Haunted House Tales

by Riley Amitrani

  Drew looked pale with fright and Rhiannon blew out a breath in annoyance, but somehow when Kristen got up and moved to the door of the parlor, they both reluctantly came along behind her. Kristen led the way down the corridor toward the kitchen and waited until they were all together before trying the door that led to the cellar from the back of the kitchen. However, the door was locked. She looked at Rhiannon who came forward and tried the key that had let them in. The key fit, but it would not turn. She tried again several times, but nothing worked.

  “Oh well…” Rhiannon said after her last attempt to unlock the cellar door, “I guess that’s that.”

  “That was the only key, huh?” Drew asked.

  “Yep. And I am not sure we should be poking around in drawers to find the correct one. I am pushing my luck as it is to have let you two come along. I don’t want to do anything more that might nix my payday on this gig, OK?”

  “I agree,” Kristen said. “Whatever it was we heard, it was probably nothing. Maybe rats knocking over boxes or something.”

  “There you go,” Rhiannon added as she turned and went back to the parlor.

  Drew waited until he was alone with Kristen.

  “Rats?” he asked incredulously.

  “I know, I know…I was just trying to smooth all this over.”

  “Whatever it was we heard, Kristen, it was definitely not rats.”

  “I agree, but what else can we do?”

  “I guess…”

  She picked up her candle again and began to return to the parlor as well. Just before she got to the parlor door, Kristen heard Drew whisper her name and motion her to where he was standing. She turned and went to meet him a few feet back in the hallway.

  “What?” she whispered, matching his own voice level.

  “I thought I heard something else behind this door.”

  Drew motioned to the narrow panel he was standing in front of.

  “It seems to be locked as well. After finding the cellar door locked, don’t you think this is odd?”

  “Maybe, maybe not. I am sure there might be places Mrs. Glass might not want Rhiannon going into unaccompanied.”

  “Really? How many places have you lived where you locked off doors in the interior of the house?”

  Kristen had to agree that was odd, but then Mr. and Mrs. Glass were elderly and from experience, she knew inexplicable eccentricities often came with age. However, now that he had put the idea in her head, Kristen had an uncomfortable feeling about it.

  “I agree it’s a bit unusual, Drew. But it’s really none of our business, right? We’re just along for the ride here. And like Rhiannon said, she was not supposed to bring anyone else along anyway.”

  Drew nodded and they went to the parlor where Rhiannon had the DVD player set up and loaded with a movie and had arranged the snacks for them as well. If there was still any lingering animosity for her now it was not readily apparent.

  The Real Haunting of Glass Mansion: The Entrée

  Carmarthen, Wales, United Kingdom

  March 19, 2013, 2 AM

  As they settled into the movie, Kristen began to think more and more about what Drew had mentioned back in the hallway just moments ago. Even for an elderly couple, locking off rooms felt weird to her. This plus the noises she and Drew had heard coming from the cellar made her really begin to wonder if perhaps there was not something, after all, to all stories and legends that had surrounded the Glass Mansion for so many generations. Maybe Gladys Glass was not exactly a witch or a murderess, as some said, but this whole thing, now that they were inside the place, was making her believe there was something paranormal going on in the mansion.

  After the movie had been going on for about half an hour or so, Kristen felt Drew draw closer to her. She glanced over at him and could see the film was not helping calm his jitters concerning the house. As much as she would have liked to deny it, she felt the same and was becoming more and more convinced the old homestead was indeed haunted. Kristen laughed to herself as the heroine of the film made another in a great series of blunders, putting her in inescapable peril from the serial killer in the movie. Why was it, she thought, that all these films used the same general thread of characters making stupid decisions to fall into the hands of the killers.

  Before she had much of a chance to really enjoy this bit of comic relief in her mind, Kristen sat bolt upright and paused the film.

  “What are you doing?” Rhiannon asked. “It was just getting good.”

  “Wait…” Kristen whispered as she cocked her head toward the open parlor door. “Did you guys hear that?”

  “Hear what?” Drew asked, concerned at Kristen’s sudden change in demeanor.

  “Shh…” she whispered again.

  The three friends sat and waited, but it was completely silent. Even the rain outside seemed to have stopped and the winds had calmed.

  “I thought I heard footsteps or something in the hallway just now,” Kristen said as she remained sitting at alert.

  “What, again with the noises?” Rhiannon asked sarcastically. “It’s just the movie, Kristen. You are really letting your imagination get the better of you, you know?”

  “Maybe so…” Kristen replied.

  But as she looked over to Drew, she knew what she had heard and it was definitely not from watching the movie. Drew could sense her unease, and he held her hand tight to let her know he believed her, even though he had not heard anything. She smiled at him and they both sat back as Rhiannon took control of the remote and resumed the movie where Kristen had paused it. The movie ran for about another hour or so, with no additional sounds from inside the house. The only added noise was the sudden bursts of shock or surprise from the trio as the story progressed along and they yelped out in response to the action. They had all gotten so engrossed in the film, that all the weirdness and oddities that had occurred earlier seemed a distant memory. Then Drew sat up looked over at Rhiannon.

  “Could you pause it again, Rhiannon? I need to use the bathroom.”

  “Sure.”

  But even as Rhiannon paused the movie’s progress, Drew remained seated.

  “Thought you had to go pee?” Rhiannon asked, a quizzical look on her face.

  “Yeah, I do…it’s just…well…those last sounds Kristen heard a bit ago. What if that was real?”

  “Oh, come on, Drew,” Rhiannon exclaimed, “what are you, five years old? Need someone to come along and hold your hand or something?”

  Drew felt his face flush with embarrassment, realizing how childish and immature he must have sounded at that moment. Still, in his heart he was worried. He knew what the two of them had heard coming from the cellar and did not doubt that Kristen had heard more in the hallway later. And certainly, watching horror movies in this old, drafty mansion—something he would never have opted for on his own—was not helping.

  “Can it, Rhiannon! I’ve had enough of you belittling and denigrating Drew tonight! OK?”

  “Yeah…yeah…sorry.”

  Kristen knew her well enough to know this was no apology. It was obvious that Rhiannon thought Drew much too mild-mannered and overly sensitive for his age. Perhaps so, but she could see past this and relative to how most other boys their age behaved—or rather misbehaved in her opinion—Kristen did not care. To her, Drew was a breath of fresh air. She kissed Drew lightly on his cheek and smiled.

  “It’ll be OK, Drew. Make it a quick trip and hurry back, alright?”

  He nodded to her and was actually relieved to get away from the sudden shame of the situation and Rhiannon just then. Kristen was still fuming at Rhiannon after Drew left, but she held her tongue. This was obviously going to be a point of contention between the two of them, but she did not want to toss away her friendship with Rhiannon over it either. Remembering her grandmother’s advice from when she was just a little girl, Kristen closed her eyes and counted to ten, taking deep breaths as each number was counted. When she opened her eyes, she felt better and any furthe
r conflict with Rhiannon over the issue was avoided.

  Rhiannon was about to speak again, to make further amends with Kristen, but her attention was pulled away as a loud thumping sound from above made her look upward. As the sound went on, she looked over to Kristen who was now looking upward at the high ceiling of the parlor as well.

  “Guessing you this one, huh?” Kristen asked as she felt a cold shiver rattle her spine.

  “I did. That what Drew and you heard coming from the cellar?”

  “Sort of. The same type of thing, but this one is much louder and well-defined, though.”

  “Weird, huh?”

  “That’s putting it mildly, Rhiannon. And that is definitely not rats.”

  Rhiannon thought she could be right, but she had seen some fairly large members of that species when over in London a few years back. It was an old house and if the upper level had been neglected to the degree that this floor had, that was most likely the source. It was cold and dark and the house was ancient. Prime rodent territory, she thought. She was about to wave away Kristen’s suggestion that it was something more when Drew staggered back into the parlor, grasping the wall for support, his face as white as a sheet. He looked, to Rhiannon as if he might collapse at any moment. However, before that could happen, Kristen rushed to his side and helped him back to the sofa as the color began to slowly return to his cheeks.

  “What in the world happened, Drew?” Kristen asked as she passed him a glass of water. “You look so pale…it’s like you saw…”

  She was about to say ghost, when she caught herself, realizing how that would sound. It would only further freak Drew out and certainly only encourage more derision and mocking from Rhiannon. But deep inside, Kristen suspected this might be the case. Even though she had come here hoping to possibly see such a thing, the reality of it now was making her regret it.

  “I…uh…I was…uh…coming back from the bathroom when I saw this thing in the corridor.”

  “Thing?” Kristen asked as Drew began to collect himself at last.

  “Yeah. And I know how crazy this is going to sound, but I swear it looked like someone riding a horse.”

  “You cannot be serious…” Rhiannon interjected, suddenly thinking bringing this milquetoast along had been a huge error in her judgment.

  “Rhiannon, I realize how insane that sounds. Believe me. The thing is, the rider? He had no head.”

  “Oh, this is just precious!” Rhiannon said as she laughed out loud. “Out in the narrow corridor, where two people cannot even walk side by side, you saw someone galloping along on a horse. And not just any rider, but a headless rider on top of that.”

  She fell over with laughter, no longer able to contain herself at the ridiculous story Drew had just relayed. Kristen ignored her and looked into Drew’s eyes.

  “You believe me don’t you, Kristen?”

  “I do, Drew. Let me ask you this. Before you saw the person on horseback. Did you hear anything like that thumping sound we heard coming from the cellar earlier?”

  “Actually, yeah. While I was in the bathroom, I heard it again, but it was coming from above, not below me.”

  Kristen looked over at Rhiannon, but her friend was still too engaged in her own amusement at the story to acknowledge that all three of them had heard the same noises coming from above.

  “Tell me more about this person on the horse, Drew.”

  “The image was odd. Like real but not real, you know.”

  “Like how?”

  “The image was well-defined for sure. I could see all the details of the rider’s attire and the horse’s saddle and reins, but as it flew past me I could see right through them.”

  “Like transparent?”

  “Not exactly. They were a gray-white color, but I could still make out the wall of the corridor through them. Like a mist or a vapor of some sort that seemed to pulse with brighter and dimmer intensity, but then when I turned to watch them go by, they just vanished…like they were never there.”

  “You think that thumping sound could have been the hooves of the horse, Drew?”

  He pondered her suggestion and when he looked up he nodded.

  “Now that you mention it, yeah…it could have been. The sound got louder and louder as they approached me and then faded away as they went past and disappeared. Like the sound of horse’s hooves would do if one galloped by you, you know?”

  “Would you listen to the two of you?” Rhiannon asked incredulously as she stood, still recovering from her earlier laughing fit at Drew’s expense. “Drew I might expect this of. He’s hardly the poster boy for masculinity. But you, Kristen? If I was not sitting here hearing it with my own ears, I would not believe you could be taken in by such a tall tale.”

  Drew looked down, hurt by her words. But Kristen drew herself erect and glared at her childhood friend. She wanted to choose her words very carefully at the moment, but Rhiannon’s sarcastic lashing out at Drew was getting under her skin.

  “What exactly are you saying, Rhiannon?” she asked with an edge to her voice.

  “What am I saying? What do you think I am saying?” she snapped back. “The old Kristen I knew. The girl I grew up with in Cardiff is not the same one I am looking at now. I know you don’t have a ton of experience with men, Kristen, but to be taken in by his wild hallucinations because he’s freaked out over a night in an old house and a mildly titillating horror film? Just to have a boyfriend? Wow…I really don’t know what to say, Kristen.”

  In all the years she had known Rhiannon, she had never ever had her speak in such a caustic and hurtful way to her. Nor would she have thought her friend even capable of such behavior. Based on her obvious disdain for Drew as a person, she was sure it was not jealousy, but outside of that, she was at a loss to explain it. It was like Rhiannon had this hidden, dual personality she had never seen before…like she had been wearing this mask that was just now falling away.

  “I think you have said enough for one night, Rhiannon.”

  With that Kristen turned her back on her and asked Drew to show her where he saw the apparition of the headless rider on the horse. Drew smiled warmly at Kristen and took her gently by the hand and led her into the corridor to show her where he had encountered the images. Hand in hand, Kristen and Drew padded furtively down the corridor, candle flames flickering unsteadily as their free hands trembled slightly, making the light dance and flit off the dark mahogany panels of the passageway. Drew walked about two-thirds of the way along toward the bathroom and then stopped, looking around with great concentration.

  “This the spot?” Kristen whispered as she came to a stop next to him.

  “Somewhere around here,” Drew mumbled back, his heart hammering, as he wondered if the apparition would materialize again.

  “You feel that?” she asked.

  “That cold draft, you mean?”

  Kristen nodded. It was impossible to not notice the sudden drop in temperature in the narrow hallway, made even more curious as there were no windows anywhere near that might be letting air leak in from outside. But it was not just a cool breeze the two of them noticed. This was a real dive in temperature. Kristen could see clouds of vapor hanging in the air from Drew’s rapid exhalations and goosebumps were breaking out on her arms, prickling her skin. However, there was something else in the air that was giving Kristen this reaction and she was pretty sure it was not the ambient temperature alone. The fine hairs on the nape of her neck were tingling and though she could not exactly pinpoint it, there was just some indefinable sense of a possible unseen presence with them.

  The Real Haunting of Glass Mansion: Could I Clear Your Places and Maybe Show You the Dessert Options?

  Carmarthen, Wales, United Kingdom

  March 19, 2013, 3 AM

  Remembering that ghostly presences could sometimes present a trail when manifesting, Kristen slipped out her phone, hoping to perhaps capture something on her camera for examination later. Maybe even to show the overbearing and s
keptical Rhiannon some proof. Kristen snapped off a quick series of shots and then she and Drew huddled together as they scanned through what she had recorded. Neither said anything, but Kristen could feel Drew’s muscles tighten and shiver as they both saw what looked like this odd, misty or vapor-like haze on all her photos. The walls of the corridor were still visible, but the cloudy mass was making them not so visible.

  Just as Kristen looked up from her camera viewer at Drew, they were startled by a loud and rattling slam of a door just down the hallway. Kristen felt her heart leap as she and Drew looked up in surprise to see someone rushing down the corridor toward them in a panic…and the oddest of all, from the shape and size of the figure, it was definitely not Rhiannon. Despite the situation, they both froze in place as the thin, small person came closer, running along as if being pursued by some as of yet unseen attack. Drew and Kristen tensed as an old woman came to them, her hair unraveled and flying wildly, while the look on her face was full of terror and fright. She as not sure, but from all the Glass family photos she had seen around the place, Kristen was pretty sure this was Gladys Glass.

  The woman grasped Kristen firmly by her arms, the old woman’s bony fingers digging uncomfortably into her skin. Kristen had no idea what might have put the old woman into such a state of alarm, or even why she might be in the house at all. Weren’t she and Henry supposed to off on some European cruise? Gladys gasped for air as she tried in vain to speak.

  “Rhiannon! I told you to come alone!” the woman finally sputtered, as errant bits of saliva flew from her lips.

  Kristen realized Mrs. Glass had mistaken her for Rhiannon, but just let it go. She was just far too gone with fear and panic at that point to try and explain this to her.

  “You are putting your friend here as well as yourself in great peril! Get out now! Run before it is too late! As fast as you can, and do not look back!”

  With that, she released her tight grip on Kristen and continued on her mad dash down the corridor disappearing into the dark beyond the illumination of the candles that had been placed along the way. Kristen looked at Drew and without another word, they both dashed back to the parlor to get Rhiannon and fill her in on what was going on. Neither had any idea of all the details, but something had really frightened poor Mrs. Glass and they saw no reason to take any more chances based on what they had heard and experienced in this place so far.