Short, Creepy Horror Stories ✔️

GOLD COINS

Title: "Gold Coins"
Author: Based on an Urban Legend from Spain
Source: Snarled Something Scary, YouTube
Type: Legend, Fiction

Many years ago, there was a large and beautiful house in the centre of Cordoba, Spain.

It was owned by the Belasco's a very wealthy family comprised of a father, a mother and their nine-year-old daughter Sophia.

Since her parents were usually busy, and away for work, Sophia was practically raised by her maid; Isabella.

She lived in the house with Sophia and would only go home to her family one weekend every month. Despite all her years of service to the Belasco's, Isabella wasn't being paid a fair wage. But she knew she was better off staying with them than trying to find work elsewhere.

One day, Isabella came back to the Belascos' house in tears.

"What's wrong?" asked Sophia.

"My son's not doing well...he needs to see a doctor but I don't know how I'm gonna afford it." she replied.

"Why don't you ask my mama and papa to help?" Sophia suggested.

"I already did." replied Isabella.

As wealthy as they were, the Belasco's were very tight with their money. Spending it only on making lavish edition's to their home and on their business.

That night, Sophia slept in Isabella's room. Sophia's parents were out of town again, and wouldn't be back for a month.

Isabella and Sophia were having a hard time falling asleep.

After laying in bed for hours, they heard a strange scraping noise coming from the hallway. No one else was home.

Did somebody break in?

Slowly, they crept through the door, and peaked their heads out the door frame.

At the far end of the hallway...was a small boy.

In one hand, he held a candle; the only source of light illuminating the dark corridor, in the other, he was holding up one of the black tiles, revealing a hole in the ground.

Sophia and Isabella watched as he took a small bag from his pocket and poured the contents into the hole.

It made a familiar clinking sound.

The boy placed the tile back to its original position...and backed away, leaving the lit candle on the ground.

Sophia and Isabella shared a look.

They had both heard the rumour that this house was haunted, but neither of them had ever seen a real ghost before.

They had to see what was inside that hole!

If the boy hadn't left the candle, there was no way they would have been able to find the loose tile. There were absolutely no indications that this tile could be moved at all.

Isabella lifted the tile up, she held the candle over the hole to reveal... - A pile of gold coins!

But the hole was much too narrow for Isabella to go down into.

"I'll go down and get them for you!" Sophia offered.

Carefully, she shimmied down the hall, gathered the coins, placed them in her pocket, and climbed back up.

Isabella was convinced that their prayers had been answered. They climbed back into bed, and agreed not to tell anyone else about their secret.

The following night, at around the same time, they heard the same scraping sound again.

They went to the hallway - and there he was! The same boy, dumbing another set of gold coins into the hole.

And just like the night before, Sophia climbed down and gathered them for Isabella.

This continued every night the rest of the week.

Isabella had more than enough coins to pay for her son's doctor bills.

But she didn't wanna stop. - There was an infinite well of money.

- How could anyone say no to that?

On the eighth night, the candle the little boy left had been worn down to an inch. Isabella told Sophia to make it quick - because who knows when the candle might go out.

Sophia climbed into the hole, gathered the coins, and climbed back up. - But some of the coins spilled out of her pocket.

Instinctively, Sophia let go of the walls to grab them. - And fell back to the bottom of the hole.

Isabella reached out to try and grab her, but in doing so, she dropped the candle, and let go of the tile.

Isabella was now in complete darkness.

If Sophia was screaming underneath the ground, Isabella couldn't hear her. - She had to find another candle, fast.

She felt her way back to Sophia's room, but couldn't find one. She blindly stumbled to the kitchen - where she found candles on the dining table! Luckily, there was a match box next to them, and so she hurriedly carried the lit candle back to the hallway.

Then her heart sank.

She couldn't remember which tile hid the hole.

In panic, she frantically tried to pull up all the tiles she could, but none of them were budging! - She collapsed on the ground and wept.

A few weeks later, the Belasco's returned from their trip - but were confused when neither Sophia nor Isabella were at home.

Senora Belasco walked up and down the halls calling out her daughter's name; "Sophia? Sophia where are you?"

"Momma! Help me!" Senora followed her voice to the hallway and placed her hear on the ground.

"Sophia? Are you in there?"

"Please get me out of here, Momma."

Senora called a construction crew who quickly tore up the tile floor.

They found Sophia! ...at the bottom of the hole...decaying...surrounded by shiny gold coins.

They say that the house is still there in Cordoba and if you visit at night, you can still hear poor Sophia, calling out to be saved.

"Please...help me..."

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