Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I gaze up at what I believe is one of the most horrifying things I have ever seen. The way the large oak trees seem to be the closest thing to life on this property, the wall of the building is cracked and faded, the manor looked as dead as the former owned was thought to be. I took a step back fearing that the manor may collapse at any moment and I will be in the path of the hell that is unleashed.

My heart skips a beat when the rusted black metal gates screech from the force of the wind that has suddenly picked up, they break the silence that floods my mind as I stand before the aging mansion. The leaves rustle across the ground and down the sidewalk as if they wanted us to follow them, follow them down the side walk and as far away from here as possible. I suddenly wish I could be one of those little leaves, being able to just float across the ground and get away from here. I look over at my friends, none of them are showing any sign of fear that I have noticed, but suddenly I glance at Erika, she has goose bumps and is breathing slowly, I don’t think I’m the only who’s scared anymore. I look up at Austin; he is staring blankly, completely lost in the sight set before us.

“Well, it was your idea to come up here”, he said taking a quick glance at Thomas and Christa; “I think you two should go first”.

Thomas and Christa exchange a worried glance at Austin, then each other. They slowly step up to the gates and push them open, the gates let out a screech so loud it were as if they were calling down to the demons in the depths of hell, it sends shivers down my spine, I close my eyes, take a deep breath and walk as slowly as possible up toward to large, rotting doors of Egnaro Manor. I hear the gates slam shut behind us and take a step forward toward the front door. The wind blows and rustles the dying leaves that hang wearily on the limbs of the rotting oak trees.

I try to hold Austin back but he pushes the front door open and we all step inside. Before we are able to get even a couple feet inside the building the door swings shut behind us and I hear the lock fall heavily into place. We creep slowly into a large room, a heavy metal chandlier hanging from the center of the high cracked ceiling. I see a small light coming from a door across the room. I walk slowly toward it and gently push open the door, it sqeaks loudly. I step into a small room that resembles an old study, i walk in slowly and flick on a light. I see an old oak rocking chair gently moving back and forth sqeaks quietly with every move. There is a man sitting in the chair facing a large bookshelf, i begin to step out when he turns around. I cover my mouth to keep myself from screaming, he is wearing a silver mask, cracked and weathered from years of use, his skin is gray and pasty. He is dressed in and old jacket and a pair of heavily worn slacks. I turn and run back out the door and across the room to the others.

"You guys we have to get out of here. He's real. He's--"

The man quickly crossed the room and stopped in front of a large rotting maple dining table siting under the chandlier. He raises his hands and the sleeves of his over-sized jacket fall down to his elbows.

"Welcome to my home children. I hope you like it enough to stay, wouldn’t want my house guests to be uncomfortable in their new home. That’s right, when deciding to take your little adventure to my home you made the decision of becoming my permanent visitors. You will now be living here, you will become one of us and you will be my slaves. You will be loyal to me and follow my commands. You will come to me when I call for you and you are not dismissed until I tell you so. You will speak only when spoken to and you will refer to me as Master from now on. You will follow these rules. Break them and you die. You will be staying in that room there", he points over to a small door to the left of a large table in the center of the room, “Oh, and children,” He looks back to us,” I wouldn’t think of trying to leave your new home, because I will send my men after you, they will find you, and they will kill you. You are dismissed. Leave my sight now!"

He snaps his fingers and two men appear in the room within the time it took for Master to lower his hand. They are wearing raggedy jumpsuits and masks. One of the men is tall and slender looking while the other is bulky and muscular, the leaner man is wearing a black mask that covers his entire pale face. The other is wearing a gold mask that covers only his eyes, he has a red mustache that hides his mouth and chin. The two men escort us to a room and direct us to the cots in the room; they leave quickly when Master whistles for them. We are left alone in the small, dingy room. It smells like mold and rotting wood, the shag carpets are brown and raggedy, and the use-to-be-white walls were now aging and now fading into a yellow- ish brown color. The air vents are rusted and the windows are foggy and water-stained, the cots we are forced to sleep on are dark and musty smelling, I would never had guessed that I would be spending the first morning of my spring break in a place like this.

“CHILDREN!” Master calls. We walk quickly into the main room and meet Master there. He is standing in the middle of the room. Master steps forward into the light, he is wearing the same silver mask from earlier but instead of slacks and a jacket he was now wearing a full black suit with an orange tie loosely secured around his skinny neck and the edge of a hanky hanging out of his front pocket.

“Now children, you may have noticed that I am dressed a little nicer than earlier today. I dressed up specifically for this occasion. I want to present a demonstration for you all but sadly, I have no one to assist me with this simulation. So I decided that one of you will help me” he said slyly, “Any volunteers?” he shook his head disappointedly, His hair fell lightly over his eye, “No one? I guess I will have to choose for myself then” he looked over us and raised his skinny hand,

“Hmm... such a difficult decision" Christa was breathing quickly and goose bumps were beginning to appear on her arms, Master slowly turns his head and grins cleverly, "You!”