The Morrison Mansion

Hello. My name is Dylan Anderson. I used to have black hair. Long, black hair that would often be covering my eyes. I usually wore my hair swept to one side, so it would only cover one of them. My eyes were a clear shade of blue. I had beautiful eyes, such a shade of blue that they were almost... hypnotizing1

I had a younger sister named Ashley. She had very dark, red hair, and big green eyes that would seem to notice everything; even the slightest of movements –from a gentile wind, to the drop of a pin in a crowded school cafeteria.  Ashley and I used to do everything together, whether it be a quest to the cookie jar, or a expedition in a new cave. Ashley and I used to love adventures, the feeling of discovering something new and the fear of never coming back. I assume it was because we would always go to the movies to see a horror flick, before going to the local pub back in Harbour City, Britain. I suppose we always wanted to feel the intensity, the excitement of the actors. And we did – We most defiantly did. This is the tale of our latest –and final- adventure.2

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4

We had just moved into an old mansion on Sherwood lane. On the night of a beautiful full moon, our butler Chauncey took it upon himself, with our consent, to tell us the story of our new home. He told us of the Morrison’s- the first and only owners of the house before us.5

"The Morrison’s had a daughter, Mary Elizabeth. Mary Elizabeth was every parent’s dream. She was an adorable little girl, everyone’s best friend. Nobody would ever pass a chance to talk to her even if just a brief ’hello.’ On the night of her ninth birthday, her father came home drunk. Infuriated that little Mary Elizabeth was playing with her dolls in front of the fireplace, her father took it upon himself to shove her into the open fireplace, leaving her there to burn. The fire raged, feeding on her burning hair and skin. The pungent stench quickly spread across the room, forcing her father to gag, and exit the house. After quite some time, the fire burned itself out, and the stench diluted in the open outside air. Her father dragged Mary Elizabeth’s corpse down the stairs, and dumped her in a unused part of the mansion, into the bathtub, after filling it with water. After a few days, her concerned neighbors constantly asked about little Mary Elizabeth. Panicked that they would soon search the house, her father removed her body from the tub, and placed her body in a hidden room in the mansion, known only to himself. According to legend, her body still rests in the spot, while her spirit lives on, forevermore haunting the mansion" Chauncey finished, leaving us wide- eyed at the dinner table.6

I couldn’t sleep that night. I spent a time just staring at the ceiling, thinking of little Mary Elizabeth. After what seemed like an eternity, I crept to my sister’s room, only to find her sound asleep. I made sure to be exceptionally careful, to not wake our parents. I touched her shoulder and whispered "Ashleyyy" She jerked up, wide eyed, mouth open, ready to shriek. I quickly covered her mouth. She realized it was me, and her body relaxed. She had also been thinking about Mary, and I knew what she was thinking, for I was thinking the same – finding the secret room, And finding Mary Elizabeth.7

We spent the whole next day discussing what we would do to find Mary Elizabeth. We determined that it would be best to do search for her that night, for it was the closest to a full moon as we would get for a while. We had always loved full moons, and therefore always had our adventures on the night of one. But this time, it was too late. And we were both too anxious to wait for the next one. We each grabbed our own backpacks and packed matches, lighters, and flashlights, equipped with new batteries in them. We eagerly waited for night to come, and the moon to come.8

That night, after we bid my parents goodnight, I lied in my bed, waiting for the strike of midnight, our set time for the search. Suddenly, I heard the gentle sounds of footsteps, creeping in the outside hallway. I tensed, listening intently for anymore noise. I spotted a shadow underneath my closed door. After a few moments, the shadow disappeared. I held my breath, waiting for any more noises.9

Flush! I heard. I relaxed. "Must be Father using the toilet," I thought10

The time for the clock to strike felt perpetual. I looked at the clock. 11:15.11

"What’s taking so damn long?" I silently said to myself, as I felt myself dozing off.12

DING! I snapped awake. I felt a tugging on my shoulder. "Dylan! Dylan wake up! Its time!" I heard. I turned my head and saw Ashley by my side13

"Hey" I greeted her, smiling, as I got out of bed. I sleepily picked up my backpack, and crept out into the hallway, with her right behind me. I motioned to her to toward the study, suggesting we check there first. She nodded, making the first move. She slowly opened the door, making sure it wouldn’t creak, and walked in. We started by tapping walls, listening for echoes. After about 5 min, we decided that there might be a trapdoor somewhere, so we quickly checked under everything- carpets, sofas, desks even. We soon grew tired of the study. We tiptoed out of the room, silently closing the door behind us. We slowly walked through the hallway, when suddenly, Ashley gasped14

"Ashley! What happened?" I silently asked, panicked, quickly scanning the darkness. I looked at her, searching her face for clues as to what she saw. She remained open mouthed, as I looked from her to the hallway, squinting into the darkness. Suddenly, she gave out a giggle. I looked at her, confused. She stared at me, grinning, laughing to herself.15

"Got you" she said.16

"Don’t do that!" I said to her, letting out a breath I hadn’t realized I had been holding "Come on, lets keep searching."17

We walked on18

I heard a giggle. I turned around, shocked that my sister would laugh at something this serious. I turned around to scold her, but I realized she wasn’t there. Panicked, I silently called out to her, by her name. I retraced our steps, looking in every room we had searched since her last joke. That had been nearly five minuets ago though, and I wasn’t sure when I had lost her. She could have been anywhere. We would never talk much while we were searching houses or building, for fear that someone19

-or something- would find us before we found whatever is was we were looking for, or before we finished exploring. 20

I heard another giggle. It seemed to have come from the closet, which we didn’t think of checking. As I opened the closet door, she lounged at me.21

I opened my mouth to scream, but as I did, she burst out laughing. Furious, I walked away, dragging her behind me while she smuggled her laughter22

"Twice in one night!" she said, laughing "Twice."23

"Don’t do that!!!" I said to her, careful not to scream. I could almost feel my face turning red, smoke blowing out of my ears. "Walk in front of me from now on. I don’t know about you, but I still want to find Mary."24

"Of coarse I do!" she told me, turning serious. "Fine. Let’s go."25

As we walked on, she suddenly became cautious of every sound we heard. Every step, every drip, every squeak. After a time of walking and searching, she suddenly froze. I turned in front of her, trying to figure out why she stopped so abruptly. Even in the deathly darkness, I saw something in her eyes. They weren’t her eyes looking back at me. These eyes were filled with fear, panic. For the first time in several of our searching’s, she was scared.26

"Dylan" Her voice trailed off, half whimpering.27

"Ashley, if your scared, its ok, ill find her my- "28

"I’m NOT scared,"29

I grinned. Revenge was sweet.30

"One fine day in the middle of the night," I intoned. "Two dead boys got up to fight."31

She looked at me, confused. I saw fear building up in her eyes even more.32

"Back to back they faced each other, pulled out their swords and shot one another. The deaf cop on the street heard the noise and came and shot the two dead boys."33

She whimpered34

"What’s the matter? Don’t like it?" I said, laughing.35

"It’s freaky as-" I held up hand, silencing her as I turned a corner. I noticed a streak of light across the floor, and I figured it must be almost dawn. But I noticed something strange. Dust particles floating in the air. I walked closer, jutting my hand through it. Dust swiveled and swirled around my hand. Ashley walked to me, stopping in front of where I was crouching down, dragging my finger across the floor. My finger was gray with dust.36

"Something here isn’t right," I said, mind going ballistic, a combination of fear, excitement, and adrenaline rushing through my veins, making then twist and turn like worms in my arms. "Mom’s a neat freak. Always has been, always will be. And I know she could never stand dust."37

My mother had an eagle eye for it. She dusted everywhere, and anywhere she could. She went as far as dusting the ceiling. So why was it so damn dirty over here?38

"You’re right…" She said, realizing that there was something not right. She ran her hand across a painting on the wall, so thick with filth it might as well been a frame of dust. She wiped it until the picture was uncovered, sending even more of the earth into the air. She repeated this for several more of the paintings, all in either black and white or sepia toned.39

"Dylan I don’t recognize any of these people do you?"40

"No, I don’t. These pictures must be really old. Just look at the way they’re dressed…and sepia toned? Damn." I said, taking everything in as I looked around. "In fact, I don’t even recognize this part of the mansion."41

"Wow! Your right for a change!!42

I looked at her, pretending to be annoyed, fighting the urge to smile.43

"Kidding!" she said. Her eyes went wide. ’her father removed her body from the tub, and placed her body in a hidden location in the mansion, known only to himself’ Dylan? I don’t think the location is known only to him any more, but where is the room he put Mary Elizabeth’s body in?"44

"Yeah, I don’t think so either," I looked around, looking for some clue, any clue that would help us find her. My eyes wandered to the bolt of light on the floor. That light has to be coming from somewhere, but where??? My eyes followed the trail, leading up to a door, open just a crack. That must be where it’s coming from!45

I led the way, slowly walking toward the door, my sister close behind me.46

"Oh my god do you smell that???" I asked, almost gagging. I turned to find her kneeling over, nodding. I took that as a yes, "cover you mouth and nose with your shirt. Who knows how much worse its gonna get worse in there"47

The door screamed as I opened it, and I noticed rust had formed on the hinges.48

The stale air stank of iron, and probably, burnt decaying human. Ashley grasped my hand it a deathly grip, and I couldn’t say I blamed her. I gave her a reassuring smile, hoping she couldn’t see my own fear building up. "This isn’t good…" I thought to myself. This ghost had hate, misery in it. I could sense it in the air. But it was too late to come back now, and despite our fear, we were still anxious to find Mary. The door creaked behind us, and we looked back in alarm.49

"There’s one of those auto door closers here, just look at the bottom" Ashley noted, and by the sound of her voice, I could tell she was secretly relieved. I could even sense her fear, and she could probably sense mine. We loved each other. We had a bond.50

My eyes fell on a few limp pieces of fabric, eaten through by termites and god knew what else. My eyes widened as I saw dark, decaying skin through the holes. As I looked closer, I made out the shape of the head and neck through the shadows. I noticed a burnt doll, hair burnt, still clutched in a black, burnt hand.51

"Ashley, we found her. But I sense her spirit. It should be here, her bones are here." I said, taking out my matches and dry paper, incase we would have to finaly put the spirit to sleep by burning the bones.52

"Did you bring salt?"53

Mary’s eyes widened "I thought you brought it!"54

"Shit."55

A gust of wind blew past us, wiping at our hair.56

"Play with me…?" A faded child said, floating down from the ceiling. Burnt "skin" across her face, lining down her body57

"Dylan…I’m scared. I’m scared Dylan… Please, lets go" Ashley whispered.58

She admitted she was scared. That wasn’t very common for her, so for her to admit she was, she must have been panicked. Admittedly, so was I. I looked across the room, my eyes scanning for anything we could use for a weapon.59

"Play with me?!?" Mary-Elizabeth repeated, this time more of a command than an offer. Her voice was full of hate, of dread, perhaps even a trail of loneliness.60

I grabbed Ashley, swung both our bag packs over my shoulder, and ran Through Mary. She shrieked, an ear-piercing shriek that I presume was controlled so only my sister and I would hear, due to no one coming to look what was happening.61

She turned around as yelled out "Why doesn’t anyone play with me anymore!?!?"62

I half pulled, half dragged my sister into the corridor as we ran away from Mary.63

"The courtyard" I said, making the move before Ashley could say anything.64

Once outside, Mary was nowhere to be seen. I let out a breath as I realized iwas still clutching Ashley’s wrist. I let go and realized I had been holding her harder than I meant to when I saw my finger marks on her wrist.65

"You could have told me I was hurting you" I said, panting.66

"Don’t worry," She said, rubbing her67

wrist "I Hardly even felt it. I was scared… I am scared. Dylan, maybe this wasn’t a good idea… Lets go back…"68

"I am to, Ash-" I froze as I saw Mary Appear behind my sister. In a fraction of a second, she dragged Ashley out into the air.69

It took a second for the realization to come to Ashley. I watched as my sister’s face turned from shock, to anger, and to fear as she realized she was being dragged away by Mary. Ashley desperately tried to fight out of Mary’s deathly grip, twisting and jerking as I watched. I ran toward my sister as I watched Mary drag her away, turning ever corner. I turned the corner as I saw the purple of Ashley’s nightgown whip across another. I ran at full speed toward Ashley, who was still frantically trying to fight out from Mary’s grip, her nails frantically ripping Mary, but there was nothing to scratch.70

Suddenly, they disappeared. I ran across the whole courtyard once again. As I came to a well I had not noticed before, and now that I think of it never seen before, I stopped. I walked toward it, unable to control my steps, as if somehow enchanted to walk to it. I froze at the mouth of the well, barely a meter and a half high. I walked around to the engraving at the other side. A round, flat stone, a possible covering for the well during terrible weather leaned next to it.71

"’Caution. Morrison Well. Dug by Henry Morrison as a Token to his grieving young lover after the presumed death of his first and Only child, who went missing during the autumn Months. Henry dug this well with the only power of his arms and shovel. On the day of December 24th, Henry went down to the bottom of the well to complete the digging, never to return. It is said the he dug down to the very gates of hell.’" I finished, not noticing I had been silently whispering to myself.72

I looked up and saw red drops along the tip of the well. I ran my finger through it as the bright red liquid came off onto my hand. Warm, fresh. Blood, I realized. Ashley’s Blood.73

"Ashley!!!" I called out, yelling into the well. I heard my echo yell back at me, fading as it went. I ripped my flashlight from my backpack, fingers fumbling to get it on. Once it flashed on, I aimed it into the hollow darkness.74

"Ashley!" I called out again, listening to any answers. Nothing. I turned away from the well scanning the courtyard, looking for any clues. Nothing came. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something. I jerked my head around. Holes. Foot holes in the well. I shone my flashlight at them, revealing more and more going down. Steps. Henry Morrison made steps to get up and down the well, I realized, eyes widening. I locked my flashlight into my mouth, jawbones tightening, as to not fall out, and swung myself into the well, my feet digging into the square holes. So That rock climbing camp mother signed me up for wasn’t a complete waste, amusing myself at the thought, then immediately regretting it. This is serious; Ashley can be dead. I tried my best to push that thought out of my head as I climbed down the brick steps. Ashley cant be dead. She’s not dead. She’s NOT dead. I told me self, pushing myself to believe it. A wave of heat hit me, and I immediately felt like the hair was being burned of my body. My flashlight fell out of my mouth, sending swirling light fall deeper into the well. I heard a heavy thud a second later, the light going out as it did. I must be close to the bottom! I realized, ignoring the energy being drained out of my body by the heat. I scraped the top of a brick with my foot, sending sediments out of the foot hole. I listened for crashes, and a moment later, they came, sounding like machine gun bullets hitting the floor. I quickly jumped down, not even giving myself to give it a second thought. I felt the heat become even higher as I fell, reflexes causing me to jump up as it hit the floor. Pain in my forehead causing me to remember the enclosed space I was in. I brought my hand to my head, and just a second later it came back down slick with blood. With every moment that passed, I felt stingy and throbbing pain. Sweating didn’t help. A heavy dizziness came to me harder than anything ever could, unclear if it was because of the intense heat or the gash on my forehead. I felt warm liquid soak through my socks- I had no shoes in order to minimize walking sound- and stumbled back. I felt around for my flashlight, and finding it, flicked in on. I froze. A man was there, appearing to have burnt to death. On his wrist, or what was left of it, were the words "Now it is your turn to burn, Father." Mary Elizabeth Killed her father! She burned him, just like he burned her. I stumbled back, either of the intensifying dizziness or shock, or both. I gasped as I jerked around, feeling something on the back of my ankle. This time, the rest of the world froze. There, bleeding from the neck and mouth was my sister, eyes still wide. I dropped to my knees, as I forgot about everything. I forgot about the gash on my forehead, I forgot about the dizziness making my head spin, and I forgot about the brutal heat, scorching my skin. I forgot about everything. Everything except my sister. And I screamed. I screamed such a terrible scream, louder than I ever though I could. My scream was raw, terrible. I ignored the black, burning marks slowly appearing on my arms and legs. All I did was scream, holding Ashley. They say they can’t still hear my scream from the inside of the well, echoing all they way up. I may have passed, but my soul still lives on inside that well, forever mourning my sister. I can still hear Mary Elizabeth’s voice, silently speaking down the well with my passing moments.75

"All I wanted to do is play…" she said. She covered the top of the well with the rock, and I saw the last faint rays of light disappear from the outside world. After all, I was not in this world. I was in Hell.