The Strange Story of...

The Strange Story of Number 1038

           If there was one black spot on the otherwise wonderful Maple Street, it was Number 1038. Or, as the kids on the street called it, the Nightmare House.

          No one knew the true story, as the house and the street it was on had both been built in 1880s, nearly one hundred years ago. There were only rumors, which over the years had been warped into stories that scared anyone brave enough to listen to them.

          One rumor was that it had been built by a Dr. Frankenstein-like scientist, who'd conducted many horrifying experiments and created numerous monsters until his death sixty years before. Another rumor stated that a murderer had basically "set up shop" in the house and held captives there. The most widely believed story, however, was that a wealthy couple had built the house as a summer home, and had tried to buy the entire town so they could tear it down and build a ski resort. After learning their plan, the townspeople had become a mob, swarmed the house and killed them. People stated that, in the dead of night, they could still hear the couple's screams.

         Ida M. Reen, the oldest woman on the street, had dismissed all of the rumors as ghost stories. She said that the house was occupied by a something she called "The Shadow Creature". According to her, it was a living definition of mystery. No one had seen it, but she swore that she'd caught a glimpse of it when she was a little girl.

        She said she'd seen it in her backyard, and that at first she'd thought it was a wolf. But she soon realized that it had six legs, like an insect, a pair of feathered wings, like a bird, and two great antlers, like a deer. She had called for her mother, only for it to disappear the next second, without a trace. 

       Everyone took it as nothing less than Mrs. Reen's imagination having run away with her. Still, people shot uneasy glances at the house, taking in its faded paint, boarded up windows, dead garden, and the fact that, one summer night, a man had sworn he could hear singing coming from the house.

       All of this was floating around in Kyle's mind as he and his two brothers approached the decomposing building. The three siblings had only lived on Maple Street for about a month, and not many people, especially kids, knew them very well. But, one kid two years above Kyle's grade had told him about the house. The boy's interest had been peaked, and he'd spent two weeks trying to convince his brothers, Daniel and Marcus, to explore the house with him. Finally, on the last night of summer vacation, they caved.

      Marcus, the youngest, trailed behind his brothers. He was the youngest of the three, and the most unsure of the three about what they were attempting. His brothers had to blackmail him into going by threatening to tell their mom about the time he put clear cellophane wrap on the toilet.

     Daniel, the middle brother, was excited, and hummed the theme from Ghostbusters. The idea of exploring a haunted house had frightened him at first, but once they'd set out, the adventure became as exciting to him as it was to Kyle. He'd packed a backpack full of supplies, namely an assortment of candy bars, three flashlights, a video camera, a couple packs of batteries, and a few comic books in case things got boring.

     Beside them trotted their loyal dog Bones. Kyle had read that dogs were more sensitive to paranormal activity than humans, so he'd discretely gotten Bones out of the backyard and taken him with them.

     "Are you sure about this?" Marc asked as they approached the house.

     "A hundred percent." Kyle chirped. Bones was sniffing around the dead yard, and stepping on many dead leaves, making a slight crackling sound.

     "Cut that out, Bones!" Dan whispered.

     The three boys and the dog entered the house. The door squeaked on its hinges, and nearly fell off as they opened it. They were greeted to a view of a long-deserted entry hall. Their was no furniture, and the walls had nothing on them but peeling wallpaper. Cobwebs dangled from the ceiling like streamers, and Marc was sure he saw a mouse run across the hallway.

      The boys turned on their flashlights. Even Kyle thought they should stay together, and the three went throughout the first floor. They saw the kitchen, living room, library and bathroom, but didn't find anything.

      "Let's go upstairs," Kyle suggested.

      "Let's not," said Marc. The eeriness of the house was getting to him, and at that moment he wanted desperately to go home.

       "I'm with Marc," said Dan, "this place is way too creepy."

      "Oh, come on." Kyle looked at his brothers, and then realized how truly scared the two were. He looked at his surroundings, as if seeing them for the first time, and looked as if he was about to agree. "Maybe you two are--"

       Bones barked, and the three nearly wet themselves. The little dog was pulling against his leash with all his might, trying to get up the stairs.

       "He's got something!" Any fear Kyle had felt immediately melted away. "Dan, get the camera!"

       Bones tugged the leash out of Kyle's grip, racing up the staircase. Kyle followed with the video camera. Daniel and Marcus, unlike their brother, decided to stay downstairs.

       They heard him upstairs, calling Bones. They heard the dog barking, then saw him race downstairs, yelping.

         "Bones? Where'd you go?" Kyle called. Then, he screamed.

         Marcus started crying. Then, Kyle raced down the staircase, arm bleeding and eyes wide. "RUN!!!!!!!!"

         The brothers ran, with Marcus crying, Kyle bleeding, and Dan screaming at his brother while trying to hold on to Bones. "What happened?" he kept repeating.

          He never got an answer. Kyle refused to tell anyone what he'd seen in the house. He even burned the video of what happened so no one could see. Years passed, and the three grew up. Kyle met a woman named Kate, and dedicated his life to Christ and became a pastor. Daniel became a lawyer and adopted three sons from Asia. Marcus became a businessman and had three daughters.

          But what the brothers didn't know was that Marcus' oldest daughter, Leslie, one day found a copy of the video her uncle had made that night. She uploaded it to her laptop, and sat down to watch it.