Torturing soul

The Tortured Spirit

Laura Carpenter was born in 1895. From that moment she was trouble.

She died on July 7, 1907, the official report said that she tripped on some toys on

the steps. No one grieved for the child, not the army of servants she physically and

verbally abused or the cemetery of pets that died mysteriously, no one. After her

death, Mother Carpenter was committed to a sanatorium. On her death bed two

years later, she admitted to pushing Laura down the steps. “She was evil, I had to save her,” she cried

Because the Carpenter’s had no family the house was the property of the local

government. They fixed it up and put it on auction. In 1925, A family bought the

property but sold it shortly after their son died of mysterious circumstances .The

house was sold after five years to another young couple named Franklin but the

wife sold the Carpenter home after her husband fell off a ladder while cleaning the

gutters. The house was empty for thirty years until 1969 . To a Hippy commune,

After the Communes alleged suicide the Carpenter home remained up for sale to

present day. Even those who didn’t know the legend surrounding the place could

sense that something was not right.

The summer of 94’ was hot and boring as was every summer in Heavenward.

Every weekend, five friends, Storm , Louise , Karen , Ana and Jessie would camp

out near the Old Mill Lake. Having lived in Havenward all of their lives, there wasn’t

much to do that they haven’t done already unless you were visiting. One evening,

after gathering with the group roasting marshmallows over a newly made campfire

and telling ghost stories about Laura Carpenter ( most of which they didn’t believe

anyway). . “ Next weekend we should camp at the old Carpenter place”, Jessie

said. The girls looked at each other in horror. “Don’t worry,” he reassured

them, “Its not like any of those stories are true.” By the end of the night, Jessy

had convinced his friends to go along with his idea. The rest of the week went

pretty fast with all they had to get in order to stay at the haunted house. Among

the list of things were a flash light, crowbar, blankets, and a few snacks. Before

they knew it, Friday was upon them.

It was midnight and the campers were already asleep, all except Louise who

was wide awake and staring at the ceiling. She went into the kitchen and then

back into the living room. When she walked into the hallway she saw the stair

case so she decided to go up. At the top of the stairs, she noticed that there were

four bedrooms a bathroom and a play room that had once been Laura’s. By then

Louise was beginning to feel frightened. She got the eerie feeling that some one

was following her so she walked down the stairs backwards. The steps suddenly

got foggy and a girl materialized in the mist. It was then , she knew that she would

never see daylight again. The poor girl tried to scream but only a slight moan

escaped from her lips. The fear she was feeling made her forget that she was close

to the edge of the step. By the time she realized it, it was to late. She lost her

balance and went tumbling down the steps. She fell with such force that her skull

was cracked and the spinal cord was severed completely.

The commotion awoke the other four companions. Storm was the first to

see Louise with her neck twisted in an odd position and a look of terror on her

face. A scream pierced the air and all at once they ran for the door. When they

reached it they realized the door was sealed tight. A test of the windows produced

a similar result Jessie took the crow bar in his hand and threw it at the window with

all of his strength. There was glass all over the ground but as they started to go

towards it, the window fused back together. They were trapped. Okay, said

Jessie , taking control of the situation immediately, we’ll stick together and hope

daylight comes soon. So they sat there for nearly an hour trying not to look at their

unfortunate friend. They waited to see what kind of monster they were up against.

Karen was picked up and dragged across the room. There, above them ,

floated Laura Carpenter. She was screaming like a banshee feeding on their fear.

Karen was crying hysterically, pleading with her friends for help. Laura threw her

full force at the window but unlike the crow bar. Karen was caught in the middle of

the window when it fused back together. She died slowly and painfully. Watching

the scene unfold before their eyes, Ana, Storm and Jessie stood frozen with fear.

They tried to scream but the sound was rooted in their throats. Then the spirit

spoke. “ No one will get out of this house alive,” she vowed. The three that

remained sat huddled together ,trying to figure a way out of the house. They

huddled together for hours. “ Maybe she’s Done,” Ana said. As if she heard them

talking she appeared in the blue green smoke that had sent Louise to her death.

Ana looked around the room for another means of escape. Her eyes rested on an

old fashioned laundry shoot. It led to the basement and most likely, an unguarded

exit. She crept toward the laundry shoot hoping that Laura would not see her.

Jessie and Storm tried to hold Laura’s attention until Ana could escape but she

noticed just as Ana’s foot went through the crawl space. She disappeared and

rematerialized in front of Ana, blocking the basement door. “ Your really getting on

my nerves,” Laura said. “ I guess I’ll kill you now and save your friends for later.”

She laughed as she made her way towards Ana. From upstairs the other two

heard agonizing bloody screams as Laura broke every bone in her body one by

one. Slowly the minutes went by as she waited for inevitable death. To Jessie and

Storms horror, Ana was thrown thru the laundry shoot against the wall. Storm

leaned on Jessie for support and she wept for what seemed like a long time.

“Don’t worry storm,” Jessie said, “Only one more hour until daylight.”

That reassurance fell to deaf ears as Storm collapsed on to the sleeping bag that

had once been Ana’s. As Laura entered from the basement wall, Jessie lunged at

her but was thrown across the room and knocked unconscious. He could not offer

his friend any protection. Laura floated slowly towards the frightened girl. Storm

looked at her watch,” Twenty five minutes until daylight,” she thought. “I just have

to hold on until then.”

“I’ve got something special in mind for you,” Laura said as she pulled Storm to

the steps. Storm saw that Jessie had regained consciousness and was climbing

the steps behind her . At the top of the landing Laura grabbed storm by the hair

and forced her to climb over the railing. Quietly, Jessie watched Laura waiting for

his chance to startle her. Two minutes until daylight and he slowly made his way

around her. His senses took over and all at once he yelled in his loudest voice

causing Laura to pull Storm closer to the railing before dropping her . The girl held

on for dear life. One minute until daylight and as Laura lunges at Jessie, The first

rays of sun hit her ghostly face and she disappeared.

Storm let out a high pitch yell as she let go of the banister, landing on the hard

floor below. Fearing for her safety, Jessie bolted down the steps. “Are you

alright,” he gasps between breaths. Except for a sprained ankle, She never felt

better. They embrace quickly and head outside. When they reach the car, Jessie

opens the passenger door to help Storm into the car. Then he went back into the

Carpenter house one last time. In the house, he got all the flammable things he

could find. It only took a few minutes to ignite and Jessie and Storm watched as

the horrible house burned to the ground, taking with it the evil spirit of Laura

Carpenter.


June 5, 2004

Storm sat at her work desk proof- reading an article that one of her rookie

reporters placed on her desk. For the third time that day, she wished that she was

still a reporter instead of head editor. The rookie showed promised but he would

have to work harder at his finished product. Still lost in thought she picked up the

phone on the fourth ring. It was her mother. After listening to her mom drone on

and chastise her for fifteen minutes her mother gave her some truly awful news.

“ Remember the old Carpenter place that burned to the ground,” she asked her

daughter.

“Of course mom” said Storm, “How could I forget, three of my friends died in that house.”

“Well you wont believe it honey,” Mrs. Saint john told her child. “ A developer

bought the land and plans to build his home on it.”

Storms mom started talking about something else barely pausing for

breath but Storm could not hear her because she fainted.