She thought about how scared they must have been. Some of them must have been kept down there for weeks, months even. How could someone do something like that? Jennifer shuddered at the thought. She knocked lightly on the wall and a light knock came back in return. Both sisters were awake.
They had decided to keep separate rooms, Jennifer didn’t want to talk to her sister about the events any more. Sarah wanted to leave, but Jennifer knew that she couldn’t. She got up and walked over to the open window. There was a light breeze coming in and Jennifer could see the large oak tree swaying in the wind.
She could see the neighboring houses with their windows dark and uninviting. The night dragged on and Jennifer passed the time by pacing around her room, staring out the window and laying on the bed. She kept thinking about the events that had transpired since they’d gotten here.
The first light of dawn was dragging itself across south Georgia, when Jennifer felt herself finally slipping away into sleep. She jerked herself awake since she didn’t trust her mind to give her pleasant dreams. Even though she desperately needed it, she didn’t want to sleep.
She listened intently and could hear her sister moving around in her room. Jennifer decided to go downstairs and make some coffee. Maybe some breakfast. They would need the coffee and something to eat was never a bad idea. It wasn’t long before Sarah joined her in the kitchen.
“Coffee?” asked Jennifer.
“Yes, please.” Sarah nodded and eyed the bowl of batter on the countertop. “Pancakes, too?”
“I thought it was a good idea. Now I’m not sure I can eat.”
“You can. So can I. Get those carb loaded belly fat makers working, will you?”
Jennifer chuckled. She couldn’t manage a full laugh right now. She poured the first portion into the hot pan and waited.
Breakfast was silent as neither sister could get out of their own thoughts. They both sat at the kitchen table in silence and looked out the window as they finished breakfast. Eventually Sarah found her voice.
“So when do we leave?”
“I’m not leaving.”
“Are you serious? After all you’ve found out? After all that’s happened?”
“Serious. I’m not going.”
“ How can you stay here?”
“Look, I know I found a bunch of stuff about what happened here, but what do we really know? That something happened in the basement more than a hundred and fifty years ago! Come on, what does that mean to us? Absolutely nothing. I heard some noises. So what?”
“We heard some noises.”
“Every house has noises and this is a super old house. Of course it is going to come with noises. There’s probably a zoo living down there. We haven’t even been down there, so how do we know what’s down there? It’s certainly not a ghost that got exiled to the basement. Are we believing in ghosts now?”
“Um, no, but knowing what you found out makes it too creepy for me.”
“You said it yourself, I’m making myself crazy. Yesterday, I thought a ghost was coming to get me. It was just the shadow of the tree. A tree! That’s messed up. What else am I making myself think? What are we both making ourselves think? Feeding off each other. Have we actually seen anything to prove we’re being haunted by ghosts? Well, have we?”
“No Jennifer, we haven’t, but you have to admit that there is something freaky going on around here. Tell me that you agree with that.”
“We don’t know anything. Look I’m staying here, okay.”
“Is it money?” asked Sarah. “I can give you money.”
“I’m not taking money from you. How many times do I need to say that?”
Sarah nodded though she looked close to anger.
“Don’t be mad at me, Sarah. I have to get it.”
“Get what?”
“Oh, nothing. Forget I said that.” Jennifer shrugged and looked away.
“Jen. I’m not forgetting anything. Come on. Tell me what you’re planning.”
“You can’t tell Mom, okay, she will freak. Or Dad.”
“What’s going on?”
“My scholarship was dropped. Some crap about the right documents not being received in time.”
“What!” Sarah threw her had back and sighed.
“I had to get some transcripts signed by my teachers and I was a little bit late. I’m appealing it, so I could still get it. But if not, I’ll need to come up with tuition some way.”
“Oh, Jennifer.”
“Look, I don’t want your pity, okay. And you don’t need to problem solve this for me. I’ve done some other freelance work since I found out and these two weeks will go a long way towards it. I have some more jobs lined up at the end of summer. I think I’ll make enough for the semester coming up.” Jennifer looked down at her hands in her lap and lightly twiddled her thumbs.
“You’ll at least get part of the money for the week you’ve already spent here. I’ll make up the rest. You’d be doing me a favor I’m happy to pay for.” Sarah reached out and took Jennifer’s hand. “We can work this out.”
“If I leave now, Mark probably won’t give me good feedback, it may even get around and then I could lose my other jobs. I can’t afford to lose the work. I’m going to get the money so I can finish my studies.”
“Jen, seriously, let me give you the money and you can pay me back, okay. I don’t want to see you lose out on your dream.”
“Just leave it, okay. I’m going to get the money. Just…”
“It isn’t about the money, is it?” Sarah looked at her warily, with eyes that were almost slits now.
“What?”
“It’s something else. Not the money. What is it!”
“Leave it alone, Sarah. Please.”
“I will not just leave it. You’re my sister. I love you. Something’s wrong, so I’m going to help you. Simple as that.”
“Always the great big sister, always trying to help. Can I just figure something out on my own for once?”
“I want to help and I can afford it, so why shouldn’t I?”
Jennifer sat down and began to cry. Sarah put her arm around her sister and waited.
“I just keep thinking about those kids.” Jennifer eventually was able to talk. She sniffled and continued. “The ones who died in the basement. What if they’re still down there?”
“The bodies?”
“The spirits. What if their spirits are still down there?”
“I thought you didn’t believe in ghosts,” said Sarah. “You said this was just an old house with noises and drafts. Didn’t you?”
“Maybe it is. But what if it’s not? I mean, we both heard those noises. I don’t think we’re meant any harm, but maybe there are ghosts down there. Maybe we need to let them out.”
“Listen to yourself. How can you know that they mean us no harm? I mean if there really were ghosts in this house, how can you know something like that?”
“I don’t know. But I want to find out.”
Chapter 7
“You should go on and get out of here.” Jennifer reached out and touched Sarah’s shoulder. She nodded as she encouraged her sister to leave her in the frightening house.
“Are you serious?” Sarah’s brow furrowed in annoyance. “I’m not going anywhere. I can’t leave you here by yourself. What would Mom say? She’d definitely kill me faster than any ghost can do.”
“I think we should keep this between us. Look, I’ll text Mark and ask him for the basement key. I’ll make up some story, say a credit card slipped under the door or something.”
“Try and think of a better story than that.”
“I said ‘or something’, didn’t I? Until then, we stick together. The weird stuff only seems to happen when we’re apart.”
“If stuff is actually happening at all. I’m still not convinced.”
Sarah’s pointed stare along with her opinion about the odd events and noises made Jennifer shrug.
“Well, whatever is happening�
��or isn’t, I think that we should stay together. Sound good?”
“Sure. I’ll be honest, I’m a little uneasy about all this. Sticking together isn’t a bad idea.”
“I’m so beat,” said Jennifer. “I need to go lie down, I don’t suppose you want to come nap with me?”
“I can’t keep my eyes open. I didn’t sleep a wink last night. I was just thinking about everything that has gone on in this house. A nap sounds like pure Heaven.”
“Yeah, me too,” said Jennifer.
The girls went to the stairs and headed up to the bedrooms on the second floor. Their weary steps were slow and measured as each of them wondered silently if it was safe to fall asleep in this house.
“Do you really think there are ghosts here?” Sarah stopped for a moment with her hand firmly on the handrail.
“I don’t know.” Jennifer turned and looked at her sister. Sarah had clearly expected more than a three word response, but that’s all she had to give at the moment. Time would most likely be required to give them a sure answer to that question.
The two of them made their way up the last few stairs and dragged Sarah’s bed into Jennifer’s room. They placed them side by side after moving a few things around to make them both fit. It would be just like when they were kids. The two of them lay down on top of the comforters. Sarah reached out her hand and Jennifer took it. Sarah squeezed her hand.
“Thank you,” said Jennifer.
Sarah nodded. No words were necessary after all that had happened.
It didn’t take long for the two of them to fall asleep. Jennifer dreamed of their younger days and the adventures the sisters had enjoyed together. There had been a tire swing in their backyard and they would not take turns pushing each other on it. That swing was a big part of many happy childhood memories.
In her dream, Jennifer was swinging back and forth through the air. The sky was the sort of blue that it can only be seen in dreams. That special color of blue that seems surreal. The daisies in her mother’s flower garden were gold and white, ready to be picked for a bouquet. The grass was emerald green and well cared for by her father.
She raised her feet in the air and kicked off her shoes, feeling the warm air brush past her and blow through her hair. She could hear Sarah laughing loudly behind her.
Jennifer woke with a smile on her face, eyes still closed. She reached over to Sarah, but couldn’t stretch far enough to find her. She opened her eyes and was met with darkness. How long have I been asleep?
“Sarah? You awake?”
There was no response.
Slowly her eyes acclimatized to the darkness around and she didn’t know where she was. She shuffled her body and realized how uncomfortable she was. Looking around she could see slivers of light coming in here and there. It looked like she was in a room where the windows had been boarded up.
Where am I? Oh, God! Where am I? She felt panic rising inside her, but she was still trying to register what was going on.
Slowly, Jennifer pushed herself up, placing her hands on the cool stone below. Then she froze. As soon as she touched the stone, she knew where she was. She looked around, but the darkness made it hard to make anything out. She could barely make out the stairs, then the horizontal line of light at the top of them coming from under the door.
It hit her even harder to comprehend that this was the same door she had been on the other side of so many times. She listened, but silence screamed all around her. The entire room seemed to be bare.
“It’s okay,” she whispered, both to herself and the ghosts of the children. Or whatever beings were here.
She waited, but nothing happened. The quiet remained, as did the darkness. Slowly, she got up, stretching her back to get the kinks out. She didn’t want to move fast, for fear of disturbing something down here, or someone. She had no idea what was down here with her, if anything, but she was taking no chances by calling attention to her presence on purpose.
She made her way over to the stairs, feeling her way slowly. There was nothing to trip over, the path she chose was clear. One at a time, she made her way up, daring not look back, she had seen too many scary movies to make that mistake. When she reached the top, she tried the handle, it was locked. She tried it once more, just to make sure. She’d expected this, but it was disheartening just the same.
Jennifer crouched down low to try and see under the door, but she couldn’t make anything out. Gently she knocked on the door and then looked back down into the basement. Again, she knocked, this time louder. Once again, she looked down into the basement, hoping she had not woken a spirit with the noise.
While she stood there uncertainly waiting for a response, she wondered if she was dreaming. She pinched her arm and it hurt. Remembering something she’d heard, she wondered if the sting of the pinch proved that she was dreaming or not.
She looked back down into the basement again and this time she didn’t feel afraid. Actually being in the basement seemed different than when she was on the other side of the door and could hear the noises. All the noises and incidents, both real and imagined, had terrified her. But now, she felt peace as she stood there.
The fact remained that she needed to get out of the basement, though. Frightened or not, she wanted the door to open. One more time, she knocked.
“Hello!” she shouted. “Sarah!”
She still wondered how she had gotten down here. There must be another way in, or out. She’d never been a sleep walker, though. She couldn’t imagine how she’d gotten into a locked basement without remembering her journey to get here.
What in the devil had happened?
Chapter 8
Jennifer slowly stepped her way back down the stairs, taking care not to trip in the darkness. As she looked around, her eyes could make out the walls and the floor made of the dark stones.
Oddly, she could feel no drafts. There were two windows, both boarded up. She went to the one closest to her and grabbed a corner of the wood to see if it was loose. No luck. That one wouldn’t move and it was covered in cobwebs.
Taking her mind off the sticky, stringy webs as best she could, she tried the boards on the other window. That one, too, was secured tightly. She tried to see though the small cracks between the boards, but the light difference was too much and she couldn’t focus.
Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness and she didn’t feel completely blind anymore. At least that might help her find a way out since the door wasn’t likely to unlock itself.
Suddenly she was aware that she wasn’t alone. She stared at the boards and knew that she must turn around. Something was down here with her and she had to see what it was.
Slowly, with terrified bravery, she turned into the middle of the room. In front of her stood a shadowy figure. Its head was bent down as if it were concentrating intently on the stones of the basement floor. It looked like the figure was draped in a cloak, but Jennifer couldn’t make out any features, only shades of black.
An arm dropped and Jennifer could see the glinting of a metal blade in the tiny sliver of light coming into the room. The figure suddenly stood up straight and Jennifer gasped. For a moment, neither moved.
Then the figure lurched at Jennifer, the blade pointed straight out. Jennifer backed into the wall and felt an ice cold chill run down her back. The figure lurched again pointing the knife. Jennifer was frozen in place, she could see two hollow eyes staring at her. Two black voids, sucking her in. Then there was a flash of light. She looked up for a moment and saw light at the top of the stairs. Then darkness. The black featureless face was in front of hers. She could see through it to the light at the top of the stairs, then another figure came out of the light. A ghostly pale woman, she began to walk down the stairs towards them.
“Go,” she whispered in Jennifer’s mind. The black cloaked figure turned around and Jennifer wasted no time, she slid from out between the figure and the wall and ran. She felt a black hand try and grab at her, but she was past it and up the stairs.
She ran through the doorway and out the front door, into the blazing sunshine.
She shaded her eyes and dropped to the ground panting. She cried, letting the tears fall to the grass below her. Her heart was racing as she felt the blood coursing through her body. She was certain she was about to pass out, so she fell back flat on her back. Huge tears ran from the corners of her eyes and into the hair above her ears.
A man was running by, likely getting his exercise in for the day. She’d seen him a few days ago as he jogged along the front of the property. Now she could see him out of the corner of her eye. Soon, he was standing over her, brows furrowed with concern.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“What? Yeah, I’m fine, I just… um…” She tried to wipe the tears away with the bottom of her tee shirt, but they were still leaking out.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know, um, I’m not really sure. Who are you?” She sat up and then stood. It seemed wrong to talk to a stranger while she was stretched out in the grass crying.
“Robert, Robert Finch. I live next door. You’re house sitting Mark’s place right? You and your sister?”
“Yeah. How did—”
“Mark told me, before he left. He said you’d be in the house for a couple of weeks.”
“How much do you know about this house?”
“Not a lot, I guess. Why?”
“I think something, someone is in there. They had a knife. In the basement.” She looked at him and started to cry again. “Oh, God. My sister is still in there.”
“Wait here, I’ll go take a look.” Robert looked around and picked up a large branch from the ground. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure this out.”
“I’m coming with you.” Jennifer took a step to follow him.
He hesitated, but she stuck her chin out to let him know she wouldn’t back down.
“Okay. Stay behind me.”
The two of them walked up the steps and went in through the front door. He stopped and turned to look back at her.
“Where’s the basement?”
“Through that door.” Jennifer pointed to the closed door on the side of the large foyer. Robert tried it, but it was locked.
Haunting and Scares Collection Page 52
