The Red Light

by Robert Kiskaden

  “No, I’ll be fine just let me sit here for a little while and it’ll be okay.”

  “Are you sure? It is already turning purple.”

  “It’s not broken just banged up, if I go to a doctor they will just tell me to put ice on it and keep off it for a while. I’ll get dressed and put an ice pack on it while the rest of you get ready,” Mike said while holding a towel on his knee.

  Sarah agreed and went to get an ice pack and wrapped it in a hand towel, she yelled at Teddy and Mary to get up as she walked past the couch and took the pack to Mike. Mike was sliding his pant leg over his injured knee, and is trying not to let her know how much it really hurt.

  “I’ll get the kids up and ready,” Sarah said as she walked toward their bedroom door, but she stopped and turned around facing him while he sat on the bed getting dressed. “Why did it scare you so badly, when I came into the bathroom? You looked like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

  Mike sat there for a few seconds before answering, “I was in deep thought thinking about work and you just took me by surprise, that’s all it was.”

  Sarah accepted the answer and left the room, she went and shook Mary and Teddy awake, they were both still in a deep sleep and rose up slowly rubbing their eyes, sitting on the couch like they were in a daze. She helped the children get dressed and brushed their hair then told them to go on the kitchen and eat some cereal before they left for the store.

  Mike came in a little bit later; he had limped down the hallway to a closet that had some of Aunt Penny’s belongings stored in it. Digging through it he pulled out a cane; she had walked with a limp most of her life from a leg injury as a young child.

  “Daddy what’s that?” Mary asked while Teddy and Sarah looked at the cane.

  “It’s something to help daddy walk and not fall down again until my leg gets better.”

  “You look old now,” Teddy said laughing jokingly.

  “You had better not pick on me,” Mike said as he raised the cane and shook it toward Teddy and laughed.

  They had breakfast and got ready to leave, Mike called someone to look at the heater and they said they would be there around three. They piled into the minivan and headed toward town.

  The family had a good time at the store, everyone got what foods they wanted, Mary loves Lunchables and Teddy loves to eat hot dogs and macaroni. Mike was driving up their lane to the house and seen a truck sitting in the driveway when they got closer they could see the sign on the door, Eric’s Heating and Cooling Repair.

  Mike pulled up beside the truck and parked, a man was sitting in the driver’s seat waving at them, Mike and Sarah waved back as they were getting out. He was a heavy set man; he wore glasses and had on a trucker’s cap, with a hooded checkered winter coat.

  “Hello, I’m Eric; I’m here to fix the heat.”

  “Hello, Eric,” Mike said as he shook the man’s hand, “you’re early.”

  “Yeah, I got finished with my first job pretty quick this morning, so I came on out here to see if you were home.”

  “We went to the store, I’m glad we didn’t go anywhere else,” Mike said to the man.

  “I hope you haven’t been sitting out here long in the cold,” Sarah said.

  “Oh no, just about fifteen minutes or so, and I have a good heater in the truck, had a mechanic fix it last week,” Eric was laughing, “funny huh, heater repair man had to call someone to fix his heater.”

  They all laughed then began to carry in the groceries; the children liked the man because he told them funny jokes and didn’t just tell them to get out of the way. Eric was beginning work on the heater; he and Mike were talking while he worked.

  “When I first got here I could swear I heard someone in the house when I knocked.”

  “Nope, no one else is here, just us,” Mike said nervously, and he was thinking about what happened in the shower earlier that morning.

  “Well, probably just hearing things, out here away from everyone and an old house like this, not hard to have your imagination run away,” Eric said.

  “True, it is a very old house.”

  The men talked for about an hour, and then Eric flipped a switch in the fuse box, the old furnace roared back to life and began blowing out heat through the house. Mike thanked him and led him into the kitchen and asked Sarah to write Eric a check, he shook Mike’s hand and went to his truck and left.

  Sarah was concerned with how much money they had left in the bank, but she didn’t bother Mike with that today, he was sitting on the couch with his leg propped up watching television. The kids were upstairs in their rooms playing, Sarah sat at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee, it relaxed her, and black with no sugar is how she loved it.

  After sitting there for a while she decided to go upstairs in her writing room and try to get some of her new story finished, she was writing a story of a woman who moves to the country and finds her true love, she normally wrote children’s stories, but she wanted to try something different.

  Chapter 9

  Sarah was sitting at the old wooden desk writing the first chapter of her book, the story was coming easily to her and she loved her characters. She left the door open so she could hear the children if they yell for her, when out of nowhere the door slammed shut and made her nearly jump out of the chair; she sat silently but heard no noise.

  The light began to flicker, and the room started to have a red tint, as though there were a red colored light bulb in the socket. “What do you want?” Sarah asked in a forceful voice, but there was silence, and the room turned back to its normal color. As she sat there quietly, she could hear something outside the window, the sounds of voices and screams coming from the back yard, she immediately thought that something was wrong with the kids outside so she sprung up and ran to the window that they had uncovered in the little writing room.

  Looking out Sarah could see a crowd of people dragging a man down by the creek, she looked around and it didn’t look like fall at all, it seemed like summer, the trees were green and the grass wasn’t dead and brown and covered with leaves, it was green and lush, it was like she was looking through a portal of another time but the same place.

  There was a man that stood in front of the crowd that held another man down that was wearing bright colored clothes and his face was covered in makeup painted like a clown. He was saying something but she couldn’t make it out, then the people began beating the man, some had brought tools like shovels, pitch forks, and axes.

  "You all will pay, I swear everyone will pay!" The man screamed as he was beaten.

  The crowd of people tore the man apart, they were extremely angry at him for some reason, they didn't just murder him, they cut him into pieces then burnt what little was left. There was a woman crying aloud and she kept saying over and over, "He killed them all, he killed them all."

  Sarah turned away from the window and leaned against the desk, still trying to comprehend what she had just seen, she went back to the window and looked out but it was normal, the leaves were falling from the trees and the chill of fall had returned.

  She ran downstairs and woke Mike who was still lying on the couch; Sarah told him everything that she had seen. "You must have fallen asleep and dreamed it all," Mike explained.

  "No, this was real, I seen them tear that man apart then burn the pieces, I think he killed a lot of people, maybe inside this house."

  Sarah was insistent with her story but Mike kept trying to explain it away, she got frustrated with him and went back upstairs to the secret room. She sat at the desk with her hands on her head trying to figure out what was going on, she looked over and seen the diaries stacked together on the book shelf. I bet these have an answer somewhere inside them, she thought to herself.

  Sarah sat and read through some of the diaries, she was amazed at how much Penny knew about the history of the old house, from the time it was built, up until before her death, but she couldn’t find anything about like what she seen through the window earlie
r.

  After more than an hour of reading she finally came onto something, she read how Penny’s Great Uncle Silas had come to stay for a short time in 1880, he was a circus performer and traveled a lot, but had become sick and needed a few months of rest.

  Sarah thought about the man she seen being dragged in the back yard, he was dressed like a clown, maybe this could be the man she seen, she continued reading.

  Great Uncle Silas had a terrible secret that wasn’t found out until after his death, while he was traveling with the circus, at some towns he would murder children, and by the time they were found he was long gone to another town. During his stay here while most of the family was gone to town, he murdered two of his nephews Jessup and Thomas that were the sons of his brother Amon. Some of Amon’s field slaves and it was told that the whole cellar of this house was covered in blood. He tore them apart like an animal, the blood sprayed on everything. The lantern hanging in the cellar was the only light down there and the blood covered the glass that protected the flame and made the lantern shine like a bright red light. Uncle Silas was found cutting up one of the slave children and they dragged him out into the back yard where he was killed and his body burnt. The ghosts of the murdered slaves still lurk in this house, and Uncle Silas is still craving blood. So many people through the years have reported seeing a red light, this is the light that was in the basement, the lantern covered in blood spinning and swinging.

  Sarah sat at the desk with her mouth open, she couldn’t believe that this was real, but she seen it all happen, and now she read about it, this is why this house is haunted, it was Mikes Great,Great,Great Uncle Silas that killed all those people in the basement of this house.

  “Mommy,” Mary said as she walked in the door.

  “Oh my God,” Sarah jumped and pushed the chair backwards, she was so into what she had read that Mary startled her. “What do you need sweetie?”

  “I’m hungry, can we eat soon?”

  “Yes of course, let’s go and make something now,” Sarah said.

  Sarah and Mary went downstairs, on their way to the kitchen Sarah told Teddy to come down in a little while because she was going to have dinner ready soon. Mary stood on a chair helping her make dinner; she was tearing up the lettuce for a salad, while Sarah cooked hamburger for Hamburger Helper, and Mike was asleep on the couch.

  When dinner was ready Sarah went into the living room and shook Mike’s shoulder, “Mike, wake up, dinner is ready.”

  “Okay, I’m coming,” he said sluggishly.

  “Teddy, come down and eat,” Sarah yelled upstairs.

  “Okay mom, I’ll be right down,” he yelled back to her.

  A few minutes later everyone was at the table, everyone loved Hamburger Helper so it was gone pretty quickly, and Mary was proud of the salad she prepared, Sarah and Mike ate almost all of it.

  The children finished their meals and Sarah asked them to help her clean the table before they went upstairs to play in their rooms, Mike went back to the couch and was watching a movie on the television when Sarah finished she went to the living room and sat down beside him.

  “I seen a man get torn apart then burnt to dust in the backyard today,” Sarah said calmly, Mike was looking at her like she had lost her mind.

  “Don’t give me that look I know what I saw, and I have proof of what happened, right up there in your aunt’s diary, she told every bit of the history of this house, how your Great Great Great Uncle Silas murdered children and killed some of the slaves in the basement here.”

  “Look, I may have heard something about that when I was a kid,” Mike said before being interrupted by Sarah.

  “You knew about this and didn’t tell me?” Sarah had a look of disbelief.

  “I didn’t think it was true, you know how people tell kids scary stories to mess with them.”

  “Don’t look at me like I’m crazy, I am so pissed and you better hope this isn’t happening to the children, I swear I’ll…”

  “You’ll what?” Mike said.

  “I’ll leave, and take the kids somewhere safer than this damn place.” Sarah stormed out of the room and went upstairs.

  Chapter 10

  Sarah sat in the writing room working on her book and after a while she fell asleep with her head lying on the desk. She looked up to see someone standing in front of her desk, it was a young woman with long blonde curls hanging down to her shoulders, she was wearing a colonial style pink dress that would have been beautiful if it weren’t for the blood covering the entire front, and she had a long slit across her throat that was wide open and dripping blood just as if it had been cut recently.

  “You have to get your children out of this house,” the ghostly figure pleaded.

  “This is our home now, we aren’t the ones that need to get out,” Sarah replied in nervous fear.

  “He will kill you and your children don’t you understand?” The woman slammed her hands down on the desk but it made no sound, as she leaned forward almost face to face with Sarah.

  “Who will hurt me and my children?”

  “He’ll do more than hurt you, y’all will be trapped here forever like the rest of us,” the ghost woman said and was looking behind her and her expression changed to fear. “He’s coming I have to go, you hear me now, leave this place before you all die.”

  “Wait! Who’s coming?” Sarah asked, and as suddenly as she appeared, she was gone.

  Sarah sat at the desk stunned and trying to figure out exactly what was going on, trying to piece everything together when she felt the cold air on the back of her neck, she spun the desk chair around and seen a rather portly man standing behind her.

  He was tall and quite massive; she sat there as he stood staring down at her, with blank black lifeless eyes, then it hit her, it was the man that she seen dragged in the back yard and killed, oh my God it’s the killer she thought as the white light fixture in the middle of the ceiling slowly turned red and gave a red tint throughout the room, she looked up at the light and seen it was filling with blood.

  “Well, look at what I found,” he said laughing, his smile was huge and showed all of his mostly rotten teeth, his face was partially painted white with red makeup around his eyes and mouth, and he had a blue nose.

  “Who… who are you?” Sarah stuttered.

  “You know who I am, it’s good ole Uncle Silas,” he said getting closer to her breathing on her face, his breathe was so terrible that she gagged and turned away.

  “Don’t you touch me,” Sarah said running around to the other side of the desk.

  “Or what? Oh I know, you’re gonna kill me if I touch you,” he said laughing and then switched to a whisper, “Well, guess what I’m already dead.” He reached to his forehead and began pulling on his face; worms and bugs were falling from under the skin and crawling across the desk, he kept peeling away until there was nothing left but his skull, he was laughing so loudly that she was sure someone would hear, but no one came. She felt something dripping on her shoulder, she looked up again at the light and the blood was spilling over and running down the sides of the bulb; then she fainted.

  Sarah woke up on the floor in front of the desk a while later, it was dark outside and she was shaking from the cold. She quickly got up and left the room, closing the door behind her; she stood there for a minute and was hoping that it was all just a dream, a bad dream but still just a dream.

  She found Mike and the kids asleep on the couch in the living room, the fire was about out and she was so glad the furnace was repaired. Sarah picked up Mary and woke up Teddy to go to bed; she tucked them both under their covers and went back downstairs. Mike was still asleep on the couch, she shook awake, and they both went to bed.

  The next morning Sarah went through the usual routine, woke the kids and made sure they got dressed, had breakfast, and got on the bus; she noticed a newspaper lying at the end of the lane. “Finally, they started delivering the paper; we had paid a week ago.”

  Sarah went
inside and sat at the kitchen table reading the paper and drinking coffee, she seen an ad in the help wanted, local food bank needs volunteers to help with distributing foods, she has wanted to get out of the house and this will be perfect, she can help people and still have time to write on her book in the evenings.

  She went down town looking for the church where the food bank was located, it took her a while but she finally found it and went inside. After filling out all the necessary paperwork and talking to the director of the food bank she was told to come back tomorrow and one of the women will show her what to do. Sarah was so excited and wanted to share the news with Mike and went to his office. It was looking a lot better, the painting was finished and the office furniture was placed nicely around the rooms. As she made her way to his office a woman turned the corner and almost ran into her.

  “Oh, I’m sorry may I help you?” The woman said startled.

  “It’s ok; yes could you tell me where I can find my husband, Mike; Mr. Heathrow?”

  “Yes, he is gone with Danny.”

  “Danny?” Sarah asked.

  “Danny is the painter, he has been meeting with him for lunch almost every day for a week now, Danny is introducing him to people around town since he doesn’t know anyone,” the woman explained. “By the way, my name is Tammi,” she said holding out her hand.

  “Nice to meet you Tammi,” Sarah said shaking her hand, “would you let Mike know that I stopped by when he returns please?”

  “Yes, of course,” Tammi said with a smile and walked Sarah to the door. “Nice to meet you Mrs. Heathrow, have a great day.”

  When Sarah came home, she wanted to write more but was too afraid to go upstairs to that room after what happened the night before. She got a notepad and sat on the couch writing, sometime after ten pages she fell asleep.

  Chapter 11

  Sarah woke up to the sound of the front door slamming; she jumped up and turned to see the children walking through the living room. The kids went to her and gave her a hug before going up to their rooms to play. Sarah was planning out what they would have for dinner when she seen Mike pull up the driveway, he parked and came inside sitting down at the table.