The Tale of the Haunted Manor

By: Crescentfang

	Tis was the night of horror, the night where goblins and ghouls roam the world of the living, a night of fright…and lets not forget the candy! Yes, it was the night of Halloween! David had plans to go to a supposed haunted mansion with his friend Hima as he got dressed in his room. When he emerged he was one of the creatures of the night…a vampire. He used some make-up to turn his normally white crescent moon shape mark on his forehead into that of a blood moon crescent, some fake fangs that stuck out a bit past his lips with a bit of fake blood running down his chin, and no vampire in his right mind wouldn’t have a cape that was pitch black on the outside and blood red on the inside.  Once ready and prepared for the night, he made his way down stairs. At the bottom, he saw his friend already waiting for him, the snow leopard kitten dressed as Norman from the movie “ParaNorman”.  David smiled as Hima meet him half way down the stairs and hugged before asking, “Are you ready David?” before replying, David playfully bit his friends neck, causing Hima to purr softly then answered him, “Of course I’m ready, I’ve been looking forward to this.” With that the two boys went downstairs, Hima stood by the door as David looked for his mom to let her know that they were heading out. He found her in the downstairs bathroom, applying that last bit of make-up for her own costume, a Mummy of all things. David chuckled a bit which got her attention before he said, “Mom, we’re heading out. Have fun at your party!” David’s mom smiled warmly at her son as she said, “Thanks honey, you too. Don’t eat suspicious candy.” David smiled as he took off to meet his friend, calling back, “I won’t!” Leaving his mom to giggle a bit at her son’s excitement before going back to work on her makeup. Shortly after, the two boys left the house and made their way to the haunted manor.

	It was already getting dark as the sun was almost gone behind the horizon as the two friends walked, giggling slightly as they saw some smaller kids begin their trick or treating. About 15 minutes of walking later, they arrive at the mansion. It was walled in with bricks high enough to prevent most people from climbing over, but the main gate made of iron with a spike at the end of the poles  was loose and easy to open. As the two boys looked into the courtyard beyond the gate, the mansion door was barely visible as a thick fog loamed, as if to hide the mansion from any poor soul who would wander into it…David felt a shiver down his spine and looked at Hima, who gave him a warm and confident smile as he asked, “Are you ok David?” The young wolf nodded slowly as he started to feel a bit more assured thanks to his friend and they both entered the courtyard. Their steps on the cold cobble stone path to the mansion’s door seemed to echo through the entire area, a sense of dread filled the air as the two slowly opened the door, revealing the pitch black darkness within. David pulled out a small flashlight, the cone of light that it emitted revealed what the darkness was hiding. It was obvious that the place had long since been abandoned, everything was a shade of grey of what it’s former color was from all the dust that lined everything exposed, including the old paintings and all the old furniture that was around the as well as the portrait of the former owner that hung in the middle of the wall on the opposite side of the door with a spiral staircase to the left that went to the second floor.  Timidly, the two boys started to explore the manor, the boards creaking under their paw steps, the only noise to break the deathly still air around them. Timidly David lead the trip through the manor, every now and then something would creak in the house, causing him to eep and jump a bit while Hima put an arm on his shoulder and said, “It’s ok, it’s just a really old house.”  each time, calming his friend down each time.

	Over time, David became more calm and less jumpy as he said, “Hmph, this place isn’t so scary.” Hima smiled and said, “Well, we haven’t gone upstairs yet, want to check it out?” David nodded and replied, “Sure, why not? Be cool to see what’s up there.” With that the two boys padded up the spiral stair case and began to walk around some more. On the second floor, the stairs lead to a long hallway, either having to go left, or right at the top. David flashed his light down each side as he asked Hima, “Where do you want to go first?” Hima thought for a second then said, “Lets go left first.” David nodded as the two started down the corridor, exploring the rooms as they went, again finding nothing, however just as they started to leave to check the other side, a voice spoke out from behind them, “It appears that I have guest…” The voice sounded deep and distorted and made both David and Hima stop dead in their tracks, a chill running up David’s spine as the voice went on, “Please, stay for dinner…in the afterlife!” David yelled in terror as he ran down the stairs, Hima following quickly behind him, but just as they were about to dart out of the door, the two boys heard a laugh, but it wasn’t the same dark voice that frightened them…David recognized it after a short while. With a deep breath to calm himself he said, “My friend played a trick on us.” Hima chuckled slightly as he replied, “Well…he we convincing.” Slowly they went back upstairs to see who the culpret was. They discovered a snow white artic wolf with black hair on his head named Mal bent over from laughing as much as we was, dressed in a black long sleeve  shirt, black pants as well as black gloves and shoes, showing the two boys why they had over looked him in the first place. David sighed as he approached, “You know Mal, you nearly gave us a heart attack.” Hima smiled as he said, “He speaks for one of us.” Before giggling a bit, making David blush slightly, a bit embarrassed at how terrified he was. As Mal recovered from his fit of laughter, he stood up and said, “Alright, I  had my fun. Lets go get some candy while the night is still young.” David and Hima both smiled as they started down the stairs as a group.

	David made it to the door first and tried to open it. After a few hard pushes and pulls he said, “Haha Mal, very funny.” Mal seemed confused as he said, “What?” David turned to look at him and asked, “Can you unlock the door now?” Mal shook his head and said, “I didn’t do anything to that door…” Hima sounded a little worried as he said, “But…it was unlocked when we came in…how did it-” He was cut off by a faint eerie voice, “Fresh souls…” Immediately a chill ran though each boy’s spine as David started to work on the door harder, joined by Mal as Hima looked for the source, believing it was just a recording, however as his gaze fell upon the portrait of the former owner he saw the ghastly figure walk through the painting, slowly floating towards the boys as Hima yelled out, “GUYS?! We need to move!” The two wolfs turned to look at what Hima was talking about, both of them turning slightly pale upon the sight as the group ran as fast as they could out of the room. In their rush, they found their way into the kitchen. Hima kept an eye out for the specter while David and Mal tried to open and ever break the windows, but an otherworldly force prevented them from doing so. As their desperate struggle to evade the ghost continued, they found a door to the back yard, finding it completely fenced in as well as finding that it had an old shed and garden, both of which were overcome with weeds and grass. The boys reassumed the roles they had while they were inside the house. After a few minutes of searching, David found a small hole in the fence that lead to the front courtyard. Relieved and filled with a both of hope the group started to squeeze through the hole, Hima losing a piece of his shirt that got caught. They turned the corner just in time to see the specter walking through the front door, saying, “It’s been so long…since I’ve had such young souls…” The terror within the group returned as they made a mad dash for the gate, luckly finding it unlocked still as the three of them ran in terror, not looking back. The face of the specter smiled at the sight as it spoke to itself, “Ahh…it’s been so long since I scared the pants of some young adventurers, I only hope a few more shot up.” With a chuckled the ghost vanished, awaiting the next group to give him some Halloween fun.