Dream for the Dead (Completed/Editing)

3

"Wait for the police!" I hissed.
"I'll be fine."
Mum proceeded to tiptoe down the hallway, heading for the staircase.
"They creak!" I squealed, and followed her.
I wanted to put the phone on charge and call the police again, but I felt obligated to protect my mother. Regrettably, I was well aware I wouldn't be able to defend us if we really were heading for danger, but to accompany her was better than leaving her alone.
"Mum?" I whispered.
"Yeah?"
"I love you," I said, my voice starting to crack.
"I love you too, sweetie. But why are you saying that all of a sudden? Nothing bad will happen to us, I promise. So, don't act like it," she ordered in a shaky voice.
I could tell in her voice that even she didn't believe that.
The noise suddenly began again, but closer this time. This startled the both of us, but we continued down the staircase after some hesitation.
"I hope the police can find this place. It's quite... hidden," I whispered worriedly.
"Don't worry," mum replied, and then faced me for a second to put her finger to her lips, shushing me.
We made it down the staircase, and then heard the screech of nearing police sirens. They'd gotten here faster than expected, and a wave of relief washed over me.
I rushed to the front door, letting four officers into the house. Two remained by the police cars, one of whom gestured for us to come over.

*

After searching the house, the four officers returned to the cars and one told us they'd found nothing.
"No signs of a break in, and nobody in the house. We checked everywhere. It's a real mystery as to where and how they got in and left, but you're safe now," he paused for a moment, narrowing his eyes, "you both heard these noises?"
We nodded in unison.
After eyeing us up and down, the officer said simply, "alright. We'll call you if we hear of any other... occurrences like this one. You two okay to stay here?"
We both nodded again, the officer smiled and they all climbed back into the cars, leaving my mother and I feeling embarrassed, stupid and puzzled.
"I won't be able to sleep tonight," I chuckled lightly, but I wasn't amused in the slightest.
"Me neither. Let's stay up and watch movies or something. Comedy. Definitely comedy," Mum sighed, and massaged her forehead as she started back towards the house.

*

We accidentally fell asleep during the second movie. When I woke up, I realised it was a Saturday, so I didn't have to worry about getting a few extra hours of sleep to make up for the night before. I still wanted to explore the mansion, but I was going to rest first. I set an alarm on my phone for 1 p.m. and rested my head back onto the cushions, trying my best not to let the memories of the previous night creep into my mind. After some struggling against the strange occurrences inside the mansion, I managed to fall into dreamless slumber.

*

"I'm going to explore a little. Get to know the house better," I told mum after lunch.
"Okay. Have fun," she beamed, but caught my arm before I could leave the room and asked in a soft, concerned, and purely motherly voice, "are you alright?"
I didn't need clarification as to why she was asking this, and answered as reassuringly as possible, "yeah. I mean, we didn't even see anything."
"I know, but it still wasn't nice," there was a slight pause, before she smiled again, "enjoy yourself. Try not to get lost. Some parts of the house aren't very stable, I've been told."
I told her I'd be fine, then padded away. I scoured the hallways and after a game of eenie-meenie-miney-mo, decided on a door to enter.
"Whoa ..." I gasped upon entering one room that I hadn't expected much of, but was beautiful. It was a ballroom that had been preserved from the Victorian era.
"I didn't expect this place to have a ballroom!" There was a piano that had been left in a corner, so I went over and began to play Für Elise. I was completely absorbed in the music - it was a deep passion of mine - so, I didn't notice when the doorknob turned and the door swung open until I heard running footsteps and a loud crash at the other side of the room. I jumped and looked up, horrified, to see a vase of fake roses shattered on the floor. It had happened so quickly and I had no idea how.
"I just heard things," I mumbled breathlessly, "because of last night. The footsteps weren't real. There's a logical explanation for this."
I stood up and made for the door as fast as I could. I shivered a little as I made my way back along the hallway, planning to give up exploring for the rest of that day.
However, that wasn't to be, as I saw something that caught my attention and wouldn't let go. It was the door to the basement. Curiosity begged me to see what cool, and possibly vintage, items were down there, and I couldn't help myself.
"I'm such an idiot..." I whispered into the silent hallway as I opened the door. There was a light switch on the wall just outside of the basement, and I flicked it. The single bulb dangling from the basement ceiling didn't supply much light. It was very dim and flickered a lot, making the scene before me creepier than necessary.
"Why, Tabbi?" I asked myself as I stepped slowly down to the basement.
Almost as soon as I got to the bottom of the staircase, the door slammed shut behind me, frightening me, and the light went out. I screamed, fell to the floor and put my head between my knees, covering the back of my head with my hands.
The scariest part was the noise I'd heard: the light switch had been flicked up manually.