I already told them this was a bad idea. Nothing good would ever come of it. The branches crunched under our feet as we walked through the dark forest. A soft breeze ruffled my curls and the leaves on the branches swayed, causing the moonlight to flicker eerily. I heard my friends ahead of me, panting heavily as we climbed up the hill. It was starting to get steeper, and the scent of forest flowers invaded my nostrils. The air became thinner, less warm. Looking at the three figures ahead of me, I stopped when the one up front halted.
‘’We’re here, guys,’’ George said, sounding out of breath. When I approached him I could make out his wide blue eyes and pale face, making his freckles stand out even more. I jumped slightly when Emma clutched my arm and moved to stand behind me. The first one to step out into the meadow was James.
About one hundred yards in front of us was a large mansion, perched on top of a hill. The building looked old and broken, vines covering most of it. The windows were closed up with large planks and the roof looked as if it was slowly being peeled off. It really gave me chills. The mansion looked out of place in the meadow - a dead thing surrounded by beautiful flowers. We all held our breath as James moved further towards the mansion, not looking back. I pulled Emma with me, my gaze focused on the haunted building.
Why was it haunted?
It was said nobody had lived there for decades, but the screams and loud wailing that came from it at night would prove different. At the moment, there was utter silence. The only thing that could be heard was the breathing of the forest surrounding us, the gentle rustling of leaves.
Not a soul dared to come near it. Nobody ever had. We were the first.
I could hear George softly whimpering behind me when we stopped just in front of the dark building. My arm started to feel numb from Emma’s grip, but I didn’t have the heart to remove her hands. James turned around to face us, his brown eyes fearful but determined.
‘’Stay close behind me,’’ he said. I took a deep breath and followed him onto the wide stone steps that lead to the front door. James opened the front door, which creaked loudly. We just stood there, completely still, looking into the dark void of the house.
‘’Good thing I brought torches.’’ George pressed one of them in my hand and threw one at James and Emma, but she merely clutched it to her chest. I turned it on, pointing it at the opening. There were old dried leaves scattered on the cracked tiles and a part of the marble stairs’ railing was left broken on the floor. The leaves were crushed under our feet when we followed James in, slowly scanning the hall.
We made sure to leave the door open behind us while we slowly pressed on, staying as quiet as possible. After taking a left turn, we found ourselves in what seemed to be the living area. There were books on the floor with ripped out pages and the carpet was stained with all kinds of substances. When we passed a sofa, I stopped to point my torch at it. There were scratch markings on it, the stuffing poking out of them. Emma whimpered and held onto my arm even tighter. Swallowing loudly, I moved to catch up with the rest.
‘’Guys, I think we should go back.’’ I was shushed by James, who had approached a wall to inspect it. Gathering behind him, we watched how he peeled off a loose bit of wallpaper, revealing more scratches and dark stains that looked an awful lot like blood. He placed his hand over the scratches, fingers digging into each of them.
‘’They’re human size,’’ he mumbled. By now, my heart was thumping in my chest. I bit down on my bottom lip when James moved on, passing underneath an arch. Not wanting to leave him alone, I quickly followed him into what seemed to be a dining area. This room wasn’t in bad shape, although the chairs were missing pieces and there was glass littered around a cupboard. Walking around the table, James stopped at a closed door.
