A Spooky Short Stories Collection

The floorboards creaked as Lewis peeked around the corner. It was still there. Its wispy arms carelessly flittered to and fro as if carelessly playing a melody on a piano. Its eyes held a hint of sadness, but also one of contempt and malice. The spirit seemed neither old nor young, there were no wrinkles yet its face didn’t seem innocent and oblivious to the hardships of life. Lewis watched as the spirit started to dance and then almost waltz around the grand ballroom as a tune played from nowhere.

It was strange to Lewis, as he had always heard tales of spirits like this before but the stories couldn't have prepared him for a sight like this. Lewis entered the grand ballroom and walked closer to the spirit. It didn’t seem to notice. He walked right up to it and it stared right past him. It was at this moment that he noticed the attire of the spirit. It seemed as if it had lived during the Victorian Era, around the time when this mansion had been built.

Suddenly, 40 more spirits filed in, some coming through the doors and others floating through the walls. Some were accompanied by a partner and others came in alone, later to have someone they seemed to know walk up to them and initiate a dance. The spirit who had been there earlier had either dissipated or got lost in the crowd.

Spirits danced back and forth across the shiny floor and the room seemed to take on a golden glow and grow brighter. All the while, no one talked to each other and there was not a sound to be heard, save for the sourceless melody and occasional sound of Lewis's shoes hitting the marble floor. Lewis was mesmerized and couldn’t take his eyes away from the spectacle, not even long enough to notice two figures who stood on the far side of the room watching him.

They were debating between themselves about how to, for the 205th time, attempt to capture the man. They found it strange that he didn’t remember them, as this exact scene had played out several times before, each time ending in them being noticed by him and the whole thing resetting. They remembered everything, yet the anomaly never seemed to. Though, these strange occurrences are what come with the territory of working at the foundation, and according to their orders from the foundation, containing that anomaly was more important than sitting around and wondering what made it tick.

The foundation's scientists had informed them that if it wasn’t taken back to Site 17 soon, there would be thousands more innocent people put under its spell and forced to waltz across this abandoned barn while cutting their feet on broken glass and exposed nails after wearing down their shoes from dancing for so long. Luckily this 'spell' didn't affect the Site 17 SCP Foundation personnel, as they had been keeping themselves grounded to reality through the use of communication with the outside world.

Lewis soon began to dance with the spirits. Although he had no partner, he found glee and satisfaction in his ability to match the rhythm of the song. He felt as if he could dance forever. Not a care in the world, just him and-- a loud crunch was heard from across the room.

The anomaly’s faux human skin melted away and was left on the floor as a smoldering flesh pile. He reared his bulbous, lizard-like head and narrowed his sights to where the noise originated. Pushing aside the dirty and scared people with blood pooling around their feet, he furiously crawled on all fours where the noise seemed to have come from. His red and pulsating eyes caught sight of the two humans with Site 17 insignias on them. At this sight, his face relaxed and he started to laugh a hollow and eerie laugh. The anomaly winked at them as time rewound before their eyes. His skin regrew, in a somehow..disgusting way, and the crying people began to smile again and walk calmly out of the room.

It was clear to them now, they would need backup. If only that crunch hadn't been one of them sitting on, and somehow also breaking, their last working walkie-talkie.

The music began again. 43 spirits filed in and began to waltz.