The Haunted Farmhouse -The Vision (Ch 2)

The familiar footsteps of Marcie's mom could be heard shuffling up the stairs. The girls watched as the radiating from under the door suddenly went out. They barely made out a female voice whisper "goodnight girls" as the soft pitter patter of slippers continued down towards the other end of the hallway. Patiently laying in their beds, the girls waited to hear the bedroom door shut. After a few minutes, Marcie quietly rolled out of her bed. Already dressed, Marcie and Kiki just had to put on their shoes and coats.

As Marcie finished tying her shoelace, she glanced over at Kiki and saw that she was still under the covers. Pulling the backpack from under the bed, she flung it over her shoulder and stood up.

"Kiki, come on . . . let's go!" Marcie whispered as she crept over to her friend.

"I really don't like this, Marcie. I'm scared." Kiki said, her voice barely audible.

"I know, I'm scared too, but I need to do this. Please come with me! I can't do this alone." Marcie begged as she placed her hand gently on Kiki's exposed shoulder.

With much hesitation, Kiki slowly climbed out of bed. Meanwhile, Marcie walked over to the sliding glass door that headed out onto the small balcony. Unlocking it, she slid the door slowly open.

"You ready, K?" Marcie asked looking over her shoulder.

"Yeah . . . coming." She answered as she stood up and headed over to join her friend.

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Brad slowly made his way down the hall towards the bathroom. On the way, he had to pass his sister's room. Shuffling quietly past, he heard the girls softly whispering amongst themselves. He also heard what sounded like rustling which sparked his curiousity. He drew closer to try and hear what was going on. Pressing his ear against the door he heard movement inside and what sounded like Marcie's sliding door being opened. Brad decided to try and get a peak inside the room, and grabbed the doorknob quietly.

As he slowly pushed the door open, he stuck his head through and looked inside. Marcie and Kiki were just stepping out onto the balcony, and didn't notice Brad watching them. He stood in silence as his sister shut the door, and climbed over the balcony wall. Kiki soon followed behind her. Brad quickly crept into the room and headed over to the glass door. He made it just in time to see the girls jogging down the driveway.

"Gotcha!" He said to himself with a slight nod. He turned away from the door and slipped quietly back out of the room.

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The night was unusually still, but there was a slight chill in the air as one by one they climbed down the wooden trellis. Marcie carried the small backpack over her shoulder as she gently lowered herself onto the ground below. Once Kiki joined her they quietly disappeared into the night.

As the girls headed down the driveway, there was a sudden rustling in the trees just to the left of them. With hearts pounding wildly they raced desperately to reach the road that lie just ahead. Neither of them dared to look back afraid of what might be following them. It wasn't till they were about a half mile up the dark and narrow road that they finally stopped to catch their breath.

"What was that?"

"Probably just an animal." Marcie said reassuringly.

As they started walking down the road again, a gentle breeze began to blow. The trees swayed gracefully back and forth as their shadows floated like swans across the earth below them.

"Do we have to go into that house, Marcie? Can't we just watch from behind a bush or something?"

"You can stay behind a bush if you want, but I want to get a closer look at what's inside."

"Oh, no, you're not leaving me outside by myself! I'll take my chances."

The two girls drew ever closer to the Old Farmhouse with each step they took. Just over the horizon, they could see the sky starting to light up signaling the approach of a storm. They quickened their pace as they moved ever closer to the old, delapadated house. The air suddenly turned chilly as rain drops slowly started to fall from the sky. As they huddled together the house loomed out of the darkness just ahead of them. As the wind picked up and mother nature let the clouds open, the rain began to come down heavily. The trees took on grotesque shapes as they bent their long branches low towards the ground, and their shadows made the house seem to take on a life of its own.

"Come on, Kiki, run for the house!"

"Right behind you."

Marcie took off in a sprint as Kiki followed close behind her. The heavy rain felt like shards of glass pelting them as they ran blindly towards the house. Kiki's foot suddenly found a deep rut in the soft ground and she felt herself being pulled down.

"Marcie! Help!"

She quickly turned around and saw her friend sprawled out on the ground. As she ran back to help Kiki a bright flash of light filled the sky.

"Come on K, we've got to get inside."

With Marcie holding her by the waist, and her arm around her shoulder, Kiki struggled to stand up. Together they made their way to the house. Once inside, Kiki slumped onto the floor exhausted and cold.

Marcie took the backpack off and flung it onto the floor. She unzipped it and pulled out one of the fleece blankets. 'Yes', she thought to herself, 'it's still dry.'

"Here K, the blankets are still dry. Put this around you."

"Thanks." She took the blanket and wrapped it around her tightly. In a matter of minutes she felt the warmth rush back into her body.

Meanwhile, Marcie took the flashlight out of the backpack and turned it on. The glow lit up the entranceway, and she could barely make out the old photographs that lined the walls.

"Stay here, K, I'm going to take a look around."

"You don't have to ask me twice!"

"I'll be right back."

Creeping closer to the pictures, she realized that they were of Mr. and Mrs. Miller. One looked like their wedding picture, and another one was of them and a small child. Some of them were unrecognizable from years of wear and tear.

The hallway was cluttered with old, dried out leaves and small, odd shaped rocks that had gradually found their way in over the years. There were also an abundance of rotted, broken old wood pieces scattered like puzzle pieces all over the floor. There was a dense fog-like cloud that hung heavily above Marcie's head, probably made from the dirt and debree they had awakened when they scrambled into the house to escape the storm. The air was musty and damp and had a foul odor like something had crawled in the house and died.

As Marcie carefully made her way down the dark hallway, she heard scuffling behind her.

"Wait up, Marcie."

She turned around to see Kiki pulling herself up using the wall as a crutch. As she slowly hobbled over to join her friend a bright flash of light ripped through the room for a brief instant and then was dark again. Soon after a loud rumbling noise could be heard echoing throughout the house.

"Doesn't sound like this storm is going to let up anytime soon!"

"No. It sure doesn't. Come on let's search the rest of the rooms down here, and then head upstairs."

Marcie lifted the flashlight and shined it in front of them. As she moved it back and forth across the rotted floor they could see several small, brown mice scurrying around in the corner and then disappearing into a large hole in the wall.
"Eek!" Shrieked Kiki, "I hate mice with their long, skinny tails and beady little eyes." She quickly shook her head and shoulders frantically from left to right as if to erase the memory from her mind.

The girls continued their search of the rooms. First, they entered the kitchen at the end of the hall. The floor looked pretty much the same as the hallway did, scattered with debris that had blown in from the broken windows. The cupboards were bare with most of the doors either open or laying in pieces on the floor. They crossed the kitchen floor and walked into the once beautifully adorned dining room. Here they saw a large wooden, rectangular shaped table that stood in the middle of the room. Over it, from the wall above, hung what was left of the chandelier with it's many levels of glass-shaped pieces that had once radiated all the colors of the spectrum when the light hit them. Now, only a few of these pieces were left hanging covered over by a thick coat of dirt and a green-looking substance that the girls could not identify.

The rest of the rooms downstairs were pretty much the same and held no evidence of anyone ever being in the house.

"Let's go on and head upstairs, K."

"Why bother. We'll probably not find anything different up there then we did down here! Besides, my ankle is starting to hurt again. I need to sit down for a minute."

"Alright, but just for a moment. I just want to check everything out. My feelings are never wrong, K, you know that!"

"I know. Fine, just give me a minute to rest. Alright?"

"Sure."

While Kiki sat down on the first step leading to the second floor, Marcie retraced their steps through the rooms just to make sure they didn't overlook anything unusual. As she reentered the hallway from the dining room, she made her way over to the front door that was left open from when they first entered. The rain had slowed down considerably and she could vaguely make out a few stars in the night sky trying to peek out from behind the passing clouds. The thunder was barely audible in the distance as the storm made it's way out of the area.

Suddenly, there was a loud thud in one of the rooms upstairs. Marcie turned away abruptly from the doorway, and quickly made her way over to Kiki who now was standing up her eyes focused on the second floor landing. As they stood there in silence, afraid to move, they heard what sounded like soft footsteps slowly moving across the upstairs floor.

"Marcie, what !!. . . . "

"Shhh!" Marcie reached out and firmly grabbed Kiki's arm to silence her. Something was coming towards the door at the top of the stairs.

Marcie suddenly felt a sense of danger as they stood there. The hair on the back of her neck tingled sporadically signaling that it was time for them to get out of there. She gently tugged at Kiki's arm and motioned for her to start backing up towards the front door. Once there, the girls flew down the stairs and ran frantically towards the nearest tree. They quickly retreated behind a large Maple tree, then slowly positioned themselves to look back towards the house. As they stood there, eyes glued, Marcie noticed a small circle of light coming down the stairs through the front door. Her dream was coming true. The light seemed to float in midair as it moved hauntingly from side to side. It dissappeared for a moment, only to reappear in the front window of the living room. Then as quickly as it appeared, the light was gone.

"BANG! BANG!"

Suddenly they heard what sounded like gun shots being fired, and then they heard a blood, curdling scream that echoed into the night. The girls took off down the road as fast as their feet could carry them trying frantically to get away from the farmhouse as quickly as they could. After running what seemed to be a lifetime, the girls' legs finally gave out and they collapsed on the side of the road.

As Marcie struggled to fill her lungs with the cold, damp air she realized one thing. Her vision, though not exactly how she originally saw it, had come true. There were intruders in the old farmhouse, of that she was sure. As scared as she was, the urge to find out who had invaded the property and why intrigued the teenager. To Marcie, this was more than enough reason to go back there and find out who it was, but most definitely not tonight.