|
|
THE HOUSE BY THE CREEK
Copyright © 2003-2010 M. Buck
Some call it "gone soured", cursed, haunted, bad. I call it evil. That's what happens when something dark touches a piece of property and the bad somehow leaks into the soil surrounding it. How else can you explain what happened to a location that should have been paradise but instead turned into a series of nightmarish events and possible double suicide.
After years of managing an apartment complex an opportunity arose to care-take a beautiful mini-ranch. The house was surrounded by acres of lush landscaping, huge oak trees, horse corrals, and what was most attractive was the seclusion and privacy it offered. But the best feature was the running creek which ran the entire length of the property.
The winter is our rainy season and it corresponded with the move to the house. The rains were torrential and the creek was ready to spill over. The creek is fed from hundreds of little spillways that begin high in the mountains and deeply set in wilderness that few can travel. Who knows what has been spilled in those waters and who knows whats been buried and hidden in those hills. The only thing certain is that water is treacherous and will pull down, drown and rip apart anything that gets caught in its current and force. The mountain waters must have sent something truly corrupt that year, and that thing touched the banks of our creek and leaked through its evil.
Right away things went wrong. A pipe burst under the house flooding the basement. One of the huge oak trees came down in the middle of the horse corral. The house was broken into. The unnerving aspect of the break-in was the personal items taken that were of no value. An item belonging to myself and my husband was taken - nothing more. The closest house was across the creek and not in view. The only way to their property was via a small bridge. During an especially bad storm the creek tore out a portion of the bridge.
Because there were no neighbors in view, the house had no curtains or blinds. The house was almost wall-to-wall windows which was always wonderful in the daytime, but night was now a different matter. Now since the break-in it only bred paranoia and the feeling of always being watched by things in the shadows. Every movement or scraping of tree branches against the house during the night caused a brief moment of panic.
Things went from bad to nightmarish when the cowardly thing began killing the animals.
It took the pet rabbit first, ripped it's cage apart. The dogs brought pieces of the rabbit up to the house. Then it went after the dogs. The first dog got sick and trip after trip to the vet and test after test failed to provide an answer. Not long after the dog died. Only a few weeks after that the other dog was found dead.
The nights became more unsettling. It was impossible to avoid looking out past the windows to the creek. We had to keep an eye on how high the creek was rising. More rain storms rolled in bringing more high winds, lightning, thunder and the threat of that creek wanting to wash over the banks and carry us away. Power would fail leaving us in the dark viewing haunted shadow play outside. Even the daytime hours felt wrong. I worried the horses would be next as they began acting strangly, but for some reason the horses were spared when the oak tree fell. I no longer would venture outside the house at night, it seemed something was outside lurking and plotting.
Finally it became too much and we found a home of our own. We prepared our move. This is the time that I became fully aware that we were dealing with an entity. I came too close to it the last day I spent alone at the house by the creek and for the first time in my life felt the presence of something very bad that wanted to harm me.
The last day was a beautiful early spring day. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, things were blooming, birds were happily chirping, and the air was sweet with the smell of flowers. A perfect day. You wouldn't expect to find anything evil in a day like this. Unless of course you were at the house by the creek.
The last of the boxes were stacked by the front door and the final thing I wanted to do was a quick dusting along the baseboards. I never completed that task because I didn't dare stay in that house a moment longer. This entity was never seen, but I felt it ever closer those last few minutes. I kept looking over my shoulder with a sense I wasn't alone. I could feel a sensation on the back of my neck which ran down my spine. It was finally inside the house and I was alone with it.
My feelings quickly turned to fear on that beautiful spring day. I felt I was being closed in by something that was seething with hate and rage. In my mind I could almost feel this thing starting to take form and begin to have a face that was twisted with fury that was cold and black. I could almost hear it screaming at me to GET OUT. A cold chill of fear went thru me and I was afraid to move. It was so close to me now. I had my back to the thing, that much I knew, and it was moving closer at a faster pace and my fear was growing. To look back was dangerous. I didn't want to see it. All I sensed was it screaming louder to GET OUT, GET OUT. It meant to harm me. Along the wall by the front door was a massive armoire that belonged to the house. I was directly in front of it kneeling on the flooring.
Before that armoire could be pushed onto me, which my now hyper-overactive imagination was telling me might happen, I bolted to the front door, swung it wide and rushed out. Once outside it felt safe, but I still had to set foot in the house again to drag out the remaining boxes, shut the door and lock it one last time. It took several minutes to gather the courage and with a few deep breaths I partially entered the house, reached for the boxes and dragged them out, grabbed the door handle and while closing it yelled into the house "It's all yours".
Never before have I ever experienced such shear fear, dread, and absolute knowledge that evil exists and lives. Evil spelled backwards is LIVE. So much hatred, rage, and anger was directed at me by something that can't be named or even seen. That thing washed down from somewhere and didn't want to share it's new home with anyone, at least not with anything living.
Others moved into the house but nobody stayed for long. Last I heard the house was sold.
A few months ago in the local newspaper, I read about a double suicide of an elderly professor and his wife. I remembered the name - they were the neighbors who lived on the other side of the creek.
It makes me wonder if the thing moved across the creek, or is the evil spreading?
"I know indeed what evil I intend to do, but stronger than all my afterthoughts is my fury, fury that brings upon mortals the greatest evils." - Euripides
Do you know what runs in your creek?
<--- Back to Ghost Stories
<--- Back to Frightbytes Home
|
|
|
|
|
|
|