One Night

The full moon hovered behind the haunted house, casting an eery glow upon it. Twisted masses of vines crept across the shutters, into the gutters and around the down pipes, as if a decaying octopus was trying to pull it under. In front of the house stood a peculiar collection of young girls, each of them dressed in an interesting concoction of ghastly and ghoulish costumes.

'I'm not sure guys,' said Ella-Rose. Her usually rosy cheeks were pale, matching the white sheet that she had draped over shoulders to look like a ghost.

Georgia, her best friend stood next to her. Georgia had chosen a purple ensemble with a pair of dark horns and purple lipstick, matching that of Maleficent. 'Come on Ella, it's just a house.'

'A creepy house,' added Ava, a stoutly girl, as she bit down on the corner of her lips, smudging her red lipstick and almost popping her fake fangs right out of her mouth.

Georgia checked the time on her watch. It was just a little after eight. 'Where's Liz?'

'Maybe she got lost,' said Ella-Rose. 'She literally just moved here today.'

'Sorry I'm late,' said a small voice from behind the girls. Standing a few feet to the side of the girls, was a slight girl with long dark hair twisted into two plaits that cascaded down the front of her shoulders. She had fair skin, wide dark eyes and long black eyelashes, and was wearing a black dress with long flared sleeves, a white lace neckline and knee-high black socks tucked into polished black shoes.

'Ooh, Liz, very cool costume,' said Georgia. 'Perfect for witch hunting.'

Liza flinched at Georgia's words.

'Oh, come on,' laughed Georgia. 'Don't be such a scaredy cat.'

Liza wrapped her arms around her body as she looked up at the abandoned house in front of them. 'You sure you want to go in?'

'No,' said Ava and Ella-Rose in unison.

At the same time, Georgia said a loud, resounding, 'Yes!'

Georgia's purple lipstick cracked as she pulled a wide grin across her lips. 'It's just a story,' she said, though the glimmer in her eye suggested she really thought otherwise.

Ella-Rose threaded her arm through Liza's, pulling the frail girl close. 'People say she was so pale you could see her veins beneath her skin.'

'They say she drank blood,' whispered Ava, 'and crushed lizard bones to make potions.'

'I heard she killed her parents,' continued Georgia, raising her hands above her head and wiggling her fingers, 'then stewed them up, put them into pies, and buried their bones in the backyard.'

Ava swatted Georgia's wriggling hands out of the way as she giggled nervously.

'Stories,' whispered Liz, her hands shaking.

All four girls looked up at the dilapidated house and a collective shiver ran across their spines.

'Here goes nothing,' said Georgia, taking a deep breath, and walking up to the porch and up the wooden steps. The remaining three girls reluctantly followed.

The front porch of the old house was littered with rotting leaves and rat poo, and smelt like wet earth and decaying wood. With each step the girls took, the wooden porch creaked and groaned, threatening to give way beneath them. Georgia reached the door first. She wrapped her hand around the brass door knob and turned to the other girls, with a broad smile.

'Could you please try and not be so happy about this,' sighed Ella-Rose.

Georgia wrinkled her nose as she laughed. With a screech of the hinges, Georgia twisted the knob and the door swung open.

The abandoned house was mostly empty, except for a few pieces of furniture and some picture frames hanging on the wall, all of which had dust covered sheets draped across them.

Georgia stepped inside and reached her hand across to the closest light switch. She flicked it a few times but not even a crackle of light came from the fittings above.

'Woah,' breathed Ava, as she stepped inside, the full moon filtering through the open windows, casting shadows in all of the nooks and corners. 'If I was a witch, this is totally where I'd live,' she said.

To the right of the main room there was a staircase that led to the second storey, and Georgia was already at the base of it.

'Come on,' she said, waving for the other three girls to follow.

'I don't know,' said Liz, her bottom lip shivering. 'Let's just go trick or treating. Or go for a walk or something.'

'Scared?' teased Georgia.

'I just don't think this is very fun.' Liz shrugged.

'What's more fun that witch hunting on Halloween night!' exclaimed Georgia.

'What if it's all just a story,' said Liz. 'What if the witch was just lonely and sad, and people made fun of her because she was different.'

Georgia snickered. 'Liz, she ate children!'

'So they say,' Liz said, lowering her voice to a whisper.

Ella-Rose stepped in between the two girls. 'Come on guys, we're already here. Let's just look upstairs, if we don't find anything, then we'll finish up on Chestnut Street, they always have killer chocolate bars.'

'And toffee apples!' added Ava, rubbing her belly.

Ella-Rose looked to Liz who folded her hands across her chest, but nodded gently.

The wooden stairs were no better than the porch, and each of the girls had to walk single file to avoid the termite riddled wood from snapping beneath their combined weight. At the top of the landing was a thin walk-way with one bedroom at the end.

'This was her bedroom,' said Georgia, excitedly nibbling on her bottom lip. 'You ready?'

All of the girls held their breath, wondering if they would see a ghostly apparition of the witch herself, or even the ghosts of all the children she had stolen. Georgia twisted the door knob and slowly, pushed the bedroom door open.

Ava squeaked as a gust of cold air swooshed out of the open door. Ella-Rose grabbed onto Liz, who wrapped a comforting hand around her.

'It's nothing,' said Georgia quickly. 'Just an open window.'

Georgia sounded confident, though Liz noticed little goosepimples appear across Georgia's neck.

Each of the girls stepped over the threshold. Ava wandered to the open window where a rocking chair sat facing the outside world. Ella-Rose, gently releasing her grip on Liz, found herself meandering over to a set of shelves, where little trinkets covered in dust and grime were arranged neatly. Georgia, desperate to show her bravery, walked confidently across to the bed that sat in the corner, and with a shaky hand, tugged at the moth-eaten sheets.

Liz, however, stood in the middle of the room, watching quietly, her shoulders hunched, head down.

It was Ella-Rose who saw it first. 'Hey, look at this, guys,' she said, picking up a small wooden photo frame.

Ava and Georgia joined Ella-Rose, peeking over her shoulder.

With the hem of her white ghost 'costume', Ella-Rose wiped the oily grime from the glass surface of the frame. The photo behind the glass was faded and parts of the pictures had been nibbled away by silver fish, but a family of three were still visible. A tall man with a thin moustache stood next to a woman with puffy sleeves and a white apron, his arm draped around her shoulder. The woman's hands rested upon the wooden rocking chair, where a small girl sat. Her hair as black as night was twisted into plaits that draped down her shoulders, her eyes wide, and dark, were framed with long dark lashes. And her skin, as pale as milk was visible from under her black dress with white lace trim.

Ella-Rose gasped, dropping the photo frame, the glass shattering into pieces.

Georgia and Ava tripped over their feet as they rushed to bedroom door.

Liz stood silently in the middle of the room. 'They're just stories,' she breathed, her eyes fixed to her feet. 'Just stories.'

'It's...' Ella-Rose couldn't get the words out.

'I didn't hurt anyone-' Liz begun, but the three girls were already screaming as they rushed for the staircase, taking the stairs three at a time.

Liz watched from the landing, as the three girls ran out of the house, clutching at one another, squealing and screaming like little piglets.

'I just wanted some friends,' said Liz, taking a seat at the top of the staircase.

It would be midnight in a few short hours, and soon she would only exist within the pictures behind the frames, and within the confines of the decaying four walls. But she would wait. For one day, she would make a friend. One day, people wouldn't believe the stories, and she would eat lollies, and chocolate bars, and laugh. One day she would make a friend. If only for one night.