Chapter 1
Everytime I shut my eyes, I recall the past. The ugly terrible past. Everything that happened in that house we found in the woods. The fear that gushed through my veins are renewed and I feel scared. I feel scared and sad. Sad that my friends are gone and scared that it'll still come back for me; that i'll never be safe and free. I remember so well how it all started......
"But Alan, we were meant to go see a movie this weekend"
I was talking on the phone to my crazy boyfriend, Alan. He was blonde, with invitingly grey eyes. We met one day in Biology class. He was sleeping and i was sitting beside him. The teacher asked him a question and he had no clue what the answer was. I told him and he thanked me later by buying me lunch.
"Come on baby, we could always see a movie. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Please"
I was silent.
He continued "Just come along to the woods with Paul and I. He'll even bring Jane along"
Paul was Alan's bestfriend, brother, partner, anything you name it. Both of them are closer than anyone I,ve ever seen. Jane is his girlfriend. Snotty and Bitchy, but I like her anyway. She's nice to me and fun to be with.
"Okay, fine. But next weekend, we're going to see that movie"
"No problem, baby. Love you!"
"Okay, love you too"
"Bye."
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Paul, Jane, Alan and I packed up our bagpacks that weekend and set out to the woods. We took my Audi A3. Paul and Jane sat in front, with Paul driving. I stayed at the backseat with Alan. We had hardly left my house when Jane started whining.
"Paul, this is a very very bad idea. What if something happens? What if some animal eats us up and all the cops will find are pieces of bones? What if there's a werewolf or a vampire or worse a...."
"God, Jane stop with the whinning. You're irritating everybody" It was Alan that cut her short. He really didnt like Jane but he had to deal with her because of Paul.
"Jane, there are no werewolfs or vampires. They dont exist. Come on, this is gonna be fun" Paul said.
"No, i dont think so. I'm going to spend my whole Saturday with trees" When she noticed that her shouting was not working out, she changed her approach. "Please Paul, just turn around." She said with the sweetest voice she could manage. She rubbed his thigh and blinked twice. "Please"
He removed her hand. "Sorry babe. I cant"
"Okay. Fine" She gave up and turned facing the window
There was an awkward silence. I was about to drift into sleep when Paul announced, "We're here"
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I checked the time on my wrist watch. It was 4pm. I was tired and thirsty and I felt like my legs were going to fall off if I continue walking. I stopped.
"Paul, how far is it from the main road?"
Paul was holding a map and staring confused at it.
"Just a couple of miles" He said.
"Liar!" Jane said under her breath.
"What was that?" Paul asked her even though he heard her perfectly well.
"You know just as much as I do that we are lost in this fucking place." She was shouting now "We have been moving around for an hour now. We have passed this particular tree about three times and yet you are claiming that you know the way out of here. You dont know where we are going. Just fucking admit it!"
"Okay. Fine! We're lost!!!" He shouted and threw the map on the ground.
"Shit!" Alan said "Shit mahn. What the fuck are we going to do now?"
"What I've been trying to do since"
Everybody was shouting now. Alan was shouting at Paul. Paul was trying to justify himself. Jane was complaining of thirst. All the noise was getting to me and i was getting a headache.
"Will you guys just shut up????" I screamed at them.
Then suddenly everybody was quiet and starring at me.
"With all this fighting, we're not going to get anywhere. Lets just work together to find a way out of this place"
"Clarice is right, guys." Alan said "So which way do you think we should go?"
We turned left and we didnt walk long before we saw it. It was a big beautiful mansion.
Chapter 2
It was the most beautiful house we had ever seen. It was big and white; and surrounded with plants and flowers of different colours. There was a water fountain in the middle. The grasses surrounded the house that only a narrow pathway was provided for walking that led straight to the front door.
We stood starring admiringly at the house. Then we looked at each other with knowing glances. Paul raised an eyebrow at me and I nodded. We started towards the house in silence. When we got to the front door, Jane was about to open it when....
"Dont you have manners?" It was Alan who spoke up. "This is somebody's house for Christ sake. You should at least knock"
She rolled her eyes at him and at that moment, I felt like pulling out her hair strand by strand, but I ignored her anyway. She raised up her hand and knocked thrice on the door.
"So we get inside. Ask the nice man for his phone and dial my dad. He'll come and get us" Paul said unneccesarily. He only spoke to end the awkward silence that surrounded the air.
Everything felt so strange to me. I mean, why would you build such a beautiful house in the middle of the woods. It doesnt make sense. I didnt realise I had said it out loud till Alan responded, "Maybe the guy likes to be alone"
I shrugged off the feeling. Jane was knocking again and I felt so exhausted. I leaned into Alan and rested on his shoulder. He put his arm around my waist and rubbed my hair.
"Fuck manners" Jane said, obviously frustrated, and opened the door. It was unlocked. She stepped inside and we all followed her in. It was dark inside. Paul felt around for the light switch and found it. He put it on.
"Holy Shit!!!!" Paul said
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We turned around and the door was no longer there.
"What the fuck is going on?" Alan said
We turned back and looked around. The inside of the house was abandoned. It looked old and it smelt of death. It looked like all those haunted houses we see in the movies.
It all didnt fit. How can the house look so new and beautiful on the inside. I was the first to move. The furnitures were old and torn. The house looked like it had been burnt. There was a weird looking clock on the wall. The clock was odd. I looked at it wondering what made it odd. Then I realized.
"You guys, look!!! That clock" I said pointing.
"What the....? Its moving backwards" Paul said.
I moved on into the kitchen. I was greeted by a repulsive smell. There were dirty dishes in the sink that looked like it had been there for ages. Everything looked out of place. I wondered back to where everyone was.
"Come on, we have to find a way out of here" Alan said and started moving around; opening doors and windows but they were all locked. We even tried breaking the windows, but it felt like the window was protected by a barrier.
"Oh my God!!!! We are going to die here" Jane said. "We are in a bloody haunted house and soon something will come out of nowhere and start killing us and......"
"Jane, you are being paranoid" Paul said
"Exactly. You've been watching too much horror movies" Alan supported.
"Really? Cos I feel like am in one" Jane replied "How do you explain this? All of this? The locked doors and windows?? The window refusing to break?"
"The windows have probably been shut for a long time and its stiff. We're not strong enough to open it. And the window might be made up of some glass-like material that doesnt break" Alan reasoned
"Yeah? And whats with the clock moving backwards?"
"Probably some mechanical malfunction"
"The house looking really old on the inside?"
"They're refurnishing the house"
"Really???? From the outside???" She said with an eyebrow raised
"Yeah. The guy likes doing things his own way"
"So far, you think you've come up with reasonable explanations. How then do you explain the door?"
Alan kept quiet. He was probably thinking of something to say that wont sound stupid.
"Okay, we are going to find a way out of this place; haunted or not." It was the first time I was speaking in a long while.
"Yeah?? How are we going to do that, O wise one." Jane said mockingly.
I gave her a straight-face that said, "If you dont shut your mouth......."
"We split up. Jane and Paul, you guys
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