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It
was a hundred and twenty years ago since Old Richard
Burnstead moved out of his house, leaving a hidden tale
behind unopened walls that lay dormant for a century,
beckoning for someone to come hither and unleash what
was truly inside. Bet you readers can't guess what those
walls wore whispering to those many who slept in those
chambers, resting peacefully, until a voice, low and
soft called them to tear apart the walls and find what
was really hidden there for so many years.
Jacob
Bind hurried toward the door when the door bell
rang proudly. " I'm coming!" he shouted.
Jack Milestone was standing in a drenched dark raincoat. " You're
wet uncle, come on in out of the pouring rain why
don't you?" "Don't mind if I do nephew." He
placed the black umbrella by a corner next to the
wall closet and gave it a funny look, thinking he
heard
something but nah, it was only his imagination or
was it? He disrobed his coat from his masculine fifty
year
old body and hung it safely on a hook. " Still
doctoring folks are you uncle?" " But of
course I am son, wouldn't quit the profession until
someone took me out to the woods and put a shot gun
to my head, then I'd retire" he said jokingly
with a big smile on his face as he brushed a hand
over his silver tresses. " I like to keep myself
busy, you know Jakey and don't get many chances to
spend
time with you, so let's enjoy this evening." Jakey
was a nickname since birth and it was rare any of
his friends called him by his rightful name, Jacob.
Only
his mother who disappeared several years ago entitled
him as Jacob. She left without even a letter
or simple note. But Jacob grew accostomed to her
being gone away from him for such a long time and he
learned
that he did not have to deal with it all alone as
his uncle took care of him. Jacob and his mother lived
in that house, on Bunker Hill, which his mother resided
at since she was a young girl. It was fun for the
both
of them for a while, until his mother got these feelings,
depressing thoughts that somehow they wore not alone.
In the middle of the night Jacob heard a noise and
went to his mothers' bedroom only to find her missing.
No explanation could be found why she left like that
for. He heard a quite cry from a far away distance
which he could not explain himself. His uncle had
telephoned the police but they came up with nothing
after their
investigation. Soon, he faced the world alone in
his mind, wondering how he would live without her but
his
uncle was chosen by her to be his godparent and he
has been a good one at that.
He
looked out the window, looking at the rain falling
to the ground. On nights like these, he would sit
on the couch and watch movies, eating popcorn alone,
as
it always reminded him the days when he and his mother
would sit and view old flicks while of course, munching
on popcorn. They watched those black and white films
for hours on a saturday night, then he would fall
asleep next to her on the couch as she was singing
one of
her songs she had written but never had a single
one published as she didn't want to be rich and famous,
just be a simple person with simple needs.
"This
is a strange house, is it not?" a
voice gently spoke as a hand rested on Jacobs' shoulder. " Yes,
it sure is uncle." " You know, it is almost
like the walls are crying out; can't you hear them,
especially at nightfall?" his uncle questioned
him. " I know exactly what you mean; I hear
the voices to or, er...the cries, like you say." Lifting
an eyebrow upward, " Voices, did I hear you
correctly; voices? Well maybe it's something medical
that needs
to be looked into for the both of us then." he
laughingly remarked. Placing his hands firmly on
his waist, he eyed the young teenager and said in
a soft
tone, " Son, do you mean to tell me that you
hear voices in your head?" Shaking his head, " No,
I'm not hearing voices in my head uncle Jack; I only
hear them at night when I'm in my room and the voices
awaken me."
He
placed his hand over his chin, rubbing it, thinking
to himself what his nephew
had just told him. " Humm..he
murmured then coming up with a solution, more than
an answer; let's wait until nightfall and see what
we hear then okay?" " So you believe me
then?" he
said with eyes round as saucers. Witch a bellowing
laugh, " Well, I didn't say I believed you now
Jakey; I'm only saying we'll stay up a little later
tonight and see what noise, if there is any to be
heard and just hear for ourselves alright?" " Alright
then," he said in agreement. Night fell and
a full moon was outside. Jacob believed in witches
strongly
and thought that it might be a hag who was making
those erie noises. He lay in his bed quietly, wondering
if
his mother had been taken by a witch or even a gypsy
or by some voodoo spell perhaps. The thought was
embedded in his mind for a while until he decided
to shake the
feeling. A window was open somewhere in the house
as he could feel a cool breeze enter his room. He
arose
from his comfy bed and found his way into the darkened
hallway. Half frightened but fully aware that his
uncle was just upstairs and he wasn't alone by any
means
made him feel more at ease.
A soft
voice beckoned for him to come near. "J..A..C..O..B" His
name was like an echo as it repeated again. It almost
sounded like his mothers he thought to himself but
he wasn't sure. Gradually, he walked up the stairs
to see if his uncle had heard it as well and knocked
on his door but no sound came from the room so Jacob
knocked again. Still...no answer. He opened the door
a crack and whispered, " Uncle, did you hear
a noise?" Still no response. He went over to
the bed where his uncle slept and it was unoccupied.
An
alarm sounded off in his mind. 'No, not again,' as
he had feared he was abandoned all over again. He
fled down the stairs calling out, " Uncle Jack,
where are you?" No one replied. His heart pounded,
fear drove a dagger into his chest.
What
in the world was going on! He ran from one room to
the next and still he
could not be found. His eyes
darted in every direction as he wondered where to
look next. Suddenly, the front door shut hard. Whiping
around,
looking at a figure standing drenched in water, Jacob
opened his mouth in awe. " Where the heck have
you been; I've been hunting the whole house looking
for you uncle!" " Calm down son; I was
only outside," he said soothingly. Not a sufficient
enough answer for him so he went on, " Oh yeah,
doing what?" Rolling the car windows up; I had
forgotten to and woke up remembering I needed to
do so. I didn't think I needed your permission." He
gave him a quizzical look, "Are you alright
Jakey?"
"Don't
call me that; yes I'm alright," he
said in a stern atonement. His feeling hurt but under
standing the boy must had been scared not knowing
if he was left alone again like what happened those
many
years ago, must have surfaced in his imagaination,
was what he concluded in his own mind. " Why
don't you run along and try to get some sleep, okay
Jake?" he
said to him now, instead of calling him Jakey in
his usual manner.
Back
in his room, he began to lay down on his bed, disbelieving
that his uncle would stay up to listen
for any curious noises, that he had only said that
to humor him somehow, as if he wore a small child.
He was a young man in his early adolescent life.
''Age thirteen is a big age for some kids, he told
one of
his friends, as some have paper routes and shovel
snow for a living.'' He secretly wished he had a job,
maybe
rolling windows would be a thing he would be good
at he thought in a humorous way, snickering slightly,
as he lay staring at a black cold ceiling that did
not bother to smile at him or whisper a friendly
hello;
as the walls wore the only ones to even utter their
sounds. That had to suffice, for now, he supposed
in his mind as he started to drift off to sleep.
Morning
came and the sun arose a brilliant hue of orange
and yellow marigold. The brillance of its' natural
light shone through the houses' window. Jacob stretched
and yawned then raked his hand, grabbing for his
lucky pebbles that he had placed in a bag, which lay
safely
under his pillow. He opened the crimson silk pouch
strings, unleashing the treasure before his eyes.
One stone, he took out and stared at it, remembering
it
was the first stone he had found by the beach while
walking along side his mother. Her hair was the color
of wheat and honey and her eyes, that of a sapphie
blue gem. She looked at him with gentleness each
time she spoke to her son. Gathering all the tiny pebbles,
admiring the different array of colors, pink, opal,
blue and onyx black coloring, he smiled at all his
little friends that rested in his hand for a few
minutes,
then carefully placed them all back into the pouch
his mother had made for him.
Walking
home from school, he decided to go into the woods.
Jacob noticed an odd
ghostly shaped figure by
the bushes. Carefully, he walked towards the bushes
that seemed to be calling him to come nearer. It
was a figure alright, a womanly figure at that. Standing
tall, with long flaxen hair and waving a hand at
him
playfully," made him curious who it was. 'Mother,'
he summoned in his mind and he found himself saying
the words aloud. " Mother, is that you?" The
figure did not give him an answer. Again he asked
inquisitively, " Mother,
is that you I say?" No words came from the womanly
ghost like matter that was before his eyes. Why did
she not answer him, he wondered. Did she not know
it was her own son or was she someone he never met
or
one of the witches that lived in the walls that made
those odd noises, finally coming out to show a living
soul that it exsisted indeed!
Walking
closer and closer, he noticed the image drew further
back away from
him, as if to say he should
not come nearer to her. " Why are you leaving
me?" he asked boldly. The apiration seemed to
disappear as he stood there all alone, in the woods,
comforted by only the whistling of the birds. He
remained there for a few moments and reasoned that
it was his
mother. 'It must had been her; I just know it somehow,'
he said in a hushed whisper. He walked back homeward
and kept picturing the ghostly woman in the woods.
He knocked on the door and his uncle opened it. " You're
a bit late coming home from school aren't you son?"
"Ye s
sir, but you won't believe what I seen today!" he
exclaimed. " What little adventure wore you
on, that you took the time to see this wonderful
delightment?" His
uncle detected that it must had been something thrilling
and exciting to see. " You wouldn't believe
a word of it, if I told you." Sounding like
that was some sort of challenge, he smiled and replied, " Well
now, try me out for size, let's just see if your
uncle Jack will disagree with you on this one or
not." "Okay,
here goes; I went to the woods after school and I
seen this woman, well, more like a ghost and she
waved at
me and I know this sounds weird but I think it was
mother." Rolling his eyes in the air, " Goodness
Sakes Alive boy; do you know what you are saying?" " I
knew you wouldn't believe me!" he stammered
and folded his arms together. " Now son, I didn't
say I disbelieved you for a second but honestly now,
your mother?" " Yes uncle Jack, I think
it was her." " Well then, we are just going
to have to go to the woods tomorrow and see for ourselves,
won't we?" " Okay by me," he said
with a slight shrug of the shoulders.
The
next day came and it was towards the early evening
when his uncle and he went
to the woods. " Here's
the spot I was at and over there, he pointed a finger,
was the ghost by those bushes!" They stood there
for what seemed like eternity until his uncle decided
they had waited long enough. "It's time to go
home Jake, no sense in hanging around here; no ghost
to be seen; maybe your eyes wore just playing tricks
on you eh?" " No they woren't, I seen her
like I said I did." " Sure, sure you did
son," he said reassuringly as he patted a hand
on his shoulder. They both began to walk back home
when all of a sudden a crackling sound came out of
nowhere. "Did you hear that uncle?" " I
most definitly did." Turning around, they seen
the ghost like apiration appear before them now.
In disbelief, his uncle asked, " Who are you?'
Dressed
in a long white gown, she answered him, " I'm
Jacobs mother." "I knew it!" Jacob
shouted excitingly. " But wh...what are you
doing here, why are you a ghost, what happened t..to
you?" his
uncle stuttered his words but she understood them
clearly. " I
was murdered in the same house you and my son live
in." He continued questioning her, " By
whom; I must know!" " I was murdered by
Mr. Burnstead himself." "That's impossible,
he's been dead for over a century now; how can that
be?" "His
ghost murdered me and he still dwells in the house." Then
she warned them, "You must take leavance of
that place as he will come back from his grave and
kill
the both of you!" "Mother, he interrrupted,
what about those strange voices coming from the walls
at night?" " Those my dear, are the many
victims' he murdered, and you both are next if you
do not leave that house." As soon as she had
appeared before them, she was soon gone, vanished
into thin
air. " Unbelievable!" his uncle said. " Now
you believe I was telling the truth all along uncle?" "I
sure do now Jake."
Together
they walked back to the house they resided and began
packing clothing. With in an hour, they had
left that house on Bunker Hill and drove away, heading
for a new destination and another home to live in,
hopefully one that was not haunted this time!
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