The Ringing

Chapter 1

I shot up from my bed with a gasp. "There's that blasted ringing again.." I said quietly to myself.

My name's Jordan. A couple of weeks ago, I suddenly began to hear a ringing in my ears. I didn't think anything of it at first, since it only lasted a few minutes and I didn't hear it again until a couple days later. Well, a week ago, that pattern stopped. Now it lasts for hours and it happens every day.

I told my parents about it. They were very angry with me about it, they seemed to believe I was drinking. I kept explaining to them I haven't been doing anything like that but they won't listen. So, now I'm living with my grandparents. My grandparents' house has an upstairs and a downstairs as well as a basement. On the outside, it has faded pink paint and looks kind of small, it's a bit damaged, and the grass hasn't been cut for a long time. Once you look inside, however, it's actually pretty nice, if you look past the fact that the walls are covered in cut out newspaper articles and stuff about paranormal sightings. My grandpa is into all these crazy things like demons, vampires, ghosts, extraterrestrial beings and others of the sort. My grandma, on the other hand, believes only in the things she can see and insists that my grandpa stops "going on about all this nonsense."

I looked over at my digital clock on the nightstand beside my bed. It read 3:00 AM.

I sighed and got up out of bed to get a drink of water since I had nothing else to do. I carefully walked downstairs so I didn't wake anyone up but of course, the stairs still creaked a little. As I filled my glass with water, I thought, once again, what could possibly be causing this noise. But after a while, I decided to just go back upstairs and watch some TV.

Suddenly, I heard a door creak open which caused me to jump. Then, I heard footsteps and when I looked to see who or what it was, it was just my grandpa.

"What are you doing up?" He asked before coughing. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"I heard that ringing in my ears again." I said, but when I saw the expression on his face, I added, "It's nothing, really."

"I bet it's one of them beings from the sky." He responded. Oh no, here he goes again. "Come with me." He said and turned on the porch light before walking out of the front door. Should I follow him? What's he have to show me?

After a few moments, I decide to follow him. When I walk out the door, it's still dark out and I see the misty, orange glow of the streetlights. I looked over and saw Grandpa in the car. Where are we going? My heart started racing. Is he going to take me to a mental hospital or a therapist or something? Despite what was going through my mind, I got into the car.

I hesitate before asking, "Where are you taking me?" He looks back at me through the mirror and smiles through his gray mustache and beard. "You'll see."

You'll see?, I thought. What does he mean I'll see? I'll see what? I clear my throat and ask, "What if Grandma wakes up and sees we're gone? Won't she be worried? We never left a note or anything to let her know we'll be back soon."

"Nah, she won't be worried." He says. "I wonder off plenty of times while she's asleep. I've been doing this for 30 years." He laughs. I wish he'd give me a straightforward answer for once instead of keeping me waiting.

When Grandpa parks, I immediately get out of the car and look around. Then, I recognize where we are. We're in front of my grandparents' old house. Why would he take me here?

I see something big and tall in the backyard and walk to it along with Grandpa, who was following behind me with a flashlight. When he shined the flashlight on the structure, I realized it was a tree house. When did this get here? Who made it? Why did Grandpa take me here?

We climbed up the ladder and entered the tree house. Grandpa lit some candles with a cigarette lighter so we could see. There were many books lying around about aliens and demons and stuff.

So this is why he took me here? He wants to figure out if the ringing really is what he thought it to be?