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The door slammed so hard that it rattled the frame and splintered the wood. Their flashlights flickered and Misty bit back the urge to scream. Loud footsteps echoed on the stairs, something was on its way down.
Her heart pounding her and Chris ran into a closet and nestled themselves inside. Both of them cringed at the cobwebs and who knows what else that touched them inside the old closet. Still they kept silent, even when Misty felt something scramble across her shoes, she kept still and silent.
They could hear as something she stumbled around outside the closet. Looking for them no doubt. The sounds of bones rubbing together set Chris and Misty on edge. Misty, was just glad she couldn't actually see her, they'd turned their lights off as soon as they had jumped into the closet. And then suddenly the sound was gone. So much for the part of the legend that said the house would defeat her, Misty thought, of course that would be the one part of the legend that was wrong.
They listened, thinking that perhaps it was a trick. That as soon as they popped their heads out of the closet Mrs. Hernshaw's ghost would be upon them, but the sound did not return. Perhaps, she went back to the swamp. Misty let herself hope. She still hadn’t figured out what they were going to do about Mike, she hoped that he'd gotten away. That he'd made it home safe, they never should have dragged him out here in the first place. Chris nudged her and they slowly made their way out of the closet. The living room of the house was empty, no sign of Mrs. Hernshaw.
They stopped only long enough to brush off any cobwebs or bugs and turn their flash lights on. Mrs. Henshaw really was gone. At least for now. They made sure to look out the windows. Double checking that she wasn't waiting for them by the doors or out in the yard. There was no sign of her.
“Let's get the hell out of here.” Chris said his voice strained. Misty was too exhausted to answer and simply nodded her head. She couldn’t wait to get home and try to put this behind them. First thing she was going to do was call Mike and make sure he got home okay. She figured they owed him that much. They were walking out the front door when suddenly Chris screamed. Misty turned and could only watch in horror as the figure of Mrs. Hernshaw dragged him farther back into the house away from the door and away from her.
“No!” She shouted and picked up a broken piece of wood bringing it crashing down across the specters back. Bone turned to dust under the blow and the skeleton of Mrs. Hernshaw fell solidly to the ground, her bony hands releasing their hold upon Chris. He stood up his eyes filled with fright. “She almost got me.” He kept muttering. “Her hands, they were so cold. So cold.” Misty just stood there shocked that thing she'd hit was solid and all too real.
The wind howled loudly through trees, blowing the shutters angrily against the house and causing it to rock, making the rotten boards squeak and protest. When the wind died down, Misty and Chris turned around at another sound. The sound of old bones coming back together. Every little pop letting them know that they needed to run fast and far.
“Don’t look.” Chris told her. But it was too late Misty had already turned around. She couldn’t even find her voice to scream as she watched the corpse of Mrs. Hernshaw rise horizontally up from the ground, propelled by whatever unnatural force kept her tethered to this world. The sight of it was something that she knew she would never forget, would never be able to rationalize. Chris had also turned around, “Shit.” Was all he was able to say, his voice squeaked when he s aid it, going silent near the end. Just as Mrs. Hernshaw pointed a bony finger at them and the deep swirling red light returned to her eyes.
“Hhh,” She moaned and began dragging her feet towards them. Her unnaturally wet, long, tattered dress dragging across the floor behind her as she advanced towards them. Climbing out of the doorway in a movement that reminded Misty of a praying mantis. Just as Mrs. Hernshaw lunged out towards them, they bolted.Not in the woods but around the house, doing whatever they could just to stay out of her reach.
She loped after them. And unlike them the dead didn't tire. The siblings realized that she would wear them down long before they out ran her. Thinking quickly, Chris grabbed his sisters hand and pulled her back into the house on their next pass. He slammed the door behind them.
He slammed shut the door as he went. “Hold it!” He shouted at Misty.
Misty slammed her weight against the door, doing her best to hold it as Mrs. Hernshaw tried to push her way in. Even though she was only bones every push from the other side threatened not only to open the door but to take Misty with it. She had to brace her feet on either side of the door just to keep it from opening. She waited for the door to buckle under the thing pushing against it.
Chris dug through the bag until he found what he was looking for. The old camping lantern. Though they rarely used it anymore their dad always kept it filled with kerosene in case of emergencies. He quickly dipped and lit the wick then replaced the glass. Misty looked over, the light catching her attention as she strained against the door.
"What?" He asked her, "It was a ghost, I figured we needed something other than a flashlight just in case."
She was about to reply when the weight against the door seemed to vanish. They listened to the scrapes and thumps against the walls as Mrs. Hernshaw climbed up the side of the house. Their eyes wide in the flickering lamp light they heard the crash and thump upstairs as she made it through an upstairs window.
Misty flung the door open and jumped back outside. But, Chris stood his ground. "What are you doing?" She asked bewildered.
"Just wait." He told her. She could only stand there, watching through the doorway as Mrs. Hernshaw made it down the stairs and walked slowly towards her brother. The flickering lamplight making Mrs. Hernshaw look even more evil and unnatural.
Chris backed away towards the door. Mrs. Hernshaw lunged, and he threw the lamp down and the same time he jumped back and slammed the door shut.
From inside there was a crass and hiss. The smell of smoke quickly filled their noses as the old rotten boards and furniture began to catch light. Chris and his sister pulled the door knob during their best to keep the door shut until the walls began to smoke. From inside the house came a terrible wailing sound. And then the force on the other side of the door stopped pulling. They let go and backed off. Watching in horror as orange flames began to engulf the entirety of the house until the house began to fall in on itself. Even the fire seemed to them to be unnatural. Or perhaps some other force besides them wanted it to burn, Misty thought as she watched the flames hungrily eat away at the house.
“Let's get out of here.” Misty told him. He grabbed his bag off the ground. They left during their best to find a way back to the clearing so they could make their back to the road.