House of Memories
Authors: Benjamin Hulme-Cross,Nelson Evergreen
The Dark Hunter
Mr Daniel Blood is the Dark Hunter.
People call him to fight evil demons,
vampires and ghosts.
Edgar and Mary help Mr Blood
with his work.
The three hunters need to be strong and
clever to survive...
Â
The Old House
The old house in the woods was falling apart. Twisted trees grew all around it. The roof was almost hidden by brown moss. The door hung off the door frame. It had cobwebs all over it.
The house was rotting away.
Edgar, Mary and Mr Blood stood in front of the house. Edgar wasn't happy.
“Mr Blood, why are you leaving us on our own again?” Edgar said. “How long are you going to be away this time?”
“I'll be back in the morning,” Mr Blood said. “I need to go alone.”
“But why can't we come with you?” asked Mary. “Are you trying to keep us safe from something?”
“Yes, that's it,” said Mr Blood. “I don't want to drag you into danger.”
“But you've often put us in danger before!” said Edgar.
“You will have lots to think about while you wait for me,” said Mr Blood. “I know that you don't remember anything from when you were little children. Why don't you try to remember where you got those tattoos?”
Mary looked at the small spider tattoo on the back of her left hand. It was itchy. She scratched it.
Edgar stared at his spider tattoo and a chill ran down his spine.
“Have we been to this house before?” he asked.
“Of course not!” said Mr Blood. But Edgar didn't believe him.
“I'll go now,” Mr Blood said. “There's food in the bag. When it gets dark, stay inside. And, whatever you do⦔
Mary knew what he was going to say. “Don't let anyone in!”
“Good,” said Mr Blood. “I'll be back by dawn.”
Mr Blood waved goodbye, turned, and walked away, into the woods.
Edgar and Mary stood in front of the house. This time it was Mary who shivered. She was scared too.
“I think we
have
been here before,” she said. She reached out to touch the door. It creaked open.
Memories
It was dark inside the house.
Edgar lit his torch. There was just one big room, with a roof on top. Its floor was bare earth. There were thick cobwebs on the walls.
“It's lucky we don't mind spiders!” said Edgar.
“I'm not scared of spiders. But this is horrid. Let's clean up a bit,” Mary said.
She grabbed a broom that was lying on the ground. They both swept away the cobwebs.
“That's odd,” Mary said. “There are lots of cobwebs, but I can't see any spiders. I wonder where they are.”
Edgar said, “I'm glad they aren't in here. Don't go looking for them.”
Mary scratched her hand again.
“And stop doing that,” Edgar said. “You're making my tattoo itch too.” He rubbed the tattoo on his hand.
“Come on, let's sit down and have some of our food,” he said.
There was a small table and three chairs next to the single tiny window. Mary and Edgar sat down and looked at one another.
“I feel very odd,” Edgar said.
“So do I,” said Mary. “I feel like I can almost remember something. From when we were little. A bad thing.”
“Me too,” Edgar said.
“We have been in this house before. I'm sure of it,” said Mary.
