House of Souls

The House of Souls

“C’mon, we can hide here,” Jon said to his partner Bill.

They were at a ramshackle old house.  The house looked like it would collapse any second. 

“Nobody ever comes here,” Jon said as he led the way around the back. 

“Oh?” said Bill. He pointed to a lit jack-o-lantern on a tree stump.  “Someone’s been here.”  He was jittery.  He and Jon had just pulled off a bank heist and needed somewhere to lie low, as well as hide the several hundred thousand dollars they’d stolen.

“Kids,” Jon said as he jimmied open a window and hauled himself inside.  Bill followed, still uneasy.

The inside of the house was damp and moldy but at least it was a bit warmer then outside.  Jon led the way into the living room and sat down on the floor.  “We’ll be safe here until the heat’s off,” he said.  Bill was still uneasy.

They lay down on the floor and spread out their sleeping bags.  Both were almost asleep when a strange white mist came towards them.  Bill screamed.

Jon clamped his hand over Bill’s mouth but the mist had gotten him too.  First they were paralyzed.  Then their flesh began to rot and pull away from their bones.  It was excruciatingly painful.  Finally their hearts stopped beating and they collapsed to the floor, dead, nothing more than a pile of bones and dripping flesh.

“Got two more bad eggs,” said a ghost at the top of the stairs.  “Isn’t it great the way this house pulls the bad ones in?”