#WritcoStoryPrompt41

The mirror loomed over them as they traversed the hallways of the abandoned mansion. It was rumoured that no one came out alive from it. They treaded softly, their shoes patting against the creaky floors. They jumped, their skin crawling at the scenery. The shadows that hovered by their sights then vanished once they were seen.

"Why did you agree to that horrible challenge?" Amanda whisper shouted. Her deep brown eyes wide in terror. She gripped her companion's arms, her dark skin pale.

"Don't be such a baby. You know how much I love a challenge. Besides, legends are barely ever real. We'd just grab Farmer Nate's hat and get out. Quick and easy." Audrey drew her arms against her chest, barely glancing at Amanda as she continued her trot.

The dark hallways were covered with mirrors, etched zigzagged with their wicked glimmers. The strewns of the light from the moon flickered down from the overhead window. The soft caress of the wind swept past the window's curtains. The sound of a small creak clawed down the atmosphere, Amanda's heart jumped into overdrive. She jumped onto Audrey, her arms trembling.

Audrey buckled under the weight of the girl before rolling her eyes.

"Keep yourself together or do you want to give us out to Farmer Nate's ghost?" She spokewith a mock spooked tone as she dropped the girl back on her two feet. Amanda's heart clenched.

"I thought you didn't believe in ghosts!" Amanda whisper cried, eyeing the dark washed walls. The patches of decay and rot shrieked little by little.

"Of course not. Why did you offer to even tag along?"

"I wanted to try to convince you to turn back."

"Well that obviously failed. I have to put Gregory back in his place. So if you could go back-" Audrey stopped herself, her eyebrows raised. Amanda followed her vision and bristled with shock. The doorway they had just passed was no more but replaced with a thick and dark stone wall. They looked around, the volume of surrounding had also changed. The mirrors had disappeared, fire fly candles were etched to different crevices by the ceilings and walls.

"See." Amanda whispered once again, chills climbing up her spine. The earthy scent of soil crept past their nostrils, the strewn of the oil's lax fragrance meddling with the soil's. A maroon blue carpet spilled down the thickened hall, barely visible in the dull lights.

"This must be some kind of prank." Audrey muttered, clearly annoyed by the tricks. Her long strides thudded past the carpeted floor. Amanda ran after her, almost losing her footing.

"Don't you see there is a supernatural force behind this?" Amanda noticed the glisten of shadows, dancing around the candle's flame. She looked back into Audrey's light blue eyes.

"All I see is a patch of dull workmanship and a whole lot of foul play." The crippling of shadows begat in the corner, hovering and watching. Amanda ran after her, pulling her back to reason. Her brown hair stuck out in loose tendrils, gathering into smooth folds.

"We have to be careful despite, what you say I know there is-"

"The legends aren't real, Amanda." Audrey shot back, her green eyes darkened in exasperation. Amanda watched a figure bristle beside one of the candles, meddling and fiddling away. A mass of shadows from the different corners, quietly barged and joined together. Amanda's heart plummeted as Audrey continued her lecture. The heat of their presence made her shiver. Soon the figure's body morphed into form, spiralling and hazing, barely grasping this world. The spikes of nonsense formed into a towering figure with eyes that gleamed with a red of blood lust.

"-myth-"

"If it isn't real, then what is that ?"Audrey took on the key of the environment. Her insides began to crawl as she slowly looked up. Audrey's heart skipped a beat and then they ran. The shadowy creature swept a zig zagged hand at them. They narrowly avoided it by a hair's width. The clambering of candles scram in response to the monster's touch.

Their hearts hammered as they sped down the hall. Their eyes clouding at the pungent smell of fire. The drink of the orange blight blasted down the corridor, enveloping them in a pool of smoke. The black mass drew further than they went, making the draws of breath difficult. Their eyes watered as splotches of darkness ringed their vision. Amanda dragged Audrey to the floor, her eyes prickling from the flow of tears.

The smoke clouded them but here beneath, their lungs had their chance to breathe. From there, they noticed the path ended with another dark wall drenched again with the heavy scent of oil. They covered their mouths as they exchanged a look, panic flitting past the walls beneath their eyes.

The shriek of the creature droned in their ears. A mighty hand swept past the smoke, cutting through the black fog. The red of bloodlust scram in it's eyes as it's clawed palms drew to them with delight. The flames pushed past it, drenching neighbouring objects in its past hit. They tried to outmatch the forces of death that pulled towards them, while barely holding onto the tendrils of reality.

Pools of pain hammered through them, setting off alarms of panic. Shots of heat blurred their vision, once again settling on tumbleweeds of spots. Soon, darkness was already upon them but a bustling wind ripped past them. They both slowly opened their eyes, the world trickling into view. The blare of the lights momentarily gritted against their renewed sense of sight. Then, they watched the room crawl back into vision.

Chairs and tables covered the entirety of the room. Seated in grand style while the lights danced atop them.

"What in the world is happening?" Audrey whispered, more confused than terrified. Her pasty skin, the only reminder of the last episode. Amanda saw the double doors at the corner blast open. A fog of shrills and laughs clawed past. Their muscles tensed, drawing further into the outermost wall. A large red curtain sailed behind them, so they hid behind his material.

Behind the almost transparent material, they saw women and men in weird regalia float through the hall. They could have been mistaken for real people if not for the slight shriek of their skin and the ripple of their clothing. They swarmed in their hundreds, the strange array of colors forming a tapestry of ridiculous. Musical instrument and food appeared out of the blue, shimmering with the faint ripple of dust. As if on command, the faint medival songs played past as the ghostly figures began to dance.

"This is madnesses."

"No, this is what I tried to warn you of." They both watched, the shimmer of the women's skirts, glitching periodically revealing the tendrils of shadows. They gasped.

"We have to find a way to get out of here."

"Thanks for stating the obvious, genius." Amanda sighed, breathing out slowly. Audrey and Amanda watched the setting, eying the figures glide around each other to the gentle sway of the instruments' melodies. They spotted what looked to be a vent near the corner. The jut of it's iron flicked upwards. Faint billows of steam kept the inside warm, making them sweat in the thick sweaters they had on.

Audrey crawled with her heart pacing towards the vent. She pulled on it's top, the rod bafflingly hot. She drew away, blowing harshly on her fingers.

"Aud-" A loud shrill permeated the air, the slight system of peace and calm cut short. A petite woman with skin as pale as her hair had her black eyes trained on them. The ripple of her blue gown erupted, flashing hazes of shadowy lengths. The figures drew up, stepwise, balling into a ball of darkness.

The lights flickered rapidly as the stench of oil drenched in their nostrils. The room began to loop, jumbling and shaking as their magic swirled. They watched in fear as the darkness spun into the shape of a big ball. The red tapestry and carpeted floors warped into evil gleams of red. The craze of the tables shun through as it broke itself into splinters. The lines of the walls ripped out, drawing out as malicious threads that leaped. The elements of the room quaked, maliciously, prepping themselves for a war loom.

The ball of darkness zoomed forward, it's stench of oil gleaming onwards. The splinters of wood blasted through the air, their shards in a haste for the first draw of blood. The threads of walls wiggled like a snake as the red gleamy eyes heated the room up. The spirit of death tauted them, racing to them with otherworldly fangs.

His followers flew by, his mission they tried to accomplish. Their hearts hammered, blood curdling in their guts. Fear rippled past as tears came to their eyes. In a flash, the tendrils of reality rippled. A blinding light skittered their sphere of sight. The heat and others melted into a faint nothingness. They both squinted, finding it difficult to see between the willows of glares.

A shadow, lanky and hunched, appeared in the midst of it. It stood between the ghosts of eternal light. The heat left their eyes watering as the sounds and crashes of earth were drowning. Hot air blistered past them, pinching them with nails for talons. Their guts wrenched as they transversed through voids of light. Bile crept up their throat as the sounds drowned out their wholes. They shuddered as the heat and cold fought against them tumbling through the glistens of hard nets.

"Never come back." The shadow said through the eternal light before it faded. The rips of patterns drew back, threading together and forming the fences and concrete sidewalk. Audrey and Amanda found themselves at the outside of the mansion's looming presence. Nate King's Mansion. Blood roared in both their ears, their silence unnerved by the static of the building.

The grey's and browns still churned their bellies but the shrieks and shadows were no more. Amanda looked to Audrey, wincing at the tatter of her clothes and her knotted hair. Both had tired expression, their eyes ringed by dark circles.

"We will not speak of this to Gregory, right?" Amanda asked in confirmation, her insides still shaken.

"Yes. To no one." Audrey voiced, her tone hoarse and disconnected. They walked down the sidewalk in an eerie silence, feeling the hover of the spirit's presence.

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