I want to start off by saying, that when you’re a teenager and you’re out messing around with your friends, and they dare you to do something stupid, it’s okay to say no. If you don’t want to do it, don’t. Unfortunately, I didn’t have that kind of wisdom. Now I’m paying for my stupidity.
This was about three years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday. The constant nightmares make sure the thoughts are still fresh. I was around 16 at the time, and my friends and I were out in this field near my home town, it was late Saturday night, and we had all been drinking. My friends dared me to go into this old abandoned house, just past the clearing. Now, this house had a dark history in our town, it was known as the murder house, and was abandoned for a reason. Apparently, a few decades ago the original owner went crazy, he attacked and murder his wife, and 3 daughter, and then proceeded to hang himself. Ever since then, weird s**t started to happen at the house. Locals claimed to have heard horrible noises from the house and see stuff in the windows, even the police steer clear of it. It sits, alone in this clearing, the way it was left all those years ago. My parents told me they heard about it when they were younger, supposedly after the doctors and police removed the bodies and cleaned the blood, the horrors that they saw in that house, and how gruesome the murders were, drove them all to suicide.
If I could go back now, I would have stopped myself from going in… but unfortunately, that’s not possible. The dare was, that I had to stay the rest of the night in the murder house, and if I couldn’t, I would no longer be a part of their “group”. It wasn’t worth it. It was about mid July, so it was rather warm outside, But as soon as I took my first step into that house, it felt like I had just stepped into a freezer. Before that night, I had never been a believer in ghosts, or the paranormal, But now, now I know all that s**t is real because I’ve seen it first hand.
The door slammed shut behind me, and before I even had time to turn, I heard the latch fall into place, locking me in. I know that my friends couldn’t have locked the door since there was no key, now I was trapped in there, with no way out. The house looked like it had been through some kind of natural disaster, furniture thrown around, some of it broken, some of it just stained a brownish red. There was enough light from the clear moonlit sky outside to enable me to see, but not well. Shards of glass were strewn around the floor, But none of the windows were broken, not on the first floor at least. At first, I didn’t really feel scared, since I never believed in ghosts or anything, the only fear I had came from all the rumours and legends told about this place. It didn’t take long for the real fear to set it. As I began to wander around the main floor, looking at the broken lamps, and furniture I heard a woman’s scream, followed by painful sobs coming from the upper floor.
I knew I was alone, so hearing this sent a rushing panic through my body. I ran for the door and slammed my fists against it as I struggled to try and open it. I had no luck in opening the door and the sobs only grew louder. I could hear quiet footsteps creeping down the stairs. I knew, whoever was in here sobbing, was coming down the stairs right to me, I threw broken bits of furniture at the windows in an attempt to break them, But they bounced off like I was hitting a solid wall. The footsteps drew closer, and the sobbing shifted into a shrieking, I backed myself into a corner and watched in horror as a woman in a blood stained gown crept down the stairs, the sound she made was no longer human. It was this pained wailing that wouldn’t quiet despite my hands covering my ears. She turned towards me and let out a howling scream before she tore across the floor in my direction. I fell to my knees, screaming and crying, I thought I was going to die. However, just as she was about to Collide into me, she vanished, along with the shrieking noise. I was left alone now, the fear and panic still coursing through my body.
I sat there, trembling and crying on the floor for what seemed like hours. I wanted out, I wanted to forget whatever the hell it was I just saw, but unfortunately, that was just the beginning. When I finally gained my composure, I decided to try and find something I could use as a weapon. I didn’t have a flashlight or anything but I figured if I could hit whatever else came at me from the dark I wouldn’t need to see it. I grabbed an old fire poker, ignoring the rust coloured stains on the otherwise immaculate tool and made my way towards the cellar, I figured there was a chance I could get outside from there, usually old houses like this had an above ground hatch.
The staircase leading down to the cellar was pitch black, at the bottom I could see light breaking through the cracks in the ceiling But I had to slowly inch my way down the steps to prevent myself from falling. Once down, it took me a few minutes for my eyes to adjust, But eventually I was able to see more clearly. There were a few shelves with dark cloudy liquids in jars on them, and there were racks of tools along the walls, no way out though. While I was looking for a way out, I didn’t notice the sound of footsteps above until I felt dust falling on me and I took the time to look up. It sounded like there were about three people up there, I couldn’t make out much more other than the steps but that was enough to make my palms sweat and the panic to come back.
I was now trapped down in the cellar. The footsteps changed from aimless pacing, to frantic running, before I knew it only one set remained but it was accompanied by what sounded like chains rattling. The sound of the chains overpowered the footsteps until all I could hear was the harsh scraping of metal on metal. The sound grew louder, and I could tell whatever was making that noise was headed towards the cellar steps. I could hear heavy footsteps falling on the wood steps, I stood at the far end of the cellar shaking with fear, helpless to whatever I would see. I let out a small whimper when I heard the gruff voice of a man call out;
“This is my house! You don’t belong here! Get out before you end up like the others!”
I shook, and let out small sobs as I readied myself for my immanent demise, the sounds of chains and foot steps grew louder, I knew whatever it was, it was only a step away from seeing me. But then it stopped. I was again, left completely in silence, no more chains, no more footsteps, just the sound of my fear driven rapid breathing.
I ran for the stairs, I didn’t want to be stuck in the dark cellar any longer, I sprinted up the narrow steps and onto the main floor. I tried again to open the door, but it was no use. I was trapped in there. I heard noises coming from one of the closed off rooms, I think It was the kitchen. I couldn’t tell exactly what I heard but it sounded like a small child whispering. The sound send shivers up my back and I decided I didn’t want to see what was hiding in that room, so I took off up the stairs, up onto the top floor. All the doors but one were closed, the one that was open swung back and fourth with the wind. It took me a moment to realize that the fact that there was wind meant that I could get out. I made my way towards the door, but stopped abruptly as I could see the shadow of a figure inside. I heard the low creak of doors opening, and all around me the previously closed doors slowly began to open.
There were three in total, young girls, no older than 13, they just stood there, in the doorways laughing quietly to themselves. I stood, paralyzed in fear, the doors slamming open and shut as the girls wandered slowly towards me. I had to either run towards the room with the figure in it or back down the stairs. I started to panic, the girls crept closer to me, their laughs becoming more sinister, their movements becoming more eager, so I ran. I ran into the room and I saw, hanging a few feet in front of me, the body of a man. When I stepped into the room, the children’s laughs echoed throughout my head, and the body hanging from the ceiling seemed to turn towards me. Blood dripped from the chain strung around his neck.
I heard a scream, a woman’s scream from somewhere behind me, I called out in terror and ran towards the open window across the room, I darted past the hanging corps that now shook violently and jumped out the window into the night sky. I knew that the fall would only hurt, And it meant that I would be free. When I landed on the grass, I turned back towards the building and I saw five figures peering out the window, looking at me. A man, holding what looked like an axe, a woman, whose body was soaked in blood, and three young girls, one of them, holding her own head in her arms. I wrenched in horror, tears streaming down my face and panic coursing through my body, I made my way back home. I will never forget that night… never.
Now, I’m sure you’re all wondering why I am writing about this, And why it took me so long to do so… well, today marks the two year anniversary of my stay at the mental institution, and the doctors believe that if I wrote about my delusional psychosis, perhaps it will no longer bother me. If you cannot already tell, they do not believe any of what I saw. Nor did my parents, or anyone else… I’m hoping, that by sharing this hospital mandated “essay” that someone, somewhere out there will believe me, and tell me that I’m not crazy, that what I saw was real. And maybe even tell me that the woman covered in blood will eventually leave me alone…