Mother #TheGrudgeContest

Part 1

     When the Patterson's moved into the little lakeside cottage on Fulton Road; it was a dream come true. The real estate agent showed them around the property and told them everything about the home in intricate detail, mostly. What the agent conveniently forgot to mention was the gruesome murder that took place in the kitchen ten years ago.  The victim's name was Angela and she was only ten years old.  Her stepfather separated her jaw from the rest of her head by way of sledgehammer as she ate dinner at the kitchen table.

     The realtor paused with a start when she saw the little dead girl sitting at the kitchen table.  She always saw Angela when she showed the house but it seemed that nobody else could. Her jet black hair hung over her face as she sat with her head bowed.  Her skin was the deep blue color of someone who hadn't drawn breath in many moons.  Angela's head slowly turned towards the realtor. Her entire jaw was missing and bloody teeth and jawbone fragments littered the table in front of her. The agent flinched and her eyes widened in horror, but when she blinked; the dead girl had disappeared.

     "Please, feel free to take a look around in the kitchen.  Oh, and here's  the key to the backdoor." The agent said to her clients in a quavering tone as she looked around nervously.  "There's a beautiful deck out there that you'll just love."

     She handed over the keys and took a step back.  There was no way in hell that she was going anywhere near the kitchen.  She hadn't been in the kitchen since it all happened; since her daughter Angela had been killed by her bipolar husband.  She herself had almost died that night after being struck by a glancing blow to the head.  Her mind drifted for a moment at the thought of it all.

     "We'll take it!" Robert Patterson said with a smile as he and his wife walked back into the house.  "We have to go but I'll come see you in the morning to get the paperwork started."

     They shook hands and the couple left.  The agent's smile turned into a frown when she noticed the backdoor was open and the keys were still in the lock.  She took a deep breath; and against her better judgment she went for the keys.  Cold clammy hands wrapped around her throat.  She looked up to see the dead blue face of her daughter and screamed; she could feel the bones in her throat being crushed, then darkness.

     The next morning both mother and daughter sat side by side at the kitchen table. They were finally a family again, both dead and both waiting to greet the new tenants when they arrived.