Fic: Mr. & Mrs. John Moore (aka Miss Sara Howard Moore) VII: The Haunted House (5/8)
Title: Mr. & Mrs. John Moore (aka Sara Howard Moore VII: The Haunted House (5/8)
Author: BradyGirl_12
Pairings/Characters (this chapter): John/Sara
Fandom: The Alienist (2018)/The Alienist: Angel Of Darkness (2020)
Genres: Drama, Holiday, Horror, Mystery, Suspense
Rating (this chapter): PG-13
Warnings (this chapter): Suicide
Spoilers: None
General Summary: Sara and John investigate a haunted house on Halloween.
Chapter Summary: The storm reveals something shocking in the backyard.
Date Of Completion: June 1, 2020
Date Of Posting: October 29, 2020
Disclaimer: I don’t own ‘em, TNT does, more’s the pity.
Word Count (this chapter): 1340
Feedback welcome and appreciated.
Author’s Note: All chapters of this installment of the series can be found here.
V
THE OAK TREE
Creak and groan,
Snap and moan,
The house speaks
As it creaks.
Marielle Morningstar
"Spooks In The Wind"
1862 C.E.
“Great,” Sara said. “Stuck here in this moldering old mansion in a massive storm.”
“Fun times, huh?” John asked with a grin, but he glanced over his shoulder at the dark hall.
“Well, isn’t this just peachy.”
“Like cobbler.”
She lightly rapped him in the stomach with the journal. “So where are we going to sleep?”
“Plenty of bedrooms.”
“The dust alone will clog our heads.”
“We could always share Bert and Ernie’s accommodations.”
Sara rolled her eyes. “It’s a little early to retire. How about finding out what happened to the séance?”
“Let’s. You read divinely.”
She hit him with the journal again and they sat back down on the couch.
& & & & & &
We all jumped at the sound, looking around fearfully. Madame Miranda, or Emily, commanded us, “Don’t break the circle!” It was unlikely, as we were frozen with fear. We heard loud moans and the hair stood up on the back of my neck. What was going on?
Aunt Celia looked ready to faint, and I cannot say I blame her. I felt the same way.
I felt something brush against my back. I stiffened and began to pray. What dark forces have been unleashed? I opened my mouth to scream but no sound came out. The candles sputtered one final time and went out.
& & & & & &
“Wow! What happened next?” John asked.
Sara turned the page. “Oh, no.”
“What?”
“The rest of the pages are blank!”
“What!” John took the journal and saw for himself. “Maybe there’s another journal in the bookcase.”
They searched and John lit the lantern. The storm had darkened the day, and now the afternoon was waning. It would soon be Halloween Night.
Sara disliked the idea of staying here all night, but there were really no such things as ghosts. Right?
“How frustrating! We’ll never know what happened now.”
“Could it all be just fiction?” Sara asked.
“Hmm, never thought of that. Let me look at the journal again.” John studied it. “Hard to tell, but I doubt it. If she wanted to write a fiction about the séance, she probably would have done so in a separate book.”
“I think you’re right.”
The storm was continuing in its full fury. Sara felt a shiver go down her spine.
Stop it! Don’t be one of those silly females that men are so found of declaring as our state of being, swooning and shaking.
John was not one of those men, but she was not about to even suggest to him that she was one of those women. She was a former member of the New York City Police Department, one of the team that had caught multiple murderers, and was now a private investigator. She was strong, not some silly, swooning female.
John threw up his hands in frustration. “We can take a look in the morning with fresh eyes.”
“I suppose you’re right.” Sara wanted to delay going upstairs as long as possible.
“I’m tired. Ready to go to bed?”
Sara squared her shoulders. “Let’s go.” She knew she sounded like a condemned prisoner going to the electric chair, but so be it.
They stopped in the foyer to get the second lantern and headed upstairs. Lightning flashed through the stained-glass window, startling both of them.
“That’s some show by Mother Nature,” said John, grabbing the balustrade to steady himself. He did not fancy falling down these stairs just because lightning had set him off-balance.
They inspected the bedrooms and chose the least musty of them, which Sara commented was not saying much.
“Dare we undress?” John asked.
“I’m not going to try and sleep in a dress, especially one with ruffles.”
“At least you ditched the corset.”
“You bet I wouldn’t try to sleep in that.”
“I hear some caberets in Paris feature corsets and fishnet stockings in their acts.”
“And a few places in the Tenderloin.”
John grinned. “I plead the Fifth.”
“Smart man.”
“Well, let’s get to it, then.” John removed his suit jacket and Sara glanced out the window at the backyard. A flash of lightning illuminated the yard and a large oak tree.
“John!”
“What?”
“Look!”
John’s jaw dropped as he saw a body swinging from a branch. “What the hell?”
“We have to cut her down!”
The couple ran down the staircase to the kitchen and out the back door into the driving rain. They skidded to a halt in front of the tree.
They stared at it for several seconds, getting thoroughly soaked. “Look around,” John said after tearing his eyes from the empty branch.
They stumbled around in the storm, treading on wet leaves and scratched by bushes. They met back at the tree and grasped hands, running back to the house. They burst into the kitchen, coughing and gasping, completely drenched.
“We both saw the body,” Sara said.
“Hanging from the tree.”
“An oak tree.”
John pushed the wet hair out of his eyes. “Like the one Emily Biggsby hanged herself from.”
“I’d bet it’s the very tree.” Sara sneezed.
“Come on, Detective, let’s get you into bed.”
“That sounds suggestive, Mr. Moore.”
“I hope so, Mrs. Moore.”
They carefully made their way through the dark house and back up to the bedroom.
“It’s a miracle we didn’t tumble down the steps without our lanterns,” John said.
“The lightning helped. Adrenaline does funny things, too.” Sara went to the window. The oak tree’s branches swayed in the wind. “Can we get any sleep?” she wondered.
“Let’s try.”
They undressed and climbed into bed after snapping the sheets to get rid of the dust.
“Sheets only. The blankets are hopeless,” Sara said firmly.
“I won’t argue with that.”
Gingerly they climbed into bed. The lanterns were off, and they snuggled together under the lone sheet. Despite their odd experience, they were tired enough to fall asleep.
& & & & & &
Sara came awake, aware of John’s warm embrace. She mentally rolled over and was almost asleep again when she heard a loud creak. She listened but decided that it was just an old house’s noise. She was just about to drift off again and another creak sounded. Sara opened her eyes and saw a shadow move in the hall.
She sat up and grabbed her gun off the nightstand. John awoke and muttered, “Wha’s going on?”
“Someone’s out in the hall,” Sara whispered.
That woke him up and he sat up, grabbing his own gun off the nightstand on his side of the bed. John and Sara watched and listened, and they heard another creak.
They climbed out of bed, aware they were only in their nightclothes, but there was no time to dress. Besides, their clothes were still wet. They cautiously eased out into the hall.
They storm was starting to move away, the thunder and lightning receding but heavy rains and wind still pelting the grounds. John went back and lit a lantern and let its light shine in the hallway.
The hall was empty and John said, “No one.”
Sara stepped out in the hall and the boards creaked. “Someone was here.”
“I still think it’s just the house settling.”
“I saw a shadow move!”
“Honey, shadows move all the time. Listen, we’re both a little spooked by the oak three incident.” Sara remained stubbornly silent. “All right, we’ll check around.”
They went through the bedrooms but found nothing. John yawned. “Let’s get some sleep.”
Sara was unconvinced but she returned with John back to their room. John climbed into bed after shutting down the lantern. “You coming to bed?”
Sara sighed. “Might as well.” She was tired and really was not eager to do a full-house search. She got into bed and pulled the sheet up over both of them.
John kissed the top of her head. “Get some sleep.”
Sara yawned and snuggled close to John. They fell asleep as thunder rumbled in the distance.
In the hallway, the shadows moved.
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