The Spirit Stealers

Prologue/introduction

"Are you sure you would like to purchase 17 Maisy Trelladone Way?" said the woman behind the desk in the office. Her name was Laura bright and she wore her usual black dress with a white cardigan. Accessorising her were luminously pink 2 inch nails and buttons for earrings, a lime green necklace, and a pair of sunshine yellow 7 inch heels.

"Yes, I think so. What do you think little Charlie dear? Want to live here with your sister?" Amy and Richie Ashbury said, asking their three year old son Charlie something he didn't understand. Amy was expecting a baby girl in late January, which was why they moved out of their single bedroom flat into a glamorous three-floored, four bed roomed, with a garden and four toilets (including the en suite in the king size bedroom), and reception roomed property. It also had a dining room on the ground floor and living room on the first floor.

The previous owner was found lifeless a few months ago by a visiting neighbour, Miss Bon (an elderly lady knocking to ask for some sugar), who was in the Neighbour Hood Watch team with this previous owner, and had the key. She went in to find a still man on the top floor, next to the attic door.

The furniture was being left, and the final price was £265,500, which was a good deal.

"Well, you already know about this property, and the remote area around it, so just sign here - both of you - and your keys will be here in just a second." Suddenly, Miss Bright shouted at an old man: "17 MAISY TRELLADONE WAY!" and he searched frantically in a filing cabinet, finally appearing with a single bronze key. Mr and Mrs Ashbury took it and left in their blue Ford Focus.

*

Two years passed. They had settled in very nicely, and decorated the spare room with a cot, beanbags, and painted the walls with cartoons and rainbows. Charlie grew up with his little sister Sam - short for Samantha - very nicely, and played with her in the park nearby. They had a tree hideout of their own, called 'The Hollow Stump' in which they spent most of their summer holidays in.

Charlie had friends of his own - Marcus Jackson, Henry Daniel, Darren McKinley and Jacob Sprout. They were easily the best at football at Uxbridge College School, a private school and probably the cleverest in their year, but they all had parents. Charlie and Sam lost their mother, Amy Ashbury, unexpectedly. Richie knew, but wouldn't tell the kids in case they went to investigate. We couldn't have that now, could we!

Amy was looking around in the house, looking for extras included in the house package. She came across the attic, and decided to look through it in case they ran out of room for Charlie and Sam's school things. So she tugged at the latch one day when Charlie was at school, and Sam at playschool, and Richie at work, and there was a sudden cold air being swept past her. Amy shivered and sniffed. She climbed up the ladder into the attic and caught a glimpse of a silver shadow. That was the last thing she ever saw. Amy thrashed and struggled to get out of reach of an invisible thing clutching on to her neck, but the thing let go of her at the opening and Amy was thrust out on to the floor. The attic door closed, and Amy was left there lifeless, with no sign of movement.

She wasn't dead, though if you were to feel her heart, and check her, she would look dead. When Richie got home from picking the kids up, he found her on the floor on the top floor, with no emotion. Her eyes were shut, heart was not beating, and there was no obvious movement from her. But inside, Amy was trying seriously hard to show Richie, Charlie and Sam she was still alive, but all that came was a wet tear, and small twitching movements.

The funeral was terrible. Amy would starve to death, and be buried alive. The doctors said they couldn't find anything, or trace a reason of Amy's death. But how could she be dead if she was crying just an hour before?

The Spirit Stealers, that's what.