This story is based on one of my eerie dreams.
Get ready to have a peek into my subconscious...
"The Mansion"
I was on a journey to who-knows-where.
It was raining very hard and I was walking down a very foggy road
When I saw a large castle.
It was a very old-looking castle,
with moldy and moss covered walls
and vines creeping up the sides.
But I noticed something very strange about this castle.
All the nearby trees were dead.
The ground I was stepping on was also very crunchy
And when I looked down, I saw why.
All the grass was also dead.
But even if all the trees were dead and the grass was dead, one type of plant flourished in the eerie castle garden.
The lavender.
Clumps of lavender plants were growing all over the castle garden.
All the plants were filled with purple lavender flowers.
There was a beautiful smell in the air.
Then I realized that it was still raining very hard.
I decided to go into the castle.
To my surprise, the castle doors weren't locked.
I went right in, and saw that the hallway was lit with light.
It was very warm inside.
I walked down the hallway, and saw old paintings which seemed to stare at me, knights' armor which seemed to be centuries old,
And a white light which seemed very out of place in the castle.
It was coming from the end of the hallway.
I went towards the light, and saw a room, with a lot of people inside.
The room was lit by a perfectly modern fluoroscent bulb, and there were desks and chairs.
It looked just like a classroom.
And sure enough, there was a teacher with a blackboard, who was teaching the students something.
I sat down on one of the empty desks, and started to listen to the lesson.
"Never, ever say these words," the teacher said.
On the blackboard, the following words were written: "lavender, mom, dad, family, love, friend"
"I repeat to you all, never EVER say these words anywhere while on this mission!"
"Huh? What mission?" I asked a student beside me.
"Don't you know? We go in groups to find the lost treasure of this castle."
"Oh."
"Now, everyone, here are your groupings," the teacher said.
The teacher then proceeded to read a long list of names, making groups of three.
Two other students approached me and said I was on their team.
"How do you know who I am?" I asked.
"We just know." they responded in unison.
"You may start." the teacher declared.
The teams then went outside to look for the treasure.
My team went near the graveyard. I hadn't noticed there was one before..
"Why are we searching for treasure in the graveyard?" I asked.
"The treasure is most likely to be here." one of my teammates said.
"Oh."
We started searching behind trees and behind gravestones, but after an hour of searching, had found nothing.
"Why don't we just try digging the treasure out?" I suggested.
One teammate shuddered. "What? Dig out dead people? No way!"
But my other teammate thought it was a great idea. He started digging in front of one of the gravestones.
"Don't do that! Stop it!" My scaredy-cat teammate said.
The ground started to move on its own.
"HUH?" The surprised digger-teammate said.
"I want my mommy!" Mr. Scaredy-cat declared.
He had said one of the words that the professor said we should NEVER EVER SAY.
I suddenly knew why.
A fog-like creature suddenly burst out from the ground and went into Mr. Scaredy-cat through his.. nose? mouth? ears?
No. It went in through all of those. And Mr. Scaredy-cat violently thrashed about, clawing at the air, and screaming like a madman.
Then he fell down dead.
"NOOO!" I started running.
"My family shouldn't have forced me to come to this wretched castle!" my remaining teammate said, while running beside me.
I saw another spectre approaching fast. Mr. Brave-digger realized his mistake too late. He had said the word 'family'.
The spirit possessed him, and he, too, died, like Mr. Scaredy-cat.
I was the only one left in my team.
"I don't care about any treasure! I just wanna get out of here!" I screamed.
I saw the lavenders again. They were so beautiful. I looked back at my dead companions.
Then, I saw something which sent a chill down my spine.
There were lavenders filled with flowers growing from the chests of my two dead comrades.
Then I noticed a glint in the middle of one of the lavender flowers.
I stopped running and looked down at one of the lavender plants I was passing.
Sure enough, there were gold coins in the middle of each of the flowers.
When I plucked out the gold coins, the lavender plant withered and died.
"I get it now," I thought to myself. "The lavender plants grow from dead people, and the coins are what is left of their life. The treasure is in the dead!"
Then I realized I had thought aloud.
I said the word 'lavender' out loud.
Sure enough, there was a spectre headed straight at me.
I felt a sudden pain all throughout my body,
then I felt no more.
-Isay P.-