Witches, Ghosts and Other Haunts Vol. 2

𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕭𝖚𝖗𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝕭𝖔𝖞

     She woke up to a light in her face and realized she had fainted. "You okay?" asked a man's voice. Phoebe didn't answer right away but she sat up.
     "Yeah," she finally said. "What happened?"
     "You fainted. You saw the ghost." The man said this as if it was a perfectly natural thing to say. Phoebe looked at him oddly as the realization of what he said sunk in.

     "Stop looking at me like I have eight arms and six heads," said the man. "That house is rumored to be haunted." Phoebe was curious.
     "What happened?" she asked. The man looked at her suspiciously and Phoebe was afraid he wouldn't answer her. Finally, he spoke.

     "Years back, before I was even born, there was a small boy living in that house with his parents. One night, there was a big thunderstorm. Lightning struck their barn and the fire spread to the house. The farmer and his wife were sleeping. The farmer awoke just in time to get his wife out. He went back into the blaze to try and find his son, but the flames were too great. He had to leave his son inside," the cowboy finished.
     "That's terrible!" Phoebe cried. She was tempted to run, but she had to find out where the main road was. She was about to inquire about it when the man spoke again.

     "That ain't even the worst part. As the house and everything burned, the farmer and his wife watched, completely dumbstruck. As the flames engulfed their home and the roof caved in, they could hear their boy wailing for his mother and father. A few days later, the sight was excavated. They were looking for the remains of that poor boy so they could be properly buried. Nothing was ever found of him. Years later, the house was rebuilt exactly how it had originally been. It was a memorial to that boy. Its been haunted ever since. Legend has it that the boy never truly died that night. He was turned into a misshapen ghost, his flesh hanging in charred decaying mass off his body. When they rebuilt the house, they say that it re-awakened his spirit. He still haunts his old bedroom, where he still waits for his parents to come and find him," he concluded. "The road's that way, kid," he said jerking his thumb to indicate the direction. Phoebe located Ginger and headed the way he pointed. She turned back suddenly, realizing that she never actually asked him where the road was and wondering how he knew. The man was gone. Turning back in the direction of the road, she urged Ginger to begin picking her way along the narrow path back to town.

     Phoebe tried to ignore what the man had said, but she found it was impossible. She decided to go back to the library to look up the town's history. The town, as it turned out, was not very old. It had only been built around eighteen sixty-three. However, during that relatively short span of time, it had written itself a colorful history. It was filled with tales of murderous thieves who came to the town like a rat infestation. They would prey on a single house at a time. Waiting until nightfall, they would visit the house. If anyone in the family dared to try and stop them, they would kill them all. Phoebe looked through the old newspaper articles until she found what she'd been searching for:

Tragedy Strikes Middleton

     A local boy, Patrick Jarrett, was killed in a fire as he slept in his bed. Police reports say that the boy's parents, Timothy Jarrett and his wife, Patricia escaped with only the clothes on their backs. Mr. Jarrett went back into the house to try to rescue their young son and infant daughter, but it was too late. Investigators say that the fire may have been caused, not by accident, but as an act of violence. The Jarretts say that Patrick had been having trouble with some of the local schoolboys. They never expected it to go this far. The names of the suspects haven't been released as of yet however, the police are working on tracking them down.

     That was all that Phoebe needed to read. She was struck with awe at how terrible Patrick Jarrett's death had been. She was determined to find out if the stories of haunting were true.