by Carrie Bates
Leonard choked and struggled for breath as the two spirits tumbled and fought like a pair of stray cats.
The moment he regained his breath, he sprinted to the bedroom, locking the door behind him. Catherine sat up in bed, her slumber disturbed by Leonard’s abrupt entrance.
“What’s going on?” she said, sleepily.
Leonard swore. “We have to get out of this place!” he proclaimed. “That Elizabeth freak almost killed me! Mary swooped in and saved me, and now they're fighting to the death… hang on… yeah, that doesn’t make sense.”
A window exploded in the room across from their bedroom.
“Oh my God!” Catherine yelped. “They’re going to destroy this place! We have to stop them!”
Leonard remembered something just then that he had vaguely heard Nadine mention. “Cath, I think this house came with insurance.”
“What?!” Catherine didn’t understand the significance of the statement. “Leonard, there are rabid ghosts destroying our house, and you’re worried about the―oh…” Catherine understood. “We need to get that agreement.”
“Just one problem with that, Cath,” Leonard said, cringing, “I left it in the drawer of the bedside table in the master bedroom.”
The couple waited until the sounds of destruction subsided before plucking up the courage to leave their safe haven. They jaunted quickly from their room to the master bedroom, hands held tightly. If they were going to die, they’d die together.
They entered the master bedroom, their hearts pounding so violently they could feel each other’s pulse. Leonard reached into the bedside drawer, procuring the agreement.
“I’ve got it!” he announced. “Let’s go!”
“Not so fast.” Both Leonard and Catherine cringed at the sound of the spirit’s gravelly voice. “I will not have my house stained by the likes of bottom feeders such as yourselves! Now that I have silenced my daughter the way she silenced me, nothing can stand in my way. The Redding legacy will live on!”
The ghost of Elizabeth rose its disgusting clawed hands above its head, capturing the breath from both Leonard and Catherine. The couple hit the floor like pillars of salt, their hands still clasped. They were helpless beneath Elizabeth’s horrible spell.
“Never again will the filth of this world plague the Redding name!” she cackled.
The world as they knew it faded before Catherine and Leonard’s vision. Just as the darkness threatened to take their bodies away, a magnificent light burst forth, showering the room in a blinding golden splendor. Gasping and squinting, Leonard and Catherine sat up in awe. Standing before them was a figure of light. It was an angel. As the fiery glow dimmed, the silhouette of a man took shape.
Chapter Nine
“Hello, Elizabeth,” the figure spoke. His voice was as smooth as velvet. “My name is Frank. Remember me?”
The ghost of Elizabeth unhinged its jaw and released a sound so sinful it sent cracks splintering up the walls. Catherine and Leonard fused their hands to their ears, lest they go deaf.
“Your daughter is safe with me. You’ve punished her enough. Now, it is your turn to face your crimes.” The man’s skin blazed like embers of coal. Fire consumed his body, though it did not appear to be burning him. Leonard and Catherine embraced one another and shuffled as far from the two creatures as they could. A mixture of horror and amazement coursed through their veins.
Elizabeth screeched as Frank’s fire devoured her chair and scorched her skin. “When my fire is done, it will have wiped both you and this foul house from the map!” Frank turned to address Catherine and Leonard. “Upon my devouring of this devil’s soul, there will be a moment for you to flee this place before it goes up in flame. Save yourselves before it’s too late!”
Snakelike tendrils of fire shot from Frank’s body, burrowing themselves into Elizabeth’s phantom form. Elizabeth loosed an ear shattering scream before her spirit crumbled and oozed. Then, everything was still. All that remained of the scene was a black puddle of slime.
With the house agreement balled up in his back pocket, Leonard scooped Catherine up in his arms and evacuated the building. Once outside, the couple stumbled to the car. Behind them, the house erupted in flame. The explosion sent shingles hurtling to the earth like asteroids. Leonard slammed his foot on the gas pedal, propelling the car out of the driveway, leaving everything in the house to burn.
Two Months Later
Nadine had been wise to suggest reviewing the fine print of the Redding house agreement. As it turned out, Leonard and Catherine were suckered into buying house insurance, which for them, worked highly in their favor. Due to the historical nature of the house, the wiring, insulation, and foundation of the house was old and outdated. On occasion, this could lead to accidents such as a house fire.
Leonard descended from a ladder, having just installed the final curtain rod in their new house. Although smaller than the Redding house, this house had been recently redesigned by an aspiring architect, who then flipped the place for a profit.
“Well,” Leonard said, collapsing onto the sofa, “what do you say, Nadine, is this place haunted?”
Nadine chuckled and shook her head. “Not that I can sense.”
Leonard and Catherine had invited Nadine for dessert in order to thank her for giving them the clue about the contract. It was because of her that Catherine and Leonard were able to get reimbursed for the money they’d put into the Redding house, as well as the approximate worth of all the possessions they’d lost in the fire. They also relayed to her all that they had witnessed before the destruction of the house.
“You two saw some pretty wild stuff in that house,” Nadine remarked, digging into her slice of pie. “I bet you’d make a pretty penny off of those stories if you wrote them down.” She winked at Catherine.
“I’m still having trouble accepting that what we saw was really real!” Catherine proclaimed.
“You’re telling me!” Leonard piped in.
“What does real even mean?” Nadine questioned, rhetorically. She placed her plate of half eaten pie on the coffee table in front of her. “I’m going to be honest with you both, I didn’t think you were going to make it! I thought the next time I’d be talking with you would be beyond the grave!”
“Anyway,” Leonard said, in attempts to change the subject, “what do you think of the pie? Neither Catherine nor myself possess particularly good pastry skills, so we researched the best bakery in town. The reviewers recommended this pie.”
Nadine took up her plate, placing another forkful of the dessert into her mouth. “Very interesting choice,” she remarked. “Very interesting, indeed.”
“Why is it interesting?” Catherine asked.
“Normally, I don’t care for sweet potato pie,” she explained, “but this pie―this pie, I like!”
Epilogue
One year later
Catherine smiled at Leonard, gently squeezing his hand. "I can't believe we've been married four months already."
"Four long months," Leonard said, laughing, and moving away quickly to avoid Catherine's clenched fist trying to make contact with his arm.
Catherine thought about the beautiful beach sunset wedding they had had, surrounded by their closest family and friends. It had been a dream come true, and she had felt like a real princess that day.
The horror of Elizabeth had started to fade from their memories. It seemed like only a dream now, well a nightmare really, and Catherine was looking forward to going through life with her husband. And kids. She wanted two - a boy and a girl.
"Babe, what should we have for supper tonight?" Leonard lazily asked, settling on the couch and pulling Catherine down beside him.
"Spaghetti? Takeout pizza? Soup? There's cheese and bread in the kitchen, I can make grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup."
"Sounds good to me, hon."
Catherine turned on the radio and sang along with her favorite songs as she heated the soup on the stove and toasted the s
andwiches. Life was good. She loved Beaufort and the new life she shared with Leonard. They had come a long way since the hellish Redding house.
Catherine shook her head. We're lucky we made it out alive. She shuddered to think of what could have - would have - happened to them if they had stayed in the house.
"Honey, supper's ready," she called out to Leonard. "Let's eat out on the patio; it's a beautiful night."
As they settled in to the blue-cushioned patio chairs to enjoy the fresh air and chirping of the birds, Catherine poured two glasses of wine.
"To us," she toasted, clanking Leonard's glass with her own.
"To sending the old witch Elizabeth to hell where she belongs," Leonard countered Catherine's toast with his own.
Whore.
Catherine spit out her soup. "Leonard?!! Did you hear that? It's Elizabeth..."
"Honey, calm down," Leonard said, gently reaching out and rubbing her arm. I didn't hear anything. She's gone. She won't be able to hurt either of us again."
The sinking feeling in the pit of Catherine's stomach began to subside. Leonard was right. She was probably hearing things. It had been over a year, and nothing out of the ordinary had happened at their new house. Leonard was right, Elizabeth was gone for good; she'd never be able to find them here.
"Sorry, honey, it was probably the breeze rustling the leaves or a bird. Anyway, so how was your day?"
Catherine and Leonard bantered back and forth until suddenly, Catherine froze. She tried desperately to move but she couldn't. She screamed for Leonard to help her, but nothing came out of her mouth.
Leonard smiled over at her. "You're quiet, babe. Is everything okay?"
No, no, no! Help me! But no words came out. Catherine could only smile.
"Good. Let's have another glass of wine."
As he reached for the bottle, Leonard's breathing became labored. He clutched his throat as his lungs caught fire. "Catherine, help me! Please..."
All Catherine could do was smile and scream in her head as she watched her husband writhe in agony before falling to the ground and becoming still.
She knew. Catherine knew what had happened and who had done this.
"You old bag!" she screamed, and this time, the words came out.
Cackling laughter surrounded her. Catherine tried desperately to move but each attempt failed her. She heard Leonard take his last breath before she fainted.
Catherine awoke to someone shaking her. "Ma'am, wake up. I'm Detective Larson. Are you Catherine?"
Catherine nodded, disoriented. Where am I? Leonard - oh Leonard... The awful events of hours ago came flooding back to her.
"My husband?" she asked weakly, afraid to hear the answer.
Detective Larson gave her a strange look. "Your husband didn't make it."
Catherine screamed. "It was Elizabeth. The old dead lady - she killed my husband. She paralyzed me, and I couldn't move - I couldn't help my husband!"
Catherine broke down, sobs wracking her body. "She killed him!"
Detective Larson looked at Catherine as if she was crazy. "Ma'am, we received a phone call last night. From you, Catherine. You confessed to poisoning your husband with cyanide. You said he was filth, and you wanted him gone."
Detective Larson picked something up near Catherine's feet. "Cyanide. You said you poisoned his soup with cyanide. This appears to be quite old; I've never seen anything like it before."
All Catherine could do was scream. "I would NEVER kill Leonard. It was Elizabeth - please, you have to believe me!"
"Ma'am, you're under arrest for the murder of your husband..."
As Catherine was handcuffed and led away, she heard Elizabeth's cackling laugh and then, again, she fainted.
The End
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More Books by Carrie Bates
Box Sets
Haunted House Horrors
Haunted House Terror
Haunted House Ghosts
Haunted House Fright
