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seatwilite · 7 months ago

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Chapter 1

“A Strange new drug has hit the air… Literally. An airborne pathogen has been released sometime in the last 12 hours and causes mass hallucinations. People have been reported phobias including, but not limited to, extreme claustrophobia, coulrophobia, hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia, mysophobia, arachnophobia, panophobia, agoraphobia, nosophobia, zoophobia, hemophobia, trypophobia, rhabdophobia, necrophobia, and tetraphobia just to name a few. Where has this drug come from and how do we stop it? People have been warned to stay inside while the CDC tries to come up with a plan to cure those affected. This is Stella White, Channel 3 news…”

Huh… Some of those phobias are oddly specific… The fear of the number 4? Really? And who has a fear of long words unless they are worried about failing a test?

So, he did it, I realized with a sad sigh. All this because of Cora. He’s been in love with her for years. When she broke his heart last month, he promised revenge. But what is the point? Is she really worth all of this?

I begged him to reconsider. So many people would be hurt in his irrational mission to punish his girlfriend that only lasted about a week. Well, 4 days. That was when she realized it wouldn’t work and there was something definitely wrong with him.

I can’t say that I blame her. They were not good together. She was completely wrong for him, but she is beautiful and he is obsessive. There is something wrong with him, just like she said. It’s his warped sense of humor and his aptitude for getting into trouble. But he is a genius and should not be challenged.

I’ve been friends with him for forever. He was always bullied. The kids would call him names like nerd and geek, or even brainiac, then they would push him down and kick him. He was pretty scrawny when he was younger…

But I would always fight his bullies off for him, sometimes ending up getting beaten up myself, in the process. I guess you could say that I’m a tom-boy. I don’t mind fighting for him. Even now, after he’s bulked up due to excessive exercise, I still stand up for him.

He’s never looked at me the way he looked at Cora. And that’s fine. I am fine not being his girlfriend. Being his best friend is good enough for me. Maybe someday I’ll find an actual boyfriend who appreciates me… I don’t know if that will happen because most guys are scared of me.

For the last month he’s been locked up in his parent’s basement working on his Ultimate Drug he calls ‘Phobia.’ He thought it would be funny to make everyone run around scared of things like clowns and start to hallucinate when there really wasn’t anything chasing them.

I happen to be a psych major and I’m worried about the panic this is gonna cause. Fear is not something to be messed around with! It will cause havoc and people will start behaving irrationally.

It’s like high school boys in a school gym, once one of them does something stupid the others wanna get in on it, and then pure chaos! I don’t wanna go through that again! I hated high school!

I warned him many people would be hurt because of it, but he brushed me off. He never listens to me when I am trying to help him and prove my point! It’s like my opinion doesn’t even matter to him! Stubborn man!

I even tried to warn his parents. But Mindy and Jack both said Jeremy was 22 years old and they didn’t have the obligation to babysit him anymore. What is that supposed to mean? They are his parents! What kind of parent would just look the other way when their child really needs their help? That is completely irresponsible of them!

Don’t get me wrong. Mindy and Jack are great. They love him and all… It’s just, they’ve been dealing with Jer’s insecurities and trouble making tendencies for his whole life. But when he hit 21, they wiped their hands of him. Now he is still living at their house, going to college. He is working on a degree to become a microbiologist.

I wonder how long this idea has been cooking up in his brain and just needed an excuse to execute it…

Suddenly my door crashes open and in barges my best friend. He is heaving as if he’d been running the whole way here. He has a manic look in his eye. This can’t be good…

“I did it Libby!” He announces, as if I hadn’t been listening to the news reports all morning long. All I’ve heard about all freaking morning is people screaming that “The End Is Coming! The Zombies are taking over the world!” But there were no signs of these supposed zombies! I seriously don’t know if that would be considered necrophobia or some other tv induced phobia I’ve never heard of!

“I know,” I sigh. I am really depressed, but he doesn’t even seem to notice how I feel. I’ve never had a phobia. I’ve never even been afraid of the dark, so his drug won’t work on me. It only enhances the fears that one already has…

“Aren’t you gonna congratulate me?” he asks, looking confused by my lack of enthusiasm for his ‘practical joke’. Seriously? Congratulate him when I’ve been begging on my hands and knees for him to stop this madness?!

“NO!” I growl at him.

Jeremy looks startled and taken aback. How can he not understand? For being a genius, he sure can be an ignoramus sometimes!

“Why?” he asks, even more confused and slightly frustrated.

“Did you not hear me the first million times I warned you not to do this? People are gonna get hurt! Our friends are gonna suffer for some stupid revenge on a girl who was completely wrong for you! You only wanted her because she was beautiful, not because you guys got along! And what if she doesn’t even have a fear? You would have done it all for nothing!” I practically shouted my rant at him.

“I thought you were joking…” he looks unsure now.

I was joking? REALLY???

“What about that was I joking about? How is people getting hurt funny?” I try to restrain my frustration, taking deep calming breaths.

“Well… It will go away on its own…” he says, as if that is reassuring.

“Yeah, but the CDC doesn't know that! People who are hiding under their beds don’t know that! How long will it last?” I finally ask in defeat.

“48 hours,” he whispers.

“48 hours of fear. How would that make you feel, Jer? You have a fear! You have trypanophobia! How would you feel if a phlebotomist came at you with a huge frickin’ needle right now?” I growl out.

“That won’t happen,” he says with a triumphant grin. “I gave myself the antidote!”

As If I’m supposed to be impressed with this nonsense! I am so frustrated right now I could strangle him!

I grab his shirt sleeve and drag him out the front door.

The first thing I see is my poor neighbor, Ashley running away trying to swat away some invisible assailant.

“The butterflies are attacking! Run for your lives!” She shouts, trying to out run invisible butterflies.

Lepidopterophobia! Well, that’s a new one! I didn’t know Ash was scared of butterflies!

I turn and glare at my best friend, and for once Jer looks sheepish and chastised.

“I promise, they won’t hurt her…” Is all the consolation he can offer.

#scary #scary story #phobia #what is there to be afraid of?#48 hours of fear #best friend #revenge #love #are you scared #new drug #city of fear

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seatwilite · 7 months ago

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Not All Monsters Hide Under The Bed

Lucy hugged her mommy tight, with tears streaming down her face.

"Mommy, why can't you stay?" She sobbed.

"Honey, we talked about this. It's important for mommy's job! And you won't be alone all weekend. Robert will be here with you," her mom tried to reassure her.

Mommy didn't understand! She didn't want Robert to be with her! Why did she have to marry that mean old man anyway? He has secrets! Ones he told Lucy not to tell mommy. Secrets that made Lucy cry...

"Why can't I go stay with Grandma Lulu?" Lucy begged.

"Lucy! Listen to me. You are staying with Robert. You will be perfectly fine, and Grandma Lulu gave you a beautiful doll for you to play with. Remember? She said she will protect you from anything bad happening. Now be a big girl, and give me a kiss! I'm gonna be late for my flight," mommy demanded.

Lucy squeezed her beautiful doll to her, hoping Grandma Lulu was right, and gave her mommy a kiss on the cheek, then turned around and marched upstairs to wait by the window to watch her mommy drive away.

Happy to pass by without Robert stopping her, she sat by her window and played with her brand new doll.

"What should I call you?" Lucy asked.

The doll had bright yellow hair and pretty blue eyes, just like Lucy and Grandma Lulu. She wore a pretty blue dress to watch her eyes and had a pretty pink smile. The smile made Lucy happy, because most of the time she was scared.

"I'm gonna call you Sunny," Lucy decided. "Let's play tea party!"

Later around lunch time, Lucy got hungry and realized she would have to go down stairs. Hopefully Robert wasn't going to see her. Mommy didn't know that he hurt her. Sometimes he would play hide and seek with her, but he always found her!

Tip toing down the stairs, she listened, but it was quiet.

Lucy sighed with relief.

"We have to be quiet, Sunny," Lucy whispered to her doll. "We don't want Robert to know where we are!"

Scurrying across the floor, she made it safely to the fridge. She couldn't cook on the stove... She wasn't allowed! But she was a big girl! 7 year old's can make sandwiches!

Carefully and quietly she pulled out the turkey meat and some sliced cheese and pulled the mustard out from behind the beer cans and milk, and set it all on the table. Then she quickly went to the pantry and pulled out the bread. She needed to hurry, though. She didn't want to risk being caught!

Pulling down a plate from the cupboard, she placed all her things on the counter, and set about making her lunch! As soon as she was finished, she put everything away so she wouldn't make Robert mad! It was always worse when he was mad...

She looked at her sandwich and knew it would make her thirsty, so she pulled down her special pink cup and poured a glass of milk.

It still wasn't much, then she remembered mommy bought her nice juicy red apples and placed them down in the drawer of the refrigerator.

Sitting down to her lunch, she did a quick check around the room.

Robert still wasn't here. Thank goodness!

Before she ate she folded her hands to say the blessing on her lunch, just like mommy taught her.

"Dear God. Thank you for my lunch. Please make Robert stay away from me. Amen."

Then her hungry tummy couldn't wait any more, and she dove in.

She hummed happily as she ate her big girl lunch and looked at her beautiful dolly. She swung her legs back and forth as she munched on her apple. She was careful not to spill her milk. That would make Robert mad.

When she was finished, she put her apple core in the garbage and rinsed off her cup and plate before putting them in the dishwasher. Leaving her things out in the sink also made Robert mad!

Grabbing Sunny, Lucy made a mad dash for the stairs, but was cut off.

He smelled like beer again. Yuck!

His eyes were all red. Lucy didn't know why his eyes turned red. Maybe because he was always mad at his boss?

His hair was all messed up and looked greasy. He needed a shower! When my hair is messy, mommy always makes her take a bath!

So why didn't Robert?

"Hey Lucy, girl. Time to play..." he slurred his words.

"I'm... I'm gonna... just play with my dolly from my Grandma," Lucy stuttered in a whisper.

"But you don' wanna make me lonely, do ya? Your mommy left us, and now I'm so lonesome... I just wanna play with a pretty little girl..." he drawled.

Lucy slowly backed up away from Robert.

It didn't do any good. Robert pounced on her!

"Awwww!" Lucy screamed. "Let me go!"

Lucy fell under Roberts weight and dropped her Sunny doll.

"Please let me go!" she begged.

"But I wanna play," breathed Robert into her neck.

Lucy hated his smell! It made her tummy sick. Her lunch tried to come up, but she swallowed it down.

A sudden cackling noise startled both of them.

"Who's there?" slurred Robert.

"Someone who is gonna play with you, Robert!" whispered a twinkly voice. It didn't sound like a person.

"Who are you?" Robert slowly backed away from Lucy. "What do you want?" he growled.

"You like to play with Lucy so much... I thought we'd have some fun!" sang the voice.

Then, Sunny stood up.

But she didn't look like Sunny. Her eyes were red and her pretty pink smile wasn't smiling any more.

"Sunny?" Lucy asked.

"Don't worry, Love! Grandma Lulu gave me to you to protect you, and that's what I'm gonna do!" Sunny said.

And then she ran after Robert...

#scary story #short story #short scary story #doll #magic #abuse #magic doll #grandma's gift #safety #child

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seatwilite · 7 months ago

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The Lost Dog

I'm so tired of this body. Nose to the ground, on all four paws. Don't know which is worse, the shaggy brown fur or the blasted fleas in the shaggy brown fur!

And this heat! Now I'm panting... and drooling. Yuck!

I guess you could say I deserve this punishment for what I've done. But, hey... Being a demon is just what I am. So what if I've stolen a few worthless and self centered humans?

In fact, it's actually easier in this form! I just go up to the adults and follow them around. Half of them ignore me, which doesn't surprise me! Everyone is so freaking self absorbed, they can't be bothered with a lost little dog following them around. The other half gives me a bowl of water, or sometimes a bone... And while they are leaning over to pet me, I just take them! It's like this form does all the work itself!

Still! The smells... Not to mention how distracted I get whenever I see a kid at the park throwing a ball... I took off after a squirrel this morning... Had him treed for a half hour before some kid dropped a hotdog! Free lunch... Where was I going with this?

Oh, yeah! Stealing people... But the problem is, the little ones love puppies. But I can't let them touch me. I can't take the little people. They burn me! I tried it... I went scampering away and the little guy looked as confused as his parents.

That's fine. I've been stocking this playground for a half hour waiting for the chubby little monster to go play with his friends while I take care of mommy and all her lady friends.

I feel a pat on my back. Time to go to work.

I turn around.

Empty soulless eyes stare back at me. The unliving corpse is falling apart. Gray skin has been torn to the bone along the jawline.

Zombie.

Damn!

#short story #short scary story #demon #dog #demon dog #zombie #short attention span #funny

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seatwilite · 7 months ago

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The Halloween Project

I sit in my class, tapping my pencil on my desk and chatting with my buddy Jesse, as we wait for our teacher, Ms Henderson, to organize her lesson for today. Social Studies isn’t my best class, but it could be fun sometimes. She does come up with some awesome project ideas.

“So, what are you doing this weekend?” Jess asks, even though it’s only Tuesday. Some days the weekend just can’t come fast enough, and last week I spent the whole weekend cleaning my room, or my mom would’ve killed me! It’s not my fault I get busy with school and… stuff…

“I was thinking about heading to the skate park. It’s been awhile,” I sigh. It really has been awhile. I’ve been playing on my computer for so long I forgot what it's like on my board. I could totally use the exercise… At least that’s what my dad says. He’s been on my case saying I’ve been spending too much time in front of a screen… Well, I guess he may be right… This time.

“Cool! I wanna come! I just need to get outta going to visit my grandparents this weekend,” Jess smirks. Yeah, my buddy is always game for some fun. Sometimes we play one on one basketball, or head to the batting cages. And once in a blue moon, we hit the gym and work on weight training. But, seriously, it has been ages since we’ve been to the skate park.

A minute later, Ms. Henderson calls us to attention. She always takes a little while to get her stuff organized. Not saying she is unorganized, just sometimes she seems a little scattered. That’s why everyone starts chatting the moment we enter class.

“Okay class, seeing as next weekend is halloween, I have a new project for you,” our teacher cheers. She looks super excited about this one. She is practically bouncing on her toes!

I perk up at this. This might be good. What kinda project would we be doing this time?

Once we had to do a service project for the community. Me and my friends made sack lunches of the homeless and handed them out. It was actually pretty fun! Another time we were in charge of setting up decorations for the school dance. The dance was lame, but the set up was pretty awesome! Our theme was “dancing through the decades.” We got to dress up way old school!

“I want you to pick a partner and come up with something spooky. You could go investigate the graveyard, some of the old mines that collapsed, you could even look up the history of our town and write a report on the original founders if you like. Just come up with something fun and be prepared to share it Thursday!” Ms. Henderson gave her spiel with a wide grin.

Actually, that does sound fun! There are so many things running through my head at the moment, trying to come up with the best idea… And then I have it! The perfect Halloween project!

“Hey, Jess. Wanna do ours on our local haunted house?” I said with a smirk. The Peterson house has been rumored to be haunted, but nobody actually knows for sure. It would be cool to find out one way or the other… Either way, it would make a fun Halloween project.

I could tell instantly he was up for it! The sparkle in his eye tells me we could make this epic! A giant smile appears across his face as he nods his head enthusiastically.

“Dude! Yeah! That would be perfect, man. We could get the news articles about what happened to the house, and we can even go explore the burned down house! We can even see if it's really haunted,” Jess teases.

This is why we work so well together. We are normally on the same wavelength and can read each other’s thoughts… Maybe we are telepathic? If we are hunting ghosts, it could happen!

Neither of us believes in ghosts, but hey! What’s Halloween without a haunted house? I mean, yeah, we could do any of those other things Ms Hendo suggested, but how often do you get a grade for looking into an old creepy house?

“Wanna meet after school. You can come over to my house and we can look up those articles. Then we can take my car to the edge of town and go investigate the remains of the house. I’ll bring my camera just in case we see a ghost!” I wink with a chuckle.

The rest of school went by in a blur. I had my mind focused on our upcoming project. There is just something about the house and the crosses that seemed to be bothering me. I can’t explain it, but something pricked my heart, and I just couldn’t focus no matter how hard I tried! I know anytime I pass a cemetery I feel sad, but this… This is deeper than sad. It’s like… Betrayal? I don’t get it.

“Maybe we can go to the back yard where they are buried? There are three crosses, right?” Jess asks, kinda looking confused. No one I know actually understands the whole story. Maybe they had a dog? I guess that is another thing we will be looking into…

“Yeah, sure. And you are right, there are three crosses… I’m just not sure why,” I admit. I guess we really do need to study those news articles to find out what actually happened to that house. All I know is someone died in it and then it burned to the ground… Well, sort of. It is still (barely) standing. There has been talk of taking it down as it has been deemed structurally unsound, but no one has gotten around to doing anything about it. And… Well, there are three crosses, so there must have been three bodies?

After school, Jesse and I walk into my house discussing our project. We are still hyped up about the project. I really am wondering about the whole truth to the so-called ‘haunted house.’ Maybe we can share what we find out with our friends! They love a good ghost story!

I go grab some chips and sodas and bring them over to the table, placing them between me and Jess.

“Danny, this is gonna be so cool!” Jess smiles, munching on some chips. “I love Halloween!”

I love it too, I think absentmindedly grabbing myself a handful of chips and stuffing my face. (I always get hungry right after school.) There is just something about this time of year where getting the crap scared outta you is totally fun! Ghosts or not, I really enjoy it.

I pull out my laptop and open up a search bar for ‘Eliza Peterson’ and ‘haunted house,” because she was the one who is supposed to be the one haunting the house in the first place… There can’t be too many Eliza Petersons haunting houses, can there?

I crack open my root beer as I wait for the computer to do its thing. I take a long sip and almost spit up when I sit up and take a look at the search results…. I don’t really know why I am so surprised, but I am.

Surprisingly, it shows up in the first search. There are multiple articles about the incident. I click one of the links and it opens up an old newspaper article.

“Hey Jess, look at this!” I exclaim, pointing to a picture of a girl about our age. She was pretty, from what I can make out of the blurry black and white photograph.

The headline read “The body of Eliza Peterson has been found a week after the house fire on October 29, 1894.”

“Eliza was only 18. Casper, her husband was 22, and had convinced her parents to let her marry him, even though they were really reluctant, they finally allowed it… Man, she was as old as we are!” The thought kinda throws me off. Why would she agree to marry him? Were they in love or was it one of those arrangements? Were they getting money out of it?

I don’t think I’d be ready for that type of commitment at my age. In fact, I haven’t had a girlfriend for months now… Not since Steph cheated on me. That’s why I hang out with my buddy, Jess. He’d never betray me. What would it be like to be married at 18? Would it be scary or was he excited about it?

Unfortunately the article doesn’t answer any of those questions. I’ll just have to leave all that up to my imagination, since there is no way I can ask Eliza in person.

“Oh, yeah! If I was that chick, and I’d found my husband in bed with a maid… Or anybody really, I’d totally haunt that house too!” I admit. “I’d probably haunt the whole freaking town to vent my anger!” My stomach twists in empathy, thinking back to Steph. This story is a lot more depressing than I expected it to be. I didn’t really think it would hit home this much.

“It says Eliza caught her husband in her own bed with their maid, Ruth Harrison!” Jess continues reading the article in disgust. Now I know why I had the prickly feeling earlier. It was a tragedy, not a fun spooky story.

“She stabbed them both in her bed, and their bodies were still naked! Yuck!” Jess grimaces.

I am so glad there are no pictures of that! I don’t even want to think about what that would look like. I’d probably have to burn my brain after seeing something like that.

Now I’m gonna be sick. I guess that explains the third cross. But why would they bury the mistress right next to the wife? Are they trying to torture the poor girl even in death? If I were her, I’d be pissed! I wouldn’t even want to be buried next to my husband if I were Eliza! In fact, I think they should’ve just left the other bodies in the house and buried her out back and finished burning the house to the ground with them still in it!

“Then she slit her wrists in the bathtub just before setting the whole place on fire,” I say sadly. The whole thing makes me want to throw up. Whether the house is haunted by ghosts or not, it would always be haunted by the memory of a cheating husband. That is almost worse!

Yeah, if anyone had any reason to haunt someone, it was this girl. She must have been so angry! No… Anger is not a strong enough emotion. She was probably raging with fury. Not to mention heartbroken by betrayal!

I know I’m a guy, but even I don't know if I could take a broken heart like that. Yeah, Steph cheated on me, but we were not married like Eliza. I also didn’t have to move from my parents to be completely supported by some jerk! If I was married and found my wife in bed with another dude, I’d go ballistic too.

��They had only been married for a year, man! And it said she was pregnant…” Jess continues, his voice getting softer with pity.

Now I am really sad. They were going to have a baby…

What kinda jerk cheats on his pregnant wife and in her own bed?! It’s a good thing the guy is dead, or I’d go punch the man myself! I don’t understand why this is getting to me this much, but I am burning up with anger and aggression with no outlet. I am completely frustrated by what I’ve learned.

I would’ve been totally pissed and yeah, I might have done something crazy like kill them. And if the pain was so bad… I don’t know… Maybe she was hurting so bad that she just couldn’t take the pain… Maybe she thought she had no other choice?

Could she not go live with her parents, or would she have been the same of the town? Would everyone shun her for her husband's mistakes? I don’t understand why, but it seems like the same kinda backward thinking people in small towns would do.

“It says no one even knew they were missing. The firefighters just put out the fire and didn’t check for bodies. They weren’t found until a week later…” Jess says, confused.

I am confused, too. “What?! What the heck were they thinking of not checking for bodies?!” I demand, feeling very unsettled about the whole thing. It sounds like a freaking cover up! Did someone know what actually happened and not stop it?

“I have no idea, dude. I just know that they were sloppy! But, it says here that when the cops finally showed up they were scared off because Eliza showed up and chased them off the property. No one believed them of course and they sent someone else to check out the house and they found all three bodies. I guess that was where the rumor got started,” Jess sighs.

I think about that for a moment. Whether they saw a ghost or not, they should have taken the bodies and laid them to rest as soon as possible… Well, at least Eliza deserved some peace after what she went through.

We stare at the computer screen, snacks completely forgotten. I am completely lost in thought.

I shake my head, determined. I need to see for myself, and no one's gonna stop me! If I have to go by myself, then so be it!

“Well as great as this is, I really want to see the house for myself now.” Something was still nagging at me! I need to see the whole thing for myself!

“Danny, man… I don’t know if that’s a good idea…” Jess looks unsure. He was fine with it just an hour ago! I know this info changes a lot of things, especially about our report. We would be exposing some major issues that no one else has thought to look into. Now everyone will know why Eliza had supposedly haunted her house… And that she was pregnant. I’d never heard that until now… but it doesn’t stop the fact that I need to be there!

It took 15 minutes to drive to the outskirts of town and find the ‘haunted house.’ This is actually the first time I’ve driven out this way to actually look at the house. I’ve driven past it to get out of town and all, but I’ve never stopped… Even though I’d always been curious about the crosses in the back of the house that can be seen from the road.

I had my camera and my phone with me. We really didn’t need to bring a lot of equipment for our assignment. We’d probably spend the weekend typing up everything we learned and in a few pictures of the house and the crosses…

Jesse still looked scared about the whole thing. As long as I’ve known Jess, he’s never been superstitious, but I think something switched when we were reading the news report. He almost looks like he is gonna pass out.

Is it the injustice for Eliza? Am I feeling the betrayal she felt, even though hers would be a million times worse than mine. I was not in love with Steph, and nowhere near close to marrying her, but Eliza had given up her life with her parents to marry some two-timing snake… And she was having his baby, so she had to have some feelings for him… Right?

I’m not gonna call him out on it. I’m scared too, but there is something that I desperately need to see… And I don’t even know why I feel this way? It’s not like I’ve known them personally, or they were even alive during my lifetime. But I feel… a connection to this? Maybe I need to have my head examined after all this…

I look around to make sure no one is watching us, and we slip through the hole in the fencing and past the “NO TRESPASSING” sign. I really don’t need Sheriff Davis showing up and busting us… Then he’d tell our parents and we’d never hear the end of it!

The whole place is dilapidated, but not as bad as it could have been. I mean it is still standing… Sort of.

I shove the door, but it’s stuck. Must be waterlogged or something, so I push harder and slowly the heavy creaking door opens. The door is blackened, along with the floor, and every other wood surface. The smell of charred wood, smoke and mildew fill my nose. I think I’m gonna be sick! The wood is moist and mushy! Yuck!

I never really thought about what the house itself would feel like when I stepped into it. The only thing I can think to describe the surface of the house is squishy. I’m probably going to die of black mold poisoning or something… Is that a thing?

I take a minute standing there in the foyer getting used to the creeping evil I feel in the house, and look at Jess, he is turning green. Yeah, he can feel it too.

“You okay?” I’m not sure how I’m expecting my best friend to respond , because, NO! He is not okay, and neither am I. I just hope he doesn't end up puking all over the place… I guess I wanna know if I gotta rush him outta the house right now.

“The article said the husband was upstairs in her room with his mistress,” I said. I don’t really have to say it, he knows it… But I just want to fill the oppressive silence with something… Maybe I should have talked about the skatepark instead? But somehow that just seems disrespectful to talk about our future plans when the people in here didn’t get to have a future because of the husband's ridiculous choices!

“Yeah,” he croaks. “It smells like death in here, man.”

And I couldn’t agree with him more. It wasn’t just the smell. It’s the feel. It feels… heavy… suffocating… empty… lonely… Is that what death feels like? I hope not, because I don’t wanna feel like this when I die!

Jesse nods his head carefully, looking at me with trepidation. I just jerk my head toward the stairs. I don’t know why it's so hard for me, but I force my feet to move and carefully make my way up. There is a moldy burnt rug covering the steps making squelching noises beneath my feet.

I’m actually surprised the stairs hold my weight pretty well. Yes, they creak in protest of actually having to be used, but they don’t open up sending me to the deepest level of hell, so that’s a plus. I can hear Jesse’s steps right behind me, so at least I know he didn’t ditch me.

We make it down a short dark hallway. The window here is all covered in soot and shadows from the tree out back. It makes it kinda hard to see, but I’m not sure how much I actually want to see up here… So I will stick with the creepy shadows that feel like they are following me.

There is a closed door on the right and I push the heavy burrier open. It scraped across the soggy floor, sticking because the floorboards are completely warped. But I wouldn’t let that stop me. I am here to get answers.

The room was huge and was probably beautiful before it was burned. Everything was furnished for a nobleman. This definitely had to be the master bedroom. And if he were a real man, he would have shared this one with his wife. But he was nothing but a selfish piece of garbage. He didn’t deserve her!

“I don’t think this is the right room.” I state, grumbling out my frustration. The prick was freakin’ rich, but he treated his wife like trash! How could he do that to her? And what was the point of taking the maid to her room when he had a huge bed like this? Was he trying to hurt her more?

“Why not?” Jess asks, looking at me bewildered. Yeah, I know bud. She should have had this room!

“It said they were in her bed. I’m guessing this was Capsers,” I say in disgust.

I back out of the giant room and go across the hall to a much smaller bedroom, which was cracked open. This door gave way easily. And it was just as I had expected… And for some reason that hurt.

“This is it,” I state. A heaviness presses down on my shoulders at the words. I feel like the room is shrinking in on me. I’ve never been claustrophobic, but man… I don’t know how to catch my breath!

“How do you know?” Jess asks skeptically. He is looking around the small room too, probably wondering the same thing I was. How could a man put his wife in something so small, especially when she was pregnant?! Did it always feel like the walls were shrinking in on her? Or is that just me?

“I can feel it. The anger in this room,” I whisper, making my way to the smaller bed.

A sudden rage builds up in my gut and it pushes away my anxiety. All I want is revenge… For Eliza of course. Why would I need revenge? I don’t! I also probably shouldn’t be having violent visions of burning the house down… again!

I pull my camera to my face, focusing on the messy bed, and I click the button, taking a picture of the bed of shame. Amazingly, I swear I can still see the bloodstains on the bed. That thought didn’t make me feel any better, though.

I look down at my camera screen, showing the picture I’d just taken and almost freak out.

There, in high-definition, on the bed are two ghostly shadows staring at me. Their eyes are full of sorrow and regret. And yeah, they are still naked! I have to burn my eyes now… But how do I forget this picture? I wanna burn my camera too!

However, I am not gonna feel sorry for them. I don’t know if I would say they got what they deserved, but they were not exactly innocent in the pain they caused Eliza. This should have never happened. Seriously, though! How did they think she would react to finding them in her bed? Surely they wouldn’t think she would be happy for them! They can’t be that stupid…

I backed out of the room, trying to calm down my heart. My whole body is shaking in shock. I wonder if this is the first emotion Eliza felt when she saw them… It seems to be a likely reaction… If she was in shock, she could have walked numbly all the way down to the kitchen and grabbed a knife… She could have been going back and forth in her grief of disbelief and anger… maybe even bargaining before she grabbed the knife and decided to end their lives.

But that also has me wondering if she saw them in her bed… They stayed there just to wait for her to come back and kill them? Or were they in the middle (I just threw up in my mouth)… and she caught them and they just didn’t care that she saw them in the act? That doesn’t seem to make sense to me.

There is one more door at the far end of the hall. Like a beacon, it’s calling to me, and I can’t stop my feet from trudging toward their own doom. I don’t know why I feel like this is such a bad idea, but I just know. I know once I open that door, there is no going back…

My stomach twists, because I’m pretty sure what I’m gonna find in there. I try to block out the visions spinning faster and faster in my head. The newspaper had mentioned this room, and I have seen enough horror movies to help my imagination come up with some pretty gruesome scenarios.

And I was right. As I push the last door open. The creak sends shivers up my spine, and the smell makes me dry heave. My body is still shuttering from her bedroom, and I’m starting to sweat down my face. I’m sure I’m about to pass out any moment now…

I look across to see an oval mirror, smashed and splattered. A large tub filled with coppery bloodstains and a scorch mark. There is no water, but there is a ring of blood right up to the rim of the tub… It seems to have flooded to the floor. I see scorch marks on the walls, and I want to cry. This is the saddest thing I have ever seen in all my 18 years.

I pull my camera up to my face, focusing it on the tub that makes me spiral into my own depression, and take another picture.

I can’t stop the tears that are leaking out of my eyes. I can hear Jess behind me, sniffing. He must be fighting the sadness too… I shouldn’t have brought him with me…

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. It doesn’t even begin to cover the sorrow I’m feeling. I feel regret and anger. I want to fix this… But how do I fix something that happened over a hundred years ago? I can’t! I don’t have a do-over button, or a time machine that can let me go back to the past and change everything.

We back out of the bathroom and suddenly a beautiful girl in a flowy yellow dress appears before us.

Did I say I was in shock before? Yeah, that was nothing! My legs are locked up and my heart is in my throat. And if I can’t get control over my lungs, I swear I will faint any second now. I’m not scared of her, though. Just in shock!

She gives us a melancholy smile. She really is beautiful. She is no longer in pain. Or pregnant, for that matter… I do see the slits at her wrists. I can see the blood stains on her sopping wet dress that sticks to her body like a second skin. I can see every beautiful curve of her body… If she wasn’t dead, I’d totally be turned on!

I swallow hard, trying to control this weird urge to touch her.

“Hello, Daniel. You are nothing like my horrid husband,” she whispers sadly, floating right up to me and caressing my cheek. I can feel the cold touch of her hand. Is she a vampire and not a ghost? Maybe that would explain why I’m so drawn to her… I want to feel her touching me forever…

“No, I’m not.” Of course I’m not like that bastard! “I would never do that to you,” I insist. My voice comes out husky, which is weird, because it’s never done that before…

“And Jesse, you are so brave to come face my wrath with your friend…” she smiles, gently behind me. I feel slightly jealous at that look for some reason. That doesn’t make sense. I don’t own her.

“Thanks?” He chokes out. I can hear him taking a step away from us. Where is he going?

Then a twinkle shimmers in her eye as she leans closer to me, whispering into my ear, “I think I’m going to keep you, Daniel.”

“What?” I don’t understand what she is going on about. How the hell does she plan to keep me? Not that I would run for her… In fact, I would love for her to keep me.

The camera flashes as it falls from my hand and she kisses my mouth with a passion I’ve never known. Her kiss is addictive and I need it… I need it so bad as I deepen the kiss, pulling her body flush against mine. And everything goes dark.

The next day…

The police received a call about a car parked in front of the Peterson house. Police cautiously pull up to the house, investigating Danny’s car. They look around the property, but find on one on the land. Finally they go into the old house, but the only thing they found in the house was a camera.

The pictures show Danny kissing a beautiful young woman in a yellow dress, as Jess chases two shadowy figures through a dark vortex.

The end.

#Halloween #scary story #short scary story #Halloween story #ghost story #school project #haunted house #betrayal #murder #Halloween Project #High school

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seatwilite · 7 months ago

Text

Why I'm Afraid of the Dark

Chapter 1 The dream

I look down as a beautiful girl lays peacefully asleep on her bed.

Who is she?

She startles awake at the loud cracking of wood in a fire. Heat from all sides starts to surround us, and I start to sweat. My throat goes dry, but my focus is on the girl.

Her blond, disheveled curls hangs down to her waist; her startling blue eyes are petrified. As an afterthought, I notice how the nightgown matches her eyes perfectly.

Smoke starts to engulf her and she coughs. The smell of smoke fills my lungs, and I start to choke, too.

She starts crying from the smoke in her eyes. The heavy smoke stings my eyes, and they start to water. I can't see clearly.

My breathing becomes labored and I can't seem to speak.

She throws back her covers and makes a mad dash to the door and tries to pull it open... But she pulls back almost instantly, and I smell the burned flesh of her hands. She looks down at her blistered hands.

I try to kick the door open, but it seems to be blocked from the outside. Who locks people in their rooms and sets them on fire?

I try to get her attention, but for some reason, she doesn't seem to notice me.

"Help!" She cries out.

She coughs again. Tears are streaking down her face and I want to help her... But how?

"Somebody let me out of here!" she shouts.

Her voice is rough, and she begins coughing uncontrollably.

"Let me out! Please! Let me out." She begs.

Then she turns right to me.

"Jason! Help me!" she cries.

I startle awake.

Sweat is dripping down my body and my lungs still burn like they are full of smoke. I try to get my heart to stop pounding and my breathing under control.

I stare over at my door where the girl had just been standing.

What the hell was that?

Chapter 2

Jason

I sigh exasperatedly as I look over at my boxes. My entire life has been reduced down to three stinkin' boxes! Not to mention, mom wants these boxes emptied yesterday!

Give me a break! We didn't get out truck unloaded until 11pm last night, due to mom's crazy 12 hour shifts at the hospital! We should have waited until the weekend to move like normal people do. But NO! Mom wanted out stuff out of dad's place ASAP! And she couldn't be bothered to wait 4 more days to move.

So, here I am, on a Wednesday morning, looking at my pile of boxes full of stuff that I just don't have time for! I'm gonna be late for school! But does mom even care? NOPE!

Why couldn't I have stayed with dad? I mean, at least he spends time with me! Dad is a lawyer, but still takes time out of his schedule to hang out with me. He spends time after work and plays catch with me. Last year, when my baseball team went to state, he was there watching me. Cheering me on, like I was important to him! And on weekends, he'd make us big breakfasts and we'd hang out! Did mom ever do that? Again... I say NO!

Seriously, if I don't leave now, I'm gonna be late for school! So I grab my backpack and throw it over my shoulder and hustle to the door. Just as I'm about to reach my freedom, mom calls out to me.

"Did you eat breakfast, honey?"

"Nope. Didn't have time," I say.

Mom tosses me a breakfast bar and continues, "It's not healthy for you to skip breakfast! I've left you 20 bucks for you to order whatever you need for dinner tonight. I'll be home late again."

"Kay, mom, I'm gonna be late for the bus!" I groan.

"Love you honey. Have a good first day of school," she says and turns back to her computer.

I tear open the door and dash down the hallway, not noticing anything on the way to the stairs. I rush through the foyer and pass through the sliding glass doors.

I pump my legs as fast as I can and beat the bus by about 5 seconds.

I sigh as I take my seat in the middle of the bus and look around.

This is gonna be a long day

Chapter 3

The New Kid

Here I am. 18 years old. Mid March, of my last semester, Senior year. My life sucks!

If I would have stayed with dad, I wouldn't be the New Kid! I'd have my old friends, my old school, my baseball team. Why did mom have to move us to the next time over?

When I graduate in 2 months, I'm going to move away to college, just to become a janitor! Rich people suck!

I walk into my first class of the morning. History.

I take an open chair in the middle of the class room, hoping to blend in with everybody else.

"Hey, I'm Charlie! Welcome to Lake Side!," the guy next to me greets.

"Hey, man. Thanks! I'm Jason. My mom and I just moved into the Mansion Suites last night," I mention.

Charlies face pales and his jaw drops.

"Is something wrong?" I ask.

"Oh, no! It's just..." Charlies looks nervous

"What?" I am so confused!

"It's really nothing. Your new and don't know the history. But really, it's cool! It's beautiful," Charlie insists.

Before I can ask him what is going on, the teacher, Mr. Murry walks into the class room and sits at the edge of his desk and looking out at all of us.

"Welcome to class, everyone. We have a new pupil with us today! Jason, would you like to introduce yourself?" Mr. Murry asks.

My face turns red. I knew this was going to happen, but I really had hoped that maybe it could have waited until after lunch. I hate being the center of attention, unless I'm up to bat. Which I guess I am.

I clear my throat. "Hey, guys. I'm Jason. I just moved into the Mansion Suites with my mom. I play baseball, and when I grow up I want to be a janitor!" I joke.

Everyone laughs at that and I take a seat.

"Thanks for that Jason. Okay, so everyone pull out your books and turn to page 253. Jason just follow along until you are all caught up. We will be continuing our lecture about the Vietnam War," began Mr. Murry.

I was glad to know I wasn't behind at all, but I wasn't going to let anyone know that.

During lunch, I sat with Charlie. It turned out we had quite a few classes together, which was cool because I like the guy. It's nice to have a friend, especially since I was so worried I wouldn't have any, being new. He gave me his number and told me we could do homework together.

"So, what were you saying about my new apartments?" I prompt.

"Well, it was a long time ago," he says evasively.

"What happened along time ago?"

Charlie sighs. "Well, back in 1999, there was this rich family. But one night there was a fire and everyone died. But like I said, it was a long time ago, man. Not that big of a deal."

"Was there a girl?" I ask, feeling kinda weird about asking.

"Actually there was a daughter, She was the heiress to the family fortune, but since she died, she obviously didn't get to inherit anything," Charlie states.

But then he looks at me suspiciously. "Why do you ask?"

"I had this weird dream about a girl getting stuck in a burning room..." I reveal.

Charlie gasps. "What did she look like?"

I thought back to the dream. "She had long blond curly hair, and blue eyes that matched her nightgown," I say dazed.

"She was in her nightgown?" Charlie asks curiously.

"Well, she woke up with the sound of the smoke crackling, so yeah, she was in her nightgown," I say like it is no big deal.

Charlie smiled at me. "Was she pretty?" he asks.

"Yeah, she was. But she was also scared and crying," I responded.

"Huh... That is really strange. I never actually looked up what she looked like. Never really thought about it since it all happened before we were even born," Charlie shrugged.

By the end of school I was ready to go home and take a break. I told Charlie I'd text him later and climbed on my bus.

My mind was reeling over everything I learned at school. And I wasn't talking about the Vietnam War!

Chapter 4

Taylorsville

I look into the empty fridge and growl. She couldn't even bother to go shopping? We have bread and peanut butter, but I'm way too hungry for that. My stomach growls to punctuate the statement.

I grab my wallet, keys, cell phone and the 20 mom left me and leave.

As I exit the building the sunshine hits my face and I sigh with the weight of depression leaving me. It's a beautiful day! I can just hang out outside and find some food since I have to be the adult in the family.

The streets of Taylorsville are bustling. I look around and see a bunch of preteen girls giggling as they come out of an ice cream parlor, I see a girl and a guy heading down to the park holding hands. Bunch of guys hanging out by the video game arcade. Tons of moms pushing their kids in strollers. Men and women entering the gym down the street. The strip mall looks like a happy hive of bees, and the feeling is positive and happy.

I spot a pizzeria. Perfect!

I enter and the bell over the door chimes happily and I almost laugh. It's like I've been living under a dark cloud the last year, watching my parents fight. Not to mention me arguing with them just to get their act together. They were both ruining my life, but I guess it didn't matter much what I said. They never listened to me anyway. And now, here I am. On my own, and happy for the first time in a long time... Maybe it's just the pizza!

A pretty brunette greets me.

"I'd like to order a medium pepperoni pizza and a 2 liter of root beer," I say.

She smiles. "Sure! You expecting friends?"

"Nope, it's just for me. But I just moved here with my mom, and our cupboards are empty, so I figured I could have leftover pizza until mom decides to go shopping," I joke.

She looked a little sad at that. But then put on her brightest smile. "I'll bring it right out!"

I take a seat and look out the window. I love people watching! They are so funny sometimes. The little kid throwing down his popsicle, throwing a temper tantrum while his poor mom looks mortified. A group of teens arguing about who knows what. Maybe they are making early plans for the weekend. Man on the phone, probably making a business call.

"I'm so glad they finally opened up the Mansion Suites," and older lady from behind me says.

"Me too, especially after all the tragedy! Took the city long enough to get through all the red tape," another older woman says.

Now, I really didn't mean to eavesdrop... But they were literally right behind me! What else could I do?

"It's such a shame that whole family gone! And no living relatives... well," the first lady chuckles, "not that aren't in jail and have forfeit any right to that fortune!"

"I heard Bert isn't doing so well. Don't know how much longer he'll survive. I'm still surprised he is even living! 20 years to life in prison couldn't be easy. And it's been what? Close to 22 years or so?" the second old lady says.

"Here's your pizza and soda. I Hope you have a great day!" she smiles at me.

I smile back. "Thanks!"

I was thinking about eating my pizza here in peace, but not now...

I grab my pizza and root beer and head out the door.

Time to do some research!

Chapter 5

Alone

I've been home for about an hour trying to get to my laptop. As I was putting my clothes away, I swear I heard footsteps down the all. I even peeked to see if mom was home early. Of course she wasn't! I was hanging up some of my nice shirts and there was someone whispering in my ear, but I couldn't tell what they were trying to tell me. I've never been afraid to be alone before. It takes a lot to scare me, but since last night...

I've been getting goosebumps up and down my arms at all the creeks and groans from the apartment. I didn't know new places made noises like that. I always thought it was older houses that made moaning noises. But the Mansion Suites are brand new!

I finally got enough of my stuff put away to pull out my laptop...

At least mom won't be able to say I didn't do anything! I put a whole box and a half away before I found my computer.

The one thing about having rich parents is, for my last birthday, they bought me a top of the line laptop. I turn on my computer and I don't have to wait forever for my search engine to pop up before I make a search for Mansion Suites because I didn't know what it was called before.

And right there, her picture shows up. She really is beautiful. Her name was Danielle Winters, and this building used to be called the Winters' Mansion.

A rustling sound over my shoulder startles me.

"Hello?" I call out.

There is a giggle, so soft I'm not sure I really hear it.

"Is anybody there?" Great... Now I sound like I'm in a horror story where I go and check my closet and get my head chopped off by an ax murderer!

"Get a grip, Jason! No one is here, and no one is going to chop off your head!" I reassure myself.

After that motivating pep talk, I get back to the article.

It seemed that the father, Arthur Winters had a brother Bert. But Arthur took Burt out of his will due to his brother being a drunk and couldn't hold a job. He didn't want the moocher to take his hard earned money and use it for alcohol.

Not that I blamed the guy!

Arthur was the head of a very prominent law firm and he earned all his money the hard way, and had every intention of giving it to his daughter, who wanted to grow up to be a doctor so she could help people.

Huh...

One night Burt got drunk. It says he went in and locked all the occupants in their rooms, then took gasoline and spread it through out the house. He lit the match and walked out of the house. It says he must have tripped a silent alarm because the cops where there as he was exiting with the gas can still in his hands. But they were too late to stop the fire. The fire experts say he lit the fire right in front of his brother's room, which was also across the hall from Danielle's room.

There was another article about what the remains of the house and property. There was no next of kin on the will so the whole thing got caught up in red tape for about 20 years. Then the city said they wanted to restore the house, but turn it into an apartment complex and bring in more money, since you have to be stinkin' rich to live in this place.

There was another article about the brother. I didn't read very much. Just that he said he was haunted by his brother and his family. He couldn't sleep at night without seeing the fire. He didn't even fight in court. He knew he was guilty and gave a full confession. He hoped by telling the truth that the hauntings would go away, but according to a recent psych report, he is still have nightmares.

There was a small article about Danielle and her achievements. She had the highest GPA in school, a 4.2 (way to go extra credit!), she was going to intern at a near by clinic in a year after she graduated high school. She was on the student council, and she did ballet. She loved horses and had her own, somewhere out in the country stabled by some friends. Her biggest goal in life was to help those less fortunate than her, and make healthcare more affordable. Good luck with that!

A soft giggle tickled my ear.

"Danielle?" I whispered.

Suddenly, darkness is encroaching upon me from all corners of my room.

The last thing I remember is a chilly kiss being placed on my cheek and a girl whispering my name.

Chapter 6

Home

I'm surrounded by warmth. Visions play across my mind, all of them blurry, but I'm not worried. I feel calm. Happy.

Smoke fills my lungs.

I startle awake, still sitting at my desk, but my laptop screen has gone black.

I cough.

What's going on?

I look around and my room has caught fire, just like Danielle's room did. The thick smoke makes it hard to see, let alone breathe!

I push away from my desk and run blindly for the door.

"Help! MOM!" I scream.

I finally run into my door and grope around for the door knob, and yell in shock as it burns my hands! Dark blisters appear on my stinging hands.

"HELP! Anyone! GET ME OUTTA HERE!" I call out, and start coughing again.

I can't breathe. I'm having a panic attack. I'm gonna die just like Danielle!

"Danielle! Help me!" I plead.

"Jason!" she smiles at me.

I collapse to the floor. The room is spinning and I can't see through the dark smoke. I'm so disoriented!

Danielle kneels before me and smiles down at my face.

Why is she so happy?

"You tried to help me, even if you couldn't," she whispers. "So, now, I will help you!"

She leans down and kisses me.

Sudden lightness fills my being. Like a weight being lifted from my shoulders.

I can breathe and no smoke enters my lungs.

She pulls me up into her arms.

I still feel disoriented, but differently now.

I look down and notice a crumbled heap that used to be my body, but I don't seem to care.

I look back at Danielle and smile down at her.

"Welcome home, Jason! I've been waiting for you," she says as she puts her arms around my neck. She giggles.

Well, if I'm stuck in eternity, at least I won't be alone anymore...

#short story #house fire #ghost story #new kid in town #history #haunted house #love #high school #lonely

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