Young Writers Society

I am the ghost within the walls; I have lived in this house for countless years. And for most of that time I had lived alone. No friends, no company, no future, just marking a path of my own, all alone, wondering if anyone would accompany me.

But, when he came, so full of fear that it seemed fake, I failed to see his ways. To see the true spirit within young Seth that threatened my very existence.

For countless years Seth accompanied me on every path I set and retraced. The look in his eyes as they flickered uneasily about made me nervous. But, still, Seth was a friend and I was stuck with him for eternity. This old house in the middle of nowhere was more likely to rot than sell.

Long ago, the realtor had died. No one had bothered to change the old sign, so now, staring out of a window, I hear it creak in the wind and I watch as more of the blue letters which had once spelt out ‘Ray Donald’, fall to the ground among the tangle of weeds and plants.

A sigh escapes me as I hear him coming. He does not speak but lightly raps the wall with his knuckles. I do not want to answer, but, ever since he imprisoned me I must.

I fear the demon who lives under my skin and who watches my every move.

Chapter 1 the ghost

Staring out the window I watched the trees sway in the wind. The old for sale sign creaked and groaned as it swung back and forth. Sighing, I turned my back and slowly headed towards the door. The sound of tire on gravel caught my attention and I zoomed back and looked out. Seth floated in the room and pushed me aside to see. A frown washed over his face, as a tan car stopped in front of the house. I smiled and clapped my hands together, but it didn’t make any sound. He whipped around and glared at me. I cowered back and decided to investigate.

Out of the large bay window in the main floor, I sat on the bench and watched a man and a young woman climb out of the car and slowly approach the house, climbing over weeds and vines. The woman was clearly not my age, and she was dressed oddly, like a boy. Looking down at myself, I saw, like always, my red and white checkered dress down past my knees and a white apron with lace. I looked normal, her not so much. She was wearing a white colored shirt with no sleeves, just string and some type of pants that I had never seen. Her hair was odd looking too. It was not braided but hung straight and had the colors of eggplant and watermelon intertwined with strands. Tilting my head to the side, I watched them with eager eyes as they unlocked the door and stepped in. As the door opened, Seth glided down the stairs, to ‘meet’ the visitors. I stood up and walked over to them. I think they liked the house, because they went everywhere. The girl, whose name I learned, was Kaala. I followed her around the house, like a puppy dog. She started in the kitchen and then the dining room and was amazed by the large cobwebbed chandelier that hung in the center. Slowly she made it into the main living room and the library; she was in awe of the large collection of books that lined the walls. This was my favorite room, when I was alive. I used to spend hours and hours reading and rereading the books. My parents urged me to play outside, but I only left that room to sleep, or go to outhouse and the school. Seth growled at us and disappeared, not wanting any of this. Returning to the foyer, she climbed the stairs. On the second floor, she went to the two bedrooms and the newly installed room that looked like an indoor outhouse. Down the long hallway, one door remained closed at the end. Kaala walked towards it. “No! Do not go there!” I called; she cocked her head but shrugged it off. I grabbed her shirt and pulled but I was not quick enough. She turned the knob; I covered my face as she opened the door and heard her gasp and she yelled for her father.

The large man came running, the breeze whipping me around in circles. “What?” He asked her, holding her arm. She pointed into the room, I stole a glance. I was forbidden to ever enter this room or he would get very angry with me. A fireplace was boarded up and in a cherry colored paint was a weird star like thing in the center. Wilted flowers lay on the ground next to a circle of candles. This was where Seth was summoned and that was the day I hated.

A group of people broke into this house. They were wearing the color of the midnight sky. During a storm they chanted as the lightning flashed and thunder crackled. When Seth appeared they fled and now I’m stuck with him.

When the door shut, it broke my thoughts, and I blinked the image away and followed them downstairs.

Chapter 2 Kaala

What a weird house. I looked around and sniffed the air filled with dust and musty. I walked into the kitchen and looked down at the tile floor, lifting a foot; you could see my footprint in the half inch layer of dirt. It was a beautiful kitchen but it needs new appliances. The wood stove sat in a corner next to a pump and a sink, and an ice box. A lot of new things, but we can’t get rid of the amazing chandler that hung in the dining room, above a large mahogany table with matching chairs. “Angie and the kids will like it.” My dad broke my evaluation as he entered the room. “What do you think?”

“Wow, that’s a first. Ever since you got married to that leech, you never ask me what I want. An improvement in progress;” I crossed my arms over my chest and chuckled at the look on his face. “I really do like it. But we never checked out the third floor or the basement.”

“Don’t worry. I looked at the basement and the third floor is all one room so, I was thinking that it could be your room.” He smiled a crooked smile, as he saw my eyes light up.

“Really!” A jumped up and ran up the flight of stairs to the second floor and walked over to the stairs hidden by a door. Slowly, I made it up the steep steps, and entered the space. “Wow,” My eyes glazed across the wooden room. The walls and floor were made of wood which I thought was great, a large window was actually a door to a balcony and another window faced the front of the house. There was no closet but I’m sure he’ll build me one; one that is deep and wonderful, full of new clothes and shoes. I can imagine it already, unless the witch decides that I don’t deserve such treasure.

“You like it?” The voice made me jump as I turned to my dad leaning against the wall. For a dad, he wasn’t bad looking. He was strong with lots of muscle, a flawless face and hair of wheat framing his face. Surprisingly he was married a woman that looked like she went under a thousand surgeries and did not look good at all.

“I love it!” I ran up to him and hugged his belly and smiled, “Are you going to build me a closet?”

“Of course, when we renovate the house, it will be placed in. Don’t worry.” He took a deep breath in and continued, “Honey, are you upset about Angie?” I looked up at him shocked.

“Me? Upset? No,” He saw right through my lie, “Okay, a little, because when she moves in, I won’t be your little girl anymore. You’ll have the other kids to play with and spoil. I’ll just turn out to be the rotten teenager like Angie says I am.” I let go of him and walked away, rubbing my arms. “You won’t be my dad anymore, you’ll be their dad and I’ll miss you. We won’t have anymore fun because you have to take care of her and the gang. Plus with more little babies around the house, that will make me the all time babysitter.” He chocked on his salvia.

“What!? Back this wagon up, more kids? Where did you get that idea?”

“Angie. She told me that on her honeymoon, that will be the first kid, then after that one is born she wants sextuplets.” I smiled and walked away, leaving him drowning in my words.

“Oh great,” I heard him mutter,

“Make an offer on the house!” I called back and continued down the stairs.

Chapter 3

The move in

A week later, we packed up the little things that we had from our apartment and went to the new house. The beds in the apartment had to stay there so, Angie promised to buy us all new beds, and a real soft one for her and dad. While we were moving in, we had people come and redid the roof, and install a bathroom, laundry room and electricity along with Television and internet.

We meet Angie and her FIVE children at the house, they had two large moving trunks with them with all of there stuff. I felt poor, because dad and I only had our small flat bed truck full of boxes. My dad walked up and kissed Angie and hugged the kids, I hung back and started carrying things up to my room.

When I came into my room, my bed was set up already. I groaned and set the box down. Grabbing a hold of the frame, I pushed in around so, the head was against the wall and the end was facing the stairway. “There,” I grunted with a huff as I wiped my hands on my shirt. “Just right,” The knocking of the workers was quite annoying as I opened up all my boxes of belongings.

“Kaala!” A call came from downstairs,

“Yes?”

“You need to be out of the room, while they work on your closet.” I smiled and dropped what I was doing and walked down to the second floor. As I exited, four workmen stomped up the stairs, dragging dirt and crud with them.

“Clean up after you’re done.” I howled to them, as they disappeared, all I heard was ugh and moans.

Stepping out into the hall, the loudness and excited voices buzzed and bit at my ears. If you stood in the middle, you would be able to tell, what side the girls’ rooms were on and the side the boys’ rooms were on. Ballet music and Hannah Montana flowed down to mix with rap and the sound effects from video games coming from the boys’ room. I guess Angie put the girls on the side that my hidden room was. At the far end of the hall, my dad and Angie were arguing about something. Walking down, I pounded on the door with my fists. “I can hear you!” and it fell silent,

“Kaala, please come in.” My dad called and I opened the door. The pale room that it used to be was now a baby blue. Angie stood next to the wall, holding a paint brush in one hand and a rag in the other. Her usual rich clothes were now sweats that were covered in pant and her hair back in a messy bun.

“What are you fighting about now?” I asked crossing my arms over my chest,

“Nothing.” My dad said flatly glaring at me and stormed out of the room and away.

“Did you tell him?” Angie yelled at me after my dad was out of hearing range.

“Not exactly,” I muttered rolling my eyes.

“You selfish inconsiderate…” She paused at a swear word,

“I had to tell him! He was going to find out anyways! I mean look at you. You’re very large, and you don’t eat so yeah.” I shrugged and walked out, slamming down the door behind me. With the music blasting I pounded on the door of the closet room. The door opened and standing there wearing only tights and a leotard. “Whoa, what are you wearing?” Covering my eyes with the back of my hands,

“For your information I’m practicing for ballet and I don’t need your sass.”

“My sass? Kaylee I don’t need your attitude. Anyways, turn it down or turn it off. I live upstairs and I don’t need to hear, lada dee ladda da lada dee.” I sang and walked away, hearing her slam the door. The next door down, the Hannah Montana music blared out, knocking, the door opened and standing there in a Hannah Montana shirt and jeans. “Hey Alexis, can you please turn down your music?”

“No.” She said straight forward, “I’m trying to organize my room. So, go away.”

“Sorry Alexis, but it needs to be turned down.” I pushed her aside and twisted the volume knob on her stereo.

“NO!” She screamed and slapped my arm; I shrugged and walked out of her room closing the door behind me.

Trudging down the stairs, I could hear my dad on his cell phone. Tiptoeing up to the kitchen doorway, his conversation shocked me. He was talking with my grandmother about the little baby or ‘problem’ as he put it. Even from five feet away I would hear her yelling. Not wanting to get caught, I slipped away and headed for the front door. Opening the heavy door was not easy but it was cool. When I stepped out on the wooden steps and closed the door behind me, the sharp air caught me off guard. Luckily the workers already cut and trimmed the grass and bushes. Golden orange leaves blew across the yard like tornadoes. The long driveway was no sprinkled with the leaves. The ancient oaks towered and reached for the sky with their limbs covered in a wash of oranges and reds. Smiling, I walked around the house and into the back. Although this is a big house, and with all the windows, the ones facing the back were boarded up, so this is the first time to see the backyard. When I turned the corner, I stopped dead in awe. A shining lake blinded me, the soft waves licked at the sandy shore. Sitting on the shore, a rotting dock stretched out into the water, I’m sure my dad can fix it up. Running back inside the house, I threw on my swimsuit and wadded into the shallows. Surprisingly it was quite warm and clear, no weeds. Pulling down my goggles I dove under to get a good look.

Chapter 4 The ghost

I haven’t seen Seth for hours, probably because I was bust examining all the rooms. The colors, toys and books were very different. Floating out of the ‘bathroom’, I think that’s what they called it, a scream echoed through the house, running to a window, I saw Kaala running. What she was wearing caught my eye. I don’t know what it was but man I was showing a lot of skin.

Hearing the slam of the door and frantic breathing I went downstairs. Her father had a hard clamp on her upper arms, his hands holding her still. Pressing against the wall I listened.

“What happened?” Her dad asked,

“I…I was swimming in the lake.”

“What lake?”

“The one out… outback. I wasn’t very deep, I came to a drop off and wanted to see what was at the bottom, so I swam to the surface and took a deep breath and dove under. I stopped to see if the cliff wall was smooth or covered with muscles. When I turned around…”

“What?”

“This face was staring at me. It wasn’t a human face. I was white, no eyes just black holes. It was wearing a black cloak.”

“Okay, it’s okay.” Her father held her close and I wanted to cry.

“What’s she crying about?” A lady walked over separating them so she could hug Kaala’s dad.

“She saw something in the lake; I’m going to go check the lake out.” He unhooked her arms and walked away. The first thing that came to my mind was Seth.

“Saw something in the lake? Are you under something?” Kaala glared at her, her eyes filled with tears. She shook her head and ran upstairs crying. Lady snickered and skipped away happily. I wrinkled my nose and went to find Kaala.

Upon entering her room, Kaala was pulling on a pair of pants, and talking under breath. I closed the door trying not to make a sound but it clicked shut. Her head snapped up and for a second I was positive she saw me. After seconds of silence she continued on and leaped on her bed, lifting a grey square from the floor. Curiosity tempted me over and I looked over her shoulder. She opened it like a door and was now an ‘L’ shape. The bottom had keys like a type writer but was smaller; the top light up with strange colors. A small arrow flicked across the screen and a white piece of paper popped up and the words appeared fast. Looking down, I saw her fingers move, tapping the keys, she was typing.

When I was alive, I was a pro at typing. My father installed on in the library, and I would sit and type school work or announcements when we would have parties or meetings. My teachers and other mothers disagreed about the stories that would flow from my fingers onto the paper.

As Kaala left and was standing by a shelf, I typed in a simple phrase, ‘Hello, How are you.’ The small clicking of the keys made her run over and she read and reread my message. “Okay I did not write this.” She whispered, “Huh,” Kaala typed another message, ‘A little scared, who is this?’

‘Do not be afraid, I lived in this house a long time ago.’

‘So you’re like a ghost.”

‘You can say that.’

‘Were you at the lake?’

‘No.’

‘Is there more of you?’

‘Yes, it was Him.’

‘Who is him?’

‘Cannot tell you, he is coming.’ Seth floated in and frowned, Kaala’s eyebrows creased as she read my message and I tried to run out of the room but Seth grabbed me and pinned me to the wall. “Listen to me you child, I am in charge. If you ever, ever talk to any of these humans, or someone will get hurt.” I fell to the floor as Seth dropped me and I fell through the floor. As I hovered back into the room, Kaala called for me.

“Are you still here?” My hands shaking I answered, ‘Yes, I am still here.’

‘Where did you go?’

‘Through the floor.’

‘What is your name?’

‘Madelyn.’

‘Cool.’

‘You are Kaala.’

‘How do you know?’

‘Your father calls you that.’

‘What is your last name?’

‘Family name is Storm.’

‘Storm. What is his name?’

‘He calls himself Seth.’

‘Seth, how do you know him?’

‘He was summoned, by people in black.’

‘Where?’ I did not type back, I did not want Seth to find out, and shaking my head I drifted away.

Chapter 5

Who lived in this house before me?

With no answer from the ghost who calls herself, Madelyn, I walked over and connected the laptop with the printer and printed out the conversation. When I was out, I pulled on an Aeropostale sweatshirt and tromped down stairs, running down two at a time. My dad caught me right as I was heading for the door. “Where do you think your going?” I squirmed out of his grip and smoothed out my jacket.

“To the town library.”

“Why?”

“Because, I want to see who lived in this house before us.”

“No, I cannot allow you out of this house.”

“I’m just riding my bike. I won’t be gone long.” I opened the door but he shut it again. “Let me go!” I ordered, whirling around to look at him.

“Kaala I cannot allow you to go into town while there is much to do in this house.”

“Like what? My room is done. I have nothing to do.”

“Go help the other kids.” I crossed my arms, “Angie might want help too.”

“No. I hate those brats. I am not helping them.” I snapped back and glared at him.

“Now!” He roared and treaded away heavily. I waited till he was out of hearing range and silently opened the door and slipped out. Unlocking my bike, I hopped on and rode down the driveway.