The Ghost House

         I woke up with the sounds of things crashing and glass breaking. The house at the corner of my street was finally being demolished. After so many weird and paranormal incidents - people being caught doing seances inside the house - the owner decided to destroy it.
Good riddance. I was tired of all the commotion with tourists coming around and neighbors gossiping about the horrors in the, what was known as, the Ghost house.
I looked out the window and could already see a crowd of people circling the property. I could see a construction worker trying to push the crowd away. But they were like moths to a beacon.
I could hear footsteps coming down the hallway. I opened my bedroom door before she could knock.
“Do you mind if I go with Taylor for a moment? She wants to show me something.”
I stared down at my niece, Jinny.
“Don’t come home late. You still need to get ready for tonight.” I said.
“I still don’t know what I want to be!” She exclaimed with disappointment.
“We’ll figure it out.” I said.
I watched as Jinny ran off.
Babysitting on Halloween was going to be interesting. Now that the Ghost house was an open lot, who knows what would happen. More seances? More apparitions to roam freely? Would more weird things occur? Especially since tonight was the night that the spirit world could cross into the living? I rolled my eyes with the thought. I went outside to watch and as I did, I wondered if it was truly haunted. I had to admit it was strange how nobody could live at the house for less than a few months. The last family that lived there swore that their kids had become possessed by a demon. Neighbors also said that they heard screams, doors slamming at night and even dark figures staring out the window. I have never personally seen anything strange. Now that the Ghost house was gone, maybe things would become normal and no more tourists would come around.
As I took a sip of my coffee I thought I had seen Jinny near the demolishing sight. But when I shouted for her I was distracted by the blare of a horn. I turned to see a big bulldozer trying to leave from the crowd. When I turned back she was gone.
At least I thought it was Jinny.
She had returned a few hours later and with an idea of what she wanted to be tonight.
“I am going to be a demon!” Jinny cried excitedly.
I looked at her for a moment before I spoke. “A demon, really?”
“I want to be something scary this year! I even got the makeup for it.” I was rather surprised. Jinny always dressed as something that did not require a lot of effort. Like slapping on a halo and wings or cat ears. She showed me all the items she had gotten: colors of red, black, white and gray. She had even gotten some fake sharp teeth and yellow contacts. I took a look at the Halloween makeup and it looked used. Before I could ask about the makeup, Jinny shouted with excitement: "I'm gonna go get ready!"
As darkness approached and kids began to descend from their homes, Jinny walked into the living room all dressed in her costume. I had to admit she looked scary. Her hair was big and messy. Her face was pasty gray with dark circles under her eyes and two big bloody scars on each cheek. She had also added fake blood running down her mouth and splattered around her chest. It was the yellow eyes that made me forget that the demon that stood in front of me was my niece. She smiled at me and exposed her yellow sharp teeth. I don’t know why I felt a chill run down my spine at that moment.
It’s just a costume.
Jinny removed her fake teeth and said: “I’m ready!”
I had to blink a few times before realizing that she was speaking to me. For a moment I felt as if I was falling, like something heavy was pushing me down. It was strange.
We were off, into the night, gathering candy from house to house. When we reached the end of my street, we stopped and stared at the spot where the Ghost house used to stand. It had already been fenced off. However, there were still some that stood around that took pictures of themselves. I saw Jinny’s friend Taylor lean against the fence with her mom. I noticed that she was also dressed up as a demon. Except Taylor had one side of her face with beauty makeup.
Almost like transforming into a demon. I thought.
However, she had a face of distraught.
“Is everything all right?” I asked as I neared Taylor and her mom.
“I feel really weird,” Taylor complained, gripping her stomach.
“Too much candy,” I said.
“She hasn’t had a piece.” Taylor’s mom responded with concern.
“Maybe you should call it a night,” I said.
“I think so too,” Taylor agreed.
Jinny snickered. “Come on! You probably ate something bad.”
“Yeah,” Taylor stammered. She took in a few breaths before she looked up towards Jinny. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine! Ready to get more candy. Don’t worry, I’ll get enough for the both of us.”
“I’ll just take her home,” Taylor’s mom said.
“What were you two doing here? I asked, looking around watching other kids and their parents run around.
“I wanted to take a picture with Taylor. Send it to my sister. She was always interested in the Ghost house.”
I half smiled.
“I do hope your friend is all right,” I said as Jinny and I continued our way around the neighborhood.
“I’m sure she’ll be fine!” Jinny said over her shoulder.
We stopped at a house that looked like a twisted and scary haunted forest. There were cobwebs on all windows, roof and down the pillars. Huge spiders descended down from the trees and skeletons cried out for help on the ground.
Cute, I thought.
As Jinny skipped towards the door she suddenly stopped. She turned to me suddenly.
“Did you say something?”
“No.” I said, shaking my head.
I stared at her and noticed that she was staring at something behind me. Or maybe through me.
“Are you okay?”
Jinny tilted her head and closed her eyes. I waited to see what she was going to do next. But when she just stood there and as kids ran past her I began to get concerned.
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
“I feel funny.”
“Oh, no, not you too?” I said as I watched Jinny grip her stomach.
“I don’t know. I was fine but then I heard you call me and that is when I started to feel…”
Jinny stopped as she stared down to the ground almost as if searching for what to say next.
“I think maybe we should just go home,” I said.
“Okay.”
When we got home Jinny went straight to the bathroom. After a half an hour of her not coming out I decided to knock on the door.
“Hey are you okay in there?”
I listened for a moment.
Silence.
“Jinny?” I said, knocking on the door once again.
I could hear her suddenly speak in a low whisper. I placed my ear to the door and attempted to hear what she was saying. I could hear a mumble of words but nothing seemed coherent. Jinny giggled then said something that made my blood turn into ice.
“She’s right outside. Should we slice her now?”
My mouth dropped. More giggles and then silence.
“Who are you talking to?” I said as I entered the bathroom. Jinny stared at herself in the mirror and said nothing as I stood behind her. I felt a chill in the air but attempted to get her attention. However, Jinny continued to stare at herself. Or at least it seemed to me that she was staring at herself. But the more I observed her I began to wonder if she was truly there with me. Her eyes seemed so vacant. I was about to say something when she suddenly snapped her head towards me and spun around quickly.
“What are you doing here?”
“I, uh, tried to get your attention. Did you not just hear me?”
“No.” Jinny said, genuinely confused.
“Who were you talking to?” I asked.
“No one.”
I felt a little uneasy. Even though she spoke, I felt as though she was not truly there with me. It creeped me out.
“Maybe you should get to bed.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Maybe I should.”
Jinny smiled at me and for a split second I thought I saw her eyes flicker and change into yellow.
What the hell?
Something moved at the corner of my eye. I looked up towards the mirror and almost cried out in terror. In the mirror...Jinny… her reflection.
That is not possible!
I looked at my niece that stood before me, staring up at me. Her reflection in the mirror should have shown me her back. Yet her reflection stared right back at me with yellow eyes and a sinister smile, razor sharp teeth exposed. I shut my eyes immediately, trying to remove the horrible image from my mind.
It has to be my imagination!
“Are you okay?”
I heard Jinny speak. I snapped my eyes open and stared at the mirror and then back to Jinny. I relaxed. Here reflection was as it should be.
“I’m okay. I must be more tired than what I expected,” I assured her.
As we made our way out the bathroom, I looked at the mirror once again and saw nothing out of the ordinary.
“Hey, Jinny. Where did you say you bought your Halloween stuff?”
“I didn’t.”
“What do you mean?” I wondered, confused.
“This morning, before the Ghost house was fenced up, Taylor and I watched a group of people do some sort of spell. They were using Halloween makeup to draw symbols. When they were being thrown out, they had left everything behind. The rest of the stuff we bought at the convenient store.”
I had seen her earlier at the demolition site.
“Don’t get mad. We didn’t steal anything. It was just laying around.” She snickered.
I shook my head in disbelief. That uneasy feeling was coming back. I could feel it in the pit of my stomach. I just didn’t know why. Something was wrong but I didn’t know what it was.
“Well, goodnight. See ya in the morning.” Jinny said as she went under the covers and rested her head on the pillow. I walked out of the room with an uneasy feeling in my gut.
I, too, went to lay down and as I did I could not pinpoint what was bothering me. Or, rather, what was creeping me out about the whole situation. Both girls went to a place that was allegedly haunted. Rumors. Yet, I wondered what if it wasn’t?
Stop it!
I tossed and turned trying to understand my uneasiness that was determined to keep me awake for a while, until I lost awareness and fell asleep.
“She’s right outside. Should we slice her now?”
I awoke in the middle of the night sweating. Those words echoed in my head as I looked up at the ceiling. Who was she referring to, I wondered. I could still remember those giggles of glee. I was about to get up when I suddenly felt something. Or, rather, felt someone near. I was not alone in my room. The realization had me paralized, as my blood ran cold. I wanted to get up and cry out and demand to know who was in my room. Then I heard it. Giggles. Deep sinister giggles.
I shut my eyes, hoping to fall asleep and wake up and tell myself that this was all a bad dream.
I felt her.
Jinny came closer to my bed.
“It’s time to tear the flesh from your bones!”
Jinny spoke but the voice did not belong to her. It was deep and menacing, ready to hurt me. I heard something being swung above me, cutting into the air.
Oh no, was that a knife?
I quivered with fear as I could sense her over me. She put her face close to the side of my face and sniffed.
“I can smell your terror.”
Tears sprang from my face as my lower lip trembled.
This has to be a nightmare!
I opened my eyes. I wanted to prove to myself that Jinny was not over me with a knife. That this was all a bad dream! But as I stared up I looked into those glowing yellow eyes, ripped cheeks and razor sharp teeth - smiling down at me! I began to scream as I watched the knife go down, with full force, never having a chance to prevent my death.

The End.


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