*I own only plot*

The brunette walked slowly down the hall. It was dark. If there was one thing Mara Jaffray couldn't stand, it was the dark. She crept into the bathroom and turned on the light, peeking around the door. It was as normal as always. She glanced in the mirror, paranoid. The old house had always scared Mara. She looked nervously around as she washed her hands. She left the light on as she crept back to her room. As she walked to her bed, she stood in a puddle. "Eww." She whispered. Then she realised something. "There wasn't a puddle here before."

Her roommate, Patricia, lifted her head. "Mara?" She asked, turning on the light. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, I just stepped in..." Mara pointed and cut herself off with a gasp as she saw that there was nothing underneath her foot.

"Get in bed, Mara. Do you want Trudy in here? Or worse, Victor?"

"Yes." Mara whimpered.

"Why?" Patricia asked.

"Because. I just stepped in something wet." Mara told her.

"Oh, is that all? I thought it was bad." Patricia groaned.

Mara said "Look. There's nothing there." She pointed and Patricia got up to look. "See?"

Patricia sighed. "You probably imagined it."

"Let's leave the lights on. It might be safer."

"Mara, you imagined stepping in a puddle because you're half asleep. You don't have to panic. And anyway, I can't sleep with the lights on."

Mara sighed. "Fine. I'm going to get Trudy. Maybe she'll help."

Patricia flicked off her lamp, curling under her duvet. Mara crept along the hall, then stopped. Something short was outside the housekeeper's bedroom door and Mara gasped. She blinked and it vanished. She ran into the woman's bedroom, to find that she had a guest with her. She went to wake the woman, who mumbled sleepily. She woke the woman with a sharp poke. She shot up. "What?"

Mara whispered "Trudy?"

She relaxed. "What is it, baby?" Trudy asked, calmly, half-asleep.

"Trudy, there's a problem. I was just in my room and I stepped in something wet, so I told Patricia and there was nothing there."

"Honey, you probably just have warm feet." Trudy mumbled, rubbing the young girl's back.

Mara whispered "Trudy, that was wet! And anyway, in the hall, there was a tiny figure, the size of a two year old, outside your d..."

Trudy asked "Mara, why are you screaming?"

"There... there... there's writing on the wall!" She whimpered.

Trudy turned on the lamp. "Where, love?" She asked.

Mara glanced at the wall. "It was... right there." She whispered, scared senseless.

Trudy sighed. "Love, go back to bed. I know you're scared, but trust me, this house isn't haunted. OK?"

Mara looked at the kind hearted, open minded woman and nodded. "OK."

The next morning arrived and nothing bad had happened. Patricia asked "So, Mara, any more creepy puddles?"

"Not yet. But maybe you were right. Maybe I was just half-asleep."

Mara ate a spoonful of cereal. Something like funeral bells started ringing. Everyone looked up, apart from the housekeeper. "Did you hear that?" Patricia asked her housemates.

Mara nodded. Jerome said "Yeah. Who died?"

Trudy looked up. "Why would you ask, Jerome?"

He asked "You didn't hear the funeral bells?"

"The what, dearie?" She smiled.

"I get the feeling she didn't hear." Alfie stated.

Jerome and Patricia glared at him. "You think?" Patricia asked.

The day for them was their usual mundane Tuesday. Rain and wind, school work and homework, Jerome, Alfie and detention, more rain and wind, snacks and supper, films and goodnight hugs, then bed. That night, Mara whispered "Patty, do you think anyone did die today?"

"Probably." Patricia shrugged.

"Near here?"

"Maybe." The auburn haired girl shrugged and fell asleep after flicking off the lights.

Mara woke up late at night again. She checked out the bathroom, then copied her routine. She had the light on full, but she splashed her face with cold water, then dried her skin. As she moved the towel, she noticed dripping red, backwards writing. She whipped around. Nothing. She glanced back and her reflection became the small child she'd seen in the housekeeper's bedroom the previous night. He was laughing at her. She turned and saw him right in front of her, then vanished. She screamed loudly as writing appeared on the door, dripping like it had in the mirror. It read "Help Me..." It had a tiny handprint as well.

She screamed loudly. The next morning, she woke up and found herself in her bed. She walked to the dining room in her pyjamas and tried to have her breakfast. The jam was like liquid. When she bit into her toast, she tasted blood. She screamed as she realised that she'd spread blood on her toast. The other students looked at her in shock. Trudy ran to her side. "Mara! Darling, what's the matter?"

"It's blood!" She screamed.

Trudy looked at Mara's toast. "Honey, it's blackberry jam. Are you feeling unwell?"

"A little." Mara sighed.

Trudy sympathetically cooed. "I'll call Mr Sweet. You're to stay home. OK?"

She nodded. When she was left alone, she mouthed "I just hope that the little boy doesn't bother me again."

Mara was relatively calm and her day was dull. That night, she went to the door and turned on the light in the hall, then flicked it off. A small boy with scarlet eyes stared at her. She flicked it on and the figure disappeared. She kept that up for a few minutes until his face was millimetres from hers. She screamed and slammed the door, then hid in her bed. She moved her duvet from her face and the small boy was grinning at her, centimetres from her face. "Help me." He hissed, his voice as dry as dead leaves.

Mara smiled. "OK." She whispered.

He led her to the kitchen. "Help me..."

"Where's Mara?" Trudy asked.

"She wasn't in her bed this morning." Patricia commented.

Trudy said "Odd." Then she asked "Was she in the bathroom again?"

"Nope. She wasn't. Maybe she's in the school already?" Patricia smiled.

Trudy shrugged. But that afternoon, she found the brunette dead in the kitchen cupboard. A message in blood read "She helped me..."