House at End of the Street

The more I look at the Haunted House, the more curious I get about it. This causes all that Charles told me to repeat over and over again. The weird furniture. The stuff that goes missing. That it likes women.

Powered by the drinks I had, I decide to get a closer look at the house. I won't go up to it or anything, but I would like to examine it closer. I'll stay in the street and just get a closer look. And that's to make sure that all that I see about it is real. Like the grass looking like it's dying.

Enjoying the brief walk on the cool night, I cross the street and go to the sidewalk. With a casual and calm stroll, I walk down the sidewalk, my focus on the haunted House. For some reason I get the weird feeling that Charles is about to run out and tell me to stop. But this is silly as he's probably long gone to bed.

Reaching the Haunted House, I stay on the sidewalk but turn to face the house. Despite what Charles said, I don't know if someone really lives there. And where I'm from, people have no trouble shooting you just for stepping on their property. Since I'm not looking to die over a Haunted House, I decide to stay right where I am.

Again, it's just a house. A smaller house, but a normal house. A small house with a metal car port. To make it seem even more normal, I notice that there's nothing weird about it at all. All the things I thought I saw all look normal. The bricks are a normal size, the grass looks healthy, even the position of the ceiling looks fine. The only thing that remains odd is how close it is to the sidewalk.

I hear a car honk in the distance, and it knocks me out of my trance of staring at the house. I didn't even know I was staring until I hear the car, as it occurs to me someone might think I'm a crook. That I'm casing this house to rob it or do something else that's stupid.

Thinking that having the cops called on me on my first night wouldn't be a good start to living here, I turn to walk back home. I did what I said I was going to do, which is to get a closer look at the house. That's all.

I turn to walk back home, when a light suddenly flips on, but to my side. My first thought is that someone is shining a low battery flashlight at me. A flashlight with a battery so low that the light is an amber color.

In reaction I look towards the light to see that the lights in the Haunted House are on. A bit dumbfounded by this, I stare at the house, my eyes going window to window to see that every light indeed seems to be on. Every room of the house seems to have light coming from the windows, but it's a weird sort of light.

For only a spilt second I panic, thinking that someone is living there and has seen me. That they are about to burst out with a shotgun and gun me down. But this feeling passes extremely fast. That's why I don't take off running.

Charles said that this happened to his friend. That the lights come on when the power to the place is off? I'm pretty sure that's what he said. Sure, it makes sense that the lights would be on because someone living there just turned them on, but I don't think that's what's happening. Why would they turn every light on at once so late?

I know my mind is a bit of a pulsing mess at the moment, which the adrenaline isn't helping. Nor is the pounding of my heart for that matter. So I am not thinking clearly when faced with proof that I'm dealing with the supernatural.

That's just it. This isn't supernatural. Supernatural is things floating in midair, or cold spots or people made of mist with glowing eyes. This is just a house with the lights turned on. And it's not even that late. For all I know, this could be a test done by the power company.

Come to think of it, I'm just going off what the old man said. He could have been lying. Or maybe he was messing with the new girl to the neighborhood. I could be walking straight into one huge prank.

"Oh shit," I grunt when I spot something in the bay window of the Haunted House. It's the clear outline of a person. A person that must be looking outside and directly at me. No doubt wondering what the fuck I'm doing. If I'm some criminal here to try and rob them. Or in this day and age, if I'm going to gun them all down.

Feeling rather stupid, I begin to walk towards the Haunted House. I need to apologize and explain myself. To let them know I'm a neighbor and was just duked by a mean old man. That I was told their house was a Haunted House and I was curious to get a look. But for them not to worry as I'm going to make sure I get my revenge on the old fucker that tricked me.

I walk the short walkway to the house, where I arrive on the small front porch. As I walk, I try to think up what I'm going to say so I don't make myself sound even stupider than what I feel. I don't want to start some new routine of tricking the dumb new girl, you know? That whenever they see me they can laugh and snicker.

My knuckles rap on the front door several times in what I hope is a polite and friendly manner instead of a harsh and angry sound. I was expecting the knocking to sound extra loud and echo about, but it doesn't. It actually sounds very muffled, like something is sucking the sound out of the air.

I make sure to put a smile on, but not too big of a smile so if they look out they can see a normal human instead of someone that's here to hurt or trick them. I also try to make my face look apologetic, so they know why I'm here. But more than anything, I hope they don't open the door and instead talk from behind the door so I don't have to look them in the eye when I admit how dumb I've been.

"Ummm, hi. I'm really sorry. I know you saw me staring at you in the street," I say after when no one opens the door upon knocking twice more. Come to think of it, if I was them I wouldn't answer or say anything either if someone came this late.

"I'm Rebecca, your neighbor a few houses down. I'm sorry, this old man named Charles told me this was a haunted house. That's why I was staring at it. I didn't mean to scare you or anything," I apologize the best I can to the front door hoping the occupants can hear me. I mean, they should be able to hear me, there's no TV or music playing that I can hear.

After several long moments in which nothing happens, I take a step back. I make sure not to move too fast or do anything stupid like jump in front of the bay window when someone might be aiming a gun at me right this very moment. But I know someone is watching me because I can clearly feel it. In fact, I can feel multiple eyes on me. Where they are looking at me from, I don't know since there doesn't appear to be a peephole in the door.

There's still no sounds. There's no movement at all. No sounds of walking, or of TV, or even the house settling. Just quiet as quiet can be. Come to think of it, I don't even hear any bugs doing their nighttime noises. It's just...quiet.

"Oh!" I gasp when I notice there's someone at the bay window. The large bay window is to my left where I see there's someone behind the closed blinds that covers them. The shadow from the person is cast over the blinds thanks to the light shining behind them. Only...I didn't see the shadow walk up there. It just sort of appeared.

"Sorry, you scared me," I tell the person after I take a few more steps back. This really does scare me. It hits so hard that I actually put a hand to my heart for a moment, feeling like I may have a heart attack.

I stare at the shadow, wondering why they aren't saying anything. They clearly heard me. But yet they haven't said anything nor moved. All they are doing is just standing there.

A cold tingle moves down my spine as I examine the figure, which has to be a guy based on the body build. He's facing away. Like he's put his back almost against the window and is looking at the inside of his house instead. He's giving me his back for some reason.

For some reason seeing this sends a shiver up my spine. It's just so weird to look at. It's something a mentally ill person would do. Especially since they are not acknowledging me in any way. Whoever they are, they can hear me, I mean, I'm what, four, five feet away? On purpose they haven't they said something. Nor have they moved?

Unnerved, I lean over a little bit to see if I can look between the blinds to get a look at the person. With my heart pounding, I lean more and more, trying to find some tiny bit of gap to look inside. Yet when I do, the person still doesn't move, to the point I don't think it's really a person. I think it is some sort of mannequin. I mean, it's not moving, like at all. Not even breathing or swaying like a human would.

Another tickle of cold fear goes up my spine as I notice something else I hadn't before, but I don't know how I missed it. There's a shadow of a table behind the guy in the window. Not just that, but there are people sitting at the table.

I stare at the table, not really understanding what I'm seeing. Rather how I'm seeing this. Lights are normally on the ceiling, so it makes sense I can see the guy by the window. The light from the light fixture shines on him, and casts his shadow.

The table, chairs and people though, they are under the light. There should be no shadow from them. Only way I should be seeing a shadow from them is if there's a really bright light shining behind them. But if that's true, it would be shining right in their eyes.

The more I look, the more I feel unnerved. I can clearly see the dining table beyond the bay window, in which four people are sitting, but all on one side. They sit right next to each other, barely an inch between them, their backs to me as well. Like the standing person, they too don't move. They just sit there, their arms on the table as if posed

No way these are people. No one could stay that still for so long, especially with light shined right in your eyes. But if they aren't people, what the fuck is going on? Is this some sort of experiment? Or game?

My head begins to pulse very badly. The combination of drinking and fear doesn't do me any good as I start to get a very bad feeling. Much like the feeling you get when you know you are going to throw up, I get a bad feeling that I need to leave. Especially as I've been staring for minutes at the shadows, demanding one of them to move in my mind.

Finally I snap out of it and back up off the porch, not wanting to show my back to whatever those things are. I mean, I know they have to be mannequins or life-sized dolls, but why are they there? Who posed them? For what purpose?

I think what scares me the most is that they are unlike any mannequins I've ever seen. All the ones I've seen you can tell they are mannequins, even if you don't see any of the body. These seem like people. Real people. Their shape and positions seem real and not out of place like most mannequins.

More unnerved than I've ever been, I happily walk out of the Haunted House's yard. This time I walk past the sidewalk and stand in the middle of the street. Something tells me to not even be on that side of the street to that place.

Once I reach the middle of the street I feel much more comfortable. The cold fear inside me begins to fade, making my heart and head stop the intense pounding. Something about being this far away makes me feel safe. Safe enough that I can turn my back on the house now. Like I'm out of range of it doing something.

Wanting to go home, I begin to walk away, but something inside me makes me get one last look at the Haunted House. Now the lights are off, and there's clearly no one inside. I know this because the bay window no longer has any blinds. It's just a blank window showing the inside of the house with no blinds, no furniture, no nothing. Just an empty, dark house.

"What the fuck?!" I mutter, very freaked out. At this, I quickly walk back home, not sure what to make of any of it. All I know is I'm not going back to investigate. I'll never go back there, even if my life depends on it.

The next thing I know, I wake up in my bed with the bright sun shining on my face. My eyes pop open, where I feel the tiniest bit of grogginess from the drinking I did the night before. But otherwise I feel rather good, not to mention rested. It serves to confirm I made the right choice in moving here as I hope every night is like last night.

I wake up and begin the actions that I'm sure will become my routine. I brush my teeth, take a shower, get dressed, even eat a little bit of breakfast. I do this all rather slowly, not feeling the rush that I normally do of having to go, go, go, go.

It is only when I look out one of my front windows that the memory of last night returns. One look at the sight of the Haunted House and it all comes flooding back. It comes back fast and hard, like having to swallow your own sick, where it burns going down.

It had to have been someone messing with me, right? Or someones? There's no other explanation that makes sense.

Charles had to have been in on it. He laid the story, knowing it would make me want to investigate. It would have made anyone want to investigate. And so they waited for me to go over. Probably Charles and someone that lives in a nearby house. Spied on me and waited until I went there so they could pull their complex prank.

How they do it? How they make it all move so fast? I guess it could have been a few people moving the stuff room to room really fast. Like they do in plays on Broadway. The lights can be controlled remotely these days too. But if that's what they did, they would have been waiting in that house for a really, really long time. They would have had no clue when I would visit.

Then again, maybe they were there for a different reason and decided to mess with me. That it wasn't all planned out, but was a few assholes fixing the place up to sell deciding they wanted to mess with me. They just happened to be there and decided to do that stupid prank and move everything like they did. It would explain how they could remove the blinds and light fixture so fast.

Or...that bay window isn't really a window. Maybe it's a smart screen or something that they can project stuff onto. A friend of mine had something like that for her bathroom window. She could stream stuff on it as well as project different places for ambiance when she was taking a bath.

Staring at the house, I get more and more upset. Only, I don't get upset at the bastards that just pranked me, but at myself. How stupid can I be? That the old man set me up, and like a mark I went over there and let them play me. They all got a good laugh at the new woman from the big city.

I try to push last night as well as my anger out of my head as I resume setting up my new rooms. Each box I unload does relax me more and more as my new house starts to take shape. The more of my items I put out, the more personality the house begins to get. It quickly starts to feel like an old friend that I haven't seen in a long time.

Only, like a splinter in my finger, the Haunted House keeps poking me. Making me think about it over and over again. Images of the shadow man against the window pop in my head, as well as the blank, dark house when I left. It seems too far out there to be real. Like it was really a dream I had and not something that happened to me.

To try and take my mind off the Haunted House, I decide to listen to a book. Listening to books always takes my mind off whatever I am working on because I have to focus on the book to understand what's happening.

"Where the hell are you?" I ask out loud as if my lost cell can hear me. It's not in my bedroom, which is where I had it plugged in when I went to sleep. I thought maybe I had left it in there even if I remember grabbing it after my shower. I know for sure I had my cell because the alarm on it is what woke me up.

I must have put my cell somewhere in the house and can't find it. Since I've been going room to room, there's no telling where it might be. I no doubt absentmindedly put it down somewhere while doing something else, making it go into the phantom zone of my mind.

Without the internet, which is to be set up tomorrow, I can't use GPS to find it nor use the textMe app to ping it. Just will have to wait for someone to reach out to me. It's not on silent, so the moment someone calls, I will be able to hear it.

My frustration at losing my cell reaches a point that after I have a little lunch, I walk outside. Even after searching everywhere several times, I still can't find my cell. I thought maybe if I unpacked more I would spot it, but no. It's just disappeared.

From my porch I take in the clean air, which makes me feel so much better. I take in the view, allowing my frustration to flee. I calm to the point that the thought of the old man coming back to share more ghost stories doesn't bother me. Let him come and tell me more BS.

I look down the street, taking in all the houses again. In my mind, I start thinking up ways to meet the other people that live here. Being where I'm from, I'm not used to just walking up and introducing myself. Is that all you need to do? Or do you bring a small gift, like wine or something? Charles just came right up and introduced himself, but that could be because he was in on the prank.

The final house that I look over is the Haunted House. It still is there, looking like a normal small house, but this time there is a very small changed. From here I can spot what looks like a piece of trash in the yard. A black piece of trash that's right in front of the small porch.

"There's no way," I remind myself, knowing it's not possible. What I see over there is some random piece of trash. There's no way it can be my cell. My house has been locked up tight since last night. And the locks are ones I purchased. No one else has the keys. Not to mention I put in Door Locks, which you would have to literally kick in. And I made sure to check each and every window last night to make sure the locks on them worked.

But damn, whatever it is in front of the Haunted House sure looks like a cell. And if I was to pull a prank, putting the mark's cell back at the haunted locale is exactly what I would do. It's too perfect of an action to do to scare the victim.

"Damn it," I curse, I walk down my porch. Acting as if I'm taking a fun, mid-day walk, I walk down the sidewalk, slowly. As I walk, I look around to see if I spot anything strange or out of place. Maybe a camera that the house so people could see what happens? Or a neighbor crotched down and trying to hide somewhere? Or maybe a mannequin stuffed behind a tree so they can try to pull the prank again but in a different place.

But it's a normal day on a normal looking street. The sun is shining, making everything look bright and beautiful, which is one of the many reasons why I came here. It's just a beautiful area. There's no graffiti, or broken down meth-houses or abandoned cars or anything like that. Just a living bright neighborhood.

And then I'm in front of the Haunted House again, only this time I'm across the street. But whatever was in the yard is now gone. I know the exact place it was, but it's not there. Nor do I see it anywhere nearby, such as the wind kicking it down the street. It's just gone.

Glaring at the house as I don't like feeling like a mark, I see the house looks normal. The bay window is clear with no blinds or anything else to stop people from looking in at the empty interior. There's no table, no chairs, no nothing. There's not even a lighting fixture hanging.

"Let it go girl. It's not worth it," I tell myself as I want nothing more than to ruin this prank. To make sure the people doing this know not to fuck with me.

I make up my mind about what is really going on. That bay window isn't really a window at all. It's some sort of smart screen. It has to be. It makes too much sense. Even seeing my cell in the yard could be from it. It could have some projector attached to it somewhere.