The Spanish Manor

“Not again,” a teenage dishwater blonde girl said leaning against her door frame listening to what’s happening downstairs.
         
“Mommy! I want the fairy costume!” a little girl shrieked to her mother.
         
“Don’t worry,” a woman started sifting through the stuff around her. “I’ll find it just- Here it is!” She pulled out a pink fairy costume just as the dishwater blonde was coming downstairs.
         
“Ugh. Gross. Pink,” she spat a bit too loud.
         
“Alyssa, be nice,” her mom scolded walking up to the dishwater blonde and smacking her. “You know how much your little sister likes pink.”
         
“Yeah! It’s a pretty color!” the little girl replied loudly.
         
Alyssa blinked her green eyes to her miniature double of a sister. “I hate pretty. Like I always say, ‘Where’s the blood? Where’s the guts? Where’s the gory details?’” She laughed.
         
“What does gory mean?” the little girl asked.
         
“Gross, Andrea,” Alyssa replied.
         
“Alyssa. You know I don’t want you to say that aloud,” the woman, their mom, replied.
         
“Sorry mom.” She looked at the clock. “Sh- darn I gotta get to school,” she exclaimed grabbing her stuff and racing out the door.
         
“Bye honey!” her mom yelled behind her. Then turned to Andrea, “Let’s get you ready for school.”

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Alyssa was running to school hoping to meet up with her best friend in time. She finally arrived at the corner but her best friend wasn’t there yet. So she leaned against a pole and took a look around.
         
As she gazed around at the fall obscured scene with red, brown, yellow, and the occasional green leaves she spotted bits and pieces of Halloween decorations.
         
She looked down the side walk to see a girl about her age in an orange sweater and black pants. Her short brown hair flying behind her as she blinked her blue-brown eyes at Alyssa before she ran into her.
         
“Whoa!” Alyssa shouted as the two rolled laughing.
         
“Sorry, Alyssa,” the girl laughed. “It was either that or trip.”
         
Alyssa laughed again. “It’s okay, Vanessa. We got to get to school though,” she informed in her Texan accent.
         
“Yeah,” Vanessa nodded gathering her scattered stuff and standing up.
         
Alyssa started off on a fast walking pace ahead of Vanessa but Vanessa caught up fast.
         
“So,” Vanessa started, “you gonna do it or not?”
         
“What? I zoned again,” Alyssa replied shaking her head.
         
“The dare. You know. Cleo daring you because you said that you’ve never been too scared in your life.”
         
“Oh yeah,” Alyssa replied.
         
“Yeah in realization or yeah as in you gonna do it?” Vanessa asked.
         
“I’m gonna do it,” Alyssa replied bluntly.
         
“You do remember what they say about that Spanish Manor place, right?”
         
“Yup. A family of four once lived there and one day they were all murdered. It was said the murderer died also but said he will make sure no one will ever approach the manor and live. And everyti-”
         
“Don’t tell me the whole story. I already know,” Vanessa slightly chided.
         
“Hey, you asked for it,” Alyssa smiled half evilly.
         
“Well, here comes Cleo. Get ready for a hell of a time,” Vanessa said as they approached the school grounds.
         
Cleo, flipping her bright blonde hair and blinking her bright blue, clear, happy, but dangerous eyes towards Alyssa finally stepped up to her.
         
“So, you accept?” Cleo asked with a small smirk playing across her face.
         
“Ya think?” Alyssa replied. Then she added, “Wait, stupid question.”
         
Cleo sneered. “Six o’clock tonight Alyssa,” she growled as the bell rang behind her.
         
“Whatever,” Alyssa mumbled adjusting her backpack as she walked into the school.

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“Bye mom! I’m going to the sleepover!” Alyssa shouted running out the door with a duffel bag over her right shoulder.
         
“Okay be good!” her mom shouted zipping Andrea up in her costume.
         
“Ow! You pinched!” Andrea shouted as Alyssa closed the door behind her and started towards the Spanish Manor.
         
When she was near the gates she saw three dark figures by them. One she can tell was Cleo by the way she flipped her hair. The other was Vanessa, probably there to coax her out of it. The last figure she couldn’t tell but it was already gone when she arrived.
         
"You ready to go in?” Cleo asked with that very similar smirk.
         
“You really don’t have to do this, Alyssa,” Vanessa added with a worried look.
         
“I’m doing it. It’ll be,” she paused, “fun.”
         
She walked through the gates with Cleo laughing behind her and Vanessa, being the protective best friend, yelling at her.
         
Alyssa thought about the dare as she examined the dark, rotting manor. Some windows broken as the paint slowly peeled off rotting away like the black wood that built the house.
         
She knew what she had to do. Stay in the house for over an hour, come back out unafraid, and laugh in Cleo’s face the next day at school.
         
So, just as unafraid as she imagined herself, she walked in, the steps dangerously creaking.
         
When she was inside she dropped her duffel bag and the floor made a deafening cracking noise as she glared at it.
         
She grabbed her flashlight and beamed it all over the dusty, breaking, dangerous dump of a house.
         
“Damn,” she whispered as her flashlight landed on a hole in the floor nearby on her way to the steps. She walked around it carefully testing the steps before putting her whole weight on them.
         
She made her way up and then started her way around the second floor. She found a large room with an equally large, old bed, with bright colored quilts draping over it. Nearby was an old dresser with a jewelry box on it.
         
She walked up to it opening a drawer to find a few women’s clothing. Then her sight shifted to the jewelry box. Wooden, dusty, old, seeming to rot, with a barely readable name on it. She blew of some dust and sneezed. She was about to open it when she and the box was pushed to the side.
         
The box broke and jewelry spread across the floor. When she landed the floor made a threatening cracking sound like when you made a wrong step on thin ice. Then she felt herself slightly sink.
         
“Aw, shit no,” she mumbled trying to scramble out of the danger area. She just reached the edge and the floor caved in. She managed to grab onto some slightly strong wood and hang as the splinters dug into her palms. She felt a little bit of blood slowly oozing down her wrist. She felt the intense pain searing through her hands, then body, as she felt herself go weaker.
         
Then a hand wrapped itself around her wrist. It made her gasp but then she heard a voice around it saying, “Don’t worry. I’m helping you.”
         
She felt a light tug on her wrist and started to try to pull herself up with the person who was pulling.
         
Finally she was laying down on the floor, eyes closed, arms at her side, letting out a deep sigh of relief.
         
“Are you okay?” the same voice asked from beside her.
         
She stayed silent to let the words sink in. She noticed that the voice seemed kind of deep with a slight Spanish accent. Obviously male.
         
“Como esta?” the voice asked in a different language.
         
“Bien,” she sighed, “bien. Hablo ingles tambien.” She knew Spanish from her high school Spanish class.
         
“I thought you didn’t understand me the first time,” he explained.
         
“It’s okay,” she finally opened her eyes to look at her savior. “I was catching up with time. Which is,” she looked at her watch on her wrist, “six thirty- four.”
         
She sighed again bringing up her fist and slamming it into the floor. There was another threatening crack and she jumped.
         
“Como te llamos?” he asked in Spanish again.
         
“Por que el espaniol?” she asked.
         
He shrugged as she sat up.
         
“Me llamos Alyssa, y tu?” she replied.
         
She watched him cock an eyebrow upwards and reply with, “Juan.”
         
Alyssa stuck out her hand. “Nice to meet ya.”
         
He looked at her hand and hesitantly clutched it. She felt his hand was cold and a chill went down her spine as she clutched it back.
         
“You should leave, Alyssa. It’s not safe here,” Juan said blinking his serious, dark brown, haunting eyes towards her sending another strange chill down her spine.
         
“Can’t. I’ve been dared,” Alyssa replied shrugging.
         
Juan looked out the dusty, breaking window. The sky was almost dark as the sun continued to sink into the unknown horizon.
         
“Come on,” he said grabbing her hand with his cold one and bringing her to her feet.
         
“But-” she was cut off by a loud clank.
         
She looked towards the door to see a ghostly figure starting towards them. He was hard to make out but the knife was one clear way to say he was the ghost haunting the manor.
         
She gasped as he disappeared. Juan’s grip seemed to tighten. Then, just as suddenly as he disappeared, he reappeared in front of Alyssa.
         
She didn’t have time to cut the newly found silence with her scream as the ghostly figure in front of her held the knife to her throat.
         
“No!” Juan shouted breaking the silence instead.
         
The ghostly figure pushed him away and turned to Alyssa. “I will get what I came for even if I have to kill you,” he hissed towards her pressing the knife closer.
         
She tried to back up to get away from the cold, sharp, ghostly knife. She tripped backwards and the floor made another loud crack as it caved in.
         
“Ahhh!” Alyssa cried out as she felt herself fall. When she didn’t feel herself crash into the floor below she opened her tightly squeezed eyes to see herself floating down. She looked around to find the source. She felt that she was being held up. Then, finally, she noticed.
         
It was Juan.
         
He was holding her up in midair as they softly floated down. She stumbled slightly but regained her balance looking towards Juan with wide eyes.
         
“Y-your a ghost?” she asked.
         
He nodded.
         
“And up there,” -she pointed above her- “was the murderer,” she clarified.
         
He nodded again. “Any more questions?”
         
“Yeah. What time is it?” she replied looking at her watch. “Six forty,” she sighed.
         
“What is with you and time?” he asked.
         
“I am on a dare. I gotta stay in here for an hour,” Alyssa replied.
         
“I think dares are stupid,” he said flatly.
         
Alyssa wasn’t listening as she thought, He came for something. What is it? She didn’t notice Juan was still trying to get her attention till he went into her and over shadowed her.
         
“Are you listening?” he asked through her.
         
He came out and caught her as she stumbled.
         
“Sorry. I was just thinking,” she replied angrily.
         
He laughed slightly.
         
“Quiet. I need to take a look around,” she replied as she walked off.
         
He appeared right in front of her. “Where are you going?” he asked.
         
“I said to look around,” Alyssa replied as she walked around him.
         
He grabbed her arm. “I said you should leave. It is too dangerous.”
         
“That’s good. I hate boring,” she replied.
         
“Don’t make me over shadow you again,” he threatened.
         
“I want to fix this,” Alyssa replied.
         
“Fix what? You didn’t break anything,” he said.

“Except the floor,” she replied as she headed to a door.
         
“Funny,” he sighed sarcastically.
         
“Not too,” she said opening the door to a flight of stairs going downwards. “This the basement?” she asked looking towards him.
         
He nodded slowly.
         
“Okay,” she replied putting a foot on the first step. She missed it and fell on her butt. “Damn it!” she shouted.
         
He laughed.
         
“It’s not funny,” she growled as she got back up and started down again.
         
She was halfway through when she felt a push from behind. She was falling forward when Juan quickly appeared in front of her and caught her. No matter how cold it was she felt a slight warmth as he caught her against his chest.
         
“He’s back,” he growled looking to the top of the stairs.
         
Alyssa quickly stood up and went right through Juan, literally, and down the stairs.
         
“Hey!” Juan shouted, “That was really hot!”
         
She reached the bottom of the stairs on the cold concrete, gravel floor. Juan appeared next to her.
         
“What are you doing?” he asked.
         
“You’ll-” she was cut off as she was thrown towards the wall.
         
“Alyssa!” Juan shouted.
         
The ghostly figure appeared in front of her again. “You escaped me once but not this time!” he shouted.
         
“Hey look!” Alyssa shouted, “A- um- ghostly ensemble!”
         
“What are you,” he started, loosing concentration on Alyssa.
         
When he lost concentration he un-solidified and Alyssa ran through him. He growled and started after her but was tackled to the side by someone. She looked back to see Juan wrestling with the ghostly figure.
         
“Get out now! While you still can!” Juan shouted.
         
Alyssa looked towards him then to the wall. She spotted something to it and walked up to it putting a hand on it.
         
“What are you doing?!” Juan shouted.
         
“Good-bye,” the ghostly figure laughed as he disappeared into the floor.
         
“Maldito!” Juan shouted.
         
Alyssa looked to her right and grabbed a sledge hammer from it’s place, dusty and covered in cobwebs.
         
She lifted it over her head and swung it towards the wall.
         
“What are you doing? You breaking my house and you need to escape!” he shouted.
         
“This,” she hit the wall again and it cracked and crumbled to the floor as the ghostly figure came up next to her and grabbed her throat.
         
“You are going to-” the ghostly figure was cut off.
         
“Hey! Look!” Juan shouted pointing to the broken wall that now revealed an old, dirty, decaying body in the wall that looked like the ghostly figure.
         
The ghostly figure looked to it.
         
“What?” he said as a light shot through his body.
         
“Your crossing over. Bye and have a nice afterlife,” Alyssa smiled.
         
“Thank you,” he smiled disappearing, “and sorry.”
         
“None taken,” she whispered looking towards Juan. “What about you?”
         
“I can also leave now. You ended it. Y para un gracias,” he smiled.
         
She cocked an eyebrow upwards. “Que?” she asked.
         
He leaned to her and kissed her. Even if his lips were as cold as ice she still felt extreme warmth as he was also engulfed in light.
         
She checked her watch. “Ten more minutes. This is stupid.”
         
She gathered her stuff and walked out with a sigh. “It’s all over,” she told herself.
         
“What is?” someone asked from behind making her jump.
         
She looked behind her and gasped.
         
“Juan?” she said.
         
“No, I’m Pablo. I’m new here and was exploring the area.” He blinked his dark brown eyes. “Your the girl from earlier that went into the house. Um, Alyssa, right?”
         
She nodded slowly.
         
“Your friend Vanessa told me about you,” he continued, “and that old house. I... I was kind of worried,” he said slowly.
         
Alyssa smiled. “But it is all over,” she said as she walked into the Halloween night with him.

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