"Ooohhhhhh…." The wailing cry echoed in the dark bedroom, causing tingles to run down the spine. Rowan Hauser nearly bolted out of the bed, which she shared with her parents. Her blue-green eyes became wide, and she held her stuffed puppy Coco closer to her chest. She glanced to her left, spotting her mother sleeping peacefully, her arm still around her daughter's waist.
The eight-year-old turned to her father, who was loudly snoring, as usual.
"Whhhoooooooo!"
Rowan's heart pumped madly in her chest and she felt the hairs in the back of her neck rise straight up. They ghost cry came closer, right by to the four poster bed, just behind the wall. She closed her eyes tightly, hoping it would go away, and it didn't. She breathed heavily, frightened.
"Roooowaaaann.." the ghost cry wailed, making the child almost scream from the terror that ran through her heart.
Rowan slowly turned to her head to the wall, glancing at an old painting of a young woman, sitting on a red chair, from the early 1900's and she saw the eyes blink. Her heart now jumped to her throat.
"Daddy!" she whispered, her voice shaking.
Duke didn't stir and his only response was another loud snore.
Rowan shook her father on the shoulder. "Daddy, wake up! Ghost!"
"Huh, what, what, what?" Duke said as he was shook awake.
"Daddy, wake up!" Rowan continued to shake him, her eyes wide from fright.
A bump came from behind the wall, and the little girl almost screamed. She threw herself on her father's chest, shaking profoundly.
Duke instantly wrapped his arms around his daughter. "Pumpkin, what's wrong?"
"Ggg..hhh..ost," Rowan said, her voice trembling with fear. She closed her eyes shut.
"Oh honey, there's nothing here. You probably had a bad dream." Duke tried to comfort her.
Rowan looked at her father, her eyes wide with fear within. "But, Daddy, the ghost said my name! It knew my name!" She listened for another cry, or bump, to show him that it wasn't a dream, but nothing came, only silence.
"Oh, Baby." Duke kissed the top of her head. "I won't let anything happen to you." He pulled her close and laid her head on his chest. "I'll hold you until you fall back to sleep."
"I love you, Daddy," Rowan whispered, closing her eyes, feeling safe. In moments she was fast asleep, listening to her father's heart rhythm.
Duke listened for any more sounds, but found only silence, no ghost or goblin in sight. His eyelids felt heavy and glanced from his wife's sleeping form to his daughter's until he too fell back into sleep.
A child-like giggle came from behind the wall, moving away from the sleeping family, and toward the next door room where two other Hausers had fallen asleep.
"Ooohhhhh..." The wailing sound came once again, sending shivers down more spines.
Sky Dancer's eyes shot open, with a slight fear within them. From the tales she had heard from her best friend Colleen on the ghostly residence of Burnett Manor, she hoped that this cottage did not hold another ghost, one named Lady Devina Burnett.
"Oooohhh!"
"Jeffrey! Stop that," Sky Dancer hissed at her husband, annoyed that he tried to attempt another one of his particle jokes. She knew that he knew things like this made her blood turn to ice in seconds.
"Whemmeannt..." came from right next to her.
She turned around in the bed and found his eyes shut, his arm with the cast on the pillow and a mumbling sound came from his throat. She sighed and closed her eyes. Maybe she had imagined it.
"Reeeeennaaa..." the ghost like whisper made Sky Dancer's entire body shiver from its sound in the bedroom.
Her heart pounding, her eyes now wide, and her mouth dry, she knew this had to be some low particle joke! This time she poked her husband on his stomach. "Kastor, I mean it!"
"Mean what?" Kastor mumbled in his sleep and then started to snore again.
"Blast you, Hauser!" Sky Dancer growled, her anger rose. She pushed the covers away and got out of the bed, slipping into her Doberman slippers. She glanced down at her Doberman nightshirt to her robe, which lay on a chair nearby. She didn't bother putting it on, her blood boiled and she already felt warm.
Heading out of the bedroom, her mind set on grabbing Apollo from the outside kennel and bringing him indoors for the night. She headed down the stairs and turned toward the kitchen. Flipping the switch, her mouth dropped at the sight of the room. The entire kitchen had become one war zone! Containers were everywhere, bread slices all on the floor, spelling the word. 'I Rock.' Milk, juice and some other liquid spread all over from the counters to the floor. A knife had stabbed a lettuce, and Sky Dancer's heart thumped madly from the sight. She gulped.
She raced out of the kitchen, up the stairs and right into the bedroom. "JEFFREY!"
Kastor sat bolt upright. "What?"
"The ghost did a disaster in the kitchen!" Sky Dancer informed him, her chest heaving up and down madly.
"Imzadi, are you sure you're feeling all right?" Kastor asked her.
Sky Dancer placed her hand on her head and shook it slowly. "I think, I... I don't know! First the ghost moans and now the mess..." She glanced at him. "If this is one of your jokes, Mr. Hauser, I'll make sure that other arm of yours has a matching cast!"
"I don't know what you are talking about. Come back to bed." Kastor patted the bed beside him.
"I'm telling you, the kitchen looks like Shipwreck's and Anchor's midnight raid!" Sky Dancer insisted, still remaining in place.
"All right," Kastor said getting out of bed wearing only pajama bottoms. "Show me."
Sky Dancer nodded, watching him come over and she took his hand, holding it tightly, a little too tightly. She opened the door and pulled him out of the room, walking carefully down the dark hallway, and down the stairs. A small thump coming from somewhere close by made her almost tumble down the stairs, taking him with her, but her balance remained steady, and finally they entered into the kitchen.
"See," she pointed to him, then giving him a look that told him, 'I'm not crazy!'
"It's probably just a raccoon," Kastor told her, rolling his eyes.
"Wouldn't Apollo have barked?" Sky Dancer pointed out, her anger continued to rise. Why didn't he believe her! "His kennel is only just outside the kitchen!"
"All right, come on," Kastor told her, taking her hand.
"Are we going to wake up, Flint?" she asked, following him toward the staircase.
"No, we can show him this in the morning," Kastor said, placing a foot on the first step.
"Jeff, we can't just leave this!" Sky Dancer pointed out, giving him a disapproval look. "Maybe we should get Cayden, ask him if this happened before." Before he could protest, she ran passed him, dragging him once again up the stairs and rushed him toward the other couple's bedroom, bursting in. "Cayden!"
"What?" Cayden asked sitting up and rubbing his eyes.
Colleen sprang from the bed. "Is it the babies?" she asked, fear in her voice.
Sky Dancer gulped, feeling guilty on scaring her best friend. "No, they're sleeping." She knew her husband was giving her that look of his. "It's the kitchen!"
"Sorry I'm a doctor not a remodeler," Cayden said, lying back down.
Kastor stood back staying quiet.
"Reena, what's wrong?" Colleen walked over to her friend, her white nightgown flowing around her.
"The ghost made a huge mess in the kitchen!" Sky Dancer answered, her tone quite serious.
"Ghost?" Cayden asked, looking at her as if she had gone insane.
"Come on," Kastor whispered to Sky Dancer, trying to pull his over imagining wife away and back to their own warm bed.
"I'm telling you! First I heard the ghost, then I saw its mess!" Sky Dancer stated.
"Reena, calm down." Colleen tried to sooth her friend, touching her lower arm.
"All right I'll go check it out," Cayden said, climbing out of bed.
"We'll all go," Colleen suggested, walking over to the bed and putting on her robe. "I'm not letting you all alone if there is a ghost on the loose!"
"I'm not crazy!" Sky Dancer claimed, her hands now shaking. They all turned to her and gave her the same look that said otherwise. "Sto Dialo!"
Kastor and Caveman walked down the stairs together.
Colleen and Sky Dancer followed the two men. They entered the kitchen, finding the complete mess.
"See!" Sky Dancer pointed out. "And it's not a raccoon, Apollo would had barked!"
"What happened in here?" Colleen asked, flabbergasted at the disaster of the room. "It looks like one of Shipwreck's raids!"
"Are we sure he didn't follow us?" Kastor asked.
Cayden looked around the room in astonishment.
"I'm sure!" Both Colleen and Sky Dancer said at the same instant.
"We better start cleaning this mess," Colleen said, shaking her head in dismay. "Anyone want to get the mops and buckets?"
"Where are they?" Kastor asked.
"In the mud room," Cayden answered, while he and Kastor left to get them.
"I bet you they are going to take their little time," Colleen told Sky Dancer, shaking her head at the men.
"Oh yes, let the little women clean up," Sky Dancer concluded. "Tomorrow, we are switching the sugar with the salt for their coffee!"
Colleen laughed while talking a rag and started cleaning the mess.
"Oh gross!" Sky Dancer pointed out to a half eaten jelly sandwich on the floor. Then her quick eye caught sight of a can of SpaghettiOs by the living room coffee table. She walked over and bent to take hold of the can, but a movement caught her attention.
Standing up, her eyes widened, glancing outside the window, spotting a woman with brown hair gliding outside, wearing a white robe of some sort. The ghostly figure passed the window, moving ever so slowly.
Her scream jumped to her throat, but the darkness covered it, finding herself falling toward the can of SpaghettiOs!
At the sound of the thump, Colleen came out of the kitchen. "Reena, I heard a-" Her own eyes widened, spotting her best friend on the floor, not moving. "Reena!" She rushed to her friend's side, rolling her gently over and pushing away the dark chocolate locks from the woman's features. "Cayden!"
"What?" Cayden said as he quickly came in from the mud room. "What the hell happened?" He exclaimed as he rushed over to the women.
"I don't know," Colleen replied truthfully. "I just found her." Her dark blue eyes filled with worry. "Where's Jeff?"
"He heard something outside and is checking it out," Cayden said as he started to exam Sky Dancer by checking her eyes.
Sky Dancer slowly started to recover, her eyes opening and finding the Joe medical member above her head. "What happened?"
"You passed out," Cayden said. "What's the last thing you remember."
At this question, Sky Dancer's eyes widened. "The ghost!"
"The ghost?" Colleen repeated, looking from her best friend to her husband. "Cayden, there's a ghost?"
"Reena, I think you just got yourself all worked up and scared over this," Cayden said as he helped her sit up.
"It was just a raccoon and a possum eating from the garbage cans," Kastor said as he walked into the room, finding nothing outside. He found the scene before him and his heart jumped, spotting his wife on the floor. "Reena! What the hell happened?"
"I fainted because I saw a lady ghost pass the window," Sky Dancer admitted, her gaze shifting toward the window.
"Honey, I was just outside and all I saw were a raccoon and a possum," Kastor told her as he gently helped her up.
"The woman was wearing white!" Sky Dancer insisted, her brown eyes showing her fear.
A voice hissed from the staircase, "What are you four doing up at this hour?" Flint asked, walking down the stairs. "I heard noises, and I thought you four were some snakes!"
"Ummm...telling ghost stories," Cayden said.
Kastor pulled his love closer to him.
"Ghost stories?" Flint asked, dumbfounded. "Danny, you and Jeffrey know better then to tell ghost stories in front of Colly and Reena!" He shook his head in dismay. His children were acting odd lately. "Just look at their faces! They are white as ghosts!"
Sky Dancer shivered from the mentioning of ghosts and turned paler.
"We..we'll go to bed now," Colleen said, taking hold of her husband's hand.
Flint nodded. "Good, and no more ghosts!" He started heading back upstairs, still shaking his head and walked into the master bedroom, right to the four poster bed. He glanced at his wife, who was sleeping peacefully, unaware of anything. Sliding under the coverlets, his whole entire body shot straight up. He jumped off the mattress in a single movement and ripped the covers off his side of the bed. "What the hell?" he asked the silence, spotting a dozen sharp pointed pine cones just where he had lay. Grumbling, he tossed the pine cones off the bed, and slid once again under the covers, his face in a tense aggravation that told him, someone or something was up to no good.