haunted

“Adam I think you’ve had enough for tonight” a young woman kneeled over picking up knocked over empty bottles of whiskey, brushing her silky hair out of her pale face. She looked at a fat drunken man in the chair with concern.
“No, leave me alone!” he grunted back, chugging down the last of the alcohol.
“I think you should go to bed its nearly 2 a.m.” she put the bottles on the silver tray, placing them in a neat line.
“No I am not going to sleep until I make sure that whore is back home”
“Hey don’t speak about her like that,” she snapped, throwing him a furious look.
“I’ll do what I bloody well want to do”
“Daddy?” a small boy rushed to his father, causing to spill some drops down his top.
“WHAT? Why are you not in bed, why is he not in bed Trina?”
“Because someone didn’t read him a bedtime story.”
“Little shit should be in bed! NOW!” he shifted in his armchair in attempt of getting up to smack the child but gave up.
“Where’s Jackie? Where’s my little boy?” all of the sudden his anger changed into a soft, playful, slurred speech.
“He’s in bed”
“See! My child goes to bed on time, not like this little…” he kneeled over, searching for more bottles, but they were all empty.
“Eric IS your child!” she made a step closer, hands on the hips, looking down at him like an angry bull. Her sausage curls bouncing violently on her shoulders.
“He’s not mine! We all perfectly know that he is the neighbor’s child! I know all about you two…and Tomas he is also NOT mine.” he stopped. The back door was being opened.
“Well at least he is better in bed than you…” she murmured under her breath, but this time she heard it too. She noticed her husband clutching something in his hand causing his fingers to turn white.
“Mom! I’m home!”


38 years later


“Are you sure? We got it? Fab! Great! Thank you, thank you very much!”
“Baby who was that?” a young woman crawled out of the blanket rubbing her eyes, looking over at a tall man by the window. Her husband to be turned around, showing a row of perfect white teeth. Damn. Biting her lip, she looked at him with playful suspicion.
“We got it! Honey we got the house!” her face filled with disbelief, she began jumping up and down on the bed screaming, “Yes!”
“We are moving in tomorrow night!”
“Baby! That’s amazing! Didn’t you say it was huge?”
“Yeah” he grinned back “It really is! Now come here you” he jumped under the covers to his giggling fiancé.

It was almost dark, only faint splashes of gold and red still wondered around the December sky, spilling onto the glittering snow, like blood. Tall oaks, slouching under the heavy weight of winter, spread their bare branches as if trying to stop the strangers from passing by. There was an outline of a giant, long forgotten house on the horizon, hiding under the heavy blanket of milky fog. Switching on their torches a young couple made their way to it, following a tall man just few steps ahead of them.
“It is really beautiful here, don’t you agree?” he addressed his followers who nodded in agreement.
“Why did you decide to sell this place?”
“Well…it’s a long story…” he signed. The couple looked suspiciously at the owner.
“Well if you would like to stay over for a cup of coffee, we would love to hear it.”
“I don’t know…” he hesitated “The truth is,” he looked at his watch “That I am already late for something but I’m sure we could talk about it some other time…” he turned around to throw them a worried smile and then quickened his pace. As they approached, the house lights turned on, glowing mysteriously in the dark. Out of its depth appeared a young woman shivering in her long silky dress, behind her stood another, with an apron on, they both glared at the newcomers. The young couple smiled at them politely as they approached the gray porch “Hi, you must be Susan” woman in the silky dress looked down at them but didn’t say anything; her face was as still as wax.
“Oh yes, I’m sorry, this is my wife Susan,” apologizing, the owner glanced in her direction, but she gave no response, just stared into the distance “…and that is Andrea.” Never minding the rude lady they waved at the other one, who greeted them with a warm smile.
“We have to get going now, as we are already late, but I am sure Andrea could make you a cup of tea…” he grabbed his wife’s petite hand and pulled it towards him, she stumbled on the spot, like a glass doll, so fragile. They looked at her still mask: purple bags under her eyes, looked like she has been crying, traumatized. Her wrists and neck had barely visible lines.” Will you excuse us” he hurried her away from the house and the guests, disappearing in the guarding trees.
“Excuse madam, she isn’t feeling so well. Would you like a cup of something?” Andrea broke the silence, distracting the couple, which still stared at the disappearing figures. Suddenly awoken one of them spoke.
“Oh yes that would be nice, I’m Alice, and this is my fiancé Jerry” they followed her to the porch, waiting for her to unlock the heavy door.
“Do you mind telling us what had happened? Why is madam sick?” a rotting smell rushed to their noses.
“Oh, yes, sure, I know everything better than anyone else in this house…you see madam was going mad, said she saw things. So much nonsense…” She let them into an enormous living room, full of old-fashioned furniture. A giant crystal lamp hangs in the middle, creating a gloomy atmosphere. Everything seemed to be ancient in that living room: the floors squeaked under their feet, the oil paintings on cracked walls covered in a layer of dust, the old clock ticked away in the left corner, a grand piano with a dried flower on top of its lid.
“What do you mean?” Alice followed the old woman into the kitchen, which was also- enormous.
“Well they bought this house few years ago, before them there was another family, who also insisted on selling the house, just few years after them moving in. Sit over there love,” she instructed Alice, indicating on the small coffee table. “Tea, coffee?”
“Coffee please, for both of us”
“Sugar?”
“No, no sugar, thanks. So why did the families decided to sell the house? What was wrong?”
“I lived in this house for over 40 years now, I witnessed many tragedies…where is your husband?” the young man who was right behind them wasn’t there anymore.
“Oh he’s not my husband…we were getting married in a month though.” Smiling to herself she added, “I think he might still be looking at the living room.”
“Aww that’s lovely, congratulations!” smiling Andrea turned around to the boiling kettle, pouring some hot water into three black mugs.
“Honey this place has a fire place!” her husband to be appeared in the doorway- fascinated.
“Really? How amazing!” she shifted over so he could join them at the table. Few seconds’ later three mugs of steaming black fluid was in front of them, taking out the sugar Andrea finally sat down. “So why do you say all those people sold this house?”
“Well how could I explain, I don’t want Sir going mad at me if you decide to take back the money, and honestly I am not trying to scare you or anything, but I wouldn’t blame you if you chose to…” she stared into the mug, stirring her coffee until there was a small vortex.
“Please, do explain, we are truly happy with this house and we wouldn’t decide to take back our money, what happened in the past is in the past. We are just wondering,” she looked over to her husband who nodded in agreement “I mean we do have the right to know…”
“Alright, alright I will tell you,” she shifted in her seat, uncertain, “Well 38 years ago, on January 18th the owner of this house, the 1st owner, had murdered his family, a family of 4 people, then he killed him self.”
“Oh my gosh, no way…” Alice pressed her hand to her mouth in disbelief.
“Yes, I worked as a nanny in the family, the next morning I was meant to come and look after little Jackie and Eric as madam’s older son was coming over to visit, which meant they would go out to town…” tears appeared in her eyes, then disappeared in her wrinkles, “I usually came over by 10 a.m. and when I knocked on the door the boys would rush to it as fast as they could, giggling and shouting my name. But that day they didn’t.” a crystal tear rolled down her cheek, splashing against the table. “I waited a bit longer but still there was no one at the door, not even madam. So I decided to enter through the back door. It was so quiet in the house-dead silence, I already thought I came too early, but the clock on the wall said it was 10 a.m. I noticed that the drawer with all the kitchen knifes was swung open so I called out to madam and the boys but there was no answer. I was sure that they were home cause their cars were parked just outside. I checked the living room. It was in a great mess: pillows torn- on the floor, broken vases, as if someone had broken into the house. Worried I run up the stairs to the boy’s room but on the way saw that the master’s bedroom door wasn’t closed. Usually they lock it and do not come out until 11 but this time it was swung open. The bedroom was also in a mess. I called out to madam but there was no response, only running water in the bathroom.” She looked down at her hands, images flashing in her mind “I shouldn’t be telling you all this…”
“No please carry on, so where was she?” the old woman looked up at their interested faces, gave out a big sigh and carried on.
“The sheets were all over the floor, snow white sheets all covered in blood. Just like the snow. The window was slightly open, letting in snowflakes, which slowly dissolved in the carpet. Some water from the bathroom was creeping through the gap under its closed door. I froze on the spot, paralyzed, unable to move. It felt like it was reaching out for me. Like in a horrible nightmare I tried to scream but nothing came out, it felt like it took me hours to make just one single step, and another two to twist the bloody handle. A small wave of cold water rushed to my feet, so I backed off noticing that the bath curtain was closed shut, the water running over the tub edges. This time I whispered to her but there was no reply. So I dared to open that damn curtain to see her floating in her own blood! She was pale as always, with a little shade of blue, eyes wide open in a silent scream. Panic took over and I seemed to faint- my head spinning, a sick feeling in my stomach. My feet could no longer support me so I fell- into the tub full of blood face to face with a dead woman. The shock made me get up and I knew that if the boys were all right I had to do everything I could to save them so I rushed to the boy’s room occasionally slipping on the marble floor, shouting and screaming their names. There was absolutely no response. When I reached their room I stopped. Red handprints were like a stop sign. Those little, tiny hands…” another tear appeared, and then slid down her cheeks-burning them. “I pushed it open, letting my self into a gloomy blue room. It was so peaceful in there, but at the same time it wasn’t. The handprints were everywhere, crawling towards me, stalking me, those four-year-old hands, trying to grab onto something for dear life. What I feared the most hid under those bloody covers. There he lay. Absolutely still, motionless. Still clinging onto his teddy bear waiting for his father’s bedtime story.” she squeezed the mug in her hands, letting its hot surface burn her hands. “I rushed to the crib where Jackie was meant to be sleeping, but he wasn’t there. I knew I had to find the poor thing, but my other concern was- where was his father…the blood was drying on my skin and it felt terrible. Awoken by some strange noise from the study downstairs I run to it, like I never run before. I could hear some kind of slurred speech and a laughing baby. It sounded like Jackie and his father. Seconds later I was standing in red velvet room, alone with a drunken man, with a small boy on his lap, surrounded by books, hundreds and hundreds of books. In his right hand he held a loaded gun, slowly moving it closer and closer to his head. He was talking to his son, who was busy playing with a toy car. “Here Jackie, never trust those women, be like daddy, if they disobey you show them who is the man…you show them son!” with those words he moved the gun further up and shot it…sprinkling bits of his brain all over Jackie’s little face. He began to cry uncontrollably, staring at his dead father who was now missing half of his head! Blood slowly running down his face. I rushed to him, trying to snatch him from a firm grip of that dead man. I hold the toddler close to my chest, calming him down as much as I could…” Andrea went all quiet, remembering, the forgotten pain had returned and hit her with its full force.
“Andrea? What had happened to the boy?”
“I took him to the police, you see I didn’t have enough money to adopt the poor thing so they took him away from me. I was told that he was adopted by some American family, they had changed his name, and that was the last time I had seen him.”
“Aw Andrea I’m sure you’ll find him some day…”
“Wait, I thought you said that that guy had murdered a family of 4? Her husband to be interrupted the intimate silence.
“Oh yes. Body of Tomas was found in the lake the next day. He had a stone to his chest, which dragged him to the bottom, after being stabbed several times. He was a victim too… the body of their daughter was never found…” quietly sobbing she took out a handkerchief and blew her nose “Excuse me”
“Do you need anything? All you need is ask, Jerry and I here will do anything that is in our power to help you…” Alice put her hand on Andrea’s shoulder calming her down.
“Thank you, you are very nice people, but no thank you. I should be going now, I live not too far from here, here is my number if you need to reach me you can call me any time.” She handed them a small white card with her details on it. “I still come here to clean the house and look after the garden…” she picked up her bag and moved to the door. Alice stood up and followed her, looking at the walls of this mansion, trying to image what had happened here. Andrea put on her cheap, black coat and turned around, holding a bunch of keys.
“Here you go, these are the keys for all the rooms. Hope you enjoy your new home, it was very nice to meet you.” she smiled and disappeared in the absolute dark. The night had swallowed her completely. Watching her hurry away Alice closed the door, trying to make unpleasant images go away.


That night she tossed and turned in her bed. She couldn’t get them out of her mind, couldn’t bare the thought that in this exact bed once slept that poor murdered woman, couldn’t wait for her new bed to arrive, couldn’t wait to change this house around to make a fresh start, to make it all look much better, to destroy that gloomy atmosphere. The sheets stuck to her body, even though the room was freezing cold. Weak moonlight shone through the gap in the curtains, creating a white ray, which cut the room in half. Giving up on all the attempts of having a good night sleep she sat up, the watch on the side of the bed shone half past two a.m. ages until the sun will be up. Perhaps too long. If this carried on every night she wouldn’t bare it. Swinging her legs off the bed, as quiet as she possibly could she wondered to the bathroom, just around the corner of the masters bedroom. Turning on the tap, letting the rusty water run down the drain, she dipped her hands in and splashed it across her face. Enjoying the cool feeling against her skin she just stood there, eyes closed, but something had caught her attention. She reacted to the noise behind her back: the bath curtain was swaying, as if someone had just moved it. That noise of metal rubbing against metal, as it was pulled shut was unbearable. Rubbing her eyes she turned around, heart beating faster and faster, almost jumping out of her chest, feet glued to the spot. Yes the curtain was swaying, she wasn’t dreaming. Maybe she caught the side of it and didn’t notice? She kept on convincing her self as she steadily walked away, trying to pick up the pace. It felt like any moment now someone would grab her from behind. “All those ghost stories” she tried laughing to calm her self down. But it failed to work. All of the sudden a sound rushed out form the bathroom-sound of pouring water. Someone or something had turned on the tap! “Ok I didn’t close the tap, that’s all…” this time she didn’t sound too sure. The carpet, which was dry a moment ago, was now full of wet footprints. Smell of old perfume had filled the space- it smelled of lavender. The curtain was still swaying, and someone was standing right behind it. She could see the unclear outline of a human being, breathing calmly into the white curtain. The water was gashing to its limit, in a minute it would be flowing over the edges. She didn’t know what to do. She had to stop the water but there was no way she could open that curtain and see what hid behind it. Alice wasn’t the kind of person, who believes in ghosts, and she wasn’t a weak person, but this was forcing her to change her mind. She made a step closer to the curtain; she had to stop the water from flooding the bathroom. It was already dripping over the edges, splashing on her feet. Steadily she grasped the edge, closing her eyes, not daring to open them she torn off the curtain, pulling the metal bar down with it. The tub was empty. No one was in it. There was no water in it either. Everything was absolutely dry. Confused and traumatized she sat on the edge, letting the tears flow. There was nothing there. But she could feel the cold water on her feet; she could smell the lavender in the room. This was too real to be just a nightmare. She was definitely awake and it all had definitely happened. But there was nothing. She looked up, to see her reflection in the mirror. She froze. Eyes wide open in shock. Her body failed to response her only thought “RUN”. She gave out a silent scream. There she was, a pale shade of blue. Grinning.
“JERRY!”

Stumbling through the carpet of glittering snow, she let out a sad sigh, creating a little could in the cold, morning air. Everything was so silent. The only noise was the crunching snow, crushing under her heavy boots. Just like that painful morning, when her son was taken away. Pulling the jacket tighter together, she slipped the key into the lock, letting her self into the enormous kitchen. In the corner of the room, wrapped up in several blankets, sat Alice, with a bottle of scotch in one hand, and a cigarette in the other. She breathed out, letting the smoke dissolve in the air.
“You know I quit smoking…like, what, 10 years ago?” she took another puff.
“Miss, are you alright?” she noticed that several chairs and a table were now blocking the entrance into the kitchen, as if trying to stop someone from getting in.
“I never drunk before either…I found some stuff in the cupboards” she indicated at the empty bottle.
“Where is your husband?”
“Well I don’t know.” She gave out a big sigh, glancing at the blocked door. “When I run into the room, he was gone.”
“What do you mean?”
“What do you think I mean? Gone. Vanished, just the empty bed sheets.
“Well lets go and look for him then…” she glanced at the drunken woman with uncertainty.
“No” there was a quick, terrified glance at the door. “I am not going inside the house”
“Why not?” there was another glance. “Why did you block the door?”
“Because I don’t want, what I think is my dream to become reality…”
“Aw come on, it cant be that bad, you just had a bad dream didn’t you? It happens to everyone on the new place!” she took of her boots and the jacket, dumping them on one of the kitchen units. “Let’s go, and look for your lovely husband” she reached out her hand, smiling. Looking at it, like its some kind of unnatural, dangerous object, with hesitation, she decided to grab it.

The bed sheets were all over the place, but no one was cuddling under them. The master bedroom was absolutely empty, glowing in just on ray of light.
“See I told you he wasn’t there.” Stumbling on one spot, leaning against the old woman she pointed at the spot where her fiancé was meant to be sleeping.
“I see…well shall we check the other rooms? There are so many rooms he could be in. Umm, what about the bathroom?” Alice froze. She glared at the half closed door of the bathroom.
“I’m not going in there…” she stood behind Andrea, using her as a shield.
“Why not?” but Alice didn’t reply; only glared pleadingly into her eyes. “Would you like me to check for you?” She nodded her head in response. Standing as far away from the door as possible, she watched Andrea approach her nightmare.
“Woah, what had happened here?” through the gap in the door she saw the metal bar that held up the bathroom curtain: broken in the tub.
“Aw no…” collapsing on the floor, she let the tears flow.
“Alice, my dear, what are you crying about? Are you ok?” rushing Andrea kneeled over to calm the woman.


“I thought it was a dream…I thought it was just my nightmare…but she was there…I…I…” the tears were now uncontrollable. Andrea held her close to her chest “Hush my dear, hush, its alright.” Through a heavy curtain of tears, she saw the bathroom door swaying, but ignored it. Her main objective was to find her lover. And no matter what she had to achieve it.

“Jerry? JERRY!” swaying, she pressed against the wall, trying to maintain upright on the marble floor. They have checked every open room so far, which added up to twenty in total. There was another open room, that her husband-to-be could of hid in, that they haven’t checked yet- the study. “Jerry, honey where are you?” she cried through tears, Andrea holding her by the waist. The room, just like Andrea described was full of books, it felt like there was millions of them. Old-fashioned, velvet furniture crowded the area, creating a claustrophobic feeling.
“Jerry?” she tried again, but there was no response from the library, just the screaming silence. Only the sound of their heavy breathing. “It doesn’t seem that he is here…”
Feeling weak, shattered, all of the sudden she fell to the floor, slowly getting into the fetus position. Andrea looked down at her, eyes wide with fear and shock. Completely confused and lost she just stood there. Speechless. Alice just lay there, rocking like a child, knees pressed to her chest. She stared in one direction, absolutely blind; nothing else existed at that point. It was just she on the marble floor. All alone. Again. But slowly her face pulled on a puzzled expression, swapped over by concentration then confusion. Mask after mask she pulled on her final: shock. Following her gaze, Andrea spotted the source. Just few meters away from them stood a giant working table, resting under a layer of dust. A male hand was peering through the small, barely visible gap. Lifting her self, but failing few seconds later, Alice crawled towards it, terrified. Scenarios floated up to the surface of her mind, all possible horrid things, and possibilities. She looked at that alien flesh in front of her, every single cell in her body was screaming. Sound of bare feet echoed behind her back, she gazed at approaching Andrea, not daring to move even an inch of her body. Andrea just glared at the enchanted hand, spaced out, deciding what to do.
“Jerry?” Alice whispered, addressing to the lifeless hand. “Baby?” slowly, her fingertips reached out to it, gently slipping into the male palm. All of the sudden it clutched her hand, squeezing with all its might, crushing her fragile bones. She gave out a gasp of pain, ripping her hand out of the tight grip. Thud.
“Ouch…what the…” the hand let go, and escaped into the shadow of the table. The voice seemed so familiar.
“Jerry?” Allis called out into the darkness, it replied with silence. Thud.
“Alice?” few seconds later a faint voice replied, but there was no one there. Just thick dark. The same hand reappeared, followed by another, then a whole body. Her fiancé looked sleepily at their terrified faces in confusion.
“How did I get here?”








Holding each other tight in their arms, Alice and Jerry remained silent, under the heavy white blankets. Throbbing headache weigh her down to his chest, every time she moved, it would disturb the sick feeling deep down her stomach. The alcohol was having its after effect.
“I honestly don’t remember a thing…fell asleep with you, woke up over there…” he gazed confused at the window. A sparrow landed on the windowsill, flicked its head and took of again.
“You gave me such a fright, honestly…are you sure, complete positive that you don’t remember a thing?”
“Yes, I am positive…wait, I had a dream…well I am not entirely sure now that it was a dream but otherwise it doesn’t make sense…”
“Oh yeh, what is it?” she made the effort to lift her head up and stare at her confused lover; her breath reeked of bitter alcohol as she let the words come out.
“Well…its weird…like somebody was calling me. I could hear it come from one of the rooms. But I never saw that person…its weird I tell you…” frightened she pressed her self as hard as she could to his puffed out chest, gazing at his pale eyes.
“Well its all in the past now” smiling, she reached out for his lips and landed a big smooch.

It has been two solid days, since their arrival at the house. Andrea and Alice were busy every single minute of the day tidying the place up. They looked like the two women from “How clean is your house”, just skinnier. Any second now the furniture would arrive, with men to fix the place right up, and wash all the past memories away. Andrea seemed to expect someone too, but she wouldn’t tell Alice who it was. It was a secret. Her cell phone rang, bighting up her smile. She winked at Alice who stood there in anticipation.
“Yes? Yes? Oh great, that’s lovely, I will be right out” she disconnected the conversation, and happily stumbled towards the door. “He’s here!” he? Did she just say he? I thought she didn’t have a boyfriend, or a husband…or any kids…she clearly didn’t mention them in her life story…the thought trailed off, letting new ones storm right in, as a tall handsome man walked through the arched door. He smiled at her melting her to the ground. It was one of the times when she wished she were single again. Free to do anything her soul desired. Free to be with anyone.
“This is my lovely son, Alexander” she pushed him in front of her, holding him by the shoulders like a trophy. Her pride. He approached Alice, and with a quick movement reached out for her hand and tenderly kissed it.
“Pleased to meet you” his stare could knock anyone over.
“Urh, umm, aah…nice to emm…meat you too…” shit! She was doing it again. “He’s here to help us out a bit. Also he’s gonna do all the gardening and house keeping, as I am getting too old for this. That is if you don’t mind of course. He is going to live in a cottage not far away from your house. In fact its just by the lake.”
“Oh wow, erm, yeah that would be lovely…” he kept on gazing at her, not interrupting his stare even for a second. He admired her, she could feel it on her skin. Gosh i don’t remember when someone looked at me this way last time. Jerry used to do it, but eventually he stopped, there was no admiration…