Haunted House Tales

by Riley Amitrani

  Hoping she was just having some sort of hallucination, Kylie closed her eyes and counted slowly to ten. She exhaled deeply as a single tear fell from her eyes, but when she looked again, Josh’s inert corpse was still there, blood slowly trickling from the massive wound on his neck. Kylie could not move. It was like her feet were stuck to the floor. Then the door of the room suddenly slammed shut, shaking the frame of the room. She spun in response, knowing this time there was no way the storm outside could have been responsible. To add to the scene, a blindingly bright flash of lightning broke across the sky and shone through the window behind Josh’s body, lighting the room long enough to let Kylie know she was alone, despite the fact that the evil laughter she had heard previously was back.

  The laughter rose in volume, cackling in delight as it echoed off the walls and ceiling, making Kylie cover her ears with her hands. The footsteps returned as well, but as she wildly shone her light around the room, Kylie saw nothing…not even a shadow. Then the voice came that made Kylie’s blood run cold.

  “Welcome to The Virginia Meat Emporium, Kylie…so glad you could join us this evening…”

  The disembodied voice was distant and scratchy and Kylie flashed back to what Josh had said about Larry Evans’ own voice sounding a bit off on the phone. She shivered uncontrollably but managed to run to the door to try and escape. However, as hard as she tried the knob would not budge, apparently frozen in place. She pulled with all her strength, but the old panel, despite its nearly being splintered from age was firmly wedged into the frame. Somehow the single eroded hinge was keeping it in place.

  “Oh, don’t leave just yet, my dear…you’ve only just arrived. I’d hate for you to miss out on all the fun. I’m sure Josh would tell you all about it if he could…but you two can compare notes soon.”

  Kylie felt as if she was going mad. Never in her young life had she ever put any stock in anything resembling the paranormal or otherworldly, but if she had not in fact actually lost her mind, she was rapidly becoming a believer. She turned slowly as she heard the nauseating sound of sliding metal being pulled from flesh. As she faced Josh’s body again, she saw the sickening sight of the blood-covered knife which moments before had been embedded in Josh’s neck, hovering in the air. The implement spun upward as if grasped for action and began moving with a definite path toward her. Acting just on instinct and nothing more, Kylie raced around the other side of Josh’s body, away from the floating butcher’s knife.

  She stumbled over Josh’s feet as she ran, toppling his body to the floor and into the pool of blood that had drained from his neck. Kylie regained her balance, looking back with pain and sorrow as Josh fell face first onto the hardwood floor before she launched herself out the window behind him. Shards of glass shattered everywhere as Kylie felt herself in free fall from the upper level of the shop heading into the black of the night and the raging storm.

  Save Us, Kylie…

  Yellow Sulfur, Virginia

  May 16, 2005, 10 PM

  The shock of her decision and the hard impact on the ground below briefly made Kylie lay still. Fortunately, she had landed on a large pile of old wood shavings just to the left of the butcher’s shop entrance. It had helped soften her fall somewhat, but not nearly enough as the old discarded heap was just a degree softer than the surrounding ground from having been undisturbed for so long. Initially, Kylie was sure she was dead. In her brain, before she came to fully, she did not see how an uncontrolled fall from that height could have been survivable. However, as she lay across the sodden chips, the rain brought her awake and she realized she was still very much alive. Alive was good, she reasoned, but as she took a closer assessment of her body she immediately came to realize she had not escaped the fall completely unscathed.

  There were a number of minor to moderate lacerations on her face and legs and arms, though none of them seemed to be life-threatening at the moment. Fortunately, her coat and jeans had provided some protection from the broken glass of the window or she guessed it might have been much worse. But then she tried to stand. This did not work out so well. No sooner had she gotten her feet under her and tried to get up when she felt a wrenching pain in her left leg which made her cry out and collapse. She felt along her jeans and though there was no bone protruding from her skin, it was obvious the bone was at least fractured. Kylie tried several times to get up, even on her one good leg, but even hobbling along was causing too much jostling of her other leg and she fell hard to the ground again after her third attempt.

  Terrified that the spirit of Larry Evans would not give up so easily, Kylie tried dragging her body along, but the pain was just too great and she collapsed on the doorstep of the shop, crying, knowing there was no way to get into town for help on her own. As well, no one in Yellow Sulfur knew she was there…since she was out of town, not even Edna Rogers might come looking for her anytime soon. The shop was so out of the way and Kylie’s mind raced, wondering how she would bet herself out of this predicament. Could you die from just a broken leg? Would the bones sever vessels to make you bleed out internally? And what if the Evans-thing came for her again? And worst of all, even if she survived, who in their right mind would buy a story about Josh being killed by a long-dead butcher and then threatening her?

  Then from nowhere, an amorphous cloud of blue began to materialize just in front of her. Sure that it was the Evans-thing coming to finish her off, Kylie made one last ditch effort to squirm and crawl away through the mud and muck. She was sure she was making progress, but when she glanced up again, it had just been hopeful thinking. Kylie found herself just a few inches along from where she had been previously lying. Her chest heaved as she sobbed, trying to prepare herself for a similar demise that Josh had endured. She looked up again, and the blue cloud had coalesced into an orb, that was growing in size and soon came to take the shape of a human form.

  As Kylie gazed into the misty form taking shape before her, she had no idea what was coming next. Though she had no idea what the specter form of Larry Evans might look like, something in the back of her mind told her this apparition was something else. The face of the thing taking on a clear resolution in front of her now had a huge, gaping wound in the side of the head, and somehow, someway, fresh blood was draining from the gash, much as had been the case with Josh. Even though Kylie was sure this was not Evans, the site was so horrifying and grotesque that she felt a fresh scream forming in her throat. However, at the last second, she held her voice as she looked deeply into the face of the ghost and saw pain mixed with compassion. It did not mesh with the vile and despicable characteristics she had just experienced in the room from the voice where Josh had died.

  Without speaking, the image smiled weakly at Kylie and let her know he meant her no harm. That he had come to her to help. Kylie eased onto her side, letting her damaged leg rest atop the other and listened telepathically to the entity as he gave her the entire sordid and appalling back story on Larry Evans. Kylie felt her heart sink as she took it all in; how Evans had been a serial killer in his days as a physical entity; how he had committed suicide as the police closed in on him many years ago; and finally, how he had still continued his murderous ways from the other side by luring unsuspecting visitors to his old shop by posting notices in the window of his shop. Kylie’s visitor told her how this had been going on for years, but that since Evans only targeted people passing through Yellow Sulfur, no one ever really suspected anything untoward.

  Kylie thought back now at how Josh had fallen under the guise of the apprenticeship posting. With a subjective eye, she could now see how the pitch and the offer were too good to be true. Josh had just been taken in by it all, as had she, due partly to their naiveté and trustful nature that came with their youth and lack of life experience. The entity sat with Kylie and explained to her how people taken in violent manners in their physical lives often got attached to their former places of residence unable to move on to the next plane of existence. This was the case for himself as well
as many others who had been Evans’ victims over time. Evans, on the other hand, was just a naturally psychopathic and evil presence, both then and now. For him, it was not a matter of being stuck due to a sudden or violent death by another hand, but that he enjoyed his murderous spree, and had no intention of ending it just because he no longer possessed a physical body on Earth.

  The specter let her have the time to process all of this as he went along, before presenting a proposal that could break the chain of Evans’ hold on the space still occupied by the old butchers’ shop. Kylie wept as the ghost talked to her, knowing Josh, as she had known him was gone to her forever. All her thoughts of a life together with him vanished before her eyes as the pain of the loss stabbed her in the soul.

  “You can stop it all, though, Kylie…” the apparition said to her in her head.

  “Me? What do you mean?”

  “Until you came along, no one has ever seen what Evans is capable of first-hand and to escape his hand of death…”

  “So? I am not following you…”

  “Until someone on the physical plane steps in and puts an end to this cycle of torture and murder, none of us will ever be able to rest. We will never be able to move on and will be forced to spend all of eternity trapped in this psychic bubble with this madman. Do you understand?”

  “I get your words, but I don’t see how I can do that…or what I would even need to do to make that happen.”

  “It is in your heart and soul, Kylie. Inside you, you do know. It may just not be a conscious thought for you yet.”

  “I see. What about Josh?”

  The ghost hesitated, not wanting her to endure any more pain and suffering than she already had over the loss of Josh. As well, he did want what needed to be said next to be taken as being manipulative based on what he and all the others were asking of her. Finally, he spoke again, hoping his image of Kylie was as accurate as he suspected.

  “Kylie…Josh will soon be transformed to join our group as well. Since he was just recently murdered by Evans, it will take some time, but eventually, unless this chain is broken, I am afraid Josh will become just another like me and the others: stuck in a hideous form of limbo.”

  Kylie supposed she had predicted this response as she was listening, but to hear the actual words now made her weak and nauseous just entertaining the thought of her beloved Josh being in such a situation. As she sat and conversed with the spirit, the rain petered off and quit and the clouds drifted away as well, revealing a clear night sky full of stars and a crescent moon high in the black sky.

  “My time with you is coming to a close. Kylie. All I wanted to do was come to you and plead for your help…for all of us. We know you will do what is in your heart, and what is right for you and us…farewell, Kylie…”

  With his last words to her, the specter faded in form and vanished from view like a mist or a vapor evaporating back from whence it had come. Kylie sat for a few minutes wondering if what she had just seen was real. It had seemed so at the time, but the rational, logical side of her brain was casting doubts. The whole experience had overwhelmed her system. Between that and the loss of Josh and the extreme pain in her leg, Kylie could no longer stay upright and she collapsed, a dark veil drawing over her.

  I’m Sorry Officer…Did You Say I Am Under Arrest?

  Yellow Sulfur, Virginia

  May 20, 2005, 7 AM

  Kylie awoke, finding the sun warming her face from a nearby window as she lay on a bed of crisp white linens. Her head felt fuzzy and she had no idea where she was and how she had gotten there. As she got her bearings, it became obvious that she was in a hospital of some sort. Her cuts and lacerations had been dressed and her leg, now cast in plaster, was elevated in a sling over her. Kylie lay still and thought back, suddenly recalling all that had happened on the night she had gone looking for Josh at the butchery. It all came back in a rush: the old abandoned shop, Josh dead in that chair with a massive carving knife embedded in his neck, the disembodied voice of the Evans-thing as it threatened her, her desperation dive out of the second-floor window, the visit from one of Evans’ other victims begging her to intervene on their behalf.

  At first, in the midst of her addled memory, she wondered if she had experienced some fantastical dream. But the longer she thought about it, the more she knew this was not the case. The dressings on her cuts and lacerations as well as the thick cast on her leg were sure not from “some dream”. The sight of Josh’s corpse in that chair was as real as it got as well, and the conversation with the visiting ghost was too vivid in details to have been a creation of her dream state. The loss of Josh hit her again fresh, and Kylie felt like she was lost. It was only then that she glanced over to see that one of her wrists had been cuffed to the rail of the bed.

  She had no idea what day it was and therefore how long she had been unconscious. But more to the point, why was she cuffed to her bed? She felt her anxiety rise, but before she completely flipped out, Kylie had the presence of mind to page the nurse on duty to get some answers. There would be plenty of time to flip out later, Kylie said to herself, if need be, once I get some basic questions answered. She took a couple deep breaths and exhaled completely and then reached over to press the call button for the nurse. In less than a minute, her door opened and a nurse entered responding to her call.

  “Welcome back, Miss White…” the nurse said as she came to Kylie’s bedside, “we were wondering when you might wake up.”

  “Thanks…I guess…” Kylie stammered as she looked at the nurse’s tag, “Nurse Minson.”

  “You can call me Emily…”

  “OK…sure…Emily.”

  “How are you feeling, dear?”

  “All things considered, I guess not bad. Mind if I ask you a couple questions?”

  “Sure…go ahead…”

  The nurse pulled a chair up closer to Kylie’s bed and sat on the edge, trying to balance between her natural caregiving duties and what Kylie saw as a real uncertainty in her eyes like she was not really sure if Kylie might be dangerous.

  “I am still a bit fuzzy this morning. Maybe we could start with how I got here…maybe even where ‘here’ is?”

  “This is Christiansburg Memorial, dear. You’ve been with us now for about three or four days.”

  “Did you say days?”

  “Yes…you sere in pretty rough shape when you hit the ER. You had lost a bit of blood and were really dehydrated. Many cuts and abrasions as well.”

  “OK, Emily, that is odd…I have no memory of getting here at all. I am guessing these cuffs are related to how I got here?”

  Kylie rattled the short chain between her wrist and the bed rail which made Emily jerk back as if Kylie might lash out at her.

  “I am afraid I am not allowed to say anything more, dear. I was just to make sure you were OK when you finally awoke so the police could interview you.”

  “Police! Do they think I did something?”

  Kylie’s sense of flipping out was gearing up now. What exactly did the police think she had done to warrant securing her to her bed? And was it so serious that this nurse was now keeping her at a serious arms’ length and refusing to answer some simple questions?

  “Let me get the detective, dear…he can fill you in.”

  With that, Emily left the room, leaving Kylie in a new fog. She felt her respiration rate go up and her heart pound with uncertainty and fear as she waited on the detective. Kylie had never been in trouble with the police in her entire life…not even a speeding ticket…and she was definitely freaking out. The minutes ticked off, and Kylie felt like hours had passed since Emily had left…but she was sure it was just her imagination. However, as time elapsed, Kylie’s paranoia began to take over and she wondered if her room was being monitored by the cops to see how she would react upon learning she was to be interviewed by them. Then again, maybe she had just watched too many police crime drama shows on TV…

  Just then her door popped open and a young, dark-haired ma
n in a nice suit entered and smiled at her. Kylie looked over at him and tried to smile back, but she was afraid it was not really convincing.

  “Miss White?” the man asked. “Mind if we chat?”

  “Sure…” Kylie replied, “and you are?”

  “Detective Anderson. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about how you came to be in the hospital. And about Joshua Jackson…”

  Kylie motioned for him to take a seat. So that was the issue, Kylie thought to herself…they had found Josh at the butchery and now they think I had something to do with his murder…if her level of panic was a two or three on a scale of ten before, it had just jumped to a twelve. Kylie supposed she should refuse to answer questions without having a lawyer present, but against her better judgment, she pushed those thoughts away, afraid the request would just make her look guiltier in the eyes of the police. Better to play along, for now, she supposed, and then consider that option once she saw where the line of inquiry was headed.

  Detective Anderson took the proffered seat and flipped open a small notepad as he crossed his legs and looked over Kylie with curiosity. He began with a generic line of questions to get her version of how she and Josh knew each other and how they had come to be living in Yellow Sulfur. Kylie gave him the summary he apparently had expected or perhaps more accurately had already gotten from elsewhere…maybe Edna or some other or their friends from Blacksburg as he just nodded politely.

  “The two of you got along fine, then?”

  “Absolutely, Detective…. I loved Josh…I still cannot believe he is gone,”

  The detective nodded in what seemed to Kylie to be a patronizing manner, sure that he suspected otherwise if she was being accused of his murder. Like most people, Kylie knew the police always first assumed someone close to a murder victim was the murderer.