Tonight we have something a little different. Please enjoy the first part of a nice ghost story by a friend of Scarydad, Mr. Gene Yagley III. This is Scarydad’s first experiment with an episodic story so let me know what you think.
Ghost Story
A cloudy night sky darkened the ground more than usual as four figures scampered across the road towards the tree line. One of the four started to speak, but was stopped by the motion of a finger to lips. A quick jerk of the head pointed their way. Dashing silently, the four finished at the front of a house. Old and abandoned, the weathered paint and missing windows looked menacing draped in the heavy shadows of night.
“I don’t like this.” One voice whispered hesitantly, “Maybe we should go.”
“No way, Mike!” Another voice whispered a shout.
“Yeah.” Protested another in a decisively feminine whisper, “You dragged me here. We’re doing this!”
Another feminine voice quietly scolded the others. “Hurry! Let’s get in before we get caught.”
The stairs groaned as the four climbed them to the porch.
“It’s locked!” One of the young women cried as she jiggled the handle. “I thought you unlocked it earlier, Dalton.”
“Who said we were going through the door?” Dalton replied as he propped open a large window.
“Smooth.” She said as she moved towards the window.
“After you, Alexis.” Dalton gestured with a bow.
“Why thank you, kind sir.” She mocked while climbing in.
“Be careful, Chrissy.” Mike said watching her enter the house.
Dalton watched as Mike went in before entering last.
The inside of the house was worse than the outside. Missing inner planks left dark gaps in the black streaked walls. Years of garbage lay scattered around the tattered remnants of a mattress as the stale scent of mold and rotten wood perfumed the air.
“Ugh!” Chrissy said as she turned on her flashlight. “It’s really gross in here.”
“What did you think?” Mike quipped as he turned on his. “Fresh air and flowers?”
“Shut up, Mike!” Chrissy yelled back.
“Both of you shut up!” Hissed Alexis, flashing her light on the both of them. “You’re gonna get us caught!”
“Let’s go.” Dalton said as he began to explore.
The LEDs of their cheap flashlights bathed the rooms in an eerie pale blue light as they moved around the house. The floorboards creaked and moaned in protest against the weight of sneakered feet.
“Beware of piles of debris.” cautioned Mike as walked gingerly into the hallway.
“Why?” Chrissy asked as she moved to avoid a large cobweb from snaring her hair.
“Snakes.” Mike answered without looking back. “I’ll bet there are lots of mice around and snakes love mice. I’ve seen a good rat snake grow up to sixteen feet long. They’ll use a pile of clothes or debris to coil up and hide in.”
Chrissy aimed her flashlight at Mike. “Are you serious? Get me outta here! I want to go home now!”
“Don’t be such a girl.” Alexis scolded. “Mike’s just teasing you. Besides, it’s not the snakes you need to worry about, it’s the spiders.”
“Spiders?” Chrissy asked, wishing she had gone shopping instead.
“Yeah. Spiders are way worse. Black Widows, Brown Widows, Red Widows, any one of them could be in here.” Dalton said as they entered the kitchen. “Worst of all is the Brown Recluse. Their bite doesn’t kill you right away like a Widow. It rots the flesh off you slowly. Painfully.”
“Shut Up!” Chrissy said in fear. “They don’t do that, do they?”
“Yep.” Mike said as he gripped the pull of a drawer. “In fact, they’d make a home right in here!”
Mike yanked the drawer open with such drama that Chrissy screamed in terror.
The three laughed at Chrissy’s antics.
“Screw you!” Chrissy said, composing herself.
“Gotch you.” Mike teased.
“Go to hell.” Chrissy argued back.
Dalton was still chuckling as he pulled out his android.
Alexis peeked over his shoulder and asked, “What are you doing?”
“Pulling up my TAPS app.” He replied. “It had EMF detector, Geo Phone, and DVR all in one.”
“Yeah. Like that’s gonna work.” She said, shaking her head.
Undeterred, Dalton started scanning the room. “Hmm. Nothing here.”
Mike cast a doubting look at Dalton and said, “Did you really expect to find any ghosts in the kitchen? Bro., what is wrong with you? Ghosts don’t eat. They’re dead.”
“Fine.” Dalton said while lowering his phone. “We’ll check upstairs.”
“Upstairs?” Mike repeated, questioning his friend’s sanity. “I don’t think that’s safe, man.”
“Yeah.” Chrissy replied, not wanting to go further. “We don’t fall through the floor.”
“So walk lightly.” Alexis teased as she went to the stairway.
Mike shivered involuntarily as he reached the top of the stairs. “Guys, does it feel different to you?”
Dalton turned to him and agreed. “Yeah bro. The air feels heavier here.”
He raised his phone and watched as the needle on the EMF detector rose.
“Dude!” He said in alarm. “It’s moving! Look!”
Alexis tore the phone from his hand.
“It’s broken.” She said, shaking it. “There’s no power here. All the lines are gone. It must be programmed to act like something’s happening.”
Suddenly a dull knock sounded. Chrissy screamed in response.
“Whoah!” Breathed Mike.
“That was weird.” Dalton agreed.
“Oh, cut it out.” Alexis chided. “It was probably just a palm frond hitting the side of the house. Look. I’ll show you.”
Alexis marched her way towards the sound.
“Alexis!” Dalton called. “Stop! Maybe we shouldn’t so this.”
The others nodded in agreement.
“Come on!” She argued. “It was your idea to come here in the first place. You really gonna let a little noise scare you away?”
She entered the nearest bedroom before anyone could argue.
“Damn it. Alexis!” Dalton yelled as he followed after her. “Can’t you hear? There’s no wind outside!”
A light of blue bounced around erratically along the walls until it found Alexis.
“Put that light down!” She ordered.
Dalton lowered his light as the other two entered the room.
“Wow. Look at that.” Chrissy said in awe.
The gang looked around the room in amazement. A small desk faced the window; A bookshelf and dresser were pressed against on wall, while a twin sized bed with a wrought iron headboard pressed the other side. A tattered piece of cloth lay on the bed. While old and ragged, there was no sign of chewing or digging by an animal. Same for the rest of the furniture. It was covered in an inch of dust and showed the wear of age, but there was no damage by animal or vandalism. It was all somehow preserved.
To be continued…
Gene Yagley III born and raised in Highland Park, Michigan now living in Port Charlotte, Florida has been practicing writing for ten years. His influences are Ursula K. LeGuin, Isaaic Asimov, Satch Carlson, Peter Egan, and Gary Wescott. Pulled by various interests, his writing covers multiple genres of short stories, editorials, humor, and travel. You can read more of his work over at www.thoughtsramblingsanddaydreams.com
