Natalie's First Home (short story) [completed]

Inside the Vent..

Natalie decided she wanted to look more into the story, so the next morning she went to the library. She searched old newspaper articles from the 1900's. They dated back to 1900. Perfect! 

1901, 1905, 1910, 1915? 'Why do the dates skip?' Natalie thought to her self. Suddenly the librarian walked past. "Um excuse me miss, can you tell me why the dates are skipped?"

"Well.. There was a fire back in the early 1900's If I remember right 1915? A German guy set theAshburn Archives on fire. Said he didn't want 'his story' out. I guess he did something bad, or something bad happened to his family that was bad and he didn't want the public knowing about it."

"Hmm.. Poor guy, well I was wondering if you know anything about the house, right down the street from here, it's old, and big. 115 S Gallager Street?" 

"Oh ma'am. Move out of that house! Right now! It's not safe!"

"Why not?"

"Oh god please have mercy on your soul! There are horrible HORRIBLE stories about that house, everyone that has lived there has been tormented by the ghost!"

"What ghost? I haven't seen any ghosts there!"

"Ask around for Cale. He's a physic in this town, he has dealt with that house before, he knows it's haunted. Ask him to check it out for you, maybe he can get rid of the ghost. He's never tried before, but Cale's a sweet boy. I'm sure he could."

Natalie was so confused, and concerned. She got up and walked out of the library. 

She took her phone out of her pocket and clicked down her contacts list til she got to Cale and sent him a quick text: 'Meet me at my house. NOW!' He replied 'What's so urgent? I'm at my grandpa's I'll be there in a second' She ran the rest of the way home. When she got there he was waiting with Duke on her porch. 

"Took long enough!" He laughed.

"What do you do for a profession?" Natalie accused.

"Umm.. Why?" He hesitated.

"Because the lady at the library in town told me your a physic and you could 'cleanse' my house!"

"That's a joke, a type of scam so I can get money without doing too much work!" He yelled back.

"Well then why the first time you walked in here did you shiver?"

"I was cold."

"Why don't you start telling me the truth?" Natalie calmed.

"Okay, honestly.. I really like you, so I didn't wanna tell you all of this. For two reasons. Not only did I not want you to think I was a freak and stop talking to me, and two I didn't want you to believe your house was haunted and move away. But yes. Honestly. I believe Julia is still here, she wants her life back. And I don't doubt she won't try to get it back through you. Just my opinion. I am scared for you to live here. But your a strong girl with a strong personality so I'm sure you'll be fine!"

"Wow thanks for telling me this now. Give me my dog and leave. Now!" She was furious.

Natalie went inside with Duke slamming the door. 'How could he be so arrogant to not tell me something like that!' She thought. Although she wasn't sure she believed him, or if she was just in denial about the situation.. She didn't want it to be true. So she grabbed a flashlight and unscrewed the vent. She slowly went in but was stopped by a hard wall.. She left it with her hand while she flashed the light on it. It was a type of wooden crate. BUZZ! Her phone vibrated in her pocket which made her jump causing her to hit her head. "Damn phone!" she yelled. She flipped open the screen and read the text: 'Please forgive me, I just didn't want to freak you out. But please stay away from that vent. Honestly I would really like if you'd come stay with me for a while til we get it all figured out. -Cale' She closed her phone and the text made her want to continue on and figure out what was in the crate. It was now her mission. The wood wasn't coming off easy. Even though it was clearly old.

She walked into the kitchen rummaging around in the tool drawer for a crow bar. The best she found was a screw driver.

She went back into the vent. There she stuck the screw driver threw one of the holes and pryed it apart. It snapped off and hit her in the stomach. It hurt but she continued on. BUZZ! She took her phone out of her pocket and threw it out of the vent and it went sliding across the floor. She heard it buzz once more but by then there was one more board left and she pried it off. 

She shined the light in the crate and screamed. There was a corpse. Just bones, in a off-white dress. She climbed out of the little vent and ran upstairs forgetting her phone at the bottom of the stairs and she slammed the door. Duke was already in the room. He was whimpering.. Natalie sat in front of the door with Duke laying on her lap crying, she petted his head and whispered it was okay.

Suddenly she didn't feel like herself anymore, she felt there was more to her than just her. Like she had to fight to see out of her own eyes. She just gave up and let the feeling completely take over her, almost completely that is.

Terry barged through her bedroom door, causing Duke to whine some more, and Natalie to snap back into herself partly. She couldn't shake the feeling she wasn't alone in there though and she needed to be completely sure. She was telling Terry about everything and he said he knew something like this was going to happen and that Cale called him and told him to check in on her and that he was worried. She heard her voice come out of her mouth, but it wasn't her. And she couldn't tell him. She wasn't controlling her voice. She didn't understand. 

"I'm fine Terry! You can go home now!" She said with a sweet smile.

"I'd rather stay with you til Cale gets here." He said relieved.

"I don't want Cale here! And I want you to leave. Get out of my house! Now!" She was getting angry.

"Julia I'm not going anywhere this isn't your house anymore! This is Natalie's! Your not welcome here!" Terry said bravely.

She got silent. Which frightened Terry a bit, but he wasn't going to leave Natalie alone with this monster, she was angry at William not at Natalie. But she was going to take it out on anyone she could. He tried reasoning with her, so in a clam voice he said;

"Julia, I know your mad at William, I know what he did to you, and everyone else will soon enough. But honestly, it's time for you to go. It's time for you to forgive him. I know that's easier said than done but Natalie is an innocent girl, why harm her? Then you'd be just as bad as William. Harming a defenselessgirl."

She stayed silent for a moment, then it was like you could see the gears churning in her brain. "I will leave her alone, because I know how it is to be harmed when your doing nothing wrong. But make sure my death is known. I don't know if I will ever forgive William though."

And with that it's like a weight was lifted off the house, off everything. Just then Cale walked in and grabbed Natalie, hugging her. Natalie came back. Crying. 

"I love you." Cale said.

Natalie sobbed in his arms and said "I love you too."