SCARY STORY

Elyse had tried to tell her friends the old mansion was haunted.  It’d been in her family for well over a century.  Most of her ancestors had lived in it at one time or another until it became so old and worn there was no hope in ever rebuilding it. 

Lately weird things seemed to happen there all the time.  Sometimes the entire house lit up in the middle of the night.  Pretty hard to do when the house had never been wired for electricity. 

The doors and windows were always opening and closing.  Mysterious smoke rose from its chimneys. There were also voices and noises; sounds from the past slipping through the veils of time.  She could hear music, laughter - and then there were those scary sounds.  The very thought of them made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

But no - they wouldn’t let it go.  Soon as they realized Elyse had the key to the front door, they wanted it.  They begged for it!

Elyse knew the way.  She used to love the old place.  At first it seemed to call to her, whispering her name upon each summer breeze, inviting her to visit and explore.  Now it scared her. 

The two story Victorian home sat in the middle of a field about five acres from her family’s farm.   Ancient weeping willow trees huddled around the building, making the monstrosity nearly invisible. Just the sight of its weathered paint, partially collapsed roof, broken windows and debris littered path kept most visitors away.  Its window shutters hung precariously from rusted hinges and banged loudly each time the wind kicked up. 

Near the very top of the roof the attic window sat lonely and foreboding.   It gave her the creeps, a never ending feeling of dread.   And lately she’d sensed that someone was still upstairs waiting.  .  .  watching.   For whom?  For what? 

Her friends begged.  She tried to warn them but they wouldn’t listen, so she took them in the middle of the day.  Just like they wanted.  She led them across the bridge and up the path to the front door, turned the key in the lock and shoved the door open.  Just like they wanted.  A suffocating feeling swept over her forcing her to back away.  She warned them again, but they wouldn’t listen.   She gave up.  She told them she’d wait for them on the other side of the old bridge at the end of the drive.  She asked them to hurry.  They were happy, thrilled about the new mysterious things they were going to discover.

“You’re such a chicken!”  They laughed and waved her away.

And as they stepped inside, the house seemed to swallow them in darkness.  Elyse watched until the very last one was gone, then she closed the door and left them to the house.  Just like they wanted.