It's a story!
I normally don't participate in Message Board RP's. But I got suckered into this one a few years ago and it never went anywhere. Go figure.
Anyway, This is the two posts that I made in that RP that I have combined into on Super Post! Whee!!
It's lame, but I like it. Bonus points to those who know where I stole the name from! ;)
Edward stepped in out of the rain and looked around. Seated at the small table were 3 young children who looked like they hadn't been sleeping well. The fireplace in the corner was glowing brightly but did very little to cast off the shadows around the room.
"Thank you so much for coming, Mr. Carnby" the obviously distraught woman who had answered the door said "I just don't know how much more we can take of this."
Edward turned to her and smiled. "Everything's going to be ok." He said as he pulled out his notebook and sat at the empty chair at the table. "Now, can you tell me exactly what has been going on?"
One of the children got up as the woman approached the table and allowed her to take the seat. "Well, at first we thought it was just the normal sounds of an old house, but after a few days the creaking turned into pounding. It usually starts at midnight and goes for about two hours before stopping."
"Hmm, has anyone seen anything, or just the pounding?"
"No, no one has actually seen anything."
As she was talking Edward had pulled a small compass out of his bag and placed it on the table. He was now looking at the needle as it spun around wildly.
"Why is it doing that?" the woman asked.
Edward placed the compass back into his bag and wrote in his notebook as he said "Most spirits have this sort of...energy that interferes with the magnetic fields from the poles which causes the compass to always point north. Basically the fact that the needle is spinning is a sure sign that there is, indeed, a spirit in close proximity to us now. Since the chances that there's a ghost walking down the street are pretty slim, it's most likely what's been keeping you up at night."
At this the clock struck 12 and suddenly the room was filled with a loud pounding seemingly coming from upstairs. The children all screamed and moved over to the fireplace, hugging each other tightly with their mother trying to calm them. Edward calmly reached into his bag and pulled out a few candles, placing them at various points around the room and lighting them. When he noticed the woman glance at him with a look of disgust he laughed and yelled over the pounding.
"Sulfur. Ghosts can't stand the smell of the stuff. You stay here with the kids, I'm going to go see if I can't evict your little friend up there." And stepped towards the stairs.
After he had gone upstairs, Edward opened his bag and pulled out a stethoscope. Putting it on, he went from room to room running the chestpiece along the walls. In the third room he found what he was looking for. He went back down to the first floor and approached the woman.
“The sound seems to be originating from the east wall of the second bedroom on the right. Do you know of anything that happened in that room within the last few weeks?”
“No, that’s the children’s bedroom, nothing has ever happened in there. But that wall is shared with the next house over.”
“Hmm,” Edward said as he wrote in his notebook. “And who lives at that house?”
“No one does, it’s been empty for years.”
“Well then, I am going to go over there and see what I can find.”
Going next door Edward found that the door, while closed, was unlocked. Taking out one of his non-sulphur candles, he lit it to provide light in the dark rooms. Working his way up towards the room that would share a wall with the bedroom in the woman’s house he occasionally caught glimpses of movement in the shadows, but didn’t pay them much heed because in this job getting easily spooked was a bad thing.
Finally making it to the room in question he set his candle down on a small table near the door and pulled out a few others, lit them and placed them around the room to provide him with enough light to take in his surroundings. He went to the west wall and pulled out his stethoscope again. Listening to the wall he could hear the pounding but only faintly, even with the stethoscope, meaning that whatever was making the sound wanted just the woman and her children to hear it. As he was listening to the pounding he noticed that several of the boards in the wall weren’t flush with the rest of the wall. Pulling out his pocketknife to try to pry some of the nails out, he heard a creak in the floorboards behind him. He turned and saw a man rushing at him with a knife, he dove straight at the man and rolled right into his legs, sending the man and his knife sprawling in different directions. Edward then rushed to where the man had fallen and placed a good, hard kick to the man’s head, knocking him out.
After he had tied the man up Edward went back to trying to pry loose the boards in the wall. Upon removing the first one he heard another creak behind him, grabbing the unconscious man’s knife he whipped around and saw that the creak was made by the woman next door.
“I heard a crash and came over to see if you were OK.” She said, eyeing the man “But I see that you know how to take care of yourself.”
Looking back to his work on the wall, Edward said, “Few years in the army, do you know this man, or why he was in this house?”
“I don’t know his name, but he’s a homeless man I’ve seen around recently. I didn’t know he was squatting in this house though.”
Pulling out another board, Edward grabbed a candle and peered into the space behind. “I think he was doing more than just squatting. Go get the authorities, I’ll wait here until you return.”
After she had left Edward sat down against the wall and cried. He didn’t cry for himself, or the woman, or even the monster tied up on the floor next to him. Edward cried for the spirits of the four dead children in the wall behind him and hoped their spirits were now free.
Anyway, This is the two posts that I made in that RP that I have combined into on Super Post! Whee!!
It's lame, but I like it. Bonus points to those who know where I stole the name from! ;)
Edward stepped in out of the rain and looked around. Seated at the small table were 3 young children who looked like they hadn't been sleeping well. The fireplace in the corner was glowing brightly but did very little to cast off the shadows around the room.
"Thank you so much for coming, Mr. Carnby" the obviously distraught woman who had answered the door said "I just don't know how much more we can take of this."
Edward turned to her and smiled. "Everything's going to be ok." He said as he pulled out his notebook and sat at the empty chair at the table. "Now, can you tell me exactly what has been going on?"
One of the children got up as the woman approached the table and allowed her to take the seat. "Well, at first we thought it was just the normal sounds of an old house, but after a few days the creaking turned into pounding. It usually starts at midnight and goes for about two hours before stopping."
"Hmm, has anyone seen anything, or just the pounding?"
"No, no one has actually seen anything."
As she was talking Edward had pulled a small compass out of his bag and placed it on the table. He was now looking at the needle as it spun around wildly.
"Why is it doing that?" the woman asked.
Edward placed the compass back into his bag and wrote in his notebook as he said "Most spirits have this sort of...energy that interferes with the magnetic fields from the poles which causes the compass to always point north. Basically the fact that the needle is spinning is a sure sign that there is, indeed, a spirit in close proximity to us now. Since the chances that there's a ghost walking down the street are pretty slim, it's most likely what's been keeping you up at night."
At this the clock struck 12 and suddenly the room was filled with a loud pounding seemingly coming from upstairs. The children all screamed and moved over to the fireplace, hugging each other tightly with their mother trying to calm them. Edward calmly reached into his bag and pulled out a few candles, placing them at various points around the room and lighting them. When he noticed the woman glance at him with a look of disgust he laughed and yelled over the pounding.
"Sulfur. Ghosts can't stand the smell of the stuff. You stay here with the kids, I'm going to go see if I can't evict your little friend up there." And stepped towards the stairs.
After he had gone upstairs, Edward opened his bag and pulled out a stethoscope. Putting it on, he went from room to room running the chestpiece along the walls. In the third room he found what he was looking for. He went back down to the first floor and approached the woman.
“The sound seems to be originating from the east wall of the second bedroom on the right. Do you know of anything that happened in that room within the last few weeks?”
“No, that’s the children’s bedroom, nothing has ever happened in there. But that wall is shared with the next house over.”
“Hmm,” Edward said as he wrote in his notebook. “And who lives at that house?”
“No one does, it’s been empty for years.”
“Well then, I am going to go over there and see what I can find.”
Going next door Edward found that the door, while closed, was unlocked. Taking out one of his non-sulphur candles, he lit it to provide light in the dark rooms. Working his way up towards the room that would share a wall with the bedroom in the woman’s house he occasionally caught glimpses of movement in the shadows, but didn’t pay them much heed because in this job getting easily spooked was a bad thing.
Finally making it to the room in question he set his candle down on a small table near the door and pulled out a few others, lit them and placed them around the room to provide him with enough light to take in his surroundings. He went to the west wall and pulled out his stethoscope again. Listening to the wall he could hear the pounding but only faintly, even with the stethoscope, meaning that whatever was making the sound wanted just the woman and her children to hear it. As he was listening to the pounding he noticed that several of the boards in the wall weren’t flush with the rest of the wall. Pulling out his pocketknife to try to pry some of the nails out, he heard a creak in the floorboards behind him. He turned and saw a man rushing at him with a knife, he dove straight at the man and rolled right into his legs, sending the man and his knife sprawling in different directions. Edward then rushed to where the man had fallen and placed a good, hard kick to the man’s head, knocking him out.
After he had tied the man up Edward went back to trying to pry loose the boards in the wall. Upon removing the first one he heard another creak behind him, grabbing the unconscious man’s knife he whipped around and saw that the creak was made by the woman next door.
“I heard a crash and came over to see if you were OK.” She said, eyeing the man “But I see that you know how to take care of yourself.”
Looking back to his work on the wall, Edward said, “Few years in the army, do you know this man, or why he was in this house?”
“I don’t know his name, but he’s a homeless man I’ve seen around recently. I didn’t know he was squatting in this house though.”
Pulling out another board, Edward grabbed a candle and peered into the space behind. “I think he was doing more than just squatting. Go get the authorities, I’ll wait here until you return.”
After she had left Edward sat down against the wall and cried. He didn’t cry for himself, or the woman, or even the monster tied up on the floor next to him. Edward cried for the spirits of the four dead children in the wall behind him and hoped their spirits were now free.