Chapter 1. Home Sweet Home

When she had accidentally fallen into a dark hole, Emmeline honestly thought she was going to die. Or at least break something.

The universe must’ve decided to take pity on her, because neither of that happened. Instead, Emmeline was left with some nasty scrapes and bruises as she tumbled out of the tunnel and onto the harsh ground. She tried to still her rapidly beating heart as the pain that ran through her body slowly subsided.

Emmeline forced herself up and looked around her with a sense of urgency.

The fall may not have killed her, but the cave just might.

The place was huge. The chamber she fell into was expansive and breathtaking, with hundreds of stalactites hanging from the ceiling. While the area was only slightly illuminated by the rays of sunlight seeping from the giant cracks and crevices above, Emmeline could tell that beyond was an elaborate network of passageways and tunnels that led to who knows what. Small pools and streams scattered the cave, and she could faintly hear the sound of a waterfall in the distance.

The thirteen year old girl in her wanted to hyperventilate and cry hysterically at her predicament. But the rational part of her knew that she had to remain calm and levelheaded. She gritted her teeth and reigned her emotions in.

It was dim, but Emmeline’s eyes had adjusted, allowing her to maneuver around carefully. She looked at the hole she fell through, wondering if she could climb her way out. It was way too high for her to reach, so no luck there.

She examined her surroundings, hoping and praying that there was some sort of entrance nearby. All she could see was either darkness, rocks, or ominous looking passages that she really didn’t want to get into. The sound of rushing water drew her in, but as she approached the underground river in the middle of the chamber, she was met with another dead end as it poured into a ravine. 

Hysteria and panic began to bubble in her gut. Emmeline tried to shake the feelings away.

Calm. Calm. She had to remain calm.

She nearly rejoiced when she heard voices.

“Hello? Anyone there?” Emmeline yelled.

The voices grew louder, and Emmeline sighed in relief. Someone was coming! She was saved! Following her ears, Emmeline made her way to the mouth of a tunnel. She knew the voices were coming from there, but there was no light at the other end. She stopped at the mouth of the tunnel uneasily, staring into the darkness.

She didn’t think she could do it.

As if sensing her hesitation, the voices grew louder. It was then that Emmeline realized something wrong.

The voices were angry and incomprehensible, echoing through the cavern, giving it an almost inhuman quality. It grew faster and harsher, whispering furiously in her ears. She tried to muffle out the noise, but it only made them more persistent.

Then there was screeching.

Emmeline backed up slowly, breath going shallow. It was then that the rays of light that did bathe the cave fade away. Temporarily blinded, Emmeline whimpered in fear.

Soon after, she felt something grab sharply onto her ankle, making her drop onto the floor.

Emmeline screamed as she was dragged forward. She kicked her legs viciously and wildly, desperately clawing at the ground. She must’ve hit her attacker, because she suddenly felt the hold on her leg disappear.

Scrambling onto her feet, she ran forward. She couldn’t see in front of her, but she didn’t care. It wasn’t until she stumbled into a pond, did the sun return. Emmeline sat in the shallow pool, body erupting into shivers.

The water was black, but her reflection was still visible.

Except it wasn’t really her.

Eerie, yellow eyes that weren’t hers stared back at her.

She screamed once more as grotesque, slimy claws shot up from the water and pulled her down. She twisted and squirmed with everything in her, but the claws dug deeper into her arms as she sunk under.

She looked up, hot tears streaking down her face. She begged and cried for someone to come save her.

Instead, the person from her reflection with the chilling yellow eyes, stood before her. She gazed at Emmeline, her mouth twisted into a sick smile.

“We found you.”

 

Emmeline shot up.

She blinked rapidly, pushing her brown hair from her sweaty forehead.

“Em? You okay?”

The thirteen year old girl darted her eyes to her right, watching as her sister slowly got up from her bed and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. To her left, Emmeline could hear her cousin, Sophie, stirring.

“I’m fine.”

Vivian propped her elbow and turned on her table lamp, bathing the room in a warm glow. “You don’t look fine.”

“Bad dream?” Sophie spoke up groggily.

“Yeah.” Emmeline let a heavy sigh. “Look, I’ll be alright. You guys just go back to sleep.” Emmeline knew her sister wasn’t satisfied but didn’t push further.

“Alright.” Vivian looked at her uncertainly, but turned the light off and tucked herself in. Sophie was already out like a candle.

Dropping her head back onto her pillow, the young teen tried to banish away the image of those horrible, yellow eyes. Since they had arrived into Bellview, New York, her sleep had been plagued with nightmares. And it was always the same dream. Emmeline didn’t know what had brought them on, but she just wanted them to stop. It was bad enough that her aunt was already contemplating sending her back to therapy, thinking that she had relapsed since her last sessions. Best not to think about it.

Emmeline closed her eyes, trying to catch up on some much needed sleep. All she managed to do was toss and turn in bed.

She looked at the clock at her bedside and groaned. It was almost seven o’clock. Emmeline knew she wasn’t getting anywhere, so instead she decided to get an early head start for the day. Living in a house of ten with only three working bathrooms was practically a fight every morning. She was so not up for that at the moment.

Dragging herself to the bathroom, Emmeline began her morning ritual of emptying her bladder, taking a quick shower, and putting on a set of fresh clothes. She headed to the kitchen to start on breakfast.  As she made her way out and down the hallway, Emmeline took the moment to appreciate how calm the house was in the morning.

She had seven cousins and a sister. This place was almost never quiet.

She tiptoed down the stairs and maneuvered around boxes and furniture until she made it to the kitchen, setting herself to work.

It wasn’t until an hour later did the rest of the occupants of the house slowly awaken, causing quite a ruckus upstairs. They gradually started to flooding the kitchen, bleary eyed and renewed. By then, Emmeline had already prepared a banquet of a breakfast, warm and ready on the island.

No way in hell was she doing dishes.

Sophie was the first to enter, smiling lazily as she pulled her long, blonde hair into a ponytail. “You’ve been busy.”

Emmeline shrugged. “Couldn’t sleep.”

The fifteen year old nodded her head in understanding. She knew that Emmeline didn’t want to discuss her frequent nightmares right now and she would respect that. Vivian and Sophie’s twin brother, Gabriel, came in few minutes later.

“Sup people.” Vivian saluted as she grabbed herself some food and sat at the breakfast nook. Her hazel eyes landed on Emmeline. “You feeling better?”

Gabriel glanced at the thirteen year old in question.  

Emmeline tried to keep her irritated expression at bay. She so did not want to get into this. “Can we not talk about it?”

“It’s been getting worse,” Vivian retorted. “We have to talk about it sometime, you know.”

“Well not right now!”

“You are being unreasonably stubborn!”

Gabriel sighed. “Just give it a rest, Vi.”

Emmeline rebutted. “I am not!”

“No, I will not give it a rest! And yes, you are!” 

This wasn’t the first time that an argument had broken out over Emmeline’s nightmares. The whole lot of them were orphans, losing their parents at a young age to sudden ‘accidents’. Nightmares and depression had been common the first few years of living with each other. From the insistence of the court and child services, they had all undergone therapy to start on a road to recovery. It was getting better, and after five years, the nightmares had subsided significantly.

So when one of them started having night terrors with this much frequency, everybody made it their business. While the family cared and meant well, sometimes they just cared a little too much. Privacy was almost nonexistent in this household.

Sophie rubbed her temples as the three of them bickered away. Pouring herself a cup of orange juice, the blonde haired teen turned to them. “Guys, can we not do this right now? And so early in the morning!”

Vivian and Gabriel huffed, but complied anyway. Emmeline shot Sophie a grateful smile.

To avoid having an awkward silence settle the air, Sophie switched to a safer topic. “Have you guys checked out the basement yet?”

Emmeline shook her head. “Ugh, no. We just got done sifting through the attic. There’s probably more junk rotting away there. Stuff that me and Vivian have to haul up the stairs.”

“You could always make Logan do it,” Sophie replied.

“Yeah, like that’s gonna happen.” A voice rang from behind them. Logan entered the kitchen sporting an irritated expression and proceeded to fix himself up a plate. He plopped himself next to Sophie.

Vivian raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong with you?”

“The shower’s broken.”

Sophie looked up from her mug. “Really? It was working fine earlier.”

“Considering how long this house has been vacant, it’s surprising how some of the stuff here still work at all,” Gabriel commented dryly.

Sophie sighed. “Gosh, it’s like this place has a hundred and one problems or something.”  

To Emmeline, it sure felt like it. While this big, ole Victorian house in the woods had its charms, it was in need of some serious renovation. The shifty electrical wiring, rattling pipes, and lousy heating was getting on everyone’s nerves. She knew her aunt was able to score a deal with some guy when she bought it, but the place was becoming more trouble than it was worth. Since they came into town, all they’ve been doing was clean and doing whatever they could to make the house livable.

Emmeline groaned at the thought of the day ahead of her.

As the morning rolled by, the rest of the occupants began to arrive for breakfast. Conversation was thankfully kept away from her nightmares, and the day seemed to brighten slightly.

Emmeline sat next to Amelia and Benjy, who were also Logan’s twin siblings. The two eight year olds looked upset at the teasing of their ten year old sister, Eva.

“Had a nice sleep?” Eva grinned at them wickedly.

“Must be scary sleeping alone in your room.” Paige, who was Sophie’s sister and the same age as Eva, commented nonchalantly. She knew the younger kids were still adjusting to having separate rooms in a new home. Needless to say, the tweens were kind of jealous. The rest of the kids shared rooms.

“That’s enough from you two.” Heather Nelson, the head honcho and matriarch of the house, was the last to arrive. Dressed in a sharp suit and practical heels, the forty five year old woman rushed around the kitchen in a frenzy as she attempted to curl her wild auburn hair in a bun.

“What? We’re not doing anything,” Eva replied innocently.

She looked the two girls and Logan, clumsily pouring herself a cup of coffee. “You’ve been planting those ideas into their heads again. I told you guys I don’t want to hear any more of this haunted house nonsense.”

Vivian rolled her eyes at the absurdity of it all.

Paige crossed her arms. “Just saying. It is a possibility…”

Benjy whimpered next to Amelia, “It’s not funny!”

“Didn’t you hear about the last family that lived here?” Logan smirked mischievously. “How they all-“

Emmeline elbowed him in the rib. “Stop it! You’re scaring them.”

“Hey, I think they should at least know what happened in their rooms.”

Amelia and Benjy blanched.

Logan continued on. “That’s where they-“

Aunt Heather placed her mug down. “Another word from you, any of you, and I’m taking away your allowance.”

The three offenders gave a childish pout, but held their tongue.

“Thank you.” 

Sophie piped up, “Going somewhere, Aunt H?”

The woman sighed. “I am so sorry to do this to you guys right now, but I really need to head back to the city. The museum needs to meet and discuss with me about something to do with the new exhibit, so I don’t know what time I’ll be back. Sophie and Gabe, you’re in charge until I get back.”

The teens nodded their heads. It wasn’t the first time that they had been left alone. As an archeologist, Aunt Heather was often required to travel abroad for major excavations or projects. While it wasn’t as frequent after she took on jobs in museums and universities as a curator or professor, her work usually demanded a lot of time from her away from home. They usually had a nanny around. But after Sophie and Gabriel had turned fifteen and it was agreed that all of them would start public school, Aunt Heather deemed it unnecessary to bother with one here.  

She smiled at them as she gathered her purse. “While I’m away, I expect you all to continue off from yesterday. There’s still lots to be done before we can be completely settled in. There’s some things that I had shipped from overseas arriving this afternoon, so there’s still quite a bit to unpack.”

From across of Emmeline, Logan dropped his head on the table and groaned. She completely sympathized.

The older woman simply rolled her eyes. “Well alright. I’ll be off. I’ll see you later tonight, I suppose.” Aunt Heather gave the kids a wave before exiting through the backdoor. The sound of a car backing up from the driveway signaled she was gone. The kitchen settled into a sort of silence. Several of them looked at each other excitedly.

Logan lifted his head and looked at the twins expectantly. “I don’t suppose we can have a day off.”

.

.

“I think I’m going to be sick!” Logan moaned.

Emmeline glanced at her cousin, and then at the decayed rat that he had uncovered behind a pile of moldy books. She nearly gagged when the wretched smells wafted into her nostrils. Emmeline backed away quickly, forcing her breakfast from making an appearance. In the weak glow of the basement light, Logan’s face was looking a little green. Vivian simply looked away with a grimace.

After breakfast had concluded, the Kennedy sisters had immediately set to work on clearing through the basement. With much coercing, the girls had managed to recruit Logan into helping them tackle their monumental task. On top of smelling like really moldy cheese, the place was huge and filled with useless junk. The goal was to get rid of anything that wouldn’t be missed, salvage what was still usable, and prep the place for the contractor. It was a tireless and disgusting job, going at it for almost two hours now, and every dead rat that they found was beginning to weaken Emmeline’s usually iron stomach.

“Okay,” Vivian started. “Whose turn is it?”

The three of them glanced at each other. The sisters immediately turned to Logan.

“I hate you guys!” Logan cried as he took the shovel from Vivian’s gloved hand. Scooping the remains of the dead rodent, he quickly deposited it into the tin trashcan next to him. Emmeline quickly slammed the top shut, but not before getting a sniff of a putrid smell that nearly brought on tears to her eyes.

Logan, having received the brunt of the ghastly odor, couldn’t take it anymore. He darted up the rickety staircase, ready to hurl.

Vivian watched him run. “Well he’s probably not coming back.”

Emmeline shrugged her shoulders. “He always was really sensitive to smells.”

Vivian approached the trashcan and picked it up. “I am going to empty this out. Think you can survive on your own here?”

Emmeline made a face, but nodded her head. Dark and creepy places didn’t really bother her like most girls. She wasn’t buying into that crap that Logan, Eva, and Paige had been feeding to the kiddies.

Vivian made her way back up. “I’ll be back.”

Now alone, Emmeline sighed and removed her gloves. Pushing her brown hair from her eyes with her hand, she dropped herself onto the floor, not really caring about her cargo pants getting dirty. Emmeline pulled a nearby box toward her, rifling through it mindlessly. She continued on with her boring task but paused when the lights began to flicker.

Emmeline looked up at the light bulb suspended by wires. Feeling a headache set in, she stood up and made her way for the stairs. The putrid air had become stifling, too much for her to bear. Emmeline had barely taken two steps before the whispering started.

Ignoring the voices, she continued forward. She didn’t know where they came from, but she wasn’t keen on sticking around. The lights continued to waver, and Emmeline felt a tingly sensation course through her body as she quickened her pace.

Dread settled into the pit of her stomach. Her pulse began to speed up. Whatever was happening wasn’t real, she told herself. She tried to anchor herself with that thought, but it was so apparent. She didn’t want to think about how the voices sounded so familiar to her, how she heard them nearly every night in her dreams. All she cared about was getting out of here.

The whispering grew louder. And amidst their incomprehensible voices, there was screeching. Almost like nails on a chalkboard. It was weak at first and then slowly building up as she moved. As soon as she saw the welcoming glow of the exit, Emmeline ran. But as she sprinted up the stairs and was inches away from escaping, the basement door furiously slammed shut. She rammed her body against the door, jiggling the doorknob around desperately. A sort of hysteria overcame her, and began banging on the door as the lights flickered even faster. Emmeline tried to banish away everything that was happening around her, and focus solely on the door. But the voices only grew louder and faster, and the screeching higher and sharper.

She tried to yell out for help, but she couldn’t scream. Her voice had disappeared. Her body was drumming and her breathing was shallow. All she was left with was the whispers and screeching that seemed to melt into one. Amidst all the noise, she could hear the steps creaking behind her.

She didn’t want think about turning around. Didn’t want to think about those eerie, yellow eyes. She knew it was coming for her, and Emmeline shook the doorknob viciously. With every step it took, her desperation grew. Hot tears slid down her face as indescribable fear clenched her heart.

Then suddenly the light bulb exploded in a resounding CRACK, bathing the basement in darkness. Soon after, everything came to a standstill. The voices disappeared.

Blinded and terrified, Emmeline continued to struggle with the door, her breath coming out ragged and fast. The creaking had stopped .An icy cold sensation ran up her spine. She felt even colder hands touch the sides of her face.

Then there was a breath on her ear. She froze up instantly.

The breath blew on her ear again. And in an inhuman, hallow voice, it whispered.

“We found you.”

 

2: Strange Occurrences

Chapter 2. Strange Occurrences

The door flew open and Emmeline barreled out like her life depended on it. Screaming at the top of her lungs, she slammed into a body, bringing them both down on the floor. So lost in her hysteria, she scrambled away, pulling herself into a ball at the farthest corner of the hall and away from the basement door.

Emmeline didn’t even register the presence of her sister and cousins staring at her with concerned and disturbed looks. From the stairs, Amelia and Benjy watched her with fearful eyes. The others had gathered around her, circling her with caution as if they were faced with a wild animal. She pulled her legs tighter to her chest as her body erupted into shivers. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt someone touch her knee.

She looked up and into Sophie’s gray eyes as she crouched down beside her. “What happened?”

Emmeline shook her head. She didn’t know what to say to them. If she told them she had just relived her nightmares, they would’ve thought she was crazy.

Vivian wasn’t having any of that and approached her purposely. “Em, no. You are not clamming up on us again! We just witnessed you scream bloody murder! What the hell happened down there?”

Emmeline shut her eyes. She didn’t want to think about it, but Vivian wasn’t going to relent.

“Emmeline! Say something.”

Sophie pulled Vivian away. “Can you give her some space? Obviously whatever happened freaked her out a lot. You jostling her isn’t helping things!”

“Well how can we help her when we she won’t talk to us?!” The two girls immediately broke out into bickering.

“Look, I think we all need to calm down,” Logan started. 

“How are we supposed to calm down when we just watched her have a panic attack?!” Paige hollered.

“Was there something in the basement?” Eva questioned worriedly.

From next to him, Gabriel headed for the living room. “This is getting ridiculous. I’m calling Aunt H.”

“No! Don’t call her!” Emmeline yelled out. Everyone paused and looked at her. The thirteen year old girl slumped back, exhaustion creeping into her bones. “Please, just don’t call her.”

Gabriel crossed his arms. “Emmeline, you can’t just expect us to ignore this. You’re not well.”

Emmeline gritted at those words. You’re not well. She sounded like some insane mental patient. But she wasn’t backing down. “I’ll…I’ll talk. But please don’t call her.”

Sophie and Gabriel looked at each other and came to an agreement. “Fine. What happened down there?”

“It was…I-“Images replayed through her mind in rapid succession. Her heart sped up. “The lights exploded. And-and I got freaked because it was so dark.” The whispering. “So I ran up the staircase. The door was locked and it became suffocating.” Yellow eyes. “I was…overwhelmed. And then you guys found me.”

They didn’t look entirely convinced, but Emmeline wasn’t sure she could tell them what really happened. Vivian watched her with assessing, hazel eyes. The older girl knew that her sister was keeping something from them. She looked just about ready to voice out her thoughts, but thankfully Sophie decided to cut in. The blonde haired teen pulled Emmeline up to her feet, both hands placed on her the younger girl’s shoulders comfortingly.

“I think you need to get some rest. I know you don’t want to talk about it, but I think your nightmares have been getting to you more than you know.” Emmeline had to resist the urge to let out a dry laugh. “Just try to take a nap or something, alright?”

Emmeline wanted to argue, but the throbbing in her head made her yield. She nodded her head and let Sophie lead her away back to her room. As she climbed up the steps, she could feel the others’ eyes at her back, whispering as she went. It was the younger twins’ voices that worried her, though.

While faint, she could hear their conversation as she trailed down the hallway. And judging by the way Sophie tightened her grip on her shoulder, the older teen heard them as well.

“Do you think the house is haunted?”

“Maybe. I mean she’s been having nightmares since we got here…”

“And the voices at night?”

“Yeah.”

The thirteen year old girl shook her head. She didn’t want to think too deeply about it. She didn’t even want to contemplate the weirdness of everything going on around her. Call it denial or just being a plain coward, but she was going to cope with it the only way she knew how: pushing it to the back of her mind and ignore it. But the goose bumps and heebie-jeebies wasn’t something she could easily control. 

Emmeline let out a shaky sigh as Sophie closed the door behind them. Even with the sun seeping through the open windows bathing the pastel yellow room in light, she still felt a cold chill run down her spine. She rubbed her hands against her arms for some warmth, but the feeling still remained. She looked at Sophie, who seemed unaffected by the frigid temperature of the room.

“You should lay down.” Sophie sat on her bed.

Emmeline nodded her head and kicked off her shoes. Laying on her bed, she pulled her floral printed comforter around her to garner some warmth. “You don’t have to stay with me you know.”

Sophie smiled as she pulled out a magazine from her bedside. “You looked like you could use some company. You’re probably not going to go straight to sleep, what with everything happening and all. This also keeps me from doing some chores for a while.”

“Oh.”

Despite the embarrassment of being babied, Emmeline was relieved to have Sophie around. She honestly didn’t feel like she could take being alone at the moment. She wasn’t about to tell her cousin that, though.

“You really that cold?” Sophie looked at her from behind a magazine.

“You’re not? It’s freezing in here.”

Sophie got up. “You said you were coming down with a headache. You sure you’re not catching a fever?” The blonde placed a hand on her cousin’s forehead. “You feel fine to me.”

Emmeline swatted her hand away. “I’m not sick. It’s just really cold in here. Look, I can even see my breath!”

And true to her word, a faint trail of fog emerged from her mouth as she exhaled. Sophie looked up at the air conditioning, which was in fact turned off. She stuck her head out of the window, feeling the sunlight on her outstretched palm. It was definitely warm, contrasting with the coolness of the room as she retracted her arm. Not freezing cool, which was really odd considering she could see her own breath.

“You don’t feel it, do you?” Emmeline questioned.

“Not as much as you do, that’s for sure.”

Emmeline looked troubled at that. She let her eyes wander distractedly as she thought about what was happening. But her body went rigid when she caught sight of the flickering desk lamp across the room. The tingly feeling that she had felt in the basement returned.

“We should really have these light bulbs replaced,” Sophie muttered as she went to turn it off. But even as she flipped, the lamp still continued to flicker. Emmeline backed up against her headboard, uneasiness bubbling in her gut.

Sophie gave an annoyed pout as she turned around. “Well, I unplugged the stupid lamp. That should stop it until we get it fixed.”

Emmeline nodded mutely, not really sure what to make of it. And just before she could calm her beating heart, the lamp turned back on, flickering even faster than before. Sophie paused for a moment, a look of bewilderment on her face. “That’s…not supposed to happen.”

The temperature seemed to have dropped to a sub-zero. Their breathing became more pronounced. Emmeline chanced a glance at Sophie, who appeared to have caught on to the weird vibes as well.

Emmeline gulp, mind already anticipating what would happen next.

The light bulb exploded with a rattling CRACK as the windows violently slammed shut.

Sophie shrieked in fright and made for the door. But just like in the basement, the door refused to budge.

Emmeline jumped out of her bed as shivers ran through her spine. If possible, the room seemed to have gotten even colder. From the corner of her eye, she could see a thin layer of frost form on the glass of the windows and balcony doors. Behind her, Sophie was still unsuccessfully trying to open the door all the while having a mini freak out of her own.

Soon, a pounding sound echoed from outside. From where Emmeline had backed into the wall, she could see a dark shadow from behind the frosted balcony doors across the other side of the room. While it was vague in shape, she already had an inkling to what lurked there.

The pounding grew faster and more violent. In that moment, Emmeline felt the same crippling fear that had overcame her when those inhumanly cold hands touched her face. That garbled and haggard voice rang in her ears.

We found you. We found you.  

She didn’t know what that was supposed to mean, but she knew for certain that she couldn’t ignore this anymore.

The pounding suddenly stopped. A ghastly, slimy hand pressed against the glass, slowly trailing down to the doorknob.

And just before she was sure it was going to enter, the figure suddenly disappeared.

Emmeline didn’t stick around to wait for it to return, and instead darted out with Sophie when the bedroom door flew open.

And like a wave of déjà vu, the two girls barreled into the hallway and into an unsuspecting body. The three of them laid in a heap on the floor, the voice of Logan groaning painfully from below them.

“Do you guys, oh I don’t know, mind getting off me? Like before I break a rib or something?” Logan moaned. Emmeline and Sophie immediately got up, and helped their cousin onto his feet. Never in their lives was they so relieved to see his face then now. “Thanks. So what the hell happened to you two? You look like you saw a ghost or something.”

Or something, Emmeline voiced in her head. Even with her heart still beating a mile a minute, she was sort of glad that she wasn’t screaming or crying hysterically like the first time. She glanced at Sophie who seemed to be taking it a lot better than she did, only shaking slightly. The older girl caught her eye.

Sophie was the one to speak. “Something freaky happened in the room.”

Logan raised his eyebrows. “Freaky? Freaky how?”

The fifteen year old shook her head. Instead she pointed at their room. Taking it as a cue to go inside, Logan entered to room shivering slightly at the unnatural cold that surrounded the room. Emmeline and Sophie followed behind him, albeit hesitantly, peering the moist windows and glass door. Emmeline was only slightly relieved that the room wasn’t as cold as before.

“Why is it so cold? Did you leave the air conditioning on full blast?” Logan blew into his hands for warmth. He paused when he spotted the light bulb shards on the floor. “What happened here?”

“That’s just it. The light exploded when it was plugged off, the windows slammed shut on its own, something starts banging on the door, and the room turned freezing cold out of nowhere! We didn’t even touch the air conditioning.”

“For real?” If Emmeline wasn’t recovering from what happened, she would’ve have laughed at his expression.

Sophie nodded. Logan glanced around uneasily before turning to them. “You don’t think that this place is…haunted, do you?”

Sophie looked at Emmeline, as if asking her for the answer. Emmeline didn’t know what to think and instead remained silent. Logan, however, took it as yes. The fourteen year old boy immediately evacuated the room, followed by the others. His hands immediately flew to his red hair, eyes wide with worry.

“Holy shit.”

“We didn’t necessarily say it was! Just calm down.” Sophie looked at him anxiously.

“Holy shit!”

“I mean, surely there’s a logical explanation for this. Right?”

“Oh my God!”

“Logan! Calm down!”

This was exactly why Emmeline didn’t want to say anything. People start panicking.

“Calm down? Calm down? How am I supposed to calm down if this house is haunted!?” Logan squawked.

Sophie a hand down on his mouth. “Would you keep it down? We don’t even know what’s really happening. No point in worrying the others about something that isn’t real.”

Logan pushed her hand away. “You aren’t seriously suggesting we keep this quiet, are you?”

Sophie crossed her arms and glanced at Emmeline. They immediately knew they were thinking the same thing. Logan looked between the two girls, and already knew the answer. “You can’t be serious!”

“And why not?” Sophie looked slightly indignant.

“Because this isn’t the same as me keeping quiet about you sneaking out to go with a boy.” Sophie glared. “Or that time I pretended I had no idea about that vase you broke last year!” Emmeline frowned. “This is something entirely different!”

Emmeline sighed. “Look, we’re not asking you to keep quiet forever. Just, just give this time. I mean if this continues for the next week, then we’ll tell them. But until then, we don’t mention it.” Truthfully, Emmeline was really just hoping that this was some really, really weird fluke of nature or figment of her imagination. She didn’t want to deal with this for the next few days.

The young girl watched as Logan debated it in his head, but eventually relented. The redheaded teen sighed. “Fine. We’ll give it a week.”

The two girls nodded their heads. Whatever had happened in that room and the basement, Emmeline couldn’t ignore any longer. While she wasn’t entirely sure what was happening here, she supposed she would have to wait and see. She glanced at the room one last time before turning to Logan.

“So what are you doing here anyway?” Emmeline asked.

“Hm? Oh yeah!” Logan instantly remembered. He turned to Sophie. “Gabe’s looking for you. We still have chores to do.”

“Mind if I join? I don’t really feel like resting,” Emmeline spoke up. After what happened, she didn’t entirely feel as tired as she was before. The other two nodded their heads in understanding.

Emmeline followed Logan and Sophie downstairs, mind running through today’s events. She looked at the grandfather clock in the foyer. It wasn’t even twelve and already a lot of strange things happened to her. And even when the day comes to an end, something tells her she wasn’t getting much sleep anytime soon. 

3: The Woods

Chapter 3. The Woods

A week went by and nothing happened.

There were no shady figures lurking behind the corners. No exploding light bulbs or freaky whispering in the basement. Not even a nightmare.

She didn’t know whether to be relieved or worried. While Logan and Sophie may have been more than willing to just forget about what had happened, Emmeline wasn’t. Surely a lesson or two could be learned from movies, right?

Lure the residents into a false sense of security, and then when they lower their guard, the ghost goes on a bloody rampage and kills everybody in the house! Or maybe the spirits at work were trying to make her look like the bad guy, the crazy person in the story, only to have her framed for her family’s murder!   

Emmeline blanched at the thought. If that’s where this was going, she would have to say it was working. Gabriel and Sophie made good on their promise and did not tell the authority figure, but that didn’t stop the others from casting their pitying looks. It made her sick to her stomach, their faces so reminiscent of the ones in her parents’ funeral.

At least they weren’t treating her like a china doll. But that would’ve quickly changed if she ever gave any indication of a degrading psyche. So unless she wanted a one way trip to the loony bin, Emmeline was keeping her paranormal experiences and thoughts to herself, thank you very much.

She didn’t even want to talk to Logan and Sophie about it. Because frankly, Logan didn’t really see anything, so he didn’t experience what she did. And well Sophie, Emmeline knew how her cousin worked. She would deny it till she was blue in the face, looking for some logical explanation for this.

Since the day after the ‘incidents’, Emmeline had come to accept that maybe she was dealing with the supernatural. She knew that she may have been way in over her head, but she was going to figure this out. She didn’t exactly know how, but she was working on it. After her initial paranoia from the past week had drifted, it was much easier to think clearly and channel her inner Nancy Drew.

Summer was soon coming to an end, and school was tomorrow. Maybe she could find something there, ask around a bit. She couldn’t let this rest, because in her gut, she had this really weird feeling that something was going to happen.

“Pass the shovel.” Sophie’s voice jerked her back to reality.

Emmeline nodded her head mutely and complied.

The two of them were in charge of tending the garden, going at it for two hours now. The early September sun hung overhead, while not harsh, made Emmeline uncomfortably warm and sweaty. She groaned as she stood up, having pulled the last weed in the garden. Sophie approached her from behind, dragging a hose with her.

Emmeline spoke up. “I’m gonna get a drink after I roll that stuff out. You want anything? You look like you need it.”

Sophie grimaced but shook her head. “I’m alright.”

“Well, okay then.”

Emmeline picked up the wheel barrow filled with clumps of dirt and weeds. Pushing it out of the garden gate and to the edge of the forest, the teen hesitated slightly as she approached. After a month of living here, she has yet to venture inside. Maybe it was her paranoia, but the place gave her weird vibes.

Emmeline let out a sigh. Literally everyone in the house but her has been to the woods. She wasn’t about to back down now. Looking resolutely into the forest, the girl was just about ready to do it until a shrill scream pierced through the air. Sophie!

Without a thought, Emmeline sprinted back to the garden fully expecting the worse; her doppelganger appearing with an axe, an angry spirit coming to possess her, zombies emerging from the rosebushes. A loose cannon gardening hose attacking Sophie, not so much.

A few meters away standing by the faucet was Logan, guffawing at his cousin’s expense. Emmeline immediately ran to turn it off.

Except turning the knob didn’t really do much, and Sophie continued to dance around wildly as the hose kept wriggling around like mad, spewing water at a pressure that didn’t look particularly safe. Logan continued to laugh as the hose whipped her in the face.

“Ow! Turn it off!”

Emmeline turned the knob around once more, but it was to no avail. Instead, she yanked the hose off. While the water didn’t stop, at least it wasn’t attacking her cousin. When she turned around, Sophie was already stomping toward them, blonde hair leaving a trail of water behind her, clothes soaking wet. She didn’t look too happy.  

Her gray eyes narrowed at Logan, whom she immediately suspected to be the cause of this.

“What the hell was that!?”

Logan held his hands up in surrender, blue eyes wide in surprise. “I don’t know what happened! But that was definitely not me!”

Sophie narrowed her gray eyes at him. “You were the one I told to turn the water on!”

“I swear I didn’t do anything. I think it’s broken or something!”

Sophie glared at the offending faucet, which was still spilling large amounts of water onto the ground. She tried to turn it off herself but failed. The blonde glared at him, but nonetheless let out a huff and stomped into the house.

Logan crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. “Sheesh, it’s just water.”

Emmeline turned to him. “Did it not occur to you to do something about it instead of laughing at her face?”

Logan simply shrugged. “Eh, it was funny.”

She shook her head, before walking back to the wheel barrow. “Grow up.”

Emmeline wouldn’t deny that she was slightly irked. While she was relieved that none of what she feared had happened, her heart was still pumping from the adrenaline. And was it really necessary for Sophie to scream bloody murder? Like what Logan said, it was just water.

Huffing in annoyance, Emmeline walked away to pick up the wheel barrow and headed into the woods. After venturing a couple of meters in, the brunette dumped her pile onto the base of an oak tree. Beyond, she could hear the sound of rushing water. She remembered Gabriel saying that there was a stream nearby that led to an even bigger river.

She couldn’t resist. Having denied herself the opportunity to adventure through the forest for weeks, she was going to take her chance now. Emmeline let her ears guide her as she followed the stream and walked deeper into the woods.

While she was at times the stereotypical, socially awkward bookworm, Emmeline was an adventurer at heart. She reveled in the feeling of the outdoors. She loved the feeling of the rugged terrain below her sneakers. And after a short hike, Emmeline finally made it to the river.

There were no houses in sight. It was just her and the vast wilderness that she was hoping to venture through someday. She made her way to the edge of the water before taking a seat by the bank. Emmeline took a moment to enjoy the landscape.

She would have stayed there longer too, but her mind just had to go and ruin the moment for her.

You’re away from home, away from anyone who can rescue you. Isn’t this counted a false sense of security? Remember what you said about luring victims in.

Emmeline stood up immediately. She made a move to head back out, only to halt. Weird vibes ran through her spine in full force. She peered around her anxiously, the calmness of the woods suddenly overwhelming her with uneasiness. The vastness of trees didn’t feel so fun anymore.

Get out, a little voice rang in her head. Get out now!

Emmeline did just that. She walked briskly down the stream, dodging and climbing over trees and rotting logs. From the corner of her eye, she saw moving shadows.

That was motivation enough for her to break out into a run.

Emmeline forced her legs to move, nearly stumbling over a rock as she went. Up ahead, she could clearly see the roof of her house just beyond the hill. Hope and relief filled her chest, but it was fleeting as soon as she tripped on an unsuspecting tree root and tumbled onto the ground.

From behind her, she could faintly hear the sound of many approaching footsteps. Forcing herself up and ignoring the stinging in her hands, Emmeline tried to get back to a running start. But as soon as she was on her two feet, something wrapped itself around her ankle and pulled her back down.

Emmeline landed back down with a thud as desperation and fear crept into her heart when she felt herself get dragged back. She clawed at the ground hysterically, but the dirt was too loose for her to grab anything to properly cling onto. Against her better judgment, Emmeline chanced a glance back and nearly ceased her clawing at what she saw.

The very tree root that she tripped on had seem to come alive, twisting and curling itself around her pant leg tightly. Another root soon shot at her, grabbing onto her other leg. Taken by surprise, Emmeline let out a scream as she was yanked even harder back. The pulling halted once she lay on the base of the tree.

The footsteps grew even louder.

Emmeline made another effort to pull herself away, but the roots’ grasp didn’t falter. She looked around her wildly. A little far off, she could make out shadowed figures descending, prompting her to thrash around and pull on the thick roots coiled around her. That was when she heard Gabriel’s voice.

“Emmeline?”

Emmeline looked back at where the shadows were approaching, only to find them retreating back into the woods. The vice grip on her legs released and she immediately crawled away. She turned her head up, when Gabriel’s voice rang through the forest again.

“Emmeline? Is that you?”

“I-I’m over here!” She cracked. Emmeline quickly got on her feet, rushing toward the sound of her older cousin’s voice. She nearly ran into his arms in relief when she saw his mess of black hair come up the hill. She refrained, instead coming to a skidding halt in front of him, panting heavily.

Gabriel placed a steadying hand on her shoulder. He looked at her with a concerned expression. “Are you alright? I heard you scream!”

Emmeline blanched slightly, turning her head to look at the tree that had taken her captive. It looked no different than the others in the forest. Shivers ran down her spine at the thought of being held down. She pinched at the inside of her palm to gain some semblance of coherence, breathing slowly as she did so.

"Em, what happened?"

She winced at his no-nonsense tone. Emmeline wanted to tell him, she really did, but the teen knew she was already on thin ice as it is. Telling Gabriel that she was assaulted by a tree and nearly hunted by shadow people wasn't going to cut it. So instead, she fibbed.

"I…" She nearly faltered under is scrutinizing, green eyes. "I saw a snake. It slithered past my leg so…so I screamed and ran."

"You're okay, right?" Emmeline nodded her head, feeling slightly guilty. "Alright. Come on, let's head back. What were you even doing here by yourself anyway?"

"I just wanted to explore for a bit."

Gabriel sighed. "You need to be more careful next time. Alright?"

Emmeline nodded her head mutely. The both of them trekked back to the house. Even with the whole ordeal having passed, Emmeline couldn't help but distinctly feeling several pairs of eyes watching her as she went. As she discreetly scanned through the forest, a chill ran down her spine when she saw her doppelganger smirking at her, partially hidden behind a few trees. Her distinctive, yellow eyes sent chills up Emmeline's spine.

Emmeline was getting SO sick of this.

In a sudden moment of bravery that she didn't really feel, Emmeline stood a bit taller and shot a defiant look back. She was tired of cowering in fear. She wasn't about to give them the satisfaction of her being afraid, again.

Gabriel stopped to look at Emmeline after noticing her stop, not noticing that they were being watched. "What is it?"

She gritted her teeth before turning back to him. She shot him a strained smile. "It's nothing."

Gabriel frowned but didn't comment. They both continued on her way without another word. Emmeline kept her eyes dead ahead as she went, not daring to turn around.