The Haunted Mansion Series: Books 1, 2, & 3 Read online

THE HAUNTED MANSION

  K. WEIKEL

  THE HAUNTED MANSION

  K. Weikel

  Published by K. Weikel Publishing

  Copyright ? 2004 by K. Weikel

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or was not purchased for your use only, please return and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  For my parents and family: thank you for always being there and supporting my decisions.

  And to my teacher Mrs. Limas. Thank you for the confidence boost you gave me with my writing.

  1: THE BEGINNING

  I walked to the old mansion at the end of the street and knocked on the door. No one ever went to it for candy on Halloween because of how scary it looked. It had windows that were broken and weeds that were over my head. There was only one light on the front porch, and it flickered every now and then. The dark October clouds loomed over the tall roof like a blanket, blocking out all of the moonlight.

  I'd always been curious about the mansion. No one went in, and certainly no one came out. People said that no one had lived there for years. And then there were the people who said that there was a single old man that lived there by himself. But no one knew for sure, of course, because, like I said, no one went in, and no one came out.

  The old door squeaked open, and in the doorway stood a pale-faced man. He wore a black tuxedo with tails. His white bow-tie was tight around his neck, and he stood with his chin up, only looking at me with his eyes.

  "Trick or treat?" My voice cracked.

  Was this the man who lived here? I wasn't expecting anybody to answer the door in the first place.

  The man held out a big, orange candy bowl filled to the top.

  "Help yourself," he hissed.

  I hesitantly put my hand in the bowl to scoop up some Halloween candy, when I felt something soft and warm. I jerked my hand back. That's not what candy feels like.

  Suddenly, a bony hand with large veins poking out all over it flung out and grabbed my wrist. Hard.

  "Get off me!" I shrieked.

  The man smiled, looking down at me.

  "You shouldn't have come. We know your face now."

  The bowl quivered and the man disappeared.

  "Ahhh!"

  I tried to get away, but the hand held me in place. It was no longer in a bowl, but floated in the air, blood dripping from the severed wrist. Claws slid out and dug into my skin, drawing blood.

  I let out a scream and fell to the ground, tears falling from my eyes.

  The hand let go and disappeared just like the man had.

  The red blood was all over the sleeves of my pink costume. I sat there for a moment, watching the door slowly close, letting out a high screeching noise.

  I cradled my wrist and pressed on the wounds to make it stop bleeding.

  "I'll be back," I whispered to the closing door. "I promise."

  2: THE REVENGE

  I woke up the next morning, last night on my mind. I couldn't sleep well.

  I dragged my feet to the kitchen, where my mom was already getting my sister, Tori, ready. She was six, and very annoying.

  My name is Megan. Some kids call me Meg for short, but I like Megan. I think it suits me fine.

  I poured a bowl of Lucky Charms into a bowl, scarfing it down. My mom left for work and took Tori to daycare. She thought I wasn't old enough or responsible enough to watch her while she was gone. I didn't know why she thought that. On the bright side, I got the whole house to myself.

  I threw on a jacket and pulled open the door. I had to go check out the mansion. I knew the hand thing that night was just to scare me away so I wouldn't find out the real truth about that place. I just knew it.

  A cold breeze blew at my face as I stepped down off of the doorstep and into the harsh November first air. It was a cold and breathtaking sight outside. The frost was just forming on the ground, making the grass shiny and made it look white. My breath came out in puffs like the caterpillar on Alice in Wonderland. Oh, I loved the cold. I was glad summer was over.

  I walked through the snow in old gray sneakers and some blue-jean pants. They drug on the cold ground, getting the bottoms wet. I hugged the jacket around me so no cold breezes could get in.

  I began walking to the end of the street.

  When I saw the doors, my heart started to pound in my chest. My brain started sending me red flags, telling me I should turn away and go home. But I wasn't so easily scared by stupid houses. I wanted to investigate and see what it was like on the inside.

  As soon as I reached the porch, I took a breath for courage and pushed with all my might.

  They didn't budge.

  So I tried pushing again, this time pushing harder with my shoulder.

  Maybe it's locked.

  So I knocked.

  The doors opened up quickly, sending a gust of wind towards me. Two gloved hands floated in front of me, moving the fingers like it was playing the piano. This wasn't normal.

  I gasped in horror as the hands flew towards me. The cold, clammy gloves picked me up by the waist, pulled me inside, and lifted me up to the ceiling.

  "Aaah!"

  I was terribly afraid of heights! I was about five meters high and going higher. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine, almost ten feet! The hands let go, and I fell to the ground. I let out a short yell before I hit the wood, hearing cracking and feeling sharp pain everywhere.

  I wasn't okay.

  3: THE AWFUL TRUTH

  I got up off of the floor.

  It felt like I'd been there for years! But I know that it's only been a few minutes. Or hours.

  I walked outside.

  It was strangely warm. Why was I wearing a jacket if it was warm outside?

  I took off the jacket and folded it over my shoulder.

  I might want to get home, I thought. I don't know what time it is, and Mom might be home already, looking for me.

  I started to walk back and wiped the sweat from my forehead.

  Man, it's hot.

  I reached my door and turned the knob, but the door didn't open. I lifted up the welcome mat to look for the key, but it wasn't there. I groaned and rang the doorbell.

  A girl that I'd never seen before answered the door. She was blonde and tall, and wore red glasses. She looked about ten or eleven.

  "Who's at the door, Kat?" A man yelled from somewhere in the house.

  "No one," she said, starting to close the door.

  Before it completely closed, I slipped in.

  "Hey, dad?" she asked the man in the living room.

  He's bald and sitting in a recliner with a glass of tea in his hand.

  "Can I have some candy?"

  "After dinner," a woman said, walking into the living room.

  She was short and skinny, and had dark hair that fell past her shoulders.

  "Sidney, you know I don't like Katelin and Dawson eating sweets before dinner."

  Sidney laughed and said, "I didn't even say anything!"

  She laughs and a little boy walked into the room with messy blonde hair.

  "What are we having for dinner?" he moaned.

  "Chicken, just like you, Dawson!" Sidney laughed.

  Dawson growled. "Hey!"

  Sidney started tickling him, and he started laughing.

  "STOP!" he laughed.

  4: SHE KNOWS?

  My brother was getting tickled badly! I couldn't stop laughing.
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  My mom walked out of the kitchen and into the living room to go help him. I leaned on the couch and watched. My brother, Dawson, was about four years behind me. And I was only ten. He could be annoying a lot, but I think it's mostly because he was my brother.

  I walked into the kitchen to look at the food cooking.

  But then I saw the figure of a girl. She had short, strawberry hair, and brown eyes. She wore a long sleeved pink shirt and blue jeans. She was short, and she looked about my age. I immediately stopped laughing and stared.

  Her eyes glittered with excitement.

  I walked over to the candy bowl that she was standing in front of. I looked at her, and said, "Are you real?"

  She nodded her head, and I waved for her to follow me to my room. She was close behind me as I shut the door.

  5: NOT LATER, NOW

  "Who are you?"

  "I'm Megan. I live here."

  "No you don't," I said.

  "Yes, I do!"

  "We moved in because no one has lived here for two whole years."

  She stared at me for a few moments and I stared back.

  "You know that old mansion?" She said sadly.

  "Yeah."

  "Come with me tonight."

  "No."

  "Why not?"

  "I just can't."

  "Why?" she asked, almost angry.

  "It's too sad."

  "Again. Why?"

  "Because a body was found there. The girl didn't live."

  Megan started fading away.

  "Tomorrow."

  I could barely hear her.

  "Tomorrow?" I asked. "When?"

  She faded away, and I groaned loudly. I kicked the wall in frustration. Some of the wallpaper rolled off of the wall, revealing some words. If I don't read them now, I won't read them later.

  If not later, find me now. Find me. You aren't lost, you are found. Find me. Now.

  6: THE TRY OR TRYING

  "Uhhhhhhh," I uttered.

  The sunlight was beaming in my face. I sat up and rubbed my eyes.

  The wallpaper that was peeling on my wall kept grabbing my attention. What did it mean?

  I stumbled over to the wall to try and put it back in its place, and, surprisingly, it stayed.

  "There," I said. "Fixed."

  I walked out of my room and poured a bowl of Reese's Puffs cereal.

  I threw on a pair of flip-flops and I slipped into a pair of shorts and a tank top. I stepped out into the warm summer air and took a deep breath. I love the summer.

  "Ready?"

  I jump at the sound of Megan's voice beside me.

  "Oh my gosh, you almost gave me a heart-attack!"

  "Sorry," She said cheerfully.

  We walked down the street slowly, the heat making us sweat. The mansion loomed over us as we got closer, weeds growing up the outside walls. We step onto the front porch and knock on the door.

  My heart started to pound as the doors squealed open.

  Two white gloved hands greeted us at the door, floating in mid-air! They motioned for us to come in. We hesitantly followed, and the smell of rot and must reaching my nose.

  The hands backed away suddenly, and then they plunged forward and grabbed me by the waist. They lifted me up into the air, higher and higher until I could touch the ceiling.

  "Ahhhh!"

  The hands let go.

  7: HELP? NOW?

  I could feel the air trying to slow me down.

  I landed safely on a sofa that Megan found and had dragged under me to break my fall. The gloves snap and disappear.

  "Wow," I breathed.

  "I'm fading!" Megan shouts.

  "Wha-"

  She was starting to disappear!

  "No! Help me!"

  "I can't!" I said as she completely disappeared. "Megan! Megan!"

  There was no reply.

  "No! Now what am I going to do?" I stomped. "It's not fair!"

  A man walked into the room with a pale face and a black tux. What stood out the most on him though was the blood dripping down onto his white bow-tie from his mouth.

  Megan gasped, reappearing somehow. "No! You! You-you-murderer"

  He opened his mouth, revealing fangs. He hissed and started running toward us. Megan and I screamed and started running through the mansion, the man chasing us. We ran by several rooms like a dining room, a band room, and a library, trying to find somewhere to hide. We kept running, and we ran up into the attic, trying to hold the door closed.

  He punched through it, splinters flying everywhere. Megan and I jumped back, and he moved toward me until I was backed into a corner. My back was flat against one wall and my arm was squished against the other one.

  I let out a scream as he came closer.

  8: THE ESCAPE

  The vampire came closer and I pressed against the wall.

  I saw Megan behind the man, motioning for me to run. I shook my head, my brain panicking. I was too scared to move a muscle. All I could do was retreat into the wall until I was flat as a pancake.

  He leaned forward, when, suddenly-WHAM!

  Megan hit him with a chair, the pieces flying everywhere in the room.

  I saw a flashlight on top of a box and grabbed it, flipping it on.

  "Hhhhhissssss...." The man hissed as he laid on the ground.

  I turned it on brighter, the vampire cringing.

  "Gahhhhh!"

  Last switch.

  "RAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!"

  "Run! RUN!" Megan screamed.

  I ran. Down through the band room, down the eerie old stairs, and I threw open the door-

  "Ahhhh!"

  "MEGAN!!" I yelled.

  I ran into the band room. The vampire was casting a shadow over her, bearing his teeth and stretching out his long claws.

  I grasped the flashlight, fiddling with the switch. It switched on.

  "Hah!" I shouted triumphantly.

  I shone the flashlight on him, and he cringed, yelping in fear.

  "Megan!" I shrieked. "Run!"

  She scurried out of the room, just as the batteries in the flashlight died. The vampire disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and a bat flew out of it.

  "L-l-let's get out of here!" cried Megan.

  9: THE WEIRDNESS

  Before we could leave, I cocked my head towards the drums. Two drumsticks floated up, as if to hit the-

  "Ahhh!" The scream escaped my mouth.

  We ran out the front door, into the warm fresh air surrounded in darkness.

  "What now?" Megan asked.

  "Go home," I responded.

  "AHHH!" We screamed.

  A big wolf emerged from the window of the band room and landed on the concrete before us. It snarled at both of us. It leaped and started to run.

  "Hurry!" Megan yelped as we ran faster and faster down the street. The werewolf was on our tails.

  I stumbled down the road, slowing down.

  No! No no no no no!

  The werewolf was still gaining on us. But it was so close to us-close enough to smell its hot, reeking breath.

  It leaped-and then disappeared.

  10: WE'RE HOME?

  "Ooooookay?" I stopped, trying to catch my breath. "That was weird."

  "Yeah," Megan agreed. "But I don't think your house is home."

  We fell silent as I stepped into my driveway.

  "My house!" I choked out.

  "Our house!" Megan said.

  "Our house has disappeared!" I said. "Why does everything disappear around here?!"

  I walked toward where the door would have been. It was hard, like it was still there. I felt around for the doorknob, and hit my hand against it. Turning the knob, I slowly pushed open the door.

  Burst of light! My stuff! Where are my parents?

  In the living room, there were twelve werewolves! One turned toward me and snarled. I froze.

  A werewolf emerged out of thin air where Megan stood, and leaped towards her.