Despite the growing pallor of blackness over Harmony House, it was once again offered up for sale and put in the market. It was, however, this last sale that made the good people of Suffolk avoid talking about the place, even crossing the street to the other side when walking by to merely avoid even being near the now infamous home. A new couple, Brian and Sarah Stanfield came to town from the Eastern Shore in Maryland and bought the place as Brian was setting up a new business in Suffolk. They had only one child, Phillip, and apparently had no idea of the house’s dark history…either through the real estate agent’s omission or perhaps it did not bother them…no one ever knew.
Whatever the case, the Stanfields seemed to be enjoying an idyllic and peaceful existence in their new home and Brian’s business thrived as Sarah stayed at home to take care of Phillip. But about a year later, this all changed. In the dark of night, police arrived at Harmony House and arrested Brian following a huge furor in the home and finding the interior of the house splattered and dripping with the blood of both Sarah and Phillip. In interviews following his arrest, Brian told a story that despite his insistence on its truth was never accepted by anyone. Looking back now, though, it perhaps should have been given some credence based simply on the backstory and history of Harmony House.
According to Brian Stanfield, his young son, Phillip, had become possessed with some evil presence that caused the boy to kill his mother, slitting her throat from ear to ear with a kitchen knife as she dozed in a chair in the parlor that evening. It was only Sarah’s initial screams of terror and fear as Phillip began to attack her that brought Brian to the scene of the murder. He stared in shock and disbelief as he found the boy standing over his mother calmly watching her life drain away. As Phillip turned to face Brian, he could see his son was not right. His eyes were, in Brian’s words, “aflame with evil and hate”. Looking into Phillip’s face, he did not know how or why, but only that what he was looking at was no longer his son. A highly religious man, Brian knew in his heart that some demon from the depths of hell had taken charge of Phillip’s body and mind.
With no other option, Brian pulled the revolver he normally kept as a sidearm and shot Phillip in the head as what he described as the “son-thing” came charging at him, the bloody kitchen knife raised high, seemingly intent on dispatching him as well. According to the police transcripts, Brian Stanfield swore without hesitation that he witnessed a “dark and billowy mass” leaving the body of his son as his shot to the boy’s head ended his mortal life. Despite the regard the town and the authorities had for Brian Stanfield, and his well-known dedication to his religious beliefs, the story was just too wild for anyone to buy. In the end, it was ruled that Brian had suffered some sort of breakdown and was responsible for both murders, despite no one ever finding any indication that the knife used to kill Sarah had been handled by anyone that night except Phillip.
Brian was jailed and he soon fell into a severe depression, refusing both food and water, dying soon after his arrest and incarceration. After this last episode, the cloud hanging over Harmony House never seemed to lift. As was mentioned earlier, no one would even go close to the home that had been the pride and joy of Sampson Cross. Real estate agents came and went, each sure they could find a new buyer for the tainted structure, but months and then years went by with people treating the old place like it was infected with some sort of virus. The attractive, if not stately and imposing old brick house soon fell into disrepair, with not even the listing agents seeing any point in trying to keep it up anymore.
However, following a sudden influx of people from around Virginia, the Carolinas, and Maryland, housing options in the area became too scarce to accommodate the demand. The fallout from the Cold War in the 1960’s and 1970’s brought lots of new employment opportunities to the area as the Norfolk military bases ramped up to fight the “Red Menace” of the former Soviet Union and Cuba. A young realtor, Marilyn Krieger, saw the opportunity of a lifetime as this trend came upon Suffolk like a tidal wave, and she soon became the “go-to” realtor on the area. Marilyn’s agency was making money hand over fist and despite many recommendations to the contrary, she saw Harmony House as the professional challenge of her lifetime.
It was not like she had to compete to get the listing. The last known listing agent was happy to hand over what he saw an albatross he would be forever saddled with and passed it along to Marilyn happily. Marilyn knew of the history there but was sure she could market the old house anyway. After a brief tour, she saw that the structure had good, solid bones, having been built when, in her opinion, “quality and craftsmanship in construction still meant something”. She took extensive notes and knew she could get the place reasonably presentable to someone wanting to come in and make the final touches and TLC that would make Harmony House the dream it had once been long ago. And with that outlook and a few calls to her best contractor, plumber, and electrician, Marilyn Krieger put Harmony House back on the market. All she had to now, she was sure, was sit back and wait…
When One Door Closes, Another One Opens…Even If It Is A Squeaky One…
Suffolk, Virginia
June 15, 1998
Arianne Walker and Jack Sawyer had been a solid couple ever since high school. In fact, even though they had dated only since they were both sophomores, most anyone would swear they had been together much longer. Jack and Arianne had known each other for years, growing up just blocks apart, but it was not until they landed in high school that they developed a deeper intimate relationship. Arianne was a bit more scholarly than Jack, who was much more drawn to athletics than books, but her interests seemed to draw her to ideas and topics that were not on the palate of offerings at William Blanding High. Actually, when it came to the standard classes she was required to attend, Arianne found it hard to focus and concentrate.
It was not as some counselors had suggested when she was younger that she had a mild form of ADHD, but more that she was just not drawn to standard history, science or literature classes. From an early age, Arianne had felt this almost magnetic draw to the world of the supernatural and spirits, but after being ridiculed and teased by relatives and others, Arianne soon learned to keep this to herself. She did enough coming through school to get by, but in her mind, she just did not see the point of it all…memorizing all those dates, and learning mathematical equations, and trying to understand why the physiology of a frog worked the way it did.
In a similar way, Jack was on the same wavelength, but more that he just preferred the movement and challenge of the athletic field versus sitting in some classroom reading a bunch of stuff that bored him to tears. Over time, as they grew closer, they talked frequently about life after high school, and neither saw education beyond those days as an option. None of their parents, and certainly none of their grandparents had gone on to attend college, so it was not like anyone at home was pushing either of them in that direction anyway. As they began their last year at Blanding, they had no real plans. Jack’s father was an auto mechanic, but he had discovered at an early age that he had neither the aptitude nor the inclination to go that route.
Likewise, Arianne’s folks ran a small florist shop in Suffolk, which while moderately successful held no allure for her either. Anyway, they told each other, they were young…what was the rush? While classmates stressed themselves out applying to a myriad of colleges and universities, Jack and Arianne relaxed and enjoyed their last year of high school. Once graduation was over, they both availed themselves of the wide selection of job opportunities that the area provided based on the constant influx and turnover of military personnel from nearby Norfolk as well as a healthy tourist trade at the shore. Jack had a buddy that had opened a nearby bar a few years back and he came on board there first as a waiter and busboy as he learned what it took to move into relief work as a bartender once he came of age to handle alcohol. As for Arianne, she tried her hand at a variety of things in town from grocery clerk to a checker at a local gas station to clerking at a tax o
ffice until she found what was a better fit for her as an assistant to a short order cook at Jerry’s Diner downtown.
And for a couple years, this was all that was of any concern to them both. They had plenty of time to spend together, and still had rent-free places to live with their parents who had no objection as their kids were still seeming to be finding their way. However, a couple developments transpired that presented a detour in the road which neither Jack nor Arianne had anticipated when they had left high school. Over the Christmas holidays Arianne was stunned to her core and left utterly speechless—a feat that even by her own admission had never been seen before—when Jack proposed. They had only discussed this fleetingly in the past, but when his proposal came out of the blue as they were out to lunch the day after Christmas, she was left gaping in shock.
Fortunately, though, she recovered quickly and readily accepted. The other event that turned their lives in another direction was when Arianne returned to work the next day to find out that Jerry was selling off his small diner to a huge megachain conglomerate. It was not that the small eatery was offering some unique or wonderfully fantastic fare that the chain had to have, but more the mere location of the diner. It was a bolt from nowhere as well, but the downside was that part of the deal was that the chain would absorb the entire operation and none of his current employees were to be kept on. It had not been her dream job by any means, but it still rattled Arianne when Jerry met with the staff to break the news.
He offered them all two weeks’ additional pay, but it hardly softened the blow for any of them. Arianne was torn between her elation over her engagement and the loss of her job. She walked home that afternoon in a hazy fog not sure how to align the two competing emotions. However, as she walked and thought and really considered what had just happened, a miracle solution came to her…though she was not sure quite from where. She called Jack once she got home telling him she needed to talk to him as soon as he got home from his shift at the bar. Once she calmed his nerves reassuring him that her message had nothing to do with their relationship or the impending wedding, she laid out what had happened and then yet another proposal to address her situation.
“So…he fired everyone? Just like that?” Jack asked.
“Not exactly, Jack. It was part of the deal to sell his place. They did not want any of us.”
“Really sorry, Ari…any idea of what you want to do now?”
“Actually…yeah…that is what I wanted to run by you since we are soon to enter into this new partnership, as it were…”
Jack chuckled and indicated for her to continue.
“Let me ask you this. How dedicated and thrilled are you going into that bar every day?”
“Just a gig, Ari…”
“That is how I felt at Jerry’s as well, and as I look back and consider what is next, I am not so sure I want to continue on plugging away at some other generic minimum wage gig anymore.”
Jack furrowed his brow wondering exactly where she was going with this.
“You know all those cheesy ghost-hunter shows that are on TV all over the place now?”
“Yeah…sure…we watch them all the time…what about them?”
“Well…I was thinking we could do that.”
Jack looked at her blankly.
“A TV show? Are you nuts?”
“No…no…no…not a TV show. Just a business as ghost hunters. You know I’ve been into this stuff since…well…like forever. I’ve watched a million of these goofballs on cable and I am sure we could do just as well.”
“Umm…we?”
“Sure. Why not? We’re sure not going to make any real money anytime soon just slaving away at the types of gigs we have had since high school. I am sure working together we could make this a sure thing for our future together.”
“You know I’ve always supported you on this Ari, but I’ve never even seen an inkling of any type of ghost. What do I know about it anyway, other than what I’ve gotten from you?”
“Who cares? I have definitely seen and heard things in this realm, and with some study and practice, I am sure I could actually communicate with these entities. However, to do that I would need someone to work the marketing and sales side of the business. What do you think?”
Jack sat back and tried to process what his fiancée was pitching. Since proposing to her, Jack had to admit he was nervous about exactly how or where they would live. It was not like the minimum wage jobs they could secure were likely to provide any type of lasting financial security. And besides that, he had to agree with Ari that going into that bar day after day was becoming a drag. He had been promised the opportunity to learn more there, but so far that promise had not really materialized. And even if they were not getting married, how much longer did he want to or could he stand living with his folks? It was not a horrible situation, and his parents had been more than accommodating, but he could sense an underlying rumble of unease and impatience as they seemed to be wondering what he was ever going to do with his life.
Likewise, he knew this same vibe was ongoing over at the Walker residence. And now, despite its inherent built-in risks, Ari was pitching an idea that might be their way out and provide a real answer to their future. He was intrigued by the idea of a ghost-hunting company…he had always thought it was really cool how into this Ari was, and even cooler that she claimed to have actually seen a ghost or two. Who was he to say she could not engage them in contact? And despite his never having had this experience himself, he had always supported and encouraged her in her pursuits of it. But marketing and sales? Of that, Jack was not so sure…it was not like he had ever had any formal training in either venue, but everyone at the bar was always saying how outgoing and personable he was. From what he had read, these characteristics were what was really important in both of those endeavors.
“You seriously think we could make a go of this, Ari?”
“Absolutely. And I even have an idea of how we should begin.”
“Yeah?”
“We need a backstory to show we are good at this. To draw some interest our way and make people think we are way more experienced in it than we might actually be.”
“OK…so…”
“You know that old house over on Garner Street?”
“The old place they call Harmony House?”
“That’s the one. I did some reading on it along with my other interests in the paranormal, and it has a really spooky and icky history. From what I have seen and heard, it seems likely this place could be possessed…or at least has some lingering spirits.”
“And?”
“They have been trying to sell that rundown joint for as long as I can remember. What would you think of pooling what we have saved over the years and maybe buy it for practice?”
“For real?”
“Yeah. I bet we could get it for a great price since everyone around seems petrified of even going near it. We could fix it up while we practice on cleaning it of any bad spirits and energy. That is, if you are game and more importantly, if it is giving off the dark aura I suspect it is.”
“Count me in…”
Let The Games Begin…
Suffolk, Virginia
June 25, 1998, 10 AM
Arianne and Jack met Marilyn Krieger a few days later, after they had done their own research on Harmony House in terms of its value merely as an available real estate parcel. Despite the long time it had sat unoccupied and with no real interest in it, they did not want a real estate agent more savvy in the world possibly taking advantage of them. True to the copy on her advertisements, the basics of the house looked solid. And it sure looked as if Marilyn had already taken care of some major upgrading that neither Jack nor Arianne knew anything about: plumbing, wiring, etc. From what they could tell, it really just needed some TLC, but a lot of it. And it was in this regard that the couple was sure they could acquire it. Anyway, there was no one else for miles around making any inquiries as far as they could tell.
A
s they arrived, they got out of the car and walked around the grounds as they waited for Marilyn to arrive. The exterior of the average-looking house was simple clapboard, but even though the original construction was historic by American standards, it looked in very good shape. Obviously, there had been much refurbishing and repair done over the years, but the current state of the exterior looked great. It was a simple 2-story house, with a modern tin roof that has apparently been added just recently as well. The lot was not large, but the view of the Nansemond River was a bonus as it wound its way past Buzzard Island toward Lake Meade. Just as Arianne and Jack made their way around the house from the rear they spotted Marilyn pull up and park next to their car in the gravel-covered semicircle drive-through out front.
Marilyn waved as she got out of her car and met them on the slate pavers that led up to the front door.
“So, you found it no problem I see…” Marilyn said as she flashed her patented realtor branded smile.
“We did…” Arianne replied. “This place is sort of a landmark in Suffolk as I am sure you know. Even if it is due to a somewhat ignominious history.”
Marilyn felt a twinge of unease pass through her body. She supposed it would be impossible to completely obscure the dark cloud of Harmony House these days, but she had been hoping that maybe Arianne and Jack—based on their age and possible naiveté about the world in general—might have not looked into its history. She had no idea that the house’s backstory was what was specifically attracting the young couple to it in the first place. Marilyn would never have purposely hidden or not disclosed anything about a property, but she became a bit concerned at how her commission might now dive since her prospective clients had come well educated.
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