The Abnormal Mansion (Poe Project)

You walk through another door in the abandoned mansion, trying to make sense of it all. But nothing made sense here.  In one room was a bedroom chamber, with a Pallas bust hanging above the doorway. A sculpted raven sat upon, looking so real that you could swear that it blinked at you. You see a flash of lightning from the large window. Funny, it was sunny when you walked in. You quickly close the door. 
In another room is a small dungeon, with iron walls and no windows. Something was in the center of the room. It looks like a black stain, no light coming from it. Something about it scares you.  You give a small shudder and close that door quickly.
 Walking across the hall, you come across a double door looking like it belongs to a castle. You push it open, with a welcome sight of sculpted people dancing and laughing. You can see seven ajar doors across the room, each a different color.  Blue, purple, green, orange, white violet, black. The black room has red windows and a grandfather clock peeking out. Something about it isn't right.Even though the crystal chandelier shines brightly, it feels as if a shadow runs through the room. You quickly close that door too.

Here comes the end of the hall, and with it is another door. This one leads into a homey type of room, with a cozy scene of three men at the table. You look outside and see that it is pitch black outside. This seems like the best room to stay at, so you head to the bedroom and bunk down for the night.

 As you lay in the bed, you think about these rooms. They are so different, and yet they have similar qualities. Even in the ballroom you had felt cold and dark. It was dark and stormy in the room with the bust and the raven. And that iron room was cold, dark, and dreary, not to mention the dead rat bodies. Dark, cold, dreary, torturous, every room had that feel. Shuddering, you somehow drift off to sleep.

In the morning a bad smell registers in your nose. A rotting smell, like human flesh gone bad, has invaded the room. You quickly run to the kitchen and yank the door open, relieved to see the candlelit hallway. Then you notice the stairway next to you. That wasn’t there before, was it? You decide it’s too dangerous to go down there, but after grabbing a candle your curiosity gets the better of you. Making sure you have enough light from the candle, you slowly descend, treading cautiously down the steep steps.

When you step on the last step, it creaks, scaring you so much you jump off the step, landing hard on the cement floor. Standing up and looking around, you see that it is a type of vault you might find at a bank. Eagerly you look around, rumble through drawers, waiting to see something valuable, but nothing emerges. Depressed, you turn back to the stairs, but you realize you must be lost, for they are nowhere in sight. Your candle steadily burns down as you try to find your way out. You see along the way a small brick wall, no more than 2 feet wide and 4 feet tall. Seeing it gives you a bad feeling. You must get out of here.

You are not giving up, even when your candle burns to a nub, when you have to drop it and let it burn out. There must be a way out. There has got to be a way out. Let there be a way out. Yet after searching for another hour, now in complete darkness, you conclude that you are indeed lost, and you can’t find your way up and out into the light again. Silently, tears roll down your cheeks as you say goodbye to your family, your friends whom you left behind for your reckless adventure to the abandoned mansion on the corner of the street.

Slowly you feel something come over you. Shadows press against your eyes, making you dizzy. Darkness consumes your mind, and all you can think about is the rooms that you visited here. Imagine being stuck in the iron room, or the one with the raven. What gruesome things must have happened there. Truly, this is the best end anyone could have, hidden down in this dark basement, where you can cry and not be seen? Surely that it better that any of that.

Images play wildly in your mind. Being pressed in by hot walls, towards a hole in the center of the floor. Being walled in by who you thought was a friend. Being tortured by a raven, clawing, pecking until nothing remains. Unmasking a faceless man, and feeling death overwhelm you. Yes, this is the best end you could meet in this mansion. Slowly, mechanically, you lower your head to the floor.

And let out your final breath.