Who’s there?
A spooky story to add to the Halloween fun.
A depiction of what could have been the staircase where the paranormal being could’ve appeared.
(Editor’s note: The following is a story told by Alana Holloway to staff writer Gurjevan Bansal, and published in the spirit of Halloween.)
It was any other day in the childhood home of Alana Holloway, the sun was shining and they were watching horror movies with their cousins. Their parents had left them home, under the surveillance of their eldest cousin, Mir.
As the movie started, a creek came from downstairs, then a moment of silence. Another creek came from downstairs, and they knew they weren’t the only ones left in the house.
“There is no point in letting your thoughts get the best of you,” Alana thought, as they turned on the TV, to watch a horror movie.
Another creek came from downstairs, followed by a slam, a ghastly coldness sent shivers down Alana’s back.
“Who was there?” they questioned.
The ancient house they lived in had been a cause for many of their paranormal situations. Built in the 1800s, it was said to have been haunted by the ghost of a past owner. Or so their parents had told them.
An eerie screech made Alana get up and turn the TV off.
“Man, I think mom and dad are playing with us,” they told themself and their cousin.
“…Is that…grandma?” their little cousin said.
Lane and their little cousin peered their heads through the door frame to look down the staircase.
Mir looked out the door frame last, and he pulled his cousins back and shut the door.
“Don’t open this door. I think your parents are back,” he told them.
With that, Mir left the room and approached the stairs to check them out. Alana and their cousins stayed put. The best way to let a spirit pass was to conceal your presence.
One second, no sound. Another second, still no sound.
“He’s gonna come back. We’re being paranoid; everything’s fine. I’ve dealt with worse,” Alana told themself as a way of reassurance.
Mir’s scramble up the stairs let Alana know that he was still alive. He came into the room and left the door open behind him.
“Everything…Everything’s fine,” he said with a horrified look on his face. Eyes wide, mouth agape, hands slightly shaking.
Alana looked past Mir, and on the last step on the stairs, they could see their grandmother, smiling devilishly up at them.
Grandma wasn’t dead, she had left with the parents. So, who was that?
Gurjevan Bansal is currently a senior attending Richland Northeast High School. She is an Editor in Chief for The Saber, is in PCA Theatre, and Horizon....
