THE HOUSE OF MYSTERY(jo) THE HOUSE OF MYSTERY

Every year on Halloween the town of Rocky Shores throws its annual spooks fair and this year was the best so far, according to Cookie and her friends as they walked around the fair grounds.

Hey let’s check out Mr. Pitt’s haunted house, Tommy the tiger cub told them. I heard it’s really scary!

No way! If you guys want to go I’ll wait for you out here, Sammy the turtle answered him.

Oh Sammy, don’t be such a chicken head. I’m sure the girls will protect you from the big old scary ghost! Tommy teased.

A few minutes later they were waiting on line to go inside. Sammy looked at a piece of wood that was nailed onto an old willow tree that read in bloody letters: WELCOME IF YOU DARE!

Oh great! Sammy thought to himself, as he slowly walked passed a big spooky scarecrow that was standing by the front gate. It suddenly swung out its arms and in a spooky tone of voice it yelled out, BOO! Causing Sammy to nearly jump out of his shell.

Cookie rubbed her paw on Sammy’s head. Relax Sammy, none of this is real. it’s just a bunch of rigged up dummies made out to scare you.

They walked onto the porch and Vicky the dragonfly rang the doorbell. The door made a loud squeaking noise as it opened.

Good evening! A deep voice cried out.

Is this place really scary? Sammy asked as he gave his ticket to the old dog who was sitting in a rocking chair on the porch.

Trust me my young child, you’ll get what you paid for! He laughed. And before Sammy could ask him what he meant by that, Tommy pulled him inside the dimly lit room. There were some spooky pictures hanging upside down on the walls and a big giant spider web hanging from the ceiling.

Okay Sammy, just remember what Cookie told you... this is all fake, he silently mumbled to himself, as they followed a gory sign that read
FOLLOW ME.

Seconds later a headless mummy popped out of nowhere, swinging his ax, just missing Sammy’s head by inches. And even though they all could see that the blade was made out of rubber, that didn’t stop Sammy from letting out a horrifying scream before he took off running towards the nearest exit.

Hey Sammy! Wait up! Cookie cried out as she ran after him.

And she’s supposed to be the brave one! Daisy the penguin laughed.

I wonder if they’ll be coming back? Vicky asked.

Nah! Tommy was cut off as a pair of hands broke through the walls and tried to grab him.

Now that was priceless! You should’ve seen the look on your face! Daisy yelled.

Yah, yah, very funny!

A few more later they reached the end of the tour. a pale looking giant walked over towards them and said, Way to go kids! None of the other kids have ever made it this far! He then reached inside a plastic pumpkin and handed each of them a bag full of candy.

When they walked outside they met Cookie and Sammy by the exit gate.

Look what we got! Tommy cried out holding up his goody bag.

Hey way to go! You made it through a fake haunted house. but I bet there’s one house you won’t last five minutes in, Sammy smirked.

Oh yah where? Tommy smirked back.

The old havens house.

The what house? Cookie frowned.

You guys never heard the rumors about the havens place?

No.

The story goes that about a hundred years ago an old couple lived in the havens house. They were very worthy and were well known for their kindness and holiday parties. It seemed that they were very much deeply in love and loved by the whole town, so it was a great shock when one night the cops arrested Mr. Havens for murdering his wife.

Oh wow! If he loved her so much why did he kill her? Daisy asked.

To this day no one really knows. some say that he just snapped. others say that he fell in love with someone else, but was afraid that if he divorced her she would take all his money.

So he killed her? Did he ever say the real reason why he did it? Vicky asked.

No one knows, cause he died mysteriously before he ever got a chance to say why he did it, Sammy shrugged.

So what, I bet there are about a million towns with the same kind of stories. What’s so special about this one? Tommy asked frowning.

Cause according to my brother the havens house is the most haunted house in Rocky Shores, Sammy began. he told me of how one night a couple of kids broke inside.

And? Vicky asked.

And nobody knows what happened. my brother said that they were never seen again. That the spirit of Mrs. Havens took them.

Oh please, give me a break Sammy, Tommy smirked.

Well if she didn’t get them, what happened to them? Sammy frowned.

I don’t know, maybe Casper hid them some place! Tommy laughed. face it Sammy, your brother just made that stupid story up just to scare you.

Oh yah? then prove it, Sammy smirked.

What?

You heard me. I bet that you won’t last two minutes inside that place, Sammy repeated.

Oh really? and what do I get when I prove you wrong? Tommy grinned.

I’ll give you my video game, the one that you keep bothering me to borrow. I’ll give you the gun shooter game to keep forever if you win.

And if I win you’ll have to give up one of your favorite video games, Sammy stated. do we have a deal?

Deal, Tommy answered, giving him his paw to shake.

Three days later they headed out towards the old Havens place beyond the woods.

Are you sure you guys want to go through with this? Vicky asked, staring at the house.

Yah, both Tommy and Sammy answered.

Okay then, we’ll wait for you out here and whoever comes out first loses, Vicky explained.

What do you mean we’ll wait out here? we’re going in with them, Cookie added.

Why? I didn’t make any stupid bet, Vicky frowned.

Oh don’t be such a wimp Vicky. besides, Tommy isn’t the only one who doesn’t think this place is haunted, Cookie shrugged.

They all sneaked in through a broken window by the back door. once they were inside they noticed some dry red spots on the floor.

Is that what I think it is? Sammy nervously asked, shining his flashlight on it. A noise coming from the next room interrupted.

What is that noise? Cookie asked.

I don’t know and I don’t want to know, Sammy muttered, before hiding his head inside his shell.

You girls wait here. we’ll go and check it out. come on Sammy, Tommy said before he wandered off.

Umm, Tommy, don’t you think we should stay together? hey Tommy? where did he go? Sammy asked.

Don’t know, he was here a second ago, Cookie shrugged.

Huddled close together they walked into the dining room.

Hey Tommy, are you in here? Cookie cried out. Tommy’s screams interrupted her. they ran down the hall and into the room where the screams came from.
Hey Tommy, are you okay?

But instead of answering her he just kept screaming.

It took them a few seconds before they finally saw what Tommy was so scared of. Hiding within the shadows of the room was a ghostly old woman with bloody fangs hanging out of her mouth. They all ran back down the hall and out the broken window and they didn’t stop running until they got back to Cookie’s house.

I told you! I told you that the place was haunted! Sammy proudly cried out once they were inside of Cookie’s back yard. So pay up!

Don’t be such a cheater Sammy, the bet wasn’t for you to prove if the house was haunted or not. It was to see who would run out first, and since we all ran out at the same time none of you guys won, Daisy answered.

I think that we should go back, Cookie added.

What!? Are you nuts? did you see the fangs on that thing!? Sammy exclaimed.

Sammy, there’s no such thing as ghosts. besides, my gut tells me that there’s something weird going on inside that house. And that something has nothing to do with Mrs. Haven’s ghost, Cookie exclaimed.

They went back the next day, right after school. once inside they started searching every room.

Oh wow! What do we have here? Cookie asked, as they looked around the basement. There were boxes filled with a bunch of spooky stuff, but the most interesting thing in the room was a witch’s costume that looked exactly like the one that they’d seen the day before.

I knew it! See Sammy, there’s your ghost! Cookie cried out.

Hey what are you kids doing in here!? An angry voice yelled from up the stairs. For a moment none of them spoke as the sound of footsteps came closer.

The question is what are you doing in here? Cookie frowned.

That’s none of your business! The bear growled, showing his teeth.

Hey wait! It was you! Daisy suddenly cried out. I know those teeth anywhere!

What?

You’re the one who has been scaring everyone away from this house! why? She added.

Little one, you don’t know what you’re talking about. now I want you nosey kids out of my house right now! The bear yelled.

Your house? This isn’t your house. nobody has lived here for years, Vicky frowned.

Well it used to be a long time ago. this house used to belong to my grandmother until she died. And since my dad couldn’t afford to make the payments the bank took it over, the bear started to explain.

I’m sorry to hear about your grandma, but that still doesn’t explain why you don’t want anyone to come in here, Cookie told him.

Ever since I was a young cub all my daddy could talk about is how my grandma didn’t trust banks with her money. So she hid it somewhere inside this house and never told anyone where, so my father didn’t want anyone to move in and find it so he started the rumors of it being haunted. A year later he died from a heart attack and that’s when I took over. but I’ve been so busy trying to keep everyone away that I've never had a chance to look for her money. I don’t want to hurt anybody. All I want is to be left alone in peace and find my grandma’s money so I can pay off the bank and make this place a home again, the bear answered.

We can help you look for it! Cookie told him.

That’s very nice of you young pup but—

No really it won’t be any problem, Cookie interrupted. we promise to keep your secret safe.

Umm, well if you really don’t mind I could sure use all the help that I can get, the bear shrugged.

Two days later they found his grandma’s money. it was hidden inside the wall of one of the upstairs bathrooms behind the toilet. And as a reward for their help finding it the bear treated them to all the ice cream that they could eat. And every Halloween he would turn the Havens house into the best haunted house in the whole town of Rocky Shores.

Copyrights © belong to jaci 2006

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