CHAPTER TWENTY scream queens, chapter twenty "haunted house/the hag of shady line"
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
WALKING INTO the run down, creepy old house, Grace looked around confused and frightened, she fiddled with her hands as she called out, "Pete?" With no answer, continued to look around confused.
"Boo!" Grace screamed as Pete jumped out from hiding, laughing as Grace calmed herself. "Gotcha." Pete laughed, Grace looked at him annoyed, "God. Honestly, don't do that."
Pete continued to laugh, as Grace looked around, "Why are we even here?" Pete stopped laughing and looked at her, "To find out who the baby was! Come." He lead her towards the couch.
He screamed as Zayday, Earl and Abby appeared from behind the couch, laughing. Grace shook her head, "Yeah, see? Not so fun, is it? What are you guys doing here?" She asked the trio.
They walked out from behind the couch and stood in front of the other two. "Scooping the place out. Spooky, right?" Zayday grinned, Abby nodded, "This is were we are having the haunted house for sickle cell anemia."
"Hell, no, you won't!" The five of them jumped as Denise walked through the door. Abby let out a sigh, "God, this place is just full of unexpected jump-scares." Denise walked towards them, "This house is haunted."
Pete nodded, walking to stand next to Denise, "She's right." Abby grinned, clapping her hands together, "Haunted? Hell yeah. That make it even better, and more of a chance to get people to arrive. People would do anything to see a real ghost."
Denise shook her head, as Pete and her started to speak at the same time, "See, I did some research down at the library." The two of them looked at each other confused, "When?"
They continued to speak simultaneously, "Last night." The other four looked between the two of them puzzled. "I didn't see you there! Which library?" They spoke again, their voices loud.
"Baker Street." Pete answered, as Denise said, "North Jackson." The two of them finally came to a realisation before turning back to the others, who were standing still amused.
"See, I wanted to do some research on the hag from Shady Lane." Denise began to explain, Abby crossed her arms confused, "The hag from Shady Lane? Who's that?"
"There's a legend in this neighbourhood about a woman who wailed about her dead children." Pete informed them. "And this was the house she lived in." Pete and Denise spoke simultaneously, again.
"Neighbours said they heard a woman moaning and howling low. But then, some people said, 'Oh, no, that's just the wind or a raccoon singing.' Until one day, some kids looked up and saw her standing in the window, dressed in black, staring out at that street, just a-moaning." Denise continued, making a moaning sound.
The four looked at her and Pete critically. "Now, they tried to tell folks about the hag in the old house on Shady Lane, but nobody believed them. Mm-mm. They said, 'These dumb kids are smoking crack. Ain't no hag in the house on Shady Lane.'"
"But then, someone else saw her." Pete added in, "The woman just thought the hag was rooting around for food." Denise nodded, "But then, then kids heard that caterwauling again. So, they snuck into this house and went upstairs to the bedroom. And do you know what they saw?"
The other four leaned in close freighted as Denise stared at look serious, "Do you?!" She suddenly shouted, making them jump. Denise and Pete then lead them upstairs to a room.
Entering the room, they looked around in horror. The room was covered in broken dolls, and other kids toys. "Oh, my god." Grace breathed out. "They're toys she picked up from all over the neighbourhood." Pete informed.
"This is incredible." Abby gasped, Earl picked up a doll and examined it, looking at it creeped out. "It's incredible what you can find out with just a quick trip down to your local library." Denise spoke.
Pete turned to Grace, "And you know what year it was? 1995." Grace looked around, "The same year as the bathtub baby." Abby raised her eyebrows at the two of them, crossing her arms questionably.
"Nobody touch anything." Zayday exclaimed, as she stood across from the other five on the other side of the room, "This can be one of the rooms for the haunted house." She said excitedly.
"Uh, Zayday? Can it talk to you for a second, in private?" Denise and Zayday both left the room, leaving the other four. As the other two spoke privately, Abby moved around the room, her hand grazing the dolls curiously.
"I wonder what she was doing with all of these toys." She questioned out loud, eyeing them off. Pete shrugged, "I have no idea, there wasn't any record of these toys mentioned."
Abby furrowed her eyebrows, glancing around. "This is way too creepy." Earl said, looking around worried. "I only have one question: who is the hag?" Grace asked, the other three shared looks, looking around in question.
