Nightmare Night

Arya shivered, and pulled the soft bed covers up to her chin. The night was cold, dark and wintry, and Arya was having trouble sleeping. She went to the arched window at the side of her room, picked up a necklace that she had found in the courtyard that morning, and looked out into the snow. Why, of all places did her other have to take this job, forcing them to move into the ‘Most haunted castle in Britain’.

And what a place to have a bedroom! The old haunted servants room! She sighed as she watched Old Bob glide across the courtyard, heading for the old jail.

“I wonder what prisoner he is taking to be executed today” Arya wondered aloud, trying to fill the dark, lonely silence that had fallen. One thing she hated about the castle was the silence. Occasionally she could hear Marian moaning at the death of her lover, or Shrek, Arya’s cat knocking something of the bench downstairs. She could hear Marian now, wailing away. Poor girl. She later received the same fate as her lover- a beheading. The sound filled Arya with sadness, as she hated seeing or hearing someone in pain, but she wasn’t afraid. The ghosts were mostly harmless, simply beings stuck in the wrong dimension, trying to get home.

But what was that? A bump. A creak. Then a slow and steady tap, tap, tap. Such unfamiliar sounds frightened her. She was used to the ghosts, they couldn’t hurt her, but the whispering was new. It sounded cruel, it sounded…. evil.

A storm had picked up outside. A gale force wind battered the windows and the gate outside slammed shut, making Arya jump violently. She tried shutting the noises out by pulling her pillow over her head, but instead found herself drawn.

She glided silently down the spiral staircase, passing the silvery ethereal body of a four year old at the bottom. When she got near the kitchen, she faltered. She was afraid of what she would find.

There was a shadow. A long, menacing shadow. She whimpered as she saw it pick up a long, cold kitchen knife. A sudden horror gripped Arya’s heart as she watched the shadow come closer to her.

She let out a low moan, as the creature came into the light that shone through the window. It was hideous. Its form was mutilated; blood was streaming down its hideous face, and flesh was hanging from its body. Its bloody legs were sticking out in odd angles, and as it shuffled towards Arya, its arms drooped to the floor.

She watched in horror, frozen by her fear as the creature lifted the knife high above its head. With a sudden burst of strength Arya hurled the necklace at the creature, and watched in silent terror its devastating effect. For one terrible second, the beast let out a groan that shook the castle, and Arya watched as its face twisted and turned hideously. Then the creature turned to ashes on the ground. A gust of wind blew through the house, scattering the ashes across the building, making sure it would never be able to leave the castle again.

As Arya climbed the stairs to her bedroom, the gale died down, and as she looked out of the window, as she had just half an hour earlier, she watched Old Bob take the unlucky prisoner to the execution block, as she lay her head on her frilly pink pillow, and pulled her pink silk bed covers to her chin. She was about to drop off when she heard the blood-curdling scream off the beheading victim, and soon after, Marian started to wail again. Arya smiled. She was glad her mother had taken this job, forcing them to move into ‘The Most Haunted Castle in Britain’. Life was back to normal again, and she fell asleep to a silent night. Well, it was as normal as a haunted castle can be.