A Haunting In Wisconsin

by Michael Richan

  The more Eliza looked down at the dresser, the more she wanted to enter the River and examine it. “Robert, I’m gonna jump in the River. I want to check out this room.”

  “Alright,” he replied, their agreement for the weekend now broken.

  Eliza allowed herself to mentally drift and slip into the River. She expected to see the room in an altered state, and perhaps detect something unusual about the dresser.

  Instead, she felt unbalanced, as though she was standing on a tilted surface, trying to keep upright. Everything was dark, except for a wisp of blue mist that twisted by in front of her, repeating every few seconds. The longer she stayed, trying to determine where she was and what was happening, the more nauseous she felt.

  She dropped from the flow, reaching out with her hands to steady herself.

  Robert was by her side, holding her up. “Are you alright?”

  “No,” she replied. “Something’s wrong.”

  “What?” Milton asked.

  “Hard to describe,” she said to Robert. “Jump in for a moment and see.”

  She waited while Robert entered the River and returned. He reached out for her again, and she found herself steadying him.

  “That’s screwed up,” Robert muttered.

  “What?” Milton asked.

  “Normally, the River would look a lot like this room,” Eliza replied. “There would be small differences, particularly if there were ghosts or objects that were present.”

  “This was completely different,” Robert said. “It was like stepping onto the floor of a funhouse. All tilted and disorienting.”

  “And dark,” Eliza added. “Couldn’t see much at all.”

  Milton looked worried. “Is that bad?”

  “I don’t know,” Eliza replied. “It’s unusual, that’s for sure.”

  “Makes poking around in the River a lot harder,” Robert added.

  “Damn,” Milton replied. “I knew something was wrong with this place. Does that mean you can’t help?”

  “Not necessarily,” Eliza replied.

  “I’d like to get Dad up here,” Robert said. “He’s had a lot more experience than both of us. He might have some idea what it’s all about.”

  “Nathan’s brother?” Milton asked.

  “His name is Granger,” Robert said. “If I can use your phone to call him, I’ll see if he can come up.”

  “Of course,” Milton replied. “It’s in my office, off the kitchen.” They turned to leave.

  “You coming?” Robert asked Eliza.

  “You call him,” Eliza replied. “I’m going to poke around outside.”

  Robert and Milton left, and Eliza took another glance around the room. Everything seemed so normal; she remembered breaking into the room the night before, and recalled the smell.

  No, not normal, she thought as she left the room, headed for the entryway. Nothing here is normal.

  Once outside, she walked to the flowerbed where Ivan had showed them the trampled tulips and daffodils.

  Of course there wouldn’t be tulips in March, she thought. I should have known that dream wasn’t real. I need to stop thinking of it as a dream, too — we weren’t dreaming. Somehow, during our sleep, we met the ghosts of this place. Robert and I experienced the same things. It wasn’t a dream.

  The flowerbed was gone. It had been covered over with cement, and on top were large planters, holding overflowing greenery.

  Huh, Eliza thought, and decided to try entering the River once again. Just as before, it resulted in blackness and nausea. She quickly dropped out, and the tilt slowly leveled off, leaving her standing in front of the house.

  I hope Granger will have some idea what’s going on here, she thought. I’m at a total loss.

  ●

  Granger listened intently to their story. When it was finished, he stood and began to pace.

  “This is one of those places where the River is fucked up,” Granger said. “Involuntarily accessed while you sleep.”

  “Fucked up?” Robert asked. “That happens?”

  “Sure,” Granger replied. “It’s rare, but it happens. Think of the real world. Most places are navigable. Gets a lot harder in the desert, though, right? Imagine trying to move around on top of a mountain peak. Very difficult. This is kind of like that; a spot in the River that is tough to navigate.”

  “Why?” Eliza asked. “I understand why there are deserts and mountains, but the River exists everywhere, doesn’t it? On top of the regular terrain?”

  “Who knows,” Granger replied. “It may not. It’s not as though it’s been mapped. There may be hundreds or thousands of trouble spots like this, where things aren’t normal.”

  “Great,” Robert moaned. “What kind of help are we, if we can’t use the River?”

  “Based on what you’ve told me,” Granger replied, “you can use it, you just can’t control when you enter and exit.”

  “Unless deciding to sleep is the control,” Eliza said. “If you sleep, you enter.”

  “It took us back in time,” Robert said, “to a specific point. Usually when we enter the River, we see the present.”

  “But we also encounter ghosts from the past,” Granger replied.

  “Ghosts are normally on a loop,” Eliza said. “Many of the ones I’ve encountered in the River are replaying things. Do you think these are?”

  “One way to find out,” Granger replied, still pacing. “We’ll see what happens tonight.”

  “So we’re staying here another night?” Robert asked, looking at them both.

  “Sure,” Eliza replied. “I’m up for it. Nothing bad happened, other than Mack’s stabbing, and that seemed like a rerun of something from the past. Pretty innocuous.”

  “Something entirely different might happen,” Robert said. “We don’t know that they’re all on a loop.”

  “We’ll play it by ear,” Granger said. “Let me make sure we’ve got the entry and exit points right. You entered the River by falling asleep?”

  “I’m not sure it was the River,” Eliza replied. “We both went to bed. I woke up, thinking it was morning, when really we were in some version of the past. I don’t recall thinking it looked or felt like the River at all. I woke Robert up.”

  “I remember her waking me up,” Robert said. “We were both experiencing the same things at that point.”

  Granger continued pacing. “When did it end, exactly?”

  “Well, after everything we told you about, we came back to our room and fell asleep,” Eliza replied.

  “About what time?” Granger asked.

  “Mid-afternoon?” Robert guessed. “Something like that. We weren’t watching the time.”

  “Mid-afternoon?” Granger replied. “Middle of the day? What, a nap?”

  Eliza saw Robert glance her way and smile. “Yes,” he replied, “you could call it that.”

  “And when you woke up from the nap,” Granger continued, “it was the next morning, and you were back with Milton?”

  “Right,” Eliza replied. “The next morning from when we originally went to sleep.”

  “So you chose to fall asleep while you were experiencing the past,” Granger said. “You had control over when you left it.”

  Eliza thought about Granger’s conclusion. The events had felt very random and nothing they were trying to control, but his idea made sense. “Yes,” she said. “We fell asleep last night and went in, and we fell asleep while in it and came out.”

  “So if that holds,” Granger replied, “it’s not entirely out of our control. We’ll test it tonight and see if the theory works. We’ll just have to have a way to force ourselves to sleep, if it comes to it.”

  “Or endure whatever may happen until we naturally fall asleep,” Robert added.

  “What about protection?” Eliza asked. “If we drink some before we go to sleep, would that help?”

  “We can try that too,” Granger said. “Better safe than sorry. Milton, I don’t suppose we could recr
uit you to help?”

  “Help?” Milton asked. “I sleep here every night, but I’ve never seen the things you people do! I don’t know how much I can actually help.”

  “You can help by ingesting copious amounts of coffee,” Granger replied, “and staying up to watch over us as we sleep.”

  “Just watch over?” Milton asked.

  “Keep an eye on our bodies,” Granger replied. “If one of us appears in distress, wake us up.”

  “Sure, I can do that,” Milton replied.

  “It’s a plan, then,” Granger said. “Let’s try to turn in early; maybe as soon as the sun goes down.”

  “Milton, do you have a room with two beds?” Robert asked.

  “Number 9, upstairs,” he replied. “I’ll get the key.”

  Chapter Six

  Eliza sat up in bed. She glanced over at Robert; he was sleeping soundly next to her. She turned to look for Milton, who had been sitting on a wooden chair in the middle of the room when they drifted off.

  No Milton.

  There was no second bed, either. No Granger.

  We’re in a different room, she thought, looking around in the dim light of morning. It’s not Room 9, or Room 7.

  She reached for Robert and shook him gently. “Robert,” she said. “Get up.”

  Robert’s eyes opened, and he slowly rose from the bed. After a moment wiping his face with his hands, he turned to face her.

  “Where’s my dad?” he asked. “Milton?”

  “We’re in a different room,” Eliza replied. She looked at the clock on the nightstand: 8:10. “Breakfast should be on. Come on, let’s go.”

  “What about my dad?” Robert asked.

  “We’ll find him,” she replied.

  After exiting, they noticed the number 10 on the door.

  “Huh,” Robert muttered. “I wonder why the move.”

  They walked down the short hallway to the stairs, and descended. Eliza looked for differences; there were plenty. She chided herself for not picking up on them the last time they were here.

  At the base of the stairs were the doors to the breakfast room, already open, and standing next to them was Granger.

  “There you are,” he said. “I woke up alone, in a room with one bed. Figured you’d come here.”

  “Milton?” Robert asked.

  “Likely back in Room 11,” Granger said. “Hopefully watching over us.”

  “Alright,” Eliza said. “Ready for breakfast?”

  “Sure,” Granger replied, and they entered the room together. Inside were Abbey and Teresa.

  “Good morning,” Eliza said, sitting at their table. Robert and Granger followed.

  “Oh!” Teresa said, surprised.

  “Good morning!” Abbey said.

  “You remember me?” Eliza asked, suddenly unsure if they would.

  “You have a lovely face I feel I’ve seen somewhere before,” Abbey replied. “Are you on television?”

  “No,” Eliza replied. “Maybe it’s me who’s mistaken. My name is Eliza.”

  “Oh, that’s a lovely name,” Abbey replied, “isn’t it, Teresa?” She elbowed her.

  “Lovely, yes,” Teresa said, trying to bite into an English muffin.

  “I’m Abbey, and this is Teresa, my travelling companion. Who are your handsome friends, dear?”

  “This is Robert, and his father, Granger,” Eliza replied.

  “Nice to meet you all,” Abbey said. “You look so eager to greet the day! I think that’s a fabulous way to start each morning.”

  “I do too,” Eliza replied. “Have you seen Mack or Ivan?”

  “Oh, you’ve met them already?” Abbey replied. “No, they haven’t come in for breakfast yet. I expect they’ll be along soon, won’t they Teresa?”

  Teresa lowered her fork and tried to finish eating a mouthful before she spoke. “You have the most irritating habit of asking me things when I’ve just eaten something and can’t reply!”

  “Whom else have you met?” Abbey asked.

  “No one else,” Robert replied. “Perhaps you could tell us who else is here?”

  “We’d hate to be indiscreet,” Teresa replied.

  “But I’m happy to tell you who I know,” Abbey continued. “There’s Mack and Ivan, of course. You’ve met them.”

  “Yes,” Eliza replied.

  “There’s a couple from…from…” she paused, tilting her head. “Where did they say they were from, Teresa?”

  “Minneapolis,” Teresa replied.

  “Yes, that’s right, Minneapolis,” Abbey continued. “Have you met them? He looks Greek to me, and she’s got short brown hair with curls that bounce when she walks.”

  “No,” Eliza replied. “I haven’t met them yet.”

  “Well, they’re a very nice couple,” Abbey said. “There’s Mister Lyons. He’s a salesman, I believe. Has a room upstairs. Oh, and there’s Martha and…” She stopped.

  “And?” Granger asked.

  “That girl,” Teresa finished.

  Abbey shuddered so hard, food fell from her spoon.

  “Girl?” Granger asked.

  “The little demon,” Teresa said. “Awful creature.”

  “Her name is Wanda,” Abbey said. “She’s Martha’s daughter. As crooked as a dog’s hind leg, that one!”

  “Do you know where we can find her?” Eliza asked. “Are they the ones in Room 5?”

  “Ah, so you’ve smelled it too!” Abbey said. “That room stinks to high heaven! I have to cross to the other side of the hall when I pass it!”

  “It’s a shame the landlord of this boarding house doesn’t do something about it,” Teresa said. “They could force them to move on out of courtesy to the other tenants.”

  “Why does Wanda smell so bad?” Granger asked.

  “Some people say it’s because she doesn’t like to bathe,” Abbey replied, “and her mother indulges her. Personally, I think Mister Lyons’ opinion is much closer to the truth.”

  “And what is that?” Eliza asked.

  “Horace thinks there’s something wrong with her,” Teresa answered. “Wrong with her soul.”

  “Yes,” Abbey added dramatically. “Her soul!”

  Ivan and Mack entered the room, along with the woman who had brought food the morning before. She scanned the room and said, “I suppose everyone’ll be wantin’ coffee?”

  Everyone except Mack nodded, and the woman disappeared back into the hallway. Ivan and Mack sat at a table next to Teresa and Abbey.

  “How’s your leg?” Eliza asked Mack.

  “My leg?” Mack replied. “Fine, I guess.”

  “It hasn’t happened yet,” Robert whispered to Eliza.

  “I know that,” she whispered back. “Just testing things.”

  “I’m Ivan and this is my son Mack,” Ivan said, turning in his seat.

  “Eliza, Robert, and I’m Granger,” Granger replied.

  “Nice to meet you all,” Ivan said, nodding. He turned to Abbey and Teresa. “Ladies.”

  “Good morning!” they replied in unison.

  “We were just talking about Wanda,” Abbey said. “Eliza here was asking about her. Have you seen her this morning?”

  “No, which is fine by me,” Ivan replied. “I’m sure she’s out somewhere, causing trouble.”

  “When’s the last time any of you saw her?” Robert asked.

  “I saw her last night,” Mack piped up. “She was carrying a dead rabbit.”

  “Oh!” Teresa exclaimed. “She killed another one? How horrible!”

  “It was screaming while she held it,” Mack continued. “She twisted its neck until it popped.”

  Abbey’s face contorted with repugnance. Eliza was afraid Abbey might spit up her food.

  “Mack,” Ivan chastised. “Not while people are eating.”

  “Most disturbing!” Teresa added. “Something must be done about that girl!”

  “I’m going to check the grounds,” Robert said, standing up. “This i
s playing out the same as yesterday.”

  “Yesterday?” Abbey asked, as Granger and Eliza stood.

  “We’ll come with you,” Granger replied.

  They left the room, running into the woman with the coffee pot. “Does this mean you’ll not be having a breakfast?” she asked.

  “Yes,” Eliza replied. “We’ve decided to skip it.”

  The woman turned without a reply and continued into the dining room.

  They walked through the hallway, making their way to the entrance.

  “Everything looks exactly like yesterday,” Eliza commented.

  “I wonder if Mack will get stabbed again,” Robert replied.

  “Let’s make sure we’re positioned in a spot to see it,” Granger said, as they walked out the entryway and down the steps of the front porch. “Where did it happen?”

  “Over there,” Eliza said, pointing. “Sometime in the next hour or so.”

  “There’s no guarantee that time is playing out the same way today as it did when you were here yesterday,” Granger said. “We should camp out and wait for it to happen, if we want to catch this Wanda.”

  Eliza turned to look back at the house. “There’s Adirondacks on the porch.”

  Granger turned to look, too. “Perfect!” he replied, and they settled into the chairs.

  “When we finish with this dream,” Granger said, “or, whatever it is, I think we need to do some research on the house itself. I have a historian friend we can reach out to; find out who owned the place before Milton, and all of that.”

  “Good idea,” Eliza replied. “Have either of you tried to enter the River, since we got here?”

  “Can’t,” Robert replied. “I tried, but nothing happens.”

  “It might be that we’re in the River already,” Granger asked. “Hard to say.”

  “I wonder if we could trance,” Eliza said. “That’s usually done after you enter the River, right?”

  “It is,” Granger replied. “We could try it.”

  They waited. After a while, Eliza could smell cigar smoke.

  “Ivan is smoking around the corner of the house,” she said. “Just like yesterday. It’s playing out the same.”

  “You see that garden bed, below the banister?” Robert said to his father. “That’s the flowerbed Ivan showed us. Don’t know if he’ll come around here this time, since we’re not out talking to him like before.”