Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-36393004-20190122221206

I have learned to trust my feelings a bit better. I mean, I have felt uneasy before. I have had intuitions about a situation or person that lead me to take a step back and reassess my choices. That sort of thing is completely normal. What I felt in that house is nothing like that. I do not think I have ever felt so unwelcome in my entire life. That intense feeling of hatred and malice. It is something I have never experienced before and at times I find it hard to describe. I just hope I never have to live through something like that ever again and I would not wish it on anyone else either.

In late October of 2007, my wife and I purchased our first home. It was only a two bedroom house with a single bathroom but it was more than enough for our first place. We had received a great deal on the property because it was built in the early 1960’s and was in need of some repairs. Most of the work was cosmetic and if it meant I could save twenty-grand then I was willing to put in the labor. We were so happy in our little piece of heaven for probably two months. We both agree that is when it started.

Melissa had been repainting the kitchen cabinets while I exchanged the hardware on the dried doors. She had just stepped down from her ladder when the antique brass chandelier above her came crashing down. It landed inches from both of us and the small pieces of faux crystal went flying in all directions. My wife frowned, having wanted to keep the fixture. I told her I would try to fix it, but there were simply too many broken pieces. She resigned to finding another one while I examined the cause of the accident. I could find no logical reason for the chandelier to fall but something that simple would not shake most people. It certainly did not make me regret my purchase.

That weekend I was cleaning up some old hedges that had long since needed attention. Melissa was inside, hanging a few pictures on the walls. Once each bush had been taken down a few inches I decided to stop and get some water. Before I could make it to the door I could have sworn I heard my wife call my name. I entered the back door just in time to see the small step stool come out from under her feet. It was one of those moments when time seem to slow down just enough for you to see what was to come. In truth, it only took a few seconds for both Melissa and the portrait of her grandparents to collide with that hardwood floor. I wish I could say the picture was all that was broken but my wife would require a cast for the first time in her life.

Neither of us had ever been one to believe that bad luck could follow you but as the small misfortunes became larger scale problems we began to question it. Tools would turn up missing or left in places we could not remember leaving them. Our trash appeared to have been mauled by a stray animal almost every week we placed it out for pickup. The thing that really made us begin to worry though, was when the stove decided to turn itself on. An oven mitt was set ablaze and the flames had almost reached the cabinets above it when I noticed it. Considering I had never used a fire extinguisher, it took me a few minutes to get the flames out. Both of us were in a panic, the idea of losing our new home, and possibly our lives, was very real that day. If only that had been the worst of it.

By the end of February my wife revealed to me that we would be expecting our first child. I had always wanted to be a father but the sudden realization of it hit me harder than expected. We had not been specifically guarding against the result but I do not think I had truly prepared myself for the responsibility of taking care of another human life. We were both excited and scared together. At times, I think my wife had intentionally chosen this house for the extra bedroom. That is in the past now though.

Our son arrived November 27th, and by that time the strange occurrences had seemed to die down. The bad luck of the last year was overshadowed by the joy that Liam had brought into our lives. It all was a big adjustment. The constant need for cleaning, feeding, and care wore both of us down but we agreed that we would not trade it for anything in the world. That little boy had our hearts from the moment we laid eyes upon him. Being exhausted was just a price we were willing to pay for that joy. That was the state I was in the night the unexplainable events started again.

Melissa took the baby from me about ten o’clock. She knew I would need to be up by six in the morning for work and told me to get some rest. It had become routine for me to get comfortable on the couch, that way the late night feedings did not disturb me. The television still had some rerun playing as I tucked myself under the throw blanket on the couch. The words were a blur as my eyes fluttered shut. I had almost found sleep when I felt the blanket fold back off of my body. Slightly annoyed, but not startled by the action I simply pulled it back over myself. After a few moments it happened again. I pulled it back and let my arm rest on top of it. A force that I still am unable to fully describe lifted my arm and the blanket, sending it across the room. I was unable to go back to sleep that night.

My wife was sure I had been dreaming when I told her about it the next morning. The rational side of my brain wanted to believe that. I wanted to think that my tired mind had simply played a trick on me. It was possible that I had never even covered up at all. This is how I reasoned my way out of being cautious. So, we both continued with our day as if nothing had happened. I went to work, she stayed home with Liam and when I returned home we had dinner together. When it was time to give the little one a bath, Melissa handled the cleaning and I would do the drying and dressing. When Liam was clean, my wife placed him carefully on the changing table in what was now his nursery.

I grabbed a bottle of baby lotion and began applying it to our son’s delicate skin. Melissa watched from the doorway with a smile on her face. Liam began to coo and giggle but his eyes were not focused on either of us, but rather the ceiling behind us. I assumed he was watching the ceiling fan spin above me when I heard it. My face turned toward my wife, eyes wide. When our gaze met I could tell by the look of shock that she had heard it too. I did not need her to answer but I asked the question anyway.

“You heard that, right?” I said quietly.

She nodded slowly, “A woman humming to Liam?”

I looked down at my baby boy as his little body squirmed and wiggled about. Someone or something was entertaining him that neither of us could see. I quickly dressed his tiny body and Melissa decided to put him in bed with us for the night. She simply did not feel comfortable leaving our baby in that room. I sat in the glider rocking chair in the corner of the nursery for another hour after. I listened intently for any sign of the noise we had heard. There was nothing and when I thought I had convinced myself, I turned out the light and found my way to the couch. I could not sleep yet again.

The humming would return after every bath we gave Liam, no matter what room we were in. We tried to ignore it. Whatever was there did not seem to want to harm our child, so we tried not to worry. Well, I tried not to worry. Melissa voiced her opinion on the matter frequently. When Liam’s things started going missing she suggested we sell the house and move. My foolishness would not let me give up our investment. This became something we argued over almost every day. With every odd coincidence it tore at the fabric of our relationship. Eventually, Melissa packed a bag for herself and Liam. She told me she needed to get away from that house and that she would be staying with her sister until I could do something about our problem. I was devastated.

My first night alone I drowned myself in a bottle of the cheapest whiskey I could find. I knew that Melissa loved me but I could not understand why she could not work through this with me. I also knew that whatever crept through that house seemed to focus more on her and the baby than me. I had no real clue as to the extent of that. Melissa only mentioned hearing noises or the bed sheets being ruffled despite her making the bed earlier that day. Maybe it was because I dismissed her fears. All I knew that night was I wanted to numb the ache her leaving created. When I finished off my liquid pain killer I stumbled my way from my recliner toward the hallway. My bladder needed emptying badly but walking drunk was hard enough, let alone trying to run.

To really make sense of this I would need to describe the house a bit better. The living room and kitchen were adjacent to each other. If you passed through the living room there was a small foyer to your right with our front door and two large French doors to your left that lead to the back yard. Then a narrow hallway with the bathroom to the left, the nursery to your right, and our bedroom directly ahead. With the curtains drawn on those French doors that hallway was black as pitch at night but even through my drunken haze I could tell someone stood between myself and the bathroom. Something that was about a foot shorter than me and almost as dark as the shadows around it blocked my path and caused me to freeze in fear. I should have been alone in that house.

I tried to convince myself I was seeing things at first. I rubbed at my tired eyes but whoever stood there remained. I called out my wife’s name in hopes that she had returned at some point during my pity party but I received no response. I wanted it to be her. I could even hear my voice scream inside my head, “It has to be her!” I found myself holding my breath, unsure of what to do. My hand reached out, wanting to know if someone was really there or if I was losing my mind. My fingers had almost touched the figure when a scream erupted from it. It sounded like a hundred tornado sirens sounding at once. I fell to my knees, cupping my hands over my ears for protection. Soon, my vision began to blur and I felt as though my body was growing weak. It only took a few more seconds within that madness for me to lose consciousness and control of my bladder.

When I woke up the next morning I cleaned myself up and packed a few things for myself. I joined my family at my sister-in-law’s home until the sale of ours was finalized. We went back to renting shortly after, feeling hesitant to purchase another property. We have not told our family about our haunted house story but I wanted to share it with someone. You see, it has been almost three years since we left that place. Melissa and I were sure our horrible memories of those days were going to be just that, memories. Last night my son climbed into our bed around eleven o’clock. He was whining and complaining of nightmares. We tucked him in-between the two of us and my wife rubbed at his back. I asked him what was wrong and the response he gave made a chill run down my spine.

“That lady scares me,” his tiny voice responded.

Melissa looked at me with terror in her eyes before asking, “What lady, Liam?”

His tiny hand rose and his index finger pointed to the corner of our bed, “The one who always watches us sleep.” 