The Mansion Of Tricks With Treats

THE MANSION OF TRICKS WITH TREATS

               “This place is a lot bigger than I thought it was.” Jenny parked her bicycle and got off. she pulled her witches had down over a head full of blond hair.

The house was decorated from the yard to the porch.  Spider webs with huge black spiders hung from the roof. The yard was full of grave stones and ghosts. Even the trees were decorated with skeletons.

“Maybe we should skip this house.” Mike was still seated on his bicycle and it looked like he had no intention of getting off.

“Come on. All the kids say this house gives the best candy.” Jenny headed towards the metal gate hoping Mike would follow.

“Fine. But if something bad happens it’s all your fault.” He got off his bike and jogged to catch up to her.

“It’s Halloween something bad will happen. Let’s just hope it doesn’t happen to us.” Jenny smiled as she opened the gate and followed the walkway up to the porch.  Mike was close on her heels.

“I have a bad feeling about this.” Mike said as they reached the front door.

“Don’t be such a worry wart.” She pressed the button for the doorbell and an eerie sound echoed through the house.

Mike grabbed her hand. “That sounded like a ghost.”

“Yeah.” The door creaked open and Jenny peered inside.

“Come in.” A woman’s voice reached their ears, but they couldn’t see anyone.

“Hello.” Jenny called as she walked into the dimly lit house dragging Mike along behind her.

“Each room in the house has candy in it. You may visit each one and take as much candy as you like.” The woman’s voice was soft and motherly.

“Thank you.” Jenny called into the empty house.

“I suggest starting upstairs. Have fun.” The woman’s laughter echoed through the house and then faded away.

Jenny raced up the stairs. She still had a hold of Mike’s hand so he had no choice but to follow. They reached the first door. The sign on the door said DANCE ROOM. She opened the door and music blared from a stereo on the far side of the room. Fifty people danced around in the middle of the room.

“Trick or treat.” Jenny yelled into the crowd of people.

The group turned towards them and all at once started to converge on the doorway. They all looked like Zombies. Drool hung from their mouths and as they got closer the smell of decay reached Jenny’s nose.

Mike pulled on her hand. “Lets get out of here.”

Jenny allowed Mike to pull her back and she slammed the door closed. “They really went all out to make their costumes look real. Let’s try the next room.”

“Maybe we should just leave. I don’t want candy that bad.”

Jenny ignored Mike and opened the next door. The room was empty except for a table with a bowl full of candy in the middle. “This is more like it.” She let go of Mike’s hand and headed towards the table.

All kinds of candy filled the bowl. She grabbed a handful and dropped it into her bag. Just as she turned around to call for Mike a horrible screeching sound filled the room making her covered her ears. She looked up to see Mike duck as a ghostly figure flew over him.

The figure turned and headed towards her. Fear gripped her chest and she froze. The ghost let out another scream. It swooped down and would have hit her if Mike hadn’t grabbed her and pulled her away. She didn’t protest as he ran for the door dragging her along.

He pulled them both through the door and slammed it closed just in time. A loud thud sounded on the door causing them to jump and take off running down the stairs.

Without warning Jenny stopped and Mike had to dodge to the left to avoid running into her. “What did you stop for? Let’s get out of here.”

“The door’s gone.” Her voice was etched with panic. She walked over to where the front door should be and ran her hands along a solid wall.

Mike walked up next to her. “Are you sure this is where the door was.”

She rolled her eyes. “I know we came in right her and then ran up the stairs to the left.” She turned around to point to the stairs, only to discover there was no stairs. “Where did the stairs go?”

Mike turned around. His eyes grew big as he too realized the stairs were no longer there. “This house is haunted. We need to get out of here.”

“Come on. Let’s go this way.” She grabbed his arm and headed into another room. It turned out to be the kitchen. Bags of candy sat on a counter and Jenny rushed over to grab some.

“How can you possible still be thinking about candy when we are stuck in a haunted house?”

“Candy makes me think better.” She opened up a bag and popped a piece of chocolate into her mouth. “This is really good you should try some.”

“No thanks. I would rather just find the front door and leave.”

“Alright, let’s keep moving.” She shoved a few pieces of candy in her pockets for later. On the right side of the room was a door Jenny opened it and stepped inside. Mike was close behind her.

The only light in the room came from the moon shining through a big picture window. It was hard to see anything. Jenny made her way farther into the room by feeling along a couch. Mike was holding onto the back of her witch costume.

Her hand brushed over what felt like a leg. She drew back immediately. Her heart beat faster as she could barely make out the outline of what looked like a person sitting.

“It’s just a dummy.” Mike sounded so sure that the thing sitting there wasn’t real it was easy for Jenny to believe him.

“I am not a dummy.” The figure stood up as it spoke. It towered over Jenny and Mike.

An ear splitting scream erupted in the room. The figures laughter joined the sound and Jenny realized she was the one screaming. She closed her mouth and the figure stopped laughing.

It bent down so it was eye level with them. “Boo!” It shouted.

Jenny stumbled backwards and fell on her bottom. Mike scrambled to help her up and they ran from the room.

Jenny had expected to be back in the kitchen when they emerged through the door but instead they seemed to be in some kind of living room. Fire crackled in the fireplace, causing eerie shadows to dance on the walls.

“Did we not come back out the same door?” She looked to Mike for an answer.

“I guess not.”

“Maybe I can help you.” A feminine voice interrupted there conversation

“Who’s there?” Jenny asked her voice quivering slightly.

“Down here, at your feet.”

Jenny looked down to find a black cat sitting at her feet. “A talking cat? That’s impossible.” The cat stared at her with piercing eyes.

“Nothing is impossible in this house.” The cat jumped up on a book case and was now eye to eye with Jenny. “Would you like some help getting out of here or not?”

Jenny swallowed the lump in her throat and felt Mike’s grip tighten on her hand. “Yes. I want to get out.”

“Follow me.” The cat jumped down from the bookcase and led the way through the sitting area and down a long hall.

Pictures of people hung from the walls and Jenny could have sworn she saw the eyes of one painting move as she walked by. “Are the pictures alive?”

The cat stopped and turned to look her. “Don’t be silly. Some of them can move their eyes or hands and a couple can say a few words, but they certainly are not alive.” The cat turned back around and continued on her way.

Jenny followed her down the hall and through a door that led them back into the kitchen. “This is not how we got to the kitchen the first time. What’s going on here?”

“The house is constantly changing. The front door you came in through is now the door in the laundry room, but only for a short time. Come along we must hurry.” The black cat scurried though a door that led down a set of stairs.

Jenny looked at Mike who shrugged his shoulders. They followed the cat down the stairs. After all, what did they have to lose? They were lost in the house already anyway. The steps got steeper the farther they got to the bottom.

She was glad when her feet hit the carpet floor of some kind of bedroom. In the corner sat a desk with a single lamp. In the middle of the room was a quilt stretched out. It was only half done and Jenny came to the conclusion that this was a sewing room.

“Come along children. The house will change again in a few minutes we haven’t got much time.”

Jenny and Mike picked up the pace as they followed the cat through another door and into the laundry room.

The cat sat down in front of a bright red door. “That’s the door that will lead you outside.”

The house was quiet as Jenny approached the red door. Her hand was on the knob when a terrified scream of help pierced the silence.

Her hand withdrew from the knob as if it was on fire. “Someone else is stuck in the house. We have to help them.”

Mike stepped forward and opened the door. On the other side was grass and trees. This was the way out the cat had been right. “Come on Jenny. We have to go.”

“No, we have to help whoever is in the house.”

The cat jumped in front of her as she took a step farther into the house. “The house doesn’t want you to leave. It plays tricks on you. There is no one else in the house except for Zombies and Vampires. Please go.”

Jenny looked out the door Mike was holding open, then back at the cat. The scream for help came again. What if the cat was wrong and someone else was in the house? The door they had just come through was beginning to shake.

“The house is changing you must go now.” The cut said urgently.

Jenny looked back at Mike who had stepped outside the house, obviously not wanted to get trapped again. When she looked back towards the sewing room door it was a different color and the floor beneath her feet was starting to shake as if there was an earthquake.

She raced for the door that led to the outside. She threw herself out the door just as the floor disappeared beneath her.

Mike grabbed her hand and yanked her to her feet. Without giving her anytime to even get her balance he took off at a run for their bikes, dragging her along behind him.

Mike took off on his bike as fast as he could. Jenny looked back at the house and smiled. One thing was for sure, this was a Halloween she would never forget.