Morrison Manor

As a child, the building had always fascinated me when we used to go to our school which was 3 km away in the cycle, the manor built in Red sandstone used to amaze me as if pulling me towards it. The grand building with the peculiar pointed arch, the steeply pitched roofs and front-facing gables gave a dull and grey look, surrounded by dense bush.

I had always thought of taking a peek but never had a chance since my friends always thought it could be dangerous to get into the manor. This manor was established in 1865 by a General. He would often visit this place with his family, one night there was a burglary and the burglars killed all the members along with their servants and robbed the wealth of the general. It was said that the manor was haunted and that the spirits of the entire family still haunt the manor. No one dares to go near it. They still guard their manor.

That day I was alone returning home from school and thought of taking a peek, I gathered the courage and walked towards the large rusty iron gate with an intricate victorian design and a broken hanging board written: "TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED". The screech of the gate echoed through the endless woods.The gate was inviting me in as if forcing my curiosity to overwhelm and take over every sense and every nerve.Slowly I entered and with a clang, the gate shut suddenly as if trapping me in and giving ways to fear and fuzziness, the stone pavement was not even visible.The old pot-holed cracked pavement covered with dead leaves looked like it was not cleaned since ages.The building stood like a giant, the doors and windows were smashed, the walls had protruding bricks and countless cracks on them that interconnected like an imitation of cobwebs, weaving in and out of each other. Few skeletal trees peeked from behind the house.I felt compelled to approach the grand,arched old oak front door and try opening the door, it was huge and heavy.When pushed harder it opened with a loud screech.Through the little slit, I could view inside.Through the broken windows and walls the setting sun's beam litted the room, all of a sudden flapping wings made me jump, a colony of bats had shelthered in the dark corner, with the opening of the door they became alert and flew off.The huge hall room had broken furniture, a thick layer of dust lay everywhere huge cobwebs made their way across.The room was silent when I tiptoed, There was a huge wall clock which was ticking loudly,suddenly there was a ring of an alarm clock,it grew louder and louder and louder ,they started deafening my ears and thoughts,I could not withstand and started running away as fast as I can from the manor,but could not as if stopped by a force pulling me and slammed me against the door and I fell inside,dust started swirling,everything turned into blackness, before I could understand anything,the furnitures started drifting from one point to the others. As if there was an earthquake and the ground was shaking.I gathered my strength and ran towards the door but it was closed, I started screaming, loud laughter echoed which was unbearable I wanted to run anyhow but my feet remained stagnant.There was a creeking sound of old wooden stairs, the hall smelled of smoke, it was getting misty, I could feel something held my feet, icy cold hands, I felt it was pulling me towards something damp, I tried screaming but my throat had dried up.I was in a state of dizziness, the hands pulled me harder, the fingers drooped in blood.I was losing consciousness......

I regained my senses and found myself in a bathtub filled with water, I was growing, someone was pulling me inside, I gasped, could not take a breath. I tried screaming and forced myself out of the bathtub. The water level was rising,water...no it was blood...I was being pulled in the tub full of blood. I somehow managed to force myself out and tried running out but toppled. I didn't realise the wooden cupboard was beyond me. I fell along with the cupboard, it hurt my leg, maybe fractured. I heard the footsteps again on the old mouldy floorboards, it scared me and I desperately wanted to run away but my legs gave way, I couldnot stand up. The footsteps sounded quite nearer as if someone was coming towards me and then suddenly I flew up in the air and was slammed against the wall , it hit my head hard.

Blood started to ooze out my head and then again I flew into the air and smashed against the cupboard and hurt my back.

It was painful as if someone was picking me up and throwing me away, like a piece of rug. I felt weak my body numbed. Clots of blood started forming on my hands, knees, heads and everywhere. Everything looked blurry in front of my eyes, fear took over in tsunami-like waves, I had no strength left. I wanted to go back to my loving family,to the warmth of my bed. It felt like a horror dream. I felt if I wake up I would find myself in the comfort of my home. Sweat drooped off my face mixed in blood. I could not withstand the pain,I was withered and could not utter a word and closed my eyes. An icy cold wind drifted my hair I opened my eyes, a small window let the hopeful rays of the moon fill in, an owl hooted from somewhere. I wanted to save my life and craweled towards the slit,but something colder touched my face ,it felt like a foot. I looked up with dimming eyes ,a structure,a human ,there in front of me stood a woman in a pale nightgown, through the moon rays I could not identify the face,but I weakly tried raising my hands for help and then the loud laughter.....broke the silence. The laughter was such that it could pop out the veins from the skin and chill your bones,my end was near I felt ,my breath slowed down,my eyes were shutting down again I was in a trance, maybe losing consciousness... I remembered the iron gate where I saw the signboard"TRESSPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED"..........