Come Find Me

Come

  Find

  Me

  Krysteen Damon

  Copyright © 2012 by Krysteen Damon

  Copyright © Krysteen Damon 2012

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. No part of this e-book covered by the copyright herein may be reproduced, transmitted, stored, or used in any form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, scanning, digitizing, taping, Web distribution, information networks, or information storage and retrieval systems, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act and in the case of short term lending, without the prior written permission of the publisher. If you wish to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Cover Photo images © Chrishg | Stock Free Images &Dreamstime Stock Photos (https://www.stockfreeimages.com/). All rights reserved – used with permission.

  Contents

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  In the distance a phone rings. Slowly coming back to reality, she groaned and rolled over to grab the receiver.

  “She’s sleeping. Go away.”

  “Wake up, its ten o’clock already. You aren’t a teenager anymore you can’t do this forever.” Rachel’s voice laughed into the phone.

  “Shut up, yes I can. What do you want?” She started to get out of bed, too awake to go back to sleep, and searched for her jeans.

  “I’m going up to Aunt Mildred’s house in about twenty minutes. Do you want to come along and help me settle in?”

  “Not really. That place has always creeped me out. I still think you should just sell it.”

  "Naw, you know I've needed a place to sleep since Chad broke up with me, and I know the area. It’ll do for now, even if it is haunted.”

  “Whatever. I’m seeing Brian today so I couldn’t come even if I wanted to. Call me when you get there.” Jennifer, looking for a shirt now, couldn’t shake off the feeling that something bad was going to happen.

  “Okay, but you’ll have to come up once I get it all done. Well I have to go; the car is running, just thought I'd call and see if you wanted to join me. See you later sis.”

  “Bye” Jennifer hung up the phone, and heard the doorbell ring. “That must be Brian; he’ll be surprised to see me up already. I bet he wanted to pour cold water on me again.”

  ***

  Aunt Mildred’s house had been the scary story of the Doones family ever since they found Uncle Hubert’s dead body hanging from the attic ceiling. But it just wasn’t the fact that he committed suicide in the house, it was the fact that he had been the twelfth person to commit suicide in that house. After the death of her husband, Mildred Winderly changed dramatically. She stopped seeing the rest of the family and whenever they did see her, she always seemed to be under some kind of spell. Rachel and Jennifer’s father wanted to get help for her, and he did try, but whenever he went to confront his dear sister, she appeared normal and insisted that she didn’t need help, she was completely aware of her behavior and she had it all under control. They all grew accustomed to her strange behavior, but it still was a shock when one day they went over for a dinner, and found blood all over the walls and a strange message on the mirror. Rumors started to spread about the curse that was upon the ancient house and claimed the lives of thirteen people. But Rachel Doones, always the practical and unimaginative one, ignored these rumors and accepted her right to own the house.

  Rachel pulled up to the mossy front porch and parked under the aged willow tree. She looked up at the house and killed the engine. The house still looked the same after these past few years. The windows were covered in dirt and grime, the wood was rotting away, and the yard was covered in weeds and dead trees, just like it was when Aunt Mildred started losing it. Climbing out of her brand new sedan, she felt like she was being watched. She jerked her head up to he attic window and saw something there. It had big black circles for eyes, a gray face, and piercing eyes. “It’s just a raccoon.” And she laughed it off, but couldn’t quite shake off the feeling that it wasn’t a raccoon. The trunk of the blue car popped open and she grabbed all of her stuff. Walking up the steps, one by one, each one creaked under her weight. The door swung open easily before she could even put the key in the lock. I’m going to have to get that fixed before I’m robbed. Maybe that’s what I saw in the attic, someone’s here to rob the place! She quietly placed her things in the front hall entrance; the moldy brown wallpaper was falling from the walls. Heading up the rotting stairs that led to the second floor, a cold eerie breeze drifted through the house, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up on end. All of a sudden she heard a high pitched girl’s laugh right behind her and felt an even stronger drift fly by the back of her head. Stopping dead in her tracks she whipped around and saw nothing. That’s odd; I could have sworn I heard someone laughing. She shrugged it off and continued on her way to the attic. At the top of the stairs, she noted the seven rooms located up and down the hallway. The walls were covered in blood stains from her Aunt’s strange disappearance and mildew covered the majority of it. In some areas where the walls were lucky enough not to be layered in blood and mildew, an ugly puce paint color was chipping off in most places.

  She walked over to the closet and yanked on the old, seemingly frail door. But the door wouldn’t budge; apparently a key was needed to unlock it. Shrugging her shoulders she went back downstairs and gathered the things that she needed to take up to the bedroom. In the bedroom a bed, dresser, and closet were the only things that symbolized civilized humanity. Again the walls were covered in blood, but it was worse here, she could not tell what the walls looked like and she had never been up here when she was young, it was not permitted. Feeling that maybe she should clean before she even attempted to get a good night sleep in a room like this, she hauled all of her stuff back downstairs and decided to sleep on the couch that night. As she started unpacking everything, putting the pots and pans in the cupboards in the bloodless kitchen, she heard what sounded like footsteps on the floor above her. Instinctively she dropped the pan she was holding and it landed painfully on her foot. Groaning with pain and cursing herself for being so foolish, she picked up the pan and threw it into the cupboard, the footsteps gone.

  That night she made a small sandwich for dinner and pulled out a few blankets and pillows and made herself a little bed on the couch. After she changed her clothes, she grabbed a book and lay down. At around midnight, asleep on the couch with the book still in her hands, she jerked awake from the sound of a high pitched evil laugh coming from the other side of the room. Sitting up straight, eyes wide, and looking like a cat has heard an enemy, she paled and slowly rose from the couch, reaching out for a lamp for some light. Finding what seemed to be a cord, she pulled it and was surprised when a hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. She screamed.

  ***

  Jennifer sat at the kitchen island, clad only in underwear and her boyfriends white button down shirt that he had worn the previous night, reading the morning paper and drinking a hot cup of coffee, her hair extremely messy. Halfway through an article about a high profile child abduction, Brian wal
ked in, yawning and scratching his bottom. She smiled up at him and he gave her a kiss in return, his overnight stubble pricking at her lips.

  “Have you heard from your sister lately?” Brian asked, striking up a conversation. He remembered her saying something yesterday about expecting a call from her, but not remembering her ever receiving one.

  “Actually, no. I forgot all about that. I’ll call her later on, I hope she made it okay.” Jennifer looked a little worried, her normal ghost stories and superstitions clouding her mind.

  “I’m sure she is. Want to go out for breakfast or do you want me to make you something?” He smiled at her; he loved how she looked in the morning when she wasn’t trying to look perfect.

  “Well, based on your amazing ability to burn anything you touch, I think we should go out today.” She grinned at him, setting down the paper and rising from her stool.

  “Hey! I’m not that bad of a cook. Besides, you’re not much better.” He crossed his arms across his chest, stuck out his lower lip and tried his hardest to look like an upset five year old boy. She walked over to him and pulled on his lip before he could walk away. They both laughed and went to the bedroom to get dressed for breakfast.

  ***

  Two days later, Jennifer felt guilty about never calling her sister and decided to do it right then. She dialed the number and waited for a ring, which never came. Odd. I thought this was the number to the house, I guess not. She called the operator and asked for the number. Again she typed it in, and this time she got a ring. She was about to hang up after the fifth ring when she heard her sister’s voice on the other line.

  “Hey sis, how come you never called me when you got there like you said you would? You know how I hate that place.” Jennifer said as in way of a greeting, drawing little circles on a pad of paper in front of her.

  “Sorry, I’ve been busy. But I’ve got to go; I’ll call you later or something.” Jennifer dropped her pencil and instantly paled. There was something terribly wrong with her little sister, her voice was shaky, raspy, and she always had time to talk to her Jennifer, even if she was running late.

  “Are you okay? You sound terrible.”

  “I’m fine, but I’ll talk to you later. Bye” And with that she hung up and Jennifer was left sitting in the living room, a disconnected phone attached to her ear. If she wasn’t mistaken or hearing things, which was always possible, she thought she heard fear in Rachel’s voice and a laugh of an old woman in the background, but the laugh didn’t sound like a normal laugh, it sounded dark. She shook her head and placed the phone back on its hook, she decided she wouldn’t' worry about and try to go up and see her this weekend if possible. But for now she had to get to work before her aggravating boss fired her. Again.

  ***

  She hung up the phone, hoping her beloved sister didn’t decide to come see her soon; she couldn’t bear to think that she just might die.

  “It’s time deary.” The cracked voice said behind her, sending shivers up and down her spine. She knew her Aunt had gone crazy since her husband’s death, but she never knew that this was what she had become. And for the first time in her life, she knew that Jennifer was right all along. Things do creep in the shadows, always watching you, waiting for you to turn your back, waiting to get you, to hurt you, to turn you into a shadow like them. Rachel was scared, she was scared for Jennifer, because she knew somewhere in her being that she was going to come to the house despite her warning. As the fear grew like a cancer in Rachel's heart, Mildred's power increased, consuming the dread in the air, growing stronger while Rachel grew weaker. Mildred laughed again as Rachel screamed.

  ***

  Jennifer threw her bags into the back of the car and climbed in. She started the rusty little blue Honda and, not to her surprise, it stalled. She tried again and the floor started to vibrate with life.

  “Call me when you get there, I mean it. Don’t do what Rach did.” Brian leaned into the car, kissing his love goodbye and sending his luck, they both had very bad feelings that something dreadful had happened to her sister. He had wanted to go instead of letting her go, but an urgent business meeting called him away for the week at the last minute.

  “I will, I promise.” She smiled up at him and pulled out of the driveway. And she did, the moment she pulled into the driveway of her sister’s new house; she turned off her car and pulled out her cell phone. When Brian didn’t answer, she decided that she would leave a message for him, promising to call later on that night. She got out of the car and walked up to the front door. Knocking and opening the door at the same time, she shouted for her sister.

  “Rach? Hey, where are you?” As if in answer to her question, a black cat came streaking from a room on the second floor and flew down the stairs and outside as if it couldn't get out of there fast enough. Watching the cat's strange behavior, Jennifer took off for the room that she thought was her Aunt’s bedroom, and perked her ears up for any sound that might reach them. Each stair creaked under her weight, only adding to the spook that she was now feeling everywhere. She cautiously turned the doorknob to open the door; slowly stepped inside, looking all around her as she did so. The strong metallic smell of blood immediately choked her, making her eyes water quickly. She pulled the top of her tee shirt up to cover her mouth and nose, and once the smell became more bearable, she saw that every little thing in the entire room was covered in fresh blood, except for a mirror hanging on the wall opposite her. Looking at the mirror, she noticed a message had been finger painted onto it with blood. She cautiously walked up to it, still looking around her, her feet making squelching noises on the flood of blood on the floor. She approached the mirror, looked into it and read ‘I am here; inside all along, come find me.’ As she peered into the mirror, she noticed what resembled a small window slowly growing bigger in the middle of the mirror. As it grew larger she saw a face and inched closer to the mirror. Soon she was able to see that the face belonged to her sister, but her face was distorted in such a manner that there was every indication that if Jennifer could hear her, she would hear her sister screaming in unimaginable excruciating pain. Jennifer paled and held her breath, but was unable to break away from the mirror, as though in a trance. All of a sudden, Rachel lurched out of the mirror and grabbed Jennifer, a wicked smile upon her lips. Jennifer screamed from terror, the trance breaking away, and quickly felt a shove against her back. She closed her eyes and continued screaming, no one around to hear her cries, as she fell into the mirror, feeling what her sister must have felt as she had fallen in the mirror herself. Jennifer fell for what felt like centuries. She couldn't open up her eyes anymore, but she could feel everything. She felt tongues of flame lick her skin, burning her clothes, her hair, and her flesh. She felt knives and needles pierce her from all over. She felt constantly changing pressure around her chest, her neck, even on her face. She felt her body changing its natural shape, her arms and legs began to bend in ways they were never meant to, her bones breaking easily. She felt her back break as she was forced backwards. Jennifer felt like she should have been dying, like she wanted to die, but was very aware of the fact that she was very much alive, so alive that every little thing that was hurting her was felt everywhere, and there was nothing she couldn't do about it. She couldn’t move, didn't know in which way to move even if she could, and all the while she saw the horrible evil face of her sister float across the darkness of her eyelids that would never open again. As she screamed endlessly for help that would never come, she wished that she was only dreaming and that she would wake up, with her sister laughing at her nightmare and her paranoia. She wished for everything as she screamed.

  ***

  A phone rang in the distance, waking her from her fitful sleep. Alarmed she grabbed the phone and was startled and relieved to hear Rachel’s voice on the other end.

  “I’m so glad to hear your voice you have no idea! I had the worst dream ever last night.” Jennifer sighed in
to the phone, a smile on her face, relief washing her over.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry; maybe you could tell me about it later, I just called to ask you a question.”

  “Okay, shoot.”

  “You know how I inherited Aunt Mildred’s house? Well I’m going down to see it today and spend the next couple of weeks there. Do you want to come down with me or do you still think that it’s cursed and haunted?” Rachel’s voice laughed into the phone, but it quickly died when she didn’t hear anything. “Jen? You okay?” A few seconds of silence answered her, and then an earsplitting scream deafened her. Across the bed where Jennifer sat up straight, stiff as a board, the phone against her ear, stood her vanity. Upon the mirror a message started to right itself in blood.

  I am here; inside all along, come find me.

  ***

  Coming October 2015…

  He Loves Me Not

  At twenty years old, Mandi has lost her faith, hope, and family. Her two year relationship with Nick has her walking on eggshells every day.

  With his fists, he has trained her to know when he wants food. 

  With his piercing words, he has eliminated her self-esteem. 

  With his violence, he has killed her dreams.

  She has given up on everything she had ever wanted. Love. Marriage. Children. 

  Until she takes a simple test. 

  With her future hanging on a simple yes or no, she reflects on her life. She reminisces about the good times she shared with Nick, as well as the bad times. Emotions fly through her during her reflections, as she decides what to do. 

  When the test is over, she must decide what she will do. Stay with someone she loves, even though he abuses her? Or, does she give up the man she loves in favor of a fresh start?

  *WARNING: CONTAINS SOME ADULT MATTER AND LANGUAGE. NOT SUITABLE FOR ANYONE UNDER 18. TRIGGER WARNING.*

  Preorder at:

  Barnes and Noble