Chapter 1 - The Abandoned House

"Are you out of your mind?" screamed Victoria. "Well, weren't you the one who said that you'd like to see me crying? Well, I'm about to make that wish come true! Shouldn't you be glad?", Lyra replied rather sarcastically from across the distance. "You're crazy!!!", answered Victoria, who was now trembling at the thought that anyone would be foolish enough to actually set foot in that house. "Well, yeah, maybe I am", Lyra mumbled. "Well, if you have nothing to else to say, I'm off!", and with that Lyra set afoot, leaving behind a shaken Victoria.

The abandoned house - it had many rumours surrounding it. It was not the common 'abandoned and haunted' house. No, it was more abnormal, mysterious and eerier than the typical ones one would find in horror books. It was said that an old couple lived in that house. The strange thing about this is that, they have been known to have been there since thousands of years ago, as the people who have settled rather close to the house have claimed of their existence, even the people who came one generation after another generation. Some have claimed to have seen some shady silhouettes around that area and there are some who claim to have heard eerie sounds, sounds that sound as if the old witches of the past had come to live.

The old rundown house was nestled in a region where plenty of the terrain and vegetation had covered the whole house making it rather hard to locate. Not that anyone would like to try to find it. Instead they'd rather try and find ways to avoid it. Only those who were courageous enough, or those were not in their right minds or insane, would go searching for it, like Lyra. She had come on to a camping trip with her classmates as it was the summer vacations. A few hours back, they were playing truth or dare, over roasted marshmallows. She had been dared by Victoria to the current task that she was undertaking. They hadn't been on very friendly terms for a while now, not that it had anything to do with Lyra. Victoria simply didn't like her. And it has made Lyra wonder why? But it was none of her business to be poking at other people's businesses, and she was rather bored.

"Well it's chillier now that I'm nearing the house", said Lyra, who was a few steps away from reaching that big door knob of the old house. She stood at the porch of the house. It seemed as if the house was staring back at her with its empty black windows that seemed to be great big empty black eyes, as black and dark as the night. Yet to Lyra, these things were rather..... comfortable....?

In the distance, the light of day was beginning to fade. Tiny amounts of light escaped through the canopies, scattering around, bringing about the news that it was almost night. With the fading of the day, the atmosphere around the house seemed to change... It was now more... mysterious... and somehow magical...? The previous atmosphere around the house, in addition to the fading lights added a somewhat more eerier charm to the whole thing. Soon it became dark. Stars began to fill the evening sky, little by little. Fireflies began to come out of their spots, greeting the scene with their merry, flickering lights and they added an enchanting and mysterious view to the whole scene. As night fell, one could see the clear night sky, with all the stars and the milky way. The forest too changed, from what was once an ordinary forest filled with trees, undergrowth and such, to now a much more spookier alternative, completely different from what it was in the sunlight. This change felt as if they were trying to warn people of what lay ahead.

Lyra stood there, in front of the house the whole time, from the setting of the sun until now, she was engrossed in the enchanted mysteries that surrounded her. She breathed in the musky smell of the woods. It felt comfortable to be there, standing in the cold breeze of the summer night, surrounded by a whole new atmosphere, feeling as though she had been transported to an entirely new world. Her thoughts began to wander about. She wondered how it would have been like if her classmates had been there with her. They too would be amazed indeed, but none were brave enough to go forth with her. Not even the boys. "Well, it can't be helped. After all, they are all too much indulged in the rumours about this place." thought Lyra to herself. "Rumours? Ahh... Yes! The rumours. What was it now? They say that this place seemed to be inhabited by an old, timeless couple who are believed to have been here since time that is long forgotten..." "Hmm.... I wonder if I would get to meet them. I have so many questions that I would like to have them answered", said Lyra who had now set her hand on the big door knob. It was larger than the normal doorknobs. It was cold and rough to the touch. Anyone could make a rough guess that the patterns were not from the modern generation. They were unique, and seen to come from a time that has not been known to the world. She twisted the knob and...

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***