By Adam H

The Letter

The Beeches,
52, Willow Way,
Dublin,
Bp8 2fz

Dear Mr. Brown,

I am Captain George Koockoff chief of field operations for the I.R.A. Although I received strait A’s I decided to join the army .I have written to you to apply for the £500 Deal.

I also have some questions to ask for example is there electricity and central heating? Also, do you have any pets as I am allergic to cats? Will breakfast be thrown in or do or do we have to bring our own food?

I hope I am one of the first 40 and look forward to meeting you though I never thought I’d meet a man who would spare £20’000!

Yours sincerely

George Koockoff  (Cptn. ret.)

It was10:00 am, as I stumbled down the stairs and picked up my letters most of them were gas and electricity bills then I saw one that looked different. I opened it and could not believe it .It was the reply from Darkwood Manor. It read: you have been selected to come to Darkwood Manor come to a meeting at The Swan Hotel in Darkington...

It was a nice warm summers evening as I arrived at The Swan Hotel .I entered and saw a sign written upon it was:

07:00 pm meeting

About Darkwood Manor

Turn left.

I followed the sign until I came to a chandelier lit room. I met three men one called Chris and the other one Itchy. Chris was tall light hair wearing black evening wear on the other hand Itchy was wearing Brown evening wear and had dark hair.

Then Mr. Brown came in. We asked him questions like "Are there toilets?"

To which he replied, "No but there may be a portable loo put in."

"Why are you wasting £20’000?" questioned a woman beside me

"Because I want to get rid of the malicious rumours people are talking about," he replied.

"Plus is the house haunte-"

"No who told you that!" roared Mr. Brown

"No one, I just asked."

"Well it’s not true" snapped Mr. Brown.

"Ok, keep your pants on," whispered Chris.

"Anyway," said Mr. Brown calming down,  "there has been a technical problem which has caused me to delay your night at Darkwood Manor. Please come back next Friday, goodbye!"

There was an uproar everybody in the room was shouting their heads of. I ran out of the hotel but Mr. Brown was nowhere to be seen.

ChapterI: The Manor

I steadily walked up the smashed stone steps. They led to a moss covered door, with a cracked base. Mr. Brown who had been fiddling with the lock suddenly flung the door open a flood of torches lit up the entrance hall. In front of us were the stairs to the 1^st floor. My torch fell upon a rusty old lamp covered in black candle wax. At least a third of the floor was covered in slime.

Mr. Brown told us to go and put our things in the ballroom (where we will be sleeping). "Come on Chris," I ended up shouting, he seemed to be daydreaming. We heaved our things to the ballroom then rushed back for a guided tour…

We visited the dayroom, conservatory and kitchen one Mr. Brown wouldn’t let us go into kitchen 2, but the parlour was the best. It had the most furniture, plus some sort of pattern on a table.

Then Mr. Brown beckoned us back to the ballroom. The ballroom was empty apart from a moth eaten curtain and two old rusty chandeliers. The shutters were cracked and broken there was also a smell of rotten cabbages. I looked around the room with my torch and surveyed every inch of detail. I settled down with Chris, Itchy and Mr. McCarran. The lock clicked like a thunderbolt in my brain, Mr. Brown was gone.

Chapter I: carpet and a corpse

I sat with Chris who had his laptop. The floor was very uncomfortable so we decided to go sit on a carpet…

As we sat on the carpet it slid aside! We fell with a crash there were numerous tunnels around us.

I got knocked out and had a flashback: I was at the fleece pub the night Mr. Brown first met us. I was talking to an old man; he had said that he had been in The Manor forty years ago, and that forty of them had gone in but only ten returned. Then he mentioned something about a secret passage way but I did not get the rest of his sentence because he had a heart attack.

Then Chris interrupted the flashback he had found a bloodstained wall and some bones! We heard a scream we followed the sound.

Chapter IV: remeting

Chris and I decided to go back to the ballroom, but we found ourselves lost. Chris saw a dim light coming from a tunnel to our right. We followed it thankfully it led us to the ballroom. It was the man from the Fleece Pub and another man

"I am doctor Adam Holloway "he said.

"Gorge Kookoff ,"I replied holding out my hand.

He took my hand and rushed "We must hurry. We must be careful, although I know this place like the back of my hand; there still may be something I do not know." He added as he headed for the tunnel. Chris and I followed, Adam let me go first. I turned to talk to him but he shouted "look out for the spikes!"

"What spikes?" I replied as looked round just in time to see a big hole in the ground with spikes shooting out of it!

"Those spikes" he replied.

"You could have told us before hand," Chris and I said. As a big thud came in the distance "What was that!" I shouted.

"It’s only a boulder," he replied.

"WHAT! A boulder? That could kill us RUN! "Chris and I ran our hearts out. When I looked back to see where Adam was he was merely strolling as he said "It’s on the other side of the house." But suddenly we heard Mr. Browns voice!

ChapterV: The Announcement

We ran towards the voice. I heard a gun go off! The bullet obviously hit Adam as he fell to the floor. Chris and I knelt down to help him,

He croaked "go on without me"

"No we’ll never leave you we’ll carry you" I said. So Chris and I picked him up and carried him to the end of the tunnel.

The entrance hall had changed! A huge banner hung across the door reading: WELL DONE. Soon other people started to arrive and stood round Mr. Brown I noticed Itchy, Mr. McClarran and Chris also I noticed Adam Holloway had stood up and gone to join them. Mr. Brown shouted "Hello if there are any questions? Please ask me them!"

"I found a dead body," I yelled.

Someone beside me stuttered "h…how c ... Come…you’re here. I…saw you …d…die?"

Mr. Brown and the people around him started to smile.

"I think you might want to know the truth," he said

"I demand an explanation!" cried a woman whom I did not know

"Well you are all going to be on a new horror television show if I can have your approval?" every one agreed but demanded their money.

"Yes, you shall receive your money when we get to The Swan," he replied.

"Shall we?" he added walking towards the door.