The Dreadful Dreamer's Collection

In the Mansion- May 24th, 2023

A family of four with two daughters was lodging in an old mansion far removed from society. It seemed like a great endeavor as a means to escape daily life for awhile, and the family eagerly packed up to reside there for a few days. It was a large mansion built hundreds of years ago, but the friendly face which greeted the family at the door was bright and new. The mansion functioned as a hotel of sorts, with meals included and plenty of activities to try for all ages. The parents eagerly took flight up the stairs to their room, but the daughters instead followed the stairs farther and farther up, and they seemed to stretch for miles. The polished oak railing was original, as were the delicate stairs. The two came to a landing and followed a murky corridor down into complete darkness. They inched ever so cautiously down the silent hall, but they were taken off guard when a set of twins leapt from a doorway on their left, their knuckles bled and eyes stained with malice. The two sisters were taken aback by their sudden and gruesome appearance, but upon further examination they saw that their mouths had been sewed shut and seeped brown sludge. In a fright, the sisters ran the length of the hall and locked themselves into the room at the very end, which showed itself to be an outdated bathroom from the 1950s. The hideous teal tiling and frosted glass shower was quite different from the rest of the mansion. At first, they thought they would be spared a minute to regain their breath and comprehend what had happened. The eldest daughter drew her eyes to the mirror and caught a glimpse of a boy standing behind her. She panicked, and turned around to see that he was real. The younger sister turned and looked at him, though she saw him as a danger more so than a person. The boy did not move, but only told the eldest sister that it was her duty to kill everyone in the mansion. At first she was afraid and could not process the words, but through strong persuasion, the boy had turned her mind around. He promised a free, fun existence if everyone residing within was dead by the next morning. The little sister shook her head, for she knew her sister was being possessed, or rather overcome by, this strange boy lurking about in the bathroom.

Dinner came, and all of the families, couples, and singles sat around the long dinner table at the head of the stairs. The owner of the mansion was present, and everyone casually feasted near the warm embers of the mansion's grand fireplace. From the floor above, the poor younger sister plead with all her might to stop her sister from carrying out the plan. She was far too gone, however. Her skin faded into ash, her eyes sunk into her skin with large red circles beneath them. She was disheveled and untamed, barring her yellowing teeth beneath the greasy strands of hair circling her face. The older sister took a bright teal ceramic vessel of sorts from the bathroom with her and held it endearingly in her bony hands. She broke from her beloved sister and came prowling down the stairs with the vessel held above her head. She lunged across the railing and came crashing down on the homeowner whom she mutilated with the blunt force of the ceramic. Eventually, the decorative piece broke apart, and that is when she looked up and saw the rest of the guests staring back at her in awe. She took the fabric of the tablecloth and napkins and stuck the into the fireplace before setting fire to the curtains and carpets around the party. A man attempted to tackle her, but she bit his throat in one lethal jab. She took off up the stairs, leaving everyone else below. Her sister ran into a quaint back room of the parlor, with an unknown older woman trailing behind. They attempted to open the door located there, but it was locked, as were all of the doors and windows in the house. The smoke was filling up the rooms as the fire grew hungry. She did not know where her parents went, but she figured in time they would come to find her if she decided to stay in one place. Nearly everyone in the mansion was being consumed by flames or taking their own lives right then and there. She went to hide beneath the table where she found a napping blonde dog. The animal awoke and looked up at the girl who was in tears. The old lady saw the dog and kneeled down for closer inspection. They both looked about the room frantically for a way to get the dog out of the house, and eventually found a way through an old tube pipe leading to Lord only knows where. They agreed it was safer for the dog to go into the tunnel to get away. Unfortunately, the tunnel was far too big for either one of them to save themselves.

The eldest sister returned to the teal bathroom and looked out the window to the side yard and start of the driveway. She banged on the glass hard until it shattered. It was the only window in the house that was not heavily proofed. She jumped out the window, scaling the tree through the early morning daybreak. Nearly ten hours had gone by since she killed the landowner.

She cried and shook, and went to run away into the woods where she would never be found, but a familiar voice turned her on her feet. Her dad was there, bloodied and burnt, but there. He painfully held out a gun to his daughter and knelt before the barrel. Patiently he counted down in his head when she was going to pull the trigger. And she did pull that trigger. She had raised the gun quickly to her temple and had done it.