Scaredy cat

I wrote this in year 9 ... :)

The air was filled with moisture and the dark night was silent. The abandoned vicarage stood lonely upon the hillside surrounded by a resting mist. There was a faint sound in the distance like a soft siren. As the source of the sound got closer. It became clearer. Out of the darkness approached a jet-black cat with glistening black whiskers. It was Maddie, the old vicar’s cat. As she crept through an open window of the vicarage she moved gracefully with caution.

Once inside, Maddie was faced with a mirror. She sat on the windowsill looking at her reflection. It was smudged and blurred. As she looked into the mirror she gazed at her surroundings in the reflection. In the corner of the room was an old armchair, covered in a ragged, worn out coverlet layered in a blanket of dust. The room was a rusty grey colour lit by a beam of moonlight seeping through the window. Maddie then spotted an owl perched on top of an old lampshade and wandered over to it. When she reached it she saw that underneath the lampshade was about a dozen pairs of blood red eyes. When she got nearer to take a better look, rats ran out and scattered across the floor rapidly to escape her clutch. Maddie put herself back together and then headed for the door.

The door lead out onto a cold, damp and old fashioned looking landing. Across the landing was a fierce growling dog but the dog wasn’t normal, it was made of bones. The ghostly skeleton dog, with gritted teeth and blood dripping from its mouth stared at Maddie. She quickly leaped onto the banister and started to slide down the icy marble. The dog ran down the stairs chasing her frantically with a determined look on it’s face. When the banister ended Maddie flew off, landed on the cold surface of the floor and ran through the closest door. The door automatically shut with a bang and the dog was locked outside. Inside the room was black with darkness. At the far side of the room was a table. On the table Maddie found bits of broken dolls. Unexpectedly the dolls started to form back to their original shape and figure. The dolls had big black eyes with no colour in them at all. They seemed to have dresses on in different shades of red and had a black seam. One of the dolls spotted Maddie and they all turned to look. Slowly they walked towards her, all with an evil gaze directed at her. She saw a gap in one of the walls of the room and quickly ran over to it and leaped through it and into the next room avoiding the living toys.

She heard a frightening sound of a gunshot, and another then through the gap she found a man standing above a teenage girl. The man was holding a gun and the girl was lying still as though she was frozen on the floor. The man turned to see what he saw in the corner of his eye, and there was Maddie looking back.
“ Bloody cat. Scared me half to death. Scat you pest!” The man sounded husky and rough. He had chocolate brown hair and moustache to match. His clothes were torn with the girl’s struggle for freedom and there was a small bloodstain on his leather jacket. He stuck up his middle finger and showed it to the girl then left with a smirk hanging from the edges of his mouth. Maddie noticed the Ghostly skeleton dog leave with him too. She got down from the gap in the wall and plodded over to the girl. She was fair-haired with drained sky blue eyes and had a gunshot in her chest and head. So many questions wandered round Maddie’s head but none could be answered. She left the girl and sadly headed for the door back into the hallway and strolled over to the main door, which the awful man had left open.

Out she strode into the stillness of the night and over to the graveyard. The trees swayed in the silent breeze and the bushes rustled with movement from the birds nesting in the branches. Maddie moved over a mossy grave then a bony hand suddenly took hold of her paw and rapidly dragged her underground. Soil and gravel flew into her eyes making her unable to see. When she finally came to a halt, she felt the hand let go of her paw. She struggled to open her eyes and when she did, she found that she was standing in an underground cave with walls covered in mud and dirt. In front of her was a long winding tunnel and at the far end she could just make out a young girl backing away from a middle-aged man and woman. The girl had a terrified look in her eyes and as she got closer Maddie recognised her. It was Livia, the girl who had taken her in after her owner died.

“ Mum, Dad why are you acting like this? Stop it! You’re scaring me.” Livia quickly turned around to see if there was anyway to escape.
“ Like what darling. We haven’t changed.” Livia then spotted Maddie and ran over to her and scooped her up in her arms.
“Maddie.” Maddie noticed that Livia’s parents didn’t look normal. Both their faces were drained of all colour and their skins were scabby. There were cuts all over their bodies with blood pouring from them. Maddie saw that Livia’s eyes were brimmed with tears and she was clutching her close to her chest.
“ Well, look who it is. It’s the little cat from the house.” The murderer from the house appeared at the end of the tunnel with his gruesome dog by his side.
“ Who are you?” Livia’s voice started to sound nervous and tense as she spoke the words of every good guy in history that had been faced with a soon to be an enemy.
“ Why I’m the man who killed your helpless big sister.” That was the last string and Livia broke down crying.
“ But what have you done to my parents?” She said between sobs.
“ Oh them, they’re zombies I’ve put a curse on them. And my name is Max Crawford.” Maddie gazed into Livia’s eyes as the tears rolled down her face. Anger fumed inside Maddie and she could tell that the same was happening to Livia. Livia’s parents started to edge towards them both and her mum took Maddie by the collar and slung her onto the floor coldly and cruelly as Livia’s Dad went for his daughter.
“ Dad snap out of it! Leave us alone!” Maddie dug her claws deep into the mud. Hearing Livia’s scream then bought her back to her senses. She jolted forward and jumped onto Mr Westwood’s face and scratched and clawed at it with all her power. When she finally retrieved, his face was cut all over and blood was streaming down and onto his ripped, chequered shirt. The scratches made him unable to see so as he stumbled around he bumped into Max. The rage shone in Max’s face like a red balloon that had caught the light.
“ You stupid idiot!” Max’s teethe were gritted tightly. He took hold of Mr. Westwood’s collar firmly and slammed him against the wall.
“ YOU DO NOT MESS WITH ME!!” Max yelled into Mr Westwood’s ear then took his gun from the inside pocket of his jacket. He shot a bullet straight through Mr Westwood’s head. Livia screamed in terror at the sight of her father dripping with blood and laying still on the floor. Max cackled loudly.
“ It’s so hard to get good help these days! Ha ha.”
“ You monster! Why are you doing this to me!” The curse on Mrs Westwood was suddenly broken. Maddie sat at Livia’s feet trying to work out what was going on.
“ I was hoping that would happen.” Max turned to face Livia’s mum, still with a smirk on his face.
“ It’s been a while Beth.” Mrs Westwood looked puzzled as if she had just woken from a coma.
“ Max? Where am I? Who’s that?” Se didn’t seem to remember being married; does this mean that she doesn’t remember having Livia? Maddie thought.
“ Everything is ok my darling. This is Livia my…uh… niece.”
“ Niece?” Livia stared at Max with a look of dismay.
“ Just go with it and I’ll leave you in peace. Ok?”
“ Leave me in peace. You have killed my…” A hand covering her mouth interrupted Livia’s speech.
“ Darling Beth. Could you go upstairs and wait for me up there?” Mrs Westwood still looking puzzled obeyed Max’s request and stumbled up the muddy steps.

“ Look kid. I’m sorry about what happened. Ok I’m not that sorry but all I wanted was your beautiful mother who your stupid father took from me. And about your sister. Ever since she was born my life had been miserable and when she got older she started to track me down because I threw a bomb into one of the windows of your house to get some pay back on your Dad.” Livia’s mouth fell open.
“That was you! That destroyed my bedroom and my belongings. It killed my cat, and my new baby sister! My life has been a misery since that and now this as well. I hate you! You are a cruel and evil man!!!” Maddie felt Livia’s pain. The cat that died was one of her kittens. Tears brimmed Maddie’s eyes, as the memory was too painful. She ran forward and scratched Max’s leg. There was another gunshot but Maddie saw nothing happen. She looked again at Livia. She was on her knees at Maddie’s side. She saw Max pick Livia up and carry her up the steps.

Outside the rain was heavily coming down and splashed mud up Maddie’s legs. She stood watching Livia being dragged away with Max and Beth then looked down into a glistening puddle. The water was like looking into mirror. It was clear and smooth, but when Maddie looked at her image once more she noticed something different. She was a ghost.