The House

William Bancroft was an amazing detective. Working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, he has uncovered thousands of cases, and arrested hundreds of criminals. William has always been good at finding the clues necessary to fulfil the investigation. 

He decided to move away from the home he once knew, preferring the quiet and calm of the suburbs over the hustle and bustle of the city. He purchased a two story, three bedroom, two bathroom house. He did not have any family, at least that he lived with, but he utilized the extra rooms for his communications system and his work office. The house was very cheap, only sixty thousand dollars. The house itself was very well kept for how cheap it was, and the neighborhood itself was very small. 

Once he unpacked all of his belongings and furniture, he decided to see his neighbors. Of them, there were only two that he particularly liked, Cheever Livingston, and the Sumner family. Cheever was a police officer, and he had quite the reputation, arresting many criminals through his twelve years of service. However, the Sumners were a peculiar bunch. First, Joseph Sumner, who was the father of Mary and Elijah Sumner. He was very erratic, almost as if he was constantly moving between fight and flight in his head. However, his humor could diffuse any argument, and even calmed him down temporarily. His wife, Elizabeth, was generally very quiet and calm. However, she was very stubborn on many topics, and would fight tooth and nail for what she believed. Mary was very shy and quiet. But, she could talk for hours about things that interest her. Finally, Elijah was very open with his opinions. But, he lacked the desire to argue his points. 

The Sumners lived in the farthest part of the neighborhood. Their house looked very old compared to the others in the neighborhood, almost as if it were unkempt for a year or so. Paint around the upper parts of the house seemed to be chipping away, but still mostly retained its original blue color. The wood along the porch seemed to be slightly rotting. The bottom portions of the windows seemed to have collected a lot of dust. The interior was cluttered, but it looked a bit more presentable. Elizabeth told William that it was difficult to keep the house looking nice, as Joseph was always working, and he did not always have time to re-paint or fix much of the house's exterior. She could not do it either, as she takes care of the children, as well as cleaning up the interior. William found this strange, as every other house was very well kept, and he never saw Joseph leave for work. Come to think of it, Elizabeth never left for groceries. 

The only car in their parking lot was a 2012 Honda Accord. It was red in color, but some of the paint along the rims of the car have worn away. There were a few kinks around the front and back bumpers, as well as around the bottom edges of the front and right passenger doors. As far as he could remember from a week of living in his new house, that car never left the parking lot. 

William was very fond of Cheever, however, he did not bother to ask him about the Sumner family. He knew very little about the neighborhood’s history, so he assumed that they were just the oddballs of the area. 

He soon realized how strange it was that he was not asking questions. It was his job, after all. But, there have been very few cases for the last couple of weeks, and he enjoyed relaxing in the quiet of the suburbs. But, he wanted a new case to come. This led him to a brilliant idea, he wanted to know if the Sumners were lying to him. Perhaps they were hiding something from him, something that may explain everything about them. 

William did not go to sleep that night. Instead he waited to see Joseph leave his house for work. He stayed up all night, and did not see Joseph’s car leave the parking lot. He did not even see Joseph leave the house. William waited until morning to confront Joseph, who told him that he was sick, and that he would go to work the next day. William asked Joseph at what time he left, but Joseph did not answer. Elizabeth did not answer either, and attempted to move onto a different subject. 

So again, William stayed up for the night. Joseph never left. He stayed up all morning, Joseph never left. Joseph did not leave in the afternoon, and not in the evening. Elizabeth did not leave either. William was exhausted, but he wanted so badly to find what the Sumners were hiding. 

Finally, he turned to the internet. He did quite a lot of digging, until he finally found something. The house that they lived in was last purchased in 2017. That means that they have lived in the house for around a year. However, the name attached was not Sumner. It was Winston. He also found that there was an investigation on the house, but he could not find anything else about it. No wonder they never left. They are living in a house that is not legally theirs. 

William marched to their house, and knocked on the door. No response. He opened the door, as it was unlocked. As a matter of fact, it was always unlocked. He opened the door, and realized that the house looked older than it did before. He searched the house, and there was no one there. The Sumners left, but their car did not. 

With this, William finally decided to ask Cheever about their house. Cheever laughed, and said that the house was empty. No one has lived in it for around a year. William said that he saw the family that lived there, the Sumners. He even interacted with them. Cheever looked at him, but not as if he were a madman, but as if he caused Cheever to remember something that he tried to forget. Cheever invited him into his house. He told him that he had lived in the neighborhood for a few years. He also said that due to his location, he was part of an investigation. Cheever then told him these exact words; 

“That house was the site of a murder. Four were found dead, a wife, a husband, and two children. I remember that their last names were Sumner. No one found the killer. However, a couple moved in after the investigation was over. But, they left. Something about visions, footsteps, and violent nightmares, something like that. They thought the house was haunted. No one has lived there since.”