The Solstice family were an odd bunch; murder, witchcraft, and funerals were integral parts of their everyday life. Elvira Solstice was no exception. Her parents married out of pure loathing, and spent their lives slipping poison into each other's f...
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The stairs in that castle were so noisy. Each step made the wood squeak and I cringed; waiting for Aurora to race down and ask why I was going upstairs in the first place. Then I'd have to come up with some stupid excuse like 'I got lost looking for the bathroom', which was a classic but she definitely wouldn't believe me if I used it. She had the kind of eyes that could see straight through that kind of thing.
When I finally reached the top of the staircase I was faced with a long hallway, which was just as creepy as the rest of the house. On the walls, between each door, were family photos...if you could call them that. No one was smiling in any of them. They just stood there, staring at the camera like statues; hands at their sides, postures stiff and lifeless. The one closest to me was of Elvira and Aurora with a man towering behind them with violet eyes. I barely recognised him as Larry.
The frame hung only a centimetre or so from a dark red door that looked like something out of my nightmares. Specifically the one where I'm running from a giant octopus and the door to freedom just keeps getting further away. It always ended with the giant cephalopod catching me in it's slimy tentacles and eating me. I don't know if octopi have teeth, but the one in my dreams did. Gross, right? Well, this door looked almost identical to it.
I shivered. I did that a lot in this house...and around these people.
Internally praying that this door didn't lead to Aurora's room, I turned the knob and peeked inside. I thought it would be pitch black, but there was a faint glimmer from an old looking candelabra on a small table. It illuminated enough for me to see that the walls, made of stone, had nothing to cover them; no paint or wallpaper. It gave the room the look of a smelly old dungeon from some far off medieval period.
Glancing down the hallway to ensure that neither of the sisters were coming, I slipped through the door and gently closed it behind me.
There were cobwebs all over the place, one still holding a spider which looked really really dead. I can't say I was too upset about that because it was a huge, ugly thing that took up the entirety of its corner of the roof. I was surprised at how not surprised I was.
Above me, running from one end of the room to the other, was a horizontal pole with straps hanging from the middle. I tried not to think about what it was used for. It was probably some kind of torture device, one that would be used on me if I was caught snooping.
No. I couldn't think about it or I'd run out of the castle without any proof, and Officer Fauker would send me back...again.
The table with the candelabra held a small stack of books; 'The Importance Of Mould In Food', 'There's A Vampire In My Attic!: How To Exterminate The World's Most Ancient Vermin', 'Twenty Creative Ways To Die', and, right at the top, 'Mortal Dating Customs'.
I didn't have time to wonder where they'd found such freaky books because I saw something shift beneath the table. I froze, heart beating so hard against my chest that I thought it would explode.
