Challenge accepted - Dominic
Jul. 16th, 2012 11:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
taluminMitch had not heard the rumours about the house when he bought it, but it was not long after he moved to A____ that he was informed by the locals of its dark history.
The first inhabitants of the house had been the Thompsons. A small family of three, they had suffered a horrible misfortune on the day they moved in. While carrying a box of plates up the stairs, Mrs Thompson tripped on an exposed wire and fell headfirst into a wall. After picking herself up, she staggered into the bannister which snapped under her weight. She fell into the room below, breaking every rib. This, coupled with the prior head injury, led to her tragic death. During the wake, the young boy George Thompson swallowed a coin purse and choked to death before anyone could find him. Bereft of wife and child, Boyd Thompson was driven to alcoholism and was eventually forced to sell the house to pay for his numerous debts.
This series of tragedies, while unfortunate, did not deter the new occupants, the Belmores of E____. A young couple buying their first home, they lasted longer than the Thompsons. Unfortunately, following a somewhat over-the-top anniversary party, both Elliot Belmore and Esther Belmore died in a freak fire caused by faulty wiring. Damage to the house was relative minor, striking mainly the stairs and master bedroom. The investigation indicated that neither Belmore was conscious when the fire started and they most likely died of smoke inhalation. Since the bodies were charred almost beyond recognition, this was mostly conjecture.
The Belmore's relatives had the house remodelled and sold it for a tidy profit. This did not help them a great deal, as they went bankrupt the next year. The house was leased by the Northbourne Group and rapidly went through a series of tenants. No tenant lasted longer than six months, and all of them reported numerous problems, from strange noises at night, to the feeling of being watched as soon as the lights went off. Eventually, the Northbourne Group managed to sell the house to Albert Pemberton.
It was here that the tale of the house grew bizarre, and the fate of the occupant became somewhat more unlucky. Albert Pemberton was the grandson of the original builder of the house, and he restored the interior to its original design. The carpets were refitted, the stairs re-varnished and the light fixtures repaired. He specifically made sure the fault, exposed wiring that had led to the deaths of previous occupants was repaired. He was forced to do this himself, as after a number of on site injuries, the contractors quit, citing clauses in their contracts that allowed them to refuse to work in houses subject to curses. Albert scoffed at these superstitions, just as his grandfather had.
Misfortune followed Albert for his entire tenure in the house. His business of creating stuffed animals with the faces of children filed for bankruptcy, his wife left him for one of the former contractors, his daughter ran away from home and was last seen studying law in an attempt to sue him. He spent most of his days dodging creditors and the range of circumstances that seemed determined to do him harm. If he took a shower, he was guaranteed to slip. If he crossed a road, a bus would narrowly miss him. He lived most of the rest of his life as a paranoid mess, seeing danger everywhere. If he rolled a pair of dice, they would come up both ones. In a moment of bleak despair, he attempted to hang himself from the balustrade of the house's mezzanine but the railing snapped under his weight, sending him tumbling to the floor where he broke both legs. He survived, but the hospital bills sent him spiralling further into debt. Some months after this, he attempted to end his life again, using a revolver inherited from his grandfather. With the muzzle in his mouth, Albert squeezed the trigger only to have the gun jam. When he tried to clear it, it backfired and he lost two fingers.
Crippled, maimed and beset by misfortune, Albert developed many physical tics that kept him trapped within the house. Neighbours reported loud screaming and sobbing coming from the house, and while Albert's last weeks were not recorded by anyone save his own tormented soul, it has been suggested that he spent his final hours in horrible terror. He was found after a month, curled into a ball at the top of the stairs, a look of horror on his gaunt and rotting face. The house was taken by the bank and finally sold to Mitch.
Mitch discovered all of this within his first week living in the house from various neighbours who seemed to take a ghoulish delight in regaling him with these tales of woe. He was at first deterred from living there but eventually decided it made a great topic of conversation for any guests he might have. It was difficult to convince anyone to visit the house, given its reputation. After a month or so, Mitch began to notice that there was something strange going on. Items that he had just put down would be moved to another room entirely. He would be awoken in the middle of the night by a cold breeze sweeping through the house. Doors would slam when he was sure they were already closed. Whenever he went upstairs to go to bed, he would get a sudden feeling that there was something behind him. He could sense a presence that made his skin tingle in primal fear. He was never sure if he should turn and allay his fears that there was nothing there, or to give in to the basic urge to feel to his room and hide. This would happen four or five times a day, and more after sunset. Every time he reached the top of the stairs, this feeling would sweep over him.
He began to have trouble sleeping and his friends always commented on how thin and drawn his face looked. It was only after a major storm that he discovered the house's horrific secret.
In the middle of the night, a great gust of wind tore a branch from a tree outside, snapping the power line to the house. In the darkness, Mitch scrabbled for the torch and went to check the damage. As he stepped down from the mezzanine onto the stairs, there was a tremendous crash, and the rest of the elderly gum tree that the branch had fallen from smashed through the roof, breaking a hole in the wall between the mezzanine and the main bedroom. Stunned, Mitch was thrown back. He stumbled down the stairs, clanging his head against the light fixture in the wall. Once he stopped seeing stars, he gingerly made his way back up the stairs, faltering torch in hand.
Peering through the rain and leaves, Mitch could see into the space between the walls, and was horrified to see something looking back. The vacant eye sockets of a human skull stared out at him, pitiless bone locking his gaze. As he involuntarily screamed in terror, a bony hand reached out from within the wall and beckoned to him. Hesitant, he took a step forward, drawn by some force that hooked into his soul. As soon as he got close enough, the hand grabbed him by the neck. Trying to pull away, Mitch snapped the hand free of the arm, tripped on a branch and tumbled into the balustrade. As he flipped over the railing he saw the skull beginning to laugh.
The first inhabitants of the house had been the Thompsons. A small family of three, they had suffered a horrible misfortune on the day they moved in. While carrying a box of plates up the stairs, Mrs Thompson tripped on an exposed wire and fell headfirst into a wall. After picking herself up, she staggered into the bannister which snapped under her weight. She fell into the room below, breaking every rib. This, coupled with the prior head injury, led to her tragic death. During the wake, the young boy George Thompson swallowed a coin purse and choked to death before anyone could find him. Bereft of wife and child, Boyd Thompson was driven to alcoholism and was eventually forced to sell the house to pay for his numerous debts.
This series of tragedies, while unfortunate, did not deter the new occupants, the Belmores of E____. A young couple buying their first home, they lasted longer than the Thompsons. Unfortunately, following a somewhat over-the-top anniversary party, both Elliot Belmore and Esther Belmore died in a freak fire caused by faulty wiring. Damage to the house was relative minor, striking mainly the stairs and master bedroom. The investigation indicated that neither Belmore was conscious when the fire started and they most likely died of smoke inhalation. Since the bodies were charred almost beyond recognition, this was mostly conjecture.
The Belmore's relatives had the house remodelled and sold it for a tidy profit. This did not help them a great deal, as they went bankrupt the next year. The house was leased by the Northbourne Group and rapidly went through a series of tenants. No tenant lasted longer than six months, and all of them reported numerous problems, from strange noises at night, to the feeling of being watched as soon as the lights went off. Eventually, the Northbourne Group managed to sell the house to Albert Pemberton.
It was here that the tale of the house grew bizarre, and the fate of the occupant became somewhat more unlucky. Albert Pemberton was the grandson of the original builder of the house, and he restored the interior to its original design. The carpets were refitted, the stairs re-varnished and the light fixtures repaired. He specifically made sure the fault, exposed wiring that had led to the deaths of previous occupants was repaired. He was forced to do this himself, as after a number of on site injuries, the contractors quit, citing clauses in their contracts that allowed them to refuse to work in houses subject to curses. Albert scoffed at these superstitions, just as his grandfather had.
Misfortune followed Albert for his entire tenure in the house. His business of creating stuffed animals with the faces of children filed for bankruptcy, his wife left him for one of the former contractors, his daughter ran away from home and was last seen studying law in an attempt to sue him. He spent most of his days dodging creditors and the range of circumstances that seemed determined to do him harm. If he took a shower, he was guaranteed to slip. If he crossed a road, a bus would narrowly miss him. He lived most of the rest of his life as a paranoid mess, seeing danger everywhere. If he rolled a pair of dice, they would come up both ones. In a moment of bleak despair, he attempted to hang himself from the balustrade of the house's mezzanine but the railing snapped under his weight, sending him tumbling to the floor where he broke both legs. He survived, but the hospital bills sent him spiralling further into debt. Some months after this, he attempted to end his life again, using a revolver inherited from his grandfather. With the muzzle in his mouth, Albert squeezed the trigger only to have the gun jam. When he tried to clear it, it backfired and he lost two fingers.
Crippled, maimed and beset by misfortune, Albert developed many physical tics that kept him trapped within the house. Neighbours reported loud screaming and sobbing coming from the house, and while Albert's last weeks were not recorded by anyone save his own tormented soul, it has been suggested that he spent his final hours in horrible terror. He was found after a month, curled into a ball at the top of the stairs, a look of horror on his gaunt and rotting face. The house was taken by the bank and finally sold to Mitch.
Mitch discovered all of this within his first week living in the house from various neighbours who seemed to take a ghoulish delight in regaling him with these tales of woe. He was at first deterred from living there but eventually decided it made a great topic of conversation for any guests he might have. It was difficult to convince anyone to visit the house, given its reputation. After a month or so, Mitch began to notice that there was something strange going on. Items that he had just put down would be moved to another room entirely. He would be awoken in the middle of the night by a cold breeze sweeping through the house. Doors would slam when he was sure they were already closed. Whenever he went upstairs to go to bed, he would get a sudden feeling that there was something behind him. He could sense a presence that made his skin tingle in primal fear. He was never sure if he should turn and allay his fears that there was nothing there, or to give in to the basic urge to feel to his room and hide. This would happen four or five times a day, and more after sunset. Every time he reached the top of the stairs, this feeling would sweep over him.
He began to have trouble sleeping and his friends always commented on how thin and drawn his face looked. It was only after a major storm that he discovered the house's horrific secret.
In the middle of the night, a great gust of wind tore a branch from a tree outside, snapping the power line to the house. In the darkness, Mitch scrabbled for the torch and went to check the damage. As he stepped down from the mezzanine onto the stairs, there was a tremendous crash, and the rest of the elderly gum tree that the branch had fallen from smashed through the roof, breaking a hole in the wall between the mezzanine and the main bedroom. Stunned, Mitch was thrown back. He stumbled down the stairs, clanging his head against the light fixture in the wall. Once he stopped seeing stars, he gingerly made his way back up the stairs, faltering torch in hand.
Peering through the rain and leaves, Mitch could see into the space between the walls, and was horrified to see something looking back. The vacant eye sockets of a human skull stared out at him, pitiless bone locking his gaze. As he involuntarily screamed in terror, a bony hand reached out from within the wall and beckoned to him. Hesitant, he took a step forward, drawn by some force that hooked into his soul. As soon as he got close enough, the hand grabbed him by the neck. Trying to pull away, Mitch snapped the hand free of the arm, tripped on a branch and tumbled into the balustrade. As he flipped over the railing he saw the skull beginning to laugh.
