A Whisper of Darkness

by Anusha Koshe (8)

Approaching the front door of the run-down mansion, she paused and hesitated. The door was chipped, with peeling black paint and a wroughtiron knob that made her toes curl. Why was she doing this anyway? Legends told of people never coming out of this house, so why was she here? Her curiosity must have gotten the best of her. She released a breath, the tendrils of it becoming visible in the frigid air. Her hand rested on the knob, and she turned it quite easily. The house seemed to shift uneasily as the door swung open. Whatever was beyond that door, she didn’t know. All that black staring at her from this dark cavern unnerved her. She stared at it, calculating, glaring, doing anything to see what was beyond the veil. The door clanged shut behind her, a scream of old iron, and she jumped. She must have walked into the house without realizing it. Pulling out her flashlight, she cast a long beam that swam across the room. It must be the foyer, she thought. The room was big and grand, complete with ebony wallpaper, and glittering golden beasts that glared at her from above. The house was pretty well kept, she concluded, for being abandoned many years. She had expected a mess of dust and debris. Shaking her head, she pressed on, with only the long beam of the flashlight solemnly guiding her.

She walked into another room. The dining room, she presumed, studying the ivory table and chairs, complete with ivory plates and utensils. She walked slowly, watching around her as though someone, or something would jump

by Rosaline Qi (12)

on her in that very moment. She collapsed into an ivory chair, gasping at the sudden flash of cold that shot through her. Marble, she thought, as she studied the table. And then froze as she saw the smallest red speck which gave her the biggest warning to what the chair was. Bone. Her eyes widened. She hurriedly scrambled to get off the chair, but she was stuck. She screamed, helplessly pinned to that chilling chair of bone, and yet knowing in her heart that it was useless.

The air shifted. Some- thing moved, and she stopped screaming, craning her neck to try and see what, or who was there. The air shifted again. A pause. Then, blinding pain as a force struck her on the head. She saw white for a second as the pain rushed through her. She fell forward, the chair releasing her as she was swallowed by the deep darkness.