Haunted House Tales

by Riley Amitrani

  “I have put up with all your bullshit and demands for as long as I can stand it! I am done!”

  “Dean…wait!” Liz called out as the man stomped down the hallway. She ran after him as Sam tried unsuccessfully to go to him as well, but staggered while Emily helped him to his seat again.

  “I’m sorry. Liz. It has nothing to do with you or your partners. You have all been wonderful to me. But I just cannot deal with her anymore.”

  Liz looked on sadly as Dean put on his coat and shouldered a worn-looking satchel.

  “Please, Dean…” she pleaded.

  “This has been brewing for some time, Liz. Today was my breaking point. I just cannot take her any longer.”

  “How will you get home?”

  Dean shrugged and smiled grimly.

  “I can hitch back to Threlkeld and then get the train south. It’s no big deal. I am used to this, I guess. My lot in life it seems…”

  With that, Dean turned from her and walked off down the dusty lane and out of view. Liz was half furious and half dejected over the incident. Dean, while not a film professional had been of great help to her and she felt sorry for him as he wandered off. Her fury at her star would have to be subdued, though, if she was to finish this project. She thought back to all the similar egos she had seen in Hollywood, and though it was galling, she knew she had better get used to this type of thing if she was to make this her avocation. After a few deep breaths to calm her anger, Liz returned to the group in the hallway to try and continue the film.

  More Problems on the Set

  Lake District

  The Carroway Mansion, Threlkeld

  Cumbria, England

  November 2017

  The filming resumed, and the gloom over the incident between Clara and Dean faded with time and what was required of them all to focus on the project. Liz, Emily, and Sam were still feeling bits and pieces of the furor, but from all outward appearances, Clara seemed totally unaffected by any of it. Self-absorbed and immune to those around her, Liz thought. If she succeeds in this business, she will fit in perfectly in Hollywood. During a brief break to move some recording equipment, Liz went to Sam to make sure the after-effects of the possible concussion he had gotten were not an issue.

  “You OK?” Liz asked as they walked outside.

  “Yeah…” Sam replied, “guess my mother was right about my hard head.”

  Liz smiled.

  “She’s some piece of work, huh? he added.

  “Uh-huh…” Liz said. “I think you nailed it earlier, Sam.”

  “Huh?”

  “Your description to Dean. Bitch on wheels?”

  They both laughed lowly as they joined Emily at her soundboard and prepared for the next setup. The remainder of the day went without further incident, and Liz was finally getting the feeling that they were on track at last and that her first film was finally going to be made. However, the next day, all that optimism went south as a wide range of technical issues arose, and Clara’s insolent and uppity disposition reared its ugly head again. Much like the problem Liz had earlier with poor film quality despite what she was sure had been crystal-clear when filmed occurred again, and Sam’s sound equipment began to experience glitch after glitch. Emily was finding her lighting console faltering as well, almost as if it was being sabotaged somehow, though they all knew this was impossible.

  The progress of the filming went slower and slower as they dealt with all the technical issues, and with each one, Clara threw another verbal fit as if all the delays were a purposeful imposition on her. Liz knew they were now short on time and money, but she was determined not to let these “gremlins at work,” as her mentor, James Russo, had called them, deter her vision.

  “They will come…” Russo had told her when she told him of her plans to direct and make films. “There is nothing you can do but roll with the punches. Or just give up…”

  Liz thought back to his wise advice and realized this was inevitable if she was to do this for a living. It was naïve to think everything would just go smooth as silk with no problems at all. She sighed with resignation and plowed ahead. But then the weather came. There were two days of unrelenting downpours, and though they did get the last of the interior scenes done that Liz had written into the script, there was still one vital outdoors scene she was missing. And it was not something she could fill in back in California nor CGI engineer. She needed the backdrop of the Carroway. And she needed clear weather…or at least weather where there was not a constant deluge of rain.

  A few days later, as the weather looked as if it might lift, Liz felt relieved. Clara’s constant complaints and demands over the delays were about to make her snap, and she did not want to unload on her like Dean had. Also…if things did not take an upturn in a day or so, Liz knew she was in financial trouble. She had drained her savings already due to the unexpected delays, and her only other option would be to take out a personal loan or perhaps refinance her home for needed funds. The clouds did indeed lift, and Liz rushed to get everyone ready so they could finish up the last scene before the weather reversed its self again. Clara and Sam were in place and ready, but Emily was nowhere to be found.

  Liz went to the bedroom that Emily had been using to find her lighting engineer flat on her back, pale and feverish. Liz put a hand to her forehead and sighed in disappointment.

  “You’re burning up, Emily.”

  “Flu I think…” she replied in a husky rasp as she coughed. “Been feeling it coming on for a day or so, but was sure I could just fight it off.”

  Liz covered her with some extra blankets and told her to relax. She was no expert in Emily’s milieu, but she knew enough to get the last exterior scene shot. It was slower than it would have been with Emily at her station, but just before they lost the light of the day and yet another rainstorm began to rumble overhead, they got the scene done. They collected all the equipment and raced to the protection of the Carroway as the rains came one more time.

  “Is it like this all the time here?” Liz asked as Clara gazed out a window, her face not hiding the feeling she was depressed over yet another night in the mansion.

  “Why do you think I want to get to California and Hollywood?” she replied as she smiled weakly at Liz.

  Liz chuckled with her and relished the first bit of light-heartedness she had shared with Clara since meeting her. The last glimmer of daylight disappeared as the clouds grew thick and the steady downpour fell off to the annoying drizzle and mist making Liz long for home. A brief and distant rumble of thunder echoed from behind the forests on the other side of the river, and Liz padded off to help Sam whip up some dinner for them all. Emily was still ailing, but her fever seemed to have broken since Liz had found her that morning, but she was still feeling very weak and nauseous and knew she just needed bed rest until the virus ran its course. Liz, Sam, and Clara ate together in the makeshift kitchen they had set up as the rain picked up a notch and discussed what was left to take care of before they called it a wrap.

  Clara had backed off her high horse a bit, seeing as how she finally discovered that all her whining and demands and snotty attitude was accomplishing nothing but making Liz and Sam resent her as well as making herself more miserable. It was a shocking transformation for Liz and Sam, but deep down Liz finally saw a silver lining in all the delays and glitches they had encountered: Clara seemed to be turning into at least a tolerable if not decent human being.

  “If you don’t need anything else from me, Liz, I think I’ll turn in,” Clara said as she stood from her seat.

  “Sure, Clara,” Liz replied. “I think we are set until tomorrow. It was a good day. I am hopeful we can wrap this thing up tomorrow, and you can get back home. I know this was not quite what you had in mind when you signed on and we appreciate you hanging in there.”

  Clara smiled and left for her room.

  “You really meant all that nonsense?” Sam asked once Clara had gone upstairs.

  Liz shrugged.

>   “Maybe half of it. She does seem to be coming around…at least this evening anyway. No point in all of us just sniping at one another. Seemed that she bought it…”

  Sam just nodded, appreciating Liz’s maturity and patience. He was not sure he could do the same thing if he was in her shoes, though, especially after Clara had been responsible for running Dean off.

  “Think I will check in on Emily one last time and then call it a day myself,” she added.

  Sam bid her a good night and pulled out a book he had been trying to get through for the last month or so as he finally had the kitchen to himself. Liz walked slowly up the multiple flights of stairs still mulling over ideas that she might want to incorporate into some final filming and what still might need to be done with special effects and computerization once they went home. She reached Emily’s door and knocked gently, but there was no answer. She eased open the door to find Emily looking frazzled and wild-eyed as she huddled in the corner, her blanket long discarded as she trembled.

  “Emily?” Liz asked as she approached the obviously distraught woman.

  Emily looked up suddenly, startled as if she had not heard Liz come in.

  “You OK?” she asked.

  “Shhh…” Emily said. “Do you hear that?”

  Liz froze and cocked her ear, but all she could hear was the rain pattering off the roof and an occasional rumble of thunder.

  “What?” Liz asked, concerned over the look on Emily’s face.

  Emily froze as she strained to listen, but she shook her head in frustration.

  “Just before you came up,” she said, “there was this child’s voice here.”

  Liz looked at her oddly.

  “A child?” she asked.

  “Yeah…” Emily said in a whisper, as if she did not want to block out the sound if it recurred. “Could have been a baby, I guess, but if not a small child for sure. Crying as if in distress.”

  Liz went to her and put a hand on her forehead. Whatever recovery Emily had experienced from her fever seemed to have returned, as her skin felt hotter than ever. Liz was sure Emily was just having a hallucination due to her high temperature. Perhaps that along with being part of filming a horror film were working in combination.

  “Well…” Liz offered as she sat with Emily, “it seems to have stopped now. How about we get you back in bed and I can get you some aspirin? Your fever seems to have come back.”

  “You think I am imagining it, right?”

  “I am sure you heard something Emily…but right now I a more concerned about your health.”

  Emily finally conceded and let Liz get her settled back into bed. Liz doused the candles in her room and slid into a new space she had set up for herself that was away from the leaky roof.

  Sounds and Sights…But Not in the Film

  Lake District

  The Carroway Mansion, Threlkeld

  Cumbria, England

  November 2017

  The next morning, the rain had stopped, but a heavy mist-like fog was hovering over the mansion, making any chance of filming outside a non-issue for the time being. However, just before she dropped off to sleep, Liz had come up with an idea she wanted to try out inside that would help resolve some loose ends in her storyline that she had been having trouble figuring out how to make believable. Sam and Clara were already in the kitchen when she arrived. Sam offered her a mug of coffee, and she explained that Emily was still quite ill and that they would most likely have to finish up the project on their own.

  “Her fever is still a bit high. She’s having hallucinations it seems.”

  “Hallucinations?” Sam asked.

  “Yeah. When I went to check on her late last night, she kept insisting she was hearing this child crying in her room.”

  “But nothing was there, huh?” Sam asked. His expression acknowledged what she had said, but there was something in his eyes that gave Liz pause.

  “Funny you should mention a hallucination,” Clara said as she came from the back door that led outside to join Liz and Sam.

  “Oh?” Liz asked.

  “Yeah…I was having trouble sleeping last night, because of the thunder and all…and I got up to just wander around to see if I could tire myself out. I went down the other hallway upstairs. You know the one that parallels the corridor where our bedrooms are?”

  Both Sam and Liz nodded.

  “Well…I cannot be sure, but there seemed to be this woman there. I thought maybe I was just sleepwalking or something, but I don’t think so. She just stood at the end of the hallway staring at me like she wanted something, but when I moved toward her, she just disappeared.”

  Liz furrowed her brow in puzzlement, but Sam got a chill down his spine.

  “You get a good look at this woman? Liz asked.

  Clara shook her head, no.

  “Not really. She was so far away, and the light was pretty dim. Just my candle, you know? If I had to say, I got the feeling she was wanting help, but got startled when I began to approach her.”

  “Vanished, like poof, there one second and gone the next?” Sam asked.

  Liz shot him a look wondering what had prompted that inquiry.

  Clara just nodded to Sam.

  What are you getting at, Sam?” Liz said.

  “Well…I finished up that book I have been slaving away at for weeks, and like Clara just could not drop off last night. So I wandered into one of the side rooms down here.”

  He gestured vaguely off to the right of the kitchen.

  “I poked around in what I guess must have been a study of some sort years ago and found this.”

  Sam closed a tattered book he had in front of him, bound by a brown leather cover. Liz had not really noticed it at first, assuming it was just the same book she had seen him working on before.

  “Looks like a diary of some ilk.” Sam continued. “I did not think too much of it when I first found it, but the more I read, the more intrigued I got.”

  “Do tell…” Clara said as she sat and urged him on with her eyes.

  “Tell me, Liz…” Sam said. “You ever find out anything specific as to the background in the Carroway?”

  “Not any details. Just that it was an old mansion from the late 1800s or so. The original owners just abandoned it, and it has been sitting mostly empty ever since. Except for the looters and squatters we already knew of. Oh…and quite a few people in town insist it is cursed. At least that is what the guy who drove me out here said.”

  “Cursed?” Clara asked with an increased inflection of interest.

  “You know about that before contracting for us to film here?” Sam asked.

  “Nope. I just liked the looks of the mansion for the purposes of the film. Only found about the “curse” upon arrival.” Liz used her fingers in an air quote when she said the word ‘curse.’

  “But no details as to what this curse is?” Sam asked.

  “No one wants to talk about it. Why?”

  “Well, we might not want to be so cavalier about that theory based on what I found in this diary. It seems the entries were made by a woman who used to live here. She never identifies herself, but if there was but one owner, I guess that narrows down the possibilities. Anyway…she apparently found herself pregnant and the father just split.”

  “Sounds like LA…” Liz interjected.

  “Funny…funny…” Sam shot back. “Well, it seems she gave birth, but over time got increasingly depressed and distraught from her isolation in the Carroway and how she feared being ostracized and shunned by the town.”

  “Different time and all that, I guess,” Clara added.

  “Is that it?” Liz asked.

  “Pretty much. The diary indicates a gradual and steady slide in her mental state, but there is nothing to indicate what might have happened in the end or what she might have had on her mind down the road.”

  “Are you suggesting that she committed suicide? Or maybe even killed her child as well?” Clara asked.

&n
bsp; Sam shrugged.

  “I guess it’s possible. It just got me wondering about what might have really happened to her based on both what Emily heard and what Clara saw.”

  “Oh, come on, Sam…” Liz said with great disbelief in her voice. “Are you really saying this place is harboring the ghost of this woman from 140 years ago? Are you buying this, Clara?”

  She shrugged.

  “Not really. As I am sure you know, my country is full of this type of thing. Local legends, folk tales, and such to draw in tourists. But I think it is a stretch, personally to say the diary is associated with anything. I’m not even sure what it was I really saw.”

  “Me either. So case closed. Nice story for another film, Sam, but I’m not sold.”

  Sam closed the diary with care.

  “Well, I’m not so sure, Liz. I have to say I am not a big believer in coincidences. What Emily and Clara came across plus this diary…it makes me very nervous. I’m not sure staying here much longer is such a smart move.”

  Liz was well aware of Sam’s deep buy-in to all things paranormal. It had been part of the reason, aside from his skill as a sound engineer, that had made her approach him for the project. She did not want people totally averse to such topics on her team, but as to her true beliefs in ghosts and hauntings and possessions? She found it entertaining. Period.

  “I appreciate your concerns, Sam, but you signed on for this film. I expect you to honor that agreement.”

  He lowered his head, not ever remembering having Liz chastise him in such a manner before. He just nodded his understanding, but deep in his heart, he had a feeling this was a mistake. Perhaps that even coming here had been a mistake once the contents of this diary had come to light.

  “Of course, Liz. No problem.”

  “Clara?” Liz asked.

  “Same here, Liz. No problem. Let’s get on with it.”

  The weather did not much change during the day, but all indications from the forecasts were that it was to clear the next day. Praying the prognosticators were correct, Liz laid out the idea she had come up with overnight and the three of them moved to the foyer to incorporate that scene into the film. It was a bit tedious, taking multiple takes as Liz did not have a concrete script, but by the end of the day, she was satisfied with a final take, and they all called it a day. As they were having dinner, Emily wandered in to join them.