The Haunting of Bloodmoon House

by Jeff DeGordick

  "How about a romcom, Tyler?" Jess asked from the DVD shelf.

  "I guess I have that coming to me," he said. "Do your worst."

  "...called a blood moon. This is the first time in almost twelve years that an eclipse like this has been visible from the Montpelier area. And of course, this brings back bad memories for those residents who remember what happened during the last blood moon at the abandoned Dover Estate on the edge of town—what residents have since dubbed 'Bloodmoon House'."

  Ashley's eyes widened as Jess started to notice what was being said on the news. She quickly changed the channel to a bowling tournament, but Tyler snatched the remote away from her.

  "Hey! I want to hear what they were saying." He flipped the channel back to the news.

  "Tyler! Change it!" Ashley said.

  "Shh!"

  "...tragic event where a forty-three-year-old man was found in the woods beside the house with severe traumatic injuries to his face and mouth. The case remains open and the police have suggested it was a suicide, but they haven't entirely ruled out foul play. The remaining survivor of that night was an unnamed six-year-old girl who was thankfully found unharmed by the police and taken away to safety. Hopefully that little girl has no memory of that traumatic event at the house that has long been considered one of the most haunted in the country due to its own storied history. As we gear up to the first blood moon in the area since that event, we can only hope that everyone will be safe this weekend and we won't be seeing a repeat of that episode."

  Jess had slowly wandered back over to the TV, her mouth unintentionally agape. Just the mention of the event on the news was enough to make her skin prickle and her stomach churn. A cold sweat broke out on her forehead, and she felt her legs become weak.

  "We should do it," Tyler said suddenly.

  Ashley snapped her head to him. "Do what?"

  "We should stay the night in that house. On the night of the blood moon."

  Frightful Memories

  "Tyler, you idiot."

  He held his hands up defensively. "What? What did I say?"

  Ashley leered at him. She didn't say anything, but instead just pointed an open hand at the TV.

  "What?" he said again, confused.

  "You're going to tell Jess we should stay the night in that house after what she went through twelve years ago?"

  Tyler was still confused at first, but then realization suddenly struck him. His eyes widened as he looked at Jess. "That was you? That little girl?"

  "You didn't know?" Ashley asked.

  His face took on a genuinely sorry quality. "No, I really had no idea." He looked back at the news which was now on some other story. "That was really you? I can't believe it."

  The whole time, Jess stood sheepishly beside the other two, feeling herself calm down a little. But Tyler's prying antics didn't help matters at all, and she quickly became uncomfortable with his questions and suggestions.

  "So what happened there that night, Jess?" he asked. "I remember my mom telling me about it. Something about a guy wandering into the house and then walking out to the woods and cutting his own face open."

  "Tyler!" Ashley harped.

  "Who was that guy?" Tyler asked Jess.

  "My uncle," she said quietly. "But I don't like to think about it."

  "Yeah," he said, ignoring her in his excitement. He searched his memory. "They said they found him with his face cut open and all his teeth knocked out, and they found a heavy knife in his hand." He stared at Jess hard now, his eyes getting wide and excited. "No, I'm serious Jess, that's a good idea! We should stay the night in that house! It would be the three of us and I'd protect you two and make sure nothing happens to us. Jess, it would be the best way to face your fears!"

  "Tyler, I'm serious!" Ashley said. "Shut up!"

  "What do you think, Jess?" he asked, ignoring Ashley. "We could go up in the evening before the blood moon, and I could get my grandpa's gun. We could scope out the place a bit and if there's no one there we could stay."

  Jess stayed quiet. She was speechless and extremely uncomfortable.

  When Tyler finally finished his monologue and calmed down a little, he noticed the look on Jess's face and started to backtrack. "Are the memories really that bad? I mean, you were young, weren't you? How much do you remember?"

  "Enough," Jess replied before turning and leaving the room.

  Ashley punched Tyler in the arm. "You're such a jerk."

  Jess walked down the hallway to the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She lived in this house for her entire life, and the bathroom had always been her place of solace when things became too much for her; even when she was upset, her parents would still come into her bedroom when she was younger, but they always left her alone in the bathroom.

  She knelt down on the bathmat and propped her forearms on the counter, resting her head against them. Salty tears crept out of her eyes and rolled down her cheeks, and she sobbed quietly. She didn't know why these memories still upset her so much. It seemed like more of a reflex at this point than anything. But ever since that incident, she had always been very timid, always letting her fears control her. And Ashley had been there to watch over her and keep her sheltered from harm since they became friends.

  There was some muttering from outside the door. "...okay, okay."

  Someone knocked.

  Jess didn't answer; she just kept her head on her arms. After a few moments, the doorknob turned slowly. She expected Ashley to come in, but she looked and saw Tyler's head poked through the crack. He retracted it a little when he saw her crying, but he didn't leave. After a moment's hesitation, he slipped inside and shut the door.

  Tyler stood awkwardly with his back pressed to it as he stared down at Jess who was still kneeling. She wiped her eyes and got up to her feet, gazing at her appearance in the mirror to see if she was presentable.

  "I, uh... I'm sorry, Jess," he said. "I didn't mean to be such an insensitive jerk."

  "It's okay," she said.

  "I didn't really think about how much this has always bothered you." He jabbed his thumb toward the door. "Ashley told me a little bit more about what happened. I'm really sorry, I didn't know. I just thought that maybe going there again would help you get over some things. But that's probably a stupid idea."

  "Don't worry about it..." Jess said, "...really." She faced him. "It's just something I've tried not to think about, and to have it all thrown in my face suddenly... it was just a little much."

  "Hey, I get that," he said. "And I didn't mean anything by it. I think I'm still working through my own problems. After everything my dad did to my mom, I've always felt this need to protect and help the women in my life. Maybe I thought if I could help you get over your fears, that would give me some stupid piece of mind. I don't know..."

  She touched his arm. "I know you mean well, and I know what you went through after your father left. I guess we all have our own problems to work through."

  Tyler let out a halfhearted chuckle. "Yeah, I guess." He gazed into her eyes. "I just want to know you're okay." He stepped forward and gently wrapped his hands around her forearms without realizing he was doing it.

  The warmth radiated up Jess's arms and swirled around that familiar spot where the butterflies fluttered. The sensation took her out of the moment and it took a few seconds to remember what they'd been doing. "I... I am. I'm good."

  She waited for him to let go, but he didn't. He kept looking into her eyes, and she dragged hers up to his. His gaze was solid except for the tiniest glance he stole of her lips.

  Jess swallowed, expectant.

  The tension in the air was thick and Tyler felt his nerves start to waver. Then he let go of her and took a step back. "Well, good. I'm glad." He smiled awkwardly.

  Jess's heart sank a little. "Oh..."

  "What?" he asked.

  "No, uh... nothing," Jess said.

  "Okay," Tyler replied stiffly as he took another step back and accidentally bum
ped into the door. "Well, I'll leave you alone." He fumbled with the doorknob and slipped out of the bathroom.

  Jess leaned on the counter and looked at herself in the mirror. She sighed. She took a moment to compose herself, feeling better about the whole situation, then she rejoined her friends in the rec room. They made some simple small talk as if nothing had really happened, then they picked a better movie and settled in for the rest of the night. By the end of it, all three of them were getting pretty sleepy and nodding off in rounds, so they decided to call it a night. Buddy was already sound asleep in his dog bed in the corner of the room, and the three teens set up their sleeping bags on the floor. They each crawled inside and cozily wrapped themselves up, then Jess used the remote to turn off the lights. They wished each other goodnight, and not a few moments after that, they were asleep.

  Jess found herself sitting in the passenger seat of a tan Oldsmobile. The engine was idling and the headlights cut through the overwhelming darkness outside the car. A rolling fog covered the ground as the shriek of odd and nightmarish creatures howled from the treetops. A looming house stood in front of her, one that looked all too familiar. One look at it told her that the house itself was manufacturing the darkness. Its features were barely visible, even in the bright headlights of the car, but the house was teeming with the dead, and tonight they were especially restless.

  Jess looked up and saw the moon in the sky.

  Blood red.

  As she watched, daunted and breathless, she saw that the moon was beating like a heart. The whole nightmarish landscape seemed to wax and wane with the pulse of the moon, like the moon itself was what was feeding everything, giving the house power to unleash its ghouls.

  Suddenly, the air was cold as ice, even in the car. Jess shivered. Her teeth chattered, clinking together like crystal glasses. Her heart seized and she felt something dreadful materializing in front of her. She strained her eyes, trying to see what it was, but it wasn't visible yet; it was hiding on another plane of existence, waiting to come into her world.

  Then there was a faint swirl of light and a shadow began to form in the starkness of the headlights. The shadow quickly took on the unmistakable shape of a human, one who looked very familiar. And before she knew it, her uncle stood in front of her. Blood poured out of his mouth and stained his gray jacket. His eyes were wild, and she knew there was murder in his heart.

  He lunged at the car suddenly and vaulted off the hood, coming for the windshield. He raised a meaty hand and slammed it through, shattering glass and making Jess scream. She squirmed out of the passenger seat and tried to get to the back of the car as her uncle's hand tried to grab her. He rammed his other fist through the windshield and destroyed it, then he climbed into the car like a feral animal. A sinister laugh escaped his bloodied lips, low and quiet, as if the capture of his prey was inevitable.

  Jess opened one of the back doors of the Oldsmobile and crawled out onto the gravel. She shot up to her feet and started running away from the house, away from the nightmares. But her uncle Roy followed. However fast she ran, he seemed to keep the exact same pace. Her legs started to get tired, and yet her uncle pressed on, never tiring.

  Her lungs heaved and her heart cried for mercy, and eventually she collapsed onto her hands and knees. She panted for breath as she felt a shadow encroach from behind. And when she could finally muster the energy to turn around, the shadow stood in front of her, and she screamed as she was consumed.

  A Bump in the Night

  The early morning sun crept over the horizon and shone its rays through the patio windows into the rec room, gently warming their faces as they slept. Buddy got up and roamed around the rec room aimlessly, occasionally sniffing one of their sleeping heads before wandering off to somewhere else in the house. Ashley was the first one awake, and she slipped out of her sleeping bag and put herself together in the bathroom, making sure her makeup was perfect. And just as the other two roused from their slumbers, Ashley began putting pots and pans on the stove, heating up water and slicing ham.

  Jess woke up somewhat startled. The nightmare she had was fresh on her mind, but as soon as the light of day hit her, the terrible dream seemed to wash away. She was in her house and she was safe. She gave her head a shake, still a little troubled, but she calmed down and wrote it off as just a bad fantasy.

  She and Tyler got up and sleepily walked into the kitchen, yawning and straining their eyes at the sun filtering in through the window.

  "What are you making?" Jess asked.

  "Eggs Benedict. I brought over some ingredients yesterday to make them," Ashley said as she moved to the stove and whisked the hollandaise sauce. "What's a slumber party without a good breakfast?"

  "Of course," Tyler said, rolling his eyes. "But that does smell pretty good."

  "You'll be licking the plate when I'm through with you," she said.

  "You know, you really should be a chef," Jess told her. "Not to dissuade you from coming to university with me, but you'd be a natural at it."

  Ashley popped some English muffins into the toaster. "Yeah, I thought about it, but you know how my parents are. They want me to get a more 'traditional education', whatever that means."

  When breakfast was done, she served it up for them, stacking English muffins, sliced ham and poached eggs, all drizzled in a creamy hollandaise sauce and garnished with fresh chives.

  The breakfast was so good that Jess almost cried, finding it hard to keep herself from rolling her eyes up into her head with each bite. Even Tyler had to admit defeat and say that it was delicious. Ashley smirked as she put the pots and pans in the sink with some soapy water to soak, then she joined them at the breakfast table.

  "So what do you guys want to do today?" Jess asked.

  "Actually, I had a good idea," Tyler said.

  "Took long enough," Ashley teased.

  Tyler ignored her. "How would you ladies like to do something fun tonight?"

  "What do you have in mind?" Jess asked.

  "It'll be a surprise," he said with a smirk.

  "Oh God..." Ashley said.

  "Just a little something I'm going to set up for you. Why don't you two go see a movie tonight, then come back here when it's done? The surprise should be ready by then."

  Jess thought about it, not knowing at all what he was up to, but finding herself intrigued by the prospect. "Okay," she said with a smile on her face. "But it better be good."

  "Oh, it will."

  Ashley drove the car her parents had bought her around the block toward Jess's house. The sun had set for the day and a cloudless night sky stretched above them.

  "I don't think I've ever seen you cry so much at a movie," Jess said.

  "He saved the box for all those years!" Ashley cried. "Even with the house fire!"

  "Yeah," Jess admitted, "that was pretty romantic."

  A smile crept over Ashley's face.

  "What?" Jess asked.

  "That should be you and Tyler."

  "Ash, come on."

  "What, you don't like him?"

  Jess fiddled with her fingers. "I do, I mean I think. But... I don't know."

  "What's not to know?" Ashley asked. "He likes you too."

  "I think he tried to kiss me last night," Jess said.

  "What?! Really?"

  "Yeah, it was—"

  Ashley pulled down the street and turned into Jess's driveway.

  "That's weird, Tyler's truck isn't here," Ashley said. "What the heck, Tyler? I thought he was setting up a surprise or something."

  "Maybe he's not back yet," Jess offered.

  Ashley slowed the car to a stop and turned off the engine. They climbed out of the car and looked around. The road winding through the suburb was quiet, and everyone was settled in their houses for the evening, but there was no sign of Tyler anywhere. In fact, all the lights in Jess's house were off, too.

  "Maybe his mom got off from a shift and needed something?" Ashley guessed.

  "I hope he fe
d Buddy like he was supposed to," Jess said, starting to get an anxious feeling in the pit of her stomach. She looked at the house as they approached it, and she thought that this was the first time she'd ever seen the house at night with no lights on.

  They walked up the steps and Jess tried the doorknob, but it was locked. "I guess he really did leave," she muttered as she pulled her keychain out of her pocket. She slid the house key into the deadbolt and turned it, then she opened the door and they stepped inside the dark house.

  "Buddy?" Jess called as she kicked her boots off into the half-open closet in the front entrance.

  There was no answer from the dog.

  She flicked on the light switch, but the light didn't come on. The whole house sat in complete darkness.

  Ashley closed the door behind them.

  Jess fiddled with each light switch on the panel, but none of them worked. "Ash..."

  "What's wrong?"

  "The lights aren't working."

  "Did you blow a fuse or something?" Ashley asked.

  "I don't know. I'll try the lights by the kitchen."

  Jess cautiously walked forward, a terrible fear rising in her chest as she patted her hands along the wall. She found the next light switch, but it did nothing either; the power to the whole house was off.

  "What's going on?" Ashley said, a tinge of fear rising in her voice as well.

  "I don't know," Jess admitted. She pulled out her cell phone and searched through it for a flashlight app. She turned it on and held her phone up, using the bright light to illuminate the darkened house.

  Jess's hands were shaking and the light subtly flicked from side to side in the darkness.

  They slowly came to the end of the hall where the wall broke away to the living room. When Jess shone the flashlight in the room, she stopped.

  "What the..." Ashley mumbled.

  The whole living room was dressed up in bed sheets, like a little kid had spent an afternoon setting up a series of forts to play in. The setup was rather elaborate, with what appeared to be a series of tunnels and passageways through the bed sheets, creating a maze.