The Mansion

It was a beautiful summer day in upstate new york, 1949.

A group of kids from the neighborhood walked to the end of a Cul-De-Sac.

"Hey, Timmy, wanna play Stickball?" 

"Sure! Let's go to the vacant lot!" Timmy replied.

So the children went to the empty patch of land in a field by the Cul-De-Sac where a Barn used to stand before the Barn and the Farm had burned down in a fire. The neighborhood kids called this empty patch of land the "Vacant Lot" and had used it as their personal play area ever since. 

Danny the Pitcher got into position to pitch the Baseball.

"Heeeeeres the wind up!" Danny said, imitating what a sports announcer would say.

 He swung his arm in a circular motion.

"aaaaaand here's the PITCH!!" Danny said, throwing the Ball at Bill.

Bill swung the Stick "Bat" with all of his might, making collision with the Baseball. If the kids were playing at a Baseball Stadium, Bill would've knocked the Ball out of the Park. The Baseball was sent flying and flying and flying until the Ball finally came back down to earth...right through the window of the old McGillicuddy Mansion on the hill at the edge of town.

The gaggle of Kids gasped in shock and horror at the incident that just unfolded.

"Yay! I did it! I did it!" Bill cheered.

"Yeah, you did it! You lost our baseball in the McGillicuddy Mansion!" said Hayley.

"Oh...whoops!" Bill said.

"The McGillicuddy Mansion is cursed!" Timmy started. "They say that twenty years ago, Aden McGillicuddy killed his wife Helen and his son Dennis, and they say that the spirits of Aden and his wife and son still haunt the McGillicuddy Mansion to this day!"

"I guess we better ask the McGillicuddy's to give us our Baseball back..." Bill said.

"What do mean "We"?" Tina asked.

"huh?"

"You lost the Ball." Danny said. "You get it back on your own!"

"Good luck, Bill." Timmy said. "You're gonna need it!"

The group of kids ran away back to their homes. 

Bill traveled to the Hill in the Forest bordering town and unlocked and opened the Gates leading to the Mansion doors. Swallowing his fear, Bill walked to the front door of the McGillicuddy Mansion. Bill hesitated before gently knocking on the door of the Mansion.

"Hello? Anybody home?"

No answer.

Bill waited for a few more moments, and then nervously tapped on the door again.

"Hello? Anybody home?"

Still no response.

Bill thought what he was thinking of doing was a bad idea, "This is probably a terrible idea..." Bill thought to himself, but if he wanted to get his gang's Baseball back, then he had no other options left. Bill opened the door and looked inside. The Foyeur was completely empty, save for cobwebs, dust bunnies, and antique furniture. Hesitant, Bill tiptoed inside the Foyeur.

Bill had then remembered that the Baseball collided with a window on the Second Floor, so he tiptoed up the stairs stealthily. Once Bill made it up the stairway to the second floor, he saw that the hallway forked left, right, and a door right in front of him leading to a room, the big question was, which way should he go first? Left? Right? Or Forward?

Bill decided to ever so slightly open the door leading to an unknown room in the hallway to the left to take a peek inside. Inside, there was an empty master bedroom, but no broken window, and no baseball. So Bill slightly walked to and ever so slightly opened the door in the hallway on the right, Bill saw that there was a child's room, with a broken window and a baseball sitting on the floor.

Swallowing his excitement and his fear, Bill tiptoed into the child's room towards the Baseball, grabbed the Baseball, and tiptoed out.

Out of curiosity, Bill decided on his way out to slightly open the door in front of the stairway leading back down to the first floor. When Bill peeked inside, he saw a pentagram drawn in blood on the floor surrounded by burnt out candles. Behind the Pentagram were three Coffins. Something in the Coffins were pushing the Coffin lids open.

Bill didn't bother waiting around to see if anything came out, he walked down the stairway with the Baseball in tow. He ran to the front door, and books from the bookshelf started flying every which way around the Foyeur on their own. When Bill grabbed the doorknob, he heard a thud sound. He turned around to see the suit of Knight Armor in the Foyeur come to life standing in front of the Display stand, grabbing an axe. Bill opened the door, ran outside, slammed the door shut, ran out of the Gate, then shut and locked the Gate.

Meanwhile, the kids were sitting around waiting in the "Vacant Lot".

"I'm bored..." Timmy said.

"What should we play while we're waiting for Bill?" Hayley asked.

"We could play Kick the Can..." suggested Tina.

"Hey, do you hear something?" Danny asked.

Bill was running towards them screaming at the top of his lungs, firmly grasping the Baseball in his hand for dear life.

"Bill! You're back! And you're fine!" Danny said.

"You got our ball back??? But how did you not get eaten by monsters?" Hayley said.

"Th-th-th-th-the rumors were true! Th-th-that Mansion is cursed! There were Zombies and flying books and ghosts and-" Bill rambled in terror.

Timmy then grabbed Bill by his shoulders and shook him.

"Hey, Bill, get a hold of yourself! Hey, Bill! Snap out of it!!" Timmy said.

Bill then stopped, and took a deep breath. There was a pause, followed by "I got the Baseball back. But I think I want to go home...." Bill said.

"Well, If the Batter is going home, I think I'll go home too." Danny said.

"Well, it is almost dinner time, anyway..." Tina said.

So the kids went home for the day. Late that night, a passing thunderstorm passed over the area. During the storm, a lightning bolt struck the mansion, setting it on fire, the structure burned overnight. 

The police and the Fire Department checked out the wreckage. The only thing that survived were a suit of Armor and three Coffins. The Coffins opened up, and three Zombies emerged from inside. A man Zombie, a Woman Zombie, and a teen boy Zombie.

The Police shot and killed the Zombies on the spot. The Police and the Firemen then ran out the Gate and locked it. They vowed never to speak of what they saw to anybody.

Ever since that fateful day he was sent to retrieve the baseball, Bill had become withdrawn, never leaving his family's house unless it was to go to school.

Over time, everyone in the town had forgotten about the McGillicuddy Mansion altogether.