TERROR TOWER

"This short story was written when I was just 10 years old, and became quite popular amongs locals, family and friends, being my main show piece."

Long, long ago there was a Tower of Terror. I heard – all that go in never come out! One month later, a family was going on holiday to Lancashire. Their car broke down just in front of Terror Tower. The man was very adventurous and his son too. The lady loves make up and fragrances and the girl loves Barbie dolls.

The man said “There must be a phone in there.” So the man and son went into….the tower. The door was unlocked and they went in. The hinges were creaky. When they got in, the doors slammed shut and locked! It was pitch black. Candles on the walls slowly lit up. The two boys couldn’t believe their eyes, there were dead bodies all over the tower. They looked at each other. Out of the corner of their eyes they saw a shadow on the wall. They said to each other “This place gives me the creeps.”

They turned to go out but…there was a dead man hanging on the door, hanging with a sword between his eyes. The man put his hand on the blood covered door knob and…The eyes of the dead man opened. The dead man gave a hair raising, skin prickling, spider scaring LAUGH!!! The two boys screamed their heads off and the man’s laugh slowly died away and his eyes shut. Out of the window, black clouds spread across the sun and a strong wind put out the candles. The boy said “I have a torch.” and turned it on. Then they saw an old fashioned phone. The man phoned a mechanic for the car, but they still need to get out. They saw a lost dog with no head, then it disappeared in thin air. It was a ghost, a ghost dog.

Meanwhile, out in the car, the mechanic has just arrived. The mechanic said “Where’s you Son and Husband Ma’m?” The lady said “In that tower kind Sir.”
“In the tower Ma’m? I’m very sorry, but all that go in never come out. That’s Terror Tower!” The two girls began to cry. The mechanic left. The two definitely thought the boys were dead, from the laugh and screams from the tower. A storm started above the tower. The girl saw a ghost on the tower battlements then it faded away. She turned as white as a duvet sheet, trembling with fear.

In the tower, the two boys went through a door. In that door was a long damaged table, with half-eaten rotting-food, surrounded with dead people again. At the head of the table was a throne. On the neck of the man on the throne, was a key. What door or thing it opened they didn’t know. The man took the key from the dead man, and when he did, Spirits rose from the dead people and floated round the room.

When they got out, the boy said “I think that key opens a secret passage way.” The top fell off the key and out came a scroll. It said this…

Go down this corridor.
Put the key in the crack and turn it twice.
Pull down a torch, it’s rather nice.
And alas the passage way you will see,
And soon you will be free.
The boys stared at it in confusion, so they went down the corridor, put the key in the crack, turned it and pulled down the torch and saw the passage way.

When they got in, the entrance shut and the walls started closing in. A trap door opened beneath their feet and they fell in a lower room with skulls built into the walls. In the middle on a shelf was a scroll. It said this…
One skull does not have another skull exactly like it.
This one is the skull to freedom. The others lead to death.

“Uh-Oh! We might die or survive!” said the man. “Well it’s either that or die of starvation.” said the boy. Five minutes later, they found out the different one. It was the one-right from the top. “Yippee!” they said. The man pushed it and a long round hole appeared in the middle of the skulls. They scrambled through it on their hands and knees. When they got in, the entrance shut and light filled the tunnel even though there were no torches or holes for light to get through. “Strange.” said the boy.

They went round a bend and they realised they were in a maze. The boy found a map of the maze. On the back it said “The dead ends are traps!” so they used the map to get out. When they got to the exit, to their surprise, there was an unstable rope-bridge and under it was a very long fall to a pool of lava. That was the only way out. When they were half way across – giant, spiked, tree trunks started swinging from the roof. One trunk cut through the bridge. It swung while they were hanging on it and they smacked the wall, but the two boys held on tight. They climbed up and out of the exit. They took a five minute break before they carried on.

Before they carried on they looked back. On one of the swinging trunks was a dead man with a spike through his back. “Gross!” said the boy “But we made it very far haven’t we Dad?” “Yes.” said the man. When they carried on, they were very aware. The man stepped on a lose stone and all of a sudden, poisonous darts came shooting from gaps in the walls. The man jumped back, knocking his son over. “Sorry.” He said, “I’m OK.” said the boy. This time they were more careful where they went on. “I don’t want to carry on.” said the boy. “It’s now or never Son.” said the man, looking curiously left and right watching out for booby traps.

One hour later, after an exhausting walk, the boy had just seen another scroll. He picked it up and it said “You are nearly free. Go right, left, right, left and left. Then jump over a pool of spirits and you’ll be free but don’t let them catch you because they eat flesh. So they went right, left, right, left and left and they saw the pool. It was darker than night and thicker than tar and in the middle, the spirits swirled round and round, screaming and screeching. They both didn’t want to go over, but on the other side was the exit.

The man said “I’ll throw something in one side and you jump over the other side.” The man hurled a stone at one side and the boy jumped the other end, then the boy threw a stone and the man jumped. Swiping hands went after him, but he made it. They went out to the car, and the tower collapsed, with screams and screeches coming from the dust. They were happy to be out, but overjoyed to see the two girls alive. They went on holiday to Lancashire and lived happily ever after.

THE END