The Haunting
written by: Debbie Aruta
The house on the corner has not been lived in for decades, but recently, neighbors have noticed movement in the windows. A movement of a curtain, a flutter of air moving about the dilapidated building. Possible a bump in the night. A bump so loud that it radiates out like a ripple in a pool of water. It’s loud enough to arouse everyone from their beds, slip on their slippers, and gently move their curtains a little bit so they can see the road.
Some say it was the wind, others say it is ghosts, but no one lives in the house. The neighbors would rather not know anything is going on in their tiny town. Nothing happens here. No one moves in, no one moves out. There have been no moving trucks, no unloading or loading of belongings, yet everyone knows something or someone is in the house. They wonder how the ghost or person moved in without anyone seeing anything. They fear magic is at work here.
The neighborhood youth dare each other to go ring the bell, but no one is brave enough to go through the front fence. They are sure that whatever is in this house will eat them. They know the evil specter is waiting to suck their souls dry. They have conjured tales about evil, about seeing Satan, about anything else they can come up with, but it’s all speculation. They hear stories about a child who moved into the house and was never seen again.
They do not know what resides in the house, but their fear is bigger than their curiosity. They continue to spin a web of intrigue that keeps everyone living in a bubble of fear. The bubble can pop and all will perish, but they are just silly boys, are they not?
Halloween is around the corner, and the youth wonder if they could dress up and ring the bell, then the ghost won’t know who rang it, unless ghosts can tell who the person was. Soon, the haunting will begin. Kids will run in costumes through the streets and ask for candy from neighbors.
On all Hallows’ Eve, the ghosts move among the living. The neighbors leave out vessels that allow the spirits to move about freely. It guides them to their homes once they are done moaning and roaming the streets. They try to scare the trick-or-treaters, but the older kids are now too old to see the ghosts. You can only see them when you are young.
On the night of Halloween, it is said that if you say your friend’s name, they will vanish. Some believe the ghost in the house will take them to live and die in the haunted house. Others say that it is nonsense, but still no one risks it.
When everyone is out trick-or-treating, believing they are safe, a loud wailing noise is heard. A door down the road is slammed, and someone is missing. Five friends were trick-or-treating, four remain, a curtain is moved in the haunted house, and they can see their friend trying to get out, but then the ghost appears, and his laugh can be heard by the entire town. The friends try to devise a plan to rescue their friend; they have to try, but no parent will let their child enter the haunted house. They will mourn their friend, but if they go in, they know they are a goner too. They would not want to die tonight, but how did the ghost get their friend?
They are going mad trying to figure out how the ghost got their friend. They toss all sorts of ideas out, but none of them make sense. And then all the moms are calling their kids inside. Then a panic in the calling. None of the kids come home. They are there, but cannot be seen at this point; they are only ghosts, too. They accidentally stepped on the corner property of this haunted house, and now no one will ever see them again. All go in, no one comes out. They all comment on how that house needs to be knocked down, but they know whoever does it will perish, and they lost enough people tonight.
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