Haunted

October 31, 1952

Grace sat at the dining table long after Millie had cleared it for she was worried and it always made her sit for hours in contemplation. She tried to tell herself it was just her being a mother, overly concerned for it involved her only son, but she knew there was more to it. Charlie was like his grandfather, his view of people black and white. There were those who were good for working in the family's factories and those that were not. Grace knew Charles, her husband wasn't so calloused in his view of people, even those who were poor or a different race, but Charlie had not been so charitable, and she knew all the fights and arguments he got in were a reflection of how he viewed other people, and here in this small town, one in which she knew their family had a lot of control, Charlie's outburst and fights gave those he went up against all the reasons they needed to hate them.

Grace tried to temper Charlie's anger, his prejudices, and she tried to make a good impression on the town, going out to do charity work, supporting the library and their church, but in the end, it wasn't enough and she knew it. She looked at her watch and noticed it was nearly ten thirty and Charlie had not come down. She looked out the window and saw the mailman coming down the sidewalk and across the street the land was being cleared for a new house. The neighborhood was changing, starting to expand and they would no longer be the only house on the road as the town grew and in filled the land between the old town center and their house, an old Greek Revival the family originally constructed in the early 1800's.

'Charlie needed to get up' Grace thought as she rose from the dining room chair and headed to the hall. As she let her shoes tap across the wood floor she recalled what she had overheard some of the ladies in church say about Charlie, how he was evil, how he was going to bring the family down and how they knew he was the one terrorizing some of the poor communities at night and Grace had to bring her hand to her chest to stifle the urge to choke. She stopped at the bottom of the stair and looked up to the landing.

"Charlie? Charlie, dear, you need to get up" Grace called up the stair but all she heard was Millie in the back of the house getting lunch ready. She climbed the stair and made her way down the hall, passing the patriarchs of the family where their paintings hung on the walls and down to Charlie's room. The door was closed and as she moved to it, her hand reaching out for the knob she smelled something metallic, rusty, a scent she couldn't make herself recognize before she opened the door.

Grace's scream tore through the house, vibrated through the walls and doors; even the air seemed to quake with her scream till the mailman stopped on the sidewalk and Millie dropped the pan into the sink and ran from the kitchen. Grace screamed till her voice broke and she stumbled trying to back out of the room, her shoes slipping in the blood that pooled on the floor. Grace fell through the door to the floor of the hall and she scrambled to get away from the room, her eyes wide with the shock of what she had seen and she slammed against the opposite wall screaming 'no' over and over.

October 30, 2014

Aiden pulled to the curb and shut off the engine as he saw some of his friends head into the diner. There were only a few places to eat in town, the two fast food restaurants out at the shopping center and the old drive in on South Main, and still in downtown, barely surviving, was the diner. As Aiden moved down the sidewalk he saw Tyler parking across the street and he slowed to a stop waiting. Tyler and he were close friends, had been since kindergarten and now that they were graduated from high school, they were both getting ready to attend the same college. Some of their classmates made fun of the way they were always together, and some made insinuating remarks there was more to their relationship. Aiden had heard the rumors from his younger sister and denied them, for there was nothing to them. They had never done anything sexual, never touched each other inappropriately, but Aiden knew, deep down inside it wasn't because he didn't want to.

It was after one o'clock and the main lunch crowd was gone, leaving a few late comers and their former classmates sitting around two tables they had pulled together. They moved to the table and Jessica pushed two chairs out from the table she was sitting. Aiden and Tyler motioned the waitress over to the table and gave her their order while they heard the others talking about the party tomorrow night. Sarah's folks allowed her to decorate their barn and have a Halloween party, something she had done for the last three years. The group of them talked about who was coming, the decorations they had to finish and more importantly to them, the final arrangements for the section of the barn to be a haunted house. They talked of the different ways they were going to scare people, how they would work or what they would need to do that night and over time they began to talk about the town's haunted house, the one out on Kings Drive that was a large old place with columns across the front for the porch. Its windows were boarded up and the grounds severely over grown. It had been empty for years, their grandparents saying it was before their time when the family that owned it packed up and left. What remained of the family still owned the place, some distant relatives over in Atlanta, but they had done nothing to preserve the house and had refused all offers to sell.

Aiden and Tyler, and most of the others had heard the rumors, how there was some gruesome event, a murder or suicide that had happened, the only son of the family that had occupied the house in the early 1950's and the family had used all their clout to cover up what had happened and then they had packed up and moved to Atlanta where they had relatives. The rumors over the years morphed, became more mysterious, more gruesome, and eventually the belief the house itself was haunted came to be. Over the years some had dared to break into the house, roam its empty rooms and halls and on those occasions, those who broke in came running out, scared, hyperventilating, with them babbling on about strange noises.

As they talked of the house, their talk turned daring, to the idea they should have used the old house for their haunted house. Mark, sitting at the head of one table leaned forward, sniggering at the suggestion.

"Come on guys, we couldn't use that old house...hell no one is willing to go on the property, much less sneak into the house. It's haunted remember?" Mark said, laughing, thinking the conversation had gone on long enough.

"You guys don't really believe in ghost do you?" Sarah asked, sounding incredulous.

"Well, something weird has happened in that place" Tyler replied.

"Maybe so, but a ghost?" Mark replied.

"Yeah, it's probably just the old place settling and creaking during the night" Aiden said as he leaned back in his chair.

"Maybe you should slip in there and verify that for us" Mark said, and then he looked over at Sarah; "Then you'd know if the place was okay to sneak into for your little haunted house."

"Yeah" Sarah said, suddenly giving the idea of Aiden going into the house tonight serious consideration. "Why don't you?" she said looking at Aiden.

"Hey...how did I get volunteered for this?" Aiden replied.

"You think it's haunted?" Jessica asked.

"No, of course not, but it is trespassing" Aiden replied.

"Oh hell, Aiden, who's going to know? All the houses in that section are abandoned" Sarah said.

"Or torn down" Mark added.

"Tyler? Why don't the two of you sneak in tonight and check it out" Jessica said.

***

Tyler parked his truck a block away at an old warehouse building that was built in the early eighties and subsequently went out of business. The whole area was dark except for a few street lights, the few that remained intact. Tyler and Aiden carried their gear along the street and then cut across the lot next door to get to the rear of the property. They found a fallen section of fence they could pass through allowing them to circle back to the house and to one side looking for a window they could get through since the rear porch had collapsed down the wall blocking the windows and door. The first two windows were still secure but at the third the plywood panel easily rotated out of the way allowing them to climb through.

They wore camp lights on their heads, lights that pointed in the direction in which they were facing and as they scanned the room they realized it must have been the dining room. Spider webs hung in all the corners, in the built in shelves and in the fireplace in the center of the interior wall. Dust covered every surface.

"Come on" Tyler said in a low whisper as he headed to the door to the left of the fireplace which was hanging loosely from the lower hinge, the upper pulled away. The door squeaked and then pulled from the lower hinge crashing to the floor making dust fly up in a thick cloud.

"Shit" Aiden said as he and Tyler coughed, wiping the dust from their eyes. They moved into the main hall which cut down the center of the house. The floor squeaked in several locations as they carefully moved across the hall to the double doors opposite. Tyler tried the door but the knob wouldn't turn and the doors refused to budge.

"Let's try the next door" Tyler whispered to Aiden and they began to walk down the hall. A squeak echoed behind them and they slowly turned to see the double doors opening by themselves, slowly, the hinges squeaking with every degree of rotation.

"What the hell" Aiden uttered as he felt his heart beat at a furious pace. He glanced at Tyler and saw the wide eyed look of someone suddenly scared.

"You think one of the others is in here fucking with us?" Aiden asked as he moved toward the open doors.

"Maybe..." Tyler replied and then growing more confident he moved up next to Aiden. "That has to be it."

They moved through the open doors and scanned the room. Empty bookshelves lined the three interior walls.

"The library" Aiden whispered and they quickly noticed no other door to the room and the two windows were boarded up tight.

"Let's go" Tyler whispered as he nudged Aiden on the arm and the two of them went back into the hall. Toward the front of the house they looked into the two empty rooms, the one on the right had its windows busted out and the plywood knocked down and the interior showed the deterioration of years of exposure. Tyler looked over the rotted floor, his beam of light showing the mold and decay. Something moved over the floor, fast, back into the shadows and Tyler jumped.

"What is it?" Aiden asked.

"I don't know" Tyler replied as he looked over the floor frantically searching for what he had only glimpsed. In the corner he saw it, a large black snake lying still against the base board. "Fuck...it's just a snake."

They moved through the first floor rooms, Aiden in the lead, their headlamps casting a small beam of light in the pitch black interior. Occasionally the house would creak, settle in the cooling night. In the back, the last room they entered on the first floor was the kitchen, its cabinets ransacked, some hanging from the wall ready to fall. Tyler moved into the center of the room and scanned the perimeter casting his light into the dark corners. There was a hum, a low tone that grew louder and Tyler and Aiden looked at the old sink at the boarded up window. The faucet was vibrating as it emitted the low humming sound.

"What the fuck" Aiden whispered.

"Pressure in the main line?" Tyler asked.

"Hell...maybe. Let's go upstairs, look around and then get out of here" Aiden said as he moved to the door leading back to the hall.

The stair was covered in spider webs and the treads with a thick layer of dust. Aiden and Tyler moved slowly up the stair keeping to the center of the treads. The treads squeaked as they made their way. Tyler stepped on a tread that came loose, shifting under the weight of his foot and he grabbed for the handrail. It broke loose and Tyler started over the side, the loose rail section in one hand and his other grasping at air. He saw his headlamp shine down to the floor below where he was falling. Suddenly he stopped, his free arm jerked tight.

"Gotcha" Aiden exclaimed as he held firmly to Tyler's arm. "Shit that was close."

"Yeah...fucking stair is rotten" Tyler replied as he felt his heart race.

Aiden pulled Tyler up and brought him close, holding him firmly and the closeness was too intimate, the feel of Tyler in his arms too comforting and he let go quickly, turned and moved up the stair.

Tyler looked up at Aiden as he eased upward and Tyler took a deep breath as he considered the look he had seen on Aiden's face, one he had seen before but never really gave too much consideration too, that is, till tonight. Maybe it was the place or this ridiculous thing they were doing.

"Wait up" Tyler whispered as he began to follow Aiden.

The upper floor was a hall that sat directly above the first floor hall and each side had a few doors and there was one at the end of the hall. They moved cautiously, the floor squeaking beneath their feet and their headlamps cutting a narrow beam of light through the darkness. The first two rooms had their door taken off the hinges and they were completely empty. Across the hall were a pair of doors and Tyler eased them open, the hinges squeaking as the door swung inward.

"It has to be the master bedroom" Tyler said as he scanned the room, the largest of the upper rooms so far.

A creak sounded out in the darkness and Aiden and Tyler turned quickly to shine their lamps at the double doors.

"What the fuck was that?"

"Maybe one of our friends have sneaked in?" Aiden replied.

"Well let's go see and then get out of here" Tyler uttered in a strained voice as he headed to the doors. The hall was empty, all the doors as they were before. Aiden, followed closely by Tyler moved to the next door.

The door didn't open when Aiden first tried it, the knob seemed stuck, didn't want to turn and he gripped it tighter and tried again. The knob squeaked loudly as it turned in his hand and when the door clicked open air rushed out around the door. Tyler thought he heard someone talking, just a whisper, so low he couldn't make out the words and he reached out and grabbed Aiden by the arm motioned him to stop and be quiet.

"What is it?" Aiden asked, freezing in place when he saw the look on Tyler's face.

"Don't you hear it?"

"What?"

"The...whispering?"

"Tyler...I don't hear anything" Aiden replied wondering if the place was getting to Tyler worse than it was to him. "Come on Tyler; let's check out these last rooms and leave."

Aiden pushed the door open all the way and let his light shine inside. The interior was so dark nothing reflected back from the darkness. He moved inside the door, Tyler right behind him, and stood a few feet within the room. He shined the light on the floor and saw dark stains, a spattering pattern with distinct straight edges.

"Looks like where a rug was on the floor preventing this stain from getting to the floor where it lay" Aiden whispered.

"What is it?" Tyler asked as he looked over the floor seeing where the bed obviously sat next to the place where the rug had been positioned, the stain outlining the two rectangular forms. He looked up to the walls, his lamp following the movement of his head and he saw the same dark stain on the walls, fanning outward from where the bed had sat.

"Jesus" Aiden uttered as he followed Tyler's gaze across the walls. As Tyler moved around the room Aiden looked upward and saw the same staining on the ceiling.

"Its...its where blood was spattered."

"Fuck...let's get out of here" Tyler replied.

The stair creaked, a tread shifted down near the bottom, then another. The darkness seemed to close in on them and Aiden quickly pushed the door closed.

"Someone's coming up the stairs" he said to Tyler. "Turn off your lamp."

"What?" Tyler responded, shocked at the suggestion as he watched Aiden turn his headlamp off.

"Do it so we can see them first" Aiden replied in a whisper as he leaned toward Tyler.

The floor of the hall creaked and the whole house seemed to settle, to moan with its decay. No light came under the door. The room and the hall outside the door were solid black in their darkness. Tyler moved up close to Aiden, his heart racing in his chest. He heard the whispering again, more distinct, close by, in the room with them and he moved up close to Aiden putting his arm around Aiden's stomach.

"I hear someone...in here with us" Tyler uttered fearfully.

Aiden felt the arm around his waist, liked the feel of Tyler against him, but he had wanted this differently, not like this, holed up in this old abandoned house hearing noises. He turned in Tyler's arm and faced him even though he couldn't see him.

"It's okay...I don't hear anything."

Tyler hugged him tighter, his fear driving his need and Aiden put his arms around him.

"It's okay Tyler...it's okay" and he felt Tyler move against him.

"Aiden?" Tyler whispered.

"I know..."

Tyler nestled his face into Aiden's neck and Aiden felt Tyler's warmth, the smooth softness of his skin as he rubbed against him, pulled their bodies closer fearful to let go, no longer concerned about some boundary between them. Aiden felt the way Tyler pulled them together, shocked at the way Tyler was clinging to him and along his neck he felt the wetness, tears, trickling down his skin. He rubbed his hands over Tyler's back and driven by fear, by the need to cling to someone, to feel another Aiden felt his cock grow stiff in his jeans and he couldn't help it, had to do it, and he pressed his crotch against Tyler, pushed his growing erection against him and he felt Tyler push back.

Tyler kissed him on the neck as he clung to his body, pushing against him.

"You don't hear anything?" Tyler asked his voice urgent, scared.

"No..." Aiden replied.

Tyler's hands moved up and under Aiden's t-shirt, slid up his stomach and chest, the feel of the warm skin comforting and he kissed Aiden on the face, the first contact random, a careless move in the dark and he moved along Aiden face, read its shape using his lips till he kissed the corner of Aiden's mouth.

"Is this okay?" Tyler asked and Aiden kissed him back, roughly pressing their lips together. Tyler slipped his hands down and took Aiden's t-shirt pulling it upward and over Aiden's head. He ran his hands over Aiden's body, felt the firm smooth skin, the lean build, not yet fully developed, and he leaned over and put his lips to it, ran them over it. He began to undo Aiden's jeans, unbuttoning them, pulling down the zipper and he pushed them down with his boxers as he moved to his knees and he ran his face over Aiden's crotch, his nose and lips over his abdomen, through his pubic hair and along his erection.

Aiden couldn't believe this was happening, his heart racing with fear and desire, the confusion of it all freezing him in place where he stood with his shirt off and his jeans and boxers around his ankles. He felt Tyler touch him, his hands move up and down his legs and rub over his ass and his lips touching him around his cock and then painfully, he felt those lips move along his shaft, take the head and then the wet hot mouth slid down his cock.

Aiden thought he heard a footfall, a creak of the floor in the hall and Tyler sank his mouth over Aiden's cock all the way distracting him, making him lost between fear and desire. He felt his cock grow so hard, flex up so thick and he reached down into the darkness feeling the soft hair on Tyler's head and he pushed him off of his cock. He felt the cool night air blow over his erection as it bobbed up and down in the darkness. Aiden moved down on his knees, his desires enflamed and he pushed Tyler back onto the floor. Aiden felt along Tyler's legs, groped him as he felt for his belt, undoing it. He unfastened the button and pulled down the zipper of Tyler's jeans opening them up and he reached in running his hand over the soft fabric of Tyler's briefs feeling the hard shaft of the cock confined within them. Tyler gasped, and it sounded like he was going to cry and Aiden felt Tyler's hands rub over his head, their fingers comb through his hair.

"I'm scared..." Tyler whispered and Aiden didn't know if it was the house and the sounds Tyler was hearing or if it was Aiden's sexual intent, or both and he took Tyler's jeans and briefs and tugged them down till they gathered around Tyler's ankles. Aiden moved up over Tyler, their legs pushing and bumping over each other as Aiden moved into position, moved up between Tyler's legs pushing his knees apart.

"Hold me Aiden...hold me..." Tyler uttered barely above a whisper and Aiden felt Tyler beneath him, felt their bodies come together and he hugged them together, clung to Tyler, afraid to let go. Tyler sound choked up, his body quivering beneath Aiden as Aiden tried to soothe him, ran his hands up and down Tyler's sides, caressing him.

"It's okay...we're alone...no one but us is in this old house" he whispered as he pumped his hips and drove his cock along Tyler's thigh and up between his legs, pressing against him down below...against his opening.

Tyler pulled his knees up, spread his legs more as he turned his hips upward and pushed back against Aiden.

"Do it...do it Aiden" he whispered with urgency.

Aiden pushed forward and penetrated, sinking his cock into Tyler. Tyler cried out in the darkness, carelessly, his voice echoing around the room as he hugged Aiden to him urging him onward. Aiden sank his cock slowly into Tyler, eased it inward till he was all the way inside of him. They warmed each other, comforted each other, gave each other the boldness to not care anymore and Aiden began to fuck, to drive his cock in Tyler, working it through the tight ring of Tyler's opening until he loosened up easily accepting his fuck.

Tyler undulated beneath Aiden, pushed his own erection against Aiden's stomach as he took Aiden's fuck. Faster and faster Aiden drove his hips, thrusting downward, driving himself deep into Tyler.

Tyler shook, his whole body quivering with the sensations he felt and he clung to Aiden as he took each penetrating thrust of Aiden's cock. His own cock rubbed hard against Aiden and he felt his need to cum rise as his body stiffened and he clung to Aiden tighter.

"Fuck me...fuck me harder....Aiden...I'm going...to ...cum" Tyler uttered as he pumped his body against Aiden and came, shooting wad after wad of cum out between them, it thick and warm, smeared between them.

Aiden felt Tyler cum, felt the way his opening gripped his cock, milked it as he drove it into Tyler and he shoved inward hard, slammed his body downward and filled Tyler with his load.

October 31, 2014

Jessica and Sarah parked in front of the old house, the early morning light not able to penetrate the deep shadows around it. Mark pulled up behind them and they gathered on the broken up sidewalk at the gate to the front yard.

"Tyler's truck is still back at the warehouse" Mark said.

"Yeah, we saw it too" Sarah replied.

"You think they're still inside?" Jessica added.

"Probably...just waiting on us to come look for them. Probably a trick to scare us" Mark said as he tried to open the gate. "Okay, we climb over" he said and he turned to help Sarah, then Jessica over the gate.

They pried plywood off of a front window, not concerned if someone saw them entering the old house. The interior was dark, pitch black with only a few slivers of light coming in around the plywood over the window. Each held a flashlight as they made their way through the room and into the corridor.

"Their footprints are all over the floor" Mark said as he scanned the floor of the hall.

"They went up the stairs" Sarah uttered nervously as she shined her light on the treads, "but they didn't come down...not this way anyway."

"Let's go up and check it out" Mark said leading the way. They followed the footprints in the dust till they came to a door that was closed, the knob shiny in the light where the dust had been wiped from it.

"They went inside but didn't come out" Sarah said as she and Jessica looked at each other concerned. Mark turned the knob and easily opened the door into the darkness. Jessica saw the shoe first, a running shoe they knew to be one of Aiden's. They scanned the room and soon saw jeans, shirts, socks, shoes and headlamps lying over the floor, scattered around the entire room. But there was no sign of Aiden or Tyler.