The Scary Story: Part Two

     Finally, he climbed out of bed, rubbed his eyes and picked up the lantern, its light not even enough to highlight the entire room. “So much for a good night's sleep...” he moaned to himself. “There’s no way I’m going to be able to sleep with this going on.” He walked over to the bookshelf and rubbed the dust off with his sleeves, hoping to pass the time until it was light enough for him to go home.

      How to Make Your Very Own Tea, Chet Flash: A Biography, The Haunted Woods for Beginners, How to Make Your Own Neovian Clothing... Kaize read the titles of the books, but stopped immediately when one caught his eye. It was an old book, the cover of which was almost completely gone. However, he could still make out the title, The Weatherfield Family. Kaize opened the book and blew an immense layer of dust away. The book was incredibly old, torn and stained. He could hardly make out any of the words. On the first page, there was a picture of a beautiful Aisha who was standing outside of a very familiar house. Surely this can’t be Irma? Kaize thought to himself. She was a pleasant blue Aisha, long fair blonde hair, an attractive face. Entirely different from what Kaize had met, and yet, it definitely looked like Irma.

      Kaize continued to turn the pages, but there were no more pictures of interest. As for writing, all he could make out was the word Weatherfield on every page. Kaize turned to the last page, and opened his eyes wide at what he saw. It was this very house, but on fire. He was very confused for quite some time; the house was rundown, but definitely not charred. He finally came to the conclusion that Irma must have rebuilt the house after the blaze. He squinted his eyes and tried to make out the words underneath the picture. “Weatherfield... flames... disappear...” was all he could make out. He closed the book and put it back in its rightful place on the shelf.

      Kaize couldn't hold back the huge yawn escaping him. He was tired... VERY tired, but he couldn’t get to sleep with the booming noise, which was still continuing.

      Boom-boom. Boom-boom. Boom-boom. Boom-boom. The noise had picked up pace. Kaize groaned, he was going to have to investigate. Although he had planned to wake up early and leave, he didn't want to get up quite THIS early. Kaize walked towards the door, lantern in hand, and tried his best to keep his eyes open.

      Creeeeaaaaaaak. The door made a sickening sound as the he opened it. The noise was clearly coming from down the passageway, which was layered with thick darkness.

      “Irma?” Kaize shouted down the hall, “Irma, is that you?” There was no reply. Kaize waited for a few minutes, before holding up his lantern higher, and beginning to walk down the passageway. Every step he made, the house creaked, each one making his heart skip a beat. In the back of his head, he knew he wanted to go back, but he was always the curious one in his family. He had never missed a chance to explore before and he was not turning back now. Even with the lantern, Kaize couldn’t make out anything apart from the walls on either side of him. At first, he thought the passageway was getting thinner and thinner, but that was impossible; he must just be tired and imagining it. Longer and longer the passage went without any signs of life, until-

      “AHHH!” Kaize let out a bellowing scream, which continued to echo throughout the house. Some kind of... thing with long, hairy legs had just crawled over his feet! It was far too dark to see just what it was, but Kaize fervently hoped that it was a simple Spyder. Of course he had never seen a Spyder that was big enough to weigh as much as what he felt crawling along him. Kaize shivered and leaned against the wall, trying to catch his breath and conquer his fear. He couldn't stop a slight whimper, but he stood back up again. Although fear caused his eyes to tear up, and his limbs to shiver, he continued to walk up the never-ending passageway. He could feel his heart pounding with every step.

      Boom-boom. Boom-boom. Boom-boom. Boom-boom. The noise was getting louder; Kaize knew he was getting closer; however, he wasn’t sure whether or not that was a good thing. He stopped and considered turning back, to leave this mystery for Irma’s next poor visitor, but then curiosity took over his body, and he knew there was no turning back now.

      Nearly there... Nearly there... Nearly – “OW!” Kaize had walked directly into a door that was the end of the passageway. Why on earth didn’t I see that?! Kaize grumbled to himself as he rubbed his head in pain. He raised his lantern and grabbed the door handle, but then he froze. He knew this house was weird, and he was already freaked out. Did he really want to know what lay beyond this dusty old door? He looked at his hands - both were shaking, and he tried to convince himself that this was just Irma’s room and that the frail old lady was nothing to fear. After taking ten deep breaths, Kaize tightened his fist around the door knob, twisted and pushed the door open.

      BOOM-BOOM. BOOM-BOOM. BOOM-BOOM. BOOM-BOOM. There was a light in this room; confusion filled Kaize. Why had he not seen it earlier? It flickered on and off. Each time it came on, a gust of heat burned his face. The room was filled with chairs, rugs and other furnishings, but they all looked as if they had been damaged in a raging inferno. Kaize was so surprised at the furniture’s state, that he completely forgot about what was making the noise. He turned around and gasped in immense horror. There, in the corner of a room, was a rocking chair moving by itself. BOOM-BOOM. BOOM-BOOM. BOOM-BOOM. BOOM-BOOM. With each rock, it slammed into the wall.

      Kaize let out the loudest scream he had ever released in his life and leapt for the door, escaping the room. He sprinted down the passageway, reckless in his fear. He tripped and fell, smashing the lantern, only increasing his horror. Kaize got up and continued running, unsure of where he was going. Tears were beginning to flow along the unfortunate Lupe’s face, and he was shaking from head to toe. Suddenly he could make out the faintest appearance of a door on the right hand side of the terrifying corridor, and Kaize wasted no time in opening it.

      He let out a sigh of relief as soon as he realised this was his room, and he jumped into the bed and placed the covers right over his head and then he... cried. Kaize cried harder than he had ever cried before. What’s wrong with this house?! What?! Kaize thought to himself. Questions filled his head, but the most worrying was the fact that he couldn’t answer any of them. He shut his eyes as tightly as he could, scared of what he would see if he opened them.

      Finally he found a way to calm himself, even if it was only a little, and that was by imagining he was home with a nice cup of ice blended mocha coffee, sitting down with his friends and family laughing, telling jokes and playing an enjoyable game of Neocheckers in his warm, loving home. But no matter how hard he tried, every few seconds he would remember that he was not home or in his dream scenario... he was in his worst nightmare, and he might be sticking around for some time yet.

      Kaize wanted to escape the house, but there was no way he was going leave the relative safeness of his room. Kaize’s older brother had always told him terrifying ghost stories when he was younger, those of Eliv Thade coming into people’s houses and torturing them with anagrams that were impossible to solve or Edna drinking one of her mysterious potions and morphing into a humongous beast that liked to eat little red Lupes. Although scared, Kaize never believed any of these stories, but after tonight, he was absolutely certain that ANYTHING could be possible in these woods. He kept his eyes shut, trying his best to forget everything.

      Boom-boom. Boom-boom. Boom-boom. Boom-boom...

To be continued...