Ye Who Enter

• Armaan Abbas, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2022

The building dominated the landscape, anything that dare oppose it, mysteriously disappeared. Poor Callum Van-Nevered was approaching the front door, his body shaking uncontrollably. His best mate Osir Maligne was a few paces behind him, his face was tense and his hair standing on end. The boys had accepted a dare to go and explore 22-30 O'Malley Road, a huge block of land with a mansion fabled to be haunted, their only light, that of the full moon. ‘Why did I agree to this?’ was Callum’s last thought as his hand touched the door handle.
The door swung open as though pulled by a superior force and Callum and Osir peered in. Etched on an archway were the words ‘Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter’ but apart from that, the mansion was really not that creepy, more grand, with spiraling staircases and gold-plated walls. It looked more like a castle than a creepy mansion. Osir breathed out a sigh of relief as he realised that this mansion was nowhere near as creepy as they believed, Callum echoed his thoughts and his body started to relax.
The boys swaggered with confidence through the grand passageway towards the flight of stairs, they noticed the staircase had smears of blood, dotting the white banisters. As they climbed up, the darkness engulfed them and it felt as though the mansion was whispering, “Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter.” A chill went up Callum’s spine as he realised they had fallen into the trap many others had fallen into. The mansion had consumed them. As they reached the top of the staircase Callum swallowed a scream as he saw what awaited them.
Straight ahead of Callum and Osir was an assembly of doors. As the boys looked around, trying to find the right door their eyes caught attention to a door that was pure white. As they approached the door, they realised it was locked and a tide of hopelessness smashed into the boys as they succumbed to their fate. Callum turned the handle and miraculously it opened revealing an ornate chamber, it was covered from head to toe in an assortment of jewelry. As they entered the room the door slammed shut behind them, locked and they realised they were trapped. Trapped. Trapped.
“We must escape,” Omir informed Callum as they looked around the chamber for anything useful. As they rummaged through all the jewelry they noticed a floorboard that didn't look as though it was fitted in properly. “What about that floorboard?” Callum asked excitedly as he and Osir cleared all the jewelry away from it “That’s no floorboard” Omir murmured, “it’s a trapdoor” and with that they jumped in and slipped away, hoping to get to safety.
The trapdoor ended in a dark and musty place that smelt of something rotten, as Osir and Callum rummaged onwards they realised they were in a dungeon, a cellar. Locked. Never to be seen again. The mansion had taken two more victims