This was my entry for the A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words Halloween Edition2 (2021). This entry was selected as the Secret Keeper's (Fyrebyrd) favorite.

Title: The Girl in the House

Edward can't believe he's standing outside of the Swan Haunted House. The house that has haunted him for years.

Edward remembers the story from when he was eleven years old. Bella, the daughter of the police chief disappeared while home on a break from college. Her father, Charlie, never recovered from this loss. He used to say he would see her out his back window at night, that she was still around somewhere, but everyone thought Charlie was just crazy with grief. He died of a heart attack the following year

The Swan house had sat empty and neglected for several years after and gained a reputation for being haunted. Neighbors reported hearing sounds coming from the house at all hours, some talked about seeing shadows pass by the windows or seeing the curtains move even though the windows were closed. The neighbors realized maybe Charlie wasn't so crazy after all.

After the city took ownership of the abandoned house, they decided to play up the rumors and opened it up as a haunted house every Halloween. The income gained from this helped with the upkeep of the house each year. The city even rented the house occasionally for ghost themed parties.

Edward visited the haunted house one Halloween when he was fifteen years old. He was there with a group of his friends and they were all excited to experience a real ghost. They walked through the dark house lit only by a string of dim lights, barely able see what was in front of them. The city went all out to make this a great haunted house experience with workers dressed in costumes as monsters, ghosts and skeletons jumping out to scare them, the sounds of moans and screams piped in, the feel of fake spider webs everywhere. Edward was impressed, and did jump once or twice, but more out of surprise than fright.

That was until he felt himself pulled from the walkway into what had to be a closet. He felt an electric shock as the freezing cold hands grabbed him. A girl pressed her fingers to his mouth and whispered "shhhh". Even though his is eyes had adjusted to the darkness of the haunted house, the closet was darker without the dim lights and he was unable to clearly see the girl in front of him. His heart racing with fear, he could tell the girl stepped closer to him, the cold of her body causing goose bumps on his skin. He felt her nose move up and down the side of his neck as she breathed him in.

"What are you?" she asked. "I've never smelled anything that delicious before."

Edward was terrified at her words, too scared to say anything. His vocal cords were as frozen as her body.

"I can feel that you are afraid. And you really should be. I could wipe out your life in an instant…if I wanted to," she continued wickedly.

Edward gasped, more scared than he'd ever been before. He tried to convince himself this wasn't real.

"No, the time is not right. But I will find you again, when you are older," she said as she backed away from him.

Edward suddenly found himself out of the closet, back on the main path of the haunted house. In shock, he continued on until he found the exit for the house. He didn't understand what just happened or what the girl was talking about.

Edward never told anyone about his experience in the haunted house. No one else mentioned anything similar, so he started to think he had imagined it the whole thing. He'd almost convinced himself it was all a dream.

But every now and then, through the next five years, he'd experience that cold feeling again. He'd see movement out of the corner of his eye, but nothing was ever there when he turned his head. He'd hear whispers in the middle of the night, a female voice telling him it wasn't time yet, but when he turned on the light, no one was there. Edward worried he was losing his mind. Still, he never told anyone. And he never visited a haunted house again.

But this year, as part of his college journalism class, he'd been assigned to work on an article of haunted houses in Washington state. As soon as the professor realized he was from Forks, she'd assigned him the Swan Haunted House. He couldn't really say no without explaining his previous encounter, which he still wasn't even sure really happened.

And so, five years after his first time, Edward finds himself experiencing the Swan Haunted House again. While some things are more high tech this time, some things are still the same. The dimly lit dark walkways, the scares as costumed volunteers jump out, the sounds coming from the speakers. And just like his previous experience, he is suddenly pulled into that same closet as before.

Edward was expecting this. but his fear is still there. He's been haunted by this girl for the past five years, wondering if she was real or just his imagination. Now he knows she was always real. He wasn't going crazy.

"Welcome back, Edward," she says with a wicked smile. "I've been patiently waiting for the right time and now it's finally here. Mmmm, you smell even better than before, just like I knew you would."

Edward, surprised she knows his name, finds his courage to speak this time. "What exactly have you been waiting for. And why me?"

"I could tell you first, but I'm afraid you'd try to run if I did," she answers as she moves close to him and presses her face into his neck. Almost to herself she whispers, "I hope I have the strength to stop. I want to keep you."

She looks into Edward's eyes one final time. "I'm sorry, but this will hurt a lot," she says and then bites into Edward's neck.