Stories

A Haunted House

It was a chilly and cloudy day out. Lenny and Jax were excited to move into their first home as a couple. This home was hidden deep somewhere in the woods. As soon as they got to their new home, they felt odd. Maybe it was because the house was old, dusty, and creepy. Crows circled this house and cawed at them. The feeling of oddness soon went away when Lenny said “we will just have to clean up a bit.” Jax smiled and nodded.

The Inside of the house didn’t look too bad compared to the outside. The carpet and curtains were dark red, almost burgundy, the walls had old paintings on them, and the furniture looked old but still in good condition. “All we need to do is vacuum, fluff out the couches, clean the baseboards, and fix the light bulbs,” said Lenny in a worried voice. “Yeah and get rid of these spider webs,” said Jax in a disgusted tone.

Later that night, as they sat on the old red couch, they heard loud wood creaking in the kitchen. Lenny went to check out what the noise was. Lenny peaked into the kitchen and shouted “who’s there?” A squeaking rat ran across the kitchen floor and slammed into the wall. Lenny looked where the rat came from, and there were bugs everywhere.

A week after that rat incident, they cleaned up the inside and the outside of the house as best as possible. As they cleaned, they found bizarre things. Jax found bloodstains on the kitchen floor, and Lenny found footprints in their bedroom. They started to get weirded out from this house.

They called a priest to come bless the house. A day before they called him, Lenny was sitting on the couch, and a chair moved by itself. Lenny sat there in doubt, then got up fast and ran to Jax. When Lenny found Jax, he was in disbelief. All the chairs were on the ceiling, they fell from the ceiling almost hitting Lenny. Jax looked at Lenny scarcely.

Lenny and Jax tried running out of the house but ended up going in a loop. There was no way out, every time they would try walking out the door, they would end up in their kitchen. Lenny and Jax slept in their living room until it was morning. When morning came there was a knock on the door, it was the priest.

They let him in and told him everything that had happened. The priest didn’t look surprised, he looked as if he'd dealt with such a thing. He explained to them that he can get them out of the house, and that old houses like this have problems like this. Lenny and Jax were relieved that they could finally get out of the house. The priest got out his book and his holy water.

As he started reading his book, the wind started howling loud, and the clouds from outside got dark and gloomy. The crows that were outside started breaking the windows to caw at them. Chairs and broken glass were flying everywhere, leaving cuts on Lenny, Jax, and the priest. The flying chairs and the glass stopped in mid-air and fell to the ground. The wind and clouds went away and so did the cawing birds. They all got up from the floor, and Lenny and Jax ran to the door. They could finally get out of the house. They thanked the priest by taking him out to breakfast and paying for him.

They settled into a new home that they knew wasn’t haunted. Months have gone by and Lenny and Jax are living peacefully. They try to forget and move on from what had happened in that other house. Lenny and Jax are lucky that they were able to get out because till this day, that house traps people in it until they soon die.

-Martinez

Eternal Rest

-Abdulqawi

I’m walking around the streets of the town known as “Eternal Rest.” It is a sketchy town, there are days where you hear unexpected screams and cries, and sometimes you see weird things. People say this town is where they murdered and buried people alive. I find that dumb, honestly, since when were ghosts real? Anyways, as I’m walking around the street, it was 10pm. It was really cold, but fresh. There are broken branches all over the streets and sidewalks, abandoned houses and buildings, street lights flickering, blood stains all over the walls of the buildings, and graffiti. I’m assuming that's where the people were murdered? As I continue walking I see something from a building that seems to look like an abandoned hospital. The lights were on, and I saw someone from the window on the top floor. Then suddenly the lights turned off.

That was weird. I felt a chill from my spine and goosebumps. But I wanted to check it out. I climbed over a granite wall that covered the hospital. As I jumped there were broken branches, torn clothing, ants and other insects piling over some old moldy food. It smelled so bad, smelled like overstored trash. There were maggots all over the place. It was just disgusting. There was a broken door that opened on its own. I assumed it was the wind. I went into the hospital and then suddenly the lights turned on. It burned my eyes a little since it was so bright. Why is there light in an abandoned hospital? I ignored my question and continued walking by a long hallway. The hallway had blood handprint stains all over the walls, lights and wires hanging from the roof, bloody knives, medical instruments all over the floors, and food that seemed like it was thrown by someone. The food looked fresh, it was warm. That made me a little worried, maybe someone is in here? I picked up the plate, the plate was so warm and hot it burned my wrist and left a mark that seemed like a scar as water built up. I firmly grabbed my wrist as I closed my eyes from the pain. I looked around just to see if anyone was watching me. BOOM! I hear a loud noise coming from the hallway. Sounded like someone threw something like a book at the wall. I go and check. There was a plastic plate that was unusually thick. I have never seen a thing like this. I usually find plates pretty thin and made out of glass. This time there wasn’t food in there. There were blood stains around it and a note. It said, “Overthinker.” I was devastated and looked around. It was quiet and empty and all you hear is the light flickering. I looked around again, no one was there. I assumed someone was trying to scare me. How could a plate possibly fall on its own? The wind? The door was closed though. Made me worry and overthink everything. As I continue walking, trying to find whoever is in there I find myself in another room. This time it had stairs that had blood stains everywhere, graffitti, and dust all over the floor, creating footprints as I walked up. The stairs were circular and the walls had a few cracks. I end up in another hallway. This hallway wasn't as long as the other hallway. I continue walking slowly as the floor creaks. I started to hear someone else walking, so I stopped walking. After a second I stop walking, the walking stops. I get even more worried, and my heart rate increases. Looking around, the walking sound starts again, as I am frozen in my spot looking at the broken glass door that was in front of me. The sound came from the hallway where the door is. So I stay at my spot and wait till someone appears. The walking sounded very hard, as if someone is angry,walking with their heel. I can feel the floor vibrate by every step they make. After waiting at my spot for a few seconds, someone appears. It was a little girl who seemed to be only eight years old. She had a white torn dress, the dress people wear when they are sick in the hospital or when a lady is giving birth, her hands and dress had blood stains, her face was pale, she had long black hair that reached to her knees, and deep blue eyes. I squinted my eyes a bit more to see her face clearer, only to find out that she didn’t have a mouth. Her mouth looked like someone tore it apart and stitched it back together. She looked at me for a moment in a miserable way, as she held her brown torn stuffed bear that only had one eye. She looked over at the other side of the hallway, I couldn’t see what she was looking at. She looked at me and waved for a moment, and walked away to where she looked. Made me feel like she saw something I didn’t. I didn’t wave or say anything, I just stood there awkwardly. I slowly walked to see the girl again. I pulled the broken glass door to get through, then suddenly the lights turned off, and a cold wind blew. I panicked silently, again not saying anything. How does the wind blow if there is no door or windows? I looked over to where the girl walked to, and saw a broken glass window that had medal bars covering it from the outside. I sighed with relief. Almost thought there was a ghost. Although ghosts don’t exist, right? I walked to where the little girl walked towards. I end up in another room with a staircase. The staircase wasn’t circular this time, it looked like any other normal stair. This time there was a hospital bed on the side of the staircase. How did that get in there? Maybe it was an

operating room? I climb over the wooden creaking staircase. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were blood stains. The whole hospital had blood stains everywhere. Made me think to myself,

why did the little girl have blood stains? I didn’t worry too much, I was determined to find the girl and continued going up. The staircase creaked loudly. Again I heard the steps, I stopped for a moment, the steps sounded like they were going farther and farther away from me. I climbed over the last step and looked to my left, where I heard the steps, I saw the little girl again. She was beside a broken door that had a blue silky torn curtain around it. I stuttered for a moment when I tried to ask her for something, but I stopped. She looked at me in a stunned and alarmed way. Looked like she was looking behind me? I looked behind me and there was nothing. I didn’t see anything. She unexpectedly screamed and cried as she ran away. I was worried, I didn’t see anything. There was no one. I tried to follow her but the wind pushed me forward causing me to fall and hit my knee. Wind!? How is that possible!? There was no door or wind. And even if I assumed it was the AC, this place is abandoned. There isn’t an AC and an AC would not blow that hard to the point where it may make you fall forward. Goosebumps crawled over my skin, heart rate increased, and shortness of breath. Was that a ghost? You can’t see ghosts, right? Are they actually real? Was I wrong this whole time? My questions attacked my brain, which made my heart rate increase more and my head hurt. Ghosts aren’t real, I may be hallucinating. I smacked my head multiple times, telling myself, “It was your head, you're just afraid, nothing happened, you just panicked on your own.” I tried getting up, but my legs trembled horribly, as if it was my first time walking or standing up. I forced myself, and got up, holding the wall so I don’t lose balance. But why did the girl cry and run away? What did she see that I couldn’t? Was she afraid of me? I continued walking, again, determined to find the girl.

I continued walking as I was trembling. I asked myself, why keep going when I can leave? I didn’t care, I wanted to ask the girl, I wanted to ask her why she was here, and what she saw that I couldn't? I ignored it again and continued walking. As I was walking I saw a torn rose and a diary on a bed that hospitals have to keep their patient in rest. The diary said “One comes, Don't leave.” I opened and read through the dairy. It said, “She was the only one that I trusted. She promised she would stay with me forever and watch me while I was on my deathbed. She lied, day after day she has never returned. Only to find out that she has gotten married and gave birth to another daughter. She said she didn’t want a daughter who looked ugly, a girl who was going to die anyways. I cried on my deathbed, it hurted to cry, my mouth was stitched. I had my mouth torn apart by the doctor. He said he didn’t want to hear me cry so he stitched it up. Now I write in this diary. Oh mother, I hope you read this. I hope you die early, I hope you get buried alive, I hope your new husband murders and slaughter you, I hope you get your mouth torn apart and stitched like mine, I hope you the worst life, I hope your new daughter hates you the way I do, I hope the worst for you mother. For breaking your promise and hurting me. Not only is my mouth torn, but my heart as well. You tord my heart apart, I hope your heart gets torn apart like mine. I hope you hurt more than I do. Goodbye you filthy liar!” Reading through this diary made me really disturbed, but then I realized, as the person who explained herself in this diary, made me think of the girl. She had a hospital dress, and a torn mouth. Was that her? Is she actually dead? As I closed the book and looked around, the girl was right there, watching me as she whimpered. She walked towards me. As she walks towards me the air gets colder, feels so cold, feels like 24 degrees as she gets closer. I didn’t think much. She took the book and pen and wrote something. “She was my

mother, she isn’t dead yet, she lives in a luxurious city with her new family. And had never thought of me, it’s like I never existed to her, she doesn’t even know I used to exist,” she wrote. I looked at her in fear. “Used to!?” I say raising my tone in fear. “What do you mean by used to?” I say to her as I bend down and look into her eyes. She looked at me in disappointment and walked away. I blinked once..and she wasn’t there. What? Impossible! I looked around, she was nowhere to be seen. I walked again, only to find myself in another circular staircase that also had bloody handprint stains and cracks around the wall. I go up the staircase as it creeks, and see another hallway. It had a wheelchair in the side, bloody handprint stains, and drug pills that were scattered everywhere. The wheelchair moved on its own, it then bumped into a door, causing the door to open. The wheelchair moved on its own? I start to think that I’m hallucinating and I may be going crazy.

I opened the door, there was a bed, it had blood stains all over the sheets, pills, and a knife that was covered in blood. There was a broken window with torn curtains, covered in blood. The curtains were being blown by the wind. I stand there like an idiot, and zone out. I stare at the curtains. I felt like someone was watching me or someone was in the room, though there was nothing. No one was there, not even the little girl. I then turn around to check if the girl is right beside the door. She was nowhere to be seen again. I continue walking through the hallway. There was another hallway that had a glass door. I walk over to the door. As I walked over to the huge glass door, there was blood writing on the door. It said, “Mentality” and some other writing but from a different language. The writing looked like demon worshiping letters that I normally see in the movies. I didn’t really care and opened the door. Inside the door there was a candle that surrounded a star and a circle that seemed to be written in blood. The candles were still lit though. Meaning maybe the little girl was there? But why would she worship the devil? She's quite young to even know this. I walk around the candles, then..! The door shut so hard, it made my stomach feel as if it was being squeezed like someone removing water from fabric and drying it up. I was so scared. Maybe the girl did that? Tried scaring me? I try opening the door. It didn't open! I panicked and screamed. “Please open the door!” I heard giggling and silent screams. I felt cold air that felt as if it was 12 degrees. I sat down in a fetus position and covered my ears and eyes. I waited for the door to open. Thirty minutes passed, then, click! The door opened on its own. I opened it with relief. Finding the little girl in front of me. This time she was angry. She had a piece of paper in her hand. It said “Hallucination?” I didn’t understand, “What?” She didn’t have anything to write with so she just stood there and stared at me. It was so intimidating. She sighed and grabbed my hand, closing the door behind me. She stood there and stared at me again. I asked her what she meant again. She looked at the star that was written in blood, the one that people use to bring the demon back to life, I assume. She pointed at it. I looked at her, then suddenly the candles were lit off. Then again the wind blew again. There wasn’t any door or window open. I asked the girl what she meant earlier again. She then took the blood from the star and wrote it on the floor. “Dull” I looked at her and zoned out. She wrote on the floor again. “You.” I sat there and opened the door that she closed. I walked out and laughed. Impossible. She’s playing around with me, hopefully. I turned around, and she wasn’t there. My heart rate increased again, and I felt nauseous. I then tell myself, are ghosts real? Was I lying to myself? Suddenly something pushed

me, causing me to hit my elbow. It hurted so bad. I dragged myself to the wall and gripped my elbow from the pain.

I looked around again. I see a man. A tall man, pale, with a large head and a manlike body. The bottom of his mouth seemed like he cut it multiple times. I screamed from the inside, not making a muscle. I got up without hesitation and ran down the circular staircases. He then chases me down. I run as fast as I can, I can feel his steps vibrate from the floor. I’m out of breath just when I’m near the door with the silky blue curtains where I found the diary. As I run past the door I look inside and see the little girl inside. She was holding the diary and rose as she sat in a fetus position, crying. I can hear her cries as I run by. I ran down the normal staircase that had the bed right next to it. I forgot about the bed and ended up hitting my hip on the corner of the bed. I fell down, hoping the man didn’t see me. I try hiding beside the bed as he slowly walks down the stairs with his knife. On the top of the staircase, I can see the girl. She was looking at me in a regretful way, tears were streaming down her face. The man looks at the little girl, and speaks to her in a weird language. Sounded like the language demon worshipers speak, I hear them speak that way in movies so I assumed. I’m out of breath praying to god, I say my prayers in a sloppy way, I was out of breath so I couldn’t say anything right. I inhaled in a high pitched voice, grabbing the man and the little girl’s attention. I got up as quickly as I could, making my way down the circular stairs that led to the first hallway I ended up in as I came into the hospital. He didn’t run, he just walked. Seeming like he knew what was going to happen, made him seem like he wasn’t worried. I run down the stairs and see the door that I entered.

As I make my way towards the door, all I can feel is someone grabbing my hair. He grabbed my long brown curly hair and cut it with the knife he had. He held my hair tight and grabbed my jaw. He had a knife. Seemed like he was going to cut my mouth. At the moment I remember what the girl said. She said the doctor cut and stitched her mouth. I assumed that was the doctor and that he was going to do the same to me. He grabbed my jaw and grabbed the knife. I move in different ways, kicking, screaming. I grabbed the knife and grabbed his shirt. Kicking his face, bleeding. I take a look at his face. Bright white eyes, pupils, dark black. He had blood in his bottom lip. He stared at me for a moment, he then called for someone in the weird language he was speaking with the little girl. No one came. He talks to the wall. Seems like he was talking to someone. Seemed like he could see something I couldn't. He looks at me in a resentful way. I got up and ran as fast as I could. He yells and calls my name. “Annie, wait,” he says. I look back. “How do you know my name?” He looked around, and seemed like he was searching for something. “Please don’t leave, you have no clue what I go through. I can see ghosts, the little girl that you can see, she’s dead, she’s a ghost, you have been speaking to a ghost. Please take me with you!” He then looks at me in a blameless way. “Why’d you try to kill me then?” I say. “I had to, they told me to, they said whoever enters can’t get out, I had to.” I felt miserable, my heart sank as he explained. I then told him to put the knife down and I’ll take him. He throws the knife. He raises his arm waiting for me to come and pull him up. I go towards him. I make my way to the door, as he walks behind me. I then asked him, “There were ghosts in there? I thought they weren't real?” He laughs and says, “I have lived with them for years, those are the people who died in the hospital. They were going to kill me so I decided to make a deal, whoever comes in must be punished. They said if I leave, I will be punished. They can’t leave the hospital so they can’t do anything. Unless you're in the hospital. They hate visitors so they try to scare you so you can leave.” I look back to make sure no one was listening. I then see

the little girl right in front of the door. She waves goodbye and disappears in thin air. I felt dejected. I now understand that ghosts are real, just only in certain areas. The man looks around, and it seems like he hasn’t got out for years. I take a deep breath and smile. I felt so happy. I will never forget this day, nor will I be determined to look for something I shouldn’t, and I for sure won’t go into abandoned buildings. The man looks at me, he says he doesn’t have a place to live. I insisted he stay with me. A few minutes later, I hear something sharp, pretty loud too. I turn around and see a knife. I have been stabbed in the stomach. I lose my breath and fall to the floor. I look around as I can hear my heart beat. “You liar!” I say as I cough out blood. He laughs and walks away as if he accomplished something. I get dizzy and feel nauseous. I faint on the floor, as blood pours down the floor. Last thing I see is a car light.

I woke up in a hospital bed, not remembering how I got there. I look around and see a window. It was sunny outside and seemed like I was in a huge city. I can see the deep blue ocean, skyscrapers made out of glass that reflected like a mirror, and trees everywhere. The doctor comes in and says he found me in the middle of the road. I explained to him what happened, I explained how a man stabbed me in the stomach. He says he didn’t see anyone. I get up as he says that I have recovered and that I have been in a coma for three months. I didn’t see a change in my face as I looked in the mirror. I felt so happy that I lived, that I’m not in that abandoned city anymore. I think about the girl, she seemed hopeless. I felt bad as I felt a sharp pain in my heart. The doctor told me to find a taxi. I take the pre-washed hospital clothing that was left on the table. I exit the building and walk towards a taxi that was called to take me to a hotel. As thetaxi takes me to the hotel I look around, feeling so alive and interested. The taxi driver stops in front of a large skyscraper known as “Rouh.” I walk out of the taxi. The hotel was really beautiful. It was a glass hotel, just like the hotel I saw in the window when I was laying on the hospital bed. It had a nice water fountain, it was a white granite color and had blue water. I walked into the hotel, it was huge and beautiful, it had bright lights and great people. They gave me a card so I can go into my room. It was floor 12 room 459. I enter the elevator as it takes me to my room. I walked through a long hallway, giving me memories of the hospital hallways. The carpet was black and the walls had a light caramel color. I opened the door with the card they gave me. The room was big. It had a big white master bed, a television, a nice white clean bathroom that had a robe hanging from the door. I look out the window and see the beautiful ocean. I felt so happy and safe. I entered the bathroom, I smelled pretty bad and needed to take a shower. I smelled like a bag of coins, it was probably the blood from the hotel. I finished showering and put on the robe. I decided to watch T.V with my robe and eat a snack. There was a family size bag of potato chips so I decided to eat. I haven’t eaten for months so I’m starving. The chips were so crispy and salty. I loved it. I end up falling asleep. I woke up in the middle of the night from a loud thud sound. It felt like someone was watching me. I looked around and assumed maybe it was the room right next to me. I hear someone walking around my room. Same footsteps I heard at the hospital. I panicked and turned on the lights. There was nothing so I then went back to sleep, assuming it was just me. I have been going through something horrible so maybe memories from the hospital. I hear it again. I turn around and see the little girl. This time she had a mouth. What happened to her mouth that was stitched? She had a knife. “What are you doing here?” I say. She then says, “I told you to leave..” She had a vexed and scratchy voice. I looked at her and laughed. She then whispers, “Miserable Overthinker.”

Rest in Peace Annie, you lived a great life.

You may Rest for Eternity..