Something like a few weeks went by without anything more than an occasional disappearance of Calvin and Mina. They had grown closer than I enjoyed; talking constantly about what it was like to be a ghost and arguing over what the best place to haunt would be.
Calvin was partial to the idea of haunting a drug storage warehouse for the Mexican cartel. He seemed to forget that, after dying, the only thing he could smoke was his finger and the only high came from the disembodiment of his disembodied body. Not wanting to crush a spirit's spirit, I let him live out his haunting fantasy in peace.
Mina believed the best place to inhabit would be the mausoleum holding the body of Bela Lugosi. I asked if she knew if Bela Lugosi had been buried in a mausoleum and she said it was something you just knew when you died. Something about knowing where every other soul is at every minute of the day. I thought it sounded pretty similar to every day life but thought better of saying anything. I planned on looking up whether he had really been put in a mausoleum but decided I didn't really care.
I tried, in vain, to convince them that their current house was the one true haunt but they refused to believe. Over the last few weeks, I had made significant improvement to the first room. I had decided to remain in that room without distraction until I had some sign of livability. I felt like I really needed to make some changes in the house, since no one else was going to.
After filling up a bucket of water from a tap I found outside, I set to mopping the floors and washing the walls and windows. The grime from the windows smudged off and the room was brightened more than I had ever seen it. Once I finished turning the walls from murky brown to dusty yellow, revealing the wooden planks on the floor from a layer of dirt, and clearing each corner of cobwebs, the room looked new. It looked so clean that I could hardly believe I had ever been frightened of the place. The water seemed to have brought new life to each windowpane and the sun shined down onto the glistening wood floor. I felt an incredible swell of pride blossom in my chest and decided to take a break to enjoy a well earned cigarette. I patted my pockets, found the pack, and realized it was empty. Still feeling motivated, I decided to leave the house and go find the nearest gas station for another pack. Patting my pockets again, I remembered that I had never found Calvin's keys. They were still with his body. His body was still upstairs. Only one small problem. The stairs were nowhere to be seen.
Mina and Calvin had also vanished again and I was left to figure out a new problem myself. I needed a cigarette to think. I needed Calvin's keys to get a cigarette. I needed to go upstairs to get the keys. I needed to find the stairs to go up them. I needed to think of a way to find stairs that were nowhere. I needed a cigarette to think.
The sun was fading behind the trees lining the long driveway to the road. It seemed so long since I had left the house and seen a living soul. Fortunately, there were still a few dead ones floating around when they felt like it but their time with me degraded as their time with each other increased. I wished they could be called upon or summoned or something but I learned that none of that movie shit seemed to work. Maybe some of it does but I gave up trying after yelling for ghosts to come out and play for about an hour. I had sat on the floor in the first room by myself for a long while after that. I was waiting to find that they would never come back and had secretly never been there to begin with. Part of me wondered if I was just crazy and it was all in my head. I almost gave way to my paranoia but then Calvin's head came rolling through the wall; Mina's foot followed through and punted it into my chest. Calvin appeared behind me to collect his head and everyone had a good laugh at my expense.
After wiping the ectoplasm from their eyes, they listened as I explained my predicament. I told them about the vicious cycle I was trapped in and how everything seemed to be going in circles and how the entire world would be fixed if I could just smoke a cigarette. I guess they hadn't completed their laughing fit as both of them broke into cheek-splitting grins and continued to cackle. I told them I didn't see anything funny in the house and neither would the priest when he came to exorcise their asses. That didn't stop them from laughing but it did encourage them to let me in on the joke. They cleared themselves from my view, and left me staring at the staircase. I swear the boards snickered with each step as I went up.
Things were as calm and serene as they were on my first visit to the mysterious upper floor. The clean, petite window was still letting in the flowing natural light and I noticed, more than last time, how clean and tidy the little hallway stood. I walked to the end of the hall, turned the knob on the left, and prepared myself for the sight of the unsightly room.
Nothing had changed since my last visit. The bed was still ruffled and the floor was still messed. Calvin's clothes were still laying unneeded on the mess. I reached into the bloody pocket to find the keys. Thankfully, blood still apparently dries when it disappears into another dimension. It's nice to know some things never change.
The keys weren't in either of his jeans pockets so I started heaving the pile of clothes around the room in frustration. I felt like an angry little kid mad at his parents for sending him to bed without desert. My temper tantrum was in full effect when I heard something jingle on the floor. Giving up Santa around the same time I gave up on getting what I wanted for Christmas, I knew no reindeer were jingling nearby. I searched the muck for the keys and ignored the splattered red stain on the attached Dead Bear-y Garcia key-chain.
I left the room almost whistling at the thought of feeding my addiction. I had taken what seemed to be the appropriate amount of steps to reach the descent of the stairs but the distance seemed to have remained the same. I steadied my eyes on the stairs and spread my legs further apart until I was sprinting. Still the stairs ceased to come any closer. Each step dragged me further away from my target and sweat was dripping onto my lip when I saw the door beside me start to creep open.
A shadow stood in the threshold. Obstructed by the door, it appeared to be watching me; not trying to hide its intrusion. I had grown tired of the spooky situations I continued to find myself in and just couldn't take anymore slow building tension. I kicked at the door, sending it into the left arm and shoulder of the phantom of the upstairs. He responded with a very unghostly oomph and it took me a moment to realize I had hit him. Realizing the being behind the door still had a body sent a very real chill up my spine and I ran for the stairs. Illusions be damned; I was going to make it back to the first floor where I had learned to feel safe.
My feet moving as fast as they could carry me, I tripped down the first set of stairs and landed hard against the wall of the turn. I didn't want to get up so I levered myself up with my left hand and rolled down the second set of stairs. I stared down at the landing; refusing to lift my eyes until the stairs disappeared. I heard the sound of a door closing on the second floor and clinched my eyes shut to keep out the shadows. After a long few minutes of wait, the house fell silent and I let my eyes open. They strained to see anything in the unfamiliar dark and my ears perked at the unmistakable sound of black plastic rustling in the wind.
I made my way through the opaque lack of lighting and found the door leading outside. I had walked through the house in the dark enough to know roughly how far I needed to go to get to each door. My recent adventure upstairs failed to shake my determination and I turned the knob to the illuminated world waiting outside.
Birds were chirping cheerfully as I skipped the steps off the porch and pressed the keys into the driver side door of Calvin's car. It had been left unlocked so I inadvertently locked it and had to unlock it again before sitting behind the wheel. The seat was tilted to gangster; the head resting just above the rear window. I felt around for an adjuster but, being unfamiliar with the inner workings of the car, gave up and put the car in reverse. I spun it around and floored it to the end of the driveway. I really wanted that cigarette.
YOU ARE READING
It's Probably Haunted
Horror{(Wattpad Featured Story)} It's kind of you to pick me up like this. Most people wouldn't take the time to do this sort of thing anymore. I sometimes feel like the world is getting smaller and smaller the more connected things become. That reminds m...
