‘Yada yada, whatever,’ Angelica said, her steps quickening. ‘Hurry up. It’s ten to.’
Already, Libby felt suffocated by the house before her. She kept her head down, watching her footing on the jagged ground. Her hair was damp with dew and a thick mist curled around the Manor – a protective barrier which only the foolhardy would pass through. She didn’t want to think about the family who died here. Of the man who shot his own children with a gun. Libby inhaled a sharp breath at the crunch of glass breaking underfoot. ‘I hope we don’t have to climb in through the window,’ she said, flashing her torch over the broken pane.
‘No need,’ Angelica whispered as the front door swung open. She pulled down the hood of her coat and looked them all squarely in the eye. ‘Alright, spill your guts. Who organised this?’ But as Angelica handed each girl a candle, she was met with blank stares.
‘We thought it was you,’ Bethany whispered, bug-eyed with fear. But Angelica shook her head. Her smile only faltered for a moment as another thought occurred.
‘It must be Jason. He’s been wanting to get me on my own for ages.’
Isobel and Bethany shook their heads in tandem at the mention of their big brother. ‘No, he hasn’t,’ said Isobel. ‘Jason’s gone to Dublin for the half-term.’
Their voices faded as they followed Angelica inside, their shadows dancing behind their flickering candles as they lit each one in turn. They turned to survey the grand entrance hall – a ghoulish museum to the mass murders of exactly twenty-five years ago. The furniture was decaying, the pipes leaking through the walls, and each doorway was framed with ragged cobwebs loaded with dust. Libby fought a shudder. The house may be dying, but it still carried a sense of something moving to and fro.
‘We should go,’ Jahmelia groaned, hugging herself. If her shoulders rose any higher, they would be touching her ears.
‘Bunch of wusses,’ Angelica muttered as she checked her watch. ‘It’s nearly time.’
She bent to take the last chunky candle from her carrier bag. ‘Think how cool we’ll be at school when we tell everyone—’
Her words were cut short by sudden, frantic flapping. A black cloud of bats exploded from the rafters and swooped past them before flitting out through the open door. A cacophony of screams erupted as the girls clung to each other. The screams turned to laughter, which dissolved into tears as the last bat flew out.
‘Oh my God, your faces,’ Angelica laughed, one hand on her chest.
‘Yeah … I think a little bit of pee came out!’ Libby laughed, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. It was good to feel part of a group. To feel like she belonged.
Dipping her hand into the carrier bag, Libby pulled out some cards and handed them around with a pen. Each one of them scribbled their names, wincing as they pricked their finger with a needle and added a spot of blood. The temperature had dipped since they entered, and the last of Libby’s confidence began to evaporate. They had only just arrived but already, she felt a creeping sense of being watched. She looked beyond the cobwebs and the creaking floorboards. Shadows from the past were coming to life.
‘What do we do next?’ Bethany said nervously, as they followed Angelica back out to the front door. Her face was flushed, despite the cold.
Isobel’s gaze darted around as she knelt to place the candle at the doorstep, on top of the bloodstained cards with their names. She was the mirror image of her twin sister and seemed every bit as scared. ‘Quench your candles but leave the one on the step lit. Knock twenty-two times but time it so the last knock lands on the stroke of midnight. Then blow the last candle out.’ She delivered the instructions with confidence. The game was an urban legend. The details weren’t hard to find online.
Angelica made a fist, preparing to invite the Midnight Man in. The girls huddled together as each ominous thud broke twenty-five years of silence. To think that a family once lived here. Once cried and laughed within these walls … Knock … knock … knock … Libby counted each thud as they echoed in the darkness.Eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one… She shuddered as a cool breeze curled around the back of her neck.
With one eye on her watch, Angelica knocked for the last time. There was no going back now.
The girls stood in quiet reverence as Angelica explained the rest of the game which was played only by the bravest of teenagers in Slayton every Halloween. They were to wander around the house in silence, avoiding capture until 3.33 a.m. It was a simple concept, but players had reported experiences from hallucinations to full-blown paranormal encounters. That’s if they could be believed. As nervous as Libby was about coming here, she wasn’t so sure that the stories were all true.
Solemnly, Jahmelia blew out the flame. Flicking her lighter, Angelica relit it. As per the rules of the game, they each had a candle to guide their way.
‘Remember,’ Libby said, her stomach churning with anticipation. ‘If your candle goes out, it means the Midnight Man is near. Either relight it or step inside a salt circle for protection – but you’ve got to be quick.’
‘OK, freaks,’ Angelica said. ‘I’m off to explore.’
‘Don’t leave me!’ Isobel called out, almost extinguishing her candle as she trotted after her in the dark. Bethany looked from Libby and Jahmelia back to Angelica before chasing after her twin.
‘Eww.’ Jahmelia pointed at a dead rat in the corner of the room. A splatter of blood rose up the skirting board. Its neck was snapped in a trap. ‘Do you really want to do this?’
‘You know what Angelica’s like.’ Libby picked at a piece of wax on her candle. ‘We’ll never live it down if we don’t.’
‘But if Angelica didn’t shove those invites in our bag, then who did?’
‘It’s her. She’s trying to frighten us, that’s all. I bet they’re laughing their heads off, wondering if we’ve fallen for it.’
‘Yeah,’ Jahmelia said, relaxing a little. ‘Where did she get the weed from?’
‘Her mum’s herb rack,’ Libby snorted. ‘She’s probably at home now, wondering where her rosemary has gone.’
Libby was glad she was able to put Jahmelia’s mind at rest. They had bonded through study group. The two of them had some of the highest IQs in the school, but Angelica’s grades were slipping. It wouldn’t have surprised her if shehadbrought drugs to the house. Libby wouldn’t have any part of it, but neither would she tell. A floorboard creaked from overhead and Libby held her breath.
