"I told you 500 hours ago that we're lost!" Cary yelled, pointing a shaking finger at Carson.

"It hasn't been 500 hours you stooge!" Carson yelled back.

"Yeah, Cary, it's only been 499 hours and 59 minutes!" joked Samantha, Cary's best friend. She was really annoying. She was also Carson’s little sister.

"SHUT UP!" I yelled. I mean truly, we were lost but they didn't have to rub it in on, poor, cute, sweet Carson!

"You just said that because you like him!" Samantha yelled. I slapped her, on purpose. She really deserved it. I looked over at Carson, his eyes were narrowed at Samantha. She cocked her head back.

"Look, if everybody just calms down and we quietly work this out, then we can move a long a lot faster," said Dana. She was always trying to be the peacemaker. Everybody stared at her with that 'shut up' look in their eyes, and she shut her mouth and sat down on a nearby rock.

We were hiking in the woods near, near nowhere really. It was a small round of woods about a half mile behind the old court-house. The old court house was called the Malatania. It was from way way way back in the old days. I mean it was from before the 1800’s! I had always wanted to go inside but it was so old and dangerous that nobody ever did. Carson’s brother had driven us out to the edge of the woods then left. When we had been gone for 2 or 3 days, then we would call him on our walkie talkie and somehow get picked up.

Anyway, these woods have only been explored once and there is no record of the findings in that expedition. The person apparently came out of the forest and was crazy so he had to be locked up. He was always talking about a mad, screaming woman, and a huge, haunted mansion. He also said that these were all held way back in the Malatania’s time. Really, who on earth would believe all that?

"Look Carson, we are lost, it’s like 6 o’clock, and I am hungry. It’ll take us like an hour to set up camp and another hour to make dinner. I want to find a clearing, by a creek, and eat!" Cary yelled. I took a deep breath. This was going to be a long night.

When we finally did find a clearing, by a creek, and set up camp, and make me dinner (fire roasted hot dogs), it was about 9:00. I was laying in my tent and setting up my radio. I know that we were supposed to be ‘roughing it’ but truly, it was my music or Samantha and Cary singing "Home on the Range". Exactly.

I was picking up a station playing Sugar Ray when Carson walked into my tent.

"Can you hear them out there? I can’t believe I’m related to that loser," he said and gave a tiny snicker. Me and Caly were usually pretty good friends but not now. No way now.

Carson and I went on talking for about thirty minutes. Then I saw it. It was a bright light that lit up the whole woods (I’m pretty sure it did anyway). I looked at Carson, he was shaking. The air temperature had dropped about 20 degrees.

Chapter 8

Diana screamed. Nelsie had disappeared, in nothing but a gigantic flash of light. Diana dashed into the mansion, tightening her grip on the rose.

The mansion was empty, and kind of old looking. The beautiful marble floors were now dirty. Ivy climbed up the walls. Diana touched the moth eaten furniture. She gasped. Everybody was gone. There was no sign of them, anywhere. Diana laid down on the dirty floor and started to cry.

The rose was giving off a faint glow. Diana got up off the ground and ran out of the door, crying. It was dark outside. She ran into the woods.

"This house is haunted! I can’t take it! I’ve got to get a...," Diana immediately stopped.

I felt my eyes widen. Caly dropped her water bottle and gasped. Samantha screamed. This girl, she was from a long time ago. She had beautiful, long blonde hair, was a little older than us, and her dress was torn at the end. She was crying, the tears washing little streams of dirt off of her face. In her hand was, a rose.