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As soon as me, my sister, Liv, my parents had drove up the freakishly steep hill to actually get to the gates of 'Burrowside Hotel', you could tell this was going to be a very long holiday. I mean, it looked more like an abandoned asylum for the insane rather than a place people would want to stay in for a weekend away from their families. The whole place was so dusty it had made my Dad's asthma much, much worse. The windows looked back at us like the eyes of a empty soul, and the whole front garden looked overgrown; you could just about make out the front steps that led up to this immense building. As my dad lift his hand to knock loudly on the wooden front door, as if by magic the door opened, to reveal a small, fragile looking woman, peering closely at my hollister jacket and magenta converse trainers.
"Come in, come in. You have so much to see, and time isn't on our side today!" she exclaimed, a huge smile stretching across her face as she moved to the side to let us through the door.
"Uh, thanks.." My father replied, looking awkward.
"Your welcome! I just love it when I get to meet new people!" She exclaimed. She laughed.
"Yes, me too." Said my mum, looking at her with a funny stare in her pale brown eyes. Clearly, she thought this woman was slightly bonkers. In fact, I think we all thought it too.
"Come on then, I'll show you around!" She practically shouted, nearly deafening me.
The woman, who's name we still did not know, started to walk away, heading to what looked like the reception. And as we were new to our surroundings, all 3 of us just followed, like lost dogs.
As we reached the reception desk, I noticed how old and rusty it looked. Many old fashioned looking keys with writing engraved on them in cursive hung behind on the pale green coloured wall.
"So, can we like go to our room, to like, you know unpack and things?" My dad asked, looking around at this strange place.
"Sure, sure, we could maybe have the grand tour later or whenever you want, if you want it that is!" She said, laughing, obviously thinking her little joke was funny. Which it wasn't.
She then handed over one of the ancient keys, with a scary smile on her face. Written onto the key was the word 'Haunted'. That was it. How strange, I thought, what could she mean by that? But before I could ask this crazy woman, my dad swiftly walked towards the stairs by the entrance that we had came through before.
The stairs were enormous, and covered in a dark blue carpet. By the time we had actually got to the top of them, I was exhausted. All around in the landing were decrepid paintings of noble people that must of lived in this mansion. Liv and I crept past them, as if they were sleeping and we didn't want to disturb them from their deep unconsciousness. Just as I was standing in front of a painting of a beautiful young woman from the 1700s, my hard stare gazing at her face, my dad appeared from one of the many corners of this hotel.
"We've found our room! It's very..." And before he could finish, the old crazy lady who was obviously the only member of staff there that day; in fact probably the only member of staff that was ever in this creepy dump, appeared next to my mum.
"I'm so glad you like it here, it's just beautiful here isn't it?" She shouted, again screaming every word practically. And with that, she was gone, swiftly walking in the other direction.
"God, she's creepy. She's like a witch, the way she always turns up around the place." Liv whispered, smiling as she said it. I laughed.
We then followed my dad, going along many twisted corridors along the way. As we approached the room we would be staying in for the next week, I noticed the strange scratch marks at the bottom and side of the plain wooden door. It was large and splintered, but due to its careful workmanship had endured the test of time. Many years of wear had nevertheless taken their toll on its once delicate frame. My dad slid the key into the brass lock, and with a lot of effort trying to force the door to let us inside, it finally moved and swung open with a creak. As soon as it opened, I had a bad feeling about it. As we entered hesitantly, I knew that there was something else in that room. I don't know whether that was because of the atmosphere or because of the eerie chill that was in there, but I just know we were not alone.
Leaving our bags outside of the hotel room to look around the miniscule area, I noticed more scratch marks on some of the furniture in there and even some dried marks of blood. What is all of this?! I thought to myself, why are there so many scratch marks on every wooden surface? The rest of the room was just plain and ordinary; the bathroom small as well, yet at east it was clean. My dad then went out to grab the bags and a few seconds later, hhe was back and ready to unpack our items of clothing and everything else.
There were two double beds, and two cabinets in the room, so obviously my parents would share, and I would have to share with my sister. I didn't mind sharing a bed, I've done it before in the past and we always tell ghost stories with dim torches under the duvet. I picked up my clothes that I had brought with me (mostly jeans and t-shirts, with a couple of skirts and one red lacy dress in case of a posh dinner out somewhere) and carefully put them in the bedside table, draw 1. My sister did the same with her clothes, except put them in draw 2. By the time we had all finished unpacking, it was time to go downstairs for dinner. So I put a clean pair of jeans on, and my black converse this time, and I was all set to go.
After heading down the stairs for the second time we had been here (again I was tired), we made our way to the dining room, following the signs as we went. The room was of an average size, and looked like an average dining hall, expect for one thing; there was only one table, which was situated in the middle of the room. We sat at the end of it, facing west, as there was no where else to sit, and waited until someone who worked here came to tell us how the dinner system at Burrowside Hotel worked. Of course, after just a minute or so of waiting, the petite woman that had greeted us at the entrance not so many hours ago glided swiftly into the room.
"Hello visiters, your meal is here!" She said, as she pushed a trolley full of silver plates and glasses.
She them placed a plate in front of each of us, followed by a glass, and sat down at the other end of the table with her food. I looked down at my food and gasped in horror, on the plate was... fish eyes! Ew, I thought, who eats this type of things?! I turned to look at my parents who were too looking at the eyes with disgust.
"Took in!" The woman said, smiling that frightening smile again and sounding a bit too enthusiastic about the whole matter.
"Actually, were pretty full from lunch we had before we came here, so were not very hungry to be honest, So sorry for the inconvenience!" My dad said, trying to smile at her politely.
"Oh, okay then. But seriously, you will be sorry." The woman said, whispering the last bit, so that only I was able to catch them last words.
"Okay, we'll leave you in peace then." My mum said, playing with her black hair as she said it, obviously feeling nervous. She then stood up quickly, followed by each of her family, including me, in turn.
"Yeah, bye. And remember, watch out the bed bugs don't bite! Or should I say the ghost don't bite? Just kidding, don't worry. Now get out of my sight." She screamed, laughing when she said the ghost part of it.
Wow, she seriously is mentally ill. One minute she is being all nice and laughing, then the next minute she's being all nasty. Then it clicked, everything clicked. The scratch marks, the drops of blood, the cold chill in the hotel room, the thing about the 'Or should I say the ghost don't bite?'. Maybe there really was a ghost in the room!
I wasn't normally this superstitious, but something about this whole building really did put my on edge. I wasn't going to tell my parents or Liv, as I knew it would just scare them and make them worry. So when we got back to the room, I just changed into my Tatty Teddy pyjamas and pink and black striped bed socks and jumped into my bed, just like all the other members of my family did. And I tried to go to sleep, but I just couldn't.
Stratch scratch...
I jumped in shock, listening out for that noise again. And it didn't happen again, as I was sitting up in my bed. I peered into the darkness, looking for something that could explain that ear-bleeding noise. But nothing was there; nothing that I could see anyway. By this time I was petrified, just sitting there next to Liv in bed. i had to wake someone up before I was half scared to death. Then, I felt something move closer to me, something that was in that blanket of black in front of me. And it just kept moving closer and closer to my side of the bed.
Then, something, something white, was leaning over me.
A loud scream filled my lungs, but no sound came out. I then realised that this tall white figure looming over the bed, was in fact a ghost. My heart was beating so fast, like a drum, and I didn't know what to do. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled up and I was so petrified I just stared and stared, in too much shock to move anywhere. Then the figure spoke.
"Don't be afraid, little one. I am Rachael Batterby. I was killed on 23rd of January, 1980 by that women, the female that you call 'the crazy old lady'. I'm not hear to hurt you, I just came to warn you. Get out while you can, she has nasty plans for you all, I just know it..." She told me. I looked around and noticed Liv and my parents were listening to this ghost, dressed in a white dressing gown, just like they wore in the Victorian times. "Leave now, and don't die. Stay, and be trapped in here as a ghost, forever. Run now, before she finds you. Goodbye, and god bless." She continued, then suddenly, after she had said them last words, she disappeared, nowhere to be seen.
My eyes swivelled to look at the others. They were sitting there, in shock too, their eyes staring at me and the space where Rachael had been. I needed to take action, and get everyone out of here, before something did happen. I know I should not believe a ghost, but I couldn't help it. I knew that there was something wrong with that women. And I wasn't going to stick around to find out what it was.
"Come on, quickly, we need to get out!" I shouted at the other members of my family, making them all jump. But before we could all move, the door swung open, showing us a figure, a small figure.
"Oh no, please god no.." I managed to say, whispering it so quietly, nobody even heard me.
"Your time has come. Say goodbye." She said to us, laughing.
We all knew who it was. It was the crazy old women who owned this crazy place.
Then, I heard a gunshot, followed by a scream.
My scream.
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