Here at the Southwark house

*This story is underneath my folder titled “At the Southwark house”. Gacha Club character designs are under my forum titled “My character designs<33[2]”. Enjoy!*

Introduction

Malachi thought at first that the wheezing he heard in night was the wind against the brittle tree-bones, but when he saw the ghosts of Celine, Johnathan, and Hugh, the bleeding, weeping, real ghosts, he knew that there was something to be done.

But how? Whatever could a young boy do about those that had died to one of the most vile deaths of all…cannibalism?

Chapter One

It all began when he lay in his room, the first night at his new house. At that time, Malachi saw the ghost of Celine staring at him in one corner, Johnathan staring at him in another, and Hugh floating at the corner of his bed.

Did Malachi scream? No, he knew their sorrowful stories well. His friends had warned him before his parents moved him away.

He simply lay still, waiting for them to speak.

Chapter Two

“Please, help us. Mom is still out there, keeping us here.” Celine pleaded.

“Your mother, is she in the house?” Malachi asked, just to be certain.

Celine nodded.

Well, at least he knew where to look.

Chapter Three

Malachi pulled off the covers from his bed. His parents were asleep, he would be extra careful not to wake them up.

He read stories of ghosts, both fictional and real, of how they would stay attached to a house because of unfinished business. Why people were afraid of them continued to baffle Malachi. Ghosts were simply humans that had gone into another plane of existence. They weren’t threatening unless they were cruel in life.

If anything, they were like faint, misty faeries who longed for company.

Chapter Four

“Where in the house is she?” Malachi asked as he walked down the hall. He whispered so that even his voice was softer than a pin drop.

“In the basement.” Celine replied.

Malachi sighed. Just like a horror movie, the evil awaited in the basement. He thought that maybe she would hide in the walls, but no, Ember was in the basement.

There was no use waiting, he had to go down into the abyss.

Chapter Five

The stairs creaked underneath his footsteps. They were a grating scream, but they creaked ever so quietly.

Malachi heard footsteps pacing in the room, waiting for him.

Ember was waiting for him.

Chapter Six

“Who is there? What do you want?” A woman’s voice asked. It sounded soothing, like a mother’s, but sinister, like a demon’s.

“You’re not the only one here, you know. Me and my parents live here now. You’re not going to hurt them anymore.” Malachi said.

He felt the air grow stiffer, as though the woman didn’t want to hear another word out of his mouth.

Chapter Seven

Right before Malachi was a woman in an orange jumpsuit. Her short, brown hair was in static shocks around her cedar brown skin, her large brown eyes stared back at him like a skeletal doll. He saw some of her features in Celine and Johnathan and wondered if they wished with a grand passion that they didn’t look like her.

“You think that you can stay in my house? You think that you can judge me? You’re so young, you don’t know what it’s like to have such a thankless job.” Ember said, cocking her head. It hung at an unnatural angle, she looked too ball-jointed to be real.

Malachi wanted to get rid of her, but just how? He thought that it would be easy, like in the books he read, but the books were only books. Merely believing would not do a thing.

Ember shook her head, smiling far too widely.

“You’re only a child, you need guidance.” She said softly.

Chapter Eight

Ember rushed towards Malachi, all of the darkness that was buried deep within joining her in a dark cloud. Instinctively, Malachi raised his arms in self defense.

Of course, it did not a thing, for he still felt the chilling embrace of Ember surround him.

But he wouldn’t give up fighting.

Chapter Nine

“You have to find her remains.” Hugh said. The dark cloud had long since passed, but that didn’t mean that Ember was gone.

All Malachi had to do was look in the basement for her bones. Look for her bones, then it would all be over.

Wasn’t that right?

Chapter Ten

Malachi felt along the walls of the basement, searching for a crack or a crevice. It had to be there somewhere, just anywhere.

Something on the walls felt deeper and further.

Could it be that there was a dent on the otherwise smooth wood paneling?

Chapter Eleven

Malachi decided to go on it and broke apart the old, molding wood. He coughed as he did so, years of dust and disease coming out in yellow clouds, but it would all be worth it.

Something in there felt odd. Something that wasn’t supposed to be there. Something that was tucked away on purpose.

Chapter Twelve

Malachi swallowed down his vomit, because it would ruin the bone in his hand.

Piles of bones were tucked in the hole, years of dread and dead in the decaying darkness.

Chapter Thirteen

Malachi didn’t waste a second. He collected the bones and ran up the stairs, the voices of the ghost family following him as he did so.

Ember wouldn’t be away for long. She would come back to collect her bones.

She’d take Malachi down with her family, too.

Chapter Fourteen

“Call the police, tell them about the bones.” Johnathan said.

But would the police believe him? Would it be worth it? Wouldn’t his parents notice something?

No, Malachi had gone far. He had to save their souls.

He had to at least try.

Chapter Fifteen

Out he crawled from his bedroom window, holding the bones of Ember, running in the cold night air, in only his pajamas.

He had to bury her somewhere. A grave would be the default idea, but did she deserve a grave?

Should a cannibal be allowed to rest?

Chapter Sixteen

No, never. Rest wasn’t deserved for her. What he needed was to crush the bones and cast them aside.

But where would Malachi crush them? How would he crush them?

Whatever would he do?

Chapter Seventeen

“You really think that you can get away from me?” Ember asked.

Malachi tried to run, never letting go of the bones, but then, he felt himself flying, all gravity lost. Everything became a blinding white light, a shrill siren noise screaming in his ears.

“Not on my watch.” Ember hissed.

He could have sworn that he heard a smile in her voice.

Chapter Eighteen

Where was he? Malachi wasn’t quite sure. There was only light like that of the sun, and the loudness of an alarm.

Could it be the place where souls lingered? The place where they briefly stayed before escaping into the eternal afterlife?

Malachi didn’t know, he only cared to feel the ground beneath his shoes.

Chapter Nineteen

Suddenly, all of it began to disappear. He was falling to the ground, the light was fading, the sound was dying down.

Malachi screamed, heart racing within, dreaming of being on the ground, in the outside.

In the real world.

Chapter Twenty

Malachi threw the bones on the street and watched as a car sped over it, crushing the bones with its wheels. The driver didn’t even stop to turn around.

He heard the sound of Ember screeching, then nothing. Malachi didn’t know how to explain it, but somehow, he felt the souls of her family fly to Heaven, away from the Hell of Earth.

Malachi smiled, wiping the sleep from his eyes.

They could rest. They could be free.

There was hope.

Epilogue

Malachi never heard from the ghosts again. He went back home and slept through the day, much to the irritation of his parents.

At least his haunted house was haunted no more, ghosts left for an afterlife.

Just a house once more.