HATRED

It was a dark, dark night. Three girls, Samantha, Carly, Julia were deep in the woods. The only light that illuminated the darkness only a little was set off by their smoldering camp fire. The girls were playing ‘Truth or Dare’. Samantha, known as Sammy, asked Julia
“Truth or dare?” Julia thought a moment then replied
“Truth”
“Ok…if you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?” She asked.
“That’s easy, Paris.”
Sammy nodded her head “I’d like to visit there too someday.
”Now it was Carly’s turn to ask Sammy. “Truth or dare?” Carly asked.
“Dare” Sam replied
“Ok, I dare you to go to the haunted mansion. To go inside and explore every room, every closest, every nook and cranny! Then, if you haven’t died of fright first, you must not tell ANYONE! Understand?”
“I don’t know, it could be dangerous!”
“Baby”
“Ok, fine. But only if we all go.” Sammy agreed.
“I’ll go if I must” Julia said reluctantly.
“Ok then, we’ll all go.” Carly said happily
“When do we go?” Sammy asked
“We’ll go tomorrow night.”
“Whoa, in the dark?” Sammy asked
“Uh yeah! That’s the fun in it!” Snapped Carly
“Ok, Ok! But we’ll bring flash light and extra batteries though!”
“Perfect” Carly said, as she slipped down into her sleeping bag.

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The next morning, the three girls got ready for their adventure that night.
“Each of us will take a backpack. Each backpack will have a flashlight and extra batteries, two water bottles, a pack of saltine crackers, and an apple.” Julia said as she placed an apple into Carly’s pack.
Carly laughed as she commented, “You’re taking this way too seriously.”
“Better safe than sorry” She replied.
What time are we going to leave?” Sam asked.
“I’d say around 9:30-10:00PM. It is, after all, a two mile hike.”
“That late?” Julia asked.
“Uh…Yeah.” Carly quipped angrily.
“Maybe I should turn down your dare”
“Do that and, since the tent is mine, I’ll take it and leave. That would be the end of our camping trip then.”
Samantha glared at Carly. “Maybe I’ll lock Carly in a closet in the haunted mansion.” Sammy thought as she and Julia started lunch.

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8:56PM it started to rain…no, rain is an understatement, it was pouring!
“Hope it lets up” Carly
“I hope it doesn’t” Sammy muttered.
“We should start going. It’ll take longer to get there with this rain.” Carly said grabbing her pack. The others did the same and they started out without a single protest, just looks that could kill and skin anyone or anything.

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“We have to be almost there!” Sammy cried in frustration.
“Stop complaining! I’m sick of it! That’s all you do anymore!” Carly snapped as she stomped ahead, nose high up in the air.
Sammy sighed loudly. Julia gave her a knowing look that seemed to say why did we even invite her anyway? Samantha nodded. They kept walking in silence. Just then Carly slipped and landed on her behind in the mud. Sam and Julia put their hands over their mouths to try to stifle their laughs. It didn’t work. “You Ok?” Julia asked through laughs.
“Yes, no thanks to you.” Carly replied as she stood up carefully. “What did we do” asked Sammy.
“You asked me to come along!”
“Yes, but you accepted.”
That irritated Carly; she stomped even farther ahead from them. 10 minutes passed in silence. All that could be heard was crickets chirping, owls’ hooing and the occasional grunt of an animal. Perhaps a raccoon? Then the mansion came into view, looming high above them on top of a steep hill. Scary thoughts raced through their minds though none would admit it.
“BOO!” Carly yelled as she jumped at Sammy and grabbed her shoulders lightly. “AHHHH!” She screamed as she tried to catch her breath. Once she did she asked, “How did you get behind me?”
“I have my ways.” Carly said with a smirk on her face.
They made their way up the hill to the mansion. By the time they got up, they could hardly breathe because they were so scared! The girls, ever so slowly walked up to the big black gate, almost constantly turning their heads back to make sure no one or nothing was fallowing.
“Well you’re the one that got dared, you open the gate” Julia whispered to Sam. Carly agreed, “You also open all the doors too”
Sam shrugged then took a deep breathe and opened the gate carefully. It screeched loudly. They moved, huddled together, toward the giant, rotting, wooden doors. Poor Sammy looked from one face to the other, not saying a word. They each nodded. She moved her hand to the doorknob and slowly opened the big door on the right. “This isn’t so bad” Carly whispered, breaking the silence. They looked in and what they saw was somewhat what they had envisioned. Spider webs everywhere, broken and rotting floor boards, what furniture there was, was all broken or rotting. And dust, dust, dust. “Wow!” Julia whispered. “Lets go in” Carly said, louder than the others wanted. “Shhhh” Julia and Sam hissed as one. “Sorry” Carly said with attitude. “Maybe we should only speak in whispers” Samantha suggested. The others agreed. “Where do we go first?” Sam asked.
“Lead the way” Carly replied with a sweep of her arm. Sammy walked slowly toward a dark doorway. Brushing spider webs away, she scanned the room with her flashlight. Her light rested straight ahead, a scream escaped her lips for right in front of her was a HUGE spider, legs full of bristles! “It’s just a spider, a big one, but a spider none the less.” Carly sneered as she picked up a broken-off chair leg. She walked back toward the doorway, she swatted the spider down. It crawled away farther into the darkness. The room was completely empty except for spider webs and more dust. They went to a door on the fair left of the empty room. Sammy slowly opened the door, nothing. They started breathing again. The rest of the first floor was much like this room, except for the kitchen. The kitchen had a table and chairs, still intact, and cupboards that still had food in them, old food, but food.
The basement was to the right of the kitchen. Should we go down? Julia asked, and then added “It could be dangerous!”
“We have to go through each room and closet. That’s what we agreed to.” Carly said. Samantha reached for the doorknob. As soon as she touched it, a huge crack of thunder shook the house! They all screamed. She opened the door. The stairs squeaked and creaked under them and they waited, half expecting someone to fall through. They made it down safely but shaken up from multiple times of hearing a step start to crack under them. They kept hearing strange creaking sounds coming from the three remaining floors, including the attic. They tried to pay no attention to these noises, they tried to say to themselves “you always here strange noises in old houses.” For some reason, it didn’t comfort them; they still had that gut instinct that they shouldn’t be there. But, being stubborn, they still stayed.
There flashlights beams pierced the darkness, landing on strange looking objects. Some moving some staying stationary. But all creepy.
“Oh great” Sammy thought, “another closet. I swear one of them is going to have a skeleton in it.”
Sammy opened the door. It squeaked like most of the doors in the mansion did so far. Nothing inside…wait, “What’s that?” Julia whispered, for there was a crack in the back of the closet. Sammy still held tightly to the chair leg, she grabbed it, Carly protested angrily, and then reluctantly gave it up. Sammy jammed the chair leg into the crack and pulled. A moving wall moved out of the way, revealing a hidden staircase. Sammy led the way up, up, up the spiral staircase, and then suddenly, it stopped. Carly pounded the wall with her fist once. “All this way up for a dead end?” She said in a loud, angry whisper. Suddenly with a scraping sound, the wall in front of Carly started to move, revealing the third floor. “So cool” Julia whispered as the girls walked in. Empty, like the rest of the house. They searched each room. Nothing but what they had found downstairs.
They made their way back to the room with the hidden staircase. Something they didn’t notice before, a string hanging from the ceiling. “That must be the attic.” Carly whispered. “Go on Sammy, pull it.” Sammy nodded. She pulled. The stairs caught part-way down; Sammy pulled and with a reluctant groan, finally came down with a thud. Lighting flashed and thunder cracked as they climbed up the ladder. When they were all up, they made their way around boxes and crates and broken floor boards, to the other side. All three knelt down and looked out the dust covered window. Trees and rain coming down in torrents still is all they could see. They got up almost all at once and turned around. Lightning flashed and right in front of them was a man with long white hair. Another flash of lightning flashed on something in his hand. Their flashlights went to his hand. A dagger! The girls screamed, even Carly! “Anyone who dares to come into my mansion will never leave again!” The man said in a booming yet high-pitched voice. Screaming, they raced passed him, he sliced Carly’s arm bad, she screamed even louder. Down the ladder they ran, his feet appeared of the opening in the ceiling. “He’s chasing us” Julia screamed! They ran to the door, locked! They turned; the hidden staircase door was closing! They ran toward it and ducked inside just in time! The man yelled “NOOOOOOOOO!”
The three girls ran down the spiral staircase. When they reached the bottom, the door was closed! They started back up. About halfway up, they saw him! Thud, thud, thud. Ever so slowly he came down! The girls huddled against the wall together. Sammy’s hand suddenly sunk into the wall a little bit. They heard a scraping sound as the wall behind Sammy started to open onto the second floor. The man roared his protest as the three girls dove into a small room with nothing but a window and a locked door! The secret staircase disappeared as the wall closed. Breathing heavily, Carly asked, “What now?” Sammy and Julia whirled around and stared at her, “did you just ask for advice?” Julia asked fake shock in her voice. Carly shrugged.
“Carly! You still have the chair leg!” Sammy exclaimed excitedly!
“So” she replied.
“Break the window! We can jump! It’s only the second floor!” Carly nodded, trying to hand the chair leg to Sammy. “No, you do it, the chair leg is yours.” Carly gave her one of her looks that could kill and skin anyone or anything!
Carly stepped up to the window and struck it, hard. Just then the wall opened, the man ducked into the room, an evil smile on his face and his dagger in his hand. He stepped forward. “How dare you break one of my windows?!” He boomed. Carly moved the chair leg around the frame, clearing it of glass. “Go” Carly said, “I’ll hold him off!”
“No! We won’t leave you!” Julia cried and Sammy nodded in agreement.
“Just go! I’ll probably die from this wound on my arm anyway!” She replied.
“Brave little girl” the man sneered as Sammy and Julia crawled out the window. Samantha and Julia both screamed! For they saw him lung for her and plunge the knife deep into her shoulder, blood staining the wall. Carly fell limp and they heard him laugh evilly as they jumped from the small bit of roof they were on!

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He was still laughing when they darted into the woods. “She gave her life to save us!” Sammy exclaimed sadly. “I wish I would have treated her nicer” Julia added. Sammy nodded then said, “Life’s too short to hate anyone.” Julia agreed with a nod of her head. The two girls made their way back to their camp. Sammy and Julia still had their packs on. They each got a bottle of water and drank deeply. They walked the rest of the way in silence, almost constantly looking over their shoulders to make sure he wasn’t fallowing. No sign of him. When they got to camp, they both agreed to pack up and go home right away. “What are we going to tell her parents?” Julia asked quietly. “The truth” Sammy replied.
By 8:19AM, they were all packed and ready to go home. They started walking, and then they heard a twig snap behind them! They whirled around, hoping it was just a rabbit or something. No, out from the brush stumbled Carly, face pale as cotton! A rag was tied around her chest round. “CARLY!” They screamed in shock and horror! “I escaped” Carly said weekly, then collapsed.
Sammy and Julia ran to Carly, “Still breathing!” Carly said franticly. They picked her up and, together, carried her out of the woods.

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Five days later…

Sammy and Julia were at her bedside, Carly’s family in the hospital cafeteria. That’s when Carly woke up. “Carly?” Sammy whispered softly. “Thir…thirsty” Carly managed to whisper hoarsely. “I’ll get the doctor” Julia said as she got up and left the room.
“Carly, I’m so, so, so sorry for how I treated you!” Sammy said softly, and then added, “Can you forgive me? I don’t blame you if you won’t, but I ask that you do, please! See I’ve learned that life’s too short to hate anyone. I beg you to forgive me, please!” A tear rolled down Carly’s cheek as she nodded softly. The doctor cam and asked us to go get her family. We did. On the way down to the cafeteria, Julia asked, “I hope she’ll be ok now.” All Sammy could do now was nod because she had a lump of emotion in her throat.
“Samantha, you ok?”
Sammy started to nod then shook her head. She started to sob. “It…It was awful!” Sammy cried. Now Julia was crying too. “I know, I know.” She said softly as the girls hugged each other, crying. The elevator dinged, letting them know they were on the first floor. They stepped out of the elevator and made their way to the cafeteria.
They told Carly’s mom, dad, and her brother and sister that she was awake; they jumped up, leaving their food, and headed up. Samantha and Julia sat and talked a while, until Carly’s sister came down and told them that Carly was asking for us.
Carly was propped up by a pillow. We knocked on her door gently. Carly looked my way and said in a raspy voice, “Forgive me and I’ll forgive you.”
I started to cry again. She added, “Forgive me for bossing you two around and acting so awful.” We nodded “Of course!” Sammy said, “Yeah” Julia added. Both Julia and Sammy let the tears flow unashamed.

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Sammy here. Turns out that after Carly got stabbed, the man whose name is Henry Thompson age 87, took her up to the third floor and through her off of a balcony. He thought she was already dead. She managed to pull herself into the woods. There she ripped strips of cloth from her cote to bandage her wound. Her left arm was broken and two ribs.
Police went to the mansion and found Henry Thompson in the attic. He went to court and was sent to prison for the rest of his life for kidnapping, attempted murder, murder, and multiple other charges. Multiple years ago, he killed a 26 year old male and buried him in his yard. Just because he broke a window.
Turns out the house belonged to his great, great, great grandfather and was passed down from generation to generation. He married, but his wife and three children died from influenza. After that, he went crazy until one day he disappeared.
Carly was all right and we all got consoling. Carly was changed after that, and so were we. After that, we all became like sisters. We learned that life is too short to hate anyone.
Well I guess that’s about it, other than if you have trouble with someone, get it worked out.