Haunted House

• Alexandra Miotto, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2010

Sam and Bridget walked through the cool fog on Halloween night. The two thirteen-year-old's were out Trick-Or-Treating. Sam was dressed as a Gothic fairy. She wore netting tights with a black and gray layered skirt, a white singlet with a black one over the top, dark eye shadow, black eyeliner, mascara and dangly skull earrings. Bridget dressed up as a witch. She had on a black skirt and top with fake cobwebs and pretend spiders stuck to it, high black boots, a pointy black hat and she carried a broomstick with a smooth wooden handle and dry straw at the end.

“Trick-Or-Treat”, the pair chanted together, as candy was tossed into the bags they were carrying. The girls walked through the cool fog to the next house. It was a scary looking house with cracked windows, a rusty door, dry, brown grass, crumbly bricks and a porch with rotten wood floors. Sam and Bridget walked up to the door. It slowly creaked opened. There was a sign messily written that said ‘Come inside…candy in the kitchen.’ Bridget walked in, followed closely by Sam. As soon as they were fully inside the house, the door slammed loudly behind them. They jumped, squealed and turned around. There was nothing there but a creepy looking portrait of an ugly old man. He had gaps in his smiley teeth, a pointy crooked nose, warty skin and shoulder length messy gray hair, fashioned into a short ponytail. He was the ugliest man either of them had ever seen. As Sam and Bridget walked across the room, the eyes seemed to be watching them, and following their every move.

As the girls walked one slow, careful step at a time into the kitchen, they saw a black cauldron, with a note that read ‘Candy’ stuck to it. Sam walked towards the bowl eagerly, Bridget following closely behind. Sam gulped, lifted her eye line to the top of the cauldron, stretched her neck over and peered into the cauldron. “Ahhhhh!” She squealed. “What is it?” questioned Bridget. Sam was too busy squealing and shaking to speak. She just pointed to the black cauldron, wide eyed, quivering. Goosebumps formed all over her skin. Bridget peered into the rusty cauldron. “Oh My…! Ahhhh!” Bridget screamed. Inside the cauldron was a bowl of gross, sticky, gooey, yucky human eyeballs! The girls sprinted to the front door and pulled on the handle. The door wouldn’t budge. They both pulled with all their might. Suddenly, BOOM! The door handle broke off. The girls screamed even more. They pushed on the door, but it didn’t move. The called to the outside, but nobody could hear them.

They looked at the portrait of the ugly man. His face had changed from an ugly smile to an angry look. He was now squinting his eyes, baring his rotten teeth and scrunching up his nose. “Ahhhhh!” They both screamed together. They ran to the living room. It was a creepy looking room. There were ripped blue curtains, a television switched on with static on the screen, cobwebs hanging in every corner, many old creepy portraits, an old, wooden rocking horse, and three fine china dolls sitting above the fireplace. The girls were breathing heavily. After they had calmed down it was silent. About a minute later, that silence was broken by a creaking noise. The girls turned and found the source of the noise. The rocking horse had starting rocking. ‘But how?” said Bridget with fear in her voice. No windows were open, there were no fans or anything that could be making the rocking horse rock. The girls were really freaked out now. To make things worse, suddenly the fire place lit up and the wood started burning. The girls heard the ‘Poof’ as the wood burst into flames and turned around to the fireplace. “How did that light up?” asked Sam. Bridget stared at the flames, and then above the fireplace. “The three china dolls have disappeared!” Screamed Bridget. It was true. The three china dolls were no longer in their places. Sam and Bridget looked on the floor to see if they had fallen down, but they weren’t there. They looked over on the sofa, and there they sat, all in a line, staring at the static on the T.V. “Ahhhh!” Sam and Bridget screamed together. They looked away and then looked back. The dolls were no longer on the sofa. They all sat one behind another rocking on the rocking horse. The girls continued screaming. A cold blast of air suddenly blew by Sam.

They continued screaming as they ran out of the living room. They crept up the stairs. Each step made a creaking noise as the girls stepped on them. Finally they came to a landing on the second storey. A dark hallway was the only path to take so they went through. They held each other’s hands tightly as they slowly slunk through the pitch black hall. They spied a creepy white light at the end of it. They took about one step every 3 seconds. They were so scared they could barley move. They got closer and closer to the white light. “Ohhhhhhhh” came a spooky noise from where the light was. The girls walked closer and closer. Soon they got close enough to make out what the light was. It was a man brushing his messy ponytail. He had with skin so pale he looked as if he had never gotten a drop of sunlight. He was slightly transparent. He had gaps in his teeth, a pointy crooked nose and warts all over his face. The girls stared in awe. Their mouths hung open, they had wide eyes and they turned pale themselves. It was the ghost of the man from the portrait.

The girls squealed louder than they had ever squealed in their lives. The man looked at them, dropped his hairbrush and then turned more and more transparent until he had completely disappeared. Sam and Bridget started sprinting down the hallway the way they had come, they were about to reach the landing of the staircase, when suddenly, a freezing colt blast of air passed the girls, and the ghost of the old, ugly man appeared stopping them from getting to the staircase. Bridget and Sam stopped dead in their tracks and started sprinting for their lives the other way. They reached the end of the hall, and looked back; the ghost was quickly floating towards them. This only made the pair of seriously scared girls sprint even faster than before. They broke out of the dark hallway, and there were several doors along the corridor. A giant chandelier hung above them. It started wobbling and suddenly broke off the ceiling and starting falling down towards the girls.

They dodged it at the last second and kept running down the corridor. They came to a set of short steps and climbed them. They opened the door to find an attic with lost of creepy items in it. Like old dusty books, torn pictures, a rocking chair, cobwebs and a block of kitchen knives. The girls slammed the door behind them. They stared at a headless mannequin wearing an unfinished red ball gown. Then they noticed needles and thread sewing the dress with nobody holding them. “Ahhhh!” both the girls squealed. Then they saw them. The three china dolls had come to life and were making their way towards Sam and Bridget.

Many screams were heard from the house that night. Sam and Bridget never came out of it. Many people say they died in there and are now part of whatever haunts the house to this day. Others believe that they are still alive and trapped forever with whatever is inside.