The Haunting Of Hastings House

Chapter 18

By
Brynn Morgan

Copyright © 2023 by – Brynn Morgan – All Rights Reserved.
It is not legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited.

Chapter 18

Emily and Lainie were stunned into silence. The girl was Elizabeth's daughter, born of rape and rage. They could not even find words now. Lainie's ringtone shattered the silence. The phone vibrated on the tabletop. Emily jumped nervously.

Lainie answered. "Hello? Oh, hi, Clarrisa,"

"How is Emily today?" Clarrisa asked with concern.

Lainie put the phone on speaker so that Emily could hear the conversation. "Clarrisa wants to know how you are, Emily?"

"Speechless at the moment," Emily said, disturbed by what she had just read.

Clarrisa laughed. "I did not know I was on speaker!" and then she asked. "Any more occurrences throughout the night?"

Emily spoke softly. "I had another nightmare, but nothing to the extent of being lifted off the bed and hanging close to the ceiling. I am glad there was no ceiling fan with sharp blades," she added sarcastically.

Clarissa chuckled lightly. "I understand, Emily." There was a pause. "So, did y'all get your hands on the diaries?"

Lainie sighed. "Yes, we did."

"Well?" Clarrisa prompted.

"Too much to try to explain over the phone, honestly." Lainie paused. "But what we found was quite disturbing."

Clarrisa gasped. "I want to hear it. Would y'all like to come over tonight after work, and we can go over it? I have more pizza!" she said in a funny, cajoling tone.

Lainie looked at Emily and thought it could be a clever idea to discuss it with Clarrisa. "Want more pizza, Emily?" Lainie asked and smiled.

Emily sighed softly. "Sure, why not."
***
They made plans to be at Clarrisa's apartment by six thirty that night, and then Lainie stood up. "Want to take a drive with me?"

Emily looked at Lainie curiously. "To where?"
Lainie grabbed her car keys and opened the front door. "To the Hasting's cemetery."

Emily was on board. She pulled away from the table and followed Lainie out of the door.
***
The heat was brutal and unrelenting as Lainie drove down the road toward Hasting's House and turned onto a dirt road just before she reached the entrance to the mansion. She descended the path and parked the car at the bottom of a steep hill scattered with yellow and red wildflowers. "Ready for a climb?" Lainie asked, and Emily nodded but dreaded it in the excruciating heat.

They climbed the hill slowly, and as they did so, Emily saw Hastings House come into view, nestled in the valley. The house was stunning with its stately Antebellum structure, and she saw an old black pickup truck parked beneath the willow trees.
Emily wiped the sweat out of her eyes and asked Lainie. "Do you think that is the caretakers?"

Lainie nodded. "Probably so. Here we are," Lainie said as they approached a smaller set of iron gates that surrounded the medium-sized cemetery. Just like the entrance to the mansion, these gates had a rusted horse head knob. As Lainie pulled it open, it squeaked in complaint. They stepped through and into the family graveyard. There were many tombstones, but Emily's attention was immediately drawn to the two large white granite mausoleums at the center of the graveyard.

"This must be James and Elizabeth Hastings," she said.

They walked up to the two structures, and sure enough, one said James David Hastings, and then the other one said Catherine Snow Hastings, much to their surprise.