Niece.

• Shardia Calvert, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2017

The pale trees called to me in a sense of caution. The overpowering smell of rot and a strong metallic smell made my face feel like it was going to explode. My feet lead me through this maze of pale trees that have scratches all over them and bark ripped from the trunk. Far above, the branches twisted like distorted limbs seeming to be reaching out towards me beckoning me into their twisted, sharply-pointed branches like they want to engulf me. The night is darker than usual. Fog clouds my sight hindering my vision as it eerily covers the ground and cloaks the white trees in a mysterious grey haze. The still air feels as if it’s haunting me as I walk up the driveway towards my uncle’s old home. I never understood why he insisted on buying this castle. The old, abandoned, castle got eerier as I got closer and saw the details of what once was a home. The wooden planks, boarded the smashed windows, rotting away. The windows themselves, smashed and stained. The tiles on the roof scratched and chipped, topped with browning leaves that are probably as crunchy as the ones beneath my boots.
Surprisingly, the door is still intact. I take a step inside the rotting old house and am instantly hit with the strong smell of rotting wood and expired food. I walk around exploring all the rooms. The surprisingly clean but used furniture sits cosily in the house like it has always meant to be there. The kitchen, however, was leaking. The old fringe, covered in gunk and seeping liquid. The cupboards, almost falling off their hinges. There is hardly anything in the cupboards but fragments of objects and different tools. The electricity in the house is working, which is strange because my uncle was the most recent person living in the house and he died months ago. I start to feel a presence in the room but I look everywhere and there’s nobody there. This sends a feeling of panic through my entire body. I decide to just do what I came here for and leave as soon as possible, I don’t want to spend my free time here that’s for certain.
I carefully climb the creaky stairs to the second floor. I find the door to my uncle’s old bedroom and walk in. Instantaneously, the panicking feeling starts to swallow me. I look around and see nothing. I quickly run to the bedside table to get what I came to this creepy castle for. I grab the book from the drawer, turn, and bolt for the door. Scared to turn around I start moving faster down the stairs and get to the front door when the front door is slammed shut with a loud bang. I try pushing and pulling but the door won’t budge. Defeated, I turn around and see a pale, lifeless, familiar, man staring at me with a cold expression. He points at me and whispers, “Niece.”