The Haunted House
It was a stormy Saturday night, and John had just finished his work outside. He was walking towards his car when he heard a strange voice behind him. He turned around, but there was no one in sight. He continued walking and heard the voice again, and this time, it sounded closer. He looked around and saw an old abandoned house. He had heard rumors that the house was haunted, and people had seen ghostly apparitions. He shrugged off the idea, but he couldn't shake off the feeling that he was being watched.
John was a skeptic and never believed in ghosts. However, something about the old house made him uneasy. He decided to investigate and walked towards the house. As he approached the house, the eerie feeling intensified. He reached the front door, and it was slightly ajar. John hesitated but pushed the door open and stepped inside.
The first thing he noticed was the foul smell. It smelled like something had died inside. John felt a shiver down his spine. He continued into the living room and saw what looked like a ghostly apparition staring back at him. He rubbed his eyes, and the apparition disappeared. He convinced himself that it was his imagination playing games on him.
John continued exploring the house. As he walked up the stairs, he heard footsteps coming from upstairs. He quickened his pace and reached the top of the stairs. He saw a figure standing at the end of the hallway, and it was getting closer. John couldn't move; he was paralyzed with fear. As the figure approached him, he realized it was just his reflection in a dirty mirror. John breathed a sigh of relief and laughed at his foolishness.
He continued into the bedroom and saw a diary on the bedside table. He picked it up and read about how an old woman named Mary had lived in the house. She was married to a cruel man who abused her. Mary was so traumatized by her husband's abuse that she committed suicide by hanging herself in the attic. John was horrified by the story, and as he was reading it, he heard footsteps coming from the attic.
John slowly walked up the stairs towards the attic. He reached the door and pushed it open. He was met with silence, and he thought that he was in the clear. Suddenly, he heard a loud thump coming from behind him. He whipped around and saw a ghostly figure standing before him. He heard Mary's voice whispering his name, and John screamed, running out of the house.
John's friends found him lying on the ground outside the house, and he was in shock. He told them about the ghostly apparition and how he had seen Mary's ghost. They tried convincing him that it was his imagination or some other logical explanation, but John knew what he had seen.
John never went back to that house, but the memory of the haunted house stayed with him for the rest of his life. He started to believe in ghosts and felt that Mary's ghost was trying to tell him something. John never figured out what Mary wanted from him, but he felt that he had come close to unlocking the mystery. The haunted house remained untouched for years, but people would always talk about the ghostly apparitions they had seen inside. The legend of Mary's ghost continued, and the haunted house remained a place of mystery and skepticism.
