Ghostly (Ian Hecox)

Chapter 1 - The Third Floor

I step into the parking lot of Sacramento International Airport. Not looking forward to my summer. I would spend everyday helping my Aunty Carol with a ton of renovations on her new-old house. Apparently, she found a fixer-upper Victorian house that has been on the market for a long time with a price she couldn't refuse.

I finally spot an overly-exited Aunty Carol waving her hands in the air trying to get my attention. I wave back, telling her that I noticed her. I walk over to her car and open the passenger door.

"Aunty, could you pop the trunk for me?" I asked and she nods and presses a button on her dash. I walk to the back of the vehicle and put my gigantic suitcase in the truck. I walk back to the car door and take a deep breath before getting in.

"Eleanor!" She practically yells and I fake a smile. "Look at you! Last time I saw you, you were a little girl and now you're a woman! How old are you now?" She asked.

"I'm 17." I answered and she looked surprised.

"Practically an adult already!" There was an awkward pause. "Well, ready to go see the beaut?" She asked and I nodded not very excitedly.

We made awkward small talk during the two hour drive. We drove out of Sacramento and into the middle of nowhere. We were surrounded by trees and driving on gravel roads. I haven't seen another house for a few miles. When she turns into the long driveway, a gorgeous old house sits there, waiting for us. There's vines running up the sides of the house and old looking windows strategically placed.

"How old is the house?" I asked and she shrugs.

"We don't know the exact date it was built but our best guess is about 120 years ago." She proudly tells me and I can see why she bought this house. It's a mystery and she loves history.

"How long have you owned the house?" I ask.

"Less than a week. I haven't done anything yet so we're starting right at the beginning together." She smiles and I smile back.

"Do you know who owned it before you?" I asked, happy to see her talk about her newest pride and joy.

"No clue. This house has been off the grid for a very long time. We couldn't find any records but I fully intend to find out who lived here." She tells me as she parks the car.

I grab my bag from the truck and drag it behind me as I walk up the sidewalk and into the house. Immediately, I see how stunning the home is. The first thing you see is a long hallway with many doors on either side with a staircase at the very end. The hallway has dark hardwood floors, old-looking wallpaper, beautiful archways, antique doors and gorgeous paintings on the wall.

"Well there's a few things I need to do so feel free to explore the house and you can pick any room upstairs to stay in. My room is across from the library, if you need me. We'll start working tomorrow." She smiled at me before disappearing behind a door.

I take my shoes off at the door and slowly walk down the hallway, looking into each room. The kitchen is the first room I see, across from it is the dining room, the library is beside the kitchen, Aunty Carol's bedroom is across from the library, and the end of the hall is a living room with stairs. Upstairs, there are four bedrooms. I pick the largest one with a walk in closet and a wooden window seat. I throw my bag onto the bed and sit on the window seat.

Outside, I see a garden that hasn't had something planted in it in God knows how long. Huge, luscious spruce trees line the boundaries of the property. I think task number one is to mow the grass because it has to be over a foot high.

I get off the window seat and walk over to an old mirror. I play with my long dark brown hair trying to decide what to do with it. I finally decided on a braid. I sit cross-legged on my new bed and braid my hair. After I finish, I put on some comfier clothes and decide to continue exploring.

I walk around the second floor a few times before noticing something quite strange.

"Wasn't there three floors?" I say out loud. I think back to driving up to the house. "I swear I saw three floors." I decide to go back outside and look because I couldn't come to a final decision. I walk down the stairs and out the front door. I walk a few feet away from the house and start counting. "One. Two. Three! But how do you get to the third floor?" I run back inside and up the stairs. I walk around upstairs again staring at the ceiling looking for a hatch or something to gain entrance to the third floor. After going around twice, I came up empty-handed.

"Nothing. There's no way to get to the third floor." I decided to go ask Aunty Carol about the third floor.

I walk downstairs and knock on her door. "Come in!" She yells and that's exactly what I do.

"How can I help you sweetie?" She's busy putting things away in her room.

"How do you get to the third floor?" I asked and she freezes for a second.

"I don't know." She says in disbelief. "I never thought about the third floor." She seems shocked and almost a little frightened that I asked about the third floor.

"Could we look for a way to get up to the third floor tomorrow?" I ask and she nods.

"That's the first thing we'll do tomorrow." She smiles at me and I leave her room and go back up to mine.

The rest of the night passes fairly quickly. Aunty Carol and I ate supper together and I unpacked everything and got settled in. I looked down at my watch and read the time, 10:56 pm. I yawned and decided to turn in.

But I found it very hard to sleep that night. One thing was on my mind. The third floor. Why did someone cover up the entrance? What's up there? What's so important up there that someone needed to hide it? Or did someone cover up the entrance by accident?

I was going to find out what was on that third floor, even if I had to tear up the entire second floor in the process.

I need to know what's up there.