DIVERSE TALES

THE HAUNTED MANSION

   Their hearts hammered as they sped down the hall. Their eyes clouded at the pungent smell of fire. The drinks of the orange blight blasted down the corridor, enveloping them in a pool of smoke. The black mass drew further than they went, making the draws of breath difficult. Their eyes watered as splotches of darkness ringed their vision. Amanda dragged Audrey to the floor, her eyes prickling from the flow of tears.

  The smoke clouded them but here beneath, theirs lungs had their chance to breathe. From there, they noticed the path ended with another dark wall drenched again with the heavy scent of oil. They covered their mouths as they exchanged a look, panic flitting past the walls beneath their eyes.

  The shriek of the creature droned in their ears. A mighty hand swept past the smoke, cutting through the black fog. The red of bloodlust scram in it's eyes as it's clawed palms drew to them with delight. The flames pushed past it, drenching neighbouring objects in its past hit. They tried to outmatch the forces of death that pulled towards them, while barely holding onto the tendrils of reality.

   Pools of pain hammered through them, setting off alarms of panic. Shots of heat blurred their vision, once again settling on tumbleweeds of spots. Soon, darkness was already upon them but a bustling wind ripped past them. They both slowly opened their eyes, the world trickling into view. The blare of the lights momentarily gritted against their renewed sense of sight. Then, their eyes adjusted to their surroundings.

  Chairs and tables covered the entirety of the room, seated in grand style while the lights danced atop them.

"What in the world is happening?" Audrey whispered, more confused than terrified. Her pasty skin, the only reminder of the last episode. Amanda saw the double doors at the corner blast open. A fog of shrills and laughs clawed past. Their muscles tensed, drawing further into the outermost wall. A large red curtain sailed behind them, so they hid behind his material.

  Behind the almost transparent material, they saw women and men in weird regalia float through the hall. They could have been mistaken for real people if not for the slight shriek of their skin and the ripple of their clothing. They swarmed in their hundreds, the strange array of colors forming a tapestry of ridiculous. Musical instrument and food appeared out of the blue, shimmering with the faint ripple of dust. As if on command, faint medival songs played past as the ghostly figures began to dance.

"This is madnesses."

"No, this is what I tried to warn you of." They both watched, the shimmer of the women's skirts, glitching periodically revealing the tendrils of shadows. They gasped.

"We have to find a way to get out of here."

"Thanks for stating the obvious, genius." Amanda sighed, breathing out slowly. Audrey and Amanda watched the setting, eyeing the figures glide around each other to the gentle sway of the instruments' melodies. They spot what looked to be a vent near the corner. The jut of it's iron flicked upwards. Faint billows of steam kept the inside warm, making them sweat in the thick sweaters they had on.

   Audrey crawled with her heart pacing towards the vent. She pulled on it's top, the rod bafflingly hot. She drew away, blowing harshly on her fingers.

"Aud-" A loud shrill permeated the air, the slight system of peace and calm cut short. A petite woman with skin as pale as her hair had her black eyes trained on them. The ripple of her blue gown erupted, flashing hazes of shadowy lengths. The figures drew up, stepwise, balling into a ball of darkness.

   The lights flickered rapidly as the stench of oil drenched in their nostrils. The room began to loop, jumbling and shaking as their magic swirled. They watched in fear as the darkness spun. The red tapestry and carpeted floors warped into evil gleams of red. The craze of the tables shun through as it broke itself into splinters. The lines of the walls ripped out, drawing out as malicious threads that slithered. The elements of the room quaked, maliciously, prepping themselves for a war loom.

  The ball of darkness zoomed forward, it's stench of oil gleaming onwards. The splinters of wood blasted through the air, their shards in a haste for the first draw of blood. The threads of walls wiggled like a snake as the red gleamy eyes heated the room up. The spirit of death tauted them, racing to them with  otherworldly fangs.

  His followers flew by, his mission they tried to accomplish. Their hearts hammered, blood curdling in their guts. Fear rippled past as tears came to their eyes. In a flash, the tendrils of reality rippled. A blinding light skittered through their sphere of sight. The heat and others melted into a faint nothingness. They both squinted, finding it difficult to see between the willow of glares.

   A shadow, lanky and hunched, appeared in the midst of it.  It stood between the ghosts of eternal light. The heat left their eyes watering as the sounds and crashes of earth were drowned out. Hot air blistered past them, pinching them with nails for talons. Their guts wrenched as they transversed through voids of light. Bile crept up their throat as the sounds blistered their ears. They shuddered as the heat and cold fought against them tumbling through the shields of hard nets.

"Never come back." The shadow said through the eternal light before it faded. The rips of patterns drew back, threading together and forming the fences and concrete sidewalk. Audrey and Amanda found themselves at the outside of the mansion's looming presence. Nate King's Mansion. Blood roared in both their ears, their silence unnerved by the static of the building.

  The grey's and browns still churned their bellies but the shrieks and shadows were no more. Amanda looked to Audrey, wincing at the tatter of her clothes and  knotted hair. Both had tired expression, their eyes ringed by dark circles.

"We will not speak of this to Gregory, right?"  Amanda asked in confirmation, her insides still shaken.

"Yes. To no one." Audrey voiced, her tone hoarse and disconnected. They walked down the sidewalk in an eerie silence, feeling the hover of the spirit's presence.

I want to thank God for giving me the Grace to write this. So, how was it? Vote and comment if you like.