“The Willmore Mansion, home to a man once known as “Douglas Willmore”, now stands as a feeding ground for ghost hunters. Many people have reported hearing laughter of children, the sound of chains scraping the floor, a freezing atmosphere, and much more. If you would like to experience the terror too, then check out our website at-” I couldn’t stand the TV anymore.

I’ve lived in this town my whole life and never experienced anything to do with ghosts. The mansion is a tourist trap where people make up stuff in their heads and think they are some sort of ghost whisperer. The mansion is off limits, but people can walk around the property with tour guides. In all seventeen years I’ve lived here, my friends and I have never once set foot on that place. We aren’t scared, we just don’t believe any of it.
“Why do people even come to this town? They know all that stuff is fake, right?” My friend Lizzie says.
“People believe anything when it comes to scary stories. They just like the thrill.” I reply.
We continue on our homework but I become bored quickly. I flip over on my back and sigh. Lizzie looks over and laughs.
“I’m bored too.” she says.
“Maybe we can find a good scary movie with some believable ghost crap in it.” I laugh and turn on the TV. The local news pops up with a picture of the Willmore property. “Okay new channel-”
“No, let’s see this.” Lizzie hushes me and I frown.
“Willmore Mansion is now closed permanently to the public due to the accident that occurred last week. A teenage boy was killed by a fallen beam when he snuck in trying to get ghost footage for the Paranormal Contest. There will be no more tours or people permitted to set foot on the land. Onto other news-”
“We should go!” Lizzie shouts.
I turn to her in disbelief, “Weren’t we just talking about how fake paranormal stuff is? That place isn’t haunted and both you and I know it.”
“I know it’s not real Carter,” she huffs, “but how cool would it be to win that contest? We could totally make an awesome scary movie and that’s the perfect place for it.”
I think about her offer for a minute before shaking my head, “That kid was killed when he explored the mansion, plus it’s off limits to the public.”
“So we sneak on.” She persists.
“Lizzie I don’t-”
“Carter, come on.”
With a sigh, I agree to her plan.
“So we go this Friday night and we will bring a camera, some lighting equipment, and some fake blood.” She says.
“Why do we need the fake blood?” I ask.
“We want the legit effect of it, don’t we?” I roll my eyes, “Okay well let’s just review the rules for this contest and then see what effects we should put in.” She adds.

--------

“So I may or may not have told someone what we were doing Friday night...” Lizzie trails off.
“Lizzie! This was supposed to be our secret!” I whine.
“I know and I’m sorry! But Travis wanted to hang out on Friday and I told him I couldn’t and then he kept asking and I just told him.” She explains.
“Is he coming with us now?” I sigh.
It’s not that I don’t like Travis, it’s just everytime I want to hang out with Lizzie, she is always doing something with him. They’ve been together for a year now but I’ve been best friends with her since kindergarten, so it’s annoying I get to be the second choice.
“Well yeah, but you can’t be mad! I got Matt to tag along too!”
“Wait, Matt Andrews?” I gasp.
“Yep, your crush since seventh grade is going to be ghost hunting with us.” A proud grin is plastered on her face.
“Okay well I’m still annoyed Travis is barging in on us, but I’m happy I’ll have something good to look at instead of you two holding hands.” I respond.
Lizzie rolls her eyes and I laugh.

--------

“I think this blood is too fake looking.” Lizzie says as she picks up blood that resembles strawberry jelly.
“What about that one?” I ask and point to the packet on the top shelf.
Lizzie grabs the packet and smiles, throwing into the cart. We walk down a couple more aisles, grabbing random things, and then go to the checkout line. The cashier rings up our fake blood first and gives us a quizzical look, then he grabs the flashlight and rope.
“Halloween was a month ago, aren’t you kids a little late for this?” He laughs as he continues to scan our array of peculiar items.
“School project.” Lizzie smiles and the cashier nods.
We leave the store and go back to Lizzie’s house. Travis grins when he sees us pull up and gets out of his car along with Matt. I start unloading the bags but Lizzie runs over to him, embracing in a hug while Matt walks over to me.
“Hey Carter.” He says with a smooth tone.
“Hi.” I giggle.
I immediately blush after giggling because I never do that. He chuckles as I move around, obviously flustered a cute boy wants to speak to me. We both take hold of a couple bags and bring them into the house.
“So what’s the deal with this contest anyways?” Travis asks as he meets up with Matt and I in the living room.
“Well the price is a thousand dollars. Basically, you have to use some famous haunted place and make a scary movie centered around the supposed ghost that lives there.” Lizzie answers.
“What’s the story behind the ghost there anyways?” Matt asked.
“Douglas Willmore was famous for the murder of his wife. She cheated on him with a much richer man so Douglas saved up over time and built the mansion for her, never letting her know he knew about her double life. When the mansion was finished, he took her to the roof top and pushed her off the ledge as a symbol that she would never get to live with him or his riches. Many women were so attracted to the money that they married or dated him, only to be killed a short time later. Douglas never trusted women after his first wife cheated on him, and he wanted to see just how many of them were just with him for his mansion and money.” I answered.
“You know a lot about this guy.” Travis said.
“Well, if this movie is going to be good, we have to know who we are making it about.” I shrugged.

--------

We stop at the bottom of the hill and park the car. All four of us are on edge because we are literally about to sneak into a dead man's house.
“Who's ready to commit a crime?” Travis chuckles with a hint of worry in his voice.
“Oh shut up, we are just using the place for our artistic vision. It's not like we are going to destroy the place.” Lizzie says, rolling her eyes.
“Okay, let's just go already.” I huff and we all get out of the car.
The boys take the equipment and Lizzie and I begin walking up the hill. It's only November but it's really chilly tonight. Tucking my hands into my sweatshirt pocket, I take a deep breath of the night air, letting out my nerves.
“You're not scared are you?” Lizzie asks, the moon's glow creating a creepy shadow on her face.
“Of getting caught, no. No one comes over here at this time and it's off limits.” I answer.
“No, not that. I'm talking about the ghost. Like what if that kid dying wasn't an accident? He killed all those women because they only wanted his money and we are doing the same thing with this contest.”
“Lizzie, we both know all those stories about this place aren't real. We are going to shoot the movie and get out of here as quick as possible. Nothing bad will happen.” I say, getting slightly irritated with her whining.
The boys catch up with us we get to the top of the hill. There in all its publicized glory stands the Willmore Mansion. The windows have been broken in and vines wrap around the walls. Matt takes a deep breath and turns to me.
“Are you ready?” He asks and I nod.
Slipping under the police tape, we easily walk into the house. I place my hand on the cool doorknob and open it. It creaks heavily as the door reveals an outdated and abandoned style living room. I take a step and accidentally crush some glass on the floor. Lizzie gasps behind me and I just sigh.
Everyone is on edge whether it be the fear of getting caught, or the fear of this fake ghost.
“I'll get the camera and lights set up with Lizzie if you guys want to go look around for some filming spots.” Travis says.
“Sure, we will go upstairs and see if we can find that spot where the first wife was killed.” I reply.
I take in the surroundings of the downstairs. The moon casts a shadow on the staircase, showing broken glass along the steps and a huge beam on the fourth step. Alongside the beam is police tape flapping from the light breeze in the room. I look at Matt and can tell he's thinking the same thing.
“This is the beam that killed the kid, isn't it?” Matt looks like he's seen a ghost and I nod.
“Let's just walk over it.” I say, shaking off the fear. We can't turn back now.
I swing my leg over the beam and Matt follows with eyes wide open. The upstairs is pitch black, except for the moonlight on a doorway leading to a balcony. Matt and I turn to each other and he gulps again.
Turning on my flashlight, I shine it around the room. Newspapers lay across the floor under a thick layer of dust. Lizzie wipes away some tears and stands up.
I bend down and pick up one that has a picture of a creepy looking man on it.
“May 13th, 1945, Douglas Willmore charges are dropped in the case of his late wife's murder.”
“What is that?” Matt asks and leans over my shoulder.
“It's nothing.” I stutter, dropping the chilling article. “I think this is our spot.”
The balcony stands quiet and still past the double door entry. Matt and I open the doors and step outside. The metal on the railings is rusted and dirt and leaves are built up beneath it.
“This is where she was killed, huh?” Matt puts his hands on the railing and looks over it.
All of the sudden, the doors behind us slam shut. Matt jumps and immediately tries to open it. Screaming comes from downstairs and I know it's Lizzie.
The doors finally open and I run down the stairs to see Lizzie on the ground with a terrified expression.
“What did you see?” Lizzie wipes away some tears as she stands up.
“Carter I know you said you don't believe in ghosts, but there's something here.” She says in a shaky voice. “I was just setting up the camera when the bulbs on the lights burst. Travis went to go to the car to get another set of lights and I stayed here. I felt like someone was watching me and I looked at the window and someone was standing there in front of it. I screamed and it ran towards me and pushed me down.”
“Okay just take a deep breath. It could've been Travis pulling a prank or something. He should be back any minute.” I try to reason with what could've happened.
Lizzie is about to speak again when something thuds outside. We all rush out and see Travis inside the car.
“Everyone get in the car now! This place is beyond me haunted.” He tells to us.
“Okay, this is ridiculous. Ghosts don't exist and we aren't leaving!” I shout back and Lizzie runs past me towards the car.
“Sorry Carter, but I can't be here any longer.” She apologizes.
“Are you leaving too?” I ask Matt and he bites his lip.
“Let's just film the movie and get out of here.” He mumbles and Travis drives off with Lizzie shouting to wait for us.
Matt and I turn around and head back into the house. A rustling sound outside stops us. I look over to the rose bush and see a shadow standing there.
“You have to leave now. Save yourself.” The shadow whispers.
“What the-” Matt begins to say, but my scream cuts him off.
Something pulls my feet from under me and I fall onto my back as I get dragged across the floor. I look with wild eyes, but only see something black above me. I'm being pulled up the staircase with no way of stopping.
“Carter!” Matt yells.
“Help!” I scream.
All of the sudden, everything is still except for the sound of Matt running upstairs. The moon shows the face of the man I saw on the newspaper. He grins sending a chill down my spine.
“Please let me go.” I cry as he pulls me up to stand.
I try to fight back as he pulls me out to the balcony. Matt bangs on the doors but they're locked again.
“All of you only want me for my money and my mansion.” He speaks in a low and rough voice.
And in one movement, I am dangling off the side of the mansion. The sound of glass breaking makes me look over to the doors to see Matt standing with a piece of wood in his hand.
“Let her go!” He screams and hits the man with the wood.
He lets go of my hands and I latch onto the railing. Matt tries to swing the wood at the guy but he jumps over the railing and onto the vines on the wall. I watch as he slides down the house and runs away.
Matt grabs my hand and pulls me back over the railing. I choke on my tears and feel as if my heart is about to beat out of my chest. Matt pulls me into his chest and holds me close.
“Are you okay?” He asks.
I look around and realize it's just us now, no ghosts, no contest, no nothing. Nodding into his chest, I feel myself calm down.
“Let's get out of here.” He speaks softly and takes my hand.
Once we get down to the living room, I see the camera recording button still on. Matt keeps walking but I tug his hand.
“The camera recorded everything.” I whisper.
He grabs it and rewinds the tape. In front of the camera stands Lizzie and Travis. She's doing his makeup and he begins to look exactly like the man who tried to kill me.
“We just wanted a good movie.” Someone says, laughing darkly.
Matt and I turn around and see Lizzie with a camera in her hand and Travis wiping off the makeup. We both look at each other and back at them.
“You planned this whole thing? I almost died!” I yell at them.
“Sorry, but we needed it to be real! This is going to win for sure!” Lizzie laughs.
“Forget it, I'm done with this.” I seethe and Matt and I walk out of the mansion.
“I can't believe they planned this whole thing.” He says in disbelief.
A scream comes from the house and we turn around to see Lizzie and Travis being pushed off the balcony by the real Douglas Willmore.