"Creaky Mansion" by Ananya Raghavan: September 2024 2nd Place

CREEAAKK!

The moment we entered our new house, I knew it was haunted.

The cold, dark, house had no lighting, and I had to use a flashlight to look around. My legs were aching, and the only furniture I found was an old wooden chair. I sat down and it immediately broke. I tried lifting myself up, but a strong gust of wind made me fall back down again. I looked up to see a creepy old painting on the wall.

I went to check the rest of the house, hoping it was better. It wasn’t; the rooms were even chillier, with almost no furniture. So I went back to the living room, and gasped. White mist covered the room, and the only thing I could see was the painting. I felt the same, frigid, gust of wind, making me shiver.

“HELLO?” I shouted, my teeth chattering. My voice echoed creepily across the empty room. It didn’t even sound like me.

“Good day, Layla,” replied a mysterious, old-fashioned female voice, filled with longing.

“Who are you? How do you know my name?”

“I’m Abigail. And I am the painting which hath been…”

“Been what?”

This time, Abigail talked in a low voice. “Haunting this house… I pay close attention to all’s going on here…”

I looked up. The person in the painting was moving her mouth and hands. I couldn’t dare to look at her even one more time.

“But why?” I asked, “Why do you have to haunt this house? This white mist gave me a jumpscare!”

Abigail sighed. “I send parts of mine soul out. It’s the only thing that grants me pleasure, after being stuck in this frame for 500 years. I wasn’t always a painting, you know. Wouldst you mind helping me restore mine human self?”

“Ok… but how?”

In the blink of an eye, Abigail went back into her original position, and the white mist disappeared, as if it had never existed at all.