The Haunted Farmhouse - The Dream - Ch 1

As Marcie walked past the creepy, abandoned farmhouse she suddenly noticed a faint light in the far window. She moved closer and knelt down behind a small bush to get a better look. The light appeared again in the window and seemed to be brighter this time. Marcie could feel the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. She was about to get up and sneak back to the road when a bone chilling scream pierced the darkness.

Marcie started running. She ran as fast as she could, not really knowing where she was running to. She only knew that she wanted to get away from the farmhouse. Her name echoed hauntingly behind her like someone was chasing her. This only made her run faster, but the faster she ran the louder it became.

"Marcie! Marcie!" Suddenly Marcie was shaken out of her dream and realized that she had fallen asleep in English class. Brushing her chestnut brown hair out of her face she looked around at her classmates, her bright blue eyes finally coming to rest on her teacher, Miss Fielding. Miss Fielding was the 6th grade English teacher at Roosevelt Middle School. She never married, as far as Marcie knew. It most definitely showed by the way she taught her classes always uptight and accusing people of cheating at least one a day.

The petite, grey-haired woman stared down at Marcie with her piercing, brown eyes, and a stern look on her face, tapping her foot impatiently on the floor. " Am I boring you Ms. Chapman?" slowly crossing her arms in front of her while tilting her head ackwardly to the left. "Perhaps you should be getting more sleep, at home instead of in my classroom!"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Very well then, as I was saying . . . . . ."

Finally the bell signaling the end of the day rang. Marcie scooped up her books and flung her purse over her shoulder. Once out of the room, she headed for her locker to gather up her things. She glanced over at Kiki's locker, but she was not there.

I'll just touch base with her later, she mumbled to herself, as she turned to leave the building.

On the way home she had to pass the Old Farmhouse, the same one she had dreamt about in English class. Harold and Betty Miller formally owned it, but they had both past away tragically several years before. No one knew exactly what happened to them except that they were found shot to death inside their home. The police never found out who did it.

The large two-story house had been empty ever since. Except for the occasional rabbit family that made their home under the front porch, no other form of life was noticeable. The paint on the outside was faded and brown. There were many areas where the paint had peeled off, leaving bare, rotting wood exposed. Dark shadows replaced the open spaces where double-hung windows once stood, the shutters that had once framed them had long since fell off leaving only dark imprints where they once hung.

Large oak trees surrounded the perimeter of the old farmhouse, as if to hide it from the rest of the world. The once lush, green yard had been replaced with dirt covered with overgrown weeds. An occasional flower would peek out from time to time to feel the sun on its petals. The air smelled old and musty.

As Marcie neared the abandoned, old house, she slowed her pace, and finally stopped on the road directly in front. She squinted her eyes against the afternoon sun trying to spot any movement from within, but could see nothing. As if on que, the hair on the back of her neck began to stand up. She could sense that someone was watching her. Her eyes scanned every window, every bush, every dark area that she could see for signs of life, but to no avail. Wait, what was that noise? Was it her imagination, or did she actually hear laughter echoing from the house?

As she listened intently, the erie laughter quickly changed to the pounding of footsteps behind her. As she turned around, Marcie could clearly make out a figure running towards her on the side of the road.

"Hey, wait up."

It was her friend, Kiki. Her slender build and exceptionally long legs were hard to miss. She was also the only girl in school with firey, red hair which was flipping from side to side as she ran to catch up. They had known each other since the 1st grade. Every day after school they met at Marcie's locker so they could walk home together.

"Hey, Kiki. Where were you today?"

"I was running late getting out of Mrs. Sines class, and just got to my locker when you took off. Why didn't you wait for me?" She bent down and put her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath.

"Sorry "K". I guess my mind was somewhere else."

Marcie turned her attention back to the house again. She had this overwhelming sense of urgency, like someone was trying to reach out to her. 'There was someone or something in that house . . . .'

"Earth to Marcie, come in."

A hand suddenly waved in front of her face.

"Kiki, why do you think someone would want to go in that creepy old farmhouse?"

"I don't know. Really don't think about it much," She stood up and moved closer to Marcie's side. "Why the sudden interest in the house?" She too, turned her attention towards the house to see what intrigued her friend so much, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. To her it was just a dilapidated, old house.

"I'm not quite sure, but there is definitely something going on in there. A few minutes ago I could swear that I heard laughter coming from inside."

"Ok, you're starting to creep me out. Can we go now?"

Kiki continued to slowly walk down the road as Marcie took one last look at the Old Farmhouse. Then she went to catch up with her friend.

Marcie walked quietly for a few minutes trying to put things into perspective. Her feelings had never been wrong before, and this house was sending out some major vibes that she could not ignore.

"It's happening again, Kiki!"

"What is?"

The dreams."

"I knew it." Kiki blurted out loudly.

"Shhh, not so loud."

"Sorry. So, what did you see."

She told Kiki about the dream she had in English class. She also explained her desire to go into the Old Farmhouse and take a look around. By the time she finished her story, they were headed up the driveway to her house.

"What do you think the dream meant?"

"I'm not sure. It felt like someone was in trouble and needed help. My help."

"No one has lived in that house for years," Kiki reminded her as they reached the front door.

"I know that, but there is someone, or something, there now!"

Marcie reached out to grab the door knob, but it was swiftly opened from the inside. Out from behind the door appeared her younger and annoying brother, Brad. He was only nine years old, but already stood as tall as Marcie. She called him the "milkman's son" because he didn't really resemble anyone else in the family. Not her father, mother, or herself for that matter. Brad had platinum blond hair, and green eyes while Marcie's hair was Chestnut Brown and she had light blue eyes. Both of her parents had dark, brown hair.

He darted out the door, ignoring the girls as he passed. "You really didn't think I opened the door for you two did you?" He said sarcastically giving a quick look over his shoulder as he trotted down the front steps. He didn't wait for a response but disappeared around the side of the house.

"Oh my gosh, he is so annoying!" Marcie blurted out as she made the "squeezing neck" gesture with her hands.

As they walked into the house they smelled the aroma of freshly baked bread. The girls headed straight for the kitchen to grab a piece before they went up to Marcie's bedroom.

"What kind of bread did you make, Mom?"

"Poppyseed". She picked up two golden brown pieces of bread and handed one to each of the girls.

"Thank you, Mrs. Chapman."

"You're welcome, Kiki."

"Yeah, thanks mom. We'll be up in my room if you need us."

"Ok, remember dinner is at six."


As they entered Marcie's bedroom, Kiki walked over to the bed and sat down. Marcie quickly shut the door and turned around. She had that all too familiar look on her face.

"I've got to go back to that house,K."

"What do you mean? Tonight?"

"Yes, tonight. Kiki, when we were standing in front of that house, I got the intense feeling that something was going on. It was like something was drawning me to it."

Marcie suddenly jumped up from the bed and walked over to the closet. She reached up onto the shelf and pulled down her black backpack. Then she grabbed a large flashlight, and a pair of binoculars from a shoe box that was on the shelf next to the backpack. Finally, she returned to the bed, laid down the bag, and placed the two items carefully in it.

"So are you with me, or not?"

"I guess so, but for the record I have a really bad feeling about this whole idea."

"Look, just tell your mom that you're staying over here tonight. She won't suspect a thing."

Marcie started moving again. This time she strolled over to her desk where she picked up a small, blue notebook and a few number two pencils. After going back over to the bed and placing the items in the bag, she then knelt down and reached underneath the bed. She pulled out a large plastic bag that had a variety of blankets folded in it. She unzipped the bag and pulled out two fleece blankets. One had blue and white flames and the other one was purple and pink tie dye.

"I still don't understand why anyone would go into that creepy, old house after all this time?"

"Well, that is what we are going to find out."

Marcie put the blankets in the backpack and zipped it up. Then she bent down to place the bag under her bed.

"We'll wait until my mom goes to bed, and then we'll sneak out."

"I still don't like it . . ."

"I know you never like anything. Now let's go see if my mom has dinner ready. I'm starved."

(Chapter Two - The Vision)