The shadow of something. As the flashlight shined on what I was looking at a sigh of relief instantly came over me. I was still a nervous wreck, but at least nothing jumped out at me. I kept shining the light back and forth all over the room, but it was empty. I stood there not really even seeing what was before me, but rather what I had seen earlier. I went over to the corner where the old woman had been sitting. It was if in my mind I could still see her. Oh my God! What was going on here? I shined the light in to every corner but the only thing that was in the room was some old shelves and a couple of wooden crates. I walked over and shined the light at the crates. The only thing that was in them was some old newspapers and what looked like a old jacket. I reached down and pulled out one of the newspapers and looked at it. At first I didn’t really think anything about it, but then I noticed on the headline of one of the articles it said, Another man comes up missing in a small town in north Pennsylvania. I read about how there were fourteen people missing from Sather county and that they believed that there was someone murdering these people, but no bodies had been found.
I looked at the date on the front page. It said Tuesday, Jan 25th, 1963. I looked at the date again figuring I must have read it wrong, but I had read it right. I laid the paper back in the old crate then shined the light around the room. I was getting to a point that it seemed like I was in a dream. I mean from what I had seen earlier and what I saw now is crazy. Where the hell did all those bodies go? And not only that; there was blood from one end of the room to the next and now nothing. I mean it looked as if no one had been in this room for years!!. After a couple more minutes I walked out of that room and headed back upstairs. I really didn’t know what else to do.
I opened the front door and looked out at my truck. My trailer was still backed up to the front steps and the doors were open. I had to still unload a few smaller things out of it, but then I started thinking about everything that seemed to have happened to me. I sat down on the steps and tried to focus. I mean, from the time I met Red to the moment Earl died,everything seemed surreal. I had tears in my eyes because of everything that I had seen in the past few days/ It seemed like it hadn't even happened. I looked down at my arm where I had those bite marks, and there wasn’t even a slight scratch or anything.
I turned around and looked back into the house, then I got up and walked around and looked at the little building that sat off toward the back of the property. I wondered if any of this had even happened. My mind was scrambling things in a million directions! I walked back over to the house then slowly made my way from room to room. I was looking for anything that would help me believe in what I had seen. But the more I looked the more I knew that there must have been something wrong with me.
I went back outside and sat on the steps again. I couldn’t stop crying. What was wrong with me? I felt a pain in my chest. As I put my hand on it to rub where the pain was, I felt a sharper pain. It felt as if there was something poking me so I pulled my tee shirt up and looked to see if I had a splinter and thought maybe I had gotten it when I was lying on the floor. When I looked I just about fell over!! I had a huge cut on my chest. It was about one inch across and it looked like it had burn marks all around it. What the hell? I just stared at it. I mean where the hell did that come from? I thought back at when I stabbed the old man. I remembered when I was pushing the knife into his chest I thought I saw sparks. I looked down at my chest again, then tried to remember exactly what happened. Oh my God! I remembered. Just after I had stabbed the old man I had a horrible pain in my chest. It was if I had been stabbed at the same time as the old man was! What the hell was going on here? I stood up and started pacing back and forth. I couldn’t think of a rational reason for anything. This was just to much for me to even comprehend. I knew I needed to get the hell out of this place, and this area.
I looked at my trailer, then over at my truck. Without even thinking it over I jumped in my truck and backed over to my trailer and hooked it up. Over the next four hours I loaded everything that I could in my trailer. I knew what I was going to do next. I went upstairs and got those old matches, then went down to the cellar. I stood down there thinking for a second, then I struck the match and threw it into the crates with the old newspapers in them. I didn’t care what happened next. All I knew is when I walked out the front door and closed it behind me it was as if I had never even been there. On my way out of the driveway I looked back in the mirror and looked at the house one last time, and then drove away.
After moving back home, life finally seemed to be getting back to normal. I got a job with a construction firm in a nearby town. I loved my new job. Several weeks later I had been contacted by the realtors office about the house. Samuel asked me if I wanted him set up an appointment to see the house. I paused for a second, then asked him, what house? He said the one Victorian house that we had talked about. Again I was bewildered. I cleared my throat, then asked him if he meant the one up on Shallow Pine Ridge? "Yes, that’s the one, are you still interested?", he asked. Not believing what I was hearing I couldn‘t think of anything to say. I told him I had found a new job and wouldn’t be moving there. After a few more minutes on the phone with Samuel I started to really think I must be crazy. I wanted to ask him if the house had caught on fire but if I would have done that, then maybe I would have opened up a hornets nest. I figure I should just forget that part of my life, or my dreams, or wha ever it was.
Several years went by when one day I woke up in the middle of the night. I don’t know what it was. but I felt like every muscle in my body was sore. The next morning I walked in to the bathroom to take a shower and that’s when I noticed my hands were full of dirt. I looked in the mirror and my tee shirt was ripped to shreds and I had blood spots all over it. Then everything went dark………
Then End.
I looked at the date on the front page. It said Tuesday, Jan 25th, 1963. I looked at the date again figuring I must have read it wrong, but I had read it right. I laid the paper back in the old crate then shined the light around the room. I was getting to a point that it seemed like I was in a dream. I mean from what I had seen earlier and what I saw now is crazy. Where the hell did all those bodies go? And not only that; there was blood from one end of the room to the next and now nothing. I mean it looked as if no one had been in this room for years!!. After a couple more minutes I walked out of that room and headed back upstairs. I really didn’t know what else to do.
I opened the front door and looked out at my truck. My trailer was still backed up to the front steps and the doors were open. I had to still unload a few smaller things out of it, but then I started thinking about everything that seemed to have happened to me. I sat down on the steps and tried to focus. I mean, from the time I met Red to the moment Earl died,everything seemed surreal. I had tears in my eyes because of everything that I had seen in the past few days/ It seemed like it hadn't even happened. I looked down at my arm where I had those bite marks, and there wasn’t even a slight scratch or anything.
I turned around and looked back into the house, then I got up and walked around and looked at the little building that sat off toward the back of the property. I wondered if any of this had even happened. My mind was scrambling things in a million directions! I walked back over to the house then slowly made my way from room to room. I was looking for anything that would help me believe in what I had seen. But the more I looked the more I knew that there must have been something wrong with me.
I went back outside and sat on the steps again. I couldn’t stop crying. What was wrong with me? I felt a pain in my chest. As I put my hand on it to rub where the pain was, I felt a sharper pain. It felt as if there was something poking me so I pulled my tee shirt up and looked to see if I had a splinter and thought maybe I had gotten it when I was lying on the floor. When I looked I just about fell over!! I had a huge cut on my chest. It was about one inch across and it looked like it had burn marks all around it. What the hell? I just stared at it. I mean where the hell did that come from? I thought back at when I stabbed the old man. I remembered when I was pushing the knife into his chest I thought I saw sparks. I looked down at my chest again, then tried to remember exactly what happened. Oh my God! I remembered. Just after I had stabbed the old man I had a horrible pain in my chest. It was if I had been stabbed at the same time as the old man was! What the hell was going on here? I stood up and started pacing back and forth. I couldn’t think of a rational reason for anything. This was just to much for me to even comprehend. I knew I needed to get the hell out of this place, and this area.
I looked at my trailer, then over at my truck. Without even thinking it over I jumped in my truck and backed over to my trailer and hooked it up. Over the next four hours I loaded everything that I could in my trailer. I knew what I was going to do next. I went upstairs and got those old matches, then went down to the cellar. I stood down there thinking for a second, then I struck the match and threw it into the crates with the old newspapers in them. I didn’t care what happened next. All I knew is when I walked out the front door and closed it behind me it was as if I had never even been there. On my way out of the driveway I looked back in the mirror and looked at the house one last time, and then drove away.
After moving back home, life finally seemed to be getting back to normal. I got a job with a construction firm in a nearby town. I loved my new job. Several weeks later I had been contacted by the realtors office about the house. Samuel asked me if I wanted him set up an appointment to see the house. I paused for a second, then asked him, what house? He said the one Victorian house that we had talked about. Again I was bewildered. I cleared my throat, then asked him if he meant the one up on Shallow Pine Ridge? "Yes, that’s the one, are you still interested?", he asked. Not believing what I was hearing I couldn‘t think of anything to say. I told him I had found a new job and wouldn’t be moving there. After a few more minutes on the phone with Samuel I started to really think I must be crazy. I wanted to ask him if the house had caught on fire but if I would have done that, then maybe I would have opened up a hornets nest. I figure I should just forget that part of my life, or my dreams, or wha ever it was.
Several years went by when one day I woke up in the middle of the night. I don’t know what it was. but I felt like every muscle in my body was sore. The next morning I walked in to the bathroom to take a shower and that’s when I noticed my hands were full of dirt. I looked in the mirror and my tee shirt was ripped to shreds and I had blood spots all over it. Then everything went dark………
Then End.
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