“No,” Geena replied. “It’s impossible. They are trapped in this house because of what they did to Fred. He swore to keep their souls in the house for all eternity.”
“What did the four children do to Fred that caused him to confine them in this house?"
“Back in 1850’s, this house used to be a mental hospital,” Geena said.
“I know that much, but what did the children do when they were in the mental hospital?”
Geena looked puzzled. “How do you know about this place being a mental hospital?” Geena asked.
Mariette looked away from Geena. She would have to tell them that she had read the files about the children that were up in the attic.
“Well,” Steven Jr. pressed.
“I’m sorry,” Mariette said.
“What did you find when you went back up into the attic?” Geena asked.
Mariette felt like a child being scorned for doing something bad. "I went up there after you both fell asleep. I had to figure out who these children were that you both keep talking about," Mariette said.
Geena and Steven both looked at each other, then back at Mariette. “Okay, we forgive you, but I think that’s how Fred escaped from the attic. You must have left the door opened and let him out.”
“You still didn’t tell me how he died?” Mariette asked, changing the question.
“Eve, Thomas, Greta, and Beth locked him in the attic and set the door on fire. They got all of the other patients out of the building before going back in and making sure that Fred didn’t escape,” Geena said. “After Eve had caught on fire and died, Thomas tried to keep Fred from leaving and was pulled through the door, as both Greta and Beth tried to save him, but they were also pulled into the fire and burned alive,” Geena finished, tears streaming down her face.
“Oh, my, that’s a horrible way to die,” Mariette said.
“The only way they can escape is if Fred is banished for good,” Steven concluded.
“How do we do that?” Mariette asked.
“Maybe there’s something in the library that can help us,” Steven Jr. said.
Mariette snapped her fingers together. “Yes, that’s possible. There has to be something in the room that we can use to get rid of the evil ghosts.” Although after she had spoken the words, she did sound kind of like a lunatic. Ghosts, she chuckled to herself. She would never forget about this. Maybe she would tell her grandchildren the story, that’s if she ever got out of the house.
“Stay here,” Mariette said as she ran from the room and into the library. Along the wall from floor to ceiling was nothing but books. Mr. Parker had to have something here that could tell them how to get rid of unwanted ghosts. She almost laughed at the thought of the children's father having such a book in the house.
Was it something that was even written about? Had people actually experienced living or battling with ghosts? Now she was starting to feel like she was going crazy believing in such nonsense about there being ghosts in the house or actually existing, but she did just witness objects flying around the room a few minutes ago.
Mariette reached up to remove a book from the shelf when the door to the library slammed shut behind her. She spun around and saw dust particles forming around something. There was no one there, so it had to be. No, it couldn’t be, she thought. The dust particles were forming an outline of a person standing in front of her.
Chapter 8
Mariette ran to the door, screaming as she tried to open it, but it wouldn’t budge. The thing that resembled a ghost came at her and wrapped its hands around her throat, strangling her to death. She tried to suck in a breath, but her throat was closing, and she had troubles breathing. “Fred,” she whispered.
The ghost smiled.
Mariette wasn’t sure if it was the lack of oxygen in her body, but she could swear that she saw the outlines of four other ghosts, most likely the four children who were trapped in the fire that they started, standing behind Fred.
The four ghosts came towards Mariette, helping her to fight Fred. They hit him and threw things at him, and finally, he released his hold around Mariette’s throat. Mariette fell to her knees, coughing and choking as she sucked in air.
Several minutes later, Mariette was able to stand and saw the images of the four children in front of her. One of the ghosts named Beth, pointed to a book on the shelf too high for Mariette to reach, so she retrieved the ladder that was on rollers and wheeled it to the spot where the book was located.
Once Mariette had the book in her hand, she climbed back down the ladder, ran out of the room, and to the kitchen where she had left Geena and Steven.
Steven Jr. jumped when Mariette pounded on the door, asking to be let in. Geena lifted the bar and opened the door to the kitchen. Mariette entered the room. The children looked almost afraid of her. “What’s wrong, children?” she asked.
“We thought it was Fred coming for us,” Steven cried out. He blew out a breath before collapsing back into the chair he was sitting in.
“What took you so long?” Geena asked.
“Believe it or not. Fred was trying to strangle me to death, but your four friends helped save me from him,” Mariette said as she rubbed her neck where Fred had put his grubby hands on her.
Geena walked over and examined the marks on Mariette’s neck. She couldn’t believe a ghost could do that to a living person and leave marks.
“Here,” Geena said. “Sit down and rest for a while.”
Mariette walked over to the table and set the book down. She pulled out the chair and sat, feeling exhausted by all that had happened in only a couple of hours since she woke this morning. If she had known that this was what it would be like living here, she would've run the other way.
As they all sat at the table, Geena slid the book that Mariette had placed on the table. She opened to the contents in the front of the book and turned to the page on how to banish evil spirits.
“It says here that we need to confront the ghost on their own terms—in the land of the dead,” Geena said.
Mariette sat thinking of what that meant and what she would have to do, and then asked, “Is there anything about how I can do that?” She didn’t know the first thing about banishing a ghost.
“Yes, there’s a poison and antidote that we can make using normal kitchen ingredients,” Geena replied. “It says that the person who drinks the poison dies and can only be brought back if someone can give them the antidote,” Geena shivered. “That sounds dangerous.”
“Yeah,” Steven replied.
Mariette looked from one child to the other. She knew the only way that this would work was if she sacrificed herself to get rid of Fred. It was her duty to protect the children, and if this were something she had to do, then she’d do it for the children.
Her mind was tentative about the choice she was taking if, for some reason, she didn't come back. Would she see her own children again? Her grandchildren? She was stricken by the concern of not seeing them again. Not hugging them or kissing them. The thought of not seeing her family again made her sad, but if she didn't come back from the dead, she'd get to be with her husband, David again.
Oh, how she missed him so. Her husband had been dead for five years. She was lonely without her husband in her life. Whether or not she came back, she had to do this for the children sitting in front of her. They needed to be free of the ghosts.
Having no other choice, Mariette told both Steven and Geena her plan. “I will take the poison that will stop my heart, but Geena, you have to give me the antidote at the precise time so my heart can start again or I will be forever trapped in this house with Fred and the four children too, do you understand?”
Both Geena and Steven Jr. looked at each other, tormented by the fear that Mariette would want to drink the poison and kill herself to rid the house of the ghosts.
“I don’t know if I can do that,” Geena whispered. “What if it doesn’t work? What if you can’t get him to do what you want?”
“Shh, child," Mariette said. "Don't you worry about that? We will do exactly as the book says to do and it should all work out. We need to do this; it's the only way to get the ghosts out of this house once and for all.”
After several minutes, the two children agreed to help. They wanted Eve, Thomas, Greta, and Beth to be free of Fred forever. They all stood and started gathering the ingredients to make both the poison and the antidote.
“I need nutmeg, sugar, flour, and chili powder,” Mariette said.
“Chili powder,” Steven gagged.
“I didn’t come up with the ingredients for this concoction.”
Steven went to the cabinet by the sink and gathered the items Mariette had told him to get and set them next to the bowl on the counter.
Mariette continued to read the instructions in the book, telling the children what else she needed to make the potions. Once the poison was made, Mariette read on that she would have to get Fred out of the house where he has entrenched himself. Then his soul will be pulled to the next world, and the other ghosts will follow, their souls being set free.
Chapter 9
Mariette went over the plan once again with both Geena and Steven. “Steven, I want you to go open the front door,” Mariette instructed. “Geena, you will have to watch what is going on around you. I know that you both can see the ghosts so you should be able to follow the plan precisely. Once, I get Fred outside, be ready to give me the antidote.”
Geena nodded as she gripped the antidote in her hand. Steven nodded too, both looking frightened.
Mariette took in a deep breath, trying not to think about what she was about to do. The thought of killing herself was beyond nerve-racking. Was she a fool to do this? What happened if Geena couldn’t bring her back from the grave? Well, she was aware of what would happen if the plan didn’t work as they hoped it would, but she couldn’t think about that now. She had to do this or Fred would torture and haunt not only the four children but her as well.
Mariette let out the breath she was holding, laid down on the kitchen floor, and drank the poison before she changed her mind. Within in seconds, she fell into a deep, deep sleep, her heartbeat slowed and then she was dead.
~~~~~
When Mariette opened her eyes, she sat up and looked around the room that seemed to look the same except for a haziness around her; almost like a fog. The children stood off to the side, shaking with fear, even though see knew that they could see her.
Mariette then rose from her body; she was now a ghost just like Eve, Thomas, Greta, Beth, and Fred. She prayed that she had made the right decision in doing this, but it was a little too late to change her mind now, wasn’t it?
As she rose, she turned and looked down at the floor where her body still laid. She looked at peace with herself. There had always been a part of her that wondered what it would look like when your soul passed from your body into the world unknown to the living. She thought of it to be different, maybe even more beautiful than the world she knew of. As she looked around the room, everything seemed to look the same. Nothing had changed.
After pondering her thoughts, Mariette smiled at the children before leaving the room to confront Fred. When she entered the room off the kitchen, she didn’t see anyone. She had no idea how to find Fred. Then she heard a scream coming from the kitchen. She hurried back in the direction she had just come from and saw Fred attacking Geena and Steven. It was as if he had been waiting for her to leave the children alone.
Geena’s body is thrown to the floor by Fred, and she now lies unconscious, but still holding the antidote in her right hand. Fred then slams Steven up against the wall, a child too small to fight back, and then he falls against the wall, his head tilting to the side.
Mariette could see that he is was not moving. Everything that they had planned would be for nothing. Mariette would be dead, and the children would be alone, trapped in the house with Fred. Who knew what would happen to the children by the time their Aunt Julie got here? Would the children still be alive? She would make sure of it if she didn't come back to life. She would protect the children no matter what, she thought.
Determined not to die in this place, Mariette used the superior strength that she had from her living body and charged at Fred with everything she had. She pushed him out of the kitchen and towards the open front door. Fred tried to fight back, but Eve, Thomas, Greta, and Beth helped push him out of the house.
Mariette is shocked by the revelation that she can see the four children. They weren't evil as she thought them to be, but innocent, friendly ghosts that just wanted to move on from this world after all these years of being trapped in this house.
Mariette looked up at the sky when she heard a rumble. The clouds grew dark, and rain poured from the sky, just like the night Fenton Manor Mental Hospital caught on fire, and five people had died. The wind became furious as it began to form a tornado and spun out of control.
Mariette turned back towards the house, grabbed ahold of the railing at the front steps, and held on for dear life. The four children did the same. But as for Fred, he was sucked into the twister. His screams filling the air as his body is taken away from the house once and for all.
Once Fred was gone, the wind stopped and the clouds parted, showing a vibrant yellow sun. Mariette let go of the railing and stood on the ground, looking around the yard. She saw Eve, Thomas, Greta, and Beth, as they were the day they died. The four children looked beautiful and healthy, and young. Now, that Fred was finally expelled and sent away from this world; the four children were free of him. They murmured a quick, ‘thank you’ before they disappeared and were finally at peace from the evil Dr. Fred Myron.
Mariette stood in the yard almost forgetting that she needed to drink the antidote if she wanted to live. She ran back inside the house and found Geena still unconscious on the floor. Mariette needed the potion and soon or she would be dead forever and trapped within the walls. She tried to grasp the bottle, but her hand went right through the bottle.
Finally, Mariette realized that she needed to wake up Geena by calling her name repeatedly. After several minutes, Geena finally woke up. She rubbed her eyes before registering what they had done and that she needed to give Mariette the antidote.
Geena poured the solution into Mariette’s open mouth and waited. Mariette sucked in a quick breath before sitting up. Geena hugged her, crying in relief that Mariette was alive.
Geena pulled away, went over to her brother Steven, and shook him awake. When he came to, they both hugged, and then helped Mariette off the floor of the kitchen.
Mariette told the children what had happened to Fred and that she saw Eve, Thomas, Greta, and Beth before they disappeared. They were relieved that the ghosts were finally gone and free from the house and that they would never have to worry about Fred ever again.
~~~~~
As the days and weeks passed by, Mariette and the children finally had the courage to go up into the attic. When they opened the door at the top of the stairs, the room was empty. The place looked as if no one had ever been in it before. There were no cobwebs, no boxes, no dead bugs, and certainly no electric chair. Everything had disappeared after Fred was released from the house.
Geena and Steven Jr. danced around the clean empty room, laughing and singing. Mariette joined in, and they all laughed and held hands together.
When the day came for Mariette to leave, she was sad. She would miss the children dearly, but they didn’t need her anymore since their Aunt Julie finally arrived back in the states to take care of them.
Mariette had heard through the grapevine that the Parker mansion was on the market. Geena and Steven Jr. were moving to Georgia to live with their Aunt. Mariette hoped that the children were fine with the move, but she was sure after what they all went through that they were happy to move on and start a new life in Georgia.
As for Mariette, she decided to retire and spend the rest of her years with her family and friends. After what she’
d gone through, who could blame her?
The End
The Haunting of Hillcrest House
Rosemary Cullen
Brent Spears
Copyright © 2019
All Rights Reserved
Prologue - Sing No More
1859: Carlisle, England
Lucinda Corbett stepped down from the carriage, clutching her cloak to her throat against the January wind, clutching the thought of her night’s success against the subtler cold which seemed to pour out of Hillcrest House. Out of her own house, with its warm fire, against which Geoffrey would be sitting, probably drunk already.
Well, she told herself, if it wasn’t for Geoffrey she’d probably still be living in a cold shack in the shadow of the woolen mill where her parents and her sisters worked. She’d be working there too, and she’d have lost her singing voice, changed it for the racking cough that shook the men and women who worked twelve hours a day in the cold damp air. She was a lady now, not a mill hand.
She was coming home from an evening of music—a very good evening, at that; she had felt the audience leaning in, yearning toward the world that shimmered in her songs. Her family had leaned in that way when she was a child, but now there were ladies and lords in the audience, all of them as hungry for wonders as her ragged neighbors had ever been. That also was her husband’s gift to her.
She made herself smile at the servant who opened the door, and thank him warmly for taking her cloak. (She’d never treated her servants like machines that existed only to serve her. How could she, having so narrowly escaped being treated as a machine herself?) She held that smile fixed on her face as she swept into the drawing room. Smile, darling, you’re brighter and braver than any of them, a warm voice murmured in her memory.
That should have been comforting, except that it was Geoffrey’s voice, remembered from the good years. He always told her that, back when she was skinny and terrified, back when her voice pinched and cracked with fear at seeing the gentlefolk listening to her. He was so good to her then, so tender, so willing to forgive any embarrassment she caused him. If he’d been cold and angry then she’d have understood. But now...
Haunting and Scares Collection Page 37