James And The Mysterious Stranger

• Kate Muller, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2007

James slowly walked home from school. As he passed an old house with broken windows and crumbling roof, he heard a high-pitched scream. He froze and the scream came again. Looking up at the entrance of the house, James saw the door hanging off the hinges. Curiosity overruling his common sense, he ran up the path. The room beyond the door was dimly lit, but James could just make out a staircase opposite him. He could hear a muffled creaking coming from upstairs. James ran across the room to the stairs and was soon at the top.
James stared down the dark hallway. Rustling was coming from his right. He peered around the corner, heart pounding. In the corner of the room lay a beautiful girl, twitching uncontrollably. James ran to her side and fell to his knees just as a shadow erupted from her chest. Once the shadow parted with her body, the girl lay still. Looking up, James saw that the shadow had taken the form of a tall man with glowing red eyes. The man raised his hand and James flew backwards, smashing into the opposite wall.
“What have you done to her?” James asked loudly, pointing at the girl. “Nothing for you to worry about.” The man had a croaky voice. He raised his hand again and James was raised into the air before crashing back onto the floor. Over in the corner the girl was stirring, but the man was focused on James and hadn’t noticed. The only thought in James’ mind was to draw the stranger away from the girl.
As the man advanced on him against the wall, James shot out of the room. He hurtled down the stairs, where he stared around. He could hear the man’s footsteps in the hall above, and he knew that he had to find a place to hide. There were two doors on his right and three on his left. He bolted through one of the doors to his right. Looking around, James saw an old laundry tub in the corner, and realised he was in the laundry. James stood still, listening carefully. He could hear the cries of a man echoing in the empty house.
“You cannot hide from me! Vincent always finds his enemies!” the man was calling. Suddenly James saw what he had to do.
He flung the door open and called, “You’re right, I can’t hide!” With that he tore over to one of the doors opposite him and opened it. As he had hoped, it was the kitchen. He saw another door that led outside. He moved over and stood in front of it, waiting. Vincent crashed into the room and glared at James. Then he lunged at James, but James moved aside and Vincent fell through the door into the sunlight. He lay there for a moment, before he dissolved into thin air. Running upstairs, James grabbed the girl and left. He’d go home, where the girl could tell him everything.