Moonlight Vampires

The manor

Tonight was one particular night. It was Halloween night. I had always disliked this celebration. I was not into horror movies and I was easily scared. But my friends almost begged me to accompany them this year. They promised me that it would be fun. I reluctantly accepted. I still don't know if it was the right decision to make. They had a habit of choosing a theme each year for the costumes.

So here we were, all dressed in wizard costumes. I admit it was funny to see us all with wands and pointy hats. We went into the city for a trick or treat session to gather some sweets. After that, Chris decided to take us to the forest to see an abandoned manor he read about. Maria who loves everything spooky was totally thrilled by the idea. Anna and I were... not as enthusiastic. We were holding one another as we got deeper and deeper into the forest.

"Are you sure it exists? I've never heard of an abandoned manor in the forest" I said.

"She's right, we've been walking for long and we haven't found it. It must have been in another forest" Anna added.

"C'mon girls, it must be near here. We can't leave when we're so close" Chris replied.

"I won't go back to the city before I see it with my very own eyes. I've always dreamt of seeing an abandoned manor. Imagine if there are ghosts inside!" Maria said excitedly.

"T-there will be ghosts???" Anna asked, already shaking from fear.

"Who knows?" Chris replied with a smirk.

I didn't say anything but I was no better than Anna. The possibility of ghosts being in the manor frightened me. But we were here now, I couldn't go back alone, that would be too dangerous.

"Wait... Is that the manor?" Anna asked, pointing at a huge mansion.

The manor was well hidden behind trees. It was also very dark, making it hard to notice at night. The architecture looked quite gothic. There was ivy on the walls. It definitely fitted Halloween. It seemed abandoned, which makes sense, who would live so deep in the forest? It gave off such spooky vibes, just looking at it was frightening.

"I can't believe it's here! It's so huge, so dark, so scary. This is the most wonderful sight I've ever seen!" Maria said, enjoying it very much for some reason.

"It's incredible that such a manor exists. How come no one knows it's in the forest? Surely some adventurous people like us must have wandered here and found it." Chris wondered.

Now that he mentioned it, he was right. Wasn't it strange that no one talked about the existence of the manor in this forest? We asked people in the city if they knew about it, but the answer was always the same : "Where did you get such an idea? Of course there is no manor in the forest".

"I've got an idea. As I'm the one who gathered the most sweets, I will challenge one of you to enter the manor" Chris said confidently.

Maria raised her hand to volunteer, loving the idea. Anna looked at me as if she had seen a ghost. I was trying to keep my composure in front of her, but in truth, I was scared as well.

Seeing our reaction, Chris added, "Don't spoil the fun! It's Halloween, the point is to be scared and do spooky stuff. And I'm not asking you to spend the night there. Just enter, look around and come back. You may even find something valuable."

"It's easy to say when it's your idea and our destiny is between your hands." I said on edge. If I had known this, I would have gathered more sweets...

"Oh please, don't fight, we're here to have fun. It's our fault, we did not tell you. It's a habit of ours to challenge the others on Halloween." Maria said, apologetically.