The Curse of the Berinstein Manor by Forest Ostrander (scary books to read .TXT) 📕

"You mean the Berinstein Manor?"

"Yes. My grandma says I should never go near it but oddly enough I don't find it scary at all, I find it interesting. Is it really that bad?" I asked, I could tell he was battling an inner war with himself on telling me or not so I pushed him even more.

"Come on, if it’s that bad then shouldn't I learn more about it to see why I should stay away? What? Is it haunted or something?" I asked. I knew I had won the war as he sighed and rubbed his fingers through his thick blond hair.

"Well, yes it is haunted. And yes, it is indeed a bad place to go to but everyone in this school has been dared to spend at least one night in the house. It's like a coming of age ceremony you can say, and the only way to not be bullied through the rest of you school year they require you to sleep in that house. I for one would not be caught dead in there, I don't care if I'm bullied or picked on for the rest of the school year, it’s better than disappearing without a trace."

"Disappearing? What do you mean?" I asked him now my curiosity was perked up even more.

"There is a rumor about the house that it's cursed. Anyone who goes near it gets drawn to the house and those who enter never come out. Some say they are trapped somewhere deep in that house, others say they burned a horrible death while others say their spirits are trapped in a cats body never to be let free unless their true love expresses their feelings to them."

"What happens if they do?" I asked.

"The soul is set free and leaves the earth behind."

"That sounds romantic in a creepy kind of way," I said sighing and laying my head back against the trunk of the tree, to think that love could break such a powerful curse surly shows that love can conquer everything.

"Romantic? You have a weird mind on what is romantic," he said with a hint of a laugh in his tone.

"Oh? How so?" I asked with a firm tone warning him he better watch what he says to me.

"Well, most girls think a candlelight dinner is romantic or a stroll under the moon on the beach. Some like the cuddling in front of a fire on a cold night or watching a movie on the couch holding each other close." I was silent for a minute debating on if any of those things ever did fit me. When I could not come up with them as being really me I sighed.

"You're right; I don't find those things romantic. I do like the thought of spending a night in a haunted house to see if it's really haunted or strolling through the cemetery under the moon. I love how the light glints off some tomb stones making them look alive." I caught him looking at me with a shocked look on his face.

"What? Too dark? I've been told I can be dark at times but I like what I like and no one can change that about me," I said almost daring him to challenge me further on the subject; lucky for him he didn't.

"Whatever you say, I guess some people do have different tastes in what they like but I would never suspect someone like you would be into such dark thoughts. You seem..."

"Seem what? Light? Girly? Believe me buddy I'm far from those. Under all this frilly crap I'm nothing more than a simple outcast who finds shelter in the shadows and relishes the night. I find spooky stories entertaining and the thrill of walking through the cemetery or exploring old abandoned houses stimulating." He was once more staring at me, I knew he was trying to comprehend in his mind what kind of girl I was but I knew he would fail. Many who have tried to understand me have failed and have just given up, that's probably why I never got a boyfriend. Guys found me scary or dangerous, even the gothic kids avoided me, the only ones who truly accepted me for who I was was my family and the few friends I did manage to make.

"That's...interesting. I never met a girl like you before, what's your name?" He asked. I held out my hand and smiled.

"Forest Ostrander, yours?" He took my hand and said.

"James Hamington, nice to meet you Forest."

"The same goes for you James." I said reclaiming my hand and finishing up my drawing when the bell rang. I had been so absorbed in our conversation that I failed to notice another boy walking up to us, this boy had midnight black hair and wore baggy black pants with a Grr shirt. He had one nose piercing and eyebrow piercing with snake bites and one ear completely pierced all the way around, I found this guy very interesting to look at.

"Hello," he said without smiling. Oh great, is he going to give me problems on my first day? Just try it buddy! You won't make it out alive! I thought to myself and immediately put my guard up.

"Hello Alexander," James said in with a hint of protectiveness in his voice. Awe how sweet, he's jealous! Wait what? Why am I thinking such a thing? Of course he can't be jealous! He barley even knows me! I thought to myself mentally scolding that girly side which screamed in joy of seeing a boy jealous of us.

"Who is she?" Alexander asked motioning with his chin in my direction, I remained silent.

"Why not ask her yourself?" James asked all monotoned.

"I will. What's your name?" Alexander asked in my direction. Should I answer him? Should I entertain the thought of boys crushing over me and fighting for my feelings? My girly side is screaming for me to but the tomboy side of me could really care less than there is my devious side. What should I do? I thought I was torn on what should be done so I decided to go with the devious side; I needed to make something entertaining happen on my first day so why not get these boys going? We'll see how well I can really enthrall a boy.

"Forest Ostrander," I said with a big smile and a flutter of the eye lashes. I laughed inwardly when I heard James let out a low growl and yes I do mean an actual growl. This was going to be one interesting kind of day and I'm going to milk it to the very last drop, it’s not every day you get two good looking boys fighting over you. Thank you grandma! I thought to myself.

I heard a loud ring and turned to the school, kids were now entering the open doors so I packed up my things and followed suit after throwing a goodbye to the boys over my shoulder, I was not going to be late on my first day of school otherwise grandma would kill me! Besides, I had such a good record in my last school of not missing a day that I didn't want to start now, so like the other kids before me I headed into the school and to my first class.

***James POV***

I was walking to school like I did any other day when I noticed a new kid sitting by the old tree, it was quite unusual as no one really ever sat there so I figured I would go over and say hi. When I got a bit close I noticed it was a girl! She's new here I thought to myself, there weren't many girls around here as many of them have disappeared into the Berinstein Manor on our usual school dare, I of course refused to even put one foot on that mansions land, who cares about what the other kids thought or did to me; I was not going to end up like those poor souls who have gone in and never came out. Every night I see their parents holding candle sticks at the entrance to the driveway leading up to the manor and I would die before I let my parents be among them. Walking up to the tree I noticed she was wearing a pretty pale blue shirt with jeans that made her look mouthwatering, plus the black pumps she was wearing really made her stand out and look stunning. It was a minute before I realized that I was drooling over her, not many girls had that effect on me so for someone like her to just waltz right in and have this effect on me must really show something. After standing there and admiring her complexion I noticed she was sketching something so I stepped a bit close to get a good look and was instantly amazed at all the drawings she was doing, they looked like an A class artist! Damn, hot and artistic. This one is defiantly someone I need to get to know I thought to myself and watched her sketch a few more houses before finally breaking in.

"Hey you're pretty good," I said admiring her work, she wasn't half bad at all, in fact they nearly looked real! Startled, she whirled around and faced me with the most shocked and petrified look that I regretted just walking up to her out of the blue without giving her a good notice before hand. I took her moment of shock to admire her, she had beautiful long blond hair that billowed out in waves at the end framing her perfect oval shape faced, her pale blue eye shadow made her blue eyes pop and really went well with her clothing. I could see a hint of pink on her lips with a bit of shine to them indicating she wore some sort of lip gloss that made her lips look like a porcelain dolls and I couldn't help but stare at the beauty before me; she looked like a goddess sent to me from some unknown higher power to brighten my day. Fuck me, she's hot! I thought to myself and it was true, she looked like she could be a freaking super model.

"H-Hi," she stammered finally catching her voice and the sound of it was so smooth to my ears that I simply did not want her to stop talking, I could tell she was embarrassed as her cheeks were turning a faint shade of red which made her look even cuter. I decided I should at least break the ice a bit to smooth things over between us and make up for me scaring her half to death.

"What? Cat got your tongue?" I asked jokingly as I sat down beside her making careful movements so I would not scare her away.

"N-No, I'm just not used to talking to boys that's all," she said which shocked me, how could someone with her looks not be hot with the boys? They must be blind as bats to not see the beauty before them.

"Is that so?" I asked casually cocking my head and trying to wrap my mind around the fact of her not having a boyfriend let alone guys drooling at her feet.

"Yes, not many boys talked to me in my old school so I never really needed to talk to boys in general...unless you count my grandpa and uncles of course," she said and it seemed like she was warming up a bit to me which made me happy inside, I didn't want her to be afraid of me of all people.

"Oh? Where are you from?" I asked hoping I wasn't prying too deeply and she wouldn't put her guard up, I was sadly mistaken of course.

"Why do you want to know?" She asked and I could see that barrier go up once more splitting us apart, instantly I surrendered and backed off a bit.

"I'm just trying