The Mysterious House by the Lake in Venezuela

• Horror
• Fiction

								
A slow, cold breeze suddenly started in the small town of Araure in Venezuela. It had been a frosty day since dawn. Patrick Croft, who was a smart and curious kid with a height of 6'1 inches, had a clear-cut profile, dark eyes, crisp black hair, and not to forget his frameless spectacles. He was on his way to school. He usually went to school walking, but on that particular day strong winds had joined the cold breeze and drizzling started. At 8 in the morning, the city was doomed by thick greyish clouds that had swept the sky like a blanket. "I don't think that any cabs will be available today, Mom," said Patrick. "Don't worry, honey, I'll drop you off at school by our car," said Emma, Patrick's mother. The car that the Crofts had owned had barely seen the roads in months! The small, dingy neighborhood where Patrick and his mother lived consisted of only 10 houses, out of which 9 were occupied. So it was quite a hustle and bustle every morning as everyone left their homes to go to work. Somebody went to his office, someone to his shop, and someone to the bakery. Everyone was busy with their own lives. The Watsons were very close to the Crofts. Mrs. Watson had a child who was the same age as Patrick, so they were getting along pretty easily. Since the Watsons had moved to 6th Avenue just three days ago, Emma started showing her the neighborhood and all the funky cafes and clubs. Both families had been in touch with each other as their kids studied at the same school. Patrick's father had died in a very mysterious way that was unknown to him to this day. He regularly asked his mother about his father, but every time she would say that his death was a tragic car accident. Patrick knew that this was not the real reason. Patrick was in 8th grade at the time. He had made 3 friends who were close to him. They used to go cycling every afternoon. However, the one thing in common that all of them shared was, having a curious mind when it came to paranormal activities. Joseph, Sophia, and Benjamin all lived in the same neighborhood, 6th Avenue. Emma didn't like any of Patrick's friends, as she had always seen them as scallywags. Joseph, who was the only child of Mrs. Watson, also didn't know the real reason behind his father's death, as her mother also said that he had died in a mysterious airplane disaster. Both Patrick and Joseph knew that something was being kept from them. Inside Patrick's house, there was a small library where some of the journals that his dad had written were kept. However, her mother never allowed Patrick to enter the place for unknown reasons. Frustrated, Patrick said, "Why wouldn't you let me in the library?" "After all, it's just a room".  "It's not the right time, Patrick," said his mother. What could possibly be in those closed books made Patrick more curious about them. "You always tell me the same thing every time I ask you. I don't know what the problem is with you!" said Patrick as he slammed the door and went out to the lake, which was 2 minutes from his home as the entire neighborhood was covered by a lake on 2 sides, east and west. The only way to reach the area was via two long wooden bridges that were placed north and south. The houses were in linear settlements, and in between there was a long road that connected both bridges. That night, Patrick decided to enter the library when his mother was asleep. He came down the stairs without making a single noise and found the library key to be kept just under the potted plant, which was right beside the library door. He opened the door and made his way inside. There were thousands of books there, but one caught his attention. It was kept inside a glass chamber, locked from the outside. Patrick knew that the key to this chamber should be somewhere in the library. He searched a little bit and found a small hole underneath that particular chamber. The key was placed there. "I knew that the key would be somewhere near," said Patrick with excitement as he was opening the glass cover. "THE GREY HOUSE" was written on the book, and in the bottom right corner was written," by Robert Croft". Patrick dropped the book in a state of shock. "Why is my father's name on that book?", "Did he know about "The Grey House?" Puzzled with questions, Patrick opened the book, and what he saw was unimaginable. There was a rumor in the neighborhood that the last house on the northern side had been cursed with a spirit and was said to be heavily possessed by ghostly spirits. Many encounters were heard by the locals, and a popular saying goes, “Where the living become the dead". It is believed that a family bought the house nearly a decade ago, and all of them committed suicide for unknown reasons. "The Grey House" was the name, as the first owner was Mrs. K. Grey, who was a paranormalist at the time. She had close encounters with spirits whose last wishes were never granted, and people called her to purify their houses as some were possessed by spirits. However, since she had left that house, no one wanted to live there knowing the background she had.  The new owners didn't know about the lady and moved in and were found hanging on the ceiling within 1-week of moving in.  In those pages, what Patrick saw was truly disturbing, his father wrote, "Ben Watson and I are here searching for the spirit, but we are unable to find any. Was this all a joke? who knows but the one thing we are sure of is that something is weird with this home, things start making noise and sometimes they fell from the shelf, was it the wind, it can't be as the windows were closed" Patrick, reading this in a paralyzed manner, was horrified. Now he knew that his and Jospeh's father never died in a tragic accident but in that house! Goosebumps entered Patrick's body after reading the book. He went to sleep without asking any questions to his mother about that, as he knew that then she would question him and it would be a lot of mess. The next day, Patrick told his friends about the whole story, and his friends still wanted to see the house from the inside, as all of them wanted to know about the real truth of "The Salle House", but the house had been locked and never opened for the past 10 years. They had sneak peeked into the house and had seen some dusty old couches and covered frames, broken wooden floors, and hanging fans, all covered with torn white cloth. The next morning, Patrick and his friends made a plan on how to sneak into the house without anyone knowing. "Gather up everyone at my place at 5," said Patrick. All nodded their heads. Soon, after school had ended, everyone arrived at Patrick's doorstep. Benjamin rang the doorbell. Patrick's mother, Emma, opened the door. "Why are you all here," said Emma, making an infuriating face. "Patrick has called us," said Benjamin. "Let them in, Mom," a voice said from upstairs. They all rushed to Patrick's room. The door was closed, all took their places, and they were ready. "Ladies and gentlemen, I present you my master plan," said Patrick as he was opening a big roll of paper. "What the hell is even that?" interrupted Joseph. "Patience, my child, patience," uttered Patrick. Meanwhile, Sophia and Benjamin were busy liking the bowl full of Nutella. "Stop it, guys, and focus for a minute," said Patrick. Now, we've got a straightforward plan: no improvising, no questioning in between, just listening. Patrick started talking "We will be leaving my house tomorrow at 9 p.m. sharp. Benjamin and Joseph, I need you two to take care of my mother; she mustn't be informed that we are leaving. Meanwhile, I and Sophia will make our way out of the house and will flash the torch at the kitchen window. Once both of you see the flashing bright light, move out of the house immediately. From there on, we will start moving without making any noise and will make our way towards the last house on the north side, "The Grey House". Now, any questions asked Patrick? Yes! All of them started asking Patrick questions. "How will I distract your mother?" said Benjamin. "How will we break into the "Grey House" as it is locked," said Sophia. "What are we going to do exactly there at the house?" said Joseph". Thousands of questions showered over Patrick. "Ok, ok, I'll address every one of your problems!" exclaimed Patrick. "Joseph, starting with you, we are going into the house to find whether there is a real spirit there or the locals have made up their own story". "Sophia, it's your turn; we will be breaking the lock that is on the gate. I will need cutting pliers for that. Sophia, you bring me cutting pliers tomorrow". "Sure", said Sophia. "Benjamin, now you, simply drop a plate while keeping it in the kitchen; soon my mother will approach you and start yelling at you while picking up the glass pieces, and that is how you will distract my mother. Genius! exclaimed all of them together. They all dispersed to their homes at about midnight. The sun rose at 5 a.m. the next morning. Everyone was excited to do this once-in-a-lifetime adventure together. "Seriously, when will you be going with your friends to explore a haunted house again?" said Joseph to Sophia as both were together. All three showed up, along with Joseph, on Patrick's porch. As Joseph was about to ring the bell, Patrick opened the door, as he had already seen them through his bedroom window. All of them entered. Benjamin grabbed a plate from the shelf and put some toasted bread on it. After finishing the bread, he was on his way to keep it in the kitchen sink. After that, we all know what's going to happen; he dropped it purposefully. "What have you done! Benjamin," said Emma, half awake and lying on the hall couch. "Help, Mrs. Emma, the glass pieces are all over the place," said Benjamin, looking at Patrick, Joseph, and Sophia, giving them the signal to leave the house. Soon they left without Mrs. Emma's knowledge. She gave a lecture to Benjamin and then got back to the hall couch, continuing her web series. Seeing the torch from the kitchen window, Benjamin said, "Sorry, Mrs. Emma, goodbye," and left the house. "Gosh, God will not forget you, Patrick," said Sophia with a giggle. "Just take a chill pill," Patrick said with full energy. He jumped from the door, skipping the steps below him, and said, "Let's start this escapade". All tip towed their way to "The Grey House". At 10:30 p.m., they were in front of the creepy-looking house, thinking about how to break in without making much noise. "Give me the pliers," said Patrick to Sophia. They managed to break the lock and get inside within 10 minutes. The door creaked open and all of them entered. Woah! exclaimed Joseph as he walked into the house. "It didn't seem to be that big from the outside but inside it's huge," said Sophia. Meanwhile, Benjamin was busy playing with his voice as it was echoing. "Cut it out guys," said Patrick. Everyone walked straight towards the dusty hall. “Does somebody have a lighter?” said Patrick as the electric supply to the house was no longer working. “Yes,” said Sophia. Once Patrick lit the area, things were looking clear. Patrick went near the photo frames and pushed the cloth off one of them. He was shocked to see his father’s life-size painting. “Oh my gosh, isn’t this your father Patrick,” said all three of them together. Patrick didn’t move a bit or say a single thing. How? why, why here, millions of questions came into Patrick’s head leading him to faint. 5 minutes later, Patrick came to consciousness. “What happened Patrick, are u fine?”. “I don’t know, this place is not good. I saw my father moving here and there when I was unconscious. He kept giving me signals to leave. As soon as they help Patrick get back to his feet, they heard a voice. All of them couldn't shake the feeling that they weren't alone. The floorboards creaked beneath their feet, and the air was thick with the musty smell of neglect. They started down the hallway, the beams of their flashlights illuminating the peeling wallpaper and broken floor tiles. Suddenly, they heard a faint whisper from upstairs. Sophia’s heart raced as she realized they weren't the only ones in the house. They cautiously climbed the stairs, the darkness swallowing them as they ascended. When they reached the top, they found themselves in a large, empty room with a solitary window. Outside, the full moon cast an eerie glow on the surrounding trees. Just as they were about to leave, they heard footsteps coming from down the hall. Panic set in as they realized they were trapped. Suddenly, the door to the room slammed shut behind them, and the darkness became suffocating. Benjamin felt a cold finger brush against her shoulder, and all three of them screamed in terror. But then, the sound of laughter echoed through the room. “What do we do know!” exclaimed Joseph. “I want to leave this place as soon as possible,” said Sophia All were tensed. However, there was a window in that room. “There is only one way now,” said Patrick. “No, I am not jumping from 2 floors,” Sophia said as she started crying. “What do you mean you won’t! That’s our last bet. There is glass below, we’ll be fine, nothing gonna happen. The sound of the steps was even louder and it seemed that it was coming upstairs! “We have to go now,” said Patrick as he came near the window. The spirit suddenly materialized before their very eyes. The frightened children tried to run, but the spirit remained rooted in its spot, staring at them ominously. The room filled with a sudden chill, and all of them shivered in terror. The ghost slowly moved towards them, and as it did, the room fell silent. The only sound that could be heard was the dull thump of their racing hearts. Suddenly, the children realized they were unable to move their limbs. The spirit had frozen them in place, and they could only watch helplessly as the spirit moved in closer. The spirit extended a hand toward the children, and they let out a collective scream. Their screams echoed through the empty halls, but no one was around to hear. No one would ever hear them again. The spirit had taken them, and they were never seen again. For years, the abandoned house remained empty. But legend has it that on restless nights, the sounds of the children's screams can be heard emanating from the old house. 
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