Short Stories Part1 Read online

Part 2

  Kathleen hesitated as she crept down the hallway to the door which was now open, after she had finally plucked up all the courage she could muster, she entered the room. Kathleen gasped in shock, she was standing in a nursery, and everything in the room was sparkling as if it had just been cleaned, she glanced back at the door, and it still looked as if it had not been touched for decades. Later that day when Bradley returned home, Kathleen showed him the nursery, "why on earth would Grandfather Carlton have a nursery" Bradley muttered as they stud astonished in the room. "Beats me, I didn’t know the bloke and after all he’s your family ". Kathleen whispered. "Maybe we should do some research on the house and the grounds, but until then don’t be snooping round, we don’t know what’s in this place " Bradley told Kathleen. After the family had dinner that evening, the house seemed calm and quiet, it actually felt homely. Bradley woke in horror, it was around 3am, he heard the words 'you don’t belong here' in his right ear, he looked to the right, but there was nothing there. Kathleen was fast asleep to his left so he knew it could not have been her, he decided to get up and check on the children. Mellissa was out for the count making baby snores as she slept peacefully, Bradley carried on to Jack and Harry's room, the boys were fast asleep and the quilt was slightly of Harry's bed so Bradley put it back on the bed and tucked Harry back in. A black shadow of a person moved in the corner of the room, Bradley froze, trying to think about whether he had imagined the voice and the shadow. He looked to the corner, there was nothing there.

  Bradley quickly darted back to the master bedroom, just as he was getting in bed he heard footsteps along the hallway making their way to the master bedroom. The footsteps stopped at the door, Bradley wanted to wake Kathleen but he was frozen in horror.

  The door suddenly flung open and a shadow and a cold breeze charged through the bedroom waking Kathleen and terrifying Bradley, the shadow past through the wall next to the headboard of the bed. “What the hell was that" Kathleen said while trembling next to Bradley. There was no answer from Bradley, he was petrified. A silver streak had taken over the once brown fringe of Bradley’s hair. After an hour or so he spoke and told Kathleen about the voice and the shadow in the boy's room. Kathleen responded with "First thing in the morning I’m calling a priest". For the rest of the night the couple were too scared to sleep so instead the quietly stayed downstairs playing board games and enjoying each other company. Mellissa was shocked to see her mum and dad asleep at the kitchen table the next morning, she made them a coffee each and woke them, "what are you doing down here mum?" she asked Kathleen. "Ohh nothing sweetheart, I and your dad could not sleep so we came down here instead". "You sure you two haven’t been decorating" she said while pointing to her father’s hair "no sweetheart, your dad wanted a new hairstyle", Kathleen lied to her daughter, not wanting he to know of the horror that petrified her dad. Moments later the boys joined them, while playing Knights and demons. The whole family sat down to breakfast and then the children dressed for school and went on their way.

  Around noon the priest arrived at the house, Bradley and Kathleen told him about the events of the previous night and about what Harry had said. The priest seemed concerned. After three hours of exploring every room in the Manor House, he told the couple that there was a dark force at work in the house and that an exorcism would be needed to release the house from the holds of this evil spirit. For the rest of the afternoon the priest set up and conducted the exorcism. For a few weeks after Kathleen and Bradley thought that the spirit was gone and that the house seemed happier than ever. It was round a week before Halloween and the family were getting ready for the Halloween festivities, the boys had got their costumes all ready for trick 'o' treating, while Mellissa was wanting a Halloween party at the house for her new school friends. Finally after a week of nagging; Kathleen and Bradley agreed to let Mellissa hold a Halloween party the house. The day before Halloween the family went into town to pick up decorations and spent most of the night and the next day putting them up and making the house look really spooky. Kathleen took the boys out to trick 'o' treat and Bradley started to put out the food ready for the guests while Mellissa was changing into her costume. A voice echoed through her room "you don’t belong here, get out while you can" Mellissa thought ' oh cool dads sent the sound system up' she giggled and carried on changing, Mellissa was then slapped around the face by an invisible force, she screamed ad ran down the corridor and stair to her dad. "What’s up honey? Are you ok?" he asked while she clung to him sobbing. "Dad, dad, it was horrible, the voice, oh dad" she whimpered and looked up at him. "What voice sweetie? And what have you done to your face?" After she had told him what the voice said and about being slapped around the face, Bradley warned her not to go anywhere in the house on her own. He canceled the party, even though it was last minute people did not mind because he told them there was a family emergency. As soon as Kathleen arrived home he told her what had happened to Mellissa and that she could not let the children roam the house alone. The family were getting worried, so that night as not to scare the children, they decided to camp outside in the grounds. Kathleen woke with fright around 2:30am she could feel they were not alone, unable to move because she was pinned to the ground by something she could not see, she started to panic and then something whispered in her ear "Leave this place now, while you have the chance" tears ran down her cheeks, she could not move, talk or scream. She felt powerless. She lay there wide away until the sun rose the next morning, at the first chance she got she told Bradley about what had happened. He told her that there was no were for them to go if they left and that they would be better to just ride it out. Kathleen was worried because Bradley seemed to be in denial about the house and what was happening to their family, then she though he probably thinks he owes it to his Grandfather to live in this house. For the rest of the day she thought no more about it and tried to forget about all the terrible things that had happened to them previously.

  There were no more scary encounters for a couple of days, Kathleen started to think they were all imagining it, because of the stress of moving. She was very wrong. Just after New Year celebrations the family took a holiday for a week to calm them down. The night they got back turned into a massacre, Kathleen woke suddenly to find her husband in bed beside her dead. A knife through the heart. Kathleen stuck with grief and angry knew she had to find her children and get out of the house, she ran to Mellissa’s room, and dragged her out of bed, " mum what are you doing?" she yawned as she asked her mum the question. "No time for questions grab your stuff and get dressed, we are leaving this house" Kathleen barked at her daughter. "Ok mum, that’s fine with me, go and get Jack, Harry and dad" Mellissa grunted. "Your dads dead the house is trying to kill us, just get dressed quickly Mellissa" Kathleen barked. She left Mellissa and ran to the boy’s room, Jack was fast asleep, and Harry was not in his bed. She ran back to Mellissa, "you grab Jack; I need to find Harry he’s not in his room". "Ok" Mellissa sobbed as she thought about her dad while packing her bag. Kathleen went off in search of harry. Mellissa woke Jack and got him dressed; they waited on the bed for their mum to return. Kathleen searched all three floors and could not find Harry anywhere, she raced passed the bedrooms looking for him, A loud bang came from above her, she raced to the attic door, they had never been able to unlock the door so she kicked the door until a panel broke, making her way up the dark stairs she heard a whimper. "Harry, Are you up here harry?” she shouted, "Mummy" Harry's voice responded. Kathleen bounded up the stairs to find her son hanging from the ceiling, blood dripping from him. Kathleen fell to her knees sobbing thinking harry was dead, Harry looked down at her "mummy please get me down" he whimpered. Kathleen happy and shocked held her son and untied the rope from around his body. The blood was coming from his arm, a small graze near his elbow. She grabbed Harry and darted back down the stairs to the boy’s bedroom. Mellissa and Jack were gone, she grabbed her mobile phone and rang Mellissa mobile, and after a few rings Mellissa picked up and
told her mum she and Jack had gone to the car because something tried to drag Jack away. Kathleen picked up Harry and ran as fast as she could to get out of the house, behind her were footsteps getting louder and quicker as she ran, but they were not hers, she sprinted to the car and jumped in, Mellissa took harry and Kathleen drove away from the house. Away from the evil being that had claimed her husband’s life. Away from the house that had terrorized their family. Away from the evil spirit that haunted Carton Manor House.

  The Possession of Tiffany Graeme

  Tiffany had always felt as if she was the odd one out and never belonged anywhere, she had tried so hard through her teens to be one of the popular groups but all her attempts had failed. As she aged into her late twenties it got even harder. Tiffany always felt as if she was not alone, as if something had always been with her from as far back as she could remember. She started to notice strange things happening after she moved into her new apartment, she thought everything was in her head until events took a turn for the worst. Every now and then she would see the odd shadow move in the corner of her eye, this did not bother her much. One Sunday afternoon after she had walked Bobbie, her little Jack Russell, she sat down in the lounge to watch some TV. The channels were bland; eventually she nodded off on the sofa. Deep in dreamland, Tiffany dreamed she was on a ship lost at sea. This dream haunted her throughout most of her childhood years but it had been around 8 years since she last dreamed it. A bang coming from the back bedroom startled her and Bobbie, Tiffany got up to investigate, Bobbie following her.

  She entered the room and nothing seemed out of place at first, then she noticed a picture on the floor, she had no idea how it had got there considering the photograph's box remained unopened. The picture was an image of her when she was younger on her first day of high school but her eyes were scratched out. Tiffany shocked and freaked out, chucked it to one side and drove up to her Nana's with Bobbie. It was a short drive and with it being Sunday evening there was no traffic on the roads which cut the travel time by half. Tiffany's Nana lived in a little cottage just on the outskirts of town, she always felt safe there. Whenever she had a problem, her Nana’s was a secret retreat from the world. Heading up the drive Bobbie ran to play in the garden with Rusty, his brother. After tea and biscuits with her Nana, Tiffs fears had soon disappeared and she had forgotten all about the picture. Later that night once Tiff and Bobbie had returned home, she had decided to write a diary and record everything she thought was a bit strange. Over the next week not much happened apart from the usual shadow moving and the feeling that she was not alone. On the Saturday Tiff had decided she needed a holiday so she sat down at the pc and looked a holiday packages, the screen went all static and a voice rang out through the speakers, although it was distorted Tiff recognized the name coming out of the speakers, it was hers. Hysterical with fear, Tiff looked like a crazy woman ripping the speakers out of the PC and chucking them out of the lounge window. She switched the power off to the PC but the monitor stayed on showing static, an image of a face show through the static, Tiffany grabbed the metal candle stick of the window and smashed the screen into pieces. Bobbie was cowering under the coffee table. Tiffany Grabbed Bobbie and darted out of the apartment to the parking lot where she stored her car. All the way to her Nana's her hands were shaking furiously and her heart beating so fast she thought it may come out of her chest.

  Tiffany scared her Nana with how hysterical she was. "Tiff dear, please calm down and tell me what happened" she pleaded with her.

  "I...um... erm... it... screen...why?" Tiff mumbled while shaking and sobbing.

  "Tiffany dear, Please sit down and drink some tea." Nana guided her to the table handing her a cup with a weak sedative mixed in.

  After an hour Tiffany had relaxed enough to stop shaking and sobbing. "Nana, I was at my PC and the screen" she took a deep breath "the screen turned to static, a voice came through the speakers, Nana! It kept saying my name. I threw the speakers out of the window and turned the power to the whole PC off but the screen stayed static and a face was in the static, looking at me!" she ranted as she remembered the events.

  "Tiffany dear, are you sure you are not imagining things?" Nana asked Tiff gently.

  Tiffany told her about the picture and the shadows and feeling like someone was with her constantly. Shocked at what she was hearing, Nana decided she would come stay with Tiff for a week to see if anything would happen while she was there.

  Tiffany helped carry her nana's bags up to her apartment and helped her to get settled in, Bobbie loved the extra attention but he seemed a bit hesitant to enter the lounge. Tiff cleaned up the mess while her nana had a look around the apartment. Nothing else happened that night but Tiff still felt as if there was still some on there with them. Two days later the apartment was still calm, Tiff was enjoying a coffee in the kitchen while reading the local newspaper, her nana came in with a bag that resembled a briefcase. She sat it on the table and opened it; Tiffany glanced between her nana and the bag for a few moments trying to understand what her nana was doing. The briefcase contained a number of herbs and crystals along with a pentagram and bag of sage. "Nana" Tiff said hesitantly" what is all that for? ". "Tiffany dear, have you heard of a cleansing ritual before?” Nana said with a little anticipation in her voice. “Umm, yes I think so. It’s like voodoo isn’t it?" Tiff said while her nana put on a white robe and the pentagram on a chain around her neck. "No, it’s a ritual to cleanse the properly and rid the place and you of any evil spirits, demons etcetera. “ Tiffany just stared at her nana while thinking 'you’re as crazy as I am '. Tiffany followed her nana around the apartment while she was chanting and smoking out the place with sage. Once they had done that, her nana instructed to hang a crystal in each room near a window to prevent spirits entering were they are not welcome, so Tiff did exactly as she said. Nana set up a circle in the front room with candles and crystals, they sat in the middle and Nana started another ritual to cleanse Tiffany and her soul.

  As they were reaching the end of the ritual, one by one each candle blew its self out and a cold chill filled the air around them, Tiff started to panic and Nana retried to cast the protection circle. The lounge door slammed shut and the newspaper on the coffee table brew into the air and shredded into little pieces, Tiff ran to the door but before she could reach it, she was thrown against the wall. "Spirit, hear my voice; Leave this place at once you are not welcome. I call upon the goddesses to send us the energy to rid this place of evil "Nana chanted over and over. Tiffany climbed up on the floor and stood dazed in corner of the room, she saw her nana chanting, suddenly she felt strange as if she was only half there, within a matter of seconds Tiff had been possessed by the demon who had been wanting her sole all those years.

  Nana started a new chant demanding that the demon leave its host and return to its own plain, the demon refused over and over. The whole room settled back to normal the demon must have left nana thought as Tiff started to come around from the possession, once she had come around, nana stated that they would need to get an exorcism done immediately and called a local priest. The earliest he could come would be the next afternoon. Nana agreed this would be fine and immediately set about cast protection spells in each room and on Tiff and Bobbie. For the rest of the day Tiff had a funny itching sensation on her back, after she had been in the shower she turned slightly to see her reflection in the mirror. She stood there motionless for several minutes while she looked at the markings on her back, the shape of 3 claw marks. Although petrified she managed to shout Nana to come to the bathroom. Nana entered the bathroom, "My gosh" she gasped as she stared at the markings on Tiffs back.

  Both shocked by what had happened, they both vowed not to be alone in any room until the priest came. That night Tiff found it hard to sleep but nana seemed to drift off straight away, she tossed and turned but could not relax. After having a mental debate on whether to go and get a coffee and a smoke, Tiff made her way to the kitchen, she pressed the light switc
h but nothing happened, she tried again but still nothing. An icy chill filled the room; Tiff struggled to find her way back to the door. It was locked, she screamed but no words came from her mouth, she tried frantically to open the door. Aware that someone else was in the room with her, Tiff froze, screams of torcher came from beyond the door, Tiff feared for her nana. Still frozen in fright she felt breathing on the back of her neck, her whole body started to turn on the spot though Tiff was not moving a muscle. As she slowly spun around on the spot, she saw the demon materialize in front of her eyes and with one swift move it ripped out her heart with its hand, Tiffs body fell to the ground but her spirit still lingered there, she saw her nana's spirit holding open a white door while waiting for Tiff to join her. The demon grunted " Now your mine Tiffany ". It dragged her soul to the far corners in hell were she would remain its prisoner for all of eternity.

  Nearly 3 days later the local police station sectioned of the apartment and removed the bodies from the scene. They found the remains of Bobbie in the back room and on the wall written in the dog’s blood were the words, I WILL RETURN.