The Haunting of Willow House

by Anthony M. Strong

  How are things going? Is everything fine at home?

  He waited for the reply, wondering if he should have called, not wanting to hear the disdain in Sarah’s voice when she realized he was checking up on her.

  Better to send the text message.

  The drink arrived.

  He picked it up, peered into its amber depths.

  At that moment the phone buzzed. Two curt words appeared on the screen.

  We’re fine.

  So much for pleasantries. She hadn’t even bothered to ask how he was, if his trip was going well. Not that he expected her to. Since Jennifer’s death, Sarah had become a different person. Dark. Brooding. The once happy teen had turned inward, losing herself inside her own head. There were occasional flashes of the old Sarah, just enough to remind him of all that he had lost, but those moments were sparse these days, islands amid a sea of despair.

  The worst thing was he couldn’t blame her.

  He understood how she felt, because he felt it too.

  Andrew took the phone, slid it back into his pocket, and lifted the scotch to his lips, slamming it back in one fluid movement. Then he placed the empty glass back on the bar, and caught the eye of the bartender once more.

  Tomorrow he would fly home and try to finish the book, but tonight all he wanted to do was forget.

  Chapter 59

  The bedroom was dark save for the dull glow of the nightlight affixed to the far wall. The only sound came from the nearby bed, the gentle in and out of Sarah’s breathing.

  Becca rose, her movements stiff at first, as if she were getting used to her own body. She paused near the bed, but Sarah didn’t stir. She was deep in slumber.

  Becca turned toward the door, her footfalls barely audible as she slipped out of the room and descended the stairs. She padded along the corridor and made her way to the ground floor before turning toward the living room.

  Tyler was asleep on the sofa, his body nothing more than a vague lump under the blankets, his head nestled into two soft pillows propped against the side of the couch.

  Becca moved toward him, hovered for a while, watching him sleep, his arm above the blanket, holding it close. She reached down and ran a hand down the exposed arm, her fingers lingering upon his skin, the touch light and gentle.

  He stirred, mumbled something.

  Becca touched his hair, weaved her fingers through it.

  He opened his eyes, looked up.

  The surprise on his face was evident.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked. “Is something wrong?”

  “Nothing is wrong.” Becca kept her voice low, barely more than a whisper.

  “Where’s Sarah?”

  “Sleeping.”

  “So why are you down here?” Tyler sat up, holding the blanket to his bare chest.

  “Don’t you know?” Becca took a step back, her mouth curving into a tight smile. She never took her eyes from him.

  “No, I don’t,” Tyler said. He paused, then spoke again. “Your voice, it sounds funny.”

  “How so?” Becca reached up and played with the collar of her nightgown.

  “Just different.” He shook his head. “I mean, it’s you, but somehow it doesn’t sound like you. Are you alright?”

  “Shhh.” Becca put her finger to her lips. Her eyes travelled toward the corridor. “Come with me.”

  “Why?” There was a trace of suspicion in Tyler’s voice.

  “I’ve seen the way you look at me.”

  “What?” Tyler shrank back. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

  “Of course you do.” Becca moved close. “You want me. You always have. You only dated Sarah to get to me.”

  “That’s not true.” Tyler started to rise, looking for an escape route.

  “Yes, it is.” Becca pushed him back down. Her hands fell to the hem of the nightgown. She lifted it up, the fabric bunching as it came free. She discarded the garment and stood there, wearing nothing but a pair of white panties. She reached out her hand. “Come with me.”

  “This is so messed up,” Tyler said, but his eyes were fixed on Becca’s body. “What if Sarah finds out?”

  “She won’t.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Yes, you can.” She took his hand, pulled him to his feet. “I’ve wanted to do this for so long.”

  “Becca—“

  “Hush.” She turned, walked toward the hallway, with Tyler following behind.

  Chapter 60

  Sarah went from sound asleep to wide awake in an instant. At first, before her consciousness snapped back into place, she wasn’t sure why. But then she felt the pair of eyes looking at her in the darkness.

  She sat upright, a crawling feeling of dread overtaking her. And then she heard the noise. It was light, just a small shuffle of feet, but it was enough to draw her attention.

  Jake stood in the open bedroom doorway, still wearing the elephant pajamas. His arms at his side, face expressionless, he looked like he was standing to attention, a ten-year-old soldier dressed in bedroom fatigues.

  “Jake?” She spoke his name before she even comprehended the oddness of the situation.

  He didn’t move.

  His unblinking eyes fixed her with a deadpan stare that sent another shiver of fear up her spine.

  “You should be in bed.” She did her best to keep the apprehension from her voice, tried to sound authoritative, but knew the moment the words escaped her mouth that she had failed.

  “They’re in the barn,” Jake said, his eyes never straying from his sister.

  “There’s someone in the barn?” A barrage of thoughts cascaded through her mind, as if a mental floodgate had opened. Who was in the barn? Were they in danger? Should she call the police? No, better to wake Tyler and make sure there was actually something to worry about before jumping to conclusions based on the information of an imaginative ten-year-old boy.

  “They’re in the barn.” Jake repeated the words in the same bland monotone as before.

  “Who, Jake?” she asked again. “Who do you think is in the barn?”

  But Jake didn’t answer. Instead, he turned and started to descend the stairs without even a backward glance.

  Sarah sat there, watching as he disappeared into the gloom, and then she noticed something.

  Becca was gone.

  Her bed was empty, the covers pushed back off the air mattress.

  With a growing sense of unease, Sarah slipped out from under the covers and found her shoes. She grabbed her robe and pulled it on, then hurried to the door, taking the narrow stairs as fast as she dared. She reached the second floor landing in time to see Jake’s bedroom door swing shut. At first she considered following him into the room, asking him what was going on, but she knew it would do no good. Jake was different now, odd and a little frightening. She knew something else too; he was getting worse every day. The move to the country, the new house, was affecting him.

  Not to mention the old telephone.

  She shuddered when she thought of that. There was something unnatural about his obsession with it.

  No, it was better to keep going.

  She moved down the hallway, made her way to the first floor. A few feet away, in the living room, Tyler would be sleeping. Maybe he could help her find Becca and figure out what was happening.

  Only when she reached the couch he wasn’t there.

  She swiveled, a dreadful fear overcoming her.

  They’re in the barn.

  The words echoed in her mind, and all at once she knew that Jake wasn’t talking about some random intruders. He was talking about Tyler and Becca.

  But why would they be there?

  There was only one way to find out.

  She navigated the entrance hall, went to the kitchen, was surprised to find the back door wide open. Without a second thought, she passed through it into the night, the sudden chill air making her wrap her arms around her chest as she crossed the patch of grass behind the
house.

  There were three barns on the property. The one her dad had wanted to turn into a garage, which stood to the side of the house, and the twin cow barns further away. Instinctively she knew that this was where Becca and Tyler had gone.

  She passed the swing set off to her left, the weathered seat rocking back and forth in the breeze, the chains emitting languid, drawn out squeaks with each slow pass. She shivered at the eerie sound.

  Up ahead loomed the barns, a pair of ominous sentinels stark against the backdrop of the Milky Way as it spiraled across the clear night sky.

  She reached the barns and paused.

  Which one were they in?

  She glanced between the buildings.

  The one on the left was dark, the double doors shut tight. But from the one on the right she saw a faint glimmer of light escaping through a crack between the doors.

  She had her answer.

  A part of her didn’t want to go on. It was as if she sensed that some things were best left unseen. But a bigger part, that which had drawn her from the comfort of her bed and brought her out here, needed to know. Even so, she took the last few steps to the barn with a trepidation she had seldom felt before.

  Chapter 61

  Sarah peered through the crack between the barn doors, her heart thudding in her chest. At first she didn’t see anything, but then her eyes focused on the two silhouetted shapes halfway back, between the cow stalls.

  A flashlight was propped up against one stall, the beam piercing the darkness. It wasn’t much, but it provided enough illumination for Sarah to recognize Tyler and Becca.

  They were locked in an embrace, their arms entwined around each other, their faces together in a passionate kiss.

  Sarah let out a startled gasp.

  Tyler’s head whipped in her direction.

  When he saw her, his eyes grew wide, and he staggered backward, leaving Becca alone in the center of the barn.

  “This isn’t what it looks like.” His face was a picture of anguish.

  “Then what is it?” Sarah pulled the door open and stepped into the barn. It smelled like old wood and stagnant water, but she ignored the odor.

  “She came to me, I swear.” He stepped around Becca, who still stood motionless, and approached Sarah. His bare chest stood out a pale white. Below that his jeans were unbuttoned, his belt hanging lose from the loops. “I would never do anything to hurt you.”

  “You already have.” Sarah wondered what would have happened if she hadn’t interrupted them. She could feel the tears welling at the corners of her eyes. She brushed them away with the back of her hand, angry that he should see her distress.

  “I made a mistake. I don’t know what I was thinking. It was like I couldn’t help myself.” He turned his head toward Becca, as if he was looking for some help, but she remained mute. “She seduced me.”

  “That’s a lame excuse.” Sarah walked past him, toward Becca. For the first time she realized that her friend was practically naked. A sudden surge of anger flared up within her. She closed the distance, intent upon unleashing her fury, but at that moment Becca moved.

  Slowly at first, she lifted her arms, touched her hands to her face. She stumbled forward, as if surprised to be standing up. Her arms fell back to her side. Her mouth opened, but then she closed it again. Her eyes, which had seemed dull and lifeless before, now widened and came into focus.

  She took a shuddering breath, then another, before the comprehension of her surroundings dawned upon her.

  “What’s going on?” Becca turned her head, her gaze shifting between Sarah and Tyler. She looked confused. “Where are we?”

  “Really?” Sarah said, but even so she stopped short. There was something about the look on Becca’s face that caused her to falter.

  “Where are we?” She repeated the question.

  “Like you don’t know.” Sarah kept an eye on Tyler, who was standing off to one side, a sheepish look upon his face.

  “I don’t.” Becca looked genuinely confused.

  “The barn,” Sarah answered, a hard edge to her voice.

  “How did I get out here?” Becca took a step forward, glanced down, suddenly aware of her state of undress. A look of horror passed across her face. Her arms flew up to cover her chest. She paused, her eyes darting between Sarah and Tyler, and then, not waiting for an answer to her question, she fled toward the barn door in the direction of the house.

  Sarah, surprised by her sudden flight, stepped out of the way instinctively. She watched her friend disappear into the night, a strange mix of anger and sadness descending upon her. And then she turned to Tyler, fixing him with a glowering stare. “I think it’s time you left.”

  Chapter 62

  It was after 4AM when Tyler reversed his Mustang in the driveway, turned around, and made his way down the narrow lane toward the road.

  As he passed by the old barn nestled next to the house, he tilted his head upward, overcome with the sudden feeling that he was being watched. There, framed in a second floor window, he caught sight of Jake, the boy's face pale and emotionless, but soon he was beyond the house and all he could see was a vast expanse of black sky curving toward the distant tree line that marked the edge of the woods.

  Tyler turned his gaze forward once more. He focused on the road ahead, avoiding the worst of the potholes that punctuated the driveway, not wanting to hit one in the darkness. Behind him, lingering near the front door, he knew that Sarah waited, unwilling to venture back inside until she was sure he had actually gone.

  He couldn’t blame her. The events in the barn still seemed bizarre, even to him. Becca had been alluring, intoxicating. It was as if she willed him to follow her, to engage in…

  He forced himself to stop thinking about it.

  Rehashing his mistake would do no good. He couldn’t go back in time and change things. What he could do was hope that Sarah forgave him after she cooled off.

  Up ahead a shape loomed, the blackness falling away as he drew closer to reveal the gnarled, misshapen oak that marked the boundary between the farm and the road. It looked old, its contorted branches reaching out like bony fingers, grotesque and otherworldly.

  He slowed, easing the car up to the intersection, even though he knew there would be no traffic. There were barely any other vehicles on the road during the day, let alone at this time of night. He flicked the indicator on anyway, out of habit, then nosed the car forward, turning onto the hard asphalt. As he did so, his eyes flicked up to the rearview mirror, another habit. At first, he saw nothing but empty road stretching away from him, but then, at the corner of the reflection, his eye picked out a movement.

  It was slight, nothing more than a quick, darting shadow.

  His breath quickened.

  A shape broke away from the oak tree, small and nimble, flitting out from the branches. He watched it rise into the sky, following along behind the car.

  At first he wondered what it could be, his heart pounding, but then, when it drew closer, he almost laughed out loud.

  It was a bird.

  A big ugly crow, its wings a flurry of movement as it swooped toward the car.

  He turned his attention forward again, pressing down on the accelerator. The engine surged under his foot, and the Mustang shot forward, putting some distance between himself and the bird. When he glanced back again, it was gone, lost to the gloom.

  Tyler let out a relieved sigh, unsure why the bird had spooked him so much, but glad that it was gone. He let up on the gas, the speedometer needle falling back, and settled into the seat.

  And then he realized how cold the car was. He could see his breath on the air. It was weird, because he didn’t remember it being cold when he climbed in. It was the middle of summer. The night was warm.

  He reached for the heater, was about to turn it on.

  At that moment he had the overwhelming sense that he was not alone.

  He glanced sideways.

  A lump of fear caught in his throa
t.

  The passenger seat was not empty.

  A figure sat there, features obscured by the dark cabin. Even so, Tyler knew it was a woman. He also knew she was not real, at least in the living sense.

  She turned her head, empty eye sockets coming to bear upon him, and in that moment he felt a wave of malice so strong it made his gut churn.

  Too late he realized that in his moment of shock he’d let the steering wheel go slack.

  The car swerved across the road, careening toward the verge, and the woods beyond.

  Tyler’s foot flew to the brake.

  It wasn’t enough.

  The car left the road, jumped over the grass, and took a nosedive into the drainage ditch running alongside the blacktop.

  Tyler’s body slammed forward with the sudden impact, his seatbelt cutting across his chest, drawing taut.

  The car pivoted sideways toward a large maple tree.

  There was a sickening thud.

  Glass rained down as the window shattered inward.

  Tyler’s head jerked sideways and hit the doorframe. Searing pain exploded in his skull and down his spine. He felt blood in his mouth.

  The car came to an abrupt halt with the back wheels in the air, the front of the vehicle submerged in a thick muck.

  Tyler fought to stay awake, fought against the blackness that closed in on his vision, but soon the world shrank to a dull pinprick, and then even that blinked out.

  Chapter 63

  For the second time in twelve hours, Sarah stood on the driveway and watched a friend depart Willow Farm.

  This time it was Becca.

  If it were up to her, Becca would have been gone hours earlier when Tyler drove away, but her friend had refused to go, saying it was a bad idea for Sarah and Jake to be alone in the house. Sarah hadn’t argued. The truth was that she didn’t relish the thought of spending the rest of the night alone either, and despite the feelings of betrayal, Sarah could not shake the thought that there was more going on than met the eye.