The Other Side of the Door

Kara clambered up the wall, a pouch clasped in one arm, the other pulling her up old green vines. She heard the dogs barking behind her. She had hoped they would lose her scent in the wet, dewy grass all around the mansion. The building was gigantic, but very old, over three hundred years old. It had been the home of a lord and lady who once owned the manor and the surrounding lands. Now it was the home of insects and years of dust. Most of its windows had been cracked and shattered by the local troublemakers.
Kara heaved herself up onto a windowsill and started fumbling with the latch. The harsh September winds were biting at her cheeks, freezing her body to the bone. A few minutes later she was in a royal sitting room. Kara glanced out the window, it was too dark to see anything except the edge of the forest and a sliver of moon hanging in the sky.
She took a moment to examine her surroundings, it was all so decrepit. The once regal chairs were moth eaten, and the fireplace had caved in a bit. The chandelier was broken and tarnished, even through all of this, Kara could almost imagine ladies and lords sitting and discussing the latest news. Kara heard a howl outside and decided not to linger in one spot.
As she stepped out into the second floor hallway, Kara listened for any noises, but the house was as silent as a grave. Her feet pattered softly on the floor, causing little puffs of dust to rise up from the carpet with every step she took.
Kara then remembered why she was running and looked down at the pouch she was carrying. In it was a necklace. Kara wondered why it was so special, and who would want it so bad that they would personally chase her in the dead of night, and what did it have to do with this house? Why had her leader wanted her to steal it so bad? She couldn't figure any of her questions out.

Kara belonged to an activist group trying to save this house from industries that wanted to tear it down. Her leader told her about a man that had stolen some artifacts from the house, and including the necklace. Suddenly Kara stopped and took out the necklace. It was beautiful, a white gold choker with diamonds that would lace down the wearers throat. She flipped it over and in the dark she could hardly read the print on the back, but it read Caitrin E. O'Flynn she had been the lady of the house! That's why he had wanted it so badly, and the lunitic chasing her obviously knew of its price.
For some odd reason this excited Kara greatly. She looked around and found herself at the edge of a grand stairway with tapered banisters on both sides. The carpet on them, once a rich red, was now faded grey from the years, and accumulated dust. She looked behind her, making sure nothing was there, then started up the stairs. Out of nowhere a noise pierced the silence. "Thump," there it was again! "Thump thump thump," Kara looked up, the sound was coming from directly above her, on the third floor. She cautiously listened for any other foreign noises, then kept on going.
This house had been so beautiful, the woodwork on the rails was delicately carved, and the lace on the curtains and tables was the most elegant of its time. Kara listened for the noise again," Thump thump," it almost sounded like a heartbeat Kara thought. She stepped into a hall, then opened the first door she saw. Kara walked into what had been a spacious master bedroom, now it was a nesting site for the moths and worms that lived off the house, there was a horrific stench in the room. Kara turned to leave, but was stopped buy the mysterious thumping. Towards the back of the room was a closet, she knew that whatever was making the sound was in there.

Kara slowly shuffled to the back of the room. Suddenly a flash of lightning shot
to the earth, followed by peals of thunder. Kara's heart was pounding against her chest. She was standing at the closet door, grasping the doorknob, the stench was stronger than ever, almost like standing in a garbage dump, her palms sweating as she turned it. She opened the door, an object collided against her. She fell over in shock, dropping th pouch as a stray tabby cat raced out of the room, leaving tiny paw prints in the dusty carpet. She calmed down when she realized the noise was the cat throwing itself against the door, trying to escape its prison.
Now the cloying stench ripped at Kara's lungs. She covered her mouth and nose with the sleeve of her shirt to filter the smell. Eyes watering, she got to her hands and knees, then reached into the closet, trying to find the precious necklace. As her hand slid across the carpet, it bumped something. She knew it wasn't the pouch, but what was it? She reached further, touching something cold and clammy, and sunk her fingers into a wet, slimy cavern. Suddenly she realized it was moving. Her skin felt as if it was crawling also. Kara pulled back and was sick because she knew that she has just explored a corpse. She had to find out who that was. Kara leaned forward, grabbing hold, and pulling it out. She saw a knife in what had been his chest. She held back a scream as she saw his face, although it was eaten away and decayed, she had known this man. His name was Jared, he had worked with her a few times, doing paperwork to make the mansion a historical monument. A month ago Jared had gone missing after a day of scouting the mansion's grounds, now Kara knew he had never left the grounds after all. Then, like waves crashing down on a sandy shore, fear and panic washed over her. Kara didn't care about the mansion anymore, or the necklace. Her life was at risk and she had to run!

She put her hands to her face in anguish and despair, as her hands touched her
face, she felt something wiggling against her lips. She yanked back her hands in horror and saw maggots crawling all over her skin. She stifled her horrified screams of disgust.
From somewhere deep in the house doors opened, then barking and the sound of paws running up stairs shattered the silence. Kara jumped up, sprinted out of the room, and down the hallway to the last room, it's door ajar. She ran inside and softly closed it the way she found it. Kara now found herself in a child's playroom. There was an oak wardrobe on the other side, Kara crept over to it and slipped inside, leaving it open a bit.
She could hear the dogs sniffing around for her just a few rooms down. One
howled as it found her scent, and the dead body. Then she heard a man's voice , low and venomous. He was cooing to his dogs, egging them on to find her. Kara could hear herself breathing, the dogs would too, she brought her hands up to muffle her heavy breaths, and relived the horror of finding the maggots again .
Before she could get rid of the larva, one of the dogs scampered down the hall and into the playroom. Kara's eyes grew large as the dog looked around, then it howled. The man and his dogs came pounding down the hallway to her. Then Kara saw him. He was a tall man, with broad shoulders, a scruffy beard and unkempt hair. In his hand was a hunting knife, exactly like the one in Jared's chest! Kara fought her hardest not to scream, she hoped with all her heart that the dogs wouldn't find her.
The man looked around the room, his eyes fell hungerly upon the wardrobe, he steadily walked over to it, his hand reaching for the handle. Just then a dog let out a long, wailing howl from another part of the house. The man snapped back his hand in surprise, and quickly turned around. As he walked out the door, he shot the wardrobe a cold glance, and left, closing the door behind him.

Kara held her breath for a few seconds, then let out a sigh of relief. She was almost safe, for now. She waited for the man to leave the house, it was another half-hour before she heard the dogs bark, the gigantic front doors close, and then silence. She waited another ten minutes to make sure he was completely gone.
Kara carefully opened the doors, and walked to the other side of the room. As she grabbed the doorknob, Kara could hear a man quietly breathing on the other side of the door.