ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS

8. WHITE GHOST

★ Leonard ★

When we arrived at the Victorian house, Aunt Betty greeted us with a smile and told us to come to the kitchen. She was preparing a juicy steak for our dinner. The smell of the meat made me feel so hungry.

She asked me to bring a big steak on top of a wooden cutting board to the dining room. She also requested Beth to get a handful of baked potatoes. I had a hard time keeping away from Bianco as he followed the smell of the meat I was carrying to the dining table.

I kept telling him, "Bianco! This is our dinner. Not yours! You stay away."

Beth was right behind me, holding the potatoes in the basket when she fell. One of the potatoes rolled on the floor and stopped right between the dining room and the hallway, exactly where Charles Baker's white-collar fell almost one hundred years ago. Beth screamed as loud as if she saw a ghost.

"Leo, someone tripped me. I felt the cold hand."

"Can you see where the potato fell? This is exactly where the dead bat was found."

She kept looking at the big, round, warm potato at her feet. I was a little suspicious of her claim, as I saw that she tripped over Bianco's tail when she fell. Of course, I didn't tell her what I saw, as she would be upset at the accusation. My aunt heard Beth's scream, and she dashed out from the kitchen to find out what the hell had happened.

After dinner, I was already feeling sleepy because of the big, chunky potato that filled my stomach. While watching TV, I was almost falling asleep. So my aunt told us to get ready for bed and brought the two of us to the bedroom on the second floor. While brushing our teeth, Beth kept telling me to stay awake so we could catch the ghost this evening.

My aunt tucked both of us in bed, turned off the light, and then walked down to the living room to watch more TV. I dozed off right away while hearing Beth's mumbles in the distance. I was delighted sleeping in the haunted house with my stomach full. Within five minutes, I was gone, and the night was so fantastic for me. In my dream, I was about to eat a big chunk of my favorite ice cream flavor when a sharp poke in my rib woke me up. Beth told me to wake up and listen to the footsteps coming up the staircase.

"Leo, wake up! The ghost is coming up the staircase!"

I heard the quiet footsteps and started to get nervous. The footsteps stopped right in front of our bedroom. I closed my eyes very tightly and tried to pray to Jesus for help. The door squeaked and slowly opened. I was almost wetting my pants when the shadow started to walk toward our bed. When the ghost stood in front of our bed, Beth screamed that the ghost fell on the floor. I gathered all my courage and took the lamp that was next to my bed. When I turned on the light where the ghost fell, I saw my aunt staring back at me in shock.

She said, "Oh boy, you scared me! Your little friend can scream the hell out of it! I was checking on you to see if you are well tucked in." Beth was holding her pillow and about to hit the ghost—or Aunt Betty—with it. It took my aunt some time to compose herself as she was so frightened by Beth's scream.

After my aunt finally left the room, quietness started to settle in. I dozed off to the dream world again. The night became quiet also. When I was about to dig into my chocolate ice cream, Beth woke me up again by shaking my shoulder. She whispered in my ear.

"Leo! Wake up! I hear something by the hallway. Can you hear the banging noise? I think someone is banging on the door! Let's go check it out."

She got out of the bed and tip-toed toward the door. I wanted to stay in bed so badly but had no choice other than to follow her. Beth was such a curious creature. She just wanted to find out if the ghost existed in this house. She slowly walked down the staircase toward the hallway. I was following right behind her. Now I could hear the banging against the door from the basement. It was the exact door from the old tale. I was getting scared now.

Beth whispered to me, "It sounds more like slashing the door with a knife than banging it. Maybe the ghost carries a big knife."

I was getting more nervous than ever because all I had with me was a big, white, fluffy pillow. "What are we going to do now?"

She confidently responded to my question. "When I unlock the door, the ghost will come out. You have to hit the ghost with a pillow!"

Her plan didn't seem to be convincing.

"But Beth, it is a ghost. Not my aunt Betty! What if he attacks me?"

"Then we will come up with another solution!"

Then she walked closer to the doorknob.

I was thinking with my sleepy head. "Wouldn't it be too late to come up with another solution after the ghost attacked me?"

In the end, I went along with her anyway. The doorknob squeaked when she opened the door slightly. Then the white ghost pushed the door wide open and attacked me. I was scared shitless, and I screamed out loud. The white phantom jumped at me and attacked my face with ferocious fangs. I fell on the floor, and the ghost was on top of me. When I thought he would rip out my throat, he started to attack my face with a big, slurpy tongue. It tickled me so much that I began to laugh.

The giant white monster was Bianco! He was probably still hungry after the meal, and he snuck into the basement where aunt Betty hid all her goodies. Aunt Betty came down the hallway with her pink curlers in her hair. One of her curlers fell on the floor and rolled down toward me. She didn't understand what was going on when she saw me on the floor with Bianco licking my face. "Hey kids, I thought someone got murdered when I heard that scream! What are you two doing in the middle of the night? Are you crazy? Neighbors must be thinking that something strange is happening here!"

When I finally stood up from the floor to explain to Aunt Betty, we started to hear a loud siren. A car with flashing lights stopped in front of the mansion. We wondered! Then we heard a loud knock on the front door. Aunt Betty turned around and walked toward the main entrance. When she opened the door, two policemen were standing at the entrance door.

"Good evening Ma'am. Your neighbors heard a scream a few minutes ago and suspected there might be something we could help with."

"Oh my God! We are going to jail!" Beth whispered, and I held her hand so tightly.