by Cia Leah
Kim jumped and held a hand to her heart as Ralph raced around the porch to the front of the house. She leaned back against the old shingled frame of the house and stared around the yard. Ghosts she had made from white sheets hung from the trees and swayed in the night breeze, their presence an eerie reminder that Halloween night had arrived. She had always loved Halloween and it had always been her favorite holiday, but tonight she had a feeling of impending doom that she just couldn’t quite shake for some reason.
Brent had strung orange pumpkin lights around the roof and the windows of the house and it lent an air of unreality. The moon above was full, but every once in a while, a black cloud would obscure it for a few seconds intensifying the orange lights that cast eerily in the yard surrounding the house.
Kim turned and was about to go back inside when she caught site of a fleeting wisp of white among the trees about ten feet away. “Who’s there?” She called, feeling a little dense for feeling apprehensive when this was a Halloween party and many people were about tonight. Still, why hadn't whoever it was answered?
She stepped down off the porch and walked towards the tree. “I’m really being silly about this,” she admonished herself. “It’s probably one of the ghosts I hung up myself or maybe one Brent had hung higher in the tree limbs. Maybe it came loose and fell down.”
Kim walked into the trees, searching the ground for a fallen ghost when a gust of wind rustled the overhanging branches. She glanced up and shivered. With the moon shinning down through the branches, they reminded her of witch’s talons reaching out to ensnare her in their deadly clutches.
“Nothing like scaring myself silly,” she said, when she noticed the paper tacked to the tree. She stepped over to it and pulled it loose. Squinting in the moonlight, she read, a ghost knows all, sees all, and hears all. I always know where you are. Which one am I? Boo!
Kim glanced around one more time, and then ran for the house. Just as she stepped up onto the porch, she noticed the outside cellar door had something lying against it. She walked over and picked it up. It was one of the ghosts she had made and written in blood red marker were the words, I’m ghost number one. It might interest you to know how I died. You could be next.
She clutched the ghost and paper to her. “Who in the world is doing this and why?” She said, moving back to the porch. Just as she stepped around the corner to the front of the house, Brent leaped out at her. She screamed and dropped the things she was holding. “You scared me to death!”
Brent picked up the stuff and handed them to her. “Sorry honey, I called out to you once. Ralph and I were talking over here when you went back towards the cellar door. Didn’t you hear me?”
“No, I didn’t. Look at these.” She shoved the paper and ghost towards him and waited until he read what was written on them. “What do you think of that? Now we have four different messages and none of them make any sense at all."
Brent handed them back to her. “It’s Halloween. People play tricks on each other at Halloween. Why don’t you come back inside and mingle amongst our guests? They all wonder where you disappeared to.”
Kim sighed. “All right, but I want to talk to Marckus Writt that came here with the Mayor. He knows the history of this house and maybe he will know why we are getting these messages. He said this place was haunted and that three people had died in this house but not by natural causes.”
Brent put his arm around her shoulders. “Honey, if this place were haunted, we would have known it by now. Why would a ghost wait for three years to show up?”
Kim felt a little silly. She had never been a believer in the paranormal, but after the happenings of the day, she felt her mind switching to another view on the subject. “Well, maybe it is a living ghost we have to worry about.”
“I’m getting you a drink. How about a glass of sherry?”
“Sounds good. You get it while I find Marckus,” she said, walking with him inside. “I want to hear the story of this house.”
***
By the time Kim got to talk to Marckus, it was three hours later. Her guests had demanded her time and feeling she had neglected them at the beginning of the party, she had played the perfect hostess. Now, everyone was dancing and at the midnight hour, Brent had more sound effects he would play plus some visual effects he had set up. She invited Marckus into the old kitchen, where Brent had added a few new features. “Please sit down.” She said, placing the ghost and the paper she had found on the tree down on the table.
“Thank you,” Markus said, pulling out a chair at the table. “The kitchen looks really good. I see you’ve added a few new items to the room.”
Kim sat down opposite him. “Yes, some new facets, sink, refrigerator, stove and floor. We also painted the walls to brighten it up a little. I take it you have been inside the house before?”
“Yes, a few years ago with the people on the historical society. We were hoping the town would donate the place and we could make it an historical landmark. Do you know this is the oldest house in the town? Quite remarkable still for its age.”
“Yes, I’d say it is and Brent and I will do everything we can to upkeep it.”
“That’s good to hear. Many people don’t see anything but an old house when they look at places like this. It’s a shame. So much history is in houses like these.”
“Exactly,” Kim said. “Drucella said you researched a lot of the history of the house and you said that three people have died in this house but it wasn’t from natural causes. Were they murdered?”
Marckus leaned back in the chair. “Two of them were, but the third death was never proven to be murder.”
“Why was that?” Kim found this fascinating.
“Because even though Madeline Hemps was thought to be murdered, her body was never found.”
“Then how did the authorities come to the conclusion that she had been murdered?”
“From a letter she had received in the mail. As a matter of fact, the historical society is in possession of it if you would ever like to see it.”
Kim felt fingers of ice race down her spine. “A letter she received in the mail?”
“Yes.”
“And what did this letter say?”
“I guess I’d have to start from the beginning for you to understand. Wilbur Hemps was the first murdered. He was hung from the cellar rafters at the age of sixty. He was a frail old man at that age. Then his son who was heir to this place was found drowned to death in that old claw bathtub you still have upstairs. The murders all took place on Halloween night. Madeline Hemps was thought to be murdered since she was never seen again after Halloween night in nineteen sixty-one. The police just had no leads to her disappearance and after the history of this house, murdered was the conclusion they came to, especially when on each occurrence of death, there was a letter.”
Kim felt her heart flutter with fear. “Were those letters anything like these?” She said, showing him the paper she had found on the tree and the ghost with the written message on it. She watched as his brown eyes widened as he read them.
“Yes, basically. When did you get these?”
Kim told him about the arrival of the one Brent had received earlier and the one she had received, and then explained about these ones. “I am not easily scared and Halloween is one of my most favorite of holidays, but each one of these gave me chills.”
“I can see why you would be scared. Maybe you should call the police.”
Kim leaned back in her chair and stared at him. “And what am I going to tell them? Surely, even with the history of this house and its occupants, they will probably think it is someone’s idea of a joke. Brent thinks that’s all they are.”
“Well, it could have nothing to do with the history of this house, but it sure warrants that you be careful and your husband too.”
“Did the police or anyone know of any reason that the Hemps were murdered? What possible motive did someone have to kill them?”
Marckus sighed
heavily. “None really that I can see. It was rumored that Wilbur Hemps lost the house in a card game. He liked to gamble. Well, on the day the man was supposed to take possession of the house, Wilbur refused to leave and called the police. Since gambling was illegal, the man didn’t have a ground to stand on.”
“Who was the man? Surely the police could find a connection to him somehow if he did kill him and the others in the family.”
“His name was Mitchell. His family gave him a solid alibi. Of course, he died right after Madeline Hemps disappeared and so everyone forgot about this old house and its history. It was just known as the old haunted house on the hill. There was a rumor that someone had tried to buy it about five years back, but someone scared them out of the sale and they moved away.”
Kim sighed, jumping as a loud inhumane shriek filled the air. Even though Brent’s audio effects and the music filtered into the kitchen, it hadn’t bothered her, but this one brought goose bumps to her arms. “Brent likes his sound effects, but they can be quite alarming sometimes,” she said, as Marckus looked quite uncomfortable, like he was afraid too.
Marckus laughed. “Well our conversation has added to the eerie atmosphere tonight, not to mention the fact that it is Halloween night.”
“Yes. Do you know who tried to buy the house?”
“All I know is that it was some man. That’s all the information I could find out about it."
Kim leaned back in the chair. “Thanks so much for all the details you have provided. I’m going to go take a look around and make sure everything is all right inside these haunted walls.”
Marckus stood and glanced at his watch. “Well, if you make it through another hour, I’d say the ghosts are laid to rest and you can quit worrying.”
Kim rose to her feet and shoved the chair back under the table. “What I can’t understand at all is why Brent and I didn’t receive these threats the past two years right after we bought the land and this house.”
Marckus shook his head. “It just might be someone playing pranks on you or maybe there is another reason. Just be careful all right and I’ll be around if you need any help.”
“Thanks, Marckus,” she said, walking out with him to join the others dancing in what used to be called the parlor.” She saw him walk over to Drucella who stood alone in the far corner of the room. He took her hand and led her to the dance floor. So engrossed in the two, knowing instantly they were very fond of each other, she jumped when someone shouted boo in her ear. She turned to find Ralph standing there.
“Scared ya, huh?” He said, grinning widely.
“Yes, and I wish you would stop doing that!” She replied, hating the way his Dracula teeth made his face look comical, but at the same time, sinister.
“Lighten up Kim. It’s Halloween in case you’ve forgotten.”
“I haven’t forgotten, Ralph. Have you seen Brent?”
“My twin Dracula? He’s around somewhere. Tell me, what were you and old Marckus talking about for so long?”
“That’s none of your business, Ralph, but in case you just have to know, we were talking about the history of this house.”
“What history is that? After all, you and Brent bought it. Why do you need to know the history of it?”
Kim frowned. “Why has that always bothered you, Ralph? I remember you trying to talk Brent out of buying this place. It was right after we moved here when Brent’s company relocated him here. We were living in that small apartment at the time. Brent didn’t listen to you and purchased it anyway.”
Ralph leaned down. “In case you haven’t heard, it’s haunted! Boo!”
She pressed her lips together in anger as Ralph ran out of the room, chasing one of the friends he had brought with him. He had always irritated her for some reason she couldn’t fathom. Maybe it was because he never took life seriously and thought it one big joke. Brent had even told her there had been several times at work that Ralph had almost been fired due to his pranks.
Kim sighed and went to find Brent. She looked in the basement first. The lid to Dracula’s coffin was closed, so she figured that Brent had shut it since most of the people had already seen it. She started to move back up the stairs when a loud bang made her turn around. She glanced about the room, wondering where the noise had come from when she felt the cool night air filter into the room. Suddenly, the flickering candle light disappeared as the wind howled eerily through the open outside cellar door snuffing the life out of flames that burned brightly in the wall sconce candles.
Opaque darkness filled the inside of the basement but as her eyes adjusted to the dark, she saw the moon light fill the steps leading to the back yard through the old cellar door. She started to move towards it when she saw the shadow. Someone was standing at the top of the steps. “Who’s there,” she called. “Brent, is that you?”
Only silence, the wind, and the faint music from the floor above broke the stillness. Kim swallowed and tasted the metallic taste of fear as her mouth turned cotton dry. Her heart picked up-tempo with each breath she took, and she clasped her hands together to control the trembling that besieged them. “Who’s there?” She called again, only louder. Maybe someone from upstairs would hear her and come down or at least turn the light on down here.
Still there was only silence and as the moonlight quickly fled, Kim froze in terror. Someone was walking down the steps. Her mind screamed for her to run, but she stood rooted to the floor in total paralyzing fear. Then, just as suddenly as the moonlight had disappeared, it reappeared. She blinked a couple times, and then inhaled a deep, shaky breath. “Brent! You scared the life out of me!”
Kim waited for Brent to answer, but when he only started walking closer to her, she knew something was definitely wrong. The way he walked was different, almost like a stalker would his prey. “Brent, you’re scaring me! Stop it!”
“Brent, you’re scaring me! Stop it!” The voice mimicked.
Kim placed her hand over her racing heart. “Ralph! What do you think you’re doing! How dare you scare me like this!”
“Ralph! What do you think you’re doing! How dare you scare me like this!”
“Stop mimicking me, Ralph!” She said, as he walked up to within an arm’s length of her. His laughter was sinister, insane sounding. She backed away and felt her leg touch the first stair of the steps.
“Serious Kim, always the serious Kim. Never any fun and never laughing at my jokes. At least not with total abandon like most people do, but it doesn’t matter now. You’ll never hear another one of my jokes again.”
Kim stepped up on the stair backwards, still facing Ralph. “What are you talking about and where is Brent?”
“Brent’s in his final resting place. You mean you didn’t lift the lid and look? That’s a shame. A total shame. Your lover is now truly dead!”
“No!” Kim cried, jumping from the step to run to the casket. Before she could get past Ralph, he reached out and grabbed her roughly. She winced as his fingers bit into the tender flesh of her arms.
“Oh, don’t worry. There’s enough room in there for two. Dracula and his lady Dracula will be in their final resting-place that was built by Dracula’s own two hands. A labor of love, so to speak. Love that lasts an eternity!”
“That’s not funny, Ralph.”
“None of this is funny!” Ralph yelled, pulling her over towards the casket. “I tried to tell Brent not to buy this place. I told him about the ghosts of the past. I told him he’d never be happy here, that terrible things would happen. I told him to sell it time after time! Do you know how long I have saved up to buy this place and just when I almost had the money, you and Brent snatched it out of my fingers! My Grandfather is probably turning over in his grave, which is where you both are going!”
“What are you talking about Ralph? We didn’t snatch it out of your fingers. Why is this place so important to you?”
“Because sooner or later, you would have found the papers. Sooner or later during all of your repairs in
this place, you would have found the papers that would mark my Grandfather as a murderer and everyone would know! I’ve lived here all my life and they would know my Grandfather was the one who killed Wilbur Hemps and then his son!”
“My God,” Kim whispered. “It was you who sent that mail to Brent and I. It was you who wrote that message on the ghost and put that paper on the tree!”
Ralph laughed. “If you could have seen the sheer look of terror on your face, you would have laughed. It was all I could do not to let you know I was watching you. I wanted to laugh like I’d never laughed before!”
Kim’s mind was racing. She had to get away from him. Maybe talking would help. She racked her terrified brain for something to stall the inevitable and she had to keep from thinking of Brent. He couldn’t be dead. He just couldn’t be. “Marckus told me about Madeline Hemps. You’re around forty years old, so are you the one who killed her too?” She asked, but before she could answer, someone came running down the outside cellar steps. A bright beam of light shone in her eyes and she blinked rapidly. “Marckus!”
“Let her go, Ralph.”
“Not on your life, you bastard! Don’t you think I know who you are? Don’t you think I’ve done my homework? You’re a FBI agent!”
“The police are on their way, now let Kim go,” he said as Drucella Andier walked down the steps to stand behind Marckus as he reached inside his suit coat and pulled out a gun.
“No!” Ralph screamed, grabbing Kim and pulling her roughly in front of him, and pulling a knife from his pocket, as Drucella walked to stand in front of them.
“Let her go, Ralph. After all, it’s me that you want.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m Madeline Hemps,” she said, nodding at Kim.
Kim’s mouth dropped open, but she shut it quickly. Drucella was trying to signal her to make a move to get away from Ralph. It was then that she realized that Ralph’s hand had dropped to his side in his surprise. Kim moved quickly, turned around and pushed against Ralph’s chest as hard as she could. Taken by surprise, Ralph tumbled back against the wall, lost his balance, and fell down. Marckus was beside him in a split second, had him cuffed, and on his feet before she could even take a deep breath of relief. “Thank God,” Kim said, running to the coffin. “Brent!” She quickly lifted the lid. Brent’s blue eyes stared up at her and at first she thought he was dead, but when he blinked, she leaned down and kissed him, tears falling freely down her cheeks.