By Siddhant Mehta

Siddhanth is the son of Shrepa and Sujit S. Mehta. The 12 year old is currently studying at Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Mumbai.

Everyone avoided the big old mansion. It was believed to be haunted with evil ghosts and spirits of murderers. I could feel the air thicken as I walked closer to it. It all started when my friend dared me to sneak inside…..

“Nearly six hundred years ago, the three inhabitants of the Riddle Mansion were Mr. and Mrs. Riddle with their son, Callum. One eerie night, the grass crunched under the feet of a tall, slim man, the gate creaked open. The man had entered the Riddle Mansion. There was a blood-curdling scream. In the morning the next day, the three Riddles were found dead in the living room, although the door was locked and the only unbolted window was in the attic. People’s eyes fell on the old loyal gardener, said my friend James. Just then my friend John said “I dare you and Remus to go in the haunted mansion”. Although we were sitting on my bed with the light out and in the illumination of a dim torch, a chill went down my spine. “OK”, Remus had blurted out excitedly.

So because of that silly mistake, I had stood outside the gates of Riddle Mansion, while I should have been tucked in bed. I stepped into the front yard which was overgrown, with brambles and grass waist high. Remus pranced up to the front door. I followed him. Just when I was about to reach out for the front door handle, I thought I heard a small animal skitter across in the grass. I pulled my hand back. Remus reached out a relaxed hand and pushed open the door. He strolled in ignoring the fact that the place was pitch black. Soon our eyes settled to the darkness. Suddenly I remembered that I had carried along a torch. It flickered on and illuminated what looked like a hallway to the living room. The living room was spookier than the hallway, it was densely forested with cobwebs. The floorboard creaked with each step we took. Abruptly all the air was knocked out my lungs as I was tackled to the ground by Remus. I recall yelling at him “What did you do that for?”, and when I had looked back to the spot here I had been standing a few seconds ago, I saw masses of shattered glass. The chandelier had fallen, or had someone dropped it intentionally? I hopped back to my feet. As we moved forward, we saw that one of the staircases had collapsed. As soon as we were done inspecting the dining room and we took a right after exiting the room, I bumped into a ragged-loading man who was dressed in what looked like patched-up robes. Suddenly the roof caved in. After the smoke settled, I saw two men, and one boy, about seventeen, standing in front of us. They all were pale-looking and two curtains of oily, black hair. I perfectly remember the tallest of them bark “Who are you both?”, to which we both had replied, “ Sorry”, and turned around to run when I felt everything turn black. When my eyes opened I found Remus towering over me. He whispered, “We’ve got to get out of here! We’re in something like a cellar.” I got to my feet and told Remus to check each and every stone on the walls. As I was checking the second wall of the hexagonal room, I pressed a large boulder and the entire wall collapsed to the ground. Behind the wall I saw a snake. Its neck was as thick as a human. It leapt to bite us but missed. I picked up a stone and hacked at it. It had died. We crossed the passageway it had been blocking. When we crossed it, we found ourselves outside at Crescent Moon road. We rushed home!