By Stacey Cotter
Chapter 1
“Can I go in there?” a woman whispered to herself as she stood before an ominous, rusty gate. All that separated her from the answer to her question was a weather-beaten fence that divided her from the forsaken house looming in the distance.
The young woman, Leah was a thin, beautiful girl with brown hair cut into a short, textured bob. She had just stepped out of a rental compact sedan. Zipping up the car keys in the side pocket of her backpack, she peered around the property and the surrounding area. The driveway consisted of a long dirt road with overgrown weeds and branches littered about. A vast expanse of field corralled in by an old fractured fence held within its confines large, old willow trees that grew freely around the property. In the distance, between the house and barn, stood a particularly large oak tree that stood with branches that soared upward toward the sky. It was a picturesque scene surrounding the decaying structure.
Leah swallowed hard, tucked her short brown hair behind her ears, and reached out to push the gate open. A loud creak escaped from the hinges, but it allowed her through. Gently, she reached back to close the gate behind her as she worried it might just break. An old cement trail that led to the house was covered with weeds and branches from trees that enclosed the yard. As she walked along, she could hear the wind passing through the limbs above and popping sounds below her feet from breaking twigs. Standing a few feet from the base of the stairs, her large hazel eyes continued to gaze at the object of her anxiety—the Harris family home.
“Wow,” she whispered below her breath.
Her eyes wandered over the large roofline that sagged deeply in the middle and the shattered front windows that resembled black holes. The home may have been white at one time, but now it was splintered wood, decomposing frames, and had become a victim to the elements. The weather in this part of Texas could be quite fickle with extreme heat, periods of thick humidity, wind gusts with downpours, and even the occasional freeze.
Knowing that there was nobody for miles, she opened up her backpack and pulled out her phone. She had a signal, it was low, very low, but she had a signal nonetheless. Tucking the phone in her pocket, she turned back to face the old ranch-style house.
She stepped up the front stairs, which creaked and moaned with every move. She grimaced and wondered if she might just go through the floor, but it held. The front door stood right before her now. It was an oversized wood door with large black metal hinges. Time and weather had taken its toll, but it was still standing. It was ajar about an inch, but didn’t offer a view. She walked to the sides of the front porch and tried to peek in the front windows, but they didn’t share anything either. Returning to the front door, she lightly pushed against it with her navy-blue tennis shoe. It didn’t budge, but it did respond with a small sound of splintering wood. She squinted through the open area of the door again and could make out the presence of a dark front room. She took a deep breath and pushed as hard as she could using the left side of her body. The door gave way quickly, taking her with it and crashing into the wall behind. She froze and stayed completely still for several seconds. She looked around with wild eyes and was thankful nobody or nothing was coming after her.
“Just breathe, just breathe, just breathe,” she repeated to herself in a chant.
Her short brown hair had tangled up in the splintery wood of the door, and she had to pull her head free from it. She chuckled to herself realizing she was only scaring herself. This thought amused her.
She stood up tall and dusted herself off seeing that her favorite Ann Taylor shirt and cropped skinny jeans that she wore would probably need some intense Spray ‘n Wash after this. Her eyes had now adjusted to the darker room, and she had calmed herself. Nervously tucking her hair behind her ears again and rubbing her hands on her thighs, she readied herself to enter.
The long room unfolded before her with its obscure wall off to the left and old, peeling, floral-colored wallpaper on the crumbling walls. The peeling pieces revealed a bare wall, wood beams, and some kind of fungus and weeds springing through the cracks. In the middle of the room appeared to be an old couch and a rickety table. Spiderwebs were woven between corners and danced slightly in the breezes blowing through the cracks in the walls. Leah shivered at the thought of what creatures might be residing here. The floors seemed to be all wood and yet pretty solid. Leah stepped very carefully as she didn’t want to get hurt, let alone be exposed to some toxic mold or get rabies from bats that she had already convinced herself lived in the dark confines of the ceiling.
She could see off to the right a large covered mass from the light of a relatively clean window she could still see through. She stepped a little closer and examined it from a safe distance. A large dark tarp was covering something. Leah gently pulled up the side of the tarp and peeked underneath. As she examined the item, she peeled the tarp back further and discovered a wooden rocking chair. She breathed in deeply and pulled back the tarp even more.
“Oh my, this is beautiful,” she gasped as she ran her hand along the headrest.
The antique chair was spectacularly carved with ornate patterns. She looked around and pulled the chair free from the tarp. The bottom seemed to have some damage, probably from weather, but she was amazed that with a little care it could be salvageable. This made her giddy and curious to explore more.
Toward the end of the room, she could see a small dining area with a diminutive door leading to the kitchen. The front windows allowed a little light for her to see a dining-room table and only two chairs. She was surprised at how large the table was and the fact that it was still standing. Underneath some ceiling material that sat on top of the table, she saw what looked like a wood crate peeking through. She pulled a tissue out of her backpack and tried to use it to push away the wet moldy plaster. She was able to see that there were some papers in the box. There was a great deal of damage and with the poor lighting; she figured that she would have to take this with her to examine it better. She felt hopeful she would find some clues or answers in here.
The kitchen piqued Leah’s curiosity, as she knew her kitchen was the go-to-place for anything and everything. This kitchen was so dark and musty; she had to pull out her phone for light. She held it up to see if there might be a window or a door. She was pleased to find an old, dark curtain up above near the ceiling. She pulled out another tissue and used it to pull the curtains to the side to allow the light in. The curtains wouldn’t pull to the side; instead they came crashing down on top of her. She screamed out and flapped her hands around swatting it away from her. The old material was heavy and smelled of decay. It fell to the ground and she could see the room now that the windows were uncovered. She dusted herself off and looked up at the new light source. There were three small squares with what looked like metal bars inside of the window glass. They made her think of what a prison inmate might have in his cell.
“Well at least I can see now,” she said under her breath, seeing that many of the cabinets had fallen down and some of the drawers were sunken in.
She got back to work exploring the contents of the kitchen. On the counter sat an ancient, black rotary phone with the cord stretched out across the floor to the receiver. There was no dial tone. She came across some sparse kitchen items, utensils, a pan, old metal tins, and cups. One drawer she opened had an old rag in it. It looked like it had something rolled up inside of it. Out came another tissue from her bag, and she tugged at the cloth. She was startled when a rusted knife fell out of the cloth and hit the floor with a loud thud. It was a long-handled fillet knife that had worked many a day. It wasn’t something she had in her J. A. Henckel’s woodblock at home, but seemed like an old knife she remembered her dad using when fishing. She used the cloth to pick up the knife and carefully placed it back in the drawer.
“Okay, time to move along.”
She swallowed hard and took a deep breath. Turning away from the kitchen, Leah came across a small sitting room and a large stone fireplace. There looked like there might have been a window on the far wall, but it had wood beams covering it now. The daylight peeked through it, but the bright rays did little to calm her nerves. She looked up and could see the ceiling was really damaged and that some of the floating clouds could be seen. The outside was trying to come in, she thought. She decided that she would go through this room a little faster than the previous. The fireplace was enormous and she could imagine how it looked when it warmed the people who lived here. She kneeled down to look inside of it, when she got a very cold chill. She shivered and seemed a little startled by the frigid air.
“Oh, the flume must be open.”
She wasn’t about to stick her hand up there as the thought of rabid bats was still in the back of her mind. She pulled out her cell phone and snapped a photo shooting up the fireplace. The photo that came up on her camera was fuzzy and dark. There was a small orb of light in the middle of the photo. She rationalized that the open flume caused it, but the chimney was full of leaves, brush and debris. That was all she needed to assure herself of what gave her a chill—just a cool breeze sneaking in through the fireplace.
She calmed herself and looked at the other items in the room. There was a small wood table with a drawer on the right and a chair to the left. The brown recliner showed signs of water stains, that probably had leaked in from the ceiling. She opened the table drawer and it broke apart, falling on the floor as she pulled on it.
“Oh crap,” she mumbled aloud and frowned as the contents emptied onto the grimy floor.
She gathered up a book and some papers that were in the drawer. It was too dark to read them, so she gently took them into the dining room and placed them next to the box of papers that she had found earlier. On her way back to the little room, she decided to take photos of everything that she had seen so far. She had to share this with her husband when she returned home.
After documenting her tour so far, she came to the hallway, which she assumed must lead to the bedrooms. The very dark hallway felt confining. The rug on the floor made a squishing sound beneath her feet, and the walls had warped wood paneling that seemed to be curling around her. She couldn’t help but wonder who had walked on this rug last. She pulled out her phone and used the light to shine it down the hall. There were four doors and they were all closed.
“Oh hell,” she whispered standing there for a good 30 seconds, when she decided that she should just open all the doors at the same time to get it over with.
“Oh, I’m going to over-think this and just scare myself to death,” she muttered aloud. “Okay, just do it! Do it!”
She amped herself up and reached for the first door turning the cold metal knob. The door opened easily and without complaint. She grabbed the second door and the handle turned with a bit of resistance, but then gave way.
The third door required her to step further into the hallway, which she did without hesitation and then grabbed the knob and twisted hard. The handle broke off in her hand.
“Oh come on,” she uttered and kicked the door open with her foot. She felt pleased with herself for accomplishing her goal.
“Last one…”
She stepped back and reached out for the last door and twisted the handle. It creaked open like a crypt and she felt her heart rate explode in her chest. Her eyes were closed tight and she held her breath. She had backed up against the wall and was braced for anything. Eventually, she opened her eyes and used her phone light to illuminate the hall. Nothing had attacked her, no animals, no bats and no ghosts.
“It’s just an old house, my old house now,” she smiled with a quiet satisfaction.
She bravely entered the first room to see what appeared to be a writing room. There wasn’t a bed, but a desk and chair.
The peeling ceiling wasn’t nearly as bad as the other end of the house. She walked over to the window and instead of getting a tissue and trying to gently pull the curtains to the side, she yanked them down, hard. The light flooded the room and dust rose like smoke all around her. She pulled up her shirt to cover her mouth. She could taste the stale decay of years past. These rooms hadn’t had activity in ages, she realized as she investigated the contents of the desk and pulled out a few documents that she would take for further review later. The closet had some old coats, a couple of male cowboy hats and a few boxes of old, worn work boots.
The second door was actually just a closet, where some old cloth rags, a small bucket and tin containers sat. There were a few boxes of antique-type knickknacks and what seemed to be farming-type tools. There were thick layers of cobwebs on the shelves, but the contents had been better shielded than in some of the other rooms. She gently pulled the door closed when she had finished meandering around.
The third room in the corner of the house appeared to be that of a child’s nursery. There was an old-fashioned wood crib in the back corner that was broken, yet recognizable. It looked as though a large man had stood in the middle of it and made it collapse in the center. A pile of old blankets and clothes were draped over it. A water stain discolored the ceiling and wall in the corner. Moss bloomed near the crib and was presumably responsible for the strong odor in the room. Leah hurried along and noticed on her way out something on the wall.
“Picture!” she gasped pulling out her last tissue and using it to wipe off the front of the small picture. She could make out a family standing together on what looked like the front stairs of the house. She decided she would take the picture. Then she scanned the room for anything else, seeing nothing, she left the room and closed the door behind her.
As she walked into the hallway, she went to the last door. She concluded it had to be the master bedroom. As she tentatively stepped into the hallway a dim light from the writing room illuminated the hallway creating a cool glow. As she made her way to the opening of the door, everything was pitch black, and her eyes couldn’t adjust.
She comforted herself then went back to the closet and set the items she had collected on one of the shelves freeing her hands. Her cellular phone was once again lighting the way for her. This room had a lot of stuff in it, but she was focused on finding a window first. She tried to hold her shirt over her mouth to filter out the horrendous stench. She found a window and pulled down the covering like she had before, but she wasn’t ready for what she was about to see.
After the dust settled and she acclimated, she peered around the room.
“Oh my God!”
Leah was shocked. Not only was the back wall covered in black mold, but also she wasn’t expecting to see animals—dead animals, a pile of them, on the floor. She was not really even sure what she was looking at. She could make out a deer, no a buck, with a full head of pointy antlers. Then a pig, no, bigger than a domestic pig, more like a vicious boar. There were some ducks too. The mold and ceiling debris around them made her nauseous.
After all this time, she wondered how are they still even recognizable? Her mind raced. “Who would do such a thing?” she whispered. She got closer to examine the buck that was so well preserved his eyes still seemed alive.
“Oh Dear Lord, they are taxidermy animal mounts.”
Exhaling, she stood up unsure if she felt relieved or angry at the display in front of her. She took several pictures, as her husband wasn’t going to believe this. Hell, she couldn’t believe this. With the condition of the wall, it was no wonder they had all fallen down. The bed still sat in the middle of the room with what looked like blankets and even pillows. They were covered in mold and ceiling peelings now, but it was remarkable how someone just walked away one day. She was bothered.
She went over to the dresser that was up against the front of the master bedroom and peered into the drawers. There were a few male and female garments scattered among the dust and debris. As she gingerly poked around each drawer, she discovered beneath the tattered fabrics of forgotten clothes, a small bible.
It had been placed there with care and it looked to be in good shape. She tucked the bible under her arm then closed the door to the master bedroom behind her. She came back into the hallway pausing to collect the items on the shelf of the closet and was quiet for a long moment.
“Am I missing something?” she asked herself while reaching over and closing the door to the closet.
When she stepped back, she caught that same cold chill that she had before. She rubbed her free hand up her arm to warm it up, then walked back out to the entry. As she stood in the front doorway, she basked in the warm sunlight and fresh air.
“Wait, no bathroom.”
She collected the wood crate from the dining room table and added the other items that she was going to take with her. It was heavy, but she was able to set it on the front stoop easy enough.
“Little sunshine will be good for you.”
She said this silly thing aloud to the crate, but it didn’t respond. She chuckled about it and closed the front door as best she could since she didn’t plan on going back in, ever, but still she didn’t want to invite any wildlife inside. The door contested a bit, then gave, but still stayed ajar the same amount as it had when she arrived.
She knew there must be more behind the house since they didn’t have a bathroom inside. Leah walked around the back of the house envisioning the inside as she walked outside. The damage outside coincided with what she saw on the inside for sure. “This place needs to be condemned,” she muttered as she walked through waist-high weeds. Whatever landscaping that might have been there was long gone now. There was a little woodshed out in back of the house, which she presumed was the outhouse. She approached cautiously as it was another room with a closed door. The weeds had taken over this little room and a large willow tree’s branches were resting on its roof. The door was sealed shut by the foliage, but there were so many knotholes in the wood, she could easily see inside.
It was indeed an outhouse. She smiled, thinking about the simple life, but then thought it must have been a tough life too. She couldn’t see much more than the hole in the middle for the toilet, because the weeds were growing inside of it as well.
She backed up and surveyed the fields and property around the house. An enormous, old wood barn sat in the field a couple hundred yards away. Leah snapped some photos of the back of the house and the outhouse, and then made her way to the barn. There was that beautiful, large oak tree between the house and the barn as she had observed earlier. She looked up at the tree and marveled at the enormous branches.
“If only you could speak my friend.” She said this to the tree then noticed that there was rope hanging from one of the branches.
“Ah, looks like you might have held a tire swing at one time.” She grinned taking a quick photo and made her way through the weeds to the barn.
The barn seemed massive when you walked inside.
“Feels like I am entering a church.”
She said aloud seeing that the seasons had taken its toll on the wood and many of the boards were now broken or gone completely. Leah walked around every bend and corner to make sure that she saw everything that she could and snapped pictures along the way. The fields, which once held many heads of cattle, horses, couple dozen pigs and chickens, were all empty now. A melancholy feeling came over her and she suddenly felt very alone out here.
As she made her way back up to the front of the house, she noticed the sun was getting low in the sky. She glanced at her watch and was shocked to see that it was already 4:35 p.m.
“Oh my gosh, I’ve been here for more than three hours.” She looked at her phone and noticed her battery was getting low and that she didn’t have a signal now.
“Time to get that box and hit the road.”
She opened her backpack to put her phone away and take the car keys out. Going up the front steps was a little bit easier now. She had conquered her fears and toured the house. She felt proud. Just as she got to the top step, though, she froze—the front door was open wide and the box was sitting in the open doorway.
Leah felt chills go up her spine and her heart began to race. She searched her memory—had she closed the door with that box outside? Was it there before? Was it not? She turned around to see if there was another car in the driveway. Only her small rental car sat there. She swallowed hard and in a panic, she stepped forward into the doorway and grabbed the box. She turned and rushed down the steps and through the overgrown path toward her car.
When she got to the gate, she looked back—there was nobody chasing her. She propped the box on her hip and tore open the gate with her free hand and slipped through quickly. The gate hit the closure hard and the hinge gave way causing the gate to crash to the ground. A small yelp escaped her lips at the sound. She threw open the car’s backdoor and put the box in the backseat. Leah’s eyes were wild as she scanned the area around her and got into the driver’s seat. Locking the doors, she started the car and pulled out as quickly as she could. She looked back in her rear-view mirror not sure what she expected to see, but what she did see petrified her: The front door wasn’t open anymore.
