The House on the Hill

At first the knocking sound on my door startles me. My mind instantly goes to the strange noises I’ve been hearing in my room lately. After a moment though, I realize the sound is actually coming from someone standing at my door. I answer it sleepily in my plaid pajama pants and old long sleeved shirt. “Hey,” Hart greets me. He looks me over quickly and I feel my face heating up in embarrassment.

“If I knew I was having company tonight I would have put some clothes on,” I tell him.

“It’s fine,” he shrugs. “I’m sorry to drop in unexpectedly. There’s just something I want to talk to you about.”

“Sure,” I let him in and head towards the kitchen to get a drink. “Hot chocolate?” I offer him.

“Are you serious?”

I nod.

“Are those mini marshmallows?” he points at the picture on the box.

“Yeah.”

He chuckles. “No thanks.”

I roll my eyes and pour some hot water into a mug with the mix. I stir it quickly. “What do you want to talk about?”

“Maybe you should sit down,” he suggests.

“Is it really that bad?” I frown, worriedly.

“It’s about the house.”

I lead him to the living room where we sit at opposite ends of the chocolate brown couch.

“I did some research today,” he starts. “I’m pretty sure nothing too strange is going on here. It’s an old house with a lot of odd tenants. There’s probably an explanation for everything. But I used to be a cop and I was trained to be on alert. I figured getting to know a little more about the place I live couldn’t hurt.”

“What did you find out?”

“Someone did die here,” he informs me.

My heart starts to beat a little faster. “Really?”

“There wasn’t much information about it, just a short article from an old newspaper. It was in the 80’s. They killed themselves somewhere in this house.”

“Wow…”

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” he reassures me. “There’s no need to worry about it.”

“Right,” I nod.

“I’ll let you go to bed now but if you need anything…if something weird happens by some chance…come get me. I’m right down the hall.”

“Thanks,” I say.

I don’t sleep well at all. I am plagued by nightmares and so nervous. Most likely there is nothing going on but it’s still bothering me. I know for a fact I heard those strange noises and someone screaming. And now it turns out someone died in the house. No one ever told me that before when I moved in. If they didn’t tell me about the death, then what else could they be hiding from me?

I wake up in the morning to sunlight streaming in through my window. I sit up and yawn. I still feel kind of sleepy from my restlessness during the night. I rub my eyes and blink a few times. That’s when I notice something strange. I stand up and take a step towards my wall then gasp. There’s a message scratched into the old wallpaper. It’s one simple word. ‘Murder.’

I run from my room as fast as I can, almost tripping down the stairs on my way. I crash right into Hart. He drops his newspaper and some of his coffee splashes up over the edge of the Styrofoam cup. “Shit,” he mutters.

I try to explain what I saw upstairs but I can’t get any words out between my gasps for air. My breaths are fast and short. I can’t get any air into my lungs. I sink to my knees on the floor and try desperately to catch my breath. Whatever is going on upstairs is now only my second concern because my first is breathing.

“What’s going on?” Jane Hayden asks. She is a middle aged woman and the current owner of the Hayden House. It was her father who previously owned it and passed it to her.

“I don’t know,” Hart shakes his head. “Breathe Seth. Tell us what happened.”

“He’s having an asthma attack. Where’s his inhaler?”

I point up the stairs, unable to speak.

“In your room?” Hart asks me.

I nod.

“I’ll get it. Stay here,” he runs up the stairs. It’s not like I could go anywhere else if I really wanted to. I’m just hoping he can find my inhaler where I left it on my night stand. I was so scared I forgot it.

After what seems like eternity, but is probably not nearly as long, he runs back down the stairs and hands me my red inhaler. I shake it in my hand then stick it in my mouth. I inhale the medicine gratefully. I try to calm down. I can feel Hart’s hand on my shoulder.

“Are you gonna’ be alright?”

I nod. “I think so. Thanks.”

“What happened Seth?” Jane questions.

“Did you see it?” I ask Hart, staring at him with wide eyes.

He nods. “Someone carved Murder into Seth’s bedroom wall.”

“What?” Jane looks shocked.

“I was sleeping. I didn’t notice anyone in my room at all,” I say. “Oh God…”

“Just try to stay calm,” Hart tells me. “I’ll let the police handle this one. I’ll stay right here with you. No one’s going to hurt you while I’m around.”

I want to give him a hug but I settle for sitting down on the lobby’s couch with him in front of the fireplace. He sits with me while the police are called. They arrive and do the investigation then come back downstairs to talk to us.

The older cop with the graying mustache tells us he thinks it’s a prank. He says there are a lot of pranks going on at this time of the year. “How did they get into my room?” I ask. The thought that someone came into my room and scratched up my wall while I was sleeping makes me feel terrified.

“Ms. Hayden has let us know that she misplaced the master set of keys temporarily yesterday. One of the tenants probably found them and used them to sneak around the house last night,” he explains.

“Who would do that?” I frown.

“It could have been anyone,” the cop tells me. “We’re sure that it was simply a prank and that you are in no danger.”

They leave. “Are you okay?” Hart asks me.

“Not really,” I admit. “It’s pretty scary to think someone broke into my room while I was sleeping and carved murder into the wall. I don’t find it funny at all.”

“Well, Jane found the keys so no one should be breaking in again.”

“Okay…”

“If you need me, you know where to find me.”