Birds chirped prettily amongst the verdant trees as we walked up the path to our new home. It was in desperate need of a paint job, a few shingles were missing, and the ancient screen door seemed to be hanging on by a thread.
I shot Adam a quizzical look. "I know, I already know what you're thinking. It looks a bit...rough, but it's got good bones."
I shrugged. We had wanted a home of our own for what seemed like forever. We got our chance when he found out his uncle had willed him a home in the green hills of rural suburbia.
"Let's take a look inside?" I nodded, as he unlocked the door and we stepped inside. The living room was wide and open, with large arched windows and beautiful mahogany flooring.
An archway opened into the dining room, with it's original crown molding, and large dining table that mimicked the mahogany on the floor.
The rest of the home was much of the same. A bunch of old furniture, a claw foot tub I couldn't wait to climb into, and a huge attic that I had chosen to be my little hideaway.
Adam had been right. The place was definitely promising.
We quickly got the probate on the place, officially making it ours, fully moving in about a month or so later. That first day, the house began to grow on me.
It started to feel like home.
The second full night I slept there gave me pause, however.
What should have been a sound, sleepful night became a horror filled fever dream.
At around 3am, I was awakened by the sound of a wet, gruesome hacking sound. I sat up, looking over at Adam to see if he'd heard it too. He was still sleeping soundly, a pile of blankets and snores.
"Thwack!"
I flinched. Grabbing my phone to use as a flashlight, I crept from my bedroom to the hallway, and followed the
"Thwack, thwack!"
to its source. The bathroom. The door groaned as it opened and I almost dropped my phone.
Blood. So much blood. It dripped from the ceiling. Splattered across the walls. And there was a man. Two if you counted the corpse at his feet meeting the end of an axe blade.
"Thwack!"
Another destructive blow.
I couldn't hold back any longer. Before I knew it, a scream slipped through the fingers tightly clasped around my mouth. I willed my feet to move as swiftly, but fear had frozen me in place.
The hulking man wielding the axe dropped it with a loud clang, and slowly spun to face me, his face stretched into a sinister grin. He started towards me and I could finally get my feet to move.
And then I ran directly into Adam,toppling us both over onto the hardwood floor.
"Ow-what-what the hell Shauna!?" He groaned, climbing to his feet and pulling me to mine. Unable to speak, I pointed a shaking finger towards the slowly closing door.
Steeling himself, he flings the door open to reveal a normal, unblemished, bathroom. He gave me a look of concern.
"Are...you good?"
Was I? I just hallucinated a whole murder scene.
"I...yeah. Go back to bed. I'll be up in a minute." I shook my head, as if to shake the images of what I'd seen off.
Nodding, he held my face in hands, and looked into my eyes. " You're shaking. What the hell did you see?"
"Nothing. Let's go to bed."
