I sat on the hard seat of my bike, my feet pedaling quickly (too quickly, so I pressed the lever that increases the gears) and the wind howling in my ears as I gulped in mouthfuls of cold night air. The world was a monotone blur of flickering dark trees, cold paved streets and flashes of front gates and shuttered windows.

After about ten minutes, I stopped at a nearby footpath to reach into my pocket, pulling out last year's Christmas present. I unlocked the phone with my thumb, flicking up through the more recent messages until I found the one I was looking for, in the 'Year 6 Group Chat'. 
The sender was one of the only phone numbers I hadn't created a contact for, but I trusted that it was someone from my year level.
It showed a photo of one of those default birthday invitations, a white background with various colourful balloons and a slogan, 'You're Invited!" The invite lay on a dark wooden table, and was lit poorly, making it a bit difficult to read.

At the top, text had been added, although it looked as though the sender had photoshopped it in - there's no way the lighting would have allowed such solid colour.

I read it aloud in a hushed whisper to myself. It began with;
"Dearest Level Six, you're invited to a Halloween Party!"
I paused, I remember thinking,
Who uses a birthday invite if you're inviting people to a Halloween party?
Another part of me answered logically,
Maybe it was the only invite they had.
I continued reading.
"It will begin at 21:00 on the 25th of October, six
days before Halloween.
Please head to 10 Spirit Avenue and feel free to let yourself in."
I nodded, I had gotten the time and place correct.
"Hope to see you there!"
I turned off my phone, eyes adjusting to the dim glow of the streetlights once more.
I jumped back on my bike and rode to the address, just down the road.
I counted the house numbers, Seven Spirit Avenue, Eight Spirit Avenue, Nine Spirit Avenue...
Ten Spirit Avenue! (Also, 'spirit avenue?!' ) When I arrived, I parked my bike leaning against the gate which was decorated with a string of cute plastic orange and purple pumpkins with smiley faces.
I turned my eyes away from the rusty letterbox, with a bronze ten stamped onto it, to look at the house.
I almost scoffed at what I saw, the house looked like something just out of a horror movie, three stories with mismatched windows darkened with the shadow of curtains and what looked like.. a turret!? Woah. I couldn't help but think. They really did make the house look Halloween-y.
I stopped gaping at the mansion and stepped to the scratched wooden door complete with peeling paint the colour of night flaking off in chunks.
Before I made a move to open it, a flap of wings in my peripheral followed by an ear piercing "SCREEEEEECH" sent a shiver running down my spine. Bats!?!
I snuck a glance behind me, my hand paused on the old-fashion door knob. I was checking to see if a murderer was standing behind me with an axe poised above my head. You know when you just get a bad feeling?
No murderer, relief washed over me. I didn't even notice how silent and empty the street felt. Or the fact there were no decorations up at anyone else's house.
I placed another hand on the doorknob, using all my body weight to turn the rusted knob. After a long effort, practically spraining my wrist twice, I felt the mechanism click.
The door opened very slightly, revealing a light that was darker than the outside world around me. A foul smell washed over me, like a long-dead animal mixed with dust. The smell seemed to stick at the back of my throat, no matter how much I tried to rid it.

I blinked, feeling my eyes adjust to the darkness of the room around me. Light broke through small gaps in the curtains. I could just make out elaborate gold picture frames lining the wall in front of me. I couldn't see the contents of them though, the moonlight coming from outside only reflected the metallic frames.
My first thought was, this isn't a halloween party, was I pranked?
My second, What if there's ghosts here!?!
I shook my head sending those thoughts tumbling out. I took a deep breath, soon regretting it, the smell was getting worse now. If you ever want to know what a rotting, long dead human corpse smells like, I assumed this was it.
My breath caught in my throat at that thought and I told myself firmly to stop thinking of dead bodies and ghosts and murder. I was also beginning to feel light-headed but I continued on assuming it was from fear. A faint sense of excitement sparked inside my chest. I'd never seen a house like this before, except in movies.
Halfway down the dark hallway, I noticed a dust-laden light switch.
I blew the dust off and flicked it. Electricity buzzed and crackled. After a moment's waiting, a faint light filled the room, encompassing everything but the shadow I was casting.

I looked up, a huge chandelier, draped in shining crystals hung by a gold chain from the ceiling. 16 candle-shaped lights were casting very little light around the perimeter of the chandelier.
It was nothing short of breathtaking. A gasp sounded from behind me. I spun around, my heart beating so fast I thought I would be heard. Heard by what, though? I was alone in the house. The haunted house. And I certainly don't remember gasping again. I was suddenly overcome with the strongest sense of fear I have ever felt. One hundred thousand times worse than before. I don't even remember being this scared even when I was younger, lying in bed and hearing a possum rustling the tree leaves.
I was entirely paralysed, forced to think of nothing but my own death.
I thought of what my parents would say, of the note I left for them, telling them about the halloween party.
I thought of my friends. I thought they would be here, dressed in silly costumes eating lollies. I thought of whether the detectives or police sent to discover my murderer would find my remains, or solely one-way footsteps leading to nothing.
I realised this is what book characters mean, when they say their life flashed before their eyes.
I realised I had scrunched my eyes closed, so I forced them open with great difficulty. I saw nothing. The room (just as it looked before) was bathed in a strange pink light.
My eyelids felt wet with what I presumed were tears (from being frightened again??) so I wiped them dry with the back of my hand. Tears, definitely tears, salty water —b-but don't ghosts sometimes cry tears of blood?
Don't think of ghosts, I began chanting again, don't think of——
"SMACK!" The door slammed behind me with such force it could not have been just the wind.
An unusual scuttering sound - like the claws of a small rodent, came from behind a door to my right.
I sucked more of the foul-smelling air into my lungs...and opened the door.
The light was just bright enough to see. The floor was splattered with a dark crimson colour and display cabinets held various short objects, fossils, animal skeletons and... human skeletons. I needed to focus, so I looked at my hand. My hand was covered in red... and that smell was really starting to get to me.
I swayed on my feet. My vision blurred and spun. I just. need. to. sit...down. I went to sit on the chair I remember seeing behind me. It wasn't there. My teach clacked together, vibrating my jawbone and making my wince. A heavy pain was beginning to awaken in my skull, feeling like it was travelling straight to my brain.

Everything swirled into darkness before my eyes, morphing into foggy claws and teeth before disappearing.