The year is 1908. The young couple who had owned the house were retiring for their beds that night. They walked upstairs and sat in their beds, reading for a while. Then they fell asleep. They were a wealthy couple, able to afford to buy servants to wait on them. They slept next to the head maid's room, lest anything unfortunate happen to them.

When the maid woke up, she found that the mistress and master were not up yet. Leaving them to rest, she carried on with her duties. When she decided to investigate, it was a quarter after eleven in the morning. The mistress and master had still not been up. Everything and everyone, was unnaturally quiet.

In the narrow corridor leading to the stairs, she noticed an unnatural chill sweep down her spine, just for a second. She shrugged it off and continued her descent. But then, she was encased in a shroud of dust, hot humid air pressing down on her lungs. It was then she knew that something was not right. It was often like this, but the windows were opened daily to air it out. She opened the window to her right and carried on up the steep, rickety stairs.

As she climbed up the creaky staircase nearing her master's room, she saw a kitchen knife on the stringy carpet fibres near the door to the mistresses' quarters. She bent down to pick it up, wondering who would have put it there. She straightened up and looked at the knife intensely. In the reflection, she could see a dark shadow, its arm raised, holding a candelabra. The maid screeched, then was cut off by the blow to the head. Blood spattered the walls in every direction. Her murderer laughed, a cold, mirthless, spine-chilling sound, and was gone, as swift as a bird through the open window on the landing.

There was the sound of footsteps on the stairs, footsteps belonging to the other servants of the house, coming upstairs because they had heard the maid's scream. They saw the blood on the walls and the dead body of the maid holding the knife. They were instantly panicking, wondering what to do. One young woman went to tell the master and mistress of the house, and fainted with shock at the gruesome sight before her when she opened the door.

Inside the room, there was more blood. The dark red substance covered the walls and the ceiling. There was a pool of blood on the bed between the bodies, seeping through the sheets, forever staining them red. The police were immediately notified and came to the house in a hurry.

The strange thing was that the bodies, excepting the maid, were never identified. They had not belonged to the mistress or master of the house. Both bodies were unknown to anyone. Mr and Mrs Smith had just disappeared. Into thin air, seemingly...

A/N: So what d you think? I actually wrote this for Radio 1's 500 words competiton, but I thought I'd post it here as well.

Reviews are appreciated, as is any constructive criticism.

I don't know whether or not I should continue it, or leave it here... I'm not sure. What do you think? I greatly value your opinions, everyone's, actually.

Thank you for reading though :)