Rico cleared his throat and he looked away, staring out at the street. “She also killed her husband before killing herself."
"I went to school with them but no one had seen them when the first days had started. We figured that maybe the Clarks had taken off finally and found some help."
He looked back at Sara.
"The smell began to overtake us and my mother contacted the authorities. It had been weeks before the bodies were found.”
Tears welled up in Sara’s eyes and she tilted her head back, blinking them away.
“That’s so sad,” she said softly. “I…I can’t imagine how painful that was.”
Rico nodded. “Yes,” he said. “That house stayed vacant for a long time. Then a young couple moved in, the woman was pregnant. They didn’t stay very long, they wound up splitting up and then the husband sold the house.”
Sara nodded again.
“I think he was the man who sold it to me,” she said quietly. “He kept talking about how he had to get his family back.”
She laughed humorlessly.
“I thought he was some kind of deadbeat dad or something.”
Rico sighed.
“Sara, I don’t know what you believe in,” he said slowly. “But I’m inclined to believe there’s a whole lotta bad stuff in that house. Bad energy, you could call it. I guess a God-fearing person might even call it a demon.”
Sara shivered in the muggy heat.
“I see,” she said quietly. She broke down into sobs before confessing her story to Rico, starting with Kurt’s accidental death and ending with finding the home…the home she’d once thought perfect for herself and her children.
“It isn’t too late to start over,” Rico said firmly. He put a kind hand on Sara’s shoulder. “You’re a competent young woman, I’m sure you could find something.”
Sara nodded. She felt numb and chilled to the bone. She handed her empty glass back to Rico.
“Thank you for the tea,” she said.
“Of course,” Rico said. “Listen ma'am, you need to try to figure out what is best for you and your family,” he said.
Sara got to her feet. She felt unsteady and shaky. “Of course,” she said. As she said goodbye to Rico and crossed the lawn, she realized she had no idea what to do.
Chapter Eight An Unwelcome Visit
Sara couldn't help but think about everything that Rico had said from the beginning of the day to till the end. It was even starting to haunt her dreams more and more.
She had terrifying visions of hurting her children in some way and she couldn't tell if it was her own mind cracking or if there was actually something in the house making her think these things.
Between Janet becoming more withdrawn every day she was thinking maybe it was best to get out of the house. Lying in bed just a few days after the old man's story, Sara finally began to calm down as she listened to the breeze blow against the window.
The crickets outside were soothing and for the first time she thought things were going to be okay. She had no idea where the feeling had come from. She rolled over and looked at the picture of her husband felt a very calm serenity come over her.
Maybe she could make this work. Just maybe everything had calmed down. She had once heard that if a ghost's story had been made known that it would be at rest and dissipate.
Yes, Sara knew that if the story was true maybe the odd things in the house would simply die down and leave her family at peace.
At the crack of dawn she heard faint whispers coming from the hallway. She was just about to get up and wake the kids for school but it was uncommon for them to already be awake.
Had they been getting up early without her?
Sliding into her slippers and robe, Sara walked into the hallway to begin the morning ritual. School was good for the kids as it got them out of the house and allowed them to get more interaction with other children. She was very happy in this regards with Janet; maybe her little friend would start to disappear from her life as well.
As she headed towards the first of the twins' rooms she was shocked to see that it was already empty. The bed looked as if it had not been slept in at all the previous night.
She had specifically checked on them the night before to tuck them all in as she had done every night for as long as she could remember.
Rushing over to James' room she saw both John and James in bed together. She could see they were still sharing a bed. Hopefully they would feel comfortable alone again soon?
They were sound asleep but little whispers were growing louder by the moment and seemed to be coming from down the hallway. She let the boys sleep a minute longer and followed the sounds.
A frown creased her face as she realized it was probably Janet speaking with Lily again. If Lily was the ghost of a dead little girl, how on earth would she put her to rest and how could this possibly be a good thing for her daughter?
Peeking into Janet's room she saw that Janet was also fast asleep but the whispering had quickly dissipated as soon as she opened the door.
The sudden silence was deafening before a group of birds outside began singing and the sun came in through the window.
Maybe it was all in Sara's head after all and she was just putting bits and pieces together. Janet had probably heard the story from the boys earlier on or had run into the neighbors talking about someone moving into the haunted house and had made up her new friend.
After waking the kids, handing them their packed lunches and getting them on the school bus Sara felt better than she had in days. Walking back inside, she got her laptop together and began to do some writing to help clear her thoughts and be productive.
As she walked by the staircase she saw the startling image of a little girl with a disfigured face and screamed.
The girl tried to say something or make a face, Sara couldn't tell and wasn't sure if the thing was even capable of it. As quickly as the image appeared it was gone. She ran towards the kitchen and threw some cold water onto her face.
Goosebumps had flared on her arms and there was a pit quickly growing at the bottom of her stomach.
Nope the house had to go.
She didn't think she could handle this. If this type of craziness happens in the next place then maybe she would consider getting some help but this was just too much.
There was just no way she could handle seeing things and hearing things on a regular basis especially if it seemed that her daughter already was.
Not to mention the twins were now sharing a bed even though just a few weeks earlier they had been thrilled about having their own rooms. Something was wrong and the entire family felt it. She had to get them out.
I have to sell this place. Even if we go back to living in an apartment, it would be better than living in fear.
She got up and dressed before going down to the kitchen and flipping through the phone book. She looked up a list of realtors and wrote them all down before taking the phone in her lap and beginning to dial.
There was strong knock at the door as Sara was muttering possible plans out loud to herself in regards to where they could possibly rent.
If she could sell any of the antique pieces quickly in order to help make ends meet while they put the house back on the market. Walking in a daze to the door Sara wasn't really in the mood for visitors.
As she opened the door it was pushed back in towards her and she stepped back. Paige pushed herself inside without an invitation. This woman seems to think that this place is her room now as well Sara thought to herself.
Then thinking back to what Rico had said about the name of the woman who had committed such atrocities in the house Sara couldn't help but look at Paige in a different light.
Paige looked at her with a frown on her face.
"What’s wrong dear? You don't seem quite yourself lately and I haven't heard from you in days. I get so bored around this place at times."
Sara hesitated for a moment and then let out a short laugh
"I'm sorry, I have been on edge. I think it might be time to sell the house. Maybe this move wasn't such a good idea after all."
"Why on earth would you think that? You said you loved the house. I told you before the kids will get used to it.”
Paige put a hand on Sara’s shoulder
“With school starting it will be much easier to discipline them when they are here and they will learn to love it as much as I... you love it."
Sara looked at Paige again much more closely this time.
"Did you used to live here Paige?" She continued. “Is that why you come to visit so often?”
“Do you not like me visiting now Sara? I wasn't aware; I thought we had become friends.” The indignation in her voice made Sara squirm.
“No no, it’s not that. It’s just that. You know what I am so sorry. I had a talk with the older gentlemen across the street, you know Rico? And he seemed to think that you don't actually live in the neighborhood.”
“Why would he think something like that?”
“Well I went looking for you the other day and realized I had no idea which house was actually yours. So when I asked him about you he said I was must be mistaken, that the only Paige he had heard of living in the neighborhood did... you know what it’s just a silly story.” She rushed out the last part and looked at the wall above Paige’s head.
“Well now you've piqued my curiosity. Maybe if you talk about it, it will help clear your uncertainties about the house and we can get you feeling better.”
Sara thought about it for a second and realized Paige was completely right. She had let everything come together like a scary movie and it had put her nerves on end.
So the two ladies sat down at the dining room table as Sara began the old man's tale. Paige gasped at the end and seemed to be in shock.
"That all happened here?"
“Well that's not all,” Sara said in a near whisper. "No one knows why she did such a thing but if it’s the lady from the diary I’ve been reading I think she might have just had some sort of mental illness that wasn't easily diagnosed like a schizophrenic or something. Poor thing even killed herself after so she must have felt bad when she realized what she had done."
Sara felt the mood in the house shift as she was saying her last statement. The entire house seemed to have backed away from her as Paige's pleasant demeanor changed to the angry one which she had shown hints of in the past.
“Sara, that old man is a worthless liar,” Paige said callously. “Besides, how do you know your children didn’t get to him first? The boys probably made up a story and bribed him to say the same thing back to you.”
Sara shook her head. “Paige…Paige I don’t think they would do that,” she said softly.
Paige threw her head back and laughed.
“He’s an idiot,” she said. “He didn’t even get the story right! I didn’t kill myself – my stupid, worthless husband managed to kill me!” She smiled in satisfaction. “It doesn’t matter, though, I got them all in the end.” she added.
Sara felt as though someone had thrown a vat of icy water over her head. "But how, how is this possible."
Just as she was trying to figure out what to do about Paige while at the same time wondering if she would make it out of this alive the front door burst open and John, James, and Janet all ran through the door laughing.
"Hey mom! It was a half day today so we got to come home early." The boys high fived each other completely oblivious to what was transpiring in the kitchen.
Sara began inching towards the entryway to try and get between Paige and the children.
“Go outside,” Sara said in a sharp voice. “Grown-ups are talking.”
Paige walked out into the foyer before Sara could get ahead of the madwoman. Much to Sara's dismay the children had walked past the doorway and the two women were now between them and the front door.
Paige laughed cruelly.
“No,” she said. “I think they should stay.” She narrowed her eyes and glared at the children. “Nasty little things! Do you know the kind of stress you have put on your mother and I?”
The children stared at Paige and Sara in shock. Sara felt frozen and rooted to the ground as Janet burst into tears, her chin wobbling.
“I suggest you stop crying,” Paige said in an eerily calm voice.
It had the exact opposite effect as Janet's sobs became louder. “Stop it right now!”
Sara felt powerless. She felt trapped inside her body, paralyzed, unable to move. She wasn't sure how best to help the children without Paige getting to them first.
Ghostly voices began floating through the room. They were small, childish voices that filled Sara’s heart with fear and dread.
“Run…run!”
“Run away…”
“Leave.”
James, John, and Janet, all terrified, broke into a run and darted up the stairs. Paige laughed cruelly, the sound barely audible over the rising unearthly childish cries for help. Sara watched in horror as Paige’s solid frame turned transparent and she began gliding up the stairs at a slow, even pace.
"Wait, wait Paige," Sara began to plead as feeling finally began to return to her body. As her gaze followed Paige up the stairs something caught the corner of her eye from below.
That was when Sara saw the faces in the corner. A little girl and a boy, crying in fright. The little girl sobbed and turned, revealing that part of her face was missing.
“Help them,” the boy begged. His own face was blue and swollen. “Don’t let her kill them.”
Chapter Nine Final Showdown
The scream coming from upstairs sent chills straight through her body. It was a mixture of boys and girls. She couldn't tell if it was all the children or just the living or just the dead but from the way Paige had floated up those stairs she was sure her kids were in trouble.
Not wanting to go up unprotected she grabbed a knife from the table and bolted up the stairs two at a time. She was completely winded by the time she reached the landing and somehow there was blood dripping from her hand and arm. She must have scraped the railing at some point and not noticed.
Which room where they in.
"KIDS!"
"Mom help us please.”
Was that the boys or Janet? Why couldn't she tell?
The doors were all slamming and opening, filling the upstairs hallway with an unnatural hot breeze that made the hair on the back of Sara’s neck stand up.
Running towards John's room first she glanced inside in time to see that objects flying around the room but no visible body of her son.
She moved on to the next room with the door flying wildly before hearing the loud slam at the end of the hallway where Janet slept.
“Of course,” she grunted to herself. That’s where Janet had been talking to her imaginary friend. Well not so imaginary now.
“Paige you better not hurt my babies you monster!” She went hurling for the door and it didn't budge.
“I am their mother. It is my job to protect them.” Sara cried out in a panic, throwing her whole body against the heavy wooden door. She could hear the whimpering inside and the boys screaming for her to get in. For some reason they weren't trying to get the door open. Paige must be in front.
"Climb for the window my loves, I am coming for you."
She hurled her shoulder against the door again and it budged slightly against its old wooden frame. She was pretty sure the door didn't have a lock on it so how the hell was it being kept shut.
“I’m coming!” Sara yelled.
She backed away from the door, then began to run and charged the door with her shoulder and head. Pain shot through her body as the door groaned but still barely held. Using all her force she went down and charged right at the edge of the frame and the door handle.
Almost falling face forward as the door burst open with splintered wood flying in front of her and filling her shoulder with sharp little shards that she barely acknowledged.
>
“Janet, John, James! Where are you babies?” She couldn't see a thing in the room. Paige's figure seemed to be taking up the middle of the room and there was a gray haze filling the rest of it. She could barely make through the figures on the other side.
"Momma come get us,” A chorus of voices came through the room.
Her children were all backed into a corner with the pungent scent of urine hanging heavily in the air. The ghost of Paige was floating through the air, cackling evilly as she stared at Sara.
“You’re too late!” Paige cried triumphantly.
As she tried to break through unnatural foggy barrier Paige's laughter filled her head and she lost sight for a moment.
She could feel the other woman's hands on her body and they were so cold. Cold as ice and numbed the areas she was being touched. She felt herself freeze in place and was unable to speak.
Paige looked her right in the eyes.
“They deserve everything that comes to them. Children are so disrespectful don't forget that. Think about all the pain they have caused you.” Ghostly hands flippantly went up into the air.
“The loss of your husband, the effort you have gone through to make them happy and how little they have repaid you. Don’t simply make yourself the victim.”
Through Paige's voice all Sara could hear was the sound of her own heartbeat. She thought she could make out the cries of the children but they sounded so far away. Paige's eyes were glowing and her voice was hypnotic.
“I love you mom! We all love you. Ignore her.” It was her boys screaming through the haze.
Between their constant encouragement and Janet's cries, the trance between her and Paige broke.
“No Paige, I am sorry about what happened to you. And you are a very sick woman but I love my family and will never hurt them.” As she shot at Paige with the knife held high Paige screamed in fright.
Paige held her hands up high as Sara went right through her. Her maniacal laughter filled the room again. Expecting to see her children on the other side all Sara saw was the open window.
Haunting and Scares Collection Page 28