The Haunted House

It was a Halloween night in Centerville.

Peter Hatcher and his little sister, Leslie were getting ready. Peter was 13 and was in the 7th grade. Leslie was 7 and a half and was in the 2nd grade. For Halloween, Peter was a ninja and Leslie was a witch.

Peter was in the bathroom, darkening his face. Suddenly, Leslie pounded on the door. "Open up!" She yelled, "Why should I?" Peter asked. "Because I say so!" she answered. Peter grinned. "Just a minute!" he shouted. He got out on old blue pail and filled it with cold water. Then he stood on a stool and put it up on top of the door. He unlocked it. "Come on in!" Peter said. Leslie opened the door and water and an old blue pail fell on her head.

"Mom!" she screeched, soaking wet, "You can't believe what Peter did to me!" and she ran downstairs to the living room, where her mother was getting ready for the trick-or-treaters. She was filling up a big bowl with candy. "Yes, honey?" she asked without looking up. "Whatever!" Leslie muttered. She ran off to her dad, "Daddy!" She yelled. "Look!" her dad looked up from carving the last jack-o-lantern. "Dad!" Peter yelled. "Come help me tie this around my waist!" "Got to go, sweetheart." Mr. Hatcher said to Leslie. He headed up the stairs. "Dad!" Peter called. "Coming!" Mr. Hatcher said. Leslie muttered, "At least this isn't my costume!" Leslie changed into her witch costume. Then, Peter came out, practicing kung fu moves. Then he slipped behind Leslie and said, "Boo!" "Yikes!" Leslie screamed. "Mom! Peter scared me!" "Come her, Peter!" Mrs. Hatcher said in a stern voice. "Nice going, tattletale!" Peter grumbled. "Peter, how many times have I told you not to scare your sister?!" Mrs. Hatcher said. "But mom," Peter complained, "it's Halloween! Everyone should have a little scare!" "Okay," his mother agreed, "but no more!" Leslie stuck out her tongue as she passed by.

Mrs. Hatcher gave Peter a package of candy corn to start his trick-or-treating. "Hey! Don't I get one?" Leslie complained. Their mother looked inside the bowl. "I don't have any more!" she apologized. "I'll give you a lollipop." "Okay." Leslie chose out a lollipop and popped it into her mouth. "Come on,k slowpoke!" Peter mumbled, halfway out the door. Leslie followed Peter out and waved good-bye to her mom.

Peter led Leslie to their neighbor's house. Then he rang the doorbell. Mr. Louis, their neighbor opened the door. His dog, Spike jumped up and down, barking. Peter bent down to pet him. Spike licked his face. Peter wiped his face and gave Spike a belly rub. "Trick or treat!" Leslie called. "Hello, little witch!" Mr. Louis greeted. Leslie laughed. "It's me, Mr. Louis!" Mr. Louis placed a snickers bar in Leslie's pumpkin. Meanwhile, Spike placed his paws on Peter's knees. Peter picked him up and said to Mr. Louis, "Gee, I sure wish I could have a puppy at home." Then he put Spike down. Mr. Louis gave Peter a Skittles bag.

They moved on to the next house. It belonged to Mrs. and Mr. Landers. Leslie knocked the door. Mrs. Landers greeted them. Her kid, Tyler (he's a toddler) was pulling on her leg. "Goo, goo, gaa, gaa!" Tyler said. Tyler was dressed as a little pumpkin. "Trick or treat!" Peter picked out a Hersheys bar and a peppermint. Leslie got two lollipops. Tyler tugged at Leslie's dress. (for her witch costume) Leslie patted his head.

Peter led the way from door to door, until their baskets were full. "There's no where else in the neighborhood where we can go!" Leslie complained. Peter grinned. "Oh yeah? You forgot the," Peter's voice dropped to a whisper, "Inkpier Estate." Leslie shivered. "But that looks too much like a haunted house!" Peter snickered. Then he imitated a chicken, "Bawk, bawk, bawk! Bawk, bawk, bawk!" Leslie's face grew red. "I am NOT a chicken!" she argued. "Then, I dare you to come with me." Peter challenged. Leslie sighed. "Fine. But don't be laughing when you get turned into monster's soup." Peter laughed. "Come on! We're just going trick-or-treating!" Peter started going toward the Inkpier Estate. Leslie held on firmly to his sleeve. When they got there, Peter knocked the door."Knock, knock, knock! Anybody home?!" Peter shouted. Suddenly, the door swung open. A little box of treats was placed on the mat. Leslie peeked in. "All there is is saltwater taffy!" she exclaimed. Peter looked in, too. "You're right." Peter stepped inside. Leslie grabbed his arm. "Wait! You said we were just going trick-or-treating!" "Scaredy cat!" Peter mocked. Leslie stepped inside. As soon as she did the door slammed shut.

"Ahhhhh!" Leslie screamed. "Hey! You're hurting my eardrums!" Peter complained. "Peter Hatcher!" Leslie pouted. "You've got to admit, this is pretty creepy." Just then, a gigantic spider jumped down from the ceiling. "Yikes!" Leslie shuddered. She ran for the door. Then she rattled the doorknob. It came off in her hands. "Peter! We're locked in!" she said frantically. "What are we gonna do!?" Leslie cried in horror. Peter smiled. "Then let's go explore this place!" He started going up the creaky stairs.

Leslie took a deep breath and followed him. Peter looked at his glow-in-the-dark watch. "Uh, oh! It's past 8. Mom said we had to be back at 8:00." "But we can't go out! I accidentally pulled it off!" Leslie showed him the doorknob. "I guess we'll have to find another place out. Maybe there's a back door!" Peter said. Leslie followed Peter throughout the haunted house. Suddenly, they ran into a mess of bats. The bats hoovered above them, flying. Leslie screamed and covered her head. "Don't worry, they're harmless, short stuff." Peter coaxed. Peter called Leslie short stuff because she was only up to his chest. They continued on their search. Then, something white and nearly transparent flew above them. "A ghost!" Leslie screamed. "Aww, that's prob'ly just a ghostwing butterfly." Peter said, but he no longer sounded sure. "You mean there are butterfly ghosts?!" Leslie asked, "Yikes!" "No," Peter explained, "it's a type of butterfly with clear wings!" "Oh," Leslie replied, " but can it be that big?" Peter shrugged. "Let's go find a way out!" Leslie cried. "Okay, okay!" Peter grumbled.

They went back down the stairs and opened a door. There were slimy, disgusting, white bandages all over the dusty floor. On the wall, there was a picture of an Egyptian king. "Uh, who's that?" Leslie wondered. "An Egyptian king." Peter said. In the corner of the room, there laid the king. Peter and Leslie walked over. They both thought they could hear soft breathing. "Did you just hear that?" Leslie whispered to Peter. "You mean the soft breathing and heart beating? No," Peter said nervously, "let's get out of here!" Peter leaped toward the door. Leslie ran after him. Suddenly, they heard a soft moaning sound. Leslie thought she saw the king move his finger. They quickly slammed the door behind them. Peter said quickly, "Let's go upstairs, maybe there's an fire escape like our house." "Okay." Leslie grabbed Peter's sleeve again.

The "ninja" and the "witch" ran up the stairs. They opened a door. There was an old leather chair covered with a white sheet that moved a little. "Wow, the wind sure is strong today!" Leslie discovered. "Uh, there's no windows anywhere," Peter said. "Uh, oh." Leslie moaned. There were also 3 bookshelves along a wall. "Hmm," Peter wandered over. There was a book called ABOUT THE INKPIER ESTATE that had only one page. Peter pulled it out and read it. The page read, "If you are reading this, that means you are inside of the Inkpier Estate which is haunted so you better go out! Look for a brown book and pull it. That is the secret passageway to get out. Just follow the path. by: Arnold Smith, dedicated to: whoever inside of Inkpier Estate." "All right!" Peter grinned. "Leslie! Come help me search for a brown book." "Okay." Leslie and Peter searched and searched. Finally, Leslie found it. "Over here, Peter!" she called. Peter hurried over. Then he pulled. Then the whole bookshelf spun around. Peter and Leslie Hatcher went with the bookshelf. Soon, they found themselves in a dim, narrow hallway. "Come follow me!" Peter said.

Leslie held on to Peter's ninja belt as they followed the passageway. Right after they went behind the corner, they bumped into a man with orange hair. He smiled down at them. "Lost?" he said with a friendly grin, "I'm Arnold Smith, the dude who wrote the book. I'll show you the way out. But first, stop by for some cupcakes." "So you're Arnold Smith?" Peter blurted out. He nodded. "Yup. You guys can call me Arnold." "Where'd you get the cupcakes?" Arnold smiled mysteriously. "I live here. In the hall. Come on!" He led them to a door. Then he opened it. Inside the room was s small wooden table, some chairs, a little refrigerator, and an i-mac. "Wow," Leslie whistled softly. Arnold explained, "The reason I live here because someone burglarized my house back in Centerville and sold it to someone called, Vanessa Herkins. So I took some stuff and moved inside." Then he opened the refrigerator and took out two cupcakes and gave them to Peter and Leslie. "Besides," Arnold added, "these are just your costumes, right?" "Yeah!" After they finished their cupcakes, Arnold led them toward the exit. Peter and Leslie thanked him and asked, "Can we visit you sometime?" "Sure!" Arnold replied. "I get longly." Peter and Leslie hurried home.

20 years later, Peter and Leslie grew up. Arnold was very old then, so he moved to the senior community center. Leslie moved to Colorado and was swimming teacher there. Peter moved inside the Inkpier Estate and took Arnold Smith's place. Now he helps people escape from the house.

THE END