Haunted

•seven•

Callie stayed up through the night on the lookout in case the cult made it into the house. Thankfully, they just stayed outside. The house was fairly quiet all night as well, aside from the chants and rowdiness outside. At some point through the night, Jedidiah's head made it's way into Callie's lap. When she noticed, she sighed and looked at the ceiling. She had always heard that this house had three stories aside from the attic and basement, not just two. Maybe the sources were hallucinating, or delusional in general. After all, she only knew a fraction of all the secrets of the house. But she knew the cult came every full moon, the spirits of a cult from the 80s that worshipped the devil and prayed that this house would produce the son of Satan.

It had, but Callie guessed they didn't get the memo. Callie looked at the journal Jedidiah brought her. She already knew everything in there but she looked through the sketches. They were so graphic she had to stop or her nerves would go berserk and she would be jumpy until the sun came up. Callie didn't mean to, but she fell asleep around four in the morning, only to wake up at the sound of the ten o'clock chimes. Jedidiah was still asleep, she checked his pulse to make sure he was alive. He was so she relaxed a bit, the cult was gone after all. She didn't expect him to sleep so well after the spell she put on his finger. Maybe she had done it wrong. She got scared and shook him. He groaned and opened his eyes halfway. "What," he grumbled.

He had such a low raspy morning voice, Callie lost her train of thought for a second. "Uh," she clenched her eyes shut to focus. "I- you were sleeping," she sighed. That wasn't what she meant to say.

"Yes I was," Jedidiah sighed. "Why did you wake me up?"

"Because it's ten o'clock," she shrugged.

"Do I have to get up for school or something?" he raised his eyebrows.

She rolled her eyes. "No. But you fell asleep around eight thirty last night so I got concerned about your finger."

Jedidiah wasn't sure if he couldn't process English or she was talking gibberish. "What does sleeping have to do with my finger?" he asked.

Callie shook her head and rubbed her eyes. "Sorry. I put a spell on it so it'd heal fast and I thought I had done it wrong. I didn't."

"Did you stay up all night?" Jedidiah questioned.

Callie nodded. "I had to be sure the cult didn't come in."

"So it's a cult?" he asked.

"Yes. They worshipped the devil here in the 80s after they found out it was haunted. They died in the woods because of some Catholic people. They shouldn't be able to come into the house but I wasn't sure if the witches would let them in," Callie explained. "They come every full moon trying to resurrect Satan or curse whoever lives here with having the son of Satan. I guess they never found out that he did."

Jedidiah sat up. "What?"

"The drawings in here," Callie opened the notebook. "The man in the black leather suit raping the woman? She gave birth to the son of Satan."

Jedidiah felt light headed all of a sudden and laid back down, head in Callie's lap. "What about the people being burned?" he asked.

"A witch coven. People found them practicing out here and burnt them in the basement. They didn't want to do it outside because then the witches' spirits would be free. If you die in this house, your spirit can't leave. And if you die outside, you can't come in unless the inhabiting spirit lets you," Callie explained.

"How do you know so much about being dead?" Jedidiah chuckled.

"You think the spirits don't talk to people who stay here long enough or come to find out more about the house?" Callie scoffed. "Plus, if I want to I can talk to them by vibrating at a higher frequency."

Jedidiah shook his head. "You're a nerd."

"At least you're alive because of it," Callie rolled her eyes, smiling.

Suddenly music started playing somewhere in the house. Jedidiah sat up again and Callie stood. "What is that coming from?" Jedidiah asked.

"The third floor," Callie clapped her hands and pranced out of the attic.

"Wait for me," Jedidiah laughed.

"Hurry up then!" Callie giggled.

They went to the staircase and sure enough, there was another one leading up. Callie couldn't stop smiling as she walked up, sunlight radiating through the giant windows. The third floor hallway was a happy yellow, long and wide. There were only three doors. They were all closed. "Which one do we open first?" Jedidiah asked.

"This one," Callie chose the middle door, opening it. Just another abandoned room, but the walls were painted a pretty blue color.

"What about this one?" Jedidiah went to the left end of the hallway and opened the door. Nothing again, the room was painted white. It did have a hatch in the floor that Callie opened. "What's in there?" Jedidiah asked.

"The pantry," Callie laughed.

"Third door or is it not worth it?" Jedidiah chuckled.

They walked toward it and the music got louder. "It's worth it," Callie whispered, hurrying to it and opening it.

The room was decorated, as if there was a party. It was a ballroom with a record player in the corner. There were two massive chandeliers in the ceiling, which was painted like a blue sky with fluffy clouds. Big doors with windows in them lead out to a balcony. There was a gigantic fireplace too. The floor was nice hardwood and the walls were painted a warm white color.

Callie made her way to the record player. There were records upon records in a gigantic case. She flipped through and found Lana Del Ray's version of Once Upon A Dream. "Interesting," she whispered, replacing the other record with it and pressing play.

"What's this?" Jedidiah asked.

"Lana Del Ray," Callie smiled.

"I recognize the melody, but it sounds haunting," Jedidiah chuckled.

"Once Upon A Dream from Cinderella," Callie nodded.

"It feels like a song that belongs in this room," Jedidiah nodded. "A waltz."

Callie took the chance, grabbing Jedidiah's hand and twirling herself under it. "Does it?" she smiled.

"Bold of you to assume I know how to waltz," Jedidiah shook his head.

"Oh come on, it doesn't have to be correct," Callie rolled her eyes, turning back in.

It didn't take Callie much to get Jedidiah to begin dancing. They just had fun.