One fateful day, a man received an invitation in his mailbox. It was for a dinner at the mansion on the hill. People say it’s a once-in-a-lifetime offer and if you attend the dinner, you will leave with a bag of riches.
At 6:00 pm, he got ready and got a cab to the estate. When he arrived at 6:30 pm, an expansive driveway that went around a water fountain greeted him. He arrived at the large wooden front doors, pulling the gold knocker. He knocked once, twice, three times. The butler opened the door. Its hinges interrupted with a chorus of ancient squeaking that sounded like macabre laughter.
As he looked at the butler, he noticed how his eyes appeared completely devoid of life. He didn't let it bother him. As he walked down the floors after the butler, the smell of aged wood wafted through the air. The branches of trees rhythmically tapped on the glass windows. He paid no mind to it and let the older man lead him to the big stairs that ended on the second floor.
Before climbing further, the butler stopped the young man and gave him a grim stare. “For any reason, do not wander the hallways of this mansion.", he said. “Remain in the dining room until dinner is over. When it is, do not remain in the mansion. Walk out, back onto the road, get in your cab, and do not look back,” the butler said.
The young man nodded, wanting the prize money at the very end. Satisfied with his response, the butler led him to the dining room, already filled with other complete strangers. They continued to sit, staring with wry expressions at the various paintings in the room. He too took his seat. Waiting and waiting. Time seemed to slow down. He had almost fallen asleep when he shot up suddenly.
Paying no heed to the butler’s warning, he walked out of the dining room to explore the mysterious mansion. The halls now took on an unsettling air. He hadn’t paid attention earlier, but what struck him as odd was the lack of additional help. Surely, a residence of this size would need more than a singular butler!
There was an eerie feeling surrounding this place. Yet, he continued to walk down the winding halls. The tapping of tree branches resumed as the wind picked up, thrashing wildly against the windows. ‘Pit, pit, pit’ The rain softly ran down the windows until it grew louder. ‘PIT, PIT, PIT, BOOM!’ Lightning struck. For a second, he thought he’d smelled the sharp scent of smoke and the heat of fire.
On and on, the young man continued to snoop throughout the mansion, trying various door knobs. None of them would open. Just as he felt he would not arrive at no such conclusion, he came across a door at the end of the hallway. The old wood peeled off as he observed its intricate design. It appeared as if it was the only thing time could touch, compared to the rest of the pristine and well-kept house.
He felt a hesitating gravity towards it, at the same time, a push like the same side of a magnet. He reached for the rotting relic and jiggled the doorknob, and to his shock, the door swung open. He entered, a nauseating stench immediately shattering his senses! As he held his shirt to his face, the darkened room came into view.
He looked around. The distinct, suffocating scent of formaldehyde lined the air. As he strained his eyes, he saw canvases of paintings everywhere. Photos hung from a line attached to each end of the room. When his eyes adjusted to the darkness, his breath hitched, stumbling back, eyes wide with terror. They weren't paintings--- They weren't normal paintings at all!
Each canvas was drowning in a color of blood red. It coagulated into clumps at the end of each streak of fluid. The edges crusted with a sickly black-brown, resembling scabs on human skin. The photographs shown repulsive shots of dismembered human limbs... Even ones with people chewing on each body part.
Near the back, dim light illuminated the crude, Mutilated statues of humans. Carved into grotesque, Venus de Milo-like statues, they looked almost... real. The sharp odor of blood and death was beginning to overwhelm the petrified man.
Filled with complete shock, he stumbled back out of the room, heaving in the clean air. He slammed the door shut, gasping, trying to regain his composure. Still, the pungent malodor continued to linger within his nostrils.
'Had he stumbled upon the horrible secret of this mansion?' He thought hard. 'Was this all real? Was this the reason the butler told him not to wander the halls? Were they trying to cover up their horrific crimes?' But he shook his head. 'No. This is a rich and eccentric family — there must be a reason-! The room was clearly a room filled with peculiar types of art!'
The young man paced back and forth a short way from the door. 'But that did not explain the terrible odor...' He wandered back down the twisting, winding halls, eyes darting with a weary expression. Coming back to the dining room, the butler stood, giving him the same dark, grim expression.
Once the family entered and took their seats, the guests took theirs and began eating, happy merriment in the air. After witnessing the disturbing art room, the man did not have a proper appetite. Classical music wafted through the air as small chat made its way amongst the guests and host. The man could only sit in his cushioned chair, holding back the urge to throw up as he bit into the tough meet. The carnivorous entrees only reminded him of disembodied limbs.
As sweat ran down his temples, the father of the family directed a simple question at him. “Are you enjoying the meal?” he asked. In a shaking voice, he nodded. “Yes, it’s quite lovely,” he said, whilst giving a suppressed cough. At exactly 8:00 pm, the dinner party ended and all the guests left the mansion on the hill feeling full and joyous. Laughter echoed down the driveway as each entered their cars and drove back down to the sleepy town below.
Upon returning to the darkened cab, the young man felt especially troubled. Moreover, they did not receive such rumored wealth as everyone said they would. However, he felt extremely happy to leave that cursed property behind. When he arrived home, he was only glad to remove his shoes and drift off into an uneasy slumber.
That night, he dreamt of the same twisting and winding halls of the mansion. Except, now, it was dark. In his dream, he stumbled forward, feeling the furniture until his eyes adjusted. He wandered even deeper than he ever could. Everything was completely identical! Illuminated by the light of the moon, he finally found the grand staircase that led to the second floor. Each step gave a foreboding creak that echoed the empty halls, devoid of life.
He dragged his shoes along the wooden floors, feeling each dent, bump, and corner in the dark. When he came to a part where the moonlight could not reach, he held his hands before him, fumbling, desperate for any surface to hold onto.
His sweaty palms, at last, landed on the cold, uninviting metal of a pair of worn, ridged handles. He gripped it, knuckles turning white as he contemplated his decision. At last, he threw the door open.
To his absolute horror, the family of the mansion sat at the table covered in the same sickly red he witnessed on the canvases. Their heads snapped in his direction, red-stained teeth flashing as the same, ominous butler stood with a camera, their eyes filled with madness.
They made a jump for the man, who gave a terrified scream and attempted to flee, but to no avail. They latched onto him, nails digging into his skin like deprived leeches. They dragged him back into the room…
They dragged him straight to hell. On the table, they butchered him and took bites into his fleshy, tender limbs. Blood spurted across the dining room, the camera flashing in an erratic frenzy as the butler continued the sick photoshoot. The pale-faced man gave a final blood-curdling scream as the father let an axe drop onto his neck, beheading him.
The mother propped the torso up onto a thick disk and smiled wide, a demonic grin crossing her eyes. Her two children continued to eat the remains of his arms. The butler stood at the door, facing out into the dining room with the camera in hand. With a bright flash and a click, the last photo was taken that night.
There were no more dinner parties. No more invitations. The man woke up from his dream the next morning. He was not the same man anymore, mumbling words of ‘murder’ and ‘family’. His eyes were sunken and filled with terror, his body writhing around on the floor. His mother and father reached out to calm him, but he let out a spine-chilling scream, sinking his teeth into his mother’s wrist. His own family saw it clearly. He was insane. Weeping for their son his family sent him to a mental facility.
Alternately, the rest of the invitees had awoken to sizeable sums of cash on the foot of their beds. However, the whispers of disappearance cause the police to investigate this reclusive family the town was so worried about. When they arrived, they came across the withering and dilapidated remains of a burned mansion.
Nature had overtaken the structure, vines smothering the walls. The surviving wooden floors were damp and smelled of decay. It was as if the family never existed in the first place--Or died a long time ago. In the town archives, they had discovered records of a family of four and their butler, who died in a tragic house fire–A mass suicide.
Convicted for the serial homicide of more than 10 people, they took their lives along with the house. Each victim’s body shared similar characteristics. De-limbed, disfigured, mutilated, and posed as a statue coated in embalming fluid. They ate the arms and legs as their butler took grotesque photos. Blood was used to paint on fresh canvases made of human skin.
The people who survived the original killings tell a similar tale of one day receiving an invitation in the mailbox...
Author's Note
I originally wrote the base of this story on the 30th of March back in 2022. Basically, 8th grade. I wasn't a solid writer yet. I needed a lot of improvement when I looked over the raw piece. When rewriting and editing this story, it felt like a daunting task but I plowed through. I must say, it helped me see my strengths and weaknesses. I was glad to find this again and have the opportunity to share it with the world.
-A.Y.
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