...We used to go there when I was a teenager, for a place to drink beers. The place had already been shut down for years, so there was no sewage actually left there. It was just an abandoned building complex by then, complete with underground tunnels. I went through them plenty of times, but I got really spooked one afternoon and I can't really say why. I was about to use a tunnel to go from one building to another. The floor was leaf-strewn, the tile walls graffitied. It was really dark down there, as usual, but I knew that once you got to the other end there was light again as soon as you rounded a corner. I never even took a flashlight down there since you really didn't have to take more than a few steps without seeing where you were going once your eyes adjusted. On this particular day, I was just overcome with a sense of dread. As if something was literally staring back at me from the darkness. I stopped. I just had the sense that there was something there, waiting, as if it was a trap almost. I did not go through the tunnel ever again, especially after what happened the next time...
...There was a group of us, maybe twelve to fifteen I would say. We decided we would go upstairs and out onto the roof with our beers, and enjoy the view of the river. The metal staircase had several landings and clung to the walls of a sort of open central area that was squared off. There was a bit of danger at the top as the metal railing had fallen away, and it was a four-story fall into the basement. But obviously we were smart enough to just stay away from the edge. The door was solid steel and rusted open at the hinges for at least a decade I would say. Furthermore, a substantial pile of petrified cat excrement made for a door-stop...
...So back to the night in question. A damp and chilly late-autumn night. The group of us ascended the staircase single file, laughing and joking around. I was about in the middle, and halfway up when I turned to look back. In a sort of domino effect, or like the buck being, passed I watched as everyone's head turned back to look at the person in front of them, after having looked back as I had done. I thought it was odd for a second. Then I felt a dry hot breeze rush past me, spiraling up the staircase. I quickly turned forward again, and watched those in front of me turning their heads to follow was well. Now all this happened in a matter of seconds. At the top, my buddy Puba was about to step through the doorway into the room that led out to the roof-spot. Suddenly he was thrown off-balance and staggered toward the edge where the section of rail was missing, as the immovable metal door slammed shut! He managed to catch himself with the edge of the rail that remained. As all of this was still processing in my brain there was a great, deep, despairing groan. Not emanating from anywhere, but everywhere. As if the building itself had decided to groan and shudder. We all stood frozen for a second, two at most, and ran back the way we had come...
...The path out front was narrow with a swampy bog of rotted down field grass and old rain on either side. I ended up knee deep in it, running, splashing. We had all taken our time getting over the triple lined barbed wire that topped the 12-foot chain link fence surrounding the property. We were all badly bloodied getting back over...
...We all agreed to what we had just experienced, but no one wanted to talk about it after that. In fact, quite a few of the group refused to associate with eachother after that. I don't know what it was, but there was something there that night. I never went back. Ever.
EDIT to add update: The plant has since been torn down, and a big very fancy restaurant and catering hall has been built there. Ironically enough, the restaurant is called "Shadows."
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