Haunted

Based lightly on the song "Haunted" by Evanescence.

Though the sky was a menacing grey, the young girl skipped happily down the quiet street, her little red ball bouncing softly from her small hands to the foot path ahead of her.
She had just left from her mother’s friend’s house, after being told to check on her father and younger sister at home. Her mother had given her strict instructions to head straight home, and not to play in the street with any children.
Elizabeth was ecstatic to be given such a responsibility.
As the pretty child passed a large oak tree, she glanced toward the other side of the street.
She had only occasionally noticed the large house that stood there and every time she saw it, it sent shivers down her spine.
She always bragged to her mother that she wasn’t scared of anything, but the house had always made her rather nervous.
‘I really should get home quickly to daddy..’ she though to herself, though her attention quickly shifted toward her little red ball.

While she had gazed at the long abandoned house, the small ball had slipped from her fingers, and was now bouncing quickly across the street.
‘Come back!’ she cried after the ball hopelessly. Elizabeth bolted accorss the road, causing a car that was passing to slam on the breaks and honk its horn.
Elizabeth ignored the car, her mind set on finding her ball.
She stopped at the large, rusty iron gates and peered into the forest-like yard. The grass looked as if it had not been cut in at least 10 years, and was almost the height of the fence.
Beneath the young girl’s feet was a large stone, followed by another and another, gradually leading toward the house’s front steps.
Seeing that her ball had entered the house, Elizabeth squeezed through the gates in an attempt not to get rust on her dress and headed up the creaking steps.
The front door was wide open, and a soft breeze made it creak hauntingly.
Elizabeth paused and looked around the decaying veranda.
The paint looked as if it used to be a whitish colour, but it was now a dull brown, flaking off the rotted wood and covered in spider webs and dust. Nothing was left on the veranda that showed signs of past life in the house, not even a dead pot plant or a dismantled rocking chair.
Quickly Elizabeth shifted her gaze to what was before her. She could see nothing from outside in, for it was pitch black.
Elizabeth stepped forward, her heart pounding in her ears from fear. The young girl eyes adjusted to the darker light as she surveyed the decaying mess that looked as if it was once a beautiful mansion.
She studied the magnificent banister, running her small fingers over the intricate detail of the dusty wood, gazing at the carvings of vines and flowers. No furniture was around, only more dust and cobwebs. “I bet a princess lived here,’ Elizabeth said aloud, spinning in a circled as she imagined herself living in a grand mansion.
Her childlike thoughts were interrupted harshly as a large bang was heard behind her. The child spun around suddenly, her brown eyes searching the shadows frantically for the cause of the noise.
Nothing was lurking in the shadows before her, not even the door she had just come through. Only a dirty wall was left.
Panic-stricken the girl ran down the first hallway she saw, her shoes making an awful racket on the wooden floors. She was confused and frightened - How could a door just vanish?
With every turn everything changed behind her. But Elizabeth still held the hope that one creaking old door would lead her to the outside world. Gradually Elizabeth lost all hope, and dropped to the dirty floor with her hands to her head as she cried hopelessly.
Slowly Elizabeth cried herself to sleep, only minutes before a dark figure knelt beside her and placed a woolen blanket over her shivering body.
Many years had passed since Elizabeth became lost in the vast entanglement of rooms and hallways, and still the now teenage woman had not found a way out.
The young woman sat up from her resting place, finding 2 pieces of stale bread and a small glass of luke-warm water beside her upon a dirty silver tray, just like every morning before.
Elizabeth wasn’t given much, just enough to keep her alive.
Elizabeth attempted to clean her hands on her recently aquired shirt, but failed miserably.
She sighed in frustration, but soon her increasing hunger got the better of her, and she reached for the food.
She soon finished the measly meal and stood up, glancing around the new surroundings. The room had yet again changed. It was still a dusty room, but the decaying paint was a blue colour, unlike the pink room she had fallen asleep in.
A quiet thumping reached her ears, much like the thudding of a heart, and Elizabeth set off into the maze, searching for the only person she had been near in years. Each day was the same for Elizabeth. All she did was weave further and further into the house, searching for the figure she was determined to kill.
But she knew that if he were to leave, she would crease to exist, for she only lived to kill him.
The only constant in her life is him.
He was her only love, and yet her only hate. It was he that haunted her, kept her locked away from the outside world.
She had only seen him fleetingly as he passed around a corner ahead of her. This monster that watched her every night as she slept on the cold, dusty wooden floor had become her only friend.
Elizabeth opened the 5th door for the morning and stepped inside.
This room was different from all the rest she had ever seen in her years of roaming the house. It was clean, free of dust, and the walls were a bright white, and although there were no windows, a small candle flickered in the corner, giving off enough light for Elizabeth to see everything clearly.
Elizabeth looked around the room in awe. To her left was a very soft looking bed, and across from that a small basin filled with steaming water. Intrigued, the woman shut the door behind her and stepped deeper into the warm room.
‘Well…I know where I’m staying today’ she said aloud to herself.
Elizabeth stopped at the basin and placed her filthy hands into the hot water. It had been years since she had felt water on her skin, and she could feel the liquid washing away the dirt already.
Eagerly, Elizabeth began undressing herself, and placed each garment into the soapy water. Soon after, she washed herself.

Wrapped only in the luxurious black towel she had found behind the door, she had lain her clothes out on the floor, hoping they would dry while she slept.
Cautiously Elizabeth stepped toward the bed, running her fingers over the immaculate cotton quilt cover, and lifted the fluffy white pillow and embraced it tightly in her arms, breathing in the beautiful scent of lavender.
But she became distracted. Where the pillow had lain was a mound of purple. Curiously, Elizabeth dropped the pillow only to replace it with what appeared do be a nightdress. Her eyes widened as she gazed over the sheer beauty of the garment.
It was made from the finest silk, with a chameleon colour that switched from deep purple to black at the slightest movement. Small, intricate pieces of black lace were sown onto the bottom on the nightdress, as well as being used for straps.