"The Old Cartwright Home" Part 6

"The Old Cartwright Home"

Part 6

Leonard wasn't sure if the blessing would work or not. He had given up belief in anything after his wife had died. The first night following the blessing there was nothing. Leonard was relieved but kept his fingers crossed. The second night turned out to be a peaceful night also. Leonard enjoyed an entire month with no ghosts, spooks or other disturbances.

It was early fall, and there was a cool crispness in the air. Before going to bed, Leonard opened the window and rolled over to turn off the light. He had almost entirely forgotten about the ghost and felt a sense of safety in his home. A slight breeze moved the shear curtains in a peaceful wave motion. Leonard watched them and began to feel sleep approaching quickly. Suddenly, there was a strong gust that blew the curtains in a wild frenzied motion. The wind continued longer than a second so Leonard got up and shut the window.

He lay back down and propped his head upon his pillow. Leonard began to feel sleepy again, when out of no where, came a loud thump directly above the bedroom. Leonard quickly reached for the lamp, but no light was produced, the lamp was dead,. He sat up, and then the door slammed which caused him to jump back fearfully. He leaped to the door and turned the knob frantically, but the door would not open. Upon turning around, he was startled by a child's reflection in the mirror. The child blankly stared back at Leonard. Leonard approached the mirror, and stood in front, when suddenly the child morphed into a dark shadow with sharp teeth, and screamed in a blood curdling screech, “LEAVE US ALONE”. It moved from the mirror onto the wall and began circling the room. The window flew open and the ghastly apparition was gone. Leonard ran back to the door and it opened as normal. He ran through the den, grabbed his gun, and took aim for his room. The room was back to normal though, even the wind blew gently through the open window.

The next morning Leonard lifted his head from the couch and thought about the terrifying night he had experienced. He was tired of the ghosts presence, he only wanted to be left alone. That day, Leonard mowed the lawn and worked around the house. He contemplated leaving, and he thought about about staying, after all, they had left him alone for a solid month.

“There has to be a solution”, thought Leonard to himself.

The day passed quickly, and Leonard was satisfied with the all the work he got done around the house. He felt oddly calm about all that had happened, and also didn't worry to much about what would happen in the future.

That evening, Leonard cut a cucumber he had gotten out of his garden for a fresh salad. He looked out the kitchen window and saw it. The dark silhouette was moving across the back lawn, headed around the side of the house. Leonard watched the figure complete an entire lap around the house and then he called the sheriff's office.

“Hello sheriff, I have a trespasser on my property.”, he had reminded himself he couldn't say he had a ghost.

“Sir, we will dispatch a unit immediately.”

Leonard hung up the phone and looked out the kitchen window. The figure was closer, and still pacing slowly in a circle around the house. He went and grabbed his shotgun, then stepped outside and took aim with the gun. He squeezed the trigger with his quivering finger, and the shot flew impotently through the shadowy figure as if it were made of air. He pumped the shotgun and fired another round that was just as big of a waste as the first. He pumped the shotgun again but decided it would not help matters, so he turned and ran inside locking the door behind him. He quickly walked to the front door and locked it as well and then looked out of the living room window. He saw nothing for a brief moment, and then the shadow moved across the front lawn. Leonard reached and pulled the curtains together.

Copyright 2018

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Horror Inspired Artwork

Copyright 2018

"The Old Cartwright Home" Part 5

"The Old Cartwright Home"

Part 5

In the middle of the night, Leonard felt cold, so he rolled over to grab the blanket but couldn’t place his hand upon it. He opened his eyes and the blanket wasn't on the bed. He was sleepy and groggy so he left the bedside lamp off, but still got up and looked around the bed for the blanket, finding it wasn't there. He looked around the room until he saw that the tip was laying on the floor jammed between the closet door and the door frame. Leonard's heart started to beat faster, and he was tempted to run from the room, the house, and leave it all alone, but he didn’t. With each footstep, he left a gentle creak in the floor that emanated the cool stale atmosphere of the room. He touched the door knob gently, and slowly pulled it open. Before he had it half way open, he quickly jerked it and flung it open. Suddenly, there was a flash of figure with the blanket draped over it and a ghastly screech, then the blanket dropped to floor lifeless and limp.

Leonard stumbled backwards, tripped over the bed and fell to the floor. He got up and scrambled to grab the shotgun in the living room corner. He began turning on the lights as he returned to the bedroom, and then he cautiously entered. The blanket lay in the closet floor and room felt normal once again. He grabbed the blanket and threw it on the bed, then closed the closet door. He left the room with the light on, and went into the living room where he felt more secure. That night, Leonard watched the clock, each tick of the seconds hand bringing him closer to morning.

Pastor Wilson was greeted on the front porch by Leonard, who had been sitting there since daybreak.

“Hello, are you Leonard?”

“Yes, it's very nice to meet you Pastor Wilson, how do you do.”

“I am fine, please tell me about the apparition you keep seeing”

Leonard glanced at the ground and kicked at the dirt as the short, bald, round man waited for a reply, “Well, the thing comes out in the late evening and it circles the house. It's not every night, but more sporadic. Last night it was in my closet standing there under the blanket. It was there for a moment, then it let out an awful screech and disappeared. This is absolutely the most terrifying thing I have ever dealt with.”

“I'm sure it is. I can perform a house blessing with holy water and that's about all I can do.”

The pastor went to his car and retrieved a metal flask with a gold cross on the front. He went to the front door and bowed his head, said a prayer and sprinkled the water on the doorstep.

“Is it ok if I go in the house and bless each of the rooms?”

“Yeah, perfectly fine.”

Pastor Wilson went inside and repeated the same ceremony in each room. He had finished and walked back outside to meet with Leonard.

“Hopefully that will work. I don't have a lot of experience with supernatural phenomena. My advice would be to leave the house immediately and forget about it all.”

Leonard disagreed with the pastor in his head but didn’t say anything. “I bought this house and I refuse to leave because of some old ghost. There's got to be a way.” he thought to himself.

“Pastor Wilson, I appreciate what you did and I sure hope it works.”

“Alright, you take care.” and with that the pastor got back in his sedan and drove down the country road.

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"The Old Cartwright Home" Part 4

"The Old Cartwright Home"

Part 4

The next morning Leonard remembered that Ruby had mentioned a Pastor Wilson. He decided this was a matter the pastor would be interested, in and looked him up in the phone book. There were dozens of small churches in the area and without his first name, he next to impossible to find. Leonard cranked up the truck and took off to Ruby's place.

The day was too short and it was evening by the time he got out of his truck and knocked on Ruby's door. He knocked more frantic and felt anxious, hoping Ruby would answer. The door rattled and Ruby appeared.

“Hello, Mr. James, how may I help you?”

“Hi Ruby, you had mentioned a Pastor Wilson several weeks ago when last spoke.”

“Yes indeed.”

“Would you have his phone number, or a way I could contact him immediately?”

Ruby glanced questionably at Leonard and replied, “Yes dear, one moment.”

She shut the door and was gone for quite a while, leaving Leonard to pick at the skin around his fingernails.

“She must have it stashed in mountains of junk that probably resides inside that house.” thought Leonard to himself.

Ruby eventually reappeared, and handed him a small scrap of paper that had the pastor's telephone number scribbled down.

“Thanks, and you have a good day.” said Leonard, as he was turning towards the pickup truck.

“Do you mind telling me why you need Pastor Wilson, and also why you seem in such a hurry?”

“Well, last night, I saw something in the yard.”

“What do you mean?”, further inquired Ruby.

Leonard cleared his throat, “I think there was a ghost out in yard yesterday evening.”

“Oh dear, well that explains the tired look on your face, and the worry in your eyes. I wouldn't be surprised if there were spirits at that house given all that has happened there.”

“Yeah, its got me a little worried.”

“Call Pastor Wilson, I think he has dealt with this kind of thing before, and a word to wise, you may want to leave the house as soon as possible.”

Leonard started moving toward his truck, “Yeah, we'll see, but thanks again for the phone number.”

Leonard got into the truck and quickly drove down the old bumpy driveway back to the main road. He sped back to the house, as it was late evening, and he wanted to see if Pastor Wilson could pay a visit tonight. Leonard ran into the house as soon as he got back and grabbed the phone, dialing the number as quickly as possible. It rang several times and Leonard was worried that the Pastor was not in.

Pastor Wilson was quietly eating dinner when the phone started to ring. He contemplated not answering it, but knew it could be one of the parishioners, so he did.

“Hello?”

The voice on the other end seemed rushed and nervous all at the same time.

“Hi, is this Pastor Wilson?”

“Yes it is, and with whom am I speaking too?”

“Yes sir, my name is Leonard James, and I got your number from Ruby May who said you may be able to help me.”

“Right, I know Ruby, what can I do for you?”

Leonard paused for moment, thinking to himself how insane all this was.

“I think there is some bad energy in my house that I need to get rid of.”

“I'm sorry, could you explain more to me.”

“Well, last night, I saw what I believe to be a ghost out in my back yard.”

Pastor Wilson laughed under his breath, and then said, “I see, sure I could help you out. Where do you live?”

“I live in the old Ella Cartwright home, just down the street from Ruby.”

“Oh dear, that changes everything. I won't be able to meet tonight, but let's meet tomorrow and we'll see what I can do.”

Leonard felt panicky, “Are you sure you can't come this evening?”

“I am terribly sorry, but I'm very tired and need to rest, but I will be there first thing in the morning.”

“Ok, see you in the morning.” said Leonard and he hung up the phone.

One could see the nervous and worried expression on Leonard's face, but what was not so easily detected, was the intense fear that had come over him as the sun was setting. He walked into the kitchen and looked out the window but saw nothing. He made a sandwich and looked out again before sitting down, but there still was no ghostly figure. He ate his sandwich and by the time he finished, which was not long, darkness quickly approached. He leaned up against the counter and stared into the back yard expecting the apparition to appear at any moment, but it never did. Leonard's worry was somewhat put at ease and he decided to go to bed early so tomorrow would come quickly.

Copyright 2018

An interesting interpretation of Cthulhu

An interesting interpretation of Cthulhu

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"The Old Cartwright Home "    Part 3

Leonard ran his fingers through his hair and exhaled a breath before asking, “What ever happened to Ella Cartwright?”
    “That is the biggest mystery of all. She moved out of the house for awhile and lived with her parents, during which her sanity seemed to decline. All of a sudden one day I saw her walking down the road and ran out to see if she was alright. She had a dull expression on her face and lacked any vitality as if all her inner happiness had been sucked out. She said she was good and then turned around and headed back home. Three days later, as it was so many times before, the police were on my front doorstep asking if I had seen Ella Cartwright. What happened was Pastor Wilson had stopped by and couldn't find her, so given the history he called the police immediately. After that, the house sat empty until Ella's parents died, then the bank took possession of it and the rest of the land in the area. That house was rented to a number of tenants, all of whom, from my best guess, seemed to stay for no longer than a month and then suddenly leave. Mr. James, I'm sorry but that is the sad tragic story behind the Ella Cartwright home. Do you have anymore questions?”
        “No Ma'am. That's plenty. Surprisingly enough, it doesn’t bother me very much. The home I come from was drenched in sadness and tragedy.”
    “Well, Mr. James, I wish you best of luck and hope you have a good afternoon”
Ruby slowly stood up from the old swing and went to open the front door, when she turned to Leonard, “Mr. James, do be careful.”.
        “Thank you Ma'am”, said Leonard, while he waved and got inside his pickup truck. He paused a moment before cranking the truck and thought about how much he missed his wife.
Several weeks had passed and Leonard was really enjoying the solitude of the place and the peaceful countryside. It was 8 o'clock and Leonard was just finishing up with dinner. He got up to put his scraps in the scrap bucket by the door, when he looked outside to see how dark it was. “Still a little bit of daylight”, he thought to himself. He glanced over at the barn and was startled to see a shadowy figure just outside of the barbwire fence. The shape moved behind the barn and was gone long enough to allow Leonard to grab his shotgun. It reappeared from behind the barn on the other side. It looked like the silhouette of a person slowly walking along side of the fence.
Leonard opened the back door and yelled, “Hey you, this is private property! Get out here or I'm calling the police.” The figure continued it's pace, just outside of the barbed fence swaying to and fro in a haunting manner. Leonard quickly slammed the back door and continued watching from the kitchen window above the sink. Several times, the ghostly apparition circled around the barn, and the backyard,  then made its way around the front of the house. The figure made it's way around the barn and then didn't appear on the other side as before. It was gone, Leonard said, “Thank God” and his pounding heart slowed back to a normal rhythm. For most of the night he was in and out of sleep trying to stay awake on the living room couch, with his gun by his side.

Copyright 2018 M.G. Wylder

“The Old Cartwright Home” Part 2

“Must of been nothing, have to adjust to my own place”, Leonard breathed out and he returned to preparing his dinner. Eventually forgetting about it, he settled in for the evening and then retired to bed.

One of the many benefits of waking up in the country, is the beautiful sunrise. Leonard loved sunrises and looked forward to opening his eyes to see the sun peering through the window and lighting the entire room. When he did wake up, he saw a dull light in the room as if it were a rainy day. He looked out the window and saw that the countryside was brilliant in the morning sun but not his room; Leonard was somewhat confounded by this.

Mid afternoon Leonard pulled into his neighbors' driveway if that's what you wanted to call the dirt path with tire tracks. The old driveway ended under an ancient walnut tree that was in front of the large two story white house with ancient pealing paint. Leonard rang the doorbell several times and got the impression that no one was at home until the door rattled and finally opened. Standing behind the doorway was a lady of seventy to eighty years of age with disheveled hair and a dress that looked like it was from another time period.

Leonard started to greet the elderly woman with a friendly salutation when he was interrupted by her.

“Can I help you?”, she said in a crackly soft voice.

“Hello, I am Leonard James, and I'm your new neighbor”, he said as he gently reached out his hand.

“Neighbor? Did you recently buy the new place up the road aways?”

“No Ma'am, I bought the white house with green shutters, several miles down the road.”

She finally grasped his hand, “You mean you live in the Ella Cartwright house? Did anyone tell you the history of that house?”

“No Ma'am I just know that it had been on the market for some time.”

“One could say that. Forgive my manners dear, I am Ruby May and I go by Ms. May. Can I call you Mr. James?”

“Yeah, that's fine by me. I'm sorry to digress, but what were you saying about the history of the... Ella Cartwright home.”

“Follow me over to this swing”, she said as she limped over to a decrepit looking porch swing.

Ms. May took a seat on the swing and Leonard leaned a against the porch railing beside her.

“Dear, there is much to tell about that old house, much of which is horrific, inhumane, and utterly terrifying. I will tell you the long and the short of it. If you feel that this may make you see your new house in a different light, you may want to leave now.”

“No Ma'am, I would prefer to know the truth of what happened there. Go ahead and tell me everything.”

“Very well then. Ella and George Cartwright were married and moved into that house around 1965. The house was new and built on land obtained from Ella's father. I remember them to be a good couple at first, always waved as they drove by. Then they began to have kids and I began to see more of Ella walking down the road, until one day I met her and asked what she was doing. When I saw her face, she had a black eye and busted lip. I immediately asked if George did this and she denied it and said she had fallen off a ladder. In the back yard of that house there is a small barn isn't there?”

“Yes Ma'am.”

“Have you been inside of the barn?”

“No, its got a lock on the door and I wasn’t given a key”

“Before the barn was there, it was a small well house covering a deep well. Supposedly, they capped the well and built the barn over top. Anyway, that may be irrelevant. Ella continued to show up in town with the kids and with a patchwork of new cuts and bruises, until one day the police came knocking on my door asking if I had seen old George Cartwright at all in the past couple of weeks. I replied that no I hadn’t and asked if he was missing. The policeman said that no one in town or even Ella and the kids had seen George for three weeks. A year passed and no George, but the cuts and bruises on Ella disappeared and everyone's disposition appeared greatly improved. Just as it seemed the sun was shining, tragedy struck again. Will, the middle child, went missing. It was a bizarre situation because Ella and the other children claimed they all went to bed and woke up with Will missing. Time passed and the family seemed to heal again, but it happened again except this time it was the two younger children Jack and James.”

Leonard interrupted, “Weren’t the police the least bit suspicious of Ella by now?”

“You're right, that's what I was getting ready to say. By now the police were in a full investigation of the where abouts of the children and George. While the investigation was ongoing, and while there was so much pain and anguish in the air, it turned out that the two older children, Sarah and Mitch went missing. By now the entire town was being turned upside down and in emotional turmoil due to these missing persons. Poor old Ella was at the center of all the investigations, judgment, and sorrow caused by the disappearances of her children. They never were able to find explanations, nor any bodies. Some of the few folks that remember it, see it as a true mystery, while others think it was a crime done by Ella herself.

Copyright 2014 M.G. Wylder