Laura dunked the little ones in first, washing Candy and Natalie together and then letting Bobby have some privacy. She didn’t want to get far from him while he bathed because, like a little mother hen, she was constantly worrying about something happening to him. Her bedroom was right across the hall, though, and just a few steps away. With her door open and the bathroom door open she could hear his splashing and singing. His flat little voice rose in volume as he went through his Alabama repertoire, starting with “Song of the South” and working his way through all the up –tempo tunes.
Laura smiled to herself as she made first her bed and then Mary’s and picked up dirty clothes from the floor. She was also hot and sweaty but her bath would be last; it always was.
She was standing in the middle of the room, hands resting on little–girl hips, when her bedroom door slammed shut with a bang. The force of the blow knocked a picture of an angel off the wall and Laura squealed as shards of glass scattered around her. The picture didn’t look like it had just cracked from the fall, it looked as though someone had stomped on it.
Shaken and disturbed, Laura warily eyed the door as she bent down and began using her bare hands to scoop up the shards of glass into a little pile. A bigger piece nicked her hand and when a thin sliver of blood appeared she put it to her mouth, tasting the bitterness and salt. She’d need a Band Aid and she needed to check on Bobby. She realized with a start that she hadn’t heard him singing in at least a minute or two.
Still nursing her hand, Laura walked to the door. It was still shut to. The wind maybe? If a breeze had come through one of the other windows it was possible it had forced it closed. Bobby getting out of the tub and playing a trick on her? She didn’t think so. She’d pretty much scared him out of standing up in the tub without her.
To Laura’s dismay, when she turned the knob and pulled the door didn’t budge. Hitting it with her uninjured hand she tried to unjam it. It didn’t work.
“Bobby!” she cried through the door. “Bobby, are you okay?”
Nobody answered from the other side.
The keyhole was made for a skeleton key. She’d seen those in her grandma’s old house. There weren’t any in her house, though, at least not that she’d noticed. Could someone have really locked her in without her hearing it? She didn’t think so. She would’ve heard them turning the key in the lock, walking away.
“Someone come let me out!” she called, beating on the door. “Hello!?”
Nobody came.
Frantic now, with visions of Bobby lying face down in the tub and his little face turning blue, Laura panicked. Using all her strength she threw herself against the door time and time again, crushing her shoulder and hip until they ached. “Let me out!” she cried, tears streaming. “Somebody let me out!”
In defeat, Laura slumped down to the floor, her head resting on the wall. Tired and scared, she wished her angel picture was still on the wall. The beautiful woman with the big, majestic wings following the little girl and boy on the bridge had always been comforting to her. She liked to think there was an angel following her around, protecting her like that.
When the knob turned and the door began to open, Laura scrambled to her feet.
“Hey, you okay?” It was Mary, looking confused. “What’s with the yelling? You’re about to give Jenny a heart attack.”
Ignoring her, Laura darted past her sister and made a beeline to the bathroom. Bobby sat in the tub, the water now a dirty gray, and gazed quizzically up at her. He was playing with a boat and bucket and humming under his breath.
Laura’s whole body relaxed in relief. At least he was okay. “Did you hear me crying, did you hear me yelling?” she asked as she helped him from the water.
“No,” he shrugged. “But I wondered why you closed your door so hard.”
With everyone else bathed and dressed Laura could finally have the bathroom to herself. She cleaned out the tub of toys, ran water for a minute to rinse out the dirt they’d all left behind, and then started filling it with warm water and bubbles. Everyone else had nearly used all the hot water already so her bath would be on the chilly side but she was used to that.
She knew she didn’t have long because any minute Jenny would be calling her to come help with supper. With the water running she went back to her bedroom and gathered some clean clothes. She thought she was only gone for a few seconds but when she returned she was surprised to find the bathroom had filled with steam. It was coating the mirror and the toilet and sink felt wet to the touch from the condensation. Steam was rising from the tub in billowy waves. Well, she thought, maybe the hot water situation here is better than I thought.
Standing in front of the mirror she wiped it down with a cloth, undressed, and laid her dirty clothes neatly in the hamper. Laura was just about to stick her foot in the tub when something caught her from the corner of her eye. A shadow, dark and fluid, passed quickly before the mirror. It happened so fast that Laura wasn’t sure she’d really seen anything at all but when she looked down at her arms small goose pimples lined them, from her shoulder to her hand.
Shivering, she lowered herself into the bath and quickly began to wash off, trying to ignore the crawling sensation on her scalp. She tried singing to herself, a George Strait song that always made her happy, and forget about everything that had happened that morning and afternoon. Old houses had personalities, that’s what she’d always heard. Old houses made funny noises, had drafts, and sometimes smelled strange. She was just tired from the move, missing her friend, and not settled in yet.
She felt, rather than saw, the thing that watched her. She didn’t know how long it had been there, distracted she was by her own thoughts and actions. Something rustled in the doorway, however, and she stopped moving, her hands still entrenched in the shampoo in her hair.
The chills came again, quickly this time, and every hair on her body stood at attention. She was being studied, that much she was sure of, and it wasn’t by anyone in her family. Forcing herself not to look at the door, the terrified Laura rinsed her hair with speed she didn’t know she had and then pulled the plug on the drain. The eyes boring into her burned her skin, a cold heat that was shocking. She could see her heart beating through her chest, the skin moving up and down with impossible speed. Her blood was like an icy river, the fear threatening to freeze her in her tracks.
She needed to get out of the tub, she needed to grab her towel, but that would mean turning her head and looking at the door. The thought of what might be there stunned her in fear, the most vivid sensation she’d ever felt. “Daddy,” she whimpered, praying he’d be able to hear her thoughts and come to her. She thought of calling out downstairs, bringing up one of her siblings, but her throat was tight. She didn’t think she could holler if she tried.
With slow, easy movements she lifted herself from the tub and grabbed the towel on the back of the toilet. The softness felt good on her skin, its weight a shield against whatever was out there. Feeling stronger now she slowly turned to face the door, her eyes clenched shut and her teeth grinding against each other.
With determined resolution she gathered all the courage she’d ever had, thinking about the super heroes in movies she loved, and opened her eyes to what was waiting for her.
The figure that stood before her was just a few feet away. If they’d both stretched out their hands they could’ve touched one another. The long hair, dark dress that brushed the floor and delicate hands could only belong to a woman. Where her face should’ve been, however, there was nothing but a pale void.
“Ahhhhkkkkk!!!!” Laura screamed, her voice returning in a ferocious roar. “Dad–EE!”
The figure gave out a solitary hiss, like a balloon running out of air, and disappeared.
Laura was still standing wet in the middle of the bathroom floor when Jimmy and Jenny found her. Shaking and crying, they led her to her bedroom where Jenny petted on her and helped her dress. Jimmy marched up and down the hallway, checking closets, looking und
er beds, and making sure all the windows were locked.
There was no question about whether or not they believed Laura. They both knew now, for sure, that their new house was haunted.
“Please don’t make me go back,” Laura sniffed. “Please don’t make me go back there.”
“You can stay here as long as you want,” Mom promised.
Laura nodded and moved closer to me. “Do you think I can come live with you?”
That idea thrilled me. It would be like having a real sister. I desperately wanted that to happen, for Laura to come and stay with us forever. We’d have so much fun together. I was aware of the fact that my attachment to her was probably over the top but we’d moved around a lot as well. I’d already attended four elementary schools myself and making friends wasn’t easy for me. When I did make friends I clung tightly to them, probably too tightly, and suffocated them with my neediness. Laura, whom I’d first met through my mother when she was student teaching in her class, humored me.
“I think your parents would miss you,” Mom said, “but you’re welcome to stay here however long you need.”
Laura understandably had a hard time going to sleep that night. We stayed up until the wee hours of the morning, talking and watching television together. We went through our repertoire of favorite movies: Grease, The Breakfast Club, and Bye Bye Birdie. When we tired of movies we baked a cake, using green food coloring in the batter. We were still up when the sun rose and conked out as Mom headed off to work. Having Laura’s feet in my face again was comforting and I slept like a baby.
Four days went by without Laura hearing from her family. She worried about them constantly.
“Do you think Daddy’s okay?” she asked one afternoon. We were walking up to the cinema on Main Street to watch Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves for the second time.
“I think they would’ve called you if he wasn’t,” I said, but I wasn’t sure. It had been strangely quiet on her family’s end and I was concerned as well. When we’d lived in our haunted house I remembered the sleepless nights, constant state of alertness, fear of what was going to happen next…It wasn’t a nice way to live.
“Do you think things will get better?” she asked hopefully after we were settled into the rough, scratchy seats and nibbling on stale popcorn.
“Maybe so,” I answered. “Maybe the ghosts just need to get it all out of their systems or something.”
I did not think it would get better, though. I thought it would only get worse, as it did in our experience. And, even worse, I hope on some level that it would get worse for them–as long as it meant Laura could keep staying with us. I wasn’t ready to give her up again.
Another four days passed by and then, on the ninth day, Jimmy called.
“You can bring Laura back home now,” he said. “But don’t bring her back to the farmhouse. We’ve moved to Winchester and don’t live there anymore. I’ll give you the new address.”
Just like that, they’d picked up and moved. We’d lasted four months in our haunted house; they’d lasted fewer than three weeks.
“Maybe he just found something better,” Mom suggested but we were unconvinced. We knew why they were moving; the house was just too much.
Taking Laura home was depressing for me but she was excited to see her family again, especially since it meant she wouldn’t have to go back to the place she’d come from. The car ride back to her family was markedly different from the one where she’d left them behind. She chattered the whole way, talking about the start of school, how much she was looking forward to seeing her siblings, and how much fun she’d had at our house.
Their new house, a trailer, was much smaller than the farmhouse but larger than the last trailer they’d lived in. They had three bedrooms so the kids were able to spread out more, but being in a small trailer park it lacked the yard and good climbing tree.
Jenny and the girls had already unpacked everything and decorated by the time we arrived. They worked quickly. We were mostly surprised by Jimmy’s appearance, however.
The last time we’d seen him his eyes were sunken in, his sallow expression almost ghostly, and he’d been hunched over in pain. Now he was standing at full height, his healthy tanned face beaming when Laura got out of the car.
“You look a lot better,” Mom said upon seeing him. “How are you feeling?”
“Better now that we’re out of that damned place.”
We all went inside and got ourselves comfortable in the living room. Laura gave herself a tour of the place, stopping to hug on everyone along the way. Although I wanted her to stay with me, it was obvious how much she’d missed her family and an unjealous part of me was happy to see them reunited.
“So what happened?” Mom asked. “You all got out of there pretty quickly.”
“You really want to know?” Jimmy asked. “It’s a hell of a story.”
Mom, Laura, and I all nodded. We were ready for it.
Day 1
Laura’s sisters had not been happy when she took off.
It wasn’t that they wanted her to stay there with them, they’d wanted to leave as well.
Scared and nervous, they’d all piled into one bedroom for the night, sleeping two to a twin bed. Natalie and Mary slept together while Brenda cuddled Candy. Bobby stayed in his parents’ room. With little room to move, the stuffiness, and the events of the day stacking against them it was difficult to sleep. They all tossed and turned throughout the night, although the night as a whole passed by without incident.
When the kids woke up the next morning Jenny fixed breakfast and the day carried on as usual. Mary watched the younger ones while Jenny took Jimmy to the doctor. They stayed outside mostly, climbing the tree and running around. Nobody wanted to be indoors. When Brenda needed to use the restroom she’d walked behind the house and found a spot in the grass.
The doctor could only say that he thought Jimmy had sprained his back, probably from moving. He prescribed him some muscle relaxers and Jimmy popped two after picking them up from the pharmacy. Although they made him incredibly sleepy, they did little to ease his pain.
When Jimmy and Jenny returned home he laid back down on the couch and watched westerns the rest of the day. Jenny attempted to scrub the stain in the kitchen floor again and the kids cleaned their bedrooms. Life went on as normal. At suppertime they all ate Hamburger Helper and helped with the dishes.
Lulu ran around outside, barking happily, but nobody could get her to come in for bedtime. She refused to come any closer than the steps to the front porch.
“Come on, Lu,” Bobby pleaded, tugging at her collar. “It’s gonna rain tonight.”
Lulu wouldn’t budge, though, and held her ground. When Bobby climbed down the stairs and tried to wrap his arms around her waist to get her to go up on the porch she let out a low, threatening growl, something she’d never done before.
“Fine,” he snapped. “Just stay out here and get wet for all I care.”
The kids slept together again that night, feeling more protected in numbers. Worn out from playing all day, none of them had a hard time falling asleep.
Day 2
Everyone managed to get through the uneventful night in peace.
Nothing happened to disturb anyone and the older ones thought that maybe the bad stuff was over, that perhaps the house did just need to get it out of its system.
Jimmy thought about calling Laura to tell her she could come home but decided to wait another day. He still didn’t feel well and it was summer break after all. He decided she might like spending more time with her friend.
Again, the day passed without incident. Cousins came over to visit and the kids all played together while the adults sat in chairs on the front porch, smoking, talking, and drinking Ale–8s. “I love Ale–8s,” Brian declared, opening up another one. “Especially when you stink ‘em in the freezer and they get that film of ice on top.”
Everyone nodded in agreement. “You know that’s why Jimmy won’t move to
Tennessee,” Jenny said. “Because they don’t sell ‘em there.”
“Hell yeah,” Jimmy said weakly. He’d taken more of the medicine but he might as well have been eating Flintstone vitamins for all the help they were doing him. “Can’t live without my drink.”
“Hey, I was going to ask you guys, what’s that awful smell from beside the house?” Brian asked. “It liked to have knocked me over when we got out of the car.”
Jenny shrugged. “We don’t know. We think it’s coming from the cellar, though. It gets worse down there.”
“A dead animal maybe?” This came from Sherry, Brian’s wife and Jimmy’s sister–in–law.
“You think you might have a sewer leak?” Brian asked. “Cause it smells like shit.”
“Maybe,” Jimmy answered. “I went down there and looked around the day Lulu got her ass stuck but I couldn’t see anything. Haven’t been able to walk much since then.”
“You want me to go take a look?” Brian offered. “I can go poke around.”
As a general contractor Brian had plenty of experience with these kinds of things and was good at his job. With permission from Jimmy he and Sherry gathered flashlights and headed for the cellar. The minute they peeled back the linoleum and opened the trap door the kitchen filled with the same awful, putrid smell. “Yeah, that’s gotta be sewage,” Brian attested, wrinkling his nose.
Sherry didn’t flinch. “My scent’s gone thanks to the cigarettes. This is one of those times I’m glad I took up smoking.”
The long flight of stairs down to the bottom only prolonged the agony, as the stink grew stronger and stronger with their descent.
Two Weeks: A True Haunting (True Hauntings Book 3) Page 4