Haunting and Scares Collection

by Rosemary Cullen

  Jane helped her get started. “Who was that? He looked a mess, but he was nice.”

  “Jane, don’t be so rude about how people look. We’ve talked about that before. It’s not polite to say things like that even when they can’t hear you.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I’m sorry. So who was he?”

  “His name is—“

  “We know. His name is Mr. Donny.” Jonathan was clearly getting impatient.

  Stephanie gave him a look and he sat back and waited for her to tell the story.

  “Mr. Donny used to live in this house when he was a little boy. He loved living here. He lost his parents, sort of like you two lost your dad.”

  “An accident? They had an accident, too? Like Dad’s?” Jonathan’s eyes were round and interested in their new friend Mr. Donny since they had something in common.

  Stephanie thought for a minute and decided this was the best way to tell the story for now. Probably later she’d tell them the whole story, but for now this was good. “Well, yes. I think a similar accident. He lived here with his grandmother for a while and then they moved away. He was in the neighborhood and stopped by to see his old house.”

  The twins looked somber, but both agreed that they wanted to help Mr. Donny.

  Timothy looked at his mother with questioning eyes when Jane and Jonathan finished their breakfast and left the room.

  “Mom, do you think she’ll just leave because Mr. Donny asked her to leave?” he asked. “The ghost?”

  Stephanie had just risen out of her seat, preparing to take the twins’ plates into the kitchen. She sighed as she paused in the doorway and turned around and looked at her wise oldest son.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “If Jeannette doesn’t leave, we’ll just have to find a way to deal with her presence, Timothy. Her ghost wasn’t doing bad things, if you think about it. Maybe it won’t be so bad if we know what it is, I guess. We’ll just get used to it.”

  Timothy looked at her with doubt and then back down at his plate.

  “Look, we can’t move. That’s not an option. We’re committed here at least for another year or two. Let’s see what happens. Anyway, I looked it up on the internet. It said that if the person the ghost is there for tells it to leave, it will leave. So, that should do the trick. I think he sounded convincing.”

  “You know you can’t believe everything you read on the internet, don’t you?” Timothy pushed his chair back and walked out of the room shaking his head.

  Stephanie finally looked up and headed into the kitchen. After setting the plates in the sink, she looked out at the back yard once again—at the woods at the far edge of her property. She wondered if they would see Donny again. She also wondered if this was the last they’d truly seen, or felt, of his mother’s ghost.

  The End

  The Haunting of Falcon Manor

  Rosemary Cullen

  Hope Jameson

  Copyright © 2019

  All Rights Reserved

  Prologue

  June, 1858; Spring Hollow, Georgia

  It was the summer in Georgia and outside in the sun was where a kid wanted to be. The birds sang as they flew back and forth across the sky, crickets chirped from unseen locations in the tall grass as Laurie and Benjamin ran bare footed through the dew of the morning.

  Laurie was seven and like to take charge. Benjamin was two years younger, though growing up with a bossy older sister had kept him on his toes. He was mature for his age, as mature as a five year old can be.

  “Not too fast,” shouted Laurie to her brother. “You’ll get me in trouble. Father will see.”

  “I’m fine. Leave me alone.” Benjamin fell to the ground and rolled on the grass.

  His sister joined him and they both giggled as they began to roll down the hill. When they reached the bottom, Benjamin began to cough, a long raspy cough, which had lingered since he was born. He sat up and put his hand on his throat and rubbed it, the pain visible in his face.

  “I told you to be more careful. You never listen, do you?” Laurie stood up, then leaned down reaching out to her brother. “Let’s get you home.”

  “Five more minutes,” said Benjamin.

  “No, Ben,” said Laurie, staring him down. He relented and the two of them walked back towards the house.

  ~~~~~

  Their father, Richard Holloway, watched from the window as they approached the house and Laurie could see his outline behind the glass. A shiver ran down her spine.

  “He was coughing again,” said Laurie to her father as she entered the house.

  “Too much running, I suppose?” said her father.

  “No, Father, not too much.”

  Laurie bent her head to hide her fear and worry. Richard looked over at his son and stared.

  “I wasn’t running, Father.” Benjamin looked at his father with tears in his eyes.

  “Go run your brother a bath, Laurie. Go on, the two of you upstairs, now.” Laurie grabbed her brother’s hand and led him upstairs.

  “You should be nicer to her, Richard, she’s trying her best,” said a voice from the doorway between the hall and the living room. Mary Holloway had been married to Richard for nine years. She was the happiest woman in the world on her wedding day and the first few years of their marriage had been bliss. Then Benjamin had arrived. Five years later and there had been no progress in his health.

  “I’m a doctor, Mary, I know what’s best for him.” Richard glared at his wife for a long moment then looked away.

  “But do you know what is best for us? As a family?” Mary shook her head as she gestured passionately. They’d had this conversation many times over the last few years and the result was always the same. Impasse.

  “I cannot deal with this right now, I’ll be in my study.”

  Mary stood motionless as her husband walked past her and through the living room, she followed long enough to see the back of his head descend into the basement. She stood at the top of the stairs and sighed. She knew Richard was trying to find a cure, but she had given up hope long ago. He wouldn’t let it go, though. His determination and stubbornness had changed him.

  Richard sat at his heavy oak desk in the basement and looked over handwritten papers strewn out in front of him. He’d long forgotten which pages were his and which were penned by another doctor. He leaned back and took off his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He sighed.

  “Any ideas?”

  He looked up as he spoke and stood up. Placing his glasses on the desk, he stepped out from behind his desk, making his way around the room. Nearest the desk were four narrow beds lined up against the wall. Each bed held a small child.

  The children, boys, were sleeping. One was fitful and restless with signs of a fever as his wet hair stuck to his pale forehead. The other three slept peacefully, almost appearing to be dead.

  Richard went to the bedside of the fitful sleeper to take his temperature. He’d been giving each boy injections every day – a different shot for each boy. He could see the infection beginning to spread in the area where he’d administered the shots.

  The shots were killing them. None of the children would take food now and he had no way to get nourishment for them. All four children were pale and one was begging to develop lesions.

  He walked on past the bed to two large wide-mouth jars filled with pinkish liquid. The jars sat out on top of a cabinet and he looked straight at them when he was sitting at his desk. Body parts filled each one.

  Hearing one of the boys in the beds start to moan, he turned back to see what was wrong. Suddenly the eyes of the child sprung open and stared at Richard, before closing again. It was the boy who had been restless. Richard opened a drawer in the cabinet and pulled a vial and syringe out. He went to the troubled boy and gave him another shot.

  “That should do it, young man.” He stepped back and waited for the boy to fall back into a deep sleep.

  Behind the tanks were large tubs. Richard walked over and peeked in
side, seeing the child sized body parts piled up. He shook his head, but his resolve was steeled and he turned to go back to his desk.

  “Help me.” The weak sound came from the beds. “Help me.” Richard looked over at the beds and saw one of the children trying to sit up. As he rushed over, he almost tripped on a loose stone, but was able to keep his balance. He reached the bed and clamped a hand over the child’s mouth, just as another cry for help came out. The words were stifled and almost a whisper. He kept his hand on the child’s mouth until he fell back into a state of unconsciousness. He had tears in his eyes as he removed his hand and allowed the boy to sleep. He must remember to increase the dose. He couldn’t afford for something like that to happen again.

  Richard stood up, turned around and froze.

  “I heard a noise, so I came down here to check,” said Mary. She stood motionless as her eyes made their way around the room. “I dare not look at the back of the room, but I can smell whatever monstrosity is hidden there.”

  “Mary. Wait.” said Richard as Mary ran back up the stairs. He managed to grab her and bring her back down to the basement before she reached the top.

  She looked at him with anger, fear, and disgust. She’d stopped struggling, but he wanted to make sure she didn’t try to get away again.

  “Just hear me out.” He sat her down in the chair behind the desk. He thought she might be too afraid to move and that would work in his favor for the moment.

  “What can you possibly say?” Tears began to roll down her cheeks. She continued to stare at him with wide, wild eyes. “I will never forget this scene. It will give me nightmares until the end of my days.”

  “Listen to me! This is for Benjamin. I’m close, so close to a cure. I’m so, so close to making our boy well, Mary. We’ll soon be a family again, do you understand that? I couldn’t let him die! I cannot let him die! Look at the papers, I’ll show you my discoveries, you’ll see how close I am.”

  “Where did these children come from Richard?” asked Mary.

  “It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters except for you and Laurie and Benjamin. We can be a normal family, live a normal life.”

  “Where did these children come from Richard?” Her voice was more intense this time and her expression was more determined.

  “Mary, just… you don’t need to know. Why don’t you try to understand! This is for you. I have done all of this for you! You and the children! Always you and the children!”

  “For me! For us! Richard…” Mary closed her eyes as the tears finally stopped. “I don’t even know you any more. You’re a monster.” Mary started to get up.

  “Where are you going, Mary?” asked Richard.

  “Get out of my way.”

  “I cannot let you leave here.” He grabbed her and pulled her back trying to make her sit back in the chair.

  “Let go of my arm. I most certainly am leaving here and I’m taking the children with me.” She struggled and broke free of his grasp. She walked towards the stairs and stepped up to the bottom step. “I’m sorry, Richard,” she said.

  “No, I’m the one who’s sorry,” whispered Richard.

  His breath fell on her neck and she stopped dead in her tracks. The moment turned to an eternity as he dared her without words to make the first move. He knew what she was doing. Counting. It’s what she always did when she tried to get up her nerve to do something that frightened her.

  He imagined her thoughts. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine— She lunged from him and ran clumsily up the stairs. She almost made the last step when he caught her around the waist and yanked her to him. He was much bigger and stronger but her struggles made him not be able to hold her. He dropped her and she tumbled down the stone steps.

  She heard a bone crack, but there was so much pain she couldn’t tell which bone it was. She landed at the bottom of the steps on the cold gravel floor facing the stairs she’d just bounced down.

  Nothing flashed before her eyes. She expected to see a bright light, but all she could see was the dark lumbering presence of her husband lurching down the stairs towards her.

  She forced herself to sit up, then pushed herself backwards, pain surging through her body with each movement. Finally, the desk was at her back. Richard was walking slowly towards her. His look was menacing, unwavering in his resolute plan.

  She had nowhere to go to defend herself against him. She looked around for something to help her fight and saw the golden handle. He reached her just as she grabbed the letter opener and plunged it into his stomach. She brought her hand away and could see the handle protruding from his shirt, a circle of red spreading over the white cotton material.

  Richard continued his attack and grabbed her. He then picked her up and threw her against the wall. Her head hit a protruding stone in the foundation wall. The blow opened a deep gash in her skull. She fell to the ground and felt the last bit of her life trickle from her.

  For just a moment, she could see her husband down on one knee. She wondered where the children were. Then there was only darkness. Then nothing.

  Chapter 1

  June, 2016; Spring Hollow, Georgia

  The sun sat high in the pale blue sky, clouds but a distant memory on this most pleasant summer’s day. The air was thick, the breeze had taken a break and the highway stretched out as far as the eye could see. Three black birds flew through the blue expanse above as a lone car streaked along the softening road. It was like something out of a movie.

  Jennifer Bedford drove the car with the type of careless abandon which had become her trademark style. She approached life with the kind of attitude most people aspire to, yet cannot let go enough to fully live it.

  She’d been driving for a little over an hour and was still singing the same song, over and over. She owned many cassette tapes, but this one had become stuck in the player. Jennifer loved the past. She listened to music on cassette tapes, not CDs or iPods and at home it was vinyl. She had a 35mm camera that used film, she wore denim dungarees, and she aspired to own a Walkman.

  There are many who would describe Jennifer as attractive, she preferred classic. She had cut her hair short the previous summer and her brown locks had once again reached her shoulders. She pushed the flyaway curls from in front of her eyes, back behind her ear. Her eyes were chestnut brown, slightly darker than her hair, and she still had some of her childhood freckles, on her nose. Those little spots were a link to the past which she loved.

  It was her smile that drew people in, though. Welcoming and mischievous at the same time, it was an irresistible smile that had gotten her in trouble more than once. Confidence oozed from her pores. She had an expression that looked like she believed her next adventure would be to conquer the world. And she believed that someday, she would do just that.

  Jennifer looked out of the window and allowed herself to drift into the realm of possibilities. She looked over the dry landscape and planned her time for the next two weeks. She looked up at the birds in the sky and watched their patterns, a butterfly in the distance danced, just for her. She was lost in a daydream when her phone rang. She had placed it on the passenger seat and looked down to check the name of the caller, she had been expecting the call.

  “Yo, yo, yo,” said Jennifer.

  “Hey, it’s me,” said the caller.

  “Who is this?” asked Jennifer.

  “Shut up!” said the caller.

  “I really shouldn’t be on the phone,” said Jennifer. “Not if I’m a responsible driver, anyway. What if a cop was following me, what if I crash, what if a yak is on the road. Have you thought about that? Have you thought about the yaks?”

  “Do you ever listen to yourself, sis? If not, you should. Soon. Now can we have a serious conversation, please?”

  “I suppose so.” Jennifer smiled and pushed her hair out of her face again. “How are you, Sarah? How is life treating you these days? How is your husband? And, of course, the kids?”

  Sarah burst out laughing
. “Oh you’re funny. Husband and kids. Someday. But for now we’re far too young for that. Where are you?” asked Sarah.

  “I’m just over halfway to Spring Hollow. I should be there by late afternoon, traffic permitting. You’re joining me in a couple of days, right? Please tell me you’re spending your precious time with your precious sister.”

  “Of course,” said Sarah. “I’m looking forward to some quality time with you, too.”

  “Yay,” said Rachel. “I have so much planned for us. Long walks on the grounds of the manor, we can play hide and seek or something silly like that. Have you any idea how big this place is?”

  “No idea at all.”

  “It is absolutely massive. Mark sent me some pictures and there are so many rooms. This is going to be so much fun.”

  “I just want some time to relax and see you. It’s been so long. I’ve almost forgotten what you look like.”

  “Oh, now that’s a sad, sad thing. I’ll be back home, too. That will make it all better.” Jennifer was smiling at her sister’s good-natured jab.

  “I know,” said Sarah, “but the family’ll all crowd in to see you. I won’t get to have you to myself. They’re all intending to come to Mom’s house for a cookout. You remember how big our family is, right?”

  “I know, but this is going to be great. Just the two of us, some wine, a big house. It’s been a while since we’ve just chilled out together. I’m really looking forward to this.”

  “Me too,” said Sarah. “Look I have to go, but I’ll see you in two days, I’ll text you when I leave Mom’s. I’ll leave right after breakfast.”

  “I love you, sis,” said Jennifer.

  “Love you too,” said Sarah.

  Jennifer hit the end button on the phone and threw it back onto the passenger seat, then looked at herself in the rear-view mirror and smiled. She was excited to have her big sister all to herself for a change.

  She’d agreed to house sit for a friend of friend— actually a friend of her dad’s business partner. The job was perfect, she would be payed to stay in a stately manor for two weeks. Sarah had agreed to come stay with her. The house was almost exactly half way between her college in Milledgeville, Georgia and her family home in Jacksonville, Florida. She was planning on a visit home after the house sitting, then back to her studies for the next semester.