Stay Away

The light was flickering again. Mary looked at it, a twinge of annoyance in her eyes. All she wanted to do was read her book. It was a new one. Her boyfriend, Ben, had given it to her for her birthday. It was some sort of supernatural murder mystery and she was halfway in, right when everything was getting exciting.

"Hey Ben, the light is flickering again. Could you come look at it, please?"

He walked into the kitchen.

"Again? Didn't we just have an electrician look at it?"

Mary nodded. The flickering was getting worse and it was starting to give her a headache.

"I know, but something's still wrong with it.”

Her voice took a playful tone,

“Maybe the place is haunted like that agent said.”

He laughed.

“If only. I could use some excitement.

“Not me! That’s why I read books like this. Will you see if you can fix it, please?"

Ben nodded.

"Yeah, of course. How's the book?"

She smiled,

"It's great, I love it! I just reached the part where they found a body, so it's bound to get better."

Ben smiled at her. It was one of his favorite things about her, how she got so excited about books. If she stopped responding to his texts, or he couldn't find her, she was sure to be curled up in a nook somewhere, obsessing over pages and ink.  Ben leaned over and kissed her on the forehead.

“I’ll go up to the attic and see if a fuse got tripped or something.”

Mary smiled at him again, 

“Thank you.”

She mouthed at him, and then turned her attention back to the book as he disappeared around the corner. Mary’s headache was getting worse so she decided to make some tea while she was waiting for Ben to fix the light. She set the water on the stove.

 Mary hummed a toon to herself while she was looking at the tea flavors in the cupboard. She was trying to decide between lavender and chamomile when the light went out completely. 

“Ben, the light’s out!”

She called. There was no response. She wasn’t sure if he could hear her, so she waited a few seconds. The light turned on again and she smiled. He must have heard her. She grabbed the Lavender box and opened a tea bag. She smiled at the pleasant scent and continued humming. She pulled out another mug for Ben. She could already hear him jokingly complaining about not having tea when he came back down. 

The water started to whistle. As Mary reached for the kettle, the lights started flickering wildly. She froze. It was different this time. Something about it seemed sinister. She laughed at herself. How could flickering lights be sinister; it was just faulty electrical work. Despite that, the laugh was hard to conjure and it faded from her lips quickly. Her hands shook as she reached for the kettle. The whistling was getting louder by the second. A bang came from upstairs, right above the light and she jumped. 

Mary turned towards the stairs. Her heart was drumming in her ears. She thought back to their conversation earlier.

“He’s just trying to scare me.”

She said aloud, hoping that verbalizing the idea would make her feel better. She took a step towards the stairs. 

“He’s trying to scare me.”

With that final declaration Mary started walking up the stairs. She ignored the voice in the back of her head that was screaming at her, The voice that was saying Ben was too mature for a prank like this, that he would never try to scare her like this. She excused it as a lapse in judgment. One that most likely happened because of the book he had gifted her. She was vaguely aware of the kettle whistling downstairs. She knew that it would become a hazard if left too long. 

“I’ll be down in a moment.”

She whispered.When she reached the attic, Mary paused outside the door. It was dead quiet. She cautiously placed her hand on the knob and opened it slowly. It didn’t creak, or groan, or get stuck. It opened like a normal door should. Mary exhaled in relief and walked in.

“Ben! This was the least funny thing you could have possibly done. Like really? Why?!”

She then realized that Ben wasn’t anywhere in sight. She let out a frustrated groan, realizing that he intended to carry this joke out for as long as he possibly could. She started to walk amongst the clutter. 

Mistake to come up here

The words sent a shiver up Mary’s spine.

“He’s just trying to scare me.”

 For a moment, she convinced herself that she had imagined them. But she hadn’t. The same voice whispered again, 

Let us rest in peace

A small whimper escaped from her lips.

“Ben. I’m actually scared now. Please come out.”

She waited a moment, her temper growing with her fear.

“Ben! I’m serious! This isn’t funny!”

Leave now

Mary whipped around. The voice sounded like it had come from behind her but no one was there. She turned back around. A part of her was trying so hard to convince herself that this was a prank. But she knew. There was no way. Ben would never do this. The door slammed behind her. The voices raised angrily

You should have left

Leave us

Now you are stuck with us 

NOW YOU CAN NEVER LEAVE

Mary stumbled in panic, trying to cover her ears. It was no use. The whispers were not something her ears could hear. They penetrated to her very soul. She tripped over a piece of junk and fell. The floor where she landed was warm and sticky. She brought her hands up to her face slowly. They were red. She immediately wondered how red paint had spilled. Did they even have red paint? Why was it that color? 

That’s not paint

She shuddered and jumped up. Behind her, Ben was sprawled on the ground. His eyes were wide open and his face was frozen in horror. She didn’t know where the blood was coming from. He was covered in it. There was some form of rune scribbled on his forehead. Mary stood there, frozen. 

Her brain couldn’t process what she was seeing. The spirits were still whispering and screaming in her ears. She dropped to her knees. 

“I’m done.”

She whispered in defeat. Something materialized in front of her. It was a wispy, ghostly form. She looked to where the face should have been. It had none. A tear slipped out of her eye and she clutched Ben’s cold hand. The faceless spirit moved towards her and she closed her eyes.

Mary’s neighbor, Anges, looked out her window. There was a fire in Mary’s house. She rushed to her phone and dialed Mary's number in as fast as her frail hands would allow. When it rang through she called the fire department. 

Agnes started to talk to herself.

“I wish I could go over there myself and make sure they’re okay, the poor dears. They seemed so sweet.”

Agnes sat by the window and watched as the fire sparked higher. Finally, the firemen arrived. 

Beth blinked rapidly as her friend aimed his flashlight in her face. He continued his tale in a spooky voice, 

“By the time they arrived, most of the house was lost to the fire. The official report said that they died before the fire reached them; but everyone knows the real story.”

One of her other friends jumped in, 

“If you listen closely, you can still hear the spirits crying to be left alone.”

Her brother put a hand on her shoulder and she jumped. He whispered in her ear, 

“Spend the night in there, and I’ll give you 50 bucks.”

Beth gulped as she looked at the charred remains of the house. She was terrified of the house, but she knew she would gain respect from her friends and brother if she didn’t back down. She took the flashlight from her friend and walked through the old doors.