The Frozen Manor

On a cold day, during a snowstorm, a bus drove down a lonely road towards a weathered sign, and before the road changed from asphalt to coarse gravel, the bus stopped. A young woman got out and made her way to the end of the drive, where Frozen Manor loomed like a storm cloud on the horizon, its darkened windows full of a nameless foreboding.

The woman was thin and of medium height, had blue eyes, long, dark-brown hair, and wore a warm light-gray winter coat with a furry hood, ready to attack the cold.

“This must be the place…,” said Merona in her warm voice, who gawked up at the manor’s once-majestic facade, her heart beating faster in her chest. The large 2-story Victorian manor was massive, well-suited for a large family. It was cloaked in a puff of snow, with icicles dangling down from the roof’s edges. The snow-covered stone stairs led up to the main door, which had a veined entrance. A sense of nostalgia and memories ran through Merona, taking in the place, imagining what it once was.

“Frozen Manor…Pictures are one thing, but seeing it in person…”

As the tail lights of the bus receded into the distance, Merona took a deep breath and turned to face the large mansion.

“Well…I guess it’s just you and me now.”

She made her way up the ice-slick steps, taking care not to slip. Soon, she stood before the manor’s great oak doors and grasped the handle.

“Here goes nothing,” she said.

Merona crossed the threshold, letting the door fall closed behind her, and she looked out across the dilapidated foyer.

The manor had blue walls, darkened from age, and some old paintings still hung of elegant figures with lurking eyes, sending her a slight shiver. Royal green chairs turned over, multiple cracks in the ceiling, many dark rooms in the distance, and glass shattered all over the marble floor, followed by dust in every corner.

“Wow…I can’t believe it’s all still here,” thought Merona.

She took in the splintered furniture, the threadbare carpet, and the glittering wreckage of a fallen chandelier.

“If what they say about this place is true, I might be able to get some answers here. I could help my friend find peace.”

Merona shrugged off her backpack and set it by the brown staircase. The place was so dark that she pulled out a lighter and lit nearby wax candles that still worked, making the little fires flicker and lighting the manor from the gray darkness.

A sudden creak of floorboards made the hairs stand up on the back of her neck.

“Who’s there?” Her words were met with silence.“Never mind, I guess…”

She crossed the foyer, her feeling of unease growing with every step she took.

“Maybe it’s just the house settling…but maybe it’s something more. How messed up am I that I actually want it to be a ghost?”

Merona made a slow circuit through the room, the faded portraits gazing down at her through a century’s worth of dust. Just then, she heard a sound like tiny feet running up the stairs, and she whirled around.

“Who’s there?!” She turned around towards the noise. “Whoever you are, don’t be afraid! I just want to talk!” There was no reply…only the sound of her own heartbeat.

“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.”

Merona felt a shiver run up her spine as she noticed her backpack missing from where she had left it by the stairs. She clenched her fist in unease.

“Alright, this is not creepy at all,” she said sarcastically.

She looked around the manor, but there was no sign of her backpack anywhere, so she stepped into the living room and sat on an old couch, caressing her temples.

She nearly jumped from the couch after hearing a loud thud coming from another room. She listened intently and winced at another thud, then another. Her heartbeat fastened, and her breath quickened as the thuds grew louder and pounded the ground.

As nothing appeared to happen, she gulped and went cautiously after the noise into the rusty kitchen. Going around a corner, she rammed into a small chair and smashed a vase she tripped over. At the noise, she reached for her chest, taking a deep breath.

“It’s okay. Nothing happened.”

The thud continued and was nearby, but no item was in motion. Finally, Merona tilted her head, leering her eyes at the ground. The thudding came from that spot, and with each pound, there was a moving shadow of a bag. She kneeled and stuck her hand out on the spot, feeling a slight tingle through her hand.

“Huh… Sounds like a bag of potatoes.”

As she got up, she began to hear numerous sounds: dripping water from the faucet, scribbling on a paper, a screeching swing that she saw from the window, which swung outside despite the wind fading. She heard footsteps from the floor above her and then the static of a radio coming from the living room.

Despite the unknown hallucinations, she observed the manor as calm as she could, as the sounds combined created a soothing, old melody.

Merona approached the scribbled paper. Stung, she realized words appearing on the paper!

Go away

This time, Merona’s gut dropped, feeling crushed and… watched. Despite feeling anxious and uncomfortable, she snatched the paper and hid it in her pocket. She took a deep, calming breath and spoke into the empty space:

“Whoever lives here, I apologize for the intrusion, but… but I came here for something. To understand… the um… the afterlife. My friend… he… he died, and I believe he didn’t find peace. Please,... help me, and maybe… I can help you.”

Her words were met with silence once more, only this time all sounds and unusual movements stopped.

“The silence creeps me out even more,” she whispered.

After a moment, all sounds came to life again, not in a melody but a rage; everything moved so fast. Papers and books flew around, the cutlery shattered trying to escape the drawers, old windows opened and closed rapidly, the swing swung even faster, and the kitchen came to life with the gas lighting up. The manor was in absolute chaos, and a tingle went through Merona’s body.

Suddenly, a dark figure appeared out of nowhere, a woman, cloaked in a black dress from head to toe, her face, no, not a face, a skull with some leftover skin covering it partially.

“AHHH!” screamed Merona, putting her hands in front of her for protection.

“GO AWAY!” yelled the specter with a harsh, dry voice.

Merona’s eyes spread so wide, she whimpered and sprinted down the hall through the heavy doors of the Frozen Manor, slipping on the ice. Once she got up, she kept running and running, never looking back through the dark woods.

After some of the adrenaline from the manor washed away, Merona gasped for more air after running so swiftly on the uneven snow-covered road. The cold breeze challenged her as she zipped her coat up to her chin, tucking her arms in a cross to warm up.

“It’s going to be alright,” she told herself, shivering. “It’s okay, it’s okay. I cannot believe this, I can’t believe this. I found a fucking ghost. Or maybe… I was hallucinating.” She chuckled nervously.

She took out her phone and called her friend.

“Kate, hi. Can you pick me up from Crowdis Road?”

“Crowdis Road? What the hell are you doing there?”

“I… I went there, to… the manor.”

“Ugh! I told you not to go there. That place is haunted. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. Can you pick me up? It’s freezing.”

“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

After they hung up, Merona put both of her hands in her pockets, feeling a paper in the left one. She took it out and opened it; the words written were still there:

Go away

Merona looked back, turned to face the Frozen Manor once more.

“I will come back to you… and discover all your secrets,” she said while embracing the freezing temperature and holding the paper tightly.