The Thirteenth Child

The Thirteenth Child

The rotten wooden porch of our new house creaked under my weight and my stomach twisted. The world was dark and the wind blew making my blonde curls whip around my face.

"Rose!" Dad called his voice sounded so loud in the night. We used to live in the city, so the night was never really dark or quiet. Dad moved us to England after my mum left, saying I needed a break but I think it was because he needed a change. Dad called my name again. I took one more look around the dark, surrounding woods. I shivered as I thought about the people that could be watching. I started seeing dark, shadows so I ran inside.

Dad was near the front door waiting for me. The fluorescent lights flicked causing the shadows around the room to move.

"Follow me," Dad said, before leading me to the creaky staircase and when we got to the top, he led me into a huge library with tall walls filled with books.

"Wow," I whispered as the phone rang loudly.

"I'll get it," Dad said, running down the stairs.

His footsteps echoed down the stairs and as they grew quieter, I felt more and more alone. I scanned the bookcase and one book stood out from the rest. It had a red-leather cover with no writing except for a tiny indented '12' on the spine. I opened it and flicked through the slightly yellowed pages which were all blank! I flicked through them again, puzzled and stopped on a page that suddenly had red, dripping writing on it. These words weren't there before. I re-read the words trying to decode the meaning. I ran my finger over the first letter smudging it. I put my finger to my nose and smelt a familiar iron/ metallic scent. Blood! Dad's familiar shout filled the room. My heart stopped and I ran out of the spooky library dropping the book on the wooden floor, revealing the bloody red words to the world, "you're next."

Red and blue lights illuminated the dark yard. Dad was carried out by the paramedics leaving me standing alone on the porch. My fears magnified, as I felt more alone. I turned all the lights in the house on and stayed in the living room feeling safer here with the TV on full blast, then in my room silenced. I watched a kid's show to calm my nerves when the house went dark. I sat on the couch listening to the only sound I could hear; my heartbeat. A cold gust of wind blew and I jumped. I saw a picture start to appear on the television screen. I squinted, trying to read the blood-red hand writing;

'Roses are red, and so is your blood,

If I was you, I would run.'

 I ran up the creaky stairs to the room that had all my boxes of things in it. I sat on my new, metal cot bed and eyed the round mirror in the corner that had faded gold around the edges and a big hole in one side. A few pieces of glass had fallen and someone had stepped on them for dry blood was smeared on the shards, making the room smell musty and feel warm yet stuffy as if covered in cotton wool. I found blankets near the end of my bed and wrapped them around me. I clutched my phone in my hand and looked up seeing something written on the mirror I had hoped I wouldn't ever see again;

'At thirteen past the haunting hour,

Your death waits so you should cower,

Go to some words written in blood,

And your death may wait another month.'

With shaking hands, I called 911. The phone rang then hung up and when I tried again, it did the same thing. My heart started beating faster and breath turned shorter. I started to make my way towards the library taking one step at a time. I paused then took another step trying to decide which note was the least scary.  I took another step and chose to go to the library. When I finally got there, I snatched the book off the floor and held it to my heart. I closed my eyes and prayed. Please be the right one.

"Wrong," a deep, chilling voice said behind me. I jumped and turned to find a tall, bony man with a long, pointy nose. His grey eyes never left mine and his thin lips never moved. He came closer to me step by step. "Finally," he whispered, "I've found number thirteen." A sharp stinging pain entered my mind and the world went black.   

this story used to be longer but it had to be under 800 word to hand in for english and it got a high to very high which is not to bad but please comment with anything i can make better!

thanx for reading...