Fawn grinned and nodded. She checked her phone for their location and the distance to the estate and headed off to the south, down the road.
Jeanine stayed as far away from Bubbles as she could. She may not be terrified that the dog would charge her and try to bite off a leg, but that didn't mean she was ready to walk next to it and chat with her owner.
James kept an eye on Jeanine as he walked next to Sasha.
About two and two thirds hours of walking later, a shadow appeared on the right. In the remaining sunlight it looked like a dark line spanning miles to the north and south. A side road of gravel, broken up with weeds and no longer safe to drive on, ran toward the line. A metal fence blocked the road.
Fawn paused and snorted. "What's with the fence? No one can drive on it now, anyway."
Jeanine frowned. "Maybe the fence has been there since the road could be driven on?"
Fawn shrugged. "Probs, I guess. Come on," she pointed at the line in the distance. "That's the estate wall. We're almost there!" She started again, walking faster this time.
She broke into a jog when the wall was clearly visible--about twenty minutes later. A raucous laugh broke from her lips as they stopped in front of the wrought iron gates. She spread her arms wide and cried out joyously, "This is going to be
awesome!"
"This is going to be awful," moaned Jeanine.
Everyone followed Fawn through the wide gap between the gates. The remaining scraps of the sun's light instantly dimmed further. Jeanine's breathing could be heard. Fawn's eyes were glittering as she brought out an industrial-sized flashlight from her backpack and switched it on. James and Jeanine did the same. Fawn looked left and right, at the overgrown grass and ominously looming trees, a disturbingly large grin on her face. Down a gravel path overridden with weeds and through a near-jungle of twisting, deformed plants, the tips of three gargantuan stone towers could barely be spotted through the trees. Already the five adventurers could tell the castle was over four stories tall, and that it spread at least a quarter-mile in each direction.
"Oh boy..." whispered Jeanine. She inched behind her brother.
Fawn moved down the gravel drive leading up to the ancient fortress, a skip in her step. Half an hour passed with her giving them a rousing running commentary about the history of the estate and castle before the haunting began and what they would see inside and on the grounds, when she suddenly fell silent. They had finally the cleared the trees and could see the castle in full. Everyone stilled to an almost unnatural degree, gazing up at the massive, cracked fountain before them and the house beyond.
The marble fountain, cracked, faded, and covered with creeper vines and moss was still magnificent as it stood like a sentinal in the direct way of the road. To compensate, the road split into two strands that met again two-hundred yards from the front steps of the castle. Right in front of the grand structure the road split again, following the wings and out of site. Fawn murmured something about leading to a carriage house and to other buildings, but most of her attention was devoted to the impressive, giant fortress. Even from this distance the castle seemed to lean over them menacingly, casting a cold shadow over the little group.
Hundreds of windows, like blank, black eyes and mouths covered the front of the house. Almost all of them had broken glass, some the remaining spikes looking like a fang-filled maw, waiting to devour them. Nature was slowly reclaiming the house through the broken windows on the bottom row, twining vines slithering past the glass to disappear into the pitch interior.
Jeanine shuddered and whispered, "Do we have to do this?"
"Yes," said Fawn firmly and walked around the fountain. She stopped again before taking the first step onto the short stairs up to the porch. Taking deep breaths, she moved her flashlight beam over the columns supporting the porch and up to the balcony above the porch. She gasped,
"What, what?" cried Jeanine, flinging her flashlight up to the balcony as well.
"I thought... I thought I saw something... But it's gone now."
Jeanine whimpered.
"This early in the night?" asked James, moving the large white circle of his light around the surrounding area. "This doesn't bode well. It's only 8:30. What did it look like? A ghost?"
Fawn shook her head slowly. "No... It didn't look like a ghost at all. It wasn't glowing or wispy or transparent. Honestly, it looked human."
"Human?" squeaked Jeanine. "How can there be a human here? Everyone that entered has never come out!"
"Maybe they never died. Maybe they just couldn't leave," said James.
"That doesn't make much sense," said Fawn slowly. "How could they have become trapped here? Why did the ghosts not kill them?"
"I have no idea," said James. "But if they are still alive, then there might be some friendly faces inside. Maybe we can help them escape."
Fawn's grin could be heard through her words, "That would be amazing. We'd be heroes! Right, who's first?"
"Your idea," said James. "You go first."
Fawn shrugged in the flashlight beam and headed up the stairs. Jeanine grasped James' hand like a lifeline and while it was so tight that it hurt, James didn't tell her to let go.
The huge doors were open and Fawn walked through without hesitation. The case wasn't the same for the others.
A
lot like that))
Inside, the foyer was enormous. Their footsteps echoed on the marble floor. Faint moonlight shone through shattered windows, but it didn't illuminate anything other than the floor directly beneath them. The group's flashlight beams moved around, lighting upon a mostly collapsed grand staircase, fallen railings, broken statues and vases, and gaping black doorways like the throats of beasts about to swallow the teens whole. The doors for these rooms had rotted away long ago, leaving rusted hinges on the floor.
The smashed statues and vases were what bothered Jeanine the most, and James agreed with her that it was weird when she said, "What has been in here to smash those?" in a quavering voice.
As those frightened, ominous words slipped from the quivering lips of the reluctant heroine...
The flashlight beams went out.
Jeanine screamed and clutched her brother's shoulders as she hid behind him. A
groooaaaning wind whistled into the room through the broken windows and open doors, and suddenly...
The doors slammed shut.
Jeanine shrieked and squeezed her eyes shut.
Fawn stood frozen, unable to move as two figures, moving slowly and glowing faintly, came into sight. One came from the left passage above the grand staircase, the other from the right.
Clicking footsteps and a swishing sound, almost like a gown brushing the floor, followed the figures. They stopped moving when they reached the precise middle of the passage, and they slowly turned to face the five teenagers. Down they glided, feet not touching the stairs, until they reached the step in the middle of the staircase. There they stopped, linked hands, and gazed at the group.
Jeanine opened her eyes, then quickly squeezed them shut again. Fawn's breaths were erratic and shallow. James stood straight and still, but his heart was pounding so hard he was sure the two ghosts could hear it.
"We have not had visitors in many years..." The voice of the female ghost was like a cold wind that cut through clothing and froze the heart until it no longer beat. It seemed to come from everywhere, but loudest from the figure on the stairs.
"Why have you been so foolish as to come here. You know you can never leave." The male ghost's voice was hard as steel but also so quiet that it could hardly be heard.
"And on our birthday..." said the female in almost a whine.
"Why do you seek death so readily?" asked the male.
"Are your lives so dull that you think coming to our home on the day that we fell was a prudent idea?" The male's voice was rising, beginning to howl like the wind that still blew the group's clothes and hair everywhere.
"No one has ever been so foolish," said the girl.
"I think these children deserve something more than a simple death, don't you Darcy?" The girl looked at the boy.
Darcy laughed, a cackle so menacing that it made Jeanine lose her breath. No, more than that! She couldn't breath! She clutched at her throat, tears spilling from her eyes and mouth gaping in a silent scream. But it wasn't just her! Everyone flailed, trying to expand their lungs, trying to breath, trying to
live!
Then the blockage was gone. The group fell to their knees, gasping, crying.
This time the girl laughed. It did nothing other than to run ice-cold fingers down their spines, but that was enough.
Jeanine folded in on herself, sobbing.
Fawn sprang to her feet and ran to the doors, pounding on them and screaming for help as loudly as she could.
James pulled out his phone with shaking hands and fruitlessly tried to dial the police. His phone wouldn't even turn on.
The ghosts spoke together then:
"That was only a taste of what is to come. You never should have come to Constantine Estate!"
They all began to feel pain. A cold ripping that seemed to shred their skin. The feeling of all their blood pouring out onto the marble overwhelmed them and the screams echoed with the laughing of the ghosts.
All of a sudden, there was the sound of a voice crying out foreign words and the pain stopped. Everyone looked up to see a figure, not glowing at all, standing at the top of the stairs. The voice spoke again, a rich baritone that boomed with power. They couldn't understand the words, but the ghosts' reactions were immediate. They spun around and, shrieking, charged the figure. More words from the man and a flash of green light.
Then the ghosts were gone.
The wind died.
And the flashlights came back on.
The only sound they could hear was the labored breathing of the man on the stairs.
((So, yeah! I can't write horror! But I did my best!))
))
