"Party time, Dennis," Biff said. He and Fred picked me up and we drove in Biff's jalopy to the Halloween party at Elisa's house. Elisa, a self-styled witch, brags about her spells. It's uncanny how many of her "friends" have their lives ruined after getting on her bad side. I'm on her bad side, but the party is for our friends, so the whole gang is going. Elisa throws a mean party, but watch your back.

On the way, we three got the same text from her: "WIN OR LOSE--PRIZE $1000 FOR THE FIRST PERSON TO MAKE IT THROUGH DRAGON HOUSE." Elisa's good for the money. I could use 1K for college. Biff always needs money to fix up his jalopy. Fred is rich, but he's always on the lookout to add to his fortune.

Fred, thinking he was funny, texted back, "NOT ENOUGH $$$, CHEAPSKATE." Elisa hated Fred ever since last Halloween when his costume was a drag version of her witch's robes. She hated Biff because he made fun of her pretensions to black magic. She hated me because I refused to take her to the prom last Spring. I had a date with a girl I liked. And I didn't like Elisa, although I didn't rub it in her face. Elisa said she'd make me regret refusing her. The girl got cystic acne, ruining a sweet complexion. The dermatologist couldn't clear it up and thought it might be allergies. She left town, and I went to the Prom with Fred's older sister, who was home from college. Elisa texted back, "$10000 FOR THE FIRST OF YOU 3 LOSERS TO GO IN FRONT DOOR OF DRAGON HOUSE AND OUT THE BACK." Elisa drives a Humvee.

Biff said, "She has to put the money up to make her spell work, or it'll bounce back on her." We forgot we'd have to win or suffer the curse, which meant "bad luck." Like what happened to her other frenemies. If you believe in witches, curses, and that stuff.

Biff swallowed. Ten thousand would get his heap road worthy, with plenty left over. I could buy new computers, clothes, and stuff for college next fall. I guess Fred would just put it in his piggy bank.

Dragon House, called that because it had a weathervane with a dragon on the roof, had been empty ever since the miserly old couple who lived there died in a fire started by lightning. (According to my Dad, a fireman, lightning probably struck the lightning rod.) The house had been repaired by the heirs, but renters moved out quick, claiming the place was drafty, noisy, and unsafe. Doors would open and close, windows fly up in rain, bugs and vermin moved in.

Sometimes kids would sneak in looking for the misers' money, or whatever was supposed to be haunting the place. Biff, Fred and I tried a few times, but found nothing. Fred said there might be something missing that was needed to summon the haunting.

Dragon House was next door to Elisa's, so we parked in front of her house and got out of the car. A light drizzle had started, and lightning and thunder was headed this way. Elisa was sitting on her front porch. From there, you could see both front and back doors of Dragon House. Some of the gang was with her, mostly the ones who were afraid of her or wanted something. We waved. They waved back. "Are you taking the dare?" Elisa yelled.

"We are," we answered.

"Get your money ready," Biff yelled. He really had a hunger to fix up his car.

We walked into Dragon House. The house was quiet. Eerie, like something had gone silent when we entered. I'd never felt this when we explored as kids. We walked further into the house. The door slammed behind us and the darkness was sudden, and a little unnerving. Fred tried the door.

"Stuck," he said hopefully.

We turned on our cell lights. Dragon House was shadowy and still, with that listening feel. Thunder boomed. The storm was almost here.

"So, all we have to do is walk to the back door and out to get our $10000, right?" Biff asked, puzzled. "We don't have to go upstairs, do we?" Biff was deathly afraid of heights.

"The dare is just in the front and out the back," I said. "Let's get it over with and party on."

"Yeah," said Fred. "Let's see if we can find the money hidden here first." Fred's generous, not greedy, but he lives and breathes making money.

We knocked on a few walls and looked in a closet. Nothing. We went in the library. That door slammed behind us. Fred and Benny pulled on it, but couldn't budge it.

"We're stuck," Biff said. He moaned, along with Fred.

My Dad leads firefighters into burning buildings and out again. His voice spoke quietly and calmly in my ears, "If a door closes, open a window." Things like that.

"So? We can break a window and climb out. All we lose is money." I didn't add 'and our pride.' They relaxed.

There were three doors where there had been shelves when we explored as kids. One said, "Fear." Another said, "Desire." The third door had a question mark. What was the difference between fear and desire?

Biff and Fred were staring at the doors like they'd found the treasure of the lost Dutchman's Mine.

"No rooftops," said Biff. He'd fallen off a roof when he was three, hence his fear of heights. He wouldn't even go on swings as a little kid.

"The money the misers hid and no one found," said Fred. He ran to the door labeled 'Desire,' opened it and ran in. It slammed behind him.

Biff pounded on 'Desire' and I pulled on the knob. The door wouldn't open. I yelled Fred's name, but he didn't answer.

Biff was breathing heavily, having a panic attack like he had when up too high. "There's no heights here. It's all one floor." He ran to 'Fear' and in before I could stop him. I heard him scream once. I couldn't get that door open either.

Now what to do? Where were my friends? What was behind the third door? I wondered what my Dad would do? Not stand here doing nothing, for sure.

I asked Dad when I was a kid why he wasn't frightened to run into fires.

"Well, sometimes I am, but I don't panic," he told me. "I am afraid of the consequences, of leaving you and my family alone, but I want to help the people trapped inside, and support my fellow firefighters. Just like there's two sides to every coin, fear and desire are two sides of firefighting, and life. I face my fears to get my desire." My Dad is the coolest man I know.

My friends were trapped somewhere in this maze of horror. I meant to get them out, and hoped I could. I opened the third door and walked in.

I was in a dusty office. Fred sat at a desk, shuffling pieces of old, torn paper.

"I found the money, Dennis. We're rich." His eyes were glazed and he was smiling funny.

"You're already rich, Fred."

"Now I'm richer."

I had to talk him down. "Listen to me. This isn't real money. It's paper and old checks. Look."

"You just want it all for yourself." He glared at me, suspicious.

"Fred, don't make me slap sense into you. This is trash. I'm your friend. Stop imagining you've got what you most desire. Look again."

Fred stared at the scraps in his hands. "This isn't money. "Where's Biff?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to find him. Want to come?"

"Absolutely." Fred threw the trash on the floor. The door opened and we were back in the library.

I opened the door marked, 'Fear' We walked onto the roof. Biff was there, lying flat and crying. Heights. We went to him. I patted his shoulder.

"Biff, we've come to help you down. Stand up and take my hand."

"I can't," he wailed.

"Biff," said Fred, in a calm voice, "We're here to help you. We won't go without you, so you've got to help us."

Biff sniffled. He opened one eye. "Guys?'

I held out my hand. "Take my hand and keep your eyes closed if that helps. We're getting out of this rotten house together."

Biff stood up slowly, holding my hand and Fred's. We walked to the door and through it to find ourselves back in the library. The three doors were broken.

We hurried out the back and over to the fence between Dragon House and Elisa's place through the rain. We climbed over the fence. Biff went without hesitation, and he hated being even that high.

Elisa was staring at us, jaw hanging.

Fred yelled, "Keep your money, loser." We piled into Biff's jalopy and drove away.