Day 262

The greenhouse had been forgotten for almost eighty years before the "urban explorer" found it.
He fancied himself a modern day Indiana Jones, a James Cook of rural England.
It definitely wasn't on any map and according to search engines the field was empty.
That made this a discovery in his books.

It was built strangely for a greenhouse,  it looked like the metal between the glass plates was brass.
He figured it must be art-deco maybe, something meant more for decoration than function.
Trying the door he found it wasn't even locked but it was very stiff, from the moisture inside maybe?
Either way it was a pain to push open but he just about managed it.

It was like stepping into a jungle, the plants inside were wildly overgrown and definitely not native.
Palm trees towered above him, he made note to keep an eye out for falling coconuts.
As he carefully made his way deeper inside he noticed a large rock formation on the side walls.
It had thick vines crawling up it, looked like there were chairs on the top of them.

Christ it was the biggest greenhouse he'd ever laid eyes on, maybe even record breaking!
He couldn't see stairs anywhere,maybe they were overgrown too?
As he felt around the wall gradually coming to a dip in the vines.
Pressing into it he managed to feel his way up an extremely covered staircase.

Once he caught his breath and looked around he saw a beautiful view.
The plants were truly picturesque, like something out of a movie, almost unreal in their perfection.
He gingerly sat down on one of the fairly rusty benches just to admire the view... and take pictures.
He tried to post them online but there was no signal inside, might be the brass on the outside.
Regardless of internet connectivity, he had to explore more of this place.

The platform he was on looked pretty solid and extended towards what looked to be a café
Maybe he could take some vintage food tins back home as a souvenir?
It was worth a look so he made his way over there, stepping over more vines along the way.

The doorway was wide open, propped with a little wooden peg that had begun to sprout flowers.
The inside of the little café smelt damp, like mould and warm air left still for too long.
It was so dingy, the plants behind had begun to swallow the rear end of the place, crawling through any and every crack, cracking the floorboards and causing the entire back end to almost break away.

He entered into a small side area, might have been the kitchen, might have been the pantry.
There was no food anywhere, which seemed strange, the cans that had once maybe stood on shelves now lay shredded on the floor.
Something about this place now seemed bad.

Walking out of the side room he saw that the café door was now closed and the wooden peg that had been holding it open all these years had been forced into the counter.
Seems he wasn't alone and yet, he hadn't heard a thing.

He crouched and crawled his way over to peer out of a window, through the mottled glass he saw a large dark shape walking over to the bench where he had sat minutes before.
He ducked down and crept back into the side room, he could wait until they left or were far enough away for him to make a break for the exit, hopefully it was slow and wouldn't follow him outside.

To pass the time he scrolled through the pictures on his phone and, to his surprise, saw a large dark figure standing in the background of every single shot.
In his selfies, it stood right behind him... he couldn't make out its face but it wasn't quite human.

He was beginning to hyperventilate now, shocked that he'd been so close to something so terrifying.

As he put his phone down he saw a large black shape squatting in the doorway.
It lifted its' head, huge bloodshot eyes staring right at him, lower jaw almost falling off.
It wore the tattered remains of an old fashioned suit, rusty stains all over it.

As he sat, paralysed with fear it began to creep closer to him.
When its' face was right next to his, its' breath reeking of rot, he fainted.

He woke up around early evening by his car, wondering if it had all been a dream.
As he sat in his car he opened his phone, if the pictures were still there then it must have been real.
Swiping his phone screen he saw a picture was already opened.

It was the creature's smiling face... right next to his unconscious one.
A knife was being held to his throat and its' mouth was covered in blood.
He looked in his rear mirror and saw a large gash through his neck, fresh blood staining his shirt.