We Know What We Heard

We Know What We Heard by Amanda Stogsdill

Thumpity thump! Inside their cozy living room, teens Danny and Tommy paused their video game. Onscreen, two cars were about to collide with one another. Deciding it was the wintry wind, they returned to their game.

Thump, thump. There it was again, a little louder than before. Tommy looked at Danny, perplexed. "Are you doing that?" He shook his head, just as confused as his brother.

After about a half hour, their mother returned with groceries. Unpacking in the kitchen, they told her about the mysterious noises they'd heard. "This is an old house, remember! There's lots of doors and old creaky places. Maybe that's all it was." The boys agreed, and tried to put it behind them.

The next day in school, they wondered about their strange house with their friends. "You're new, so we'll explain." Annie lowered her voice, the others leaned in, lunches forgotten. "Many years ago, someone died in the Thump house. That's why no one stays there for very long."

"Sure, it is." Tommy nudged his brother, "Next, you're going to tell us there's a magical country in my closet." They were reading the Narnia series in class.

Bryce dropped a half-eaten apple. "See Annie, they don't believe us! It's true, though. It'll get louder in a few nights." The others nodded seriously, as if discussing haunted houses were normal.

Nothing occurred until that Friday. The boys were popping popcorn when they heard the thumping again, the noise was coming from down the hall. Abandoning their treats, both boys hurried after the sound, so to speak. Yes, there it was, near the bathroom. Opening the door, they listened intently; the sound had stopped.

"Boys, where are you?" Mom called from the living room.

"Coming!" Returning to the living room, they decided to keep this mystery to themselves.

The next night, they heard the sound again! The thumps was faster and much closer together. Thumpity, thump, thumpity thump! Grabbing flashlights, they ran from room to room, searching for the mysterious noise. They couldn't find it, and exhausted, tried to sleep.

"Why are you guys tired?" Mom asked at breakfast. They explained about hearing the thumps, and how they'd searched all over for it.

"I thought I heard something." Mom admitted, "Like I said, it's this old house."

This continued for the next several weeks. Every weekend, a series of thumps could be heard. Some were close together, others were separate and far apart. After about two hours, there was silence. Whenever their friends came over, they unsuccessfully attempted to track their source. Danny and Tommy had many sleepless nights because of it.

"Can we sleep over at Bryce's?" Danny begged one night at dinner.

"Yeah. Too much thumping." Tommy pushed lettuce around his salad bowl. "I'm very tired."

After getting permission, the boys finally got a break from the maddening thumps! Endless rounds of super Mario filled their days, and scary movies kept them up at night. Returning home that Sunday, the boys were refreshed and ready for another week. Or so they thought.

Thump, thump! Thump, thump! Sitting bolt upright in their room, the boys gaped in horror. Those awful noises again! They sounded closer together, and there were more of them. This time, it didn't stop for two and a half hours! Covering their heads didn't help; the thumps simply increased, the brothers believed they were going insane.

"Mom, can you call someone to check out our house?" Danny begged. "We can't sleep at night."

"I don't hear those noises." Mom sipped her coffee, looking concerned, "But, to put your minds at rest, I'll call someone. You'll see there's nothing in this house causing those sounds. Now, get ready for school."

For the next two days, their house was searched for loose floorboards, doors, windows, or anything which might cause creaks. Nothing was found. The thumps ceased during this time, which was a relief to the boys. They were able to get much-needed sleep.

Peace was short-lived. A week after the man left, the thumps began in earnest. These persisted for five nights in a row. The boys timed them; they started at ten o'clock, and continued until nearly one in the morning. Sometimes, the thumps sounded as if they were all over the house, other times they appeared to be in one spot. Danny even recorded them one night, just to prove to each other they definitely weren't imagining anything.

"See? There it is." Danny was frustrated, sitting in bed, trying to complete his homework. Tommy listened, then announced, "I'm going to follow it. It's in one spot again." Loudly echoing, there was no mistaking it! Sprinting down the hall in their pajamas, they felt like this was a big adventure. Thump, thump! Not the bathroom, not the closet. Pausing in the living room, they listened again. Yes! to the left in the dining room. Thump, thump thump, thump. Closer together now, as if calling them to hurry up. "The kitchen!" Danny almost stubbing his toe on a chair, "There's nothing in there.”

"Has to be." Tommy just wanted to solve this thing once and for all.

Switching on the kitchen light, they listened again. Kitchen appliances stood out in the dim light, the humming refrigerator seemed unusually loud. Thump, thump. Past the fridge, stove and microwave, the thumps led them to the pantry.

Leaping back, the brothers gaped at their discovery!

Running into the hall, they hollered for their Mom. "What now? It's early morning." Bleary-eyed with sleep, she fixed her sons with her "this better be good" expression. They explained how they couldn't sleep, so had wandered around. "Show me." Mom demanded.

Yawning, they led Mom to the spot. "What?" She asked, staring at the plain wooden floor. "Nothing here."

Danny took a deep breath, and blurted out, "There's something underneath the floor. The noises woke us up. They've stopped now." Beside him, Tommy nodded encouragingly. Tapping the spot with his foot, Danny knelt and began prying the floorboard with his fingernails. Mom stopped him, saying their neighbor could come over later, if this was so important. Managing to go back to sleep, they rose later than usual. Rushing through breakfast, the boys anxiously waited for their neighbor.

Tools in hand, he proceeded to pry up the wooden floor. Jokingly he remarked, "So, noises led you here. Maybe you could investigate my house. Our closet door creaks." Neither laughed, they doubted he would have laughed if he'd heard what they had for the past couple weeks.

At last, the job was done. Peering in, Tommy gasped! Burried there was a dusty, padlocked trunk! Speechless, they gaped at what they saw. Carefully, they examined it. Danny started to open it, but Tommy shook his head. "Look! Hair." He pointed. Sure enough, bits of brown hair was caught in the trunk's lid. A rusted lock prevented the trunk from being opened.

The police were summoned, and the kitchen became like a mini crime scene. Photographing the spot, "Just like on TV." Danny whispered breathlessly.

As the police drove off, the family stood outside, gazing in awe at their house. Mom kept saying, "Wow, wow!" They spent the next few days at a neighbor's.

"Well, what are your plans?" The neighbor's curiosity couldn't be silent any longer.

"Not sure. Wait to see what the police find, I guess." Mom was still in shock; a trunk in her house!

Danny and Tommy still considered it had been a great adventure. True, they were a little frightened, but the thumps had led them to discover it. How cool was that? Would anyone believe them? Probably not.

Their theory was proven correct the next morning when a detective McEntire stopped by to question them. Having seen most everything in her role, she felt nothing would surprise her. She also knew about the thump house, having grown up around the neighborhood. She wanted to hear the boys' take on it. "Just how and where did you discover the body, exactly?" She asked patiently. The family were sitting on the couch.

"We said, it was buried in the kitchen!" Tommy explained.

"Okay. Most people just don't stumble across trunks in a small spaace very often. How did you know where to look?" She asked, preparing to write.

"We were exploring back there. We've just moved in." Danny eyed his brother, who backed him up.

"Are you sure?" She could see there was more to it; their nervous twitching was a giveaway. When they insisted that was everything, she stood up. "Okay. But, if you think of anything, call me." Handing their mother her card, she departed.

"See? she didn't believe us." Tommy faced his brother in bed, "She knew there was more." He frowned, "Should we tell?"

"Of course not. She would never believe us. Even Mom and our neighbors think we're bonkers. Hearing noises no one else can hear isn't a good thing, you know."

The mystery of the trunk became more interesting when a news report broke the following night. The report revealed a body of a woman had been discovered in a local house. Anyone with information was encouraged to contact the police. No other information was given. "Can't they identify her using her hair?" Danny asked.

"Yes, among other ways. It just takes a while for the results. Sometimes, bodies can't be identified at all. Aren't you guys frightened about all this? Now we know what was in the trunk, I'm scared." Mom admitted, muting the television.

"No. Well, kind of. Seeing the trunk was kind of scary." Danny said. He and Tommy knew the thumps which had helped with the discovery had frightened them even more.

Detective McEntire questioned the boys again about two weeks later. "Just wanted to go over some things. You were just exploring, when you happened to discover the floor? Is that correct?" Tommy nodded emphatically.

"Why?" Danny asked, "We're not lying."

"I've been speaking with your classmates. They have another version of what might have happened."

Exchanging quick glances, both brothers told her everything. She might not believe them, but at least their explanation would be out there.

"More like it." She smiled, "I've heard tales about this house. Nothing surprises me any more."

Their expressions went from bewilderment to shock! She wasn't just humoring them. Listening to their recording, she nodded seriously. "I hear them, too. No one knows why previous owners haven't figured it out before now. That poor woman has remained buried far too long."

"Who is she?" Danny was curious. Unable to provide details, she merely said it was an ongoing investigation.

It wasn't long before the media figured out the rest. The local haunted house was where the body had been found. Many scoffed at the notion of the "unexplained phenomenon" which the officers claimed led to finding the body. Mom found it tedious keeping reporters and nosy locals at bay, they kept returning, clamoring for interviews with her sons, or to photograph the famous spot.

If it weren't for the unwanted media attention, Tommy and Danny would have said this was their first time relaxing since moving in; they knew what they’d heard, they were finally enjoying a complete, undisturbed night's rest. Like everyone else, they watched TV, hoping to learn the identity of the mystery woman.

It was a while before answers were given. The body was identified as Rose Pierce, who'd disappeared many decades before. Ending up in the trunk had been the work of her boyfriend and another man. Old police reports provided the gruesome details—a love affair gone wrong, being lurred to the house, then beaten to death and strangled. "How awful!" Mom sniffed to herself, "What a cruel way to die." Without anyone coming forward to claim her, Rose's remains will be buried in a local cemetery, the news report concluded.

Many months later, their house was still a kind of horror attraction, with friends wanting to visit the spot where the trunk had lain for so long. Mom quickly put an end to their curiosity, however. "It's a vacant hole now. Go home." She constantly told people.

Over the next few weeks, the hole was covered over with more boards. That spot would never haunt them again. The thumps ceased, as if they'd never begun in the first place. Who knows, perhaps they were never heard at all?

The End