The Ghost and the Halloween Haunt

by Anna J. McIntyre

  The two couples who had been with Walt when Annabelle appeared in the library had just finished going through the second floor when Evan told his father he needed to use the bathroom, which would require his father’s help with the costume. They both assumed they would be out of the bathroom before the next round of visitors arrived. What they hadn’t expected was a costume malfunction, which kept them in the bathroom longer than they had expected.

  While Evan and his father wrestled with the ghost costume, Carla, one of the waitresses from Pier Café, and her date, Kile, made their way to the second floor.

  To raise extra money for the fundraiser, Heather had been selling bags of popcorn in the kitchen. She had sold a bag to Carla, who carried it with her up the staircase, eating popcorn as she walked.

  “Those illusions have to be some sort of hologram,” Kile told Carla as they stepped onto the second-floor landing. “But what was the deal with the guy and the portrait in the library?” Kile, who wasn’t from Frederickport, was unaware of local history.

  “That’s Walt Marlow; his wife owns this house,” Carla began. “There was another Walt Marlow, a distant cousin to the man downstairs. He’s the one in the portrait.”

  “Are you saying the guy we saw in the library, that portrait wasn’t of him?”

  Before shoving more popcorn in her mouth, Carla said, “Nope.” She went on to tell him about the history of Marlow House as they went through the rooms on the second floor.

  “Come on, I’ll show you where the attic is,” Carla said when they stepped out of one of the bedrooms. She grabbed Kile’s hand, pulling him along with her as she hurried down the hallway leading to the attic staircase. When they reached the foot of the staircase, they found a rope with a sign barricading the attic stairwell.

  “Oh drat. I forgot. I guess they converted the attic into their master bedroom suite,” Carla said. “I remember now, Adam Nichols mentioned they wouldn’t be including the attic in the tour. But that’s where they found the body. Hanging from the rafters. For years everyone thought he had committed suicide, but Danielle found some information that pointed to murder.”

  “Who killed him?” Kile asked.

  “I think his wife and brother-in-law.”

  “For the money?” Kile asked.

  “Isn’t it always for the money?” Carla snickered.

  Kile looked up the dark attic stairwell. “Too bad they didn’t include the attic in the tour. Especially since it was really the scene of a murder.”

  Carla shrugged. “I suppose I understand them not wanting strangers tromping through their bedroom. Plus, from what I understand, the attic was remodeled. So it’s not exactly like it was when the murder took place.”

  “This is a pretty cool house,” Kile said, “but I wouldn’t want a bunch of strangers coming through it if it were mine.”

  “I suppose it’s different for Danielle. After all, she always ran it as a bed and breakfast, that was at least until her old biddy of a neighbor complained. She’s used to strangers coming and going.”

  “I suppose. Where to now?” Kile asked.

  “Let’s go in there.” Carla pointed to the door leading to Danielle’s old bedroom.

  Moments after stepping into the room, what appeared to be bats flew overhead. Both Carla and Kile let out a startled scream followed by a laugh. Curious, Kile took a closer look and spied the wires. He suspected whatever had made the bats travel over the wire was triggered by them walking into the room. Or perhaps the plastic bats simply traveled back and forth over the wire every few minutes.

  While Kile checked out the mechanism powering the bats, Carla took a close look at the skeleton sitting at the desk, seemingly writing a letter. Dressed in a vintage gown from the late 1800s, the skeleton wore a blond wig and a hat adorned with feathers.

  “Lovely. I wonder who she was.” Kile snickered after he turned his attention from the wires to the skeleton.

  Before Carla could respond, the sound of the closet door opening startled her. She jumped back, bumping against Kile while she studied the closet, wondering what was going to happen next.

  Both Carla and Kile stared at the now open closet. It revealed an empty space. There were no clothes hanging on the rod, no boxes or luggage shoved in any corner. However, light seemed to be leaking out from around the seams of the paneling on the back side of the closet.

  “What’s that?” Kile whispered, leaving Carla’s side for a closer inspection.

  With a giggle, Carla clutched her bag of popcorn as she trailed close behind Kile, anticipating something jumping out at her.

  Standing in the closet, Kile reached for the back wall, but before his fingertips touched it, the paneling slid to one side. The motion caused Carla to gasp, but Kile did not budge. He continued to stare.

  “It’s a secret passage!” Kile announced when the panel fully opened, revealing a glimpse into the hidden staircase.

  “Oh, how cool!” Carla said, getting closer to the opening.

  Kile stepped into the passageway first, his attention focused to the right, leading up the dimly lit stairwell.

  Carla followed him in, looking in the same direction, when a sound from her left drew her attention. She turned toward the sound, and the unexpected sight made her scream and jerk her hands up, tossing popcorn out of the small paper sack she was holding. There, sitting in the corner, sat what appeared to be a dead man, his eyes staring blankly in her direction.

  Carla had never seen the man before, and she had met just about everyone in Frederickport at one time or another. He looked to be in his late twenties, with short black hair, layered in dust. His white dress shirt and black slacks were also covered with dust, as were his scuffed-up black shoes. The way he sat, leaning against the back wall and his legs spread out in front of him, looked like someone who had been walking a long time and had become so exhausted that he had just plopped down to sit a moment.

  “Oh my god!” Carla reached for Kile’s hand and clutched it firmly. “Is he real?”

  Kile could feel his own heart racing. “Umm…no, I’m sure it’s fake.”

  “It doesn’t look like a dummy. But he isn’t moving. How can he look at me without blinking? Oh my god, is he really dead?”

  “Maybe it’s wax. I don’t think someone could sit like that without moving,” Kile suggested.

  “Touch him,” Carla urged. “Either he has a pulse, is made of wax, or…”

  “I’m not touching him. But I’m sure it’s all part of the show,” Kile said.

  “How can you be so sure?” Carla backed out of the passageway.

  “For one thing, they had the closet doors rigged so this would open up. At the exact time we were in the bedroom. They obviously wanted us to see it. It’s all part of the haunted house. It’s certainly not a real dead body.”

  “Are you sure?” Carla asked nervously as Kile followed her back into the bedroom.

  Standing by the foot of the bed, the pair watched as the back panel of the closet closed on its own, followed by the closing of the closet door.

  “Yeah, now I’m sure. But let’s get out of here. This place is giving me the creeps,” Kile said.

  A few moments later Carla and Kile hurried down the staircase. When they stepped onto the first floor, Carla spied Danielle walking in their direction. She paused a moment, waiting for Danielle to reach them.

  “Hi, Carla,” Danielle greeted her a moment later. “I hope you enjoyed the haunted house.”

  “I did. But it was a little too real for me,” Carla told her with a shiver.

  “I have to agree,” Kile said.

  Danielle glanced to the man with Carla. She had never seen him before.

  “Oh, Danielle, this is my date, Kile. He lives in Astoria. Kile, this is Danielle Marlow. She owns Marlow House.”

  “Nice to meet you, Kile,” Danielle greeted him. “I’m sorry if the haunted house was too scary.”

  “It’s not that,” Carla said. “You did a great job.” />
  “I have to agree. This is probably the best haunted house I’ve ever been to,” Kile said.

  “Let’s just say our nerves are a little rattled. We both could use a beer,” Carla said.

  “I was thinking of something stronger,” Kile snorted.

  “I thought the smiling head in the jar you have in the kitchen was pretty awesome—in a gruesome way. And I’m still trying to figure out the tea set in the parlor—although the ghost who pops in to pour and disappears is not too hard to figure out. After all, I have been to the Haunted House at Disneyland. But that dead body in your hidden staircase—well. It looked too freaking real.” Carla shivered.

  “Hidden staircase?” Danielle frowned.

  “Impressive how you got the closet to open right after we walked into the room. And then the way the back panel of the closet slid open. Timing was perfect,” Kile said. “But I agree with Carla, the dead body looked too real. Still creeps me out just to think of it.”

  “I had never heard you had a secret staircase before. That’s pretty cool. Especially for the haunted house. But the dead body! Yikes. Is it made of wax? I can’t believe someone could sit that long without blinking his eyes. But he looked so real—like flesh and blood.” Carla shivered again.

  “So what is he made of?” Kile asked.

  “Umm…I’m not sure. But please don’t tell anyone,” Danielle said. “It…well, we want to keep the element of surprise.”

  “To be honest, I sort of wish I had known. Might not have been so freaky,” Carla said. “But okay. I get it. It would be like telling someone how a book ends before they have a chance to finish it.”

  Danielle forced a smile and stood numbly, listening to Carla chatter on for a few more minutes before saying goodbye. After the pair exited through the front door, Danielle grabbed the closed sign she had used earlier and dashed to see Walt.

  Twenty-Four

  “We have a problem,” Danielle told Walt. The two stood alone in the library.

  “Surely this is just another spirit playing some Halloween prank?” Walt asked after Danielle finished recounting what Carla and Kile had told her minutes earlier.

  “I can’t imagine it is a real dead body. After all, the chief has been up there all evening. I don’t think anyone is going to be murdering people with the police chief down the hallway. I’m just more concerned about the spirit revealing the staircase to more people.” Danielle groaned. “And of all people, Carla?”

  “We’d better go check it out,” Walt told her.

  When they stepped out of the library, Ian was waiting for them in the hallway. “Is there a problem?” he asked.

  “We need to check out something in the attic,” Danielle told him. She looked over at the grandfather clock in the entry hall. It was almost 11 p.m. The flyers had not specified when the haunted house would close down, leaving it open depending on the crowds. “It’s getting late. How many more people are waiting in line?”

  “No one at the moment. Our last group just left,” Ian told her.

  “Then can you please tell Melony to put up the closed sign? I think we need to shut down for the night.”

  “What happened?” Ian asked.

  “I’ll explain later. But can you tell Mel it’s okay if she wants to leave after she closes up. I think it would be for the best.”

  Ian looked uneasily at Danielle and then to Walt, who stood quietly at his wife’s side, one palm placed on her lower back.

  “Okay,” Ian muttered, leaving to tell Melony they would be closing the doors.

  “Are you going to tell the chief what Carla saw?” Walt asked.

  “I think we should check it out first and then decide,” Danielle whispered.

  “You mean in case it’s a real dead body?” Walt asked, only half kidding.

  Danielle cringed. “Please, that is not even funny.”

  When they reached the second-floor landing, Danielle forced a smile when greeted by the chief.

  “What are you two doing up here?” MacDonald asked.

  “We’ve decided to close for the night,” Walt said.

  “I was wondering if you might close early. Probably a good thing. I think Evan is ready for bed,” MacDonald said. “And it is a school night.”

  “Umm…where is the little ghost?” Danielle asked, glancing around nervously.

  “He just went to the bathroom again, trying to fix his costume. We had a bit of a malfunction tonight, and he keeps trying to fix it,” the chief explained.

  “Umm…did Carla and her date say anything to you when they were up here tonight?” Danielle asked.

  “Carla? She and her date came up here when I was with Evan in the bathroom earlier. I saw them going down the stairs. I didn’t talk to them, and I’m afraid they didn’t get the full ghost treatment—Evan and I were trying to fix his costume.”

  “Oh, I think they got their money’s worth,” Walt muttered under his breath.

  As soon as Edward and Evan headed down the staircase, Walt and Danielle hurried to Danielle’s old bedroom. The moment Danielle walked into the room, bats flew by on the wire. She flipped on the overhead light, fully illuminating the room and making the wires more visible. They looked to the closet. It was closed. Danielle stood at the foot of the bed and watched as Walt opened the closet door. He then stepped into the small space and tried opening the panel. It would not budge.

  “It’s locked,” Walt told her when he stepped out of the closet.

  “I locked it earlier,” Danielle told him. “Let’s go upstairs.”

  With a nod, Walt followed her out of the room and down the hallway, to the attic staircase. When they reached the rope barricading access to the stairs, Walt moved it. Instead of letting Danielle go first, as he normally would, Walt sprinted up the steps. Once he reached the attic landing, he realized he did not have the room key, and since he was too anxious to wait for Danielle to give it to him, he used his telekinetic powers to turn the lock mechanism. After he did, he entered first, motioning for Danielle to stay back.

  She watched as Walt opened the door to the hidden staircase. She could see it was dark inside. A moment later light flooded the narrow space when Walt turned on the overhead light. Slowly approaching the doorway to the stairwell, she watched as Walt looked down the steps.

  “There’s no body,” Walt called out.

  Danielle exhaled, releasing the breath she had been holding. Stepping into the stairwell, she followed Walt down the steps.

  “But there is something down here…” Walt muttered as he reached the landing behind Danielle’s old bedroom closet. Bending down, he picked something off the floor and looked at it. Standing straight, he turned to Danielle, who stood halfway down the stairwell, watching him.

  “What is it?” she asked him.

  He held it up for her to see. “Popcorn.”

  “Carla was eating popcorn. I guess this proves they were actually in here. She obviously spilled some of it,” Danielle said.

  “What now?” Walt asked.

  With a sigh, Danielle made her way down to Walt. When she reached him, she looked around and called out, “Hello? Are you there?”

  No answer.

  “Please, I want to talk to you!” she called out again.

  “Looks like you’re being ignored,” Walt said.

  Frustrated, Danielle stomped her foot and said angrily, “Come on, show yourself. I know you’re there!”

  Nothing.

  “I just wish Marie and Eva hadn’t taken off,” Danielle grumbled.

  After the haunted house closed on Sunday, Walt and Danielle went with Heather, Chris and Ian across the street to Ian and Lily’s house. When they walked in the door, they were greeted by both Sadie and Hunny. Lily had been dog sitting for Chris.

  “I didn’t expect to see you all tonight,” Lily said in surprise, her voice a loud whisper.

  “We need to talk,” Danielle said, sitting on a chair in the living room.

  “Is Connor sleeping?
” Heather asked.

  “Yeah, he’s been down for a couple of hours now. But I expect him up soon for a feeding. What’s up, guys?” Lily asked.

  “Some things happened tonight that I think you all should know,” Danielle began. She waited for them all to take a seat before telling them about the evening’s strange haunting—from Annabelle Fortune to the body Carla claimed to see.

  “I can’t believe you have a hidden staircase,” Heather blurted when Danielle finished.

  “When did you find it?” Chris asked. “When Bill remodeled the attic?”

  “Bill doesn’t know about the staircase,” Danielle said.

  “So you found it before you had the attic remodeled?” Heather asked.

  Danielle looked guiltily to Walt, who returned a sheepish smile.

  Chris began to laugh.

  Heather turned to Chris. “What’s so funny?”

  “Think about it, Heather—the staircase led from Danielle’s room to Walt’s. No one would ever know…tsk, tsk, tsk,” Chris teased.

  “We were married,” Walt huffed.

  Chris laughed again.

  Heather looked to Lily, “Did you know?”

  Lily shrugged and flashed Heather a smile.

  “What else haven’t you told us?” Heather asked.

  Danielle then told them about the unexplained beam of light and the footprints on the hidden staircase.

  “And you’re sure one of you didn’t make the footprints?” Chris asked.

  Danielle shook her head. “It was larger than Walt’s shoe.”

  “Did the dirt disappear, like Eva’s glitter?” Heather asked.

  “Not until I washed it with a rag. But I took pictures.” Danielle pulled up the images on her cellphone and then handed the phone to Heather.

  “Do you know if Carla’s dead body looks like the tea-pouring ghost in the parlor?” Heather asked, studying the pictures before handing the phone to Chris.