This Old House Chapter 2

Hi there everyone! I can't believe how popular this story is! When I woke up a few hours after posting this story I had like 14 e-mails! I was so happy that so many of you faved, reviewed, and alerted this story! Thank you so much! So,because of all the enjoyment people have gotten out of it, I decided to continue this story :D and I think that I'll be able to update it fairly quickly too.

I think that while I write this one out, I'll wait to work on LTLABL. I want it to be the best story it can be and for that to happen I can't work on two projects simultaneously.

Oh yeah, before you read this chapter, I suggest going back to the first chapter and read the second and third paragraphs in the beginning. I changed the age of the house that Alfred bought so it might make one part towards the end a little more understandable. I'm sorry that there isn't much action in this chapter but is should be coming either in the next one or the one after that :D

It had been three months since Alfred had first moved into his pre Victorian age house and in that time he managed to make the house look spectacular. Working with his hands and own creativity around thirteen to fifteen hours a day, Alfred managed to breathe new life into his once dead house. He stripped and repainted the inside walls, made new shutters for the windows, and even created new doors for the ones barely attached to their hinges, all the while trying to keep the house's old Victorian flare. He replaced the old, leaky, rusty plumbing and added the new electronics and appliances he needed. He even managed to fix up the old counters and cupboards in the kitchen. In those three hectic months, Alfred somehow managed to turn his drab house into something that he was proud of, something that reflected his hard work and bright personality.

Even though the house looked almost new, there was still something strange left over from its past, Alfred could feel it. Everywhere he went in the house, there was always a sense of dread, a feeling of sorrow and depression, drifting above his head like a thick, solid cloud. He knew that the gloominess in the house had altered his mood and changed it drastically since he had moved there. Once happy and cheerful, he was now grumpy, cranky and just plain irritable. At first he concluded that his moodiness was a result of spending so much time working on the house but once the house was complete, he found that he was the same, moody without a reason.

There were other things that bugged Alfred about the house as well, other than its apparent ability to cause grumpiness and other related feelings within him, but the things were only in the form of strange feelings. Feelings like the one of being watched as he walked about the house or the one of being followed as he went in and out of the garden. The constant sense someone being there but not drove him absolutely mad.

"What could it be! Is it my imagination? What is it? I want to know what it is!" He cried out in frustration one day, never realizing that he should be careful for what he wished for…

Only after this day, did Alfred began to see him, the mysterious boy from the picture, but only in fleeting glances from the corner of his eye. Sometimes, it was almost as if he had never really seen the boy in the first place. Physical events also began to happen as well with the vague sightings of the boy.

The proceedings that happened included things like objects and furniture being moved, food being eaten when he was sure he, Alfred, hadn't eaten it, and the light sound of feet running throughout the house. Alfred decided to ignore all of the weird events that occurred around him, contributing it to him just not remembering, he was very forgetful. But like all things, Alfred soon reached the point where he couldn't ignore or feign forgetfulness of the paranormal activity any longer.

When he finally had had enough of all the mysterious happenings going on in his house, the handprint in his homemade jello was the final straw, he decided to give his cousin Arthur a call and invite him over. Even though he didn't want to acknowledge Arthur's so called gift to see and interact with spirits (he had teased his cousin many times about ghosts not existing), Alfred's want for his house to be normal outweighed the perseverance of his own pride. He decided to invite Arthur over for dinner and a tour of his house, hoping that his cousin would tell him if he had an unexpected guest without him having to ask. After he had made his decision, Alfred promptly called his cousin and together, they decided to get together on Saturday, three days from the current date.

Somehow, he managed to survive the next three days and early in the process, he discovered that the thing supposedly haunting his abode had taken up stealing small objects around the house. The day after he had phoned his cousin, Alfred discovered a few of his things missing such as his cell phone, mini laptop, and the TV remote. It didn't bother him that some of the items, like the laptop, were missing (he could always use his laptop, the mini one was only for when he traveled for his business travel) but the other items he absolutely needed, such as the remote and cell phone. Alfred soon found himself going through a TV/communication withdraw. God he wished it was Saturday.

When the day finally rolled around, Arthur found himself face to face with his cousin, who when he opened the door, was displaying all of the symptoms of withdraw.

"Arthur! You're finally here! Please!" Alfred begged, grabbing onto the front of his cousin's shirt. "Please contact the spirit that's haunting my house! I neeeeeeed the TV remote and my cell phone back. I haven't talked to anyone or watched TV for almost three whole days, not including the day I called you!"

"Geeze Alfred! Let go! You're stretching out my shirt!" Arthur exclaimed as he managed to free himself of Alfred's iron grip. "Now what were you saying about your house being haunted?"

"Yes! Yes! There's a ghost living in my house! It likes to steal my things and eat my food!"

"Alfred, I thought that you didn't believe in ghosts."

"No, no, no! I take it all back! I need you to get rid of it! It's making my life hell! Please Arthur! I'm begging you!" Alfred, at this point, was on his knees.

"Fine. I'll do it but you have to do one thing."

"I'll do anything! Just make it go away so I can have my house back!"

"After I get rid of the ghost, you have to admit that ghosts and other mystical things exist. Ok?"

"Yes!"

"Alright then. Let me inside and I'll try to find this so called ghost."

Alfred got up off his knees and let his cousin inside of the house. He then decided to give him a tour of the place, letting his cousin go into each closed room by himself (He had explained to Alfred that he needed to go in alone so he could contact the spirit). As they walked from room to room, Alfred would see if Arthur had sensed anything once he come out from behind the door. With every room, however, the answer was the same, a firm negative.

Eventually, the two reached the final room, the one where Alfred had found the white bear and the picture. Alfred opened the door for his cousin to look inside and watched as Arthur slipped behind the door.

Once he had entered the room, Arthur could tell that he was no longer in the same era from which he came. The room had changed and reflected a time in which modern things did not exist. The objects in the room had changed too, Arthur noticed. The bed was in the same part of the room it had been in but the sheets were of different color and style. There also now was a desk in the corner of the room and a chair was placed next to the window. Arthur could see that outside the window, there were no streets or other houses, just emptiness and a wide dirt road. Even with the change of scenery and the knowledge that he was back in time, it was the body sitting in the chair by the window that startled Arthur the most.

In the chair, resting his head on thin arms on the window sill was a young looking boy. Arthur slowly walked up to him, deciding that it would be a good idea to get the boy's attention. He placed his hand on the other's shoulder, surprising the boy. He whipped his head around, fear evident in his watery eyes. The boy had been crying, a black eye marred his otherwise pretty face.

"What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Arthur asked. The boy gave him a look that showed fear and distrust in Arthur. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you." He said, trying to reassure the mysterious child.

"He…he hit me."

"Who did? Your father?" The boy shook his head.

"No, the man with the pointy hat and mustache did. His hands are always cold and a chill always follows him when he walks. He's the one who likes to hit me."

"Don't your parents stop him?" Another shake of the head and the boy looked down at the floor.

"Momma's too busy to pay attention to me."

"What about your father?"

"He's dead."

"Oh…"

"What's your name?" He asked, wanting to know more about the boy.

"Matthew." He smiled as he looked back up at Arthur.

"Tell him that I want my bear back. Then I'll give him back the things I took too."

"What?"

Suddenly, Arthur was back in the bedroom he had entered. The desk and chair were gone as was the little boy he had been talking to. Realizing what had just happened, Arthur scurried to the door, flinging it open and finding Alfred with a confused face.

"Done already? You just closed the door!"

"What?" Arthur shook his head. "Alfred! He wants his bear back! Where is it?"

"What are you talking about? Who wants the bear?"

"Matthew! Matthew wants his bear back! Go get it! He said he'll give you back your stuff if you return it."

"Ok, it's in my room on the shelf." He ran off and got the bear from where he had placed it. He then scurried back to Arthur, who was still waiting by the other door.

"Ok, here. Where should we put it?"

"On the bed. That way he'll find it."

The two went back into the room and placed the bear onto the bed. Afterwards, they left the room, opting to go back downstairs into the living room.

"I still don't see how I'm going to get my stuff back. I mean how is he go-"

Alfred cut himself off when he saw the pile of electronics and other stuff he had been missing sitting on the dining room table. As the two examined the recovered items, Alfred cradling his precious remote in his hands and whispering to it sweet words as he did, they discovered a small, folded piece of paper. It was a note, they realized, a note addressed to Alfred in small, neat, cursive letters.

Can you guess who the guy is that Matthew's describing? I hope that I made it somewhat clear about who it was. I'm sorry for such a crappy ending but I wanted the next chapter to focus on the contents of the letter and on who it describes. I'm curious to see if anyone recognizes where the hand print in the jello came from. Here's a hint, it was from an episode of A Haunting on Discovery Channel. Does that help? If not, maybe I'm just the only person who can remember strange things like that...D:

Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter!

P.S. Please review :D