Jack was nervous and unsettled, but he refused to believe that what he was hearing and seeing was anything supernatural. He just needed to work out how to explain what had happened. But, even if he could not, he knew that Alex would have a logical and rational explanation. She was the scientist, not him.

As a large person, it seemed to take him forever to make his way around the mansion and back to the main staircase. But, when he finally reached it, he faintly heard Alex call his name. He then took the stairs two at a time, hurrying up because he was concerned about her after everything he had felt.

**********

Alex’s eyes widened in shock, disbelief, and fear as the shadow before her began drifting forward. She stumbled backwards, and she was barely able to keep her footing. As she back paddled, unable to keep her eyes off the shadow before her, she could not see a small child’s tricycle moving towards her by itself, with the tiny pedals turning round and round as it crept along the wooden floor silently.

When Alex took another step, her foot caught on the wheel of the tricycle. She tripped with a scream, then she stumbled before crashing to the ground on her back with her flashlight rolling out of sight. She watched on, terrified, as the shadow drew closer to her until it was hovering over her.

While Alex was looking at the shadow, a loud rumble of thunder sounded and a crack of lightening momentarily illuminated the passage. When that happened, the eyes on all the portraits on the wall glowed bright red. Panic seized her heart, and with adrenalin pumping through her veins, she scrambled backwards until she was able to haul herself to her feet. Without a second glance at the shadow, Alex took off running, but she had no idea what was going on, where she was going, or how she was going to find Jack. She just knew that something very strange was going on in that house, and they needed to get out.

While running, Alex turned corner after corner, and her feet pounded on the wooden floors as she searched for the staircase to take her back down to Jack. She did not think that she had gone that far from the figure, but she had run down several passages without coming across it, and that worried her.

While Alex was running, a loud blood curdling scream suddenly startled her, and she skidded to a halt as she neared another corner. She then turned around and saw the image of a woman in a white dress at the end of the passage behind her. The woman’s hands were gripping her head as if she was in extreme pain, and a large deep red stain was spread down the front of the dress – much like the doll she had seen on the bed just a few minutes earlier.

After seeing the disturbing image, Alex turned and ran away. While she was running, her panic grew even more when she collided with a solid body and more lightening lit up the passage. She let out a loud shriek, then she flailed around, trying to get away. But, whatever she had run into held her tightly, preventing her from moving.

***

Tell us: What do you think is preventing Alex from running away?