Haunted tour through terrace mansion

• Jenny Dang, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2004

He could see nothing but darkness. He could only hear his own heavy breathing and Kate’s whimpering. Chris cursed under his breath. They were both trapped in this room beneath the mansion because of his little sister, Kate. Kate wandered off to explore another room, dragging him with her. They had both fallen through a hidden hole in the room and into here. They couldn’t reach the ceiling so they had no choice but to find another way out by carefully feeling the walls inch by inch.
A few minutes passed but all he still couldn’t find a way out through the walls, let alone a door.
“Are we trapped?” Kate asked. She had been doing nothing but standing there, shivering.
“What do you think!” he snapped back, “There you are just chickening out and asking stupid questions when you made us trapped in the first place!”
“But how was I supposed to know about that stupid hole?” Kate argued.
“You should’ve been more careful!”
A rope dangling from the ceiling brushed Chris’ face. Angrily, he pulled on it. There was a click then the room was dimly lit from a dusty light bulb in the ceiling, revealing a horrible scene.
The walls and floor were covered with blood. A skeleton was laying on the floor in the centre of the room. But there was a door in the wall to his right where he hadn‘t searched yet. Excited, he made his way towards it.
“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!”
The scream, followed by a thump, came from behind. Startled, he spun around.
Kate had fainted. On the wall where he had been standing before, a horrible mangled image of a face was painted in blood, its menacing eyes staring straight at his. Chris’ chest tightened as he was tied to the spot. Everything was silent as he continued to gaze into the eyes. Was it just his imagination or did they seem to be alive?
The spell was broken when he heard footsteps echoing behind him. He suddenly remembered the door behind him and immediately tried to open it. It was locked. Desperately, he banged his fist against it feeling the baleful eyes watching him.
Suddenly, there was a click and the door was thrown open, knocking him back against the wall. He saw several adults entering the room, all looking nervous. They didn’t notice him, but there was a silence as they stared at his unconscious sister on the floor.
“Um, I think that’s your niece on the floor,” said a man to his friend.
Before his uncle could react, Chris stepped forward. Several heads turned to him. His uncle looked as if he could not believe his eyes.
“What happened Chris?” he asked. “Where did you kids wander off to? You had me so worried!”
His voice sounded both relieved and angry. The tourist guide cleared his throat and turned to his group.
“Our nightly tour through the Terrace Mansion will be concluding soon so are there any questions?”