As Halloween got closer and closer, more people visited Becky’s haunted house, but none got nearly as far as Brooke and Finn did. She found it quite boring when most people would give up after her warnings, leading to the same conversations every day. After what seemed like forever to Becky, Halloween finally passed, and her haunted house became irrelevant again. That is, to the general public, it was…
“Becky, are you home?” Brooke asked as she knocked on the door.
“Last time, she was outside already. Maybe we shouldn’t disturb her,” Finn suggested warily. He didn’t want to admit how creeped out he still was by the house.
“It’s not Halloween anymore, so maybe she just isn’t expecting visitors. I’m sure she’d enjoy some company; it’s got to be lonely living alone,” Brooke said, hoping that Becky would come to the door soon.
“Maybe,” Finn agreed. The door slowly creaked open.
“Look, kids, it ain’t Halloween and- oh! It’s you two!” Becky exclaimed. She opened the door wider as she realized who was there.
“Yep, it’s just us. We’ve been wondering more and more about the haunted house, and we wanted to ask you some questions if you’re okay with that,” Brooke blurted out of nervousness. Finn gave her a nervous glance as Becky thought about her question.
“Come on in. Just be careful where you step; I got some new kittens, and if they decide to be brave enough to come out, then they’ll be tumblin’ all around your feet,” Becky welcomed.
“Thank you so much,” Finn thanked while they followed Becky; inside her living room. It was much nicer than either of them expected it to be. A simple yet plain chandelier hung in the center of the living room above a small wooden table.
“Take a seat wherever you’d like,” Becky said, sitting in the chair adjacent to the window.
As Brooke and Finn sat down on the couch across from her, Brooke asked, “Were there many other people who came to the haunted house after us?”
“Yes, there were many,” Becky answered, “but nobody got nearly as far as you did. You were the last group to get inside the house.”
“Has anyone else almost gotten stuck as we did?” Finn questioned.
“I don’t think you want the answer to that,” Becky ominously replied. Her expression dropped as she remembered what happened before.
“Oh…” Brooke said before continuing, “So you said I remind you of the girl who helped us escape?”
“Yes, you do. The girl's name is Anne,” Becky replied.
“Are the ghosts able to come out of the haunted house, or would I have to go back to see her again?” Brooke questioned after a moment of thinking.
“Some of them are unable to leave, while others can roam where they choose. The house is like a prison for some of the more violent ghosts. That’s why there are so many rooms that you two got lost in, ”Becky explained. Brooke saw movement out of the corner of her eye, so she glanced over to the doorway to the room. Anne was peeking around the corner with a curious expression on her face.
“Is there a reason that Brooke can see them, but I can’t see them?” Finn asked.
“From what I can tell, in all my years, it’s just genetics. Some people can see them, and others can’t. It’s just like some people having brown or blonde hair,” Becky answered.
“So I just got lucky and can see the ghosts?” Brooke questioned, only half paying attention to their conversation as she was distracted by Anne at the entrance.
“Lucky in the way that it’s uncommon, but it may not be so lucky overall. If a ghost would choose to haunt you, you may wish for the ability to be gone,” Becky warned. After being associated with paranormal activity for so long, she’d seen a lot of people terrorized by aggressive spirits. She had even seen ghosts terrorized by other ghosts, including Anne.
“Didn’t you tell us that the ghosts were harmless before we went into the house?” Brooke asked, remembering the rules they were given before they entered.
“That’s because they almost always are. For some reason, they saw you two as threats,” Becky replied. She didn’t think there was any reason to tell them the whole truth and scare them. Surely they wouldn’t come back after today.
“Do you know why?” Finn further questioned.
“No, I don’t know why,” Becky replied before adding, “And while I love you two’s company, I think you should be going.” She didn’t want them to get themselves into any further trouble than they already have with how much they know.
“Alright, thank you again for answering our questions!” Brooke responded as she and Finn started to get up to leave.
“No problem, kids. Come back anytime!” Becky said.
“Thank you! Have a nice day!” Finn replied, still creeped out by this whole ordeal. Becky’s answers didn’t give him any peace of mind.
They walked out the door, and Finn whispered to Brooke, “I think she’s hiding something about this. She seems sketchy.”
“I agree, but I also think she might just be trying to keep us safe. I don’t think she’d have told us they were harmless if she expected what happened. Either way, I think all of our questions are sort of answered now, so we don’t have to come back here again,” Brooke pointed out.
“I guess. I’m a bit worried for you, though. She said the ghosts can haunt you. What if that happens to you?” Finn questioned.
“I don’t think it’ll happen. If anything, I think the memories of getting chased through the house are what’ll haunt me,” Brooke joked.
“Yeah, sure. Just be careful regardless,” Finn sighed.
“Oh, don’t be so worried. I’m sure it’ll all be fine,” Brooke reassured him.
“I’m just glad we’ll never have to go back there again.”
“Yeah, I agree. It sorta gives me the creeps.”
A week passed, and everything went back to normal. Brooke got her article on the haunted house published in their school newspaper, and it was a hit around the school. Everyone was shocked by how far inside they made it, and even though she left out how they got chased by ghosts, people still found it scary. The article even made its way to Becky, who was impressed by Brooke’s writing skills. However, as the next week came to a close, Brooke started to notice some strange happenings around their school…
Brooke sat in her study hall, zoned out as she thought of their ghost encounter once again. She returned to her senses as she heard something crash. She looked up as she and many others jumped. An entire line of chairs was knocked over, and no student was around that area. Instead, she saw a speedy streak of movement gliding out of the door. She wanted to go see if it was a ghost, but since she was in school she figured that getting up to chase after it wasn’t such a good idea. One of the students went over and put the chairs back how they were, and nobody seemed to question what happened.
In Finn’s history class, after the chairs got toppled in study hall, a desk collapsed out of nowhere in the middle of their test. When the teacher went over to the desk to try and fix it, one of the legs was missing. Only a moment later, the desk was completely back to normal with no signs of ever being broken. The teacher went back over to his desk, confused. Once Finn finished testing, he got out his phone to text Brooke about what had happened. It almost seemed as if it was the work of a ghost.
“Brooke, you’ll never guess what just happened,” Finn texted her.
“Hmm… a turkey flew through the school?” Brooke joked.
“No, weirder. A desk spontaneously broke in class, and then when the teacher went over to fix it, it just fixed itself and went back upright,” Finn explained.
“That’s so weird. A bunch of seats got knocked down over here, too,” Brooke added.
“There’s no way that this is a coincidence,” Finn replied, thinking the worst. What if a ghost had followed them from Becky’s house and is haunting them both?
“May I have your attention, please?” a voice says over the intercom. “If there have been any strange occurrences in your classroom, please do not worry. The situation has been taken care of. Thank you.”
“I think there’s our answer,” Brooke texted Finn after the announcement ended.
“That’s so strange. So long as it’s not a ghost haunting us,” Finn replied.
The bell rang for the period to end, and everything seemed to go fine until lunch. As Brooke was walking to the lunch room, she noticed a strange woman standing against a wall. She was able to tell that the woman was a ghost, and she decided to ignore her entirely as if she couldn’t see her. When she passed her in the hallway, the woman decided to follow her. Brooke kept telling herself internally to stay calm, but that was very hard seeing as she was being followed by a strange ghost. She sat her stuff down at a lunch table before going in line. The woman continued to follow her, waiting to be acknowledged. Finally, Brooke faltered and looked straight at the woman.
“Brooke, you and Finn are in danger from an escaped ghost. You weren’t the only ones let out of the house by Becky. Anne and Becky sent me to warn you. You’ll have to lure him out of the school and back into the house tonight,” the woman explained before she walked away.
“Hey, Brooke, what’s wrong?” Finn asked as he got in line behind her.
“There was another ghost, and she warned me supposedly on behalf of Becky and Anne. A ghost got loose and now we’re in danger. We’re supposed to lure it back into the house tonight after school,” Brooke explained shakily.
“How do you think we could safely do that?” Finn pondered.
“I don’t know if there’s a safe way to do it,” Brooke suggested.
“I’m not sure how safe it is, but our only option is that we lure the ghost to follow us, then we can drive straight over to Becky’s house and try to trap it inside by going in ourselves,” Finn suggested.
“That seems pretty unsafe,” Brooke disagreed.
“If we’re going to be attacked by a ghost again, I think that I’d want to be around Becky for as much of it as possible, and as soon as possible,” Finn added.
“True, ‘cause she seems to know more about all of this than anyone else,” Brooke reluctantly agreed.
“So, after school, we make sure this ghost is following one of us. Then we can head straight over to Becky’s to trap the ghost. Once we’re there, I’m sure Becky can help us,” Finn fully explained.
“That sounds like our best bet,” Brooke confirmed.
“Alright, that sounds like a plan then,” Finn said before adding, “So, apart from the ghost encounters, how has your day been?”
The last three classes of the day seemed to go slowly for them both since they were so anxious about the ghost. They didn’t know what was going to happen, which scared them just as it would scare anyone else. Brooke didn’t think that her last class could drag on any longer than it was, and Finn found that his class went too quickly as he dreaded the task ahead of them. Once the bell rang to mark the end of the day, they met up at Brooke’s locker, just like normal. The abnormality, however, was the ghost trailing Finn.
“Finn, I think our plan is going to work,” Brooke said as she noticed the ghost.
“You know where it is?” Finn questioned.
“Yes, now let’s get going,” Brooke replied quickly, not wanting to waste any time for this to be over.
They drove to Becky’s house, the ghost following a good distance behind them. They reached the small gravel lot for the third time in more danger than ever. They got out of the vehicle and started the trek up to Becky’s actual house. Noticing that the ghost was getting closer, and angrier, by the second, Brooke quickened her pace to get there as quickly as possible. Thankfully, Becky was outside waiting for the two with Anne and the other ghost who warned Brooke. Becky hastily walked down her steps to meet the two teens.
“Thank you for coming out here. I know this wasn’t the safest thing to ask of you two, but you did it anyway. I’ll go over with you to the house, but you’ll have to lure it inside by yourself. Anne and Mary will follow you inside to help keep you safe,” Becky explained quickly as they walked closer and closer to the haunted house. The fog seemed to thicken around them again, almost entirely erasing their senses of sight.
“Here’s where I’ll leave you two. He’s still following close behind, so be very careful,” Becky warned before she seemed to disappear into the fog.
“What happens if we get stuck in the house again?” Brooke questioned.
“We’ll have to find an exit, I guess,” Finn nervously replied.
“AH!” Brooke exclaimed as the ghost caught up to them and pulled her backward.
“Brooke!” Finn exclaimed. He quickly turned around and tried to push the ghost off of Brooke, not realizing that he could now see him.
“You should’ve been more careful the first time you went in here,” the ghost said as he continued to pull Brooke further away from the house.
“We wouldn’t have had to be careful if you wouldn’t escape!” Brooke replied as she fought hard to get away.
Finally, they pushed the ghost off of Brooke, and they started to run toward the haunted house. Even if the ghost wouldn’t follow them, they might be a bit safer inside. The ghost tried to grab Finn, and he barely missed. They tumbled inside the house’s wide open door, followed by the ghost. The ghost blocked the door so that they couldn’t escape, so Brooke decided on a whim to run upstairs to the room where she first saw Anne. Finn quickly followed, and Brooke slammed the door shut once Finn was inside.
“If you can move the dresser, we can block the door so he can’t get in,” Brooke suggested, out of breath. She locked the door before leaning against it so the ghost couldn’t break inside.
Finn tried to push the dresser, but he had no luck. “I think that it’s stuck somehow,” he explained.
“Great. Uh… is there an exit that we could get out of?” Brooke asked.
“I can see what it looks like outside of the window,” Finn replied as he ran over to it to look outside.
“Can you even see out of it with all of the fog?” Brooke added.
“Not really. I don’t think that’s a way out, either. What about paintings? In Becky’s warnings, she said that if we’re ever in a room without a door to look behind the biggest one,” Finn remembered.
“There are no paintings in here,” Brooke answered impatiently as she struggled to keep the door shut.
“I’ll hold the door for now,” Finn offered as he leaned against it next to Brooke. “You can try to look for a way out.”
Outside of the room, another ghost yelled, “What are you doing?!” before there was a loud crash. The door stopped being pushed for a moment before the evil ghost finally broke through. Finn was thrown to the ground, and Brooke quickly helped him up. They came face to face with the ghost, and he looked terrifying. He was about a foot taller than them both, and they seemed defenseless.
“Trapping you two was fun the first time. I think this time it’ll be even better since you’ve got no Becky to save you,” he said as he locked the door behind him.
“Oh no,” Brooke mumbled under her breath.
To Be Continued…