Someone pulls me out of the burning house and leaves me on the grass. As soon as I breathe in oxygen I wake up, coughing and gasping for air. I can see Mom looking down on me, crazy-eyed and worried as she looks over me, checking for any cuts. She sees the scratch on my arm but is immediately cut off when someone else brings Lucy out of the cellar after me. A fireman is carrying her, her arms hanging, unmoving. Other firemen are huddled around the house, attempting to stop it from burning down, but the fire has already eaten away at the second floor and is still climbing. The last image I see of the house are the shutters, still a dark green and still standing out against the white wood. They are closed against the windows' glass and I realize that that is what happened because of the book title. Shutters. They were there to keep anyone from coming to rescue us.
I sit up and see that the fireman has gotten Lucy to open her eyes. From where I am, she looks to be breathing. Mom leaves me and runs over to my sister, wrapping her arms around her little form as tears spill from her eyes. I watch as they reunite and I smile inside. I'm just about to try to stand when I hear a jingle.
I look around for the source of the sound and see the terrier, Pluto, running up to Lucy. I don't know where he disappeared to but I'm surprised he actually came back. He's carrying something in his mouth but I can't make out what it is. From Lucy's expression when Pluto drops it by her side though, I can tell it's something she hasn't seen in awhile.
Lucy picks up the blue horse with a bell on it and hugs it to her so tightly. The stuffed animal that Dad had given her, the one we thought we weren't ever going to come across again, has been returned. She looks back down at the dog with a curiosity in her eyes. I can see something going through her mind but she shrugs it off just as Mom checks for bruises on Lucy's arm.
I lay back down on the grass, watching the slow burning of the house that had tormented me for so long. I just hope I set all of the spirits free, even the ones that tried to attack me in the cellar. I wonder where Dad is right now.
Just as I think this I see Pluto run off into the night. How did that dog find that stuffed animal? How did it know Lucy was looking for it? My mind drifts back to what the old woman said to me in the library. Ghosts sometimes possess the living to communicate with humans.
I shrug any oncoming thoughts away. I decide to let everything that has happened go. I don't want to think about it for awhile so I close my eyes and once again, breathe in the fresh, crisp air.
***
The firemen and paramedics ask us what happened and Lucy and I explain. Mom backs us up with some details about what has been going on here but, of course the firemen need more proof so they decide to ask the police about it.
We drive to the library with the policemen. From the moment we all walk in, the librarian that has been here past times is paying attention now, standing up and glancing around as if he's done something wrong. The police walk up to the desk as Mom keeps us back. They ask the librarian for everything about our house; the news about Dad's bones and the four bodies found in the basement. The librarian hands stacks of newspapers to the policemen.
One of the policemen scans the report and doesn't even have to continue to look at it. Apparently, one of the bodies found in the basement was the murderer's. He already knows how the story goes. And according to all of the other policemen, they do too.
They should, they're policemen, I think to myself. Lucy clings on to my Mom's arm and I can tell Mom is worried that they won't believe us; that we're lying about everything.
But the policemen are now talking low to each other, nodding and looking at us from time to time. After a few minutes, one approaches us. I can see out of the corner of my eye the librarian staring at us as we speak to the policeman. No one else is inside the library but judging by the librarian's face, people would be running out of the building if there was anybody there.
Mom smiles and Lucy and I follow suit. The policemen inform us to take one step at a time from now on. They say sorry to Mom about losing Dad and apologize for the firemen not believing us at first. Mom shakes their hand, "thank you. You don't know how much this means to us."
The police nod and Mom turns around, picking Lucy up in her arms. "I'm not sure why the house was still up to buy but we'll do a further investigation," one of the policemen says, the fluorescent lighting reflecting in his bald head.
"Thank you, Officer Dewgall," Mom replies.
***
Two weeks later, what's left of the house is taken down. I don't miss it. I didn't care about it then and I don't care about it now. I went to the library a couple more times and saw the strange, old lady again. Now some of my questions are answered. She isn't so strange anymore. She was the mother of the killer and after that, I understood. She was just trying to warn me but it was too late to turn back then. The lady packed her bags and moved away, trying to start her life over again in South Dakota.
And Pluto... he never came back. It was as if he had a job and once it was completed, he left. I'll always remember that terrier and I'm sure Lucy will too. We've never had a pet before and Lucy used to beg Dad for a dog like that one. It's too bad he left so soon.
Mom's been looking for another place to live. Right now we're staying at our grandma's in Massachusetts and Lucy gets the big room. I would've complained about it four weeks ago but I don't care about that kind of stuff anymore.
Every night, Grandma, Lucy, Mom, and I sit around the table. Occasionally, Lucy will start a food fight, flinging little pieces of fully cooked, delicious steak at Grandma's forehead. I can't help but grin every time she does it. Sometimes Grandma doesn't even know it's being launched at her so it'll just bounce off and hit the floor. When it's time for bed, and the lights go off, I look up at the ceiling. I half expect myself to hear a knock on the wall or someone calling my name, even when I know Grandma's house is safe.
Lucy and I told Mom about our whole story. I added in the parts with Dad leading me to the necklace that he had given Mom. Lucy was fascinated but I still can't tell if Mom believes me when I try to explain that Dad really was there as a ghost. She's just being who she is though, stubborn and rational.
And the news about Dad's body actually being in the cellar after so many years of people trying to figure out who the victims were... that's something none of us like discussing. Mom doesn't speak about it but I know she thinks about it a lot. But Lucy, Grandma, and I are all here for her.
Lucy often asks me why Dad stuck around. I think he was unable to go on and let go of life. But maybe he just wanted to say one final goodbye and let us know that he loved us.
YOU ARE READING
Knocks
Horror~~ Lainey O'Neil didn't want to move, especially after the death of her father. All that was familiar was being chipped away like the paint of what was supposed to be her new home. Nothing about the house was like her old one in Boston and she could...
