Riley looked at her feet.
The noise stopped.
"What was that?" Riley demanded.
"Riley come and eat right now!" Abigail shouted.
"Okay Mom!" Riley said. She looked at the floor and shook her head. She walked to her closet and placed the empty boxes on the floor before she left her room.
Dinner consisted of pizza, soda and apple pie.
Dennis hummed as he ate his pizza.
Riley pinched Dennis.
Dennis choked on a mouthful of pizza and he reached for his soda and drank it greedily. He burped, turned to Riley, pointed at her and said, "It was Riley's fault cause she pinched me."
"Oh shut up you little tattler," Riley said.
"Riley!" Abigail said.
"Mom all of that humming was starting to get on my nerves," Riley said.
Riley's father, Peter Warren, grabbed another slice of pizza from the box in the middle of the table. He looked at his daughter sternly as he spoke.
"Riley stop teasing your little brother," Peter said.
"But Dad he's just so annoying," Riley said.
"He's not annoying. He's your little brother," Peter said. He took a bite of his pizza.
"I could have choken to death you know," Dennis said. He grabbed his pizza, turned to Riley and hummed as he bit it.
"Choken is not a word," Riley said.
"It is too cause I just made it up. Choken choken choken," Dennis laughed. He giggled and ate his pizza.
Riley moved closer to her brother and she poked him in the belly.
"Ooof!" Dennis said. He belched.
"Ugh!" Riley said. "That is so disgusting."
"What do you say champ?" Peter asked.
"Excuse me," Dennis said. "And Riley poked my belly."
Riley ate her pizza with a sigh. "Nobody poked you. It was just your imagination."
Dennis poked Riley's ear.
"Hey!" Riley said. She slapped at Dennis's hand.
Dennis giggled and said, "Nobody poked you Riley. It was just your imaginations."
"Shut up!" Riley said.
"Riley," Peter said. "Your mother and I have had just about enough of your antics. Now let's just enjoy our first dinner in our new house. A peaceful dinner."
"Yes Dad," Riley said.
Dennis giggled and he burped.
"Excuse me," Dennis sang.
Riley rolled her eyes at Dennis.
"So Riley," Peter said, "Have you had a chance to explore the house yet?"
"Um not really yet," Riley said. "I mean I've straightened my room and like set up the TV in the living room and by the way you're welcome Mom and Dad. But nope."
"Well you should. This house is a historical landmark. Its over one hundred and fifty years old," Peter said.
Riley made a face and said. "Its that old?" She looked up at the ceiling. "I'm surprised it's not falling apart."
"This house is in tip top shape. Don't worry," Peter said. "Actually they don't make them like this anymore."
"They don't?" Dennis asked.
"Nope they don't' champ. This house is one of a kind. And its big too," Peter said.
"Yes it is spacious. And I love the way the light hits the living room," Abigail said.
"Yes it is nice," Peter said.
"Apple pie anyone?" Abigail said.
Riley and Dennis spoke at the same time.
"Yes!"
After dinner, Riley helped her mother clean the kitchen.
Soon afterwards, the Warren family settled into the living room where they watched a family movie.
After the movie, Riley went to her bedroom. She sat at her desk. She glanced at the router that had been placed on the top tier of her desk and she was satisfied when she saw all of the lights blazing on the device.
"Okay here goes. Two hundred year old house and attempting to connect to Wi-Fi," Riley said. She pulled her pink laptop from the desk drawer and placed it on top of the desk. She opened the lid and powered it on. She waited a few minutes and she cheered when she saw the Wi-Fi icon on the lower right hand portion of the computer's screen flash to life.
"Wonderful and we are in business," Riley said. She checked her email and all of her social media accounts.
As she worked on the computer, the sky outside darkened and it was nighttime.
There was a knock on her door.
Riley stopped typing and she turned around.
Her father was standing in the doorway.
Dennis was standing behind him. He was eating a red popsicle and smiling.
"Its almost time for lights out Riley," Peter said. "Its almost ten o'clock. And we have a busy day tomorrow. I'm going to need you and Dennis's help to tackle that garden out back."
"Okay Dad," Riley said.
Dennis slurped his popsicle loudly and he giggled.
Peter turned to his son and he picked him up. "Time for you to get to bed champ. Let's get you cleaned up first."
"Okay Dad," Dennis said. He waved the empty popsicle stick at Riley. "Night Riley."
"Goodnight Dennis," Riley said. "Goodnight Dad."
"Ten more minutes and then it's off to bed," Peter said.
"Yes Dad," Riley said.
Peter nodded. He left the bedroom. He pulled the door shut.
Riley turned to her computer. And she started working.
Thirty minutes passed.
Riley noticed that the house had become quiet.
She looked at the clock on her laptop.
"10:30. I need to get to sleep," Riley said. She opened up YouTube. "Right after I watch a few vids."
More time passed.
Riley watched a lot of videos and she giggled softly.
She looked at the clock.
"11:30. Time to shut this off," Riley said.
Riley closed YouTube and she turned off her laptop. She snatched up her cell phone and opened up Vine.
Loud scratching suddenly echoed behind her.
Riley looked up from her phone. She stared at the wall in front of her.
The scratching became louder.
Riley turned around. She looked around her room.
The room was empty.
The scratching noise was still there. It was louder.
And the strange sound was coming from the floor in the middle of the room.
"What?" Riley said. She placed her cell phone on the desk. She got up from her chair and walked to the middle of the room. She stared at the wooden floor.
The scratching was louder and more insistent.
Riley walked slowly towards the noise and she stopped in front of it.
The noise stopped.
"It must be rats," Riley said. She nodded. "Yeah its rats. And if it is then ew."
The scratching started up again.
And as the noise became louder a low banging sound accompanied it.
The floorboards in the middle of the room shook and trembled.
And then they stopped.
The room was quiet.
Riley kneeled in front of the floorboards. She moved her left hand to the floorboards.
A spectral hand shot up from underneath the floor.
The hand was almost transparent and it possessed the color of lemons.
It glowed in the dim light of the room.
The hand grabbed Riley's left wrist and it pulled her roughly downwards.
Riley screamed as her body was yanked to the floor.
Her face slammed against the rough wooden floorboards and her side struck the floor with a loud thud.
"Dad! Dad!" Riley screamed.
The sound of loud footsteps echoed from the hall just before Peter burst into the room.
The spectral hand that held fast to Riley vanished.
Riley sat up and she crawled away from the floor weeping.
Peter rushed to Riley. He kneeled in front of her.
Abigail and Dennis were standing in front of the door.
"Dad something from under the floor grabb
ed me!" Riley said.
"Now calm down Riley. You were probably just dreaming," Peter said.
Riley pushed her father's hands away from her.
"I was not dreaming! I know what I saw! Something. A hand came up from the floor and it grabbed me! It tried to pull me under there!" Riley screamed.
"Riley now listen to me. It was nothing. You were just dreaming," Peter said.
"I was not!" Riley said.
Riley rushed from her father and she stopped in the center of the room. She clawed at the floorboards with her fingernails.
"Riley stop it!" Abigail said.
Riley stopped clawing the floor. And she turned to her father. "Dad there's something under here. You've got to check it Dad. Please! Pull up the floorboards. Pull them up please!"
Riley was crying.
And everyone was looking at her.
Peter thought for a moment and he said, "Fine. If it will make you feel better I'll do it."
"I'll get the tools!" Riley yelled. She leaped off the floor and ran to the door.
Abigail and Dennis moved out of her way.
Abigail looked at Peter.
"You're really not going to pull up those floorboards are you?" Abigail asked.
"If it makes Riley feel better then yes," Peter said. He got up.
Riley was gone for a few minutes and she returned with a box of tools and a large glass UV lamp.
"Here you go Dad," Riley said. She gave her father the tools and stood near him. She held the lamp aloft near her father. She turned on the lamp.
Bright light poured from the lantern.
"Okay then. Here goes," Peter said.
Peter used a hammer to pull the nails from the floorboards. After all of the nails were removed her used a crowbar to pry the planks from the floor.
Abigail picked Dennis up. She held the little boy close to her and she moved to the center of the room.
After Peter pulled up the old wooden boards he placed them in a neat stack near him.
When he was done, he looked up at Riley.
"May I have the lamp please?" Peter asked.
Riley gave her father the lamp.
Peter took the UV lantern from Riley. He shined the bright lamp's light into the hole in the floor.
The hole was large and dark.
When Peter shined the light into the hole, the yellow illumination passed across something large that was wrapped in old rags.
"What's that?" Riley asked.
"Don't know," Peter said. He placed the lamp on the floor. "Let me take a look."
Peter leaned forward. He reached inside the hole.
"Dad wait!" Riley said. She grabbed her father's shoulder.
Peter stopped. He sat erect and looked at his daughter.
Riley reached inside of the toolbox and she pulled out a pair of work gloves. "You might need these for just in case."
"I'm fine Riley," Peter said. "Its probably nothing."
Peter turned to the hole and he leaned forward. He reached both arms inside and grabbed the rag bundle. He pulled the thing from the hole and held it carefully. He placed it on the floor at his side.
Riley moved closer to her father.
Abigail held Dennis tight as she moved closer to her husband.
"What is it?" Riley asked.
Peter pulled at the rags and he stopped.
The rags fell away revealing a dusty porcelain doll.
The doll's face was cracked and its eyes were open and blue.
It had golden blonde hair and it was wearing a blue silk dress.
"Its just an old doll," Peter said. He looked up at Riley.
Riley looked at the doll with disbelief.
"I don't understand," Riley said. She moved closer to the hole and peered inside. She grabbed the lamp and shined the light into the hole.
A thin layer of dust lay at the bottom of the space under the floor.
"I can't believe it," Riley said. She sat up and looked at the doll.
"This doll is very old," Peter said. He picked up the doll and looked at it. "A hundred years at least."
"Wow," Abigail said.
"Its ugly," Dennis said.
The doll turned to Dennis. It blinked and hissed.
Peter dropped the doll.
The doll landed on the floor with a loud crack.
Riley leaped to her feet with a loud scream.
Abigail moved away from the doll.
The doll's face was cracked in half.
And the sound of a loud scream poured from the doll before its entire body turned to ash.
The ash rose from the floor and it took on the shape of a woman.
The ash women screamed and hissed before it ran forward and disappeared through a wall.
Everyone in the room looked at the wall.
"Now do you believe me?" Riley asked.
Stalk You Later
1
Alison Claremont walked into Geometry Class and she took her seat near the window. She tossed her bag on the floor and immediately looked across the room.
The classroom was already filled with most of the students.
Alison ignored the loud chatter and movement of the other students around her and instead, she focused on the third seat in the second row.
Mitch Chase was sitting in that seat.
Betty Raymond was sitting at a desk beside him. She leaned close to Mitch and whispered something into his ear.
Mitch was looking at his phone and he laughed at what Betty was telling him.
Betty moved away from Mitch slowly. She looked at him slyly before she snatched up her cell phone and tapped it.
Sylvia Wright, Casey Arnold and Gloria Stafford were also there.
The group were of young women were all sitting in a tight circle around Mitch.
As usual.
Mitch was the captain of the football team. And president of the school's debate team. And he was also in the drama club.
Last year, he made Shakespeare sexy again.
At least that's what his ex-girlfriend, Anna Simmons, tweeted right before he dumped her.
Anna Simmons had transferred a few weeks after the colossal breakup. And now, Mitch was single.
But he wouldn't be for long.
Alison gazed longingly at Mitch. She pulled out her ear buds and let them dangle on her neck. She kept her gaze on Mitch's handsome face as she sat back in her chair.
Alison stared at Mitch all the time. But it did no good.
Mitch was handsome, popular, cool and completely and totally out of her league.
Sure they had homeroom, English Literature, Geometry and Chemistry class together.
And they had unofficially known each other since first grade.
But that didn't' change the fact that Mitch, and his A-List Crowd, did not know that she existed.
Alison loved Mitch.
She had been in love with him since fifth grade.
After she dropped her cheese sub sammie on the floor in the lunchroom and he took pity on her.
He left his A-Group table with half of his grilled cheese.
And he gave it to her.
Alison was near tears, and she took the sandwich from him with so much gratitude.
Alison thought that her tears freaked Mitch out.
So much that afterwards, he never really spoke to her. He just waved to her politely in the halls as they passed each other.
Edwina Landry entered the classroom. She rushed across the room and fell into her seat beside Alison.
Edwina was Alison's best friend.
And they were as different as night and day.
Edwina preferred to dress in black.
And Alison preferred the color gray to all the others in the spectrum.
Alison's gray clothing was usually accompanied by a splash of color. Like yellow or pink.
Edwina, or Wina, dressed all in black. All the time.
"So what's the word?" Edwina asked. She pulled back her dyed black hair a
nd looked at Alison.
Alison was still staring at Mitch.
Mitch was looking at Gloria.
Gloria was touching Mitch's arm.
"What a slut," Alison said.
"Huh?" Edwina said. She turned around and looked across the room. She saw Mitch and Gloria.
"Oh," Edwina said. She turned away from the couple. She opened her bag and pulled out her textbook with a heavy sigh.
Alison looked at Edwina. "What do you mean. Oh?"
Edwina looked at Alison. "When I said oh just now. I meant that oh. Allie's spending quality time on a lost cause. Give it up Allie. Mitch..."
At the sound of Mitch's name, Alison leaned forward and she moved closer to Edwina with a loud shushing noise.
Everyone in the class looked at Alison.
"What is your deal?" Edwina asked.
"Wina not so loud," Alison said. She looked at her classmates quickly before she stared at Edwina. "People can hear you."
"Well I'm sure they didn't hear me. But judging by all of the crazy looks you're getting I'm betting that everyone in this class heard you with all of your shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Edwina said loudly.
Alison looked at Edwina for a few minutes.
Edwina winked.
Alison laughed. And soon Edwina was laughing with her.
"What a couple of freaks," Gloria whispered loudly.
Sylvia and Casey both laughed.
A few of the people in the classroom giggled.
Edwina turned around. She stared daggers in Gloria's direction.
Gloria laughed louder.
Sylvia and Casey giggled.
Mitch looked at his cell phone and he tapped it.
Alison felt hurt as she watched Mitch ignore her. And after a few seconds she shook her head and moved closer to Edwina. She grabbed her friend's shoulder.
Edwina turned to Alison.
"Wina come on. It's not really worth it," Alison whispered.
"You're right," Edwina said. She turned and looked at Gloria.
Gloria was whispering in Mitch's ear.
Mitch was looking at his cell phone and grinning.
"But someone needs to teach them all a lesson," Edwina said.
"Edwina come on," Alison said.
Edwina looked at Alison.
Alison shrugged and said, "Its high school."
Edwina smiled and said, "You're right."
The bell rang.
Mr. Homily rushed into the classroom. He was carrying a handful of transparencies and a black Sharpie. He closed the door and rushed to his desk.
Stalk You Later Page 2