By Thursday evening the crew was glad to put Thomas Gardens behind them. They had worked harder than they ever had, it was the weirdest experience too, being instructed by a fourteen-year-old and the parents just followed along too.The family was settled in, and glad to be done with the guesthouse. The rumors were spreading from the crew and the family’s last dinner at the guest house had been most uncomfortable.Each of the children had their own bedrooms. Nadine had taken the first bedroom closest to the door with the bathroom, Luke had picked his room the day they had walked through the house, which was the second bedroom. James had the bedroom at the end of the hall and Brian had taken the bedroom that was opposite James’s and next to the old study. The room that used to be the study became Cynthia’s office. Not that she needed one, but then again, who knew when a mother needed some alone time?The bedrooms were sorted out and packed the way the kids wanted them. Brian displayed
Joe felt like he had barely slept when the alarm went off on his phone. Cynthia took her arm off her husband and looked at him. The two of them had a chat the previous night when they had come back to bed.Now she looked at him, the strain was evident on her husband’s face.“Did you know the extent of the hauntings?” she asked him carefully as he turned to look at her.“No. No one told me anything at all, just that there were rumors, but if we stuck together, we’ll be all right. I don’t even think they knew that the main house was an issue.” Joe replied thoughtfully.“What do you mean the main house?” Cynthia asked with a frown.“I’ve overheard conversations between my mother and uncle when I was younger, they wanted to demolish something on this property, so I’m guessing there are other houses here too, somewhere on this property. Uncle Samuel never went back to any of the other houses. He tried to sell the property a few times, but no one stayed for very long. Now I know why.” Joe r
Saturdays would normally be the family’s day off, Joe would not have any need to go into the office, normally the kids would rest after a hard week at school, and Cynthia would go with Nadine later in the morning for their spa session.But, they were not living in normal circumstances and even though there was no need for Joe to go into the office, he was still a week behind. The best thing about the previous night was that there was nothing going bump, there was no music played, and the temperature did not even drop the slightest.The only thing that did not change for Thomases in their new environment, was old habits. Brian started first, after making sure his entire family was up, he carried his two massive speakers outside, cranked up the volume, and let the entire town know that the Thomas household was Mayor classical country fans.The windows vibrated to the sound of Johnny Cash's baritone, but that was all right with Joe, he rather dreaded the moment it was James and Luke’s tu
Slowly but surely the left portion of the property started showing its true colors. Brian could hardly believe that under all those branches was a tiny circle, set out in stone, that had concrete benches all around the perimeter. And around the circle were actual flower beds, old, overgrown, rock hard, but flower beds, and dotted in the flower beds were old concrete bird baths, the basins completely covered in moss. None of the boys knew how long it took them to clear the area that led to the first house. But all of a sudden there was the boundary wall, set out in stone. Brain came to his senses and looked around him. They had cleared everything around the boundary, all the grass was mowed, and the edges were clean, how was it possible that they did not see the house all this time that they were working? Brian turned towards Luke, who was wiping sweat off his brow with the t-shirt that hung from his belt. “Do you think we have permission to go in?” Brian asked Luke carefully. “Yea
For three days every evening at dinner, the boys were asked who was pacing the halls at night. For three days the boys denied ever getting out of bed. On the fourth day, without anyone’s knowledge, Joe decided to set up cameras in the hallways. He too was getting tired of the footsteps in the hall and the whispers in the kitchen every night when everyone was supposed to be asleep.His wife and kids had gone to town to put up flyers to ask for help with the garden. The boys had gotten permission from the elderly ghosts to bring outsiders into the garden but there had been a couple of conditions, all of which were stipulated on the fliers of course.The family got home and almost instantly the boys ran off to what they discovered was a house with a big number one painted next to the front door. The number was dainty and had all kinds of curls and swirls to it, so much so that the brothers had a very interesting argument about whether it was a flower or a number.The house itself was col
That evening was different from other evenings when everyone would normally retire to their bedroom after dinner. The boys decided instead to carry their Wii game consoles and pillows out to the sitting room and hang out. Fairly soon Nadine joined them and along came a presence.“He’s stuck like glue.” Luke teased his sister.“He’s a nice guy,” Nadine replied and plopped down on the floor next to her brothers.“He’s your cousin,” James said.“He’s a ghost.” Brian reminded her.“Oh hush it. What are you playing?” she asked them.“Tennis.” Luke grinned at her and tossed her the other controller.“You’re on!” Nadine accepted.“Oh, this is going to be good,” Brian commented drily and sat back to watch his sister get punished.Joe and Cynthia heard the laughter in the sitting room.“It’s been a while since they’ve done that,” Joe commented and glanced at his watch.“Sure is. When can we expect your uncle darling? Shouldn’t he have been here by now?”“I’m not sure. I tried calling him but h
The entire household woke up at exactly four-thirty the next morning. All the doors of all the rooms rattled ferociously as if something was trying to break the doors off the hinges. The occupants of the rooms sat in their beds, staring at the doors, wondering what exactly was happening. Joe and Cynthia worried about their kids, but a calming presence made them relax slightly.It was only when the kitchen started sounding as if it was exploding that they became worried. Joe jumped up and tried to rush out of the door, but it was firmly locked and wouldn’t budge. Hurried footsteps could be heard in the hallway outside their door and then there was a shout, an unknown voice demanding whatever was rattling the doors and windows to leave.Whatever it was ignored the command, in fact, it almost appeared that someone was trying to push through the doors and another was holding the door shut. Joe felt himself being picked up and then taken back to his bed. He turned to look at his wife, who
Cynthia sat outside on the back porch, having a coffee with her husband and just looking over what their sons had done.They watched Uncle Sam approach, he was mesmerized by the garden itself, so much so that he did not hear the three kids that hurried after him. It took one look from the parents to know that something was horridly wrong. Brian carried his sister more than he supported her, all whilst Luke hurried to the other part of the property with balled fists and a red face.Joe somehow missed the porch steps, he was next to his oldest kids in a flash.“What happened?” he asked quickly.“Bradley,” Brian said simply and allowed his father to help him carry Nadine up the steps.“Bradley?” Cynthia asked confused and followed them in.“He attacked Nadine because he wanted one of his guitars and I said we’ll get to his place when we’re done with number one,” Brian told his father and carefully lay his sister down on her bed.Brian saw the veins pop on his father’s head and neck, his