. It took him a bit of time, but he was able to pull it out of his pocket. Suddenly, he heard a crash in the tunnel, and the sound of yelling. "Great job. Look what you've done." "Calm down and help me pick up the bags, and let's get out of here already." Mason was sure they would be occupied for a couple of minutes, enough time for him to get help. Mason wasn't confident in his skills with typing an sms without being able to see the screen, but was pretty sure he could dial the police without the need to see the phone. But first, he needed to get his mouth free. While his captors were busy fighting in the tunnel, Mason pulled his knees closer to his face and began rubbing the tape in an attempt to pull it off. Moving his mouth around as much as he could under the tape, coupled with intense rubbing with his knees, allowed Mason to finally peel the strip of tape on his mouth. He gasped for air as the sticky tape left his lips, though it still hung on his cheek. Mason quickly dialed 911 and focused on the faint sound of the ringing tone coming from his phone. He didn't want to risk turning on the speaker and alerting the couple in the tunnel, instead focusing as much as he could to hear the phone in the silent room. As soon as he heard someone answer, Mason tried to explain everything while keeping his voice as quiet as he could. The woman on the other side of the line had trouble hearing him, but after a few repeats, it seemed as if he was finally able to get his message through, and hear her say that the police was on his way. A few moments later, the couple returned, just as Mason sighed with relief. He was able to hide the phone behind his back as they entered, but when the woman approached him to regag him, she was able to hear the police on the phone, as Mason failed to end the call when he saw them. "Shit! The cops are coming. Run!" Without bothering to regag Mason, the couple ran through the tunnel, leaving Mason to sit tight and hope for the best. A couple of minutes later, Mason heard voices from the tunnel again. "Heeeelp! I'm in here!" Soon, a couple of police officers entered the room and freed Mason. It turned out they arrived just in time as the couple got out the other end of the tunnel which was in a garage a couple of houses down, whose owner was their accomplice and were about to escape with the drugs when the police intercepted them. The officers thanked Mason for his help, though once they let him go after he gave his statement, his parents weren't the happiest with their son. But Mason was glad to have helped a crime get solved, filled with a warm feeling, despite the fact he was in danger. With happy thoughts, the young man went home to be grounded and go to sleep.