Ruined Dreams

1-2-2020 101 Paranormal Writing Prompts Volume 1- Book written by J. Dodson

Prompt #33- Urban Ruins

A misty cold hand rests on a crumbling wall a sad, ghostly blue eyes watches a small group of three young men steps through the broken front door. The hand slides away as the men lift their flashlights to look around the messy entryway of the crumbling mansion.

“Be careful everyone! This place can fall on us at any minute,” a fourth young man tells his friends as he enters the mansion behind the other three, turning on his own flashlight as he joins the others.

One of the four with shaggy brown hair flashes his light into the first room, the living room, his dark brown eyes taking in the broken furniture that the owners had left behind several years ago. “Wow, there is a lot of furniture that they left behind. The family had some okay tastes too.”

His friend with short dyed green hair enters the living room, taking a closer look at the broken furniture under his light. His seafoam green eyes flash in the light of his friends’ flashlights as he looks back at them. “Steve, this mansion is pretty cool. I am kind of shocked that it is out here in the more urban area just rotting away,” he says as he looks over at the guy who had joined them a few minutes later and told them to be careful.

Steve grins at his friends, “Well they do say that these old ruins are haunted. But don’t worry Hackett, I doubt the ghosts will come after us. I heard they don’t like investigators, only nosey teens looking to break things or steal things.”

Hackett chuckles, “And since when we are we investigators?”

“I am guessing starting now,” a blonde-haired sea blue eyed friend said chuckling.

“Indeed, we did, Aurek, indeed we just did,” Steve jokes as the group of four heads into the next elegant room, the dining room.

Aurek grabs his arm and pulls him back before he steps on some rotted wood flooring, “Whoa there, Leonid, don’t step there.”

Leonid turns his pale green eyes to his friend’s worried face then looks down to where his left foot hovers over the dangerous floor. “Holy cow! Thank you for catching that, Aurek. I would have fallen through to the basement.” He steps back away from the floor, his boots resting on the safer floor.

“Looks like the last family took nothing with them,” Aurek comments as he gently touches an old coat with a gloved hand.

Steve nods his head as he leads his friends into the shattered kitchen, “The story goes that the wife went away on a business trip to Hawai’i by herself. When she came back, she had brought home gifts for her husband and four kids. One of her kids was obsessed with rocks so the mom brought home a very special one. But apparently, it is bad luck for this certain rock to be taken from the island.” He stops in front of the old fridge and opens it, gagging when he sees the contents.

The others peer over his shoulder and all three yell out in disgust, backing away from it. Steve throws the fridge closed and they rush out of the kitchen. They keep clear of the broken glass that litters the ground as they head back into the hallway, escaping the stench by heading up the stairs quickly.

“That was disgusting,” Leonid says as he gags. “I can feel my stomach churning still.”

Leonid nods as he covers his mouth, forcing himself to not throw up even though he could still smell the rotting food. “I’m okay…I’m okay. Let’s finish the story that you were telling us and continue the tour.”

Hackett swallows past the bulge in his throat and pushes the first door they come to wide open, even though it looked as if any movement would rip it off of its hinges, “Yes, finish telling us about the family and the cursed Hawaiian rock.”

The four enter the room, their lights covering the master bedroom, chasing away the shadows. Broken dresser drawers scatter around on the floor, ripped and eaten clothes everywhere. Ripped sheets lay on a King-sized bed, the pillows also ripped and covered by its own feathers. The dresser itself has been thrown on its side, obviously, someone has been there and has vandalized the place.

Steve peers into the ransacked closet before he continues the story about the family that used to live there before it became abandoned. “Well, the kid loved the rock so much that she carried it everywhere with her. Things started to happen but started off small like failed tests, gum in the hair, nothing to make them bat an eye. This went on for a couple of weeks but then things went from bad to worse. Tires blew while driving that caused several accidents, a few of them ending in a fatality but none where the family themselves were killed, only injured. Then jobs were lost, the family was sued by the families of those who were killed in the accidents, the husband was arrested, and the kids all kicked out of school on trumped bullying charges.”

The group moves to the oldest son’s bedroom, everything in that room destroyed and ugly graffiti all over the walls. They continue through the smashed bathroom into the oldest daughter’s room. Her room isn’t as bad but still disheveled as they carefully pick their way through the room towards the broken door.

Steve stops by the desk that is still standing, rocks and crystals littering the top two shelves. “This is the rock-loving daughter’s room as you can see.” He lights up the shelves with his flashlight for his friends to see the massive collection, none seeming to be missing. “The mom finally got tired of the horrible luck that seemed to have taken over her family and she looked online, finding the stone, and saw that she had made a god or goddess mad. In order to reverse the bad luck, she would have to return the rock to the place where she had originally taken it from. So with the bit of money that they had left, the family packed what they could and left the house to fly to Hawai’i, leaving the dad behind since he was still in jail. The story goes that before they could return it, the oldest son was killed in a freak accident. They were hiking to the spot, and he fell. The ground under him gave way, and he fell to his death, hitting a bunch of rocks.”

The others hiss or curse under their breath as they enter the last children’s room, two identical twin beds on either side of the room for the younger twin daughters. They look around the room, this one also not as bad as the master or first bedroom, the sheets not even ripped. The walls are free of graffiti and the girls’ clothes are still in their dressers, the dressers only a bit worn.

Steve stops them by turning to face them, “The wife and three daughters put the rock back and their luck instantly turned around. The husband died in jail so they moved to Oahu and never came back to this mansion. Nobody would buy it because they thought that the house itself was cursed. But no, the house isn’t cursed though there have been people who have disappeared after coming here.”

The three guys chuckle as they walk out of the bedroom and step into the once lavish office. Steve slowly walks in behind them, his head down but his eyes watching the back of their heads.

“Are you trying to scare us now, Steve? Maybe it is the ghost of the oldest son,” Leonid jokes as he turns around to look at Steve.

Steve blocks the doorway not looking at them, his flashlight slipping from his hand and making a rather strange clunking sound as it hits the wood floor. The light flickers once it hit before the glass shatters and the light dies, plunging him into darkness. The other two turns completely around, staring at Steve confused at what is happening.

Leonid raises his eyebrows since he was already been looking at Steve and had seen what looks like the flashlight phasing through Steve’s fingers. “Steve?” He looks up at his friend’s smug pale face. “What is going on?”

“When the son died, the mom and sisters buried him on the island. He may have died but his spirit didn’t move on. He woke up and was excited because he would be stuck on the island with his family.” Steve takes a step into the room, causing the others to step back further into the room. “It was dark, cold, and scary when he finally came to in limbo or whatever it’s called. He pushed himself through the slop of darkness back to the realm of the living but he didn’t stand on the beautiful beaches of Hawai’i. Oh, no! He stood on the porch of the old mansion he once called home, alone, and angry.”

Hackett’s hand begins to shake, the light of his flashlight bouncing around Steve’s looming figure. “Steve, what are you talking about?”

“I woke up not with my mom and my sisters. I woke up here, alone! And nobody will buy this dump and I am stuck here!” Steve shouts, the house shaking from the force used behind his words. He breaks into a menacing laugh as he looks at them, his eyes flashing in the dim light of their flashlights. “I decided to have some fun then since no one wants this place. I would befriend kids around my age and bring them here to investigate.” He takes another step towards them, the floorboards not making any sounds. “It takes a lot of energy to do all that but as the years went on, I grew stronger. And well, now my friends, my dear, dear friends.” He looks at each of them as he talks, “Leonid, Hackett, and Aurek, I had fun hanging out with you all but it is time for me to find new people to play with because frankly, I am bored with you three. I need to start looking for some new friends.”

Leonid is the first to react, turning to look around the room for a way to escape. He sees the window and without a second thought, makes a run for it, the ground creaking and slightly buckling under his weight. As soon as he close to the window, the rotted wood he failed to notice under the window cracks and drops Leonid into the crumbled ground below. Hackett and Aurek scream his name as they rush to the edge of the now gaping hole. They shine their flashlights down into the pit, looking for their friend. Their lights shine over the broken flashlight then slowly moves across the floor until they see Leonid staring back up at them, blood seeping out of the corners of his mouth. As they watch, a pool of blood begins to seep out from under him, and an old wooden beam shoved through his chest.

Steve appears behind them, grinning as he looks down at Leonid’s dead body, “One down and two more to go.”

Hackett and Aurek both jump when they hear their friend, no the ghost they had assumed was their friend, standing behind them, nearly breathing down their necks; That is if he actually had breath in him to breathe on their necks. Before they can do anything, Steve uses the energy around him and shoves the two into the hole. Their screams are cut off as soon as the debris below stabs them to death.

Steve stares down at the three bodies with a cruel grin on his face, “And then there was none.” He takes a step back, dissolving into the shadows of the ruins of his family’s old mansion, waiting for some new ‘friends’ to play with since they usually come to the house on their own.