9Haunted House
An abandoned house sat surrounded by dead black trees in the middle of private land. The owner was long dead. Had gone missing one day. Just up and left without a word.
Everyone in the town a mile and a half away knew of the abandoned house. This 'Haunted House' as they called it. The grey bricks - the same color of a corpses skin - and black slated roof with the moss covered pillars and ivory covered walls made the house look like something that the Addams Family would live in.
Pale, holey and torn curtains hung like ghosts in the windows. The windows themselves were cracked or broken, revealing the black emptiness inside. The kind of blackness that seemed to stare straight into your soul.
The silence could drive anyone mad. The birds flew around the house and the property. As did the wind. The swamp used to have crocodiles but even they left. There were old looking spider webs everywhere. Like even the spider could not take anymore.
The house was hidden by dead bushes from the road. Yet this did nothing. Dogs whimpered. Cats screeched. Cars sped up slightly. Bikes crossed the road. Horses ran. All tried to get away.
Here I stood. I was dared by the mean girls at my school. I stood in my running boots, my warm jeans and jumper. My fur lined coat. My full backpack. I had everything I needed in there.
My flashlight with extra batteries. Snack bars. My granddad's Stanley knife. A few blankets. A book. Stuff to last me through the night.
I put my hand on the rusty door handle and turned it. The door fell. The door handle stayed in my hand. I dropped it. In this silent place the bang was way too loud. I stepped over the door that had - according to the chipped paint - originally been white.
I was in a huge hallway. This was not a house. This was a mansion.
Old, cracked steps stairs led to a second floor. Ivory grew around the antique rail. Old paintings yellowed with age hung on the walls. A round Parisian rug was in the center of the room. In the center was a table with a vase full of rotten flowers in it.
I walked through the door on the right. I was in the sitting area. Beautiful, blood red chairs were in this room. There was a fireplace with some wood beside it. I could light myself a fire if I wanted to.
I looked up and there was a chandelier. Originally it would have been made of crystals or even diamonds but now it was black with rust.
The floor had muddy footsteps on it, leading out of the room. I followed. This door led me to the dining room. Behind me was a loud bang. I spun to see that the chandelier had fallen. Parts of the crystal had shattered.
I turned back to the dining room. It was dark and if the living room was any indication, then my bad eyesight was not going to do this place any justice. I switched on my flashlight.
I was right. A mahogany table stretched across the room, twelve chairs surrounded it. All were mahogany with dark red pillows. Then something caught my eye. Something flashed at the top chair.
I walked up slowly. Taking in the gothic beauty that surrounded me. Bowls of rotten fruits. Dusty vases with dead flowers in them. Wine glasses with off looking wine. On one of the glasses I could see a lipstick stain. It was like whoever was here intended to come back.
At the top chair I froze. Blood stained the mahogany...
Now I was in it. Staring at a chair with blood on it. Beside the chair a knife lay on the floor. At least now I knew why that place looked lived in. I hurried out of the room and into the kitchen.
I was not brave enough. Rotten pieces of meat was on the counters. Knives were everywhere. On the tables, the floor. They even hung on the racks on the walls. Rotten fruits and breads were scattered. Like the cooks were cooking when they suddenly had to leave.
What happened here?
I walked on. The next room was a bar. An old fashioned bar. The wine glasses were set up in a fancy pyramid. Wine bottles sat in a straight line on the bar. Trays full of wine glasses were scattered around. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
Someone was watching me. From outside. I pointed my flashlight out of the window beside me and I screamed. Big eyes stared at me.
The eyes grew large as they flew away. An owl. This place was getting the better of me. I went through the last door and found myself back in the hallway. I started to climb the stairs carefully. Some were cracked and crumbled a little when I put my weight on them whilst others I had to jump over as they were in such a bad state.
On the second floor I walked to the end of the corridor. I opened the first door and swiftly closed it again. I shook my head and reopened the door.
No more dares, Anna. I promised myself.
It was a bedroom and it truly was beautiful. A large deep purple king size bed and a deep wooden floor made of the same wood as the floor. A mahogany dresser with a tall round mirror was surrounded by perfumes in old fashioned bottles and make-up.
On the bed was blood. With a dead woman on it. She was wearing a deep blue Victorian dress with gold embroidery. She was covered in jewels. Yet her skin was a waxy, pale blue. Her chest was torn open with a dagger still in it. Yet, even in death she was beautiful.
I closed the door and moved on before I threw up.
The next room was similar but in red. Also, without a body. As did the next room. Then I came to the bathroom.
The blood filled bathroom. Blood seemed to drip from the walls...wait... dripped? Old blood usually stained, not dripped. Something out of the corner of my eye moved.
A dead body laid in the blood-filled bath. Then it looked up at me. I screamed and ran. I ran down the stairs but the stairs crumbled and I fell forward. I hit my head.
My hand hesitantly touched the back of my head. Blood. A hand touched my shoulder...
This was not the first time the house has killed...
I brought the cigarette to my mouth. This place was cool. My friend was going to search it with me but she canceled. Oh well.
I tossed the cigar onto the ground and opened the door. I stepped inside and the floorboards creaked. Spooky...
This was my history project. Well, not exactly. My homework was to get a picture of an old house and this was as old as it gets. I mean this place was built before the civil war and now it is the 1960s.
The house was cool, gothic. I took my video camera out. It was an okay weight but I would only get a few pictures in. I took a photo of the hallway. The stone steps were mostly intact so I walked up the stairs and down the corridor. I opened the door. A beautiful woman lay on the bed. If not for her dead looking skin and bloody wound I would have whistled.
Her hair was the same beautiful colour as the mahogany furniture. The dress complimented her. I took a picture of her face. It would be in black and white so she would just be unnaturally pale but that could just be blamed on make-up. If only world peace was on the go in her time then she may have been saved.
I walked away. I walked towards the other end of the corridor. I opened the door. This was a little girls room. A scary little girls room. There were beheaded dolls and a ripped up teddy bear. This girl must have had problems. I opened another door and found stairs leading up. I walked up them.
The attic had even more dust then the rest of the house. There were boxes, books and a wardrobe. I took a picture. I shivered. I had a feeling that something was behind me. I turned.
"Oh, God!"
We were standing in a freezing cold village. I was wearing a suit and Lily was wearing a black dress that she got from her grandmother. She had a black corset with dark grey details. Her sleeves were clear with black flower printed on and a hoop skirt.
"Excuse me, sir? Is there any way for us to rent a carriage across to the old mansion on the hill?" I asked a man standing outside a pub. He could not take his eyes off Lily.
"I will take you." He said before looking at me. "For six shillings."
"What!?" I exclaimed. Six!
"That place is haunted." He warned me. I gave him six shillings. First, it was daylight and second, Lily could get rid of any ghost. Apart from that pirate who could not understand how she could see him.
I helped Lily into the carriage. The man kept asking her questions but Lily remained silent. Eventually he tried with me and I made up the lie as I went along.
Yet again Lily was my wife called Katarina and we were here because her grandmother had visited but left something. She had sent Lily but I had come because she may need help.
By the time we arrived at the mansion I was holding her hand.
Something wrong is here. She used her thoughts to tell me. Great. Can't anything be easy?
"I'll be back at five." He told us.
"Why not pick us up in the morning." I told him.
He nodded and left but not before I saw him look at the house with fear filled eyes.
"Let's go." Lily said but her voice sounded hollow. She kept her eyes trained at the house. The top floor. I looked up and saw a pair of red eyes. That better be a ghost.
I entered the house first and turned to see Lily with her arms crossed.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Someone has just walked over my soul." She told me before shaking her head. She just stood for a minute before walking past me and into the house.
We rushed up the three flights of stairs and searched the house from top to bottom. Lily searched the rooms on the right side of the hall and I searched the left and prayed that Lily would be the one to find it.
We were alone in the house. Then I looked out of the window. I flew backwards. Lily turned and screamed. Something with black skin and red eyes was tearing at me.
Its claws scratched at me. It had four arms but kept low to the ground like it was permanently ready to leap. It was not a ghost. Then, in a blur of black, it was gone.
Lily picked up her skirts and ran after it. I just lay there. Then I saw a child. A dead child. The little boy stared at me with black eyes. He cocked his head to the side.
"Enough." Lily said from the entrance. She sounded a little too calm.
The boy ran out the door. I stared at El. Blood was on her skirt.
"Now what?" I asked as I stood up. She collapsed into my arms. Dead.
I panicked. If Lily could not stop this thing then who could?
The house was so alive. Candles lit the chandeliers. Laughter drifted from the dinning room. The cooks slaved away in the kitchens. Slaves worked away, serving dinner, serving drinks, cleaning the bar, fixing this, doing that.
The dogs ran up and down the stairs, playing. She smiled as she listened to it all. Kathryn brushed her mahogany waist length hair. Her deep blue dress with gold embroidery was made of the finest materials. She was covered in jewels. Now all that was left was her hair.
She toyed with the idea of just leaving it down, just to annoy her mother but father would get angry. Too angry.
A knock sounded at the door. Before she could allow the person in they entered. Her scowel changed when she saw who it was.
She screamed as the knife entered her chest.
David took the stairs two at a time. He ran into his beloveds room. He launched at the attacker. And lost.
Screams echoed the house. A black deamon tore at anyone and everyone. What did they do to deserve this?
I knew what they did. They made sure that my son could never marry the girl. The girl who would give hin titles, property, children. Now, in the midst of chaos he too was dead.
I gasped. The hand moved away. An old woman exited the house. I stood ready to bolt but they all surrounded me. Kathryn, David, the monster, the guests, all of them. Everyone who had died in this house.
And me.
I looked down and saw my own corpse.
I don't know how long it was until a couple came to the house. Then it was all a blur. I could not see. I could not hear. I could not move. But when I could I was horrified.
A mans beheaded body was in front of me. A knife was in my hand. And too my horror...
I smiled.