The Skeleton Key by Hazel Sisson

As I crept up the ancient marble stairs, my footsteps echoed against the walls on either side of me. I felt claustrophobic. I was having second thoughts, it was just so creepy. The seemingly derelict candy shop stood before me, cracks running down the walls. A flurry of wind flew up the alleyway. It knocked all the courage out of me. I steadily I picked the broken pieces of my nerve up from the ground. I took a deep breath trying to slow my heart. Scared someone might hear it. I stood still, frozen. I was staring at it, I was staring at the shop.

The shop that seemed to whisper to the night. The shop no one dared to enter. The shop with the flickering lights. The shop I am so unwillingly going to enter.

But I had to, I had to find it. The skeleton key. The key that opens all the doors. I slowly grasped the brass handle. My heart thudding in the back of my head. I pushed with all my might. The door groaned as I forced it open. The light flooded the room. A layer of dust rose up from the untouched floor. A damp mustiness hung in the air. It smelled of smoke. Darkness filled the room, only the light from the door allowed me the gift of vision. AAAAHHHHHH! Was that me? I don’t know. I had lost the power of thought. I took a step into the unknown.

The Dare - By Marguerite

Dark mist covered the building. Wendy started to walk up the cracked steps. She had been dared to enter the ancient house on the block. It had been abandoned for years, slowly rotting away like an old carcass. In return for the dare, Wendy was to be given a set of tennis player collection cards. Looking up the stairs now, Wendy wasn’t sure if the dare was worth it.

Being the easily-scared, red-haired girl she was, Wendy was shaking like a leaf, wondering whether she should turn back now or keep on going.

She took another slow step, only to feel her foot drop away as the step crumbled away. She stood there, frozen. Her right foot dangled in mid air. Finally mustering the little courage she had, she stepped over the empty space and finally reached the ledge where the large, medieval door stood, chipped and broken in some places, but still standing proudly.

Wendy gulped and took a step back, almost tripping over because of the broken step. The air around the door smelled musty and the mist seemed to get stronger as Wendy stepped closer. Slowly, Wendy wrapped her hand around the rusty door handle, opening the door to the nightmares that laid ahead