Halloween House

   

  It was a beautiful fall day when they drove through an old neighborhood looking to buy their first home.  The kids were with their grandparents.  The wife, Ana, was in the passenger seat of the minivan as their realtor, Dawn, was driving.  They were deep into the suburban labyrinth when Ana asks Dawn to pull over across the street from a dilapidated old Victorian mansion.   

"Wow, would you look at this place, Jack.  Imagine fixing it up," Ana said to her husband.  

"It must have been very grand in its heyday, but now it looks like a massive money pit,” Jack replied.   

"It is not for sale," said Dawn abruptly.  "It, er, I heard it has been stuck in some kind of family inheritance dispute for years.  Since I was a kid it has been rumored to be haunted.  An urban legend says that a few kids who were brave enough to break into it on Halloween were never seen again.  I think they ran away from home since the police never found any sign of them in the house.  Anyway, this home is for sale, would you like to take a look?" she pointed to the house they were parked in front of directly across the street from the old mansion.   

"Sure,” Ana replied while jumping out of the minivan before Jack could contest.   

It looks like a nice enough house, but it will take me ten minutes just to get to the freeway, and the fire station is halfway across town, Jack thought to himself.   

The Fire Station where Jack works is on the expensive side of town and buying in this older area would allow them to buy a much bigger home for their growing family.  At least that's how Ana convinced him to take on a commute.  The two bedroom condo they rented was just around the corner from his work, but to buy a house in that area he would have to take a second job and Ana would have to work.  So, he reluctantly stepped out of the vehicle and began walking to the house.  Ana was still standing beside the car fixated on the old place.    

"Are you coming?" Jack asks, as Ana is still standing there when Dawn opens the front door and begins reading information about the listing off of her smart phone. 

"This is a great starter home for you.  It is a three bedroom two bath, built in nineteen eighty nine.  It has a…." 

   "Ana, you wanted to see this house, remember!"  Jack calls out, snapping her out of her trance.  Ana felt an unexplainable excitement even as the minivan came closer to the old Victorian mansion.  When it came into view she knew that "it" was the source of her excitement.  She couldn't take her eyes off of it.  When she stood on the sidewalk and looked at it across the street she became mesmerized.  The longer she stared at it the more "alive" it became.  It was like a wave washed over it from black and white into color.  The massive dilapidated front yard became immaculate; the grass went from dead to bright green, the shriveled shrubs transformed into a contrasting luscious dark green and on one side of the yard they actually took animal shapes.  A topiary, Ana thought to herself.  Then the home itself became repaired and freshly painted; an almost pink beige with white trim and railing surrounding the wrap around porches on both the first and second story, forest green accents with light purple storm windows.   

Hearing her name, Ana is ushered back to reality.  She follows Jack in but can't shake the vision out of her head as they walk through the house observing the living room, bedrooms, and bathrooms which are all basic and unremarkable.  They walk out to the backyard and finally Jack begins to become interested.  The place has a huge fenced in backyard with a front grassy area and a second area in the back which has a large garden on one side and a green house on the other.  Behind the green house is a large shed.