The House in the Distance
by Owen, age 11

Chapter One

Mark Brown sat next to a crumpled old bear, hugging it as he shivered in the icy cold presence inside his house,
" Beware the house on top of lake hill,
All that lies there is dead and still,
Beware, beware, beware..." the ghost whispered, tapping against the window tentatively,
" Beware!" With one last cry it soared through the air and off the cliff face.

The next morning while the sun was rising in the sky Mark set off intent to ignore the ghost's warning,
" All that lies there is dead and still"
These words ran through Mark's head again and again until he could bear it no longer. He stumbled back to his old wooden hut and found himself a long pointed knife and a pair of razor- sharp daggers; he then packed himself a blanket and left once again to find the house.

Chapter Two

The sky was dark, the moon was full, the house stood deadly in the cool night air. He stepped inside and opened a bloodstained door. The room was black, completely empty.
But what was that? Mark heard a noise...A fierce and frightening figure answered his question. It pounced and went to stab at him with a silver knife, the tip glinting dangerously in the moonlight streaming down from a window high above. The figure was tall and had fangs like a wolf, its claws had the effect he was going to tear somebody limb by limb, his eyes were bright red and had no sign of mercy in them.
He came down on Mark like a speeding bullet ready to kill. The knife sped through the air and sliced his hand right off. He turned to pounce again, but this time he was angry. The door flung wide open and another one of them closed in on him with a deadlier knife than the first. They came at him simultaneously and brought down the knives upon him.....

Chapter Three

Mark strained his hand into his pocket and pulled out his long pointed knife, he held it way above his head and stabbed one of the creatures in the face. Blood poured out from the deep cut Mark had created, which distracted the other one. Mark took his chance and ran wailing for help.
The dying creature slipped slowly onto the bloody floor and let out its last sombre howl. The other creature took its eyes off his friend and rounded on him.
Mark leapt over a trap that he had set up to catch any monsters and walked calmly out the door. There was an ear-splitting crash, a very loud howl and then silence.
Mark peeked his face around the corner to see what was going on. Hung up high in the air was the creature, head hanging halfway out of the net, lashing wildly with its razor-like claws. Mark took his knife and stabbed it dead.

Chapter Four

Later on that day, once Mark had dragged the bleeding body home he sat down and thought about all that he had just gone through. Once again he saw the creatures and their evil ways, he saw his life just about to end and his miraculous recovery. Suddenly all his thoughts flew away and a tapping was heard from the window. Mark went over to see what it was doing and jumped back just in time; the window flung wide open, a gust of wind blowing wildly at his face. A ghostly hand grabbed Marks t-shirt and pulled him outside; the ghost flew high above the clouds and landed in front of the house still looking just a sinister as when he first came. The ghost sat him down on the dying grass and spoke to him in a hoarse whisper,
" I have taken you here to give you a job,
Your job is not a good one though; you have killed the protectors of the house so now you have to be the protector yourself!"
The ghost flung Mark into the house and slammed the door shut, pain ran down his body and hair grew all over him, Marks eyes turned red and claws grew out of his one remaining hand,

"Hoooowwwwllll!!!!!!"