Haunted House Tales

by Riley Amitrani

  ~

  “Kyle, wait up,” Frances shouted. It was the next morning. Frances hadn’t spoken to Kyle since the cop had taken him in for questioning yesterday. Another cop had driven Frances home. She saw Kyle again in the distance. She ran across the campus grounds following Kyle who was weaving in and out of the crowd.

  “Hey Frances,” a voice said. Frances stopped. Ashley was standing at the animal rights stall, a leaflet held in her hand.

  “Oh, Ashley hi.” Frances winced.

  “I thought you were working the pitch this morning,” Ashley said. “Gareth said you were sick or something?”

  “Sick…yes, I’m sick. I’m just on my way to the campus doctor,” Frances did an unconvincing fake cough. “I’ll see you around.” She walked off and scanned the crowd for Kyle. There were people everywhere. Handing out leaflets, advertising societies, and sororities. People were eating ice cream, sitting on park benches studying or laying on the grass. Kyle wasn’t one of them. Frances felt a pang of longing to be the same as all the other students and to just be worrying about studying, not anything else.

  “Frances,” a voice said behind her. It was Kyle. She swung around and hugged him.

  “Kyle I’m so sorry about last night. How was the precinct?”

  “They just checked my licence and number plate and made me wait for a while. I think they just wanted to scare me, probably because I’m young.”

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t know we were parked up illegally. And to accuse us of about to… you know in public. That’s just silly.”

  “Look, I need to get to class.” He started to walk away.

  “But Kyle last night wasn’t for nothing,” Frances ran around him and stood in front of him, forcing him to stop. “That car wasn’t insured.”

  “What car?”

  “The car we followed,” Frances said, shaking a piece of paper in his face.

  “He wasn’t insured? He must be a dog killer.”

  “There’s no need for sarcasm Kyle,” Frances said. “It’s not just that. The last known owner of the car was a criminal, Leonard McMillen. He was convicted for assault in 2014. Kyle, there is something bad going on here I can sense it. We need to go back tonight and break into the pet store.”

  Have You Found What You Need Yet?

  “Just push it in a bit more,” Frances hissed in between gulps of air.

  “I’m trying to, but it’s stuck,” Kyle said, wiping sweat from his brow. “There, it’s in.”

  Kyle was crouched down in front of the door handle to the back door of ‘The Old Pet Store.’ He had put the end of a screwdriver into the keyhole and was trying to force it open. “What do I do now? This isn’t going to work!”

  Frances was shining a flashlight on the hole. “Just keep trying,” she whispered. She heard a rustling sound behind her. She shone the flashlight around the trash cans to check there was no one around. There wasn’t, and it was probably just a cat, or worse a rat. That didn’t comfort her in the slightest. She turned back around to where Kyle was still trying to pick the lock. She shone the light above the door and noticed a window that was ajar.

  “Lift me up,” she said.

  “I’m still doing this, and I think it’s almost there.” He said.

  “No, look there’s a window…you just need to lift me up.” Frances put her foot onto Kyle’s knee, and before checking that he was ready, she stood on him and reached up.

  “Oww! What are you doing?” he said, falling flat on his back. Frances fell too. He grabbed her by her hips to stop her falling on top of her, she stopped, her face close to his. She paused on her hands and knees over him and tried to regain her composure. She looked into Kyle’s eyes, and realised that his hands were still on her waist. He looked up at her and realized he was still touching her.

  “Oh sorry,” he said, taking his hands off her waist. Frances didn’t reply. She was too busy looking to the side of him. She reached down to the floor. He was lying on top of an old doormat. She pulled it to one side. Underneath it was a key.

  “Unbelievable, there’s a key here,” she said. She jumped up and put it in the lock. It fit the lock perfectly. She turned it and the door unlocked. “Come on,” she whispered to Kyle who was still on the floor.

  The door opened with a creak. Frances lifted her hand to the wall to try the light switch, then thought better of it. She reached into her pocket and took out the flashlight she had bought with her. She turned it on and looked around.

  They were in a room behind the store. It was square and had shelves on all sides. There were boxes of dog toys and other supplies on the shelves. She went over to an unmarked cardboard box and tore it open. There were boxes of printer paper inside. The door slammed behind her with a bang. She turned around and shined her flashlight on Kyle who was standing behind her.

  “Kyle! You made me jump,” she hissed.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to slam the door,” he said with a shrug. “Can you hurry up and look around so we can go?” Frances nodded and looked at the shelves. There was nothing untoward. She went over to a door at the front of the room, the floorboards creaking as she stepped. She opened it slowly and peaked in. It led to a corridor. In front of her was another door, to the side was a staircase leading to upstairs.

  “What have you found?” Kyle hissed.

  “A staircase,” Frances replied. She headed up the stairs, stepping quietly even though she knew the store was empty. They had watched Mr. Morgan leave over half an hour ago. When she got to the top, there was a door in front of her. She tried the handle, but it was locked. She shone her light into the keyhole and peeked in. She couldn’t see anything since it was too small. She headed back down the stairs to Kyle who was waiting at the bottom, watching her. She tried the door in front of her. It led to the pet store. By her flashlight she could see that it looked much the same as in the day, apart from the metal shutters were pulled down in front of the glass windows. She could hear the sound of puppies at the front of the room. They were snuffling and yapping softly to each other. They sounded content. Frances headed to the cash desk. She lifted the wooden counter flap and went behind the counter. She saw all of the photographs of the happy owners and dogs. Then something else caught her eye. It was an old black and white photograph hanging on the wall. She shined her flashlight on it. The Old Pet Store, 1972. It was a photograph of a man and son standing outside of the pet store. The man was wearing a shirt and tie and a white apron over it. The boy was holding a puppy in his hands. She realised that the son in the picture must have been the owner, Ged, when he was young, the man must have been his dad. She started to shine her flashlight around the rest of the counter. She saw piles of paperwork and stockist catalogues. She picked up one book and opened it up. It was a stock list for various items he stocked.

  “Frances?” Kyle poked his head around the door. “Have you found what you need yet?”

  “No, not yet,” Frances said, turning and leaning against the till. “But there must be something here, I’m sure of it.”

  A puppy whined at the front of the store, interrupting their conversation. Frances turned to look.

  “Puppies make noise, so I’m sure he’s fine,” Kyle said. “I’ve had enough now. Let’s go before we get arrested for breaking and entering.”

  “Just give me a minute,” Frances said, as she desperately opened draws looking for clues. She knocked her flashlight on the floor as she did so. As she bent down to pick it up, she noticed a leather notebook on the floor in the gap between the counter and the wall. Frances picked it up. It was an old-fashioned leather book fastened shut with a metal lock. She stood up.

  “See, I’ve found a hidden book. I told you I’d find something,” Frances looked around for Kyle, but the store was empty. Frances shined the flashlight around. She couldn’t see him. She started to feel cold, and her hands started to tremble. She stepped forward shining her light to the doorway. She went back and headed towards th
e back room.

  As she walked, the puppies started to whine again. Frances shone her light to the front of the pet store where the row of cages was. She saw something move. It was bigger than a puppy and outside of the cage, running across the room. Another puppy started barking, then another until it had got really loud. Frances shone her light in the corners of the room. There was nothing there. Frances decided it must be her mind playing tricks on her.

  “Kyle? Where are you?” She called. She headed into the back room.

  “Look here,” a voice said behind her. Frances jumped, dropping her flashlight on the floor. The voice was Kyle, of course.

  “Kyle don’t sneak up on me,” she hissed.

  “Sorry, I think I’ve found something,” he said. He shined his flashlight on the floor. He had rolled back a carpet, exposing a wooden door on the floor underneath.

  “This is it, the room where the bad smells are coming from must be down here,” Frances said. She knelt down and tried to lift the handle. It was locked. “It needs a key,” she said. “We need to find it.” She stood up and started to look around the room. The puppies in the store started to bark louder.

  “They’re being loud. Should puppies be that loud?” Kyle said looking towards the door.

  “No, I’m going to see what is going on.” She went into the store and up to one of the cages. There were six puppies in the cage, all backed up into one corner, clambering on top of each other. “Shh, it’s ok puppies. There’s nothing to be scared of.”

  “Are they ok?” Kyle said.

  “I think so. It’s like something has spooked them. But there is no one here apart from us.” Frances heard the noise of a growl coming from behind her. She turned to look at Kyle who was standing in the doorway.

  “Kyle, did you hear that?” Frances said. “There’s a dog loose in here.”

  Kyle turned to look around “There’s nothing here.” Frances walked past Kyle and headed into the back room of the store. She shined her flashlight around the empty room. She heard the noise again. She shined her flashlight around the floor.

  “There it is again,” she whispered. “There’s a dog in here.”

  “Umm no. There are loads of puppies in the next room, but we would have seen a dog by now.”

  “But you heard it too right?” Frances said. The puppies started to make even more noise. Frances ran towards Kyle and stood close to him.

  “I think it’s time we left, don’t you?” Kyle said. Frances nodded. She grabbed hold of his hand, and they walked towards the back door. There was the sound of light footsteps behind them. It was too light to be a human. It was a dog. Frances swung around and shined her flashlight into the corner. She saw the shadow of a large dog, and then it was gone.

  “Kyle there is something here,” she said. “I think there’s a dog behind you.”

  Frances watched as Kyle swung around and shone his light behind him. There were two red eyes looking up at him. Kyle jumped back and put his hands up in the air. There was a growling noise, and the red eyes narrowed. Frances screamed and ran for the door. She could hear Kyle behind her. Then there was a scream from Kyle and a loud thud. Frances turned and shined her flashlight at Kyle who was lying on the floor, surrounded by a pool of blood that was coming from his neck.

  We May Be Here for a While

  “We need to stem the bleeding. Has he had all his shots? Is he allergic to anything?” The doctor barked. Kyle was being pushed on a stretcher through the hospital corridors. A nurse was holding gauze to his neck. Another nurse was pushing the stretcher.

  “I don’t know, maybe,” Frances said, running after them.

  “Who is his next of kin? And do you know his insurance details?” He carried on asking questions.

  “I don’t know. Can you just help him?” Frances said. They wheeled Kyle into surgery, the double doors swinging back at Frances and almost hitting her. She didn’t follow. She sank against the wall, hand held on her chest. Her breathing was quick. She sank to the floor, her legs giving up on holding her up. She put her head between her knees and concentrated on her breathing. She stared at the white floor tiles stained with Kyle’s blood. The flooring went in and out of focus as she stared. She felt nauseous from seeing the blood and the clinical smell of disinfectant. Her bag fell off of her shoulder onto the floor and landed with a thud. She remembered that she had the leather-bound book she had taken from the pet store in there. She picked up her bag and went over to the waiting area where she sat down on a plastic chair. She took the book out of her bag. It was A4 size and leather bound. The leather was hard, cracked and peeling in places and stained from being well thumbed. It was the kind of hard wearing craftsmanship that you don't get from books nowadays. She tried to pull it open, but it wouldn't budge. How strange to lock a book? She tipped the contents of her handbag out onto the waiting room table on top of the medical leaflets and magazines. She scrambled through her belongings and looked for something sharp. She found a metal nail file. She took the sharp end and pushed it into the lock until it snapped open.

  "Yes!" she shouted. She looked up and realised an elderly couple was sitting opposite her. They looked at her disapprovingly. She opened the book and looked inside. It was a file containing sheets of loose lined paper. There were around a hundred or so sheets with numbers on them. It read like a stock list, which was strange, why would he keep a list of stock under lock and key? She looked at the first line of numbers 1208197201100. They didn’t make sense. It was written in code. If it was written in code and in a hidden book, then it must be important. Now Frances just had to work out what it was.

  "Frances Riley?" A male voice said. Frances looked up. They were two tall male cops standing over her. "Can we ask you a few questions about your friend Kyle?" One of them said. She quickly closed the book and stuffed it into her bag.

  "Yes of course."

  "He has a neck injury, can you tell me what happened to him?"

  "It was a dog, from the pet store."

  "It’s a bit late to be buying a pet, isn’t it? Does one of you work there?"

  Frances realized she couldn't tell the truth. "I don’t mean a dog from the pet store. I mean outside of the pet store. It must have been a stray. We went into the pet store to use the phone to call 911."

  "So who let you in the pet store?"

  “The door was unlocked.”

  “So he was attacked by a dog outside of the pet store, and you went in to use the phone?”

  “Yes, that's right.”

  “Did the dog have a piece of glass? Because that was what caused the neck injury.”

  Frances was shocked. “Are you sure? I thought the dog bit him”

  “That’s what the doctor said. Could he have fallen on a piece of glass?”

  “Maybe, it all happened so quickly. Maybe when the dog jumped up at him, he fell.” Frances thought back to the dogs red eyes glowing in the dark. Maybe it wasn’t a dog after all.

  “So Kyle somehow hurt his neck, then you broke into the store to use their phone to call 911?”

  “Yes… I think so. Yes, that’s what happened.”

  “That is definitely what happened?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then why was your 911 call made from a mobile?”

  Frances didn't answer straight away. She had walked into that trap. She noticed the cop who asked her was staring intently at her looking to see what her reaction was. “I went into the store to use their phone, then realised I had my mobile on me. I'd forgotten with the shock and all, to be honest, everything is a blur, and I just want to know if my friend is ok." The cop wrote everything down on his notepad.

  "Ok, that's all, for now, Miss Riley.” He paused. “We'll be in touch.”

  The cops walked off. Frances watched them as they went. They were talking. One glanced back over his shoulder to have one last look at her.

  "Frances Riley?" Frances looked to the double doors Kyle had been wheel
ed through earlier. The doctor was stood outside.

  "Yes that's me," she said as she ran towards him. "Is Kyle ok?"

  "He will be fine. The damage to his neck was just a flesh wound which has now been repaired, nothing major was affected. He was lucky it didn’t cause any more damage. Very lucky."

  Frances relaxed. "Can I see him?" She said. The doctor nodded and led her through to a room. Kyle was dressed in a gown. He was lying down, his neck bandaged up. He skin was pale. "Kyle," Frances shouted running into the room. She ran over and hugged him. He winced.

  "I’m sorry," Frances said, sitting in a chair next to him. "How are you feeling?"

  "I'm tired, but I feel ok."

  "I can't believe that dog attacked you like that." Frances reached over and touched his hand.

  “The dog didn’t touch me. I fell over, and my neck got cut on a piece of glass.”

  "The store owner must keep him as a guard dog."

  "No, I don't think he was a real dog. I think he was a ghost."

  Frances sat in silence for a second, waiting for Kyle to say he was joking or something. But he laid there in silence looking up at the ceiling.

  "A ghost?"

  "Yeah, it definitely wasn't a normal dog, didn't you see?"

  "I couldn't really see anything. It was too dark. I just saw a big dog attack you."

  "No you didn't, you didn't see a dog there. It was invisible. Apart from its eyes."

  Frances thought back to being in the pet store. The darkness, the horrible sound of the puppies yelping, and the dog. She could see the dog's shadow moving around the room, the sound of its snarl and its eyes, but she couldn't think of how it looked. But that didn't mean it was a ghost, did it? And besides ghosts weren’t real, let alone ghost dogs.”