The Ghost House

Shadow and Mikey venture into a manor which is believed to be haunted.

    In the little town of Animetia, there was a young boy named Shadow, he was quite tall, especially for his age, and he had blue eyes and dark brown hair, many people mistook it as black. Shadow had short hair on the sides and back but a longer fringe which swept across his right eye. He was wearing dark blue jeans, almost black, with a short sleeved shirt which had a mustache on it with speech underneath which said ‘I mustache you a question, but I’ll shave it for later’, he had a lot of shirts with funny quotes on. He didn’t have many friends, mainly because there were only a few residents in his town, and not many of them had kids and the other reason is because the kids that are there believe that he is strange so they avoided talking to him.

    Shadow loves to cook; he is also into ghosts and spiritual stuff. A few houses away from Shadows is an old abandoned mansion, no-one knows when someone lived there last but he believed it was haunted; haunted by all the owners who were slaughtered there. Well that’s what the rumours say that happened.

    The young boy grew bored and lonely, he really wanted to go and explore the house, but he was too scared to go alone

“What if there really is a ghost?” He mumbled to himself and paced back and forth outside his house. A loud noise blasted from around the corner on the main road leading in and out of Animetia. Shadow ran as fast as he could to the end of the road to see what was heading his way. As he looked around the corner he saw a large moving van hobbling along the broken and cracked road, the van slowly turned and passed the sign welcoming all into this peaceful town. As the vehicle stop outside the recently emptied house opposite Shadow’s, a tall lady stepped out from the passenger’s side, shortly followed by a boy, quite a bit shorter than Shadow, he seemed about the same age though. Shadow smiled brightly as he thought he could maybe have a new friend. The newly arrived family entered the house and look around, the mother got the driver to unpack for them. Shadow looked around to see if another car would come, one containing the boy’s father, but nothing followed, he stepped back and ran home to tell his parents the great news.

    The next day Shadow sat in his chair, which he placed by the window so he could see the whole town, and looked around as he did every morning and noticed the new kid leave his house, he left alone and seem confused and lonely. The boy scanned his new hometown and had his right hand cupped over his eyes to stop the beaming sunlight from blinding him. He was of middle height and really skinny just like Shadow, he had a more blondy brown hair colour also longer at the front. He had green eyes which shinned like emeralds and he was wearing white skinny jeans and a light blue top with some anime characters on it. Shadow allowed a smile to appear on his face

“This is my chance, my chance to meet him” He whispered to himself, as he did so he hopped of his chair, ran downstairs and grabbed his shoes from by the door and his coat of the rack. Shadow rapidly put them on before storming out, his mother noticed and was just about to call him, but he was already gone

“Heya! Yeah, you!” He shouted and quickly ran to the new boy, he tried to smile but went all nervous and couldn’t speak, the new kid laughed slightly and stepped a little closer, he stuck out his hand

“I’m Michael…but call me Mikey please” The boy explained, Shadow smiled in return and shook the boys hand

“I’m Shadow, nice to meet you” The kid replied and Mikey returned the smile and nodded back as if he was saying ‘likewise’ or ‘same here’. The clouds started to form together and it slowly got darker and darker; Mikey tugged on Shadows sleeve and pulled him into his house

“It’s going to rain, real bad! We don’t want to get caught up in that now do we” He asked rhetorically, Shadow just shook his head and followed. Mikey’s mom entered the house a few minutes later and smiled brightly at them both, she was reasonably tall for a lady and had smooth brunette hair which flowed freely down the left side of her face, she had one green eye and one blue. She was wearing a neat white blouse with a black jacket on top, she was also wearing a black, knee length skirt with some black high-heels

“Hi there, glad to see you already made a friend son. How rude, my name is Evalyn Nabraska Bower; it’s nice to meet you. What’s your name?” She asked him calmly, she was really kind and sweet, nothing like some of the other parents who lived in the town

“Shadow, Shadow Slaughter” He replied politely and went light red in the face. Mikey started to walk up the stairs and moved his head gesturing that he should follow him up, and so he did. They entered his bedroom which was parallel to Shadow’s, the tallest boy pointed to the abandoned house west of Shadow’s home

“I really want to go in there, it’s meant to be haunted” Shadow explained enthusiastically, his new friend smiled at him and nodded

“I love ghost! They are so cool! May I tag along?” He questioned with a hyper tone, he was slightly nervous as he expected to be rejected

“Sure, that’s no problem. I’d like that. Our first adventure!” He told him happily and rubbed his head ruffling up his hair

“How about we go tomorrow? We could stay the night, I tell my mom I’m staying at yours and you tell your mom that you’re staying at mine” Mikey explained, he was all psyched up and ready for this

“You’re a genius Mikey” Shadow complimented, the other boy went red slightly feeling clever and happy at the same time. The two new friends raced downstairs to Miss Bower to ask about the sleepover, as they headed downstairs the rain started to stampede down.

    The rain continued to pour down for a couple hours and in the end Mikey’s mother offered to make him some dinner

“This pie…it’s amazing! The best I’ve ever had” Shadow explains drastically, eating more, stuffing it into his mouth

“I’m glad you like it, I made it myself” Evalyn tells him, the guest swallows and his jaw drops

“You must be like a goddess or something, this is perfection!” He bellows. Mikey, who is sitting next to him, starts to laugh louder and louder, his mother giggles slightly too

“It’s not that good sweety, but thank you anyway” She replies cheerfully. Once they all finished with eating she tidied up the plates and started load them into the dishwasher, she shouted calmly her goodbye and thanks for the compliments

“Oh by the way, could Mikey stay at mine tomorrow?” Shadow called as he exited the house

“Of course!” She replies simply.

    Mikey decided to walk him home, even though it was on the opposite side of the road. Shadow’s mom was waiting in the doorway; she didn’t look too pleased but not angry either

“You could of let us know what you were doing, I got worried until Miss Bower came over and told me” She explained to him, he smiled lightly and scratched the back of his head before apologizing multiple times

“Could I stay at Mikey’s tomorrow?” He asked her calmly expecting an immediate no; she looked at him sternly but then smiled and nodded

“Sure, that shouldn’t be a problem” She replied, both boys cheered with happiness, Shadow waved goodbye as he entered his house. When Mikey got back, his mother walked up to him with a smile on her face

“That’s a sweet boy, I’m glad you’ve got a friend. You two seems good together, a great pair of friends” She told him simply then left to go to bed, the boy stood there thinking for a few seconds, then also made his way upstairs shortly after.

    Around noon the next day the two boys met up outside the abandoned mansion, each had a rucksack containing multiple things such as a sleeping bag, some snacks and drinks, a flash light and Mikey brought his Pikachu plush

“I’m so looking forward to this, but I have to admit…I am a little scared” Shadow confessed and walked up to the gate, the other boy tried to act brave but secretly he was even more scared. Shadow nudged the front gate and it slowly opened, squeaking and screeching as it did so. They slowly and carefully walked onwards towards the front door, the gate slammed shut and they jumped around in shock

“Oh…Oh god” Mikey yelled in surprise and started to breath heavily and rapidly, Shadow stood there petrified

“Oh…this is creepy already” He mentioned, his friend walked up to him and put an arm around his shoulder and pulled him close

“We will be fine, let’s get inside, we…should be ok” Mikey tried to comfort him but he didn’t accomplishing his goal

“Yeah, of course we will” Shadow responded and entered the old, haunted mansion with Mikey’s arm on his shoulders.

    They searched through every room they could .At the end of one of the long and dull corridor was a red door, different from the rest as they were all brown or black. The boys tried to open the door numerous times but it wouldn’t budge. They decided to return to the master bedroom which was upstairs on the east wing, they placed there sleeping blankets on the bed next to each other and started to eat some of their snacks

“This is such a creepy place” Mikey explained, “Are you sure it’s haunted?” He questioned Shadow; the other boy smirked and looked back at him

“Yes, rumour says so, the villagers say so, I say so, so it means it must be” He clarified and turned away from him and lay down trying to go to sleep. Mikey dropped back and lay there looking up at the ceiling, he twisted and turned for a while then ended up facing Shadows back, a quiet voice could be heard echoing throughout the house

“Be gone! Don’t stay! Leave whilst you can!” The mysterious voice warned, Mikey started to poke Shadows back, slowly increasing speed

“Did you…hear that? Hey Shadow…wake up!” He asked the sleeping boy, Shadow turned and mumbled slightly, the words he spoke weren’t understandable, he started to panic more and shook the others energy-less body, Shadow awoke and sat up rapidly

“What? What’s wrong?” He asked Mikey, he looks at Shadow then at the door, his jaw drops as he points towards the door way

“G…ghost!” He cries and pulled the duvet over him, Shadow staggered backwards as the ghost flew closer, it hovered above the bed, just in front of where Mikey was cowering

“Go away!” She bellows, the ghost was a woman in her mid-twenties, reasonably tall and she was wearing a white, silk nightgown

“What do… no who are you?” Shadow called, she was still floated in the same place, she had a calm expression on her face now, it was soothing but at the same time eerie. Mikey crawled from under the duvet and sat behind his friend, he repeated the question but still no reply. He stood up and tightened his hand into a fist and went to punch her, he fell forward and went straight through her, Mikey gasped in shock

“Who are you? What do you want?” Mikey shouted in fear, the ghosts head turned 180 degrees; it was facing Mikey yet its body was facing towards Shadow. The girl floated towards Shadow who was getting himself up from the floor

“I am Gwendolyn! I was the mistress of this manor! I was killed by my cheating husband Henry. And now I seek my revenge on all men who enter this house. And that includes you!” She shouted, Shadow ran straight through her and grabbed his friends hand then pulled him out the room

“We must get out of this place” He explains, Mikey was too scared to speak.

    As they reached the front door the ghost reappeared and laughed

“I locked it and hid the key. You’ll never escape” She explained a laughed again but more evilly. A second ghost appeared behind her; she was smaller than the mistress and had shoulder length blonde hair. She was wearing a maid outfit

“Over here, quickly” The maid called, the boys didn’t know if they could trust her or not but anything would be better than staying there with the mistress, so the two boys followed the maid to the locked red door

“We can’t get in! It was all a trap” Shadow exclaimed whilst banging on the door with his fist. As the mistress started hovering down the hallway towards them, Shadow started banging harder and faster. The door swung open and Shadow fell in, without another waist of a second, Mikey ran into the room and slammed the door shut.

    The two boys ran to the far left corner and sat beside each other, they could hear Gwendolyn’s cry on the other side of the door. For some reason she couldn’t enter this room. All of a sudden the maid returned

“I’m sorry about this” She apologized

“We are safe in here” She reassured, Mikey smiled slightly to hide the fear which he was gathering inside

“How...how do you we are safe? You can get in, why can’t she?” Mikey asks the ghost with a panicky tone, Shadow nodded in agreement

“One of the previous visitors was a caster; he cast a spell on this room stopping evil from entering” The maid explained

“Why couldn’t we enter earlier?” Shadow questions, the ghost smirks

“The room wasn’t sure if you were good or evil” She answers simply and turns away

“Wasn’t...sure?” Mikey mumbles

“It’s a spell on the room giving it the control to allow good in, you two were new and it wasn’t sure if you weren’t evil” The ghost told them

“Is there any way out?” Both boys ask

“The ventilation shaft”.

    It was almost eleven at night and Shadow’s mom was getting worried, she couldn’t see the lights on in Mikey’s house. The worried lady walked across the dark and empty road and knocked gently on Evalyn’s door

“Is anyone home?” She called, but there was no reply. The lady turned around and noticed the lights on in the old abandoned mansion

“What...no they wouldn’t?!” She told herself

“Hey. You’re Shadow’s mom right?” A voice called, it was Evalyn

“I am, my name is Amelia” She replied

“Is Mikey being a pain?” Evalyn asked

“I wouldn’t know, I thought they were staying at yours?” Amelia questioned, she could see the confusion in the others face

“Mikey said he was staying at yours...” She said quietly, now Evalyn started to panic, both women turned their gaze to the abandoned house

“Oh they’re in trouble” They both said in unison.

    Shadow cupped his two hands together and Mikey placed his foot on top and reached for the vent, he pulled himself him then turned and stuck his hand out

“Grab on” Mikey called, the other boy grabbed his friends hand and got pulled up. The maid’s head appeared through the side of the ventilation shaft and the two boys screamed in surprise

“Oh, I’m so sorry” The ghost repetitively told them

“Just follow me” She added

“What’s your name?” Mikey asked her, the ghost headed forward

“Cassandra” She said quietly and continued onwards, the two boys followed cautiously. The youngest boy started to breathe heavily and was starting to panic

“What’s wrong?” Shadows asked

“I’m...claustrophobic” Mikey replied, Cassandra turned around and looked at the two boys

“We must get him out of here” She explained

“Hurry this way” She added and turned round the corner, the boys followed her quickly

“It’ll be ok” Shadow comforted.

    The ventilation shaft lead to a room near to the front door, Mikey dropped to the floor and gasped for air, after a few seconds his breathing returned to a normal pace. The room they were in had black and white floral wallpaper and a checkered carpet; there was a large piano in the middle of the room and nothing else

“What is this room?” Shadow asked

“This was the master’s room, he’d go here if he wanted to be alone and then play his piano. He was very skilled” The maid explained, Mikey pushed himself up and placed his ear to the door

“What actually happened to him?” Mikey asked whilst listening for the mistress

“The master was cheating on the mistress with one of the maids” She started, the boys looked at her wondering if it was her

“Not me!!” She quickly said

“The mistress got made and slaughtered all the maids due to not knowing who it was, she killed him too but not until she had tortured him for two weeks” Cassandra told them, Shadow looked to the floor somewhat upset

“How cruel... both of them. It wasn’t right for him to cheat but he didn’t deserve that. None of them did. Especially not you, you’re so kind and you could have lived a great life if it wasn’t for her!” He says raising his voice towards the end, his eyes started to fill with tears; the ghost stepped towards the boy and wrapped her arms around him. Shadow knew he couldn’t actually hug her but he still got that warm and caring feeling

“We’ll sort this. I won’t leave here until she is gone and you can rest at peace” Shadow declared, Mikey stepped behind him with a wide smile

“I’m with you all the way. It is OUR adventure after all” He laughed and smiled warmly at the maid, the maid smiled back but the moment got cut short by a wave of loud knocks and calls at the front door

“Shadow I know you’re in there!” Amelia bellowed

“You too Mikey. You’re in big trouble” Evalyn shouted, the boys looked at each other in shock

“Oh god they found out” Both of the boys said to each other then laughed slightly

“Your mothers are in danger! Gwendolyn is still out there” Cassandra gasped, the boys turned around facing the door and both were speechless

“We...must do something” Mikey forced out.

    Shadow was trying to open the door but it wouldn’t budge so the maid went out to look. Meanwhile Mikey was looking around the room hoping to find something that’ll help

“Look what I found!” He called and showed him the book which was called ‘How to rid a ghost’

“This is just what we need” Shadow cheered, the maid returned and Shadows happy expression quickly faded

“She’s got both your mothers...her powers are growing rapidly. She got them down in the basement” Cassandra explained with a very sad tone

“It’s ok, it’s not your fault” Mikey told her and a ghost of a smile appeared on her face

“Also I found this book” Mikey added and should the book to her

“The caster must have hid this before he got brutally murder” She explained and her smiled brightened

“We still have a fighting chance”.

    Mikey, Shadow and Cassandra headed back into the ventilation shaft and followed it round and down to the basement, the stopped before exiting to scan the room. Amelia and Evalyn were tied up to a pip with duck-tape over their mouths

“Let’s just do this” Shadow whispered and knocked the ventilation grate down, the boys dropped out and ran to their mothers, Cassandra stood guard outside

“Mom!” Shadow called and started to untie her, Mikey gently removed the tape from both women’s mouth

“What is going on here? You are in big trouble young man” Evalyn asked angrily and wiggled wanting to get loose. After a few minutes they got both parents down, they stood there staring at the young boys unimpressed

“This house is haunted” Shadow started

“By the mistress who lived here” Mikey continued

“She killed her husband and all the maids” Cassandra added as she floated through the door, Amelia screamed and dropped to her knees, Evalyn stood there speechless

“W...what is…that?” Shadow’s mom stuttered

“I’m a ghost. I was one of the maids who got killed” The ghost told them

“She’s helped us mom. She one of the good guys” Shadow told her and smiled at the ghost, she smiled back they swiftly looked at the door

“She’s coming!” She warned

“What do we do?” Evalyn cried, her son pointed to the ventilation shaft

“Go through there, we’ll sort this” Mikey ordered, his mother shook her head

“I won’t leave you!” She told him in reply, Cassandra grounded herself and walked towards Evalyn

“I’ll protect them. I promise” She promised with a warming smile, Amelia climbed up into the shaft

“I believe her” She said calmly and reached her hand down to help her friend, just as Evalyn got up the door opened and Gwendolyn entered

“Go now!” Cassandra shouted, they hesitated but then crawled away worried what will happen next.

    The smallest boy grabbed the book and opened to the seventh page and started chanting one of the spells

“What is this? You can’t stop me” Gwendolyn laughed and turned around to go after the parents but an invisible barrier stopped her

“You can’t leave this room now” Mikey explained and swapped to another page

“What?!” She bellowed and glared at them

“Hurry up Mikey, let’s get this over and done with” Shadow whispered

“I will stop you both, right here right now!” She stated with an angry and evil tone, the maid stepped in front and stretched out her arms

“I won’t let you hurt them” She growled, the mistress laughed evilly

“What are you going to do to stop me?” She chuckled, Mikey started to talk another one of the chants, it was in Latin so the words were hard to pronounce

“Solvite…hoc Spíritu” Mikey started, Gwendolyn growled but then laughed

“This won’t work, you are no caster nor a descendant of one” She chuckled

“Auf...auferetur de...tempore et spatio” The boy chanted, the evil ghost grasped where her heart would be a groaned

“How are you doing this?” She bellowed, a dark red aura started to glow around her and her hair started waving wildly

“You will pay!” Gwendolyn threatened and stared at Mikey, he stepped back getting somewhat scared, his friend stepped in front

“I won’t let her hurt you” He promised, as he said that Cassandra stepped in front of Shadow

“And I won’t let her hurt you” She said with a half-smile, the other ghost look extremely mad. Gwendolyn raised her left hand and grey and silver ball started to form in her palm, she laughed evilly once again

“You aren’t the only one who has learnt magic” She chuckles

“What is that?” Mikey mumbled

“It’s seem to be an astral ball” She says

“Mikey just finish the spell” Shadow ordered.

    The evil ghost tossed the astral ball from her left hand to her right and then back again

“Who shall I kill first... maybe the caster” She mumbled to herself with a short laugh at the end. She raised her arm and aimed at Mikey, she threw her arm forward and pretended to throw the astral ball, Cassandra dived in front thinking he was going to get hit, but the next thing they heard was a gasp and quiet cry from Shadow. Mikey and Cassandra turned their gaze towards him and realised that Gwendolyn threw the astral ball at Shadow. The boy dropped to his knees and was gasping for air

“Ha” The ghost laughed
“Inlaqueatus occidere” Mikey called angrily with perfect pronunciation, the ghost glared at the chanting boy and started to form another astral ball but the maid tackled her to the floor

“You will die a painful death and suffer for the rest of eternity” She shouted furiously

“Finish it now” Cassandra yelled pinning down the mistress

“Liberare et malos” Mikey finished, the other boy was leant against the wall grabbing hold onto his chest where he got hit, and his breathing was quick and heavy.

    When Mikey finished the Latin spell, the evil mistress started to scream in agony, Cassandra jumped backwards and Gwendolyn burst into flames

“Ahh! No, I can’t believe I’ve been beaten by a kid!” She cried and burst into nothingness. Mikey ran to his injured friend and sat him up straight

“You’ll be ok” He comforted. Cassandra looked at her feet and noticed that she was slowly disappearing; the maid ran to the two boys but didn’t mention anything

“Check the spell book, there might be something in there” She explain, the boy ran to the book and started flicking through the pages whilst Cassandra was comforting Shadow

“Kill a ghost, put someone to sleep, heal the injured, fly... Wait, I found it” Mikey shouted happily and brought the book to them, once again it was in Latin but the boy didn’t seem to have trouble saying it

“Sanabit; salvabit animam sua; ante pugnam redit ad statum” He casted easily and then checked on his friend. Shadow sat there in silence with his eyes closed

“Is he...dead?” The boy asks the ghost with tears forming; she looked at him and frowned

“I think...” She started but stopped when Shadow took a massive breath of air, the other two hugged him tightly and smiled happily

“We thought we lost you” Cassandra explained, it wasn’t clear as her face was buried in his chest

“I’m fine now, thanks to you two” He thanked and smiled lightly.

    There was a loud knock on the door

“What was that explosion? Is everything ok?” Evalyn called

“I got this” Amelia told her friend, she pushed her friend back a little and kicked the door down, the three in the room looked at her in surprise

“Wow” Everyone said synchronised then laughed. Everyone went to the entrance hall and waited there for Cassandra. She appeared moments later carrying the two boys’ bags and Mikey’s Pikachu plush

“Don’t forget these” She said and passed them on, her legs had disappeared and it was slowly spreading upwards

“What’s happening to you?” Shadow questioned, the maid looked away and frowned

“The spell destroys evil and sets free the trapped. I was one of the trapped so now i must move on” She told then sadly, Shadows eyes started to water and he went to hug her but went straight through her

“I wish you could stay” He confessed and looked at her

“So do I” She replied and tried to smile, Mikey stayed silent and just looked at her

“Thank you” Amelia said and stepped forward

“You protected our children, i wish there was some way to repay you” She told the ghost

“There is one thing” She mumbled and looked at her

“Anything” Evalyn stated

“Take these boys away... I don’t want them to watch me leave” She requested, the boys’ started to cry and stood besides Cassandra

“We won’t leave you” The said, both moms grabbed their sons arm and dragged them out

“I’m sorry kids” Cassandra shouted as they got dragged out, the boys tried forcing back but the women had more strength than they let show. The large front doors closed and the four looked at the no longer haunted mansion.