House of Mystery

Good morning!  Can you believe that we are halfway through the month of October?  It’s only a number of days until Halloween.  Does everyone have their costume?

We continue on the spooky stories for October.  This was actually the first one I wrote for the month, but I am only getting around to sharing it this week.  So I hope you enjoy this Dark Spooky story and I will see you in a couple days!

House of Mystery

It was a dark and stormy night and Craig was stuck in his car.  He had been driving home when his car broke down in the middle of nowhere.  And now he was sitting in his car on the side of the road. The rain beat down on the top of his car, making some sort of song with each droplet that landed on the roof.  Craig had called for a tow truck to come out and help him but they had told him it would be a couple hours before someone would be able to come out to help.

Craig sighed.  He looked at his watch yet again seeing that it had been almost 2 hours since he had called for help.  He looked over his shoulder to see if there were any cars coming down the road toward him, but was disappointed to see a completely empty road.  A shiver ran through his body from the chill in the car since he had turned off the car to save gas.  

His fingers reached for the key in the ignition and turned it, starting the car just to warm up a little.  The engine roared to life before quieting down to a slight purr while it idly ran. Craig rubbed his hands together to get feeling back in his fingers.  He looked through the windshield to see if there was anything around that he could possibly walk to and try to keep warm without running his car.

The road was empty.  He was in the middle of some corn fields and he couldn’t see any lights from possibly buildings anywhere close.  The sky was dark from the rain clouds and they didn’t look like they were going to let up anytime soon. The wind howled outside of the car, making it shake from the strength of the wind.  Craig shuddered, would he have to stay in his car all night until the storm let up?

Suddenly the wind stopped.  Craig looked around, trying to see what was going on.  The corn stalks stopped moving, standing perfectly still like soldiers in the army.  No one was there. It was still just Craig and his car.

“Okay…that was weird…what is going on?”  Craig was confused by what happened. He had never been in a storm where the wind was blowing so strong and then suddenly stop.  This must have been a crazy weather phenomenon that Craig was unaware of. But it was a bit spooky.

He looked at his watch again.  10 minutes had passed since the last time he had checked the time and he was getting frustrated.  Where was the help he had called for?

“Fine…fine…I’m just going to leave the car here and see if I can find someone to help me.”  Craig knew the last town he had seen was almost 30 minutes behind him so maybe there was one closer in front of him.  It was the only choice he had. With a sigh, Craig turned off the car, grabbed his umbrella from the passenger seat, and exited the car.  He wasn’t sure how far he was going to walk, but he had to do something besides sitting and waiting.

He slammed the door shut and locked the car before walking in the direction he was traveling.  The rain was pounding down on his umbrella and it was getting him slightly wet from just walking.  The wind had slightly picked up again, making the air more chilly as he got more and more wet. He shivered, maybe this wasn’t a good idea.

Craig came to a cross street and looked around.  There was a house that was a far ways away, but it gave Craig some hope that there was help close by.  He turned down the road and marched through the muddy puddles toward his only glimmer of hope.

“Hey!  You wanna ride?”  Craig spun around to see an old beat up farm truck sitting on the road.  The man behind the wheel looked like he was older than dirt so Craig was surprised that he was able to drive the truck in the rain.  He was also surprised he hadn’t heard the truck pull up next to him because it was quite loud as it sat next to him on the road.

Craig nodded.  “Uh…yeah. My car broke down on the road back there and I was just trying to find some help.  Thanks.” He walked around the front of the car and climbed into the passenger seat of the truck.  It was warm in the truck, but not too warm, and it felt good after walking in the rain. Craig stuck out his hand toward the driver.  “I’m Craig.”

“Harold.  Now where are you going?”  The driver didn’t shake Craig’s hand, he just stared out the windshield.

Craig lowered his hand.  “Uh…just anywhere where I can stay warm.  Maybe like a McDonalds or something?”

The truck started moving forward.  “How about you stay at my house until someone comes to rescue you?”

Craig swallowed.  He barely knew this guy, did he want to trust him?  “Um…sure…I’m just hoping that the tow truck gets here soon.”

Harold shrugged.  “They probably won’t come out until the morning.  Just stay at my place for the night, not to worry.”  Harold passed the house that was in the middle of the field and drove down the road in silence for about 2 miles.  Craig still didn’t really know where he was but his life was now in the hands of a random man in a farm truck.

The truck pulled into a muddy driveway next to a dark farmhouse.  Craig honestly thought it looked like a haunted house with how dark it was on the outside.  All the paneling was black and every shutter on the windows were closed. It didn’t look like anyone had lived in the house for years, yet apparently Harold had lived in the house.

Craig felt his eyes widening as he looked at the building.  “This is your house?”

“Yes, come on in.”  He stopped the truck and yanked the key out of the ignition.  Harold climbed out of the driver’s seat and Craig quickly followed suit not wanting to get too far away from his host.  Craig tried to avoid as many mud puddles as he could so he wouldn’t track any mud into Harold’s house, but Harold just trudged through every puddle without a care in the world.

The two men walked up to the front door and Harold opened the front door for Craig.  “Uh…Thank you…” I think… Craig carefully walked past Harold into the completely empty living room.  “Where’s your furniture?”

“I don’t have any here.  I don’t want people knowing that I live here.”  Harold stomped past Craig and disappeared into another room.  “Let me show you to your bedroom for the night.” Craig quickly followed Harold as he didn’t want to get lost in a stranger’s house.  The older man stopped at a single door in the hallway and opened it. “Here you go. There’s a bathroom on the other side of the house.  I have to leave for about an hour, so if you need anything, just explore the house yourself.”

Craig stepped into the bedroom and immediately felt creeped out.  “Uh…you know…why don’t you just take me into town after all.” He turned around and Harold was gone.  “Harold?” Craig stepped out of the room and found that he was all alone. He rushed out to the empty living and looked out of the giant front windows.  The old farm truck was gone.

“Okay…okay…I am stuck in this giant, empty, creepy house, all by myself.  I guess I’ll just stay in my room and not come out. There…that…that sounds like a plan.”  Craig turned around and walked back toward the creepy bedroom that Harold had kindly given him.  The house was far too creepy for Craig’s liking but at least it was a dry place to spend the night.

He opened up the bedroom door and the only piece of furniture in the room was a double bed.  Craig sighed. “Let’s see how comfortable this bed is.” He fell onto the bed and screamed as the bed fell from underneath him.  There was a loud crashing noise as the bed fell through the floor into the basement. Craig covered his head with his arms and waited until the noise had stopped to look up and where he was.

And what he saw made his heart drop down into his stomach.

The room looked like it could’ve been a prison cell.  There were chains all over the walls and metal cuffs for hands and feet attached as well.  The floor was covered in what Craig presumed was blood, but he wasn’t willing to touch or taste it to find out.  6 different kinds of guns hung on the wall, all waiting their turn to do something terrible. Other weapons were found as well including a bat with nails, a whip, and a myriad of knives and swords.  There weren’t any windows and a single lightbulb hung from the ceiling.

“Okay Craig…just relax…you will find a way out of here…I’m sure of it.”

“Are you sure about that?”

Craig flew off the bed and spun to see Harold standing there.  Craig hadn’t heard anyone come in as the bed was falling, but it was possible that Harold was already there in the basement.  He swallowed. “Please…just let me leave. I won’t tell anyone about this or what happened tonight. I…I just want to go home.”

“Get up against the wall!”  Harold pointed a gun at Craig’s face and Craig did exactly as he was told.  He wanted to help his chances of living, not hurt them. He backed all the way into a wall, completely running into it and almost falling on his face.  Harold marched toward Craig, gun still in hand. “If you move, I will shoot, understand?”

Craig stood perfectly still while Harold hooked his wrists and ankles into the cuffs on the wall.  The metal was cold against his skin which sent goosebumps up his arms and legs. Once he was strapped in, Harold stepped away toward his weapons table.  “It’s too bad you ended up here. You were probably pretty successful and have a family at home that will miss you. But…” He picked up a knife. “You made the wrong decision.”

Harold quickly spun and threw the knife at Craig, piercing him in the stomach.  Craig wanted to scream but he didn’t want to get shot. Harold laughed. “Trying to be tough huh?  Most of them do. Most of you boys think that if you don’t make a peep that you will have a better chance at living.”  He picked up another knife. “Unfortunately, that’s not how this all works.” He screamed as he threw the second knife at Craig, this time it hit his right wrist.  Craig did everything he could to not make a noise.

“You can scream.  Cuz I’m still gonna kill you.  You don’t have an option other than death.”  Harold walked toward Craig and grabbed the knife that was stuck in his stomach.  “You know kid, you got guts.” Harold pushed the knife in further making Craig scream in pain.  It was the most horrific pain he had ever felt and he knew it wasn’t going to stop no matter how much noise he made.  Harold pulled the knife out and stabbed it into his stomach again, this time turning it to it caused more damage. “How’s that feel huh?  Does that feel good?”

Craig coughed, blood coming out of his mouth with each cough.  “N…no…no sir…”

A maniacal laugh came from Harold’s mouth.  “That was a rhetorical question boy. I’ll tell you what.  How about I leave you here so you can think about you life choices.  That sounds like a good plan, doesn’t it?” Harold pulled the knife out of Craig’s wrist and stabbed it into his left shoulder.  “I’ll just leave you here to bleed out. You be good now.” He patted Craig’s head before turning to leave the basement.

“Bleeding out is a much more painful death.  I’ll be back in a couple hours to check to see how you’re doing.”  Harold walked over to the small staircase and slowly ascended up toward the house, leaving Craig by himself in the darkness.