28. Where The Dead Lived

"Oh, My God!" John stared at the lifeless eyes of the dead lunatic in horror. He was about to run but the man stopped him.

"But you don't have to be afraid of me. I'm a good spirit. "

"How can we believe you?" Hannah and John moved closer to each other.

" If I had any intentions to harm you, why would I guide you when you needed answers? "

"Maybe it could be some sort of your plan or- " John started but suddenly was interrupted by Hannah.

"How are we seeing you? You're just an apparition. How can anyone see you?" Hannah moved her arm forward and tried to touch him but her hands went right through his body.

"Well, not anyone. Only you two."

"So, wait!" It was like something came to John's mind. "That's why people were giving us weird looks! They must be thinking that we're going insane, talking to no one. "

The dead man smiled.

"Anyway, you didn't answer the why part." Hannah really wanted to know why he was helping them and can be seen by them only and not by anyone else.

"I'm a kind spirit and I like to help people. I thought you guys need my help and guess what? I was right. So, here I am, and trust me I'm not here to harm anyone. I can't even kill a mosquito - let alone a human being. " He giggled.

Hannah and John were relieved of hearing that.

"So, can you tell us where can we find this friend of yours?" John asked feeling comfortable.

"Well, he ain't here and if he was he won't meet you. But I know his house. Maybe that can help you."

Hannah and John followed him.

After a few minute's walk, and a few turns, they stood in front of an old rusted house.

It was a really old, washed up, house due to weather with a sagged roof. The windows of one side were boarded up and the windows of the other side had broken glass, through which the winds were moving the dirty, cobwebbed curtains. The wild, dried grasses were invading everywhere, growing in random directions. The house was very old and looked as if it could fall any moment now but strangely enough, it stood strong.

"There you go." The man said as he was about to leave.

"Can you help us with one last thing?" Hannah stopped him.

"What would that be?"

"Do you know anything about Diana and the stones?"

It was like Hannah just asked the forbidden question. His face turned pale - paler than the ghostly pale that it already was.

"I can't - I can't put you guys in grave danger. She was the reason for my friend's condition. If you value your life, turn back now. And don't ever return!"

Saying this, he started to dissolve in the air.

" We've had enough of Diana! " Hannah yelled remembering the lives of the loved ones they had lost and the lives they had put in danger. " We have lost enough lives! What more danger can our life be in than it already is now?" She yelled but the man's spirit began to vanish in thin air as people on the streets were watching the two yellings at no one.

After a while, it was only them all alone in front of the house which they hoped would give them some answers.

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As John and Hannah stepped foot inside the dust-filled house, the wooden floor beneath their feet creaked.

"It's really old," Hannah said watching her every step. "We have to be careful, it feels like the floor could break anytime."

John nodded and squinted his eyes trying to figure out what the house contained in the dark. He searched for switches. He succeeded in finding some, but they weren't working.

Even though it was not too cloudy, the room somehow was dark. The curtains were moved to one side allowing only little light inside the whole house. John and Hannah took out their phone, turned on the flashlight, and began examining the house.

"Ugh!" Hannah said looking disgusted. "The whole place is covered in dust and webs!" She tried to remove the cobwebs which she got trapped in.

"What do you expect it to be? No one lived here for God knows how long. And the last man that lived here rose many mysterious rumors about him. I don't see why anyone would risk living here after him." John said as he shone his flashlight in what he thought as the living room.

The room was so dusty that they were leaving clear footsteps in the dirt wherever they walked.

The furniture was covered with dull white cloth. It had a fireplace and some photos above it. There was a television near the sofa and a lamp near the broken window.

John moved closer to the mucky photographs on the mantle.

"Found something?" Hannah asked.

"Just some photographs of I guess a boy with an older man fishing, with a man in a baseball uniform, and some other family stuff." He said as he moved his phone, lighting up the photographs with his flashlight. "I'll search upstairs."

Hannah nodded. "Be careful with the stairs."

The stairs made loud creaking noises with every foot John put forward as if they were crying.

Upstairs, there were three rooms. After examining and finding nothing of their help, John went inside the one closest to the stairs. He turned the knob clockwise with his fingers making the prints on the dirt-covered knob.

He pushed hard but the door won't budge open. It was like someone was pushing the door from the inside and did not want anyone to come in. He threw himself against the door and pushed hard and then finally, the door opened with a creepy noise.

The room looked like a bedroom to him with a medium-sized double bed, a sitting area beneath the windows - which were boarded up and accompanied by torn sky blue curtains and a mirror. There were toys seated neatly on the bed - a teddy bear, some balls, a clapping monkey, some action figures of superheroes, and a small metal train - all covered in dust.

John searched the room but got nothing. Exhausted, he sat on the bed which caused dust to escape from the bed into the air. John coughed. He looked around the room thinking who used to live here? What happened to him? Who was the man which John saw on that day who was the owner of this house? How was he like? Were the talks about him real or were they just some fake, made-up rumors? How was the man in-person - kind, weird, insane, or what?

As his mind was thinking all this, he lifted the monkey toy and smiled at it. His grandmother and he used to play with the toy all day and that never got old. John would always laugh seeing the monkey playing the metal cymbal.

The monkey had a red hat and was wearing red and white vertical striped trousers. John turned it over and turned the key four times in a clockwise direction before keeping the toy on the bed.

The cymbal played as John smiled looking at the time. But John's smile turned into a frown when the key stopped but the toy didn't. The monkey's face turned from relaxed to a sinister smile. John threw the toy away from him which caused it to land on the floor but still it kept playing and playing, and now it started to laugh - an evil laugh.

John jolted and stood on the floor as far as possible from it. He tried to run away but the door was locked. He tried to open it, pulled it as hard as he could but nothing. He banged on the door hoping Hannah could hear him, but nothing. He was trapped there all by himself. Alone - or was he? The room became oddly, slightly cold. He turned around and saw the mirror in front of him. Through the mirror, he could see the toy still laughing an evil laugh and looking all devilish.

The toy suddenly stopped and John took a breath of relief. But his relief was for only a matter of seconds as he saw a faint figure in the mirror standing behind him.

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Hannah was looking through the rusty, grubby drawer near the boarded-up windows. Her hands fumbled upon an old, kind of a hardbound book. It was bent and a little burnt around the edges. She grabbed it and when she was about to open it, she heard some noises coming from behind her.

"John?" She asked turning around. But no response.

She moved forward towards the source with the book still in her hands. She heard the noise again. She moved closer to the television. The screen was off but the noises were coming from inside it. She leaned in closer to the screen trying to make out what the noise was all about. It was as if someone was saying something.

She was so close to the T.V. that any moment now her ears could touch the screen. Suddenly, her breath stuck in her lungs as the noises became clear and she heard in a low, manly, groaning sound - GET OUT.

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John froze. He did not want to turn around. He was too scared. He was sure that it was definitely not his sister. He turned around slowly and cautiously but saw no one in the room. That figure was gone.

John let out a sigh wiping the sweat of fears on his forehead as he sat on the bed.

But then, someone pulled John's leg and he fell on the floor - face down - injuring himself with blood coming down his head. He lifted his upper body to see who pulled him but again, the only person in that room was John. He laid on the dusty floor - eyes closed with blood dripping from his hair. Suddenly he felt as if his whole body was chained to the floor. When he opened his eyes, above him, on the roof, he saw the same hooded man whom he had seen that day. His face was slightly visible from the hood - slit and cut having a narrow, yellowish cat's eye. The man extended his hands towards John. When his hands were just a few inches away, with a huge effort, he broke free and ran as fast as he could downstairs, yelling and screaming.

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Hannah gasped and backed away. Suddenly, a cold hand grabbed Hannah by her arms. She screamed trying to pull it away but the grip was too tight.

"John!" Hannah shrieked as she saw John running downstairs. "HELP ME!"

John grabbed Hannah from the other side and began to pull. But the hand was pulling them inside.

John saw a vase near him, grabbed it, and began hitting the non-humanly, bloodied, skin hand with it as he tried to pull her sister away from it and it worked.

Due to the force, they both fell down but it didn't take them long enough to get up and run. They ran as fast as they could not even daring to look behind - not even once - in the haunted house.

They ran and ran away from the old building and when they had reached the open grounds, they fell to their knees and saw the whole building turning into debris in front of their eyes.