Horror Story - long version-

The short version is on Edmodo. Enjoy :) 

Horror story: - long version -

Rumple

It was finally Saturday which meant I could visit the library and get a new book. Every week, I would head to the library at 11am sharp as that was the time it open. I’d borrow a different book and finish them each week. Never once did I take longer than a week to read a book.

I loved reading. It helped me escape all the negativity and sadness that would haunt us in my house. My mum, Meredith, died two years ago and I never met my dad as he left us before I was even born.
So, my grandparents took me and ever since then I’ve been reading a lot more. I started reading fantasy books and those which seemed happy and colorful, but I soon ran out of books to read and the library took months for a brand new book to arrive. It didn’t matter anymore as I found everything interesting.

I headed off to the library and found that it wasn’t open yet. It was 11:02am. They were two minutes late. Soon a woman and a man came. The man held a bundle of keys in his hands, rattling through searching for the right one. The woman stared at me. I've never seen her before... It usually would be Ingrid who'd open the library... What happened to her? The man finally got the right key and opened the library doors. They both headed inside and I followed them.

I stood back as they turned the lights on and got everything started as they would usually do. I didn't mind, I just wanted to get a new book. I walked around trying to find a book I haven't read yet. Nope, nothing. I walked to the women at the desk and asked if any new books had arrived. She replied with a firm no. "Harsh», I thought. I gave her my book and kept searching.

Suddenly I came across a large copper colored book. It looked extremely old. I took it off the shelf and it was incredibly heavy.
"Rumple", was all that was written on the cover. I flipped the book around and it had no author, no picture nor even a price... Although at the bottom left corner, it was written, "based on a true story", I didn't understand. I thought no new books came and I knew every inch of the library.

I opened the book and skimmed through. There were no images or even numbered pages. Just writing. This was fascinating and it really got my attention. I decided to borrow it for the week. I gave the book to the woman and she said it wasn't the library's book and it shouldn't have been there in the first place. But kindly enough she let me keep it.

I didn't refuse and took it home.

I sat myself on my bed and placed the heavy book on my lap. I opened the first page which didn't include anything about the author, it was just black.

I went to the next page. "To Mona and Brad", was written as a dedication. I flicked a couple of more blank pages till I found the beginning.

I began to read...

"Eliot, a ten years old boy who was all about adventure.

He loved exploring the house trying to find new hidden passages or even creating new ones. Every little thing kept him entertained till he got bored of his house. Eliot had explored and memorized every inch and corner of the entire house. Which was a shock since the house was pretty big. It was a three story house with a basement included. Oh and don't forget the attic. Eliot and his parents, Mona and Brad, lived in this house for over five years. One day, Eliot received the most exciting news from his parents. They were moving to a new home. Eliot, filled with joy, began to pack his bags a week earlier than his parents.

As the day came to head to the new home, Eliot grabbed his bags and put them all in the car. He called for his parents to hurry as he was quite impatient. He opened the car door and sat himself at the back. He buckled himself up and waited happily. Humming and kicking his little feet to pass time. He couldn't wait to explore the new house. From what his mother told him, it was a mansion. This definitely got little Eliot even more excited. Eventually, Mona and Brad went in the car. Brad started to drive as Eliot looked out the window guessing where the house was located.

The family was on the road for over two hours. It was quite far from their old house. As Brad was only few miles away until entering the house property. Eliot's excitement disappeared. The house was a mansion alright, but old and creepy and dark. The house was located in a country side where the grass wasn't all green.
Curious, eliot asked his mother who the mansion belonged to before they had moved in.

Mona told the boy, an 87 year old man named rumple owned the place, he was an isolated man who lived alone with one eyed cat. He rarely left the house that no one even knew that a person lived there or that there was even a house located nearby. The houses weren’t close to together as you would have to walk quite a distance to meet with the neighbours. Rumple died over 25 years ago and no one knew the mansion was for sale until Brad found out recently. Rumple died mysteriously. Rumors say he ended his own life using a knife cutting his throat in his room. Apparently, he did so as he felt alone and wanted to be with his wife.

Poor Eliot got his bags and headed inside. The place was broken to pieces… some of the windows had wood planks hammered on as it didn’t have any glass. Mona took some of Eliot’s bags and helped him carry them to his room. They both headed up the stairs and entered the room on the left. Mona gave the master bedroom to Eliot as she thought he would like it, but no, the room was horrible. It smelled like the dead. All dark. Planks were used as curtains for the windows. Mona took them down to shine some light into the room, but that didn’t make any difference. She placed the bags on the bed and went downstairs to help her husband. Eliot sat himself down on the bed and immediately stood back up. The bed was rock solid and cold. It gave the poor boy chills crawling down his spine. He examined the room. The walls were wooden. The mansion was mostly made out of wood and floor creak followed every step. Eliot had no interest in exploring the house.

Brad and Mona came up the room and told Eliot they had forgotten a few more bags at the house and sadly couldn’t bring him as there wouldn’t be enough space in the car to place the bags. Eliot was anxious when his parents waved him goodbye and headed off but he put his brave face on and unpacked his stuff. It had been a few hours, Mona and Brad were taking longer than Eliot expected. The scared little boy stayed in his room and sat down in a corner. From his corner he could see the stairs and the room door which he left opened to hear if his parents had arrived. It started to get dark outside as the sun already set. Cold, alone and terrified, Eliot decided to close his eyes and imagine him in the old house exploring, having a little adventures. Out of nowhere, someone knocked on the door. Who would knock at this time? It couldn’t have been Mona and Brad as they had a key. Suddenly he heard the front door open. Eliot opened his eyes wide. He crawls closer to the door and from here he could see the front door opened but no one there.

Shaking with fear, Eliot does not want to move. He runs back to his corner and rolls himself into a ball. He heard footsteps and floor creaks follow behind. Almost in tears, Eliot closed his eyes and cried silently praying for help. The footsteps stopped. Eliot still with his eyes closed suddenly begins to feel as if someone was beside him. Breathing down his neck. He slowly opens his eyes, looks to his side and there eye to eye, only a few centimeters away from the figure’s face. He sees an 87 years old man holding a cat in one hand and a knife I the other. Afraid to move, Eliot stayed still and tries to scream, but the old man lets the cat down and covers the boy’s mouth. “Shhh…” the man whispers up on s into Eliot’s ear. The cat crawls up on Eliot’s lap staring at him with the only eye. Royal yellow eye. Eliot then looks at Rumple who had two different eyes, one hazel and the other a royal yellow, identical to the cats. Rumple takes out his knife and looks straight into the boy’s eye. Slowly he starts to raise to raise the knife up and within a blink of an eye; the old man had slit the boy’s throat…”

I immediately slammed the book shut. I did not want to read anymore, but why this book so heavy did only contains one story with a couple of pages? I opened the book once more and flicked through the last page I was on. I turned the page and it was blank and same with the other and the other and the other. From that page till near end the pages were blank. I went to the very last page and found a sentence written at the center.

“I’ll come get my book to write your story… - Rumple”

Carla Ferrari