Haunting and Scares Collection

by Rosemary Cullen

  “What do we do now?” Robert tapped his foot lightly as he looked around, narrowing his eyes to focus.

  “Now, we wait,” said Jason.

  Jennifer and Sarah sat against the wall. Robert and Jason took places against the opposite wall. Jason told Robert more tales of his family’s history, Sarah and Jennifer sat in relative silence.

  “Do you think he’ll come?” Sarah sounded bored and ready to do something else. Something more interesting that would take them out of a cold, dark basement where they waited on a ghost to appear.

  “I don’t know. I never called him to come and he still showed himself to me. There’s no reason he won’t.” Jennifer sounded more confident than she felt.

  “Will the children come?” asked Sarah with a shake in her voice.

  “I don’t know Sarah. I hope-” Jennifer couldn’t finish her sentence. The room had dropped in temperature. “Does anyone else feel that? The cold?”

  “No,” said Jason. Everyone else shook their heads, but they began to look around, their unease evident.

  “Look,” said Sarah, pointing up the stairs. “The door.”

  Jason and Robert got up from where they were sitting and looked up towards the door. It was firmly shut.

  “Did anyone shut the door?” Robert looked at his cohorts and was met by more head shaking.

  “He’s coming.” Jennifer stood up and pushed herself back against the wall.

  Sarah grabbed her sister’s hand and squeezed it tightly. They all jumped as a hand reached out from the wall as if the stonework was taking form. Blackness gushed out from behind the arm and took the form of a human shadow above them. The blackness flashed in and out of focus. One minute a black pillar, the next a white coat adorned man.

  Everyone was still, waiting to see what happened next. The blackness moved down and hovered a few inches above the floor. Then it started moving towards Jennifer. She pressed herself back into the wall and clenched her sister’s hand in hers, digging her nails in unintentionally.

  “My heart. Oh, God, it’s hammering.” Jennifer whispered, so low that nobody but her heard what she said.

  She could feel her body beginning to fill with cold. She looked over at Jason and Robert, but they were just staring at the apparition. The thing moved slowly and intentionally toward Jennifer, becoming more of a man, and less of a blackness, the closer it got. The mad doctor stood in front of her and smiled. A terrible, evil smile.

  “I’m going to kill you,” he said. “You dare come into my house and disturb my work. Will you tell them? Should I let you go? Will you promise not to tell?”

  “Yes, please let me go. I promise not to tell. I won’t tell anyone. Ever.”

  “Liar. You’ll tell them all. How can you do that to our son. You don’t love him like I do.” His whisper was raspy. Demanding. Horrible.

  “Please let me go.” Her heart froze and a tear rolled down her cheek.

  “Soon you’ll be gone. I need your heart. Where did you go last time? Why did you come back? You want me to have it. You do want to save him, don’t you?”

  “I want to save them all.” Jennifer muttered, not sure he’d hear her.

  “That’s most unfortunate, for it is all or one. I choose one. I choose Benjamin. My choice is the one that matters.”

  “Please, don’t hurt me.” Jennifer could feel Sarah near her, but she wasn’t sure what anyone could do to help her.

  “It is almost done. You’ll be at peace soon. Now keep quiet.”

  “Help me.” Jennifer’s terror was overtaking everything. She was so scared that everything around her faded away. She was alone with this mad man.

  Dr. Holloway reached into her chest and wrapped his hand around Jennifer’s heart. Jennifer screamed. Her scream pierced the air and pulled the others out of their own fear. They were ready to take action.

  Jennifer stopped breathing. The others were now awake from their paralyzed slumber, the ghostly hypnotic spell they’d allowed themselves to slip into.

  “Help her!” shouted Sarah. “Jennifer! Can you hear me?”

  “Stop it! Now!” shouted Jason.

  Dr. Holloway spun his head and looked at the others in the room. It seemed as if he had no idea they were even there. He’d focused solely on Jennifer and missed the others.

  “Oh! You’ve brought me more,” said Doctor Holloway. “More subjects for me. Another woman and two—” he gasped. “It cannot be!”

  He loosened his grip on Jennifer’s heart and she began to breathe again. She tried to talk but couldn’t.

  “Let her go!” Jason stepped forward and confronted the spirit.

  “How?” asked Richard. “How can it be?”

  Jason stepped towards him, but Richard didn’t relinquish his place. His hand remained wrapped around Jennifer’s heart.

  “Well, you’re so grown up. It worked. It did! I cured you. You’ve come here to tell me, yes?”

  “Who am I?” Jason his question and continued with his plan.

  “I would know your eyes anywhere. The color, the gaze. I know it’s you. You have found me. You are here to set me free. I never thought that I would see that smile again.”

  “Come on. Let her go.” Jason didn’t back down.

  “Yes. I will do that for you. Come to me, I must see you.”

  He let go of Jennifer as Jason walked toward him. She scuttled back as far from him as she could.

  Jason continued his walk to Richard and stood quietly in front of him.

  “You are so much more than I ever imagined.” The doctor lifted his hand and cupped Jason’s cheek. He was about to say something else, when he stopped himself. “No! You are not him. You’re playing a trick. What’s this? What is the meaning of this?”

  Before Jason could sense he was in danger, the doctor grabbed him by the neck and began to choke him. Jason gasped and spluttered. His eyes were closing as he was about to black out.

  “Stop!” shouted Jennifer. “Your son is fine. Benjamin is fine.”

  “Who are you? What do you know of Benjamin!” Hi booming voice filled the room and made Jennifer want to shrink away.

  “Your son recovered. He was cured. Richard, um, Doctor Holloway, listen to me. Your son grew up to be a fine man. He even had a family. You don’t need to do this anymore. You can let him rest.”

  “Tell me more. I must hear more!” He didn’t let go of Jason, but he did give his attention to Jennifer.

  “I cannot tell you more. I’m not the one with all the information about him. But he does. He knows a great deal about Benjamin.”

  Jennifer pointed to Jason. Richard looked at him and thought about it. Then he loosened his grip and dropped Jason to the ground. Jason sucked in big mouthfuls of air. He placed his hand on his chest and stood up.

  “Talk.” Richard looked at Jason and gestured for him to begin.

  Jason cleared his throat and took a deep breath. The incident had taken a toll on him. He wasn’t a young man and the fall to the hard stone floor had shaken him. Still, he knew he had to speak.

  “You mistook me for your son Benjamin, but I’m his great-great-grandson. Your son did live after you were gone. He recovered from his illness and grew up to be a fine man, just as Jennifer said.” Jason turned and looked at Jennifer and nodded encouragement to her.

  Richard Holloway hovered over him, waiting for more.

  “Benjamin married and had a son. You had a grandson who you never got to meet. He opened a general store over in Spring Hollow. He lived there in happiness with his family for many years. You would have been proud of him.”

  Jason looked up at Doctor Holloway and smiled. He wanted the spirit to decide to go. He didn’t believe he would if he didn’t get a good reception and the truth that his son had lived a full life.

  “Every Holloway generation since, has thrived. The general store was eventually sold to a larger chain and the money was invested wisely. Most of the family are still in the area. I live close to here. I’m Benjami
n’s great-great-grandson. Our family is successful and well respected, you should be proud of how we’ve all turned out.”

  “My work wasn’t in vain. I cured him. It was all worthwhile. It makes me proud to know my line was continued.”

  “You should not be proud of yourself!” Jennifer stepped up and Richard turned to face her. His face became stormy and angry. “We all know what you did here. The end didn’t justify the means. Do you know how many people lost their own sons and daughters. What you did was selfish. What you did was horrific. You should be ashamed of yourself and I hope your son was ashamed of you when he found out. You were not a good father.” Jennifer walked over to Richard and looked him in the eye. “Do not return here,” she said.

  “None of that matters. What is done, is done. I feel no shame. I saved my son. I gave him life. That is all that matters now. I’ll look for my son in the next life.”

  Jennifer’s heart beat warm and cold as the mad doctor turned to black and then slipped away through the stone walls. The room seemed to lighten as he left.

  “He’s gone. I can feel it.” Sarah went to Jennifer and embraced her.

  When Sarah released her sister, the four of them stood together and gazed at the space where the mad doctor had occupied. He really was gone.

  “I can still feel him in my heart,” said Jennifer. “I don’t know if that will ever go away. I think he is gone though. I can feel the lightness of this room once more. Perhaps we’re all crazy. Would anyone believe us if we told them?”

  “People believe what they want to believe. That’s most definitely a truth I’ve learned in my sixty-four years as a notorious Holloway.” Jason shook his head and looked around the room.

  “Will you write about this?” Sarah looked at him with wide eyes.

  “Of course,” said Jason. “This was… fantastic, for want of a better word. Terrifying, but fantastic. Don’t you agree?”

  “That’s one way to describe it.” Sarah chuckled shaking her head. “We should get out of here. We need some sunlight, normality and tea, most definitely some tea.”

  Sarah led the way up the stairs, Jason and Robert followed, with Jennifer trailing behind. Sarah opened the door and bathed the stairs in light. As they made their way up, Jennifer stayed at the bottom. She wanted to say goodbye. She turned to face the basement and tears filled her eyes, tears of joy. Standing at the far end of the room were the children. There must have been forty or fifty of them, Jennifer couldn’t count them all quick enough.

  She recognized the child who had grabbed her arm, he was standing at the front of the group. He raised his arm and waved to her, Jennifer waved back. The rest of their children raised their hands and waved. Jennifer struggled to hold back the tears. The lead child smiled at her and turned, the others followed him.

  Jennifer watched as they disappeared, one by one, through the wall. When the last child was through, Jennifer smiled. They had finally found their rest. There would be peace for them and for this house.

  When Jennifer finally made her way upstairs, she found Jason and Robert sitting in the library, Sarah was in the kitchen making the tea. Jennifer joined her sister.

  “Thank you for staying with me. I know you didn’t want to.”

  “What else was I going to do? I couldn’t just leave you here alone, could I?” Sarah looked up from the kettle and smiled.

  “Do we tell anyone?” Jennifer raised her eyebrows, but the look in her eyes said she knew the answer already.

  “What would we say? And would anyone believe us if we did tell them?”

  “I don’t think I’d believe a story like this if I’d never lived it. So, are you planning to stay with me until the end of this job?”

  “Of course.” Sarah poured hot water into the teapot and started preparing a tray to take to Robert and Jason. “I’m looking forward to a week of quiet relaxation around here. We’ll finally get a good week out of this place.”

  “Who would ever have thought a housesitting job would turn into such an… adventure? Is that even the right word for what we’ve been through?” Jennifer laughed. She was genuinely amused at what had happened.

  “I’m so glad to hear you laugh. I think that we’ve seen the end of Richard and the experiments. That helps make it easy to stay. I’m not sure I could have done another week of terror and fright.”

  Jennifer smiled at Sarah. “I know what you mean. I have to say I’m glad we were able to cross paths with the history here. Maybe we were supposed to be here. I’ve never believed in fate, but I never believed in ghosts, either. I like to think that we were the ones who were destined to bring the curse to an end. Do you think anyone else could have done what we did?”

  “I don’t know. Some would. Some wouldn’t. All I know for sure is we did do it.”

  Jennifer got up and hugged her sister. Then they poured the tea and had a moment of just being together. They’d forgotten about Jason and Robert, sitting in the library waiting on a cup of tea.

  “What’s the hold up on the tea?” Robert laughed as he entered the kitchen and saw the young women with tea and some cookies. “Weren’t you going to share?”

  Jason stood beside him with a crooked smile. “So much for your hostess skills.”

  Jennifer looked at Sarah and started laughing.

  “Uh-oh. I guess we forgot about you guys.” Sarah filled the kettle with water and started making a fresh pot. “No problem, though. There’s more. Have a cookie while you wait.”

  A few hours later, Robert and Jason had gone home and it was back to two. Jennifer and Sarah spent the next week as they had intended to spend the first. There were no more noises. There were no more ghosts. There were no more experiments.

  It was only the two sisters, bringing life back to the house.

  Epilogue

  Sarah and Jennifer did all the things they had planned. They took long walks in the grounds, talking of their summer plans and fall hopes. They sat on the patio until late at night drinking wine and enjoying the calmness around them.

  They invited Robert and Jason over for dinner one night, recounting, in greater detail, the events leading up to the showdown in the basement. They talked long into the night and found out a little more about the family history and other pieces of information that Jason had found out. They all vowed to live life with renewed fervor. The experience had changed all four of them.

  It was one week later when Jennifer heard an unfamiliar voice coming from the entranceway.

  “Hello? Jennifer. Are you here?”

  Jennifer walked out from the library with her bag.

  “Mark?”

  “Yep, it’s me. Finally, home again.”

  Mark was different from how she had pictured him. He was a large man, muscular and confident. He had an air of invincibility about him. He looked like he had just got out of bed and Jennifer was sure he had spent a lot of time to look that way.

  “Just packing up my stuff,” she said. Sarah joined her from upstairs.

  “Everything go okay? How were the two weeks?”

  “Oh, things went fine.” Jennifer looked at Sarah and then back at Mark. “As well as it could go, I think.”

  “Great,” He nodded and pulled out his wallet. “I have your check here.”

  “Um, I’m kind of wondering why you didn’t tell me, though.”

  “Tell you what?” He looked truly surprised.

  “You know, about the house. About what happened in the basement all those years ago.”

  Mark looked over her head and then down to the floor, never meeting Jennifer’s gaze. He didn’t respond to her question at all.

  “Even after the last house sitter fell down the stairs. Do you really think she fell? Still you didn’t think it was important to mention that?”

  “I, um, well… that’s why I locked the basement. Would you have come, if I had told you? Would anyone ever come?”

  “Well, he’s gone now.” Jennifer looked at him and tried to control her anger
. “Richard Holloway is gone. The house is free of ghosts now that we took care of that little problem.”

  “I didn’t know for sure what it was.” Mark looked back and forth between the two sisters. “People have told stories about this house. I listened to the noises at night, felt strange things happen, but I always thought my mind was playing tricks on me. I always thought the house might be haunted, but how can you ever know?”

  “We found out for sure. Believe me when I say that.” Jennifer rolled her eyes and started to get her things together to leave. Then she looked in Mark’s eyes. “He is at rest now. All of them are at rest.”

  “Oh, God. There were more?” His eyes widened.

  “You don’t want to know,” said Jennifer.

  Mark blew out a long breath. “Look, I’m sorry. I’ve had many house sitters. They never come back, but they’ve never complained to me. I’ll pay you extra for whatever trouble you had while you were here.”

  “It is not about the money. It’s about the non-disclosure. That was just wrong.” Jennifer didn’t want to let him get away with how he’d kept important information from her.

  “Triple! She’ll take triple her fee.” Sarah’s chin lifted with determination.

  Mark looked shocked as he glanced over at Sarah. “Okay. I suppose that’s fair. I’ll write another check.”

  “And I also want first dibs on any jobs you have coming up.” Jennifer decided maybe she’d get a little more out of this while Mark was on the ropes.

  “Okay, that’s a deal. But… the next jobs will be at the original rate. I can’t pay you the hardship rate I’m paying for this time.”

  “Agreed.” Jennifer smiled at him to cement the deal.

  “So, um, what was it like?” He seemed hesitant to ask, but it was clear he wanted to know.

  “We talked with the ghosts in the history of this house. I almost died. It wasn’t pleasant,” said Jennifer. “I really can’t tell you any more than that. I just want to get on with my life.”

  Mark nodded and handed her two checks. He reached down and took some of their bigger bags and headed to the front door.