“What the hell is going on in this house?” she mumbled more to herself than to anyone, but of course, there was no one else in the hall with her, was there? She knew that the walls weren’t like this earlier or even yesterday. She was sure of it!
She jumped back when she heard banging on the walls like old rusty pipes, but knew that the house was practically new. Had something in the wall come loose? On the other hand, could it just be her imagination because all that was happening around her already?
That was certainly possible. She could just be overtired and imagining the noises around her, but hadn’t Steven heard it too? He had run to hide when the door slammed shut behind him just a few minutes ago. Surely, she was just overthinking the circumstances, and her mind was without a doubt exhausted.
She regained her composure and started back down the hall. When she reached Geena’s door, she knocked as she opened it. The room was dark, and she couldn't see that someone was standing in front of her. When the shadow moved, Mariette jumped back and grabbed her chest, her breathing raced as her heart pounded in her chest. She thought she might have a heart attack if things kept coming at her like this tonight. When the darkness faded, Mariette was relieved to see that it was only Geena standing on the other side of the door.
“Are you okay?” Mariette asked, between breaths.
“Yes, I’m fine. I was about to come check on my brother.”
“He’s in my room because he can’t find his blanket,” Mariette replied. “Then the bedroom door slammed shut, and, well, I thought maybe it was you?” she said as if asking a question.
Geena shook her head, “It wasn’t me,” she replied as she stretched out her arm, which held Steven Jr.’s blanket. “I was on my way to give it to Steven just as you came into my room,” Geena stated.
Mariette looked bewildered at Geena and then reached out her hand to take the blanket. “I’ll give it to him and tuck him back into bed,” Mariette said once she was able to get a few words out. Geena waited for Mariette to take the blanket from her hands, she did, and then said, “You head back to bed now, dear, and I’ll take care of Steven.” Mariette turned and then stopped. “Did you hear any doors slamming or pipes hitting the walls before I entered your room?” Mariette asked.
“Yes, ma’am. That was just Thomas trying to scare you.”
Well, it’s working, Mariette thought to herself. It was sure as hell is working on my old heart.
After Mariette was able to get Steven back to sleep, she crawled back under the sheets. She stared up at the ceiling her mind flashing back to what had just happened. If all nights were going to be like tonight, she would be dead before their aunt arrived home to take care of them.
She couldn’t bear to live in this place any longer. Maybe she should take the kids out of the house? But, wasn't that why she'd stayed, to begin with? To help them deal with the loss of their parents? It wasn’t their parents that she was thinking about; it was all the noises around her. She hadn’t noticed them the first few nights she was here, or she just hadn’t heard them. Whatever was happening, she needed to get ahold of herself before she, herself, would be checking out of this house and into a mental hospital like Geena talked about.
She didn’t know the answers to her questions and was too exhausted to worry about them now. She needed sleep. She closed her eyes, but only tossed and turned all night. She couldn’t sleep with all of the noises she kept hearing outside her door. It was going to be a long restless night of sleep, and she prayed that it would get better. There was no way any of them would be getting sleep with all of the racket going on in the house tonight.
Chapter 4
The following morning, Mariette felt groggy from the lack of sleep she’d gotten the night before. The moans and the door slamming, kept her up most of the evening. It wasn’t until just a few minutes ago, when the light filtering in from the window, woke her from what little sleep she was able to get.
She had been afraid to leave the comforts of her bedroom to see who or what it was making all that noise. Geena had sworn it wasn't her, but there was no way it was Thomas. These ghosts weren't real. He was just one of her imaginary friends. That was it! Mariette had to get the kids to see that the games they were playing weren't friendly. They scared her half to death, and she couldn't allow them to continue with these charades.
She slipped out of bed, into her slippers, and put on her robe. She trudged to the bathroom and then headed downstairs to make the children their breakfast. Mariette stood, slicing vegetables for the omelets she was making. She heard a sound, looked up, and saw a knife flying through the air towards her face. Mariette stood frozen in terror. It was as if her brain had shut off and she couldn’t think about what to do. Then someone yanked her out of the way before the knife plunged into her body. After regaining her composure, Mariette realized that Geena had just saved her life.
Mariette hugged the child, thanking her for what she had done. Geena then told Mariette that it's just Greta messing around because she doesn’t like being ignored. Geena proceeded to talk to Greta, while Mariette was still in shock and in the same room.
All through the day, the two children played in their rooms. On occasion, Mariette went to check on them. She was sure when she stood outside Geena’s bedroom door that she heard Geena talking to someone, but when she opened the door, Mariette only saw Geena sitting at a small table playing tea time by herself. Steven wasn’t in the room with her; at least she didn’t see him anywhere.
“Is everything okay?” Mariette asked Geena.
“Yes, everything is fine. Just having tea with Eve,” Geena replied.
Mariette looked stunned by the response Geena had just given her. Did the child not notice that there was no one sitting across from her? Should she tell her again that ghost aren't real? That Geena should stop playing these games? Maybe she should just leave well enough alone and let the children imagine these pretend people. If that's what it took to help them deal with their parent’s death, then she should allow it and go on with her life, and that’s just what she was going to do.
Mariette closed the door and went to check on Steven Jr. who was playing cards with his new friends Thomas and Beth. Before leaving the room, she told Steven that they would all play games later down in the family room after dinner.
* * *
Later that night, the children and Mariette did as she suggested and played some games before they all got ready for bed. The children took turns bathing, and then Mariette tucked them into bed. She grabbed her bathroom bag and headed down the hall to take a shower.
Once in the bathroom, she turned on the water and undressed. She then climbed into the tub. She lathered the shampoo in her hair and was about to rinse it out when she heard the door to the bathroom creak open. The children knew better than to come into the bathroom when someone was showering, didn't they?
“I’m taking a shower,” she yelled on the other side of the curtain.
No one answered.
She pulled back the corner of the shower curtain and saw only the opened the door to the bathroom. There was no one in the room with her. She closed the curtain and proceeded to rinse her hair out and finish washing her body. When she finished, she turned off the water and heard the pipes rattle just like she did last night.
Now, she felt more relieved that she wasn't losing her mind. She grabbed the towel from the sink and quickly dried off and dressed in her nightgown. She walked back to her bedroom and was about to climb into bed when she heard a noise out in the hall. She opened her door to see what or who it was. Mariette stepped out into the corridor but saw no one.
Thinking it was just her imagination again; she went back to her room. She stopped just outside her door and looked at Steven’s door, which was across the hall from hers. She heard a floorboard creak and then his door opened. Steven Jr. pleaded with Mariette to go back into her room, not to come out at night, that it wasn’t safe for her.
“You can’t be out here a
t night,” Steven whispered.
"You told me that yesterday, but there's nothing out here that can hurt me. Go back to bed, and I will see you in the morning," Mariette insisted.
Mariette again tried to reassure Steven that the sounds weren’t real that they were imaging the noises. Then she heard something wailing at the other end of the long hallway. The lights flickered around them. She wasn’t sure nor was she going to wait to find out what it was.
She turned to go back into her room when a chill ran down her spine, and she felt a presence behind her, just like the night before. She twirled around, her eyes searching everywhere, but saw nothing, no one but Steven Jr. standing in the doorway of his room, fear washing over him. The child looked completely white.
Terrified, she ran to him, scooped him up into her arms, and ran back to her room. She slammed the door behind them and locked it. Steven started shaking and told Mariette that Geena told him that he'd be okay at night as long as he stayed in his bedroom. No one was to wander the halls at night because of Eve, and the evil that took over her spirit would be roaming the halls.
~~~~~
When morning came the following day, Mariette had a talk with Genna to find out about the noises.
“What is going on with this house?” Mariette asked. “Every night since I came to stay here it's been crazy, and I'm scared to leave my room at night. There are sounds and doors always slamming. Who's doing it and why?"
“This place is haunted, I assure you. I tried to warn you, but you shouldn’t be afraid; they’re all harmless if you know how to deal with them,” Geena replied.
“Them?”
“I told you, Eve, Thomas, Greta, and Beth,” Geena replied.
Mariette shook her head. “Enough with the ghost story of these four children. They are not real!” Mariette said. “You can’t keep using them to get over your parent’s.”
Geena’s face fell as tears sprang from her eyes. “I’m not using them to get over my parent’s!” she yelled. “I will never forget them and that it was my fault for them dying,” Geena cried out.
“What?” Mariette questioned. “Oh, my dear, it’s not your fault for what happened to them. You must believe that. The storm caused the accident, not you, child,” Mariette said as she comforted Geena. “Neither one of you is to blame for what happened.” Mariette rocked Geena in her arms, and then she sat upright and wiped the tears from Geena’s cheeks. “Are you feeling better, dear?” Mariette asked.
Geena nodded, then said, “But promise me, do not go anywhere near the attic. Don’t open the door. Don’t even go upstairs. Bad things are up there, and they will hurt you,” Geena said. “Please, promise me.”
Mariette wasn’t sure what to think and just nodded in agreement. She knew she couldn’t just sit around and wait for things to stop being all weird. “I promise,” Mariette replied, but knew she couldn’t keep this promise no matter what. She was going to. No, she needed to get to the bottom of this. She would wait until Geena left the room before going into the attic. There must be something up there if the child persists on Mariette to stay out of the attic.
“Go lie down, child. I will come get you when dinner is ready.”
Geena agreed and left the room.
Once Mariette heard Geena’s door click shut, she walked over to the door that led to the attic. She blew out a breath, checked over her shoulder to make sure neither child saw her and opened the door. There was no turning back now. She started this and had to finish. She needed to know what was up here that the children were so eager to keep confined.
She climbed the stairs. There was no stopping her now. Once at the top, she opened another door and saw nothing more than a usual, messy attic. Old portraits and paintings sat skewed along the far wall in front of her. Dirt and grit lay on the floorboards. She would have never guessed for a second that the attic would look like this. The mansion was immaculate, but this. This attic was nothing but a horrid mess.
Mariette turned to leave and head back down before one of the children caught her up here, but the door was gone. She turned back around and saw a shadow move on the other side of the room, leaving Mariette frozen in terror.
Chapter 5
Mariette screamed when a box toppled over from a stack of boxes sitting on an old desk. She grabbed at her chest, “For heaven sacks, woman. Get a hold of yourself,” Mariette whispered to herself.
After taking several deep breaths, Mariette walked over to examine the box that had fallen over. She noticed that the box was simply decayed from sitting up here over the years in the damp and musty attic, nothing more. She was just being silly to be afraid of an old house full of spider webs and dust. It was probably all her imagination and nights of restless sleep getting the better of her. Now that she knew what all the fuss was about, she wouldn’t waste another night worry about it.
Mariette walked over to the dusty old wooden desk piled high with boxes. Before placing the box back upright, Mariette pulled on a string that hung from a single light bulb from the ceiling. Light filled the room, giving her a chance to get a good look around.
Above her, she saw exposed wooden beams and spider webs. Then her eyes went to the dingy windowsill across the room, which was littered with dead flies that had probably been there for many years. She didn’t think that too many people came up to the attic since it was still dusty and dirty and had nothing but old paintings and boxes everywhere.
Her eyes focused on a picture on the wall and made her way around the desk to get a look at it. She stood in front of the frame. She had to wipe away the dust and grime before she was able to read what it had said. It was a diploma made out to a Dr. Fred Myron, Ph.D.
That was strange, she thought. She knew that the owner of the house wasn’t a doctor and that certainly wasn’t his name. So, why was this up here and who put it here? She wasn’t sure if she’d get an answer to the question anytime soon.
She turned around, focused back on the box that fell and opened the lid. There were folders and folders lined up in the box that had names written in pen. She reached inside and pulled one out. Glancing back into the box, she saw that there were different names written on each and every one of the folders. She opened the file in her hand and started to read.
After several pages, she realized that they were about patients in a mental hospital and treatments that were performed on them. She seemed confused at why the boxes were up here in the attic since the house belonged to the Parker family. It was a home, not a hospital.
She had read the case on the children before she came to the house to take care of them, and it clearly stated that Mr. Parker was the founder of the electric washing machine so why were there boxes and boxes containing files on mentally ill patients? She wasn't sure, but she wouldn't rest until she sought out the truth. She had to understand what she had found and kept reading.
Time had passed as Mariette read and placed one finished folder after another back in the box, grabbing another one. When she opened the file to start reading, she heard a loud piercing scream coming from downstairs. She ran towards the door that she thought was missing a few minutes ago or was it hours, she wasn’t sure and didn’t have time to figure it out right now.
She ran as fast as she could down the stairs, trying not to fall. Her mind only thought of the worst. Had something bad happened to one of the children while she was upstairs in the attic? She should have been watching the children instead of being up there where she promised not to go. Mariette was furious for disobeying Geena's promise, but she couldn't lecture herself about it right now. No, she had to get to the children and fast.
By the time Mariette reached the bottom of the stairs, Geena had come running into the room after she heard Steven’s scream and found Mariette coming from the attic. Geena was horrified that Mariette broke her promise by going into the attic after specifically telling her not too!
“What is wrong, Steven? Mariette asked once she was beyond the doorway of the attic.
&
nbsp; “I…I saw the door open to the attic,” Steven replied. “Why were you up there?”
"Well, if you must know. I went upstairs because I wanted to get to the bottom of this fiasco, and find out what is going on in this house!" Mariette said. "There is something you both are not telling me, and I will find out what it is." Mariette held a vanilla folder in her hand that she had found.
Geena had realized that the attic door was still open and ran over to close it. She then grabbed Mariette and Steven’s arm and pulled them down the hall and into her room. Geena slammed the door and locked it behind them.
“Why did you go up there?” Geena yelled. She was frightened that Mariette might have let the bad and evil Dr. Fred Myron out of the attic.
"I want to know what's going on," Mariette replied. "What is it with the attic that you are so afraid of? I didn't see anything up there that was scary. Nothing and no one was hiding upstairs. So what is this issue you have with the attic?"
“You shouldn’t have opened the door,” Steven Jr. stated.
“Tell me why you don’t want me in the attic? What are you hiding from me?” Mariette questioned.
“You wouldn’t understand,” Geena shouted.
“Try me,” Mariette replied.
The children looked at one another and then back at Mariette. It was clear that the children were not going to tell her what they knew. She had to do some investigating on her own.
~~~~~
Hours passed, and Geena still refused to let them out of her room. Mariette grew hungry, but Geena had hidden the key from Mariette, so there wasn't any other way out. Of course, she could climb out the window, but she was no spring chicken and surely didn't want to take the chance of falling besides, once she got to the ground how exactly would she get through the front door without a key? She had locked the door last night and hadn't gone to open the door once since she woke this morning. There was no reason for her to go outside. So, she needed to stop her mind from thinking she could get out of the locked bedroom when in fact there was no way out without the key, and she had forgotten all about the secret passageways beyond the walls.
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