Chapter One

It was 1984, on a November night that seemed as usual as the rest when I got the call. My
grandmother had passed away only hours before I had found out, no one completely understands
the causes of her, unusual death. She had been widowed almost a decade before hand, but she
refused to speak to us or anyone else for that matter. She had always been an acquisitive woman,
that is why she married my grandfather many years ago after all. But after his death, she was left
with his fortune and their mansion in upstate New York, where no one has visited her since. It
seems like a sad story, an old woman left stranded deep in the forest to fend for herself but there
is good reason behind it. After her husband’s death she seemed to have gone crazy, she would
say she heard voices that were telling her to execute barbaric actions unto anyone who was to
step foot in the house which she was bound to for the rest of her life. She made it known to her
family members, including myself, and she forbid us from ever seeing her again with only that
information that I have just shared. We weren’t exactly against not seeing her for none of us
liked her very much anyway, she was always abusive toward my grandfather and some of us
believe that she had killed him herself that night. Even though I was not too thrilled to hear what
the man on the line had to say after he told me she was dead, I still had to inform my wife of the
news and fulfill the man’s request.

“Molly! Something has happened!” I said with a certain restlessness in my voice. Molly
is my wife, she’s in her mid forties just as I am, we meant in highschool and we’ve been together
ever since. It was a sort of love story you’d dream of or hear in a disney movie, the happily ever
after type. She was a tall, thin woman with fiery red hair that lit up the room when she walked in.
Her deep sea blue eyes made me fall in love again every time I got lost in their endless gaze. Her
presence brought with it a happiness that followed her everywhere she went. She responded in a
frantic tone of voice, “What is it David? Are the kids okay?”. I remembered that the kids were on
their way home from school, and she was probably concerned that they had been in a car
accident. “Yes the kids are fine, it’s Rida, she’s passed away earlier today” I explained. “Well
it’s about time she’s gone! All she had ever done was cause trouble to this family anyway, it’s
good that god has finally taken such a sinful human being from this world” my wife said with a
sort of amused tone. She had never been a very big fan of people who took advantage of others
as Rida did with my Grandfather. So I continued, “Uhm, yes… That’s nice and all but there’s
something else…” “And what is that?” she asked. “Well we were asked to go to the mansion and
collect her belongings because no one else in the family agreed to do it.” There was a small
pause as she processed what I had just said. I could tell that she had become a little nervous, her
eyes were going wild, looking everywhere about her as if she was watching out a predator ready
to pounce on her. She reluctantly responded, “We have to do that for sure?” “Yes for sure…”

At this moment I heard a car pull into the driveway, it was the small red sadan that I
bought Farah for her sixteenth birthday the year before. It wasn’t a horrible car, there wasn’t a
scratch on it when we bought it but Farah gets her self into the wrong crowd sometimes. Now
there’s a gouging slash across the drivers side door where one of her old “friends” had keyed her
car after they had gotten into a fight about a boy. Farah is my daughter, she’s at that age where
she’s the only important person in the world and if anyone thinks any different they can move
out of her way. She’s a slender, green eyed brunette with an aggressive attitude towards
everyone. Granted we did not raise her this way, we do teach respect in this house but something
has changed her into this, monster of a girl who, of course, we still love with all of our hearts.
She pulled in along with my son Abel in the passenger seat who is almost a polar opposite to our
lovely little girl. Abel, who is only ten, is scared of just about everything you can imagine. We
think it is because of his sisters aggressive nature but we aren’t positive of this theory just yet.
He’s a handsome little guy with nicely trimmed blonde hair, not very muscular for he prefers
books over exercise. He gets bullied regularly in school but we can only tell him to keep his head
up and keep moving forward for he seems to have a very successful career life ahead of him.
But, let’s hear what he has to say when he finds out we have to go to the mansion we have
dreaded all of our lives.

My wife and I wait patiently in the kitchen for the kids to grab their stuff and make way
into the house. It was only a few seconds before the door slammed open and a shout from our
daughter was heard from the distance. “We’re home peasants!” she exclaimed while Abel
scooted along silently behind her. They searched the house a moment before discovering us in
the kitchen. A grim look on our faces silenced the two long enough for me to get ready to give
them the graven news. “Kids, sit down, we need to talk.” “I swear it wasn’t even me this time
dad, it had to have been someone else!” said Farah, probably referring to something she got in
trouble for at school sometime before. Abel sat in silence, listening to every word. “It’s nothing
you’ve done Farah, but we’ll have to talk again another time i’m sure. It’s Rida, your
grandmother has died.” Farah came back with, “Oh yeah! Maybe now we’ll get her fortune and
turn my defective life around!” I ignored this and only sat for a moment before I responded,
“Maybe. But before anything happens with her fortune or anything else, we have been asked to
go to her mansion. For various purposes.” Everyone sat staring at one another, lost for words.
Nothing could describe the fear that’s felt in the room, it would be equivalent to you coming face
to face with the devil, our devil was the mansion. The mansion that held secrets in and out of it’s
walls that most of the family has never seen before only because we weren’t allowed to. We
were all scared to have to figure out what it was like up there for ourselves. Farah spoke softly,
for the first time in what I could remember, “Well. I guess we’ll, go pack our things…” “That’s
probably a good idea because we leave first thing tomorrow morning, before the sun rises so we
can get there at a half decent hour.” I said, this statement seemed to ring through the house,
setting our destiny in stone. Now the children leave the kitchen with a slow stepping pace and
continue upstairs where their rooms were found. My wife and I sit in the kitchen, still in silence.

As Farah makes it into her room she flies onto her bed. She lies there sobbing for a few
minutes for she knows that neither she nor her family want to step foot anywhere near that
mansion in New York. She had always gotten a weird feeling when she thought about it, it made
her skin crawl and made her legs feel like jello. Her room was that of a typical teenager, posters
of her favorite pop singers hung from the walls and it was painted a rosy pink. Her bed sat on the
opposite side of the room than her window. It was the smallest bedroom in the house, she didn’t
spend much time at home anyway. She was still crying when Abel slowly opened the door
silently, and stared at her until she noticed him. When she did notice she grabbed her pillow and
threw it towards him, hitting him right in the face. “What are you doing?! Get out of my room!”
She slams the door shut and Abel walks off as silent as he came. Now that she is off her bed, she
has the willpower to start packing her things. First came the essentials, plenty of underwear and
socks because you never know how many pairs you’ll need. Next came the shirts. She wasn’t
into all the fancy name brand stuff, but instead plain tees with as little graphics as possible. Then
bottoms to match, pants of course since they were going to New York in November. Lastly,
under all her clothes she packs a lighter, two packs of cigarettes and a pocket knife she had found
on the street a few months ago after a fist fight. Even though she is a generally spoiled girl, she
still believes that her life isn’t as magnificent as it should be. She’s treated like a princess when
she feels like she should be the queen. She seemed to think she was ready as she could ever be to
leave her house which she loved but hated at the same time so she sat up on her bed, staring out
her window at the starry night above.

During this time Abel had packed himself also, for that was what he was told to do. HIs
room was dull, painted a sky blue with no pictures or posters to be seen. His bed lay beneath his
window, it was made so the covers were tucked tightly under the mattress. His nightstand held a
single lamp and a pad and pen where he would write down his dreams, but he would never allow
anyone to open that book. He protected that book with his life, doing anything to keep us out of
it. No one knew what was hiding within its bindings. His desk was across the room, in front of
his bed. It was organized nicely, not a pencil out of place. His closet to the right of the desk was
also organized, his clothes hung neatly, color coded. He liked to look as nice as possible because
he thought his looks were all he had going for him, if you haven’t noticed yet, he doesn’t talk too
much. Human interaction is something that he doesn’t strive for, instead he sticks to books which
were his best friends. So that being said, half of his suitcase was filled with black socks and
underwear, button down shirts, and slacks. The other half, piled as high as he could with a
variety of his favorite novels. He then took the same position as his sister, on his low standing
bed, staring blankly out the window. Anxious for what was yet to come.

After my wife and I finally got the courage to move from the kitchen and into our
bedroom, we began to pack just like the kids. Our bedroom was a suite, painted a luscious wine
red with mahogany furniture. It was a calming room usually but today had some different
circumstances. We didn’t say very much to each other because we were a little more educated
about the history of this mansion than the rest of the family. Which left us in a state of despair
which there was no escape from. We packed our bags with the clothing that we needed, lots of
clothes because even though we were going for only a day, we didn’t know how long we would
actually be staying. My wife had snuck a pocket knife of her own into our bag and myself, a
revolver that my grandfather gave me before his death. His death was only one of many
unexplainable deaths that had occured within the constricting walls of that mansion. Only one of
the many deaths that made us get trapped in a state of fearing for the lives of ourselves and our
children.

The following morning we awoke around 4:30 am. No one could sleep very well but we
had tried to hide that from each other the best that we could because we didn’t want anyone to be
anymore nervous for today then they already were. I was the first to the shower because I was
the eldest member of the family and we like to do things by age, for fun mostly. I brought my
clothes into the bathroom with me, it was a generally small bathroom. Only enough room for a
standup shower, toilet, sink, and that’s just about it. I turned the shower on and put my clothes on
the toilet. I stood with a vacant look in my eyes for a few minutes, thinking, until steam started to
engulf the room like the smoke from a raging house fire. This startled me and brought me back
to the dim reality that I was a facing before. I took my place in the shower and started to lather
my body with the most refreshing soap I could find. This woke me up a little, I then continued
onto washing my hair. Feeling clean brought a great feeling to me but everytime I shut my eyes I
would have visions of the dreaded experiences I’ve had with the mansion. Experiences that are
unimaginable and that have left me disturbed from that point forward. I then finish my shower as
quickly as I could, hoping that once I’m out I’ll also escape these flashbacks. I step out and dry
myself off from head to toe. I then take a moment to calm myself down so my family can see
that one of us is still staying strong, even though that deep down i’m scared to death.

I entered the kitchen slowly and quietly, where I found the rest of my family waiting
patiently for my arrival. They sat expressionless, none of them were eating because they didn’t
have an appetite. I guess going to the mansion has everyone a little on edge, which I can relate to
completely. I still try to make conversation, “What a great morning! Perfect for a little family
vacation!” Almost simultaneously all but Abel responded “Mhmm.” Still I continued to try to
keep a positive attitude to brighten up this otherwise dismal day. I took the initiative to pack the
car because no one else seemed to be in the mood to do anything but mope around. It was a
struggle to bring the suitcases down because they were so heavy, even though Abel was the
youngest, his was the heaviest and I knew it was because of all his books.
 I made my way to our glossy black SUV that was parked in the two car garage attached
to our home. I proceeded to arrange the suitcases in the back so that they would fit without any
hassle. After I found out how to fit the three large bags in the car I stepped out into the front
lawn and admired our little home. It was in the New Jersey suburbs, a small three bedroom
house, it was painted an apple red on the outside with a trim as white as snow. There was a
certain happiness you encountered when you saw it, it’s two windows of the top floor like the
eyes of god himself, welcoming you, making you feel safe as you could ever feel. On either side
of the french door which you entered through, a flower bed embroidered with colorful arrays of
plants and flowers, not a color of the rainbow missing. A perfectly green grass lawn with no
weeds to be seen. It was a shame that we would have to leave such a wonderful house to make
our way to such a glum mansion.

Either way, I went back inside to get the rest of the family and bring them outside. “Hey
everyone! The car is ready to go, let’s get a move on!” My family, without saying a word, made
their way to the car that still remained parked in the garage. They all got in, Molly had the
passenger seat, Farah behind her and Abel to the back of me. I then got in, the car started
smoothly and roared like a lion, ready for the journey ahead. The car seemed to be the only one
of us that was so ready for this journey.

We sat silently for hours in the car, no one dared to make a sound. I knew something
must be said about what we were dealing with.“Guys, I think we should talk about what we’re
about to face.” I said. No one answered. “So as you all know, this house has a strange past and
we are a big part of it. I think the main thing we’re trying to hide from is the deaths that have
happened there.” I felt their eyes stuck to me like glue. “We all remember how Grandpa died. He
was found hanging from the staircase, impaled with a glass shard from one of the windows from
the house. There were deep scratches all about his body, ones that looked like they could’ve only
come from a bear.” I looked at them, each one looked away as if they were ignoring what I was
saying. “Blood was oozing from his mouth and eyes, and both his arms torn off and nailed into
his body in the form of an inverted cross.” My wife Molly started to cry, trying to hold it in.
“And Grandma Rida sat smiling in a chair right below him when they were found.” That's when
we all started to sob endlessly, the tears kept flowing from our eyes like a raging river, we had no
way of stopping them. All of us but Abel, who still remained silent in the back seat.

We drove for a while longer, passing through cities, villages and everything in between. I
remembered taking this same route to the mansion when my grandfather was still alive and well,
when we were still allowed on the mansion grounds. It was a surreal experience for me, I never
thought I would ever take this trip again. A mix of deja vu and fear flowed through my body.
The last time I took this journey I had to see my grandfather’s deceased body, tarnished by
something that seemed to be of a different nature than a human. The ironic part of it all is that
every person in the mansion who has died there before him had also had some sort of upside
down cross on their dead body. There was a woman named Darlene Swartz who lived in the
mansion with her husband Kevin Swartz before my grandparents. They invested much of their
money in stocks and it brought them into a very wealthy state of life. They had everything they
could ever want, anything money could buy. One night Darlene had been complaining to Kevin
about back pain and they ended up ignoring it and tried to return to their sleep. But the next
morning Kevin was found crucified on one of the pillars in the mansions grand entryway. There
was the inverted cross burned into his flesh that took up the majority of his pale white torso.
Darlene had disappeared and had not been seen since that night. The only way anyone knows
about this is a mysterious camera that had turned on midway through the night. It recorded the
encounter and then turned back off. No one knows who turned this camera on, and no one wants
to find out. I’m afraid that being in this mansion, I personally will meet who, or what had turned
on the camera that deathly horrifying night.

We arrived at the driveway of the house, met by a man in a black car wearing a nicely cut
black suit. He was a tall, slim man, he was bald and he spoke with a soft but forceful monotone
voice which only added to the eire effect that was brought on by the forest. He greeted us, “Hello
Mr. David Carson and family, I hope you are prepared to finish the business here?” We stared at
him for a moment, taking in his presence. I then answered, “Hello, uhm, yes we are ready to do
what you asked.” He handed me what looked to be the keys to the house then sped off in his
small black car. He didn’t state his name or give us any more information and he didn’t seem to
look back.
 Here we were, face to face with a long winding driveway that cut through the forest as if
it was one of its veins. The tip of the mansion could be seen in the distance, it cut through the sky
with its black wood boards staring us down, welcoming us to come closer. My family and I
stopped and stared for a long while before I started to maneuver our vehicle through the forest,
making our way to the mansion which we have always been frightened of because of the events
that have occurred here before we came.