The Haunted House.P1

The Haunted House.P1 (Eric, Ein, Ace, Evan, Lukas) 

Friday, Oct 29, 1986: Mrs. McFarlan (Social Studies teacher) called the class to order, “I gave you an assignment for today before your Halloween weekend. Halloween began as a religious event to remember the dead (saints, martyrs, and the faithfully departed). It has evolved into the trick-or-treating activities of today. But with the scariness we now try to portray, what is your ‘biggest fear’? Ace, if you’ll start us off…”

Ace (Whitney): he said he worried about tearing his favorite KISS T-shirt, but deep down, not that he’d say out loud, Ace feared not being liked by the other kids.

Eric (Mike): Mrs. McFarlan prompted him, “Speak up Eric, we can’t hear you.” Eric cleared his throat and squeaked out, “I said I’m afraid my Indian heritage will fade away and the Native American culture becomes another lost civilization. That’s why I visit my grampa who teaches me the old ways.” Someone in the back of the class chided about Eric learning how to weave baskets while teasing, “Wear face paint next time.”

Ein (Joey): he excitedly blurted out “Planes. You know, airplane crashes and them falling from great heights.” His teacher tried to reason, “Airplanes are one of the safest modes of travel. Nothing to be afraid of there

Evan (Jordan): Mrs. McFarlan doubted his claims of not being afraid of anything, “Did you even do your homework?” Evan talked about his pet raven and how old he was getting. But that was an excuse to not admit he truly feared his parents were right in thinking he was not as worthy as his sister Sarah. How she the perfect one and he a goof-up.

Lukas (Aaron): he had stayed up last night remembering all their scary adventures and had thoughts of death. Which turned into thoughts of losing his family. The class became very quiet. Mrs. McFarlan pulled Lukas close and hugged him, “How about you go to the office and speak to the school counselor.”

5:30pm (the Witching Hour), Sunday, Oct 31^st, 1986- Ace suggested everyone meet at his house, “My neighbors give out the good stuff; full-sized candy bars.” Eric made sure to scope out the neighborhood as he rode to Ace’s house.

• Ace dressed as himself: a punk rocker- mom wouldn’t let him paint his face like his idol, Gene Simmons of KISS.
• Eric showed up dressed as a Ninja warrior.
• Ein arrived in a cheap knockoff of spiderman and thus was known as Spooderman.
• Evan showed off his plastic muscles and cheap plastic utility belt, “I’m Batman!”
• Lukas held a vacuum hose that connected to his backpack, “It’s a Ghostbuster proton pack.”

The housemaid (Ms. Patsy) had decorated the house with spiderwebs and a few grave headstones in the yard. Not that it mattered: his parents left for their own adult Halloween party and turned off the house lights when they left. Thus, no-one left to hand out candy as Ms. Patsy had the night off. At least the rest of the neighborhood house lights were on. The kids got thru the first block before coming upon a roadblock that stretched curb to curb. At least a dozen kids waited to get through. Randy and his bullies used their bikes parked between cars on the street to create a tollbooth, “Give us some of your loot if you want to get to the rich folk’s houses with all those full-size candy bars.”

Tollbridge: Ace scoffed at Eric who pulled out a Baby-Ruth candy bar, “You’re not seriously going to pay the toll?!” Ace laughed when he saw Eric eat the candy bar, then fill the empty wrapper with dog poop. [Lead 1] Evan pulled out his bullhorn and announced to the kids in line, “Rally together and we’ll outnumber them. Stand your ground.” Randy sneered, “That’ll cost you double, bat-turd.” To prove his point, Evan rode his bike through the tollgate. [Force-4] One of Randy’s lackies (Joey) shoved a broom handle thru the bike spokes, flipping Evan as spokes twanged and bent. Ace and Ein joined forces to punch Joey. Eric stood stunned that events rapidly turned into a scuffle. Evan jumped to his feet as he and Lukas ganged up on Darrel who was holding the pillow-sack of collected toll-booth candy. [Force 1, 2] They snatched the bag and held it by the bottom to then sling the candy across the street. Kids dove for the free candy.

With all the ruckus, it wasn’t long before an adult appeared at the closest door, “What’s going on?! Behave yourselves or I’ll call the police.” Darrel nudged Randy, “Come on man, let’s ditch these losers and get on over to the Marsh place.”

Double-Dog-Dare: Evan was the first to point out, “It’s getting late, and we have school tomorrow. I gotta get home. Besides, my bike is busted which will take me twice as long to get there.” Eric and Lukas volunteered to help him get home. Thus, it was Ace and Ein left to plunder the last few houses, “With the crowd thinning out, surely the adults will give us their leftovers by the handful.” And that’s how they encountered Ben Sanders at the next corner. “Still little kids collecting candy. I shouldn’t waste my breath betting you $10 to spend the night in the old Marsh house.” Ace puffed out his chest, “Oh yeah? Well, I triple-dog-dare you to join us! But it will have to be tomorrow night as my parents are already expecting me home.” Ben called his bluff (at least he thought it a bluff), “I don’t need to be there to see you pee your pants. $10 if you bring proof that you spent the night. Pictures of the inside. And a picture from an upstairs window of the midnight moon.”

As Ace and Ein rode their bikes back to Ace’s house, they compared notes, “What do you know about the Marsh house?” Ein offered stories about old man Oded who died there 60 years ago. [Contact 2] Ace offered, “Ellen Woods (Video Store clerk) mentioned its annual history of campfire stories about murder, suicide, ghosts at the place. How it became an annual center of dares and displays of bravado. I seriously doubt Ben ever stayed the night let alone went there. Let’s call the others to join in and call Ben’s bluff. Make him pay up.” Eric was already in bed when his walkie-talkie crackled with the “Calling all Snoops” announcement.

Monday school: Homeroom was abuzz with kids comparing their candy hauls. Some spoke about the fight in the rich neighborhood, “Did you see that one kid flip head-over-heel on his bike?! Cool the way he stuck the landing. Evan proudly proclaimed, “That was me. Did you hear my bullhorn call to rally?” Chatter continued into 2^nd hour when the classroom speaker squawked, “This is principal Hutsenpilar. If you know a Randy, Joey, Darrel, or Josh Tuttle, please come to the office.” Red and blue lights reflected through the room windows from the police car outside.

Eric and Evan told about the bully’s candy fee tollgate and how they were shaking down the little kids. Evan mentioned how Joey broke his bike. “An adult saw it. Ask him. That’s when the bullies scattered.” Ein mentioned Ben Sanders’ dare challenge regarding the Marsh house. Office Johnson laughed, “Don’t tell me you kids are still daring each other to stay in the old house. I thought that old story died out years ago.” The principal called Ben into the office, “What’s this about you daring the kids to stay in the Marsh house?” Ben denied everything, “That old place? I thought that was your old folks’ gig.” When the adults weren’t looking, Ben mouthed a “I’ll get you” threat to the kids.

Ace excused himself for a bathroom break where he pulled out his walkie-talkie, “Ghostrider to Cabbage. Josh, are you there? Answer up! We’re worried about you.” Silence. Evan slipped into a stairwell to call his uncle Steve, “Raven to Grunt. I need you to research the Marsh house. Give me all you got. I’ll check back after school. Out.”

The rest of the school day plummeted into chaos for the teachers trying to control their students. Whispered conversations about the missing kids and the old Marsh house interrupted any teaching.

• One classmate mentioned rumors Oded Marsh practiced black magic and killed his family as sacrifice in a ritual.
• Someone’s grandfather told how in 1926, he saw Oded walking through the woods, dressed in a mysterious black robe and carrying a torch, while at the same time “chanting in a language that was not of this earth.”
• “My brother’s high school friend Bobby took the dare last year. Said it was deadly quiet and no animals nearby. It really gave him the creeps, especially when he swore he heard somebody whisper “Play with me” RIGHT NEXT TO HIS EAR! He couldn’t get out of the house fast enough!”
• Someone saw Ben pay Randy just before the bullies rode off east.
• Someone saw Randy riding away from the Hobby Store with a bike basket full of spooky decorations and stuff.
• Now that he thought about it, Lukas remembered riding past Ben just as he handed Randy his expensive portable tape-recorder. “I thought it was a lost bet payoff.”

Eric used his Study Hall hour to research the Marsh house. He found a map to the place. With the help of the school librarian, he found a microfiche copy of old news stories about the Marsh house:

• House built in 1890s.
• 1921: Marsh family (Obed, Elizabeth and their 9yo daughter Alice) moved into the house.
• Peaceful years till 1924 when Alice tragically passed away from tuberculosis. Soon afterwards, her mother Elizabeth died of a broken heart.
• House abandoned after the Oct 1929 Stock market crash. Been deserted ever since.

After school: Ace confirmed, “So it’s settled; tell your parents we have a school project to work on at my house. We’ll meet at Al’s Arcade at 5:30 to head out to the old Marsh place to look for Josh and the others. I had to promise Ms. Patsy I’d be home by 9pm, coming from Ein’s house who’s tutoring me in math.”

5:30pm: As he waited for the others to arrive, Lukas thought about the 1986 Steven King book IT he just finished reading. That story followed 7 kids terrorized by an evil entity. Lukas immediately thought about the1984 movie A Nightmare on Elm Street and almost wet his pants in paranoid premonitions of encountering Freddy Krueger.

With a fresh supply of batteries for their flashlights and walkie-talkies, they rode east down a dirt road lined with trees. Evan rode his sister Sarah’s pink bike. At least the full moon gave them light along the deserted road. 30 minutes till they crested a rise and saw the derelict two-story house before them. Even nature avoided the place as the grass yard was non-existent (only dirt) and the surrounding trees dead. The absence of insect chirps and bird calls amplified the spooky feeling.

Eric lingered in the trees, focused on the stories of Oded walking the area in black robes. “Maybe there’s a cemetery out here with his family. Kind of like that 1983 Steven King novel Pet Sematary and Oded practicing resurrection.” [Empathy 5] Evan scoffed, “Now you’re just scaring yourself for nothing. It’s just an old house like my uncle Steve said. It’s ghostly mystic is just a conspiracy by realtors to keep folks from vandalizing the place. Logical explanations for everything. You’ll see.” Speaking of seeing… Ace walked up to a shuddered window to peek into the house. A pair of ghostly eyes stared back before disappearing. Ace dropped his flashlight while backing up, “Did you see that?!” Evan pulled out his bullhorn and called, “Josh, if that’s you, come on out. Randy, is that you? The joke is over man; come on out.”

Eric keyed his walkie-talkie to call Josh but only heard static in reply… a dull buzz as feedback. Ein circled the house in search of a pair of basement cellar doors. Lukas stepped up to the front door and found it unlocked. But this close up, the once red walls had a browner tint (as if dried blood). And that’s when Eric called out, “Over here; I found their bikes.” Randy’s bike basket held the Hobby store sales receipt for (Silly String, Talkback boxes, etc.). Josh’s moped leaned against another tree closer to the front of the house: obviously he came alone from the looks of things.

It was Lukas’ turn to call out, “Footprints inside. And now that I see those, I can see the trail where they walked from their bikes to here. They all came in from the front door.” Out of habit, Ace flipped the light switch when he entered: the house lights came on, startling everyone. “Really? Who pays the electric bill for a 60-year-old deserted house?!” Ace sought the ghostly face in the window, “Alice, was that you?” Evan scolded him, “You’re just scaring yourself over nothing. Keep it up and you’ll scare everyone else. Let’s just find the others and get out of here.”

Lukas and Eric searched the Livingroom to the right where they found an old spinning wheel in the corner. And as they stared, ghostly Mrs. Marsh appeared, sitting on the spindle seat, spinning the wheel as she made her own thread. 

No sooner did she disappear, than she reappeared on the stairs, beckoning Ein up. As Ein climbed the stairs, he noticed fresh footprints, “I think the other kids came up here.”

Meanwhile, Ace and Evan were drawn to a single “Plink” of a piano key to the left. They entered the Library and found ghostly Alice sitting at the piano, beckoning, “Come play with me.” Yet as Evan stared at her, the face became his sister Sarah’s playful grin. [Investigate 3] And that’s when Eric called out, “I knew it. Evan, you’re right! I just found wiring to this spindle machine. It’s all animatronics. There has to be projectors for the ghosts.”

Ein reached the top of the stairs when Eric made his discovery. He was just about to turn around, when the stairs gave way to air: Ein was falling as if he was skydiving. Wind whipped by his face as he plummeted to Earth, passing a flock of birds. Eric suffered his own visions of a cowboy popping up from the stairs firing at him. An Indian beside Eric fell clutching his chest as blood seeped out. More Indians behind him charged forward on horseback. The scene behind them was their village being ravaged by soldiers burning the teepees while slaughtering those women and children trying to escape. The screams of Ein and Eric startled the others who came to investigate.

It was only a brief second. Ein found himself clutching the stair railing to steady himself from his passing vision. Where Eric’s vision of wild-west soldiers stood firing from the stairs, he now saw Ace and Evan’s faces, looking bewildered. Eric could only surmise, “I think the house is using our fears against us.” And in that moment, Evan felt a breeze at his ankles. He looked down to notice dust slightly rolling away from a door under the stairs. “There’s a draft from behind this door.” He opened it and found a small coat closet. He pulled down the old moth-eaten black cloak, “I think this belongs to old Oded.” He moved the black boots and found a trapdoor which he opened, revealing a dark shaft leading down. Suddenly, Evan’s sister Sarah climbed out of the shaft. But the last rung of the ladder gave way causing Sarah to fall. Evan reached for her hand trying to rescue her. His hands passed through hers as his dropped flashlight careened off the sides of the shaft and crashed broken 10 feet below. At least Evan caught himself from falling as he grabbed the far side of the opening. Sarah was gone.

Heavy breathing as fear washed over everyone. [Lead rolls]

• [failed] Ein stood at the top of the stairs trying to get the others to follow him.
• [failed] Evan interpreted his vision as “She was trying to tell me the animatronic controls are down there.”
• [1 success, Charm 3] Ace collected his thoughts, “Our fears are coming true. But I still think Alice wants us to check out her bedroom upstairs. I think we should go that way. If it is ghosts… Eric, see if you can find garlic and salt in the kitchen.” While in the kitchen, Eric found basement stairs.

Ace tried to relax by playing kumbaya songs on his guitar. Evan chided him, “Do you know (1976 Blue Oyster Cult) Don’t Fear the Reaper?” Ace strummed (1984 Twisted Sister) We’re Not Going to Take It instead.

Ace couldn’t shake the image of Alice; so, he joined Ein at the top of the stairs where they saw Alice standing before a door beckoning them onward before vanishing through the door. The kids entered to find a child’s room full of old toys. Alice sat on the floor playing with wooden alphabet blocks, spelling out “THE CELLAR”. Ein was more fascinated by the shelf full of collectible porcelain dolls. Slowly the doll heads turned in unison towards him and then all spoke at once “Play with Alice in the Cellar.”

TO BE CONTINUED: https://tftljoey.blogspot.com/2024/02/the-haunted-housep2.html