I Never Guessed

From: Edd  (edd_g_davies@hotmail.com)
Story type: Ghost
Location: Dorset
Source: Form Submission

I tell the truth when I say that I had a ghostly experience that spanned longer than I would have chosen, despite my lifelong curiosity, for any 'ghost' hunter would be sobered to frequent more searches had they already seen what I have.

My parents had departed from the house late last week and my sister had left on the weekend meaning I had a bit of quiet time to myself in our suburban semi. The prospect of getting a good friend to stay for the week would seem logical and fun, but I wanted to use this time alone to do some geeky things such as the formidable 2000 piece jiggy, cataloguing the large stamp collection, and learn how to use my telescope if the nights proved cloud free.

I began the jigsaw puzzle the moment my sister left, knowing that I could use the whole living room, and I got the stamp bag out my room and into the living room. I had the television on, and I lay casually on the floor getting the frame pieces of the jigsaw separated from the rest in the sprawling pool. I cant see why anyone would want to have friends round all the time, when you can just do everything you want and take up as much room as you want, in an empty house. The dog had died last month, and I did not consider the factor of quietness in the house without the canine that always kicked and yapped in his sleep, leaving me with some doubt as to the practicality of staying on my own all the time with no friends round. I supposed that it would be a balance between laziness and anxiety, so I just left it to my judgment.

There is not much on TV, but I am still occupied with the puzzle when I hear bizarre screaming noises in the very first floor of the house. I decided that there should be no one else in the house, so I picked up a pair of scissors from the kitchen side and stealthily made my way through the hallway towards the base of the staircase. I had obtained a lot of experience from Timesplitters on my Playstation2 towards jumping out from blind corners and checking the coast. I heard a snorting breath as I reached the stairs, which came from one of the rooms upstairs. I would have sent the dog up to inspect, (or be used as cannon fodder), only he was no longer alive, so I thought to myself, 'I shall slay any foul fiend taking residence in our home', and I began to scale the stairs. I began to think of all of the possible things that the snort could have manifested from, but the only thing I could think of was a flying boar, so I acknowledged that I must wait and see.

'Tappf, tappf, tappf, wham!', was the sound of my footsteps, with a differing final footstep due to the floorboard that gave way under my very foot. I began to question the nature of the house, pondering the possibility of it being ancient, and built on an Indian burial ground, but I was compelled to proceed towards my sister's room instead of thinking about terrifying hypotheses. The only thing that could make me more scared at that moment of approaching the door would be to find out I had achieved A* in all of my GCSEs, and was sure to be burdened with the stigma of great achievement. But luckily, this was far from the case, and the only thing scaring me was the form taking space-time behind one of the doors.

I briskly opened the door to my sister's room, finding only an empty room with posters of Television stars on the wall, (namely the Tele-tubbies), making me believe that I should barge into another room to find the responsible scare-monger. I told my self to stay calm, but as I did, a devastating array of laughter omitted from downstairs, and I suddenly knew that what was up, was now down. I turned to the stairs and impulsively strided down quickly, only to be met by another scream from up stairs; I knew that ever was responsible was not alone.

I naively went from the top to the bottom of the stairs repeatedly, as sound came from each of the latter vicinities, and after several hours, I was exhausted. I fell asleep and woke up four hours later, in a dark house with no sound, except for the infernal screams from downstairs, and the cacophony of laughter and snorting from upstairs.

'In the name of sanity, I must oppose these creatures', or something along those lines ran through my head. I knew that if a showdown was imminent, I had to be fully equipped, so I made for the kitchen w/scissors tightly in my fist, warning any foul-teethed wretches to show themselves else perish. I managed the journey bar fear, occupying the kitchen, looking, neither, searching for suitable armourments to adorn for inevitable confrontation with unbelievable death-assuming tyrants, of varied intelligence.

I put plasters on my knuckles, a bandage abreast my cranial cage, I picked up a rolling pin, and I held a baking try as if a shield. The incredible screams filling the air particles with a noxious density were coming from my bedroom downstairs, so I stepped to the door of my room, and opened it. What I saw was terrifying, disturbing, life leeching, evil, breathtaking, and monstrous; there was absolutely nothing there, despite the blood curdling emissions. I realised that the noise was in fact the television of the geriatric neighbours, and they were a little on the deaf side. I had no time to think further on the matter, for I would surely be blinded by the pressure of the air at such high volume. Even though there was a wall separating me and the neighbours, I felt like I was inside a jumbo jet turbine. They must have got a special sound system installed with at least a 2000watt amplifier; I could see cracks appearing helplessly in the wall as the house vibrated violently.

I have since been afraid, very afraid. Very, very afraid. Quite afraid anyways.