The Originals One-Shots

Haunted

 Upstate New York, 1943

 Elijah looked at the house as they pulled up. It had to be one of the dreariest places he had ever seen. And this area was practically the middle of nowhere.

 "Are you sure this is it, Niklaus?" he asked. 

 "This is it. I doubt Father will find us here." Klaus looked at Elijah. "It's only temporary, you know. We won't be here long."

 "How long has it been since anyone lived here?" Elijah asked as thy entered the front hallway.

 "I don't know, but it looks as though it's certainly been years. But it looks better in here than it does on the outside. Well, you can bring your things upstairs and pick a room. I am going to inspect the rest of the house." 

 Elijah carried his suitcase up the creaky staircase. The hallway had once been decorated with bright red wallpaper, but now it was faded and peeling. It was sad, Elijah thought, that this house was so neglected; with a little work, it could be beautiful.

 The first door he opened was a bedroom with a smashed window a bed that had clearly not been slept in for years. He set his suitcase down on the floor and opened the old wardrobe. it was completely empty. He wondered how long it had been since it had been used. 

 Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw someone standing by the window. But when he turned to look, there was no one there.

 There was something about that room, something eerie...

 I'm being ridiculous, Elijah thought. I'm only imagining things, that's all.

 "Elijah, I have drastically changed my mind!" He could hear his brother pounding up the stairs. "This house is by far the worst-what are you staring at?"

 "Hmm? Oh, nothing. I thought I saw someone by the window."

 "Elijah, you don't really believe all the ghost stories we've been hearing, do you? I don't care how haunted the Hudson Valley is supposed to be, I am not afraid of ghosts." 

 "I suppose you're right." Wanting to get off the subject, Elijah asked, "What made you change your mind?"

 "This house is in an absolute terrible state. I will stay for today, but we are moving out tomorrow." 

 Elijah decided he had no problem with that.

~~~~~~

 That evening, Elijah by the window in the parlor, trying to read; he had been trying to concentrate for about twenty minutes and still couldn't. He was just getting into it when he heard what sounded like footsteps in the hallway. 

 "Niklaus, did you hear something?" he asked.

 Klaus looked up. "No. Did you?"

 "No. I ...just thought I did."

 Realizing he was never going to get any reading done, Elijah went upstairs to try to sleep instead. Being on the road with Klaus was tiring, after all. 

 Being in that room brought that eerie feeling back. He tried to fall asleep, but couldn't. He was beginning to get the feeling that there was someone watching him. 

  "Stop it," he said to himself. "You're only scaring yourself. There are no ghosts here. I'm safe."

 And soon after, he fell asleep.

~~~~~~

 Elijah awoke during the night to a creaking sound. He sat up and looked around the room. In the corner of the room was a rocking chair, which now slowly rocking back and forth.

 But there was no wind, no breeze, nothing that could cause it to move. Yet it kept on rocking, as though there were actually someone sitting in it...

 Elijah was about to get up when he felt something cold against his shoulder. The cold feeling quickly spread throughout him. He looked all around, but there was no one there. No one but him.

 That was it. He quickly got of the bed and ran to the room Klaus was in.

 "Niklaus, wake up." He tugged on the blanket. "There's something in my room. I think the ghost stories might be true."

 "Oh, Elijah," Klaus groaned, "You cannot be serious." 

  "I am serious! There was the person by the window, the footsteps on the stairs, and then the rocking chair just kept on rocking back and forth, like someone was sitting in it."

 "Elijah, there are no ghosts. You were probably having some nightmare. Just go to bed. We're leaving tomorrow, anyway." 

 It was then that they heard a smashing sound, like glass breaking. 

  "I think that came from the room," Elijah said. "Just come with me, will you?"

 They went back to the room, where the window was still smashed the way it has been, and the rocking chair had stopped rocking-but they could see a figure standing in the dark corner.

 Elijah ran his hand along the wall, looking for a light switch but couldn't find one. Then there was a heavy thudding coming from downstairs.

 "Someone's down there," Klaus whispered. "Just stay with me."

 They slowly walked down the stairs. There was no one in the downstairs hallway. But there were muddy footprints on the floor, and led to the door that opened into the kitchen. The doorknob was rattling, as if it were locked and someone was trying to get it open. Klaus reached out and wrapped his hand around it, and pushed the door open.

 There was no one there.

 "Now what do we do?" Elijah asked. "There's clearly someone here, and we just can't see them."

 "Obviously. I don't know. Look, the sky's getting lighter. The sun will be rising soon enough. Perhaps we should just leave."

 As the sunrise approached, the brothers packed their things back into the automobile and drove away as quickly as they could. 

 They have not returned since.