Conversation With A Ghost

Chapter - 1

I was in seventh grade when I first heard a rumour about this abandoned house on Harvard Road No. 5. The house was rumoured to be haunted. It belonged to two brothers back in the 1800s. After their parents passed away, they had a dispute over the house. They were both married and had kids. Because of the dispute, the house was locked, and the case had been going on for years. A young man once waited for his lover on the porch of that house. When his lover didn't show up, he committed suicide in that house, and the house has been haunted ever since.

I burst out laughing the first time Natalie told me this story. "How could you be so stupid?" I told her. The person who made up the story must be a movie fan. The story was a sham. Why would people even believe something so scripted? My friends and I often wandered around the spooky house after school hours. Natalie and her girlfriends were too terrified to even step foot in that zone.

It had been years since I first heard that rumour. I am twenty-three years old today. Natalie and I are still friends. The funny part is that she still believes that the abandoned house is haunted. I wanted to prove her wrong. We loved challenging each other, which frequently led to fights and arguments. But she is my best friend, and there is no denying that I like her a little too much. One fine day, I decided to break into the spooky house with a camera. Natalie was against it. She said, "I don't care about the challenge, Joseph; you are not going there. It's just too dangerous."

I ignored her request and promised her I'd be back with proof that there is nothing in that house. I took my camera and reached outside the gate of the spooky house. The gates were locked in thick chains, with cobwebs all around them. I climbed the gate and jumped across, landing flat on my stomach.

Ouch! I scrapped my knees. I ain't a hero. Why did I jump like that? Aahh..!! It hurts. I managed to sit somehow and checked my knees. My jeans were torn on my left knee, and it was bleeding. "Awesome!" I said to myself and rolled my eyes. I was wearing a brown flannel shirt and a white t-shirt underneath. I took off the shirt and tied it around my knee. I then stood up and limped towards the house. It was eight o'clock at night, and the house had begun to give me the creeps. I wondered if it was a good idea to come here alone. But I had to prove Natalie wrong.

I love to see her face every time she loses a bet with me. She gets all cranky and frowns like a kid. She still looks like a fifteen-year-old to me. I smiled to myself when her beautiful pouty face flashed before my eyes.

I'm not sure what I mean to Natalie, but to me, she's more than a friend. We have known each other since we were in kindergarten. We have grown up together. I have never thought of Natalie in any other way until that one time Natalie made her first boyfriend. I don't know why her having a boyfriend in her life made me furious. I'd lie awake all night wondering if she was out with him. I couldn't understand why I was jealous all of a sudden. I would hardly speak to her and avoid her calls and messages. I only started talking to her again after I found out she'd broken up with him.

Well, thinking about Natalie certainly helped. I reached the porch of the house. This place really is spooky. It's filthy and covered with cobwebs all over. I guess the movies are right about haunted places. The door was bolted with a lock, and the windows were all shut. I took the hammer from my bag and smashed the lock with one swift strike. As I opened the door, the dirty, moist odour hit my nostrils.

The house was closed for over a century. Not a single person has dared to come here except perhaps Romeo, whose soul seems to be wandering here. The two families had decided to withdraw the case and abandon the house after the rumour. What a bunch of losers!

I turned on my camera and my torch. The place was empty. There wasn't even a single piece of furniture or painting hanging on the wall. I was sweating like a pig and shivering at the same time. This house was really spooky. I felt my ears thud just as my heartbeat did when I felt a presence beside me. I quickly looked to my right with my torch, but found nothing. The house was surprisingly cold.