Dead Diary
Madeline Cade
June 13, 2018
Moving days make me feel even drearier than usual. The minutes and hours drag into eternities as my parents argue about the house, the decorations, and the lack of space the new house allows for them to have meaningless rooms. I don’t even understand why they get so excited about it. We basically have to start over with a new atmosphere, people, and experiences. For extroverted individuals like Mom and Dad, it doesn’t seem to be a problem for them to meet others. I, on the other hand, am seemingly useless when it comes to social interaction. I had a great group of friends where we lived last. However, we had to pack up and leave so quickly that I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye to them. It has been a rough transition, but I am trying to be optimistic about this new house. My parents picked it out, and they promised I would love it. I am definitely going to hold them to it. On one hand, they know what’s best for me, but on the other hand, they do have an extensive history of picking the most nightmarish houses in the area.
June 14, 2018
Well, to no one’s surprise, I was right. It is absolutely the creepiest house I have ever stepped foot in. From first glance, I pegged it as a set for a horror movie. I’m sure the Victorian estate would have been a gorgeous home in its prime, but that time passed about two hundred years ago. The bay windows peak at the woods that surrounded the house on the peripherals. The asymmetrical style gives it a beautiful yet hauntingly chaotic feel, as if the love it would be receiving from us was going to be the only thing keeping it together. The fog engulfed the ivy-covered manor as we entered the world’s creakiest front door. Sounding like the fresh pop of popcorn, the rain pounded on the roof of the old house. The must of wet cardboard wafted through the house as boxes seemed to come out of nowhere, multiply, and pile up like small mountains.
The first room when you walked in was the kitchen. The kitchen was also the newest room in the building. It had been completely remodeled after the fire last year. It was such a tragic day. Fire consumed that whole area of the house after faulty wiring ignited during the night. That wasn’t the house’s first run-in with destruction. I read about a flood that occurred in 1903 and swept almost the entire town under the water with it. While this was one of the only buildings left partially standing, the damage was significant and required much renovation. The family inside included a mother, father, son, and daughter. There were no survivors. My family doesn’t even think to tell me these details. I had to look them up in the town’s online newspaper. That isn’t even the worst of the terrible occurrences in this house; the most grim devastation surrounding my new home happened in 1918—one hundred years ago exactly. During the year of the flu epidemic that swept across America, this house was the makeshift hospital for the residents of the towns in the surrounding thirty miles. No hospitals were constructed within the radius, so a medic from the war opened his home and attempted what he could. Sadly, his efforts were in vain. Many died on his watch and eventually, the veteran caught it himself and passed away. The town’s cemetery lies within the surrounding woods and is the final resting place for many of those victims. My family always picks the places with rich paranormal history, so I knew there had to be more to this eerie house than just the outward appearance. It was strange how many terrifying happenings one small town could have and that most of them centered around this house. It did seem like the perfect little village for cult gatherings, real-life slasher movies, or where creepy horror writers reside. It probably doesn’t seem like it, but I am really trying to stay positive. I might be crazy, but this place makes you feel like you are being watched. There is a constant feeling that eyes are boring into the back of your skull, but to my surprise, there’s never anything there. I’m probably just being paranoid.
June 15, 2018
I’m trying to keep an open mind about this house. My parents chose it for a specific reason, so I’m going to attempt to be positive. This is a huge house that anyone should be grateful to live in. Just because I have a bad feeling doesn’t mean that it’s a premonition of anything. We’ve been unpacking for hours and are now ready to call it a night. Mom walked in with an old board game we played throughout my childhood and smiled at Dad and I. The New Game of Human Life was my favorite to play when I as younger. Maybe everything was going to be all right, and maybe I was just overreacting about the creepy factor this house possessed. Maybe.
June 16, 2018
I’ve started hearing things. My parents just assume that it’s nothing. I know I’ve acted like this before. Mom likes to tag me with the word neurotic, but I know what I’ve heard. There have been faint whispers as well as complete conversations. I collectively hear the voices of, what I gather is, a family. A prominent booming voice of a father, a slightly submissive housewife that usually echoes the man’s, and the small squeak of a little girl. These aren’t just in my head. I know they’re not.
June 17, 2018
I swear I’m not going insane; we are not alone in this house. I have seen the figures with my own eyes. They stalk the hallways, sit in the kitchen, and even move around the bedrooms. I have never had experiences like this before. They creep through the shadows and communicate with each other. I’ve seen the father read a newspaper in the chair and the woman move around the kitchen. I’ve only heard the girl, but I haven’t seen anything of her yet. I’m terrified. I also have so many questions. Who are they? What do they want? Was this their house? My mind seems to be trying to solve a million problems, but sadly, I am not finding any answers. I am going to wait it out a few more days before I talk to Mom and Dad about it. They’ll think I’ve gone insane, but if our family is at risk, I am not taking any chances.
June 19, 2018
I told my parents, and they said that they had been seeing things too. They were slightly uneasy about the figures in the house. Mom decided that it was best to take my mind off of things, so we took a little stroll outside. She knows this move is hard for me, but I understand that it is difficult for all of us. I do not want to add onto her stress with this “figures in the house” nonsense. It definitely made me feel better to know that I wasn’t the only one in the family who had been seeing things or feeling uncomfortable. We both decided that the walk would be a nice stress reliever for us. The birds sang happily while the breeze picked up slightly. Cicadas were chirping as they were gathering together on the trees above us. The house and whoever was in it seemed almost like different life. Out here, I felt total and complete tranquility. Out here, nothing could bother us and nothing could make me feel less calm and relaxed. A small stream babbled on, as if it were holding a conversations with the birds in the air. My mom smiled over at me and took a deep breath seemingly to inhale the happiness she was receiving from the outdoors. She then interrupted our small moment of peace and told me that we should get back to the house. There were chores to be done, and they were not going to get finished on their own. Reluctantly, I turned and followed her as we trekked back. I thought about how lucky I am to have great parents who would take time out of their day to go on a hike with their child. As we entered the yard, I glanced up at my bedroom window. I suddenly forgot all of those composed and mellow feelings. The face of a small girl peered out from between the curtains. My mind whirled and my words escaped me. That couldn’t have been what I thought it was, right? My blurry vision regained its focus, but as I looked up, I felt as if my body was stuck in a cage of fear. The little girl’s eyes widened and the curtains blew shut like a small but sinister gust of wind.
June 20, 2018
The figures, who strangely move around mostly during the day and rarely at night, seemed to be very active today. I stayed in my room, hiding from them this afternoon. Eventually, I decided to venture out to brush my teeth for the night. As I opened the bedroom door, it made its signature ear-splitting creak. To my horror, the little girl from the window was now looking up at me. “Mama. Dada.” The words echoed from her small lips. The clamorous groan sounded again as I slammed the door in her face. The girl let out a macabre shriek that belonged in horror films, and I collapsed on my bedroom floor, letting the grip of darkness envelop me.
June 21, 2018
I must have fallen asleep on my floor last night after my brief encounter with the girl. I did not think this was going to be hard. I feel like I have failed this assignment for my parents. I expected this to be a lot easier for me than it turned out to be. The humans living in this house are definitely creepy. Being a ghost, no one assumes that we could get scared this easily. The problem with that assumption was that they seemed to be on to us. That was the closest I have ever been to being discovered by our subjects. I have decided that this is too hard for me. My family agreed that this was too much of a risk and we are moving out immediately. I mean, we can always find some other place to haunt, right?