The Castle Walls of Death

Just before George left work for the day, George received a call from a distant relative telling him he was the sole heir of his great-grandfather's castle in England.

"Wow, I've always dreamed of living in a castle ever since I was a little boy. This will give me time to work on my new novel about a haunted castle. I can't wait to tell Henrietta and the kids about our newfound riches. We will have to leave by the end of the week to be in time for the reading of the will and sign all the appropriate documents," he said excitedly.

"I'm sorry about such short notice," George explained to his boss, "but I have to be at the reading of the will or I will have to forfeit my inheritance."

"You know if you leave, your job will no longer be here if you decide to come back," the boss replied sternly.

"Yes, I know," George said resolutely, "But this is my calling, and I'm not going to let this chance of a lifetime pass me by."

"Well good luck to you and your family with your newfound fortune," the boss said rather dryly.

George cleared everything off of his desk and put it in a box. He grabbed his coat, shook his boss's hand, and told him he would write soon to let him know how things were going. George loaded his box of things from his desk into the trunk of the car and drove home to tell his family the news. George stopped on the way home to pick up some roses for Henrietta and some candy for the kids. He was anxious to get home to tell them the great news. As he pulled into the driveway, his heart was racing. He took a deep breath and put the car in park. He grabbed the roses and candy, walked up to the front door, and rang the doorbell.

"Honey, why the roses?" Henrietta asked when she opened the door.

"Go get the kids and bring them into the living room and I'll explain," George said excitedly.

"I was about to leave work when I got a call from a distant relative saying I had just inherited my great-grandfather's castle in England. They said that if I didn't come to England for the reading of the will, I'd forfeit my rights to the inheritance. The conditions were that whoever inherits the castle must live in it as the caretakers or the castle will be passed on to another surviving relative.

"So, darling, we must get our clothes packed and board a plane within the next day or two. We need to let the realtor sell everything in our house that we can't take along to our new residence. Moving into the castle will be what I need to continue writing the novel I so desperately need to finish. Then our family won't have to worry anymore about not having enough to get by. Anyway, this two-bedroom house is falling apart, and I'm tired of not being able to provide for my family the way I've always wanted to."

Henrietta got everything packed, and George took care of the plane tickets for Friday's departure. It seemed like Friday would never come. George loaded the family's suitcases into the trunk of the car and they were off on their way to the airport. It was a beautiful, warm day with not a cloud in the sky. George was able to get first-class tickets and the stewardess made sure they were all well taken care of on their long flight to England.

The plane finally landed. The lawyer was at the airport waiting to pick the family up for the reading of the will. As they approached the old stone structure, they were in awe over the beauty of the castle grounds.

"Oh George, I didn't realize how breathtaking a castle would be. I've only seen pictures in magazines!" Henrietta gasped.

The lawyer pulled the car to the front entrance of the castle and let everyone out. Three people were waiting outside the castle to greet them.

"Wow, servants," George observed.

"You didn't think you could take care of this beautiful castle with just two people living in it, did you?" the lawyer asked with a chuckle. "The butler and maid will take your suitcases to your new rooms and unpack everything. The chef will prepare our dinner and afterward, we will go to the study for the reading of the will. How does that sound, sir?"

"It sounds wonderful. We're all very hungry," George replied.

Everyone gathered around the table to eat when all of a sudden the beautiful sunny day turned into a raging thunderstorm.

"It looks like we got to the castle just in the nick of time!" Henrietta exclaimed.

"If it would have been a few minutes later, we would all be drenched from head to toe."

Henrietta, being a very religious woman, told everyone to join hands so she could bless the food they were all about to eat. Afterward, George told the lawyer about the vivid dream of living in a castle he had when he was a child.

"It looks like your dream has finally come true," the lawyer said with a smile.

"Yes, it has!" exclaimed George. "I'll finally have the chance to work on my novel and finish it."

"May I ask you what the title of your book will be?" asked the lawyer.

"Sure, the title is The Castle Walls of Death," George replied.

"You must be a fan of horror stories," the lawyer said.

"Yes, I am. And I thought if they can write a good horror story, why can't I do the same? After all, I've always been fascinated with the occult," George said.

"Well, enough about me. Let's eat and get to the study so the lawyer can read the Will."

When everyone finished their dinner the lawyer escorted them to the study. They all sat down at the long, dark table, eager to hear what was in the Will.

"Okay then, let's get down to business,” said the lawyer. "I, Thomas James Smith, hereby leave all my worldly possessions, servants, and castle to George Thomas Smith, the sole heir to my estate, should he still be living." George turned and hugged Henrietta tightly. They were visibly overwhelmed with joy, and the children were jumping out of their chairs. They couldn’t wait to run through the castle and play hide and seek.

"That's all. I just need George to sign the necessary documents to make this all legal and then I can go home to my family," the lawyer said.

The whole family instantly fell in love with the castle and everything in it, but it wouldn't be long before their dreams would be shattered. Everything seemed fine for a few months. One day when the children were playing in the dungeon, one child came across an old book. They were amazed at the pictures of demons, witches, and ghouls as they flipped through the old pages. The cover of the book was too dusty to read, so they just kept gazing at the pictures. They ran across some words that were surely demonic, but the children didn't realize how powerful these words would be when read aloud. These words would end up destroying the whole family and everything that is cursed in these castle walls.