A/N: The second story in this part is a tale told before bed during 'settle down' time when I was in camp, but it was so scary when we were kids we didn't settle down like we were supposed to! Hope you enjoy! There's more action at the end of this chapter, tell me what you think!
Chapter 12
Sam cleared his throat and sifted through the urban legends and ghost stories that he and Dean had investigated. Ome in particular stuck out and he was convinced that he could make it into a story that wouldn't terrify the kids for life.
"Okay. This story is about a haunted house called Rosewood manor." Sam started.
Dean grinned, he remembered this hunt. How could he not? He managed to get three broken bones after being shoved from the upstairs balcony by the angry ghost of a particular manor owner. Man, that ghost had packed a punch, Dean couldn't sit comfortably for a week after that, even though it was his arm, wrist and collar bone that had been broken, he had struck a few loose boards on the way down, not to mention landing on that old table. Sam hadn't really been much help, seeing as he was laying unconscious by the pond behind the manor house, having been taken down by a ghost on the way to burn the bones. Dean was curious as to how Sam was going to handle this one without freaking the kids out completely, those ghosts had been some nasty bastards...
"Rosewood manor might look pretty and innocent from the outside, but it's a whole different story once you walk through the front door. The house was built way back in the 1800s, so it's got a lot of history, some good, some not so hot. The first owner of the house died of pneumonia. He was buried on the grounds and it has been said that he still walks there after dark.
The house overlooks a large pond where many people drowned and it is said that their ghosts can be seen walking the grounds as well. Granted, Rosewood looks nice and homey during the day, but at night it's a whole different story. At night is when the ghosts come out to play, and play they do. Some of them aren't very nice, there's a story that says the ghost of the owner shoved a man from the second floor landing. The man lived, but he couldn't sit for a week." Sam smirked and some of the campers laughed nervously.
Of course Sam would have to mention that fact, he couldn't leave that little detail out, could he?
"No, at night, Rosewood is an entirely different story that's when the ghosts walk." Sam replied.
A young girl raised her hand timidly. Sam nodded at her. "Yeah?"
"Where is it exactly that the ghosts walk?" The child asked.
"Where, you ask? My goodness you are a curious one. Well, to answer your question, there are four main places said to be haunted, two places by the dead owner of the house. The first place he haunts is the stairs, which the man that got thrown off them found out. The second place he is said to haunt is on the side of the pond furthest from the house. That's where he's buried and sometimes at night you can see him sitting there and staring out over the dark water of the pond and some say you can hear him calling to the souls that drowned in the pond, telling them to come out, he's got a job for them."
"What job?" The same girl asked.
"To make sure that nobody trespasses on the land after dark, he doesn't want his grave to be disturbed. Another place that is supposed to be haunted is one of the maid bedrooms, stories say that a maid was killed in the room and she still haunts it. She throws things at people when they walk by the open door, clearly she doesn't want anybody peeping in on her when she's changing her clothes." Sam smirked.
Dean shook his head, yeah, he'd had a globe tossed at him when he tried to go into the room, the thing just missed his head, and then the damn ghost had thrown a mirror at him! The mirror had struck him in the stomach before dropping to the floor and shattering and when he looked down at the mirror shards he had been able to see the mutilated face of the maid watching him closely. He shivered at the thought and turned his attention back to Sam's story.
"The third place is the basement. Rumor has it that the ghost of the house owner's oldest daughter stays down there. She died after falling down the basement stairs, and she pushes anybody who dares to venture into the house after dark down the basement stairs and then screams as though she had been pushed." Sam stopped again, and cast his eyes over the frightened faces of the campers. He was worried that he was scaring them too much, even though he'd tried to tone down the story, leaving out all the gory details.
He'd been the one to discover the daughter's ghost in the basement after being shoved down the cement stairs leading to the basement and suffering countless numbers of cuts, scrapes and bruises. The daughter had appeared to him, battered, bloodied and bruised, flesh barely clinging to her skeletal face and her eyes stared through him, freezing him almost instantly and then she jumped him. Ripping at him with her bony fingers and sharp nails, hitting him repeatedly and Sam could do nothing to get her off of him. Lucky for him, Dean had heard him yelling and came down with the rock salt before pulling him out of the basement as fast as possible and slamming the door shut behind them.
"The last place said to be haunted is the shore of the pond. Ghosts of dead soldiers march there at night, trying to keep people away from the owner's grave." What Sam didn't mention was that those soldiers had weapons, real weapons that actually worked.
He'd found that out when one of the ghosts spotted him making his way toward the small graveyard with the intention of burning and salting the bones to stop the haunting. One of the soldiers had fired their gun and the pellet that rocketed from the barrel had embedded itself in Sam's side and took him down almost immediately. Soon after, one of the spirits thrust the butt of the gun down on Sam's head, sending him into oblivion, clawing to escape, but not being able to.
"Rosewood manor is a place of mystery and hauntings and it has a dark, dark past. I wouldn't suggest going there after dark, but it's really up to you. If you think you're brave enough to take on the ghosts of Rosewood, then go for it, but don't say I didn't warn you about the darkness that walks the halls and grounds at night." Sam replied and fell quiet. The campers were shocked into silence, waiting for more, but Sam gave them no more. He got to his feet and returned to his place next to Jamie.
Ben stood up.
"Was that scary enough for you?" Ben called to the campers.
"Yeah!!!" Came the shouted response.
"Then let's show Sam our appreciation! Those that have been here before will know this cheer, those who are here for the first time, join in when you think you got it, it's not too hard, you just have to answer yes or no. What did we think of Sam's story?" Ben shouted. Some of the counselors cheered in response.
"Was it Tide?" Ben questioned.
"No!" Came the yells of those familiar with the chant.
"How about Downy?"
"No way!"
"What about Arm and Hammer? Was it that?"
"No!"
"How about fab? Was it fab?" Ben called.
"YES! It was fabulous!" The shout was followed by a short period of applause.
"One more time. Was it tide?" Ben asked.
"No!"
"Was it Downy?"
"No!"
"Was it Arm and Hammer?"
"No!"
"Was it fab?"
"YES! It was FABULOUS!!!!" The campers and counselors shouted.
Sam stood and took a bow, after getting a prompting from the counselors to do so.
"Way to go Mr. Stephen King, I'm impressed." Dean grinned.
Sam shook his head and turned back to where Ben was seated on the edge of the porch.
"I have to go to the bathroom. Will you come with me?" One of the female campers asked her counselor.
"Jen, it's just over there." One of the other campers said.
"I know, but I want Colleen to come with me." The child replied.
"Yeah, sure, I'll come with you kiddo." The blonde counselor replied, took the girl by the hand and led her to the bathroom.
Dean smirked, Sam's story had sure scared some.
"Wow, I dunno if I can follow Sam's act very well, That was pretty scary, but I'm gonna try a story. You still in for something scary?" Ben replied from where he sat.
"Yeah!!!"
"Great, here goes nothing!
'Creak.' A sound. Faint, distant, but still heard.
'Crack. Something snapping, or being trampled on.
The man sits in his room, reading. The room is silent except for the quiet fire burning.
'Creak.' Just the the house settling, nothing more.
'Crack.' Perhaps some small animals outdoors.
'Whoosh.' Was that the wind?
The man stands up and peeks out the window. A clear night is all he sees, the full moon brilliant in the sky. Laughing at his nervousness, he returns to his book.
'Creak.' The man silently chuckles at the sound.
'Crack.' How could he have been scared of some sounds? That's all they were, were sounds.
'Whoosh.' Must be breezy out tonight.
'Thump.' Did that come from inside the house?
The man stares into the fire, trying to calm his nerves.
'Creak.'
'Crack.'
'Whoosh.' Will the sounds ever stop?
'Thump'...'Thump'...'Thump'...Closer. He thinks, the sounds are getting closer. He shuts the book and closes his eyes, and thinks of something besides his wild imagination.
'Creak.'
'Thump.'
'Crack.'
'Thump.'
'Whoosh.'
'Thump'...'Thump'... 'Thump'...a pause?
The man moves quietly, slowly, toward the door. He's scared.
'Thump.' He takes a step back.'Thump.' Yes, it's getting closer. 'Thump.' He stares at the door, trying to see through it
'Thump.' He reaches slowly for the doorknob, hand shaking, no longer able to take not knowing what's out there.
'Creak.' A loose floorboard, near the door outside.
'Thump' He slowly opens the door.
A scream. Then nothing. Nobody knows what happened to the man, but he was never seen again." Ben finished.
The campers were once again silent as they took in what Ben had just said. There were small shifts of movement, the campers too afraid to do much more and it didn't help when the shattering scream of a young girl broke through the thick silence, every camper yelped and most of the counselors did as well. Ben's attention went immediately to the direction in which the scream had come from and he shot to his feet. Another scream cried through the night, almost immediately after the first and it was followed by the wild sobbing of a young girl.
The child that had asked her counselor to take her to the bathroom came running toward the fire pit, her face as white as snow and her eyes wide with panic. Tears streamed down her cheeks and she looked completely horrified.
"Jen, what's wrong?" The other counselor from the girl's cabin asked her.
"She told me she'd drown me!" The girl sobbed wildly.
All of the campers looked utterly terrified and many were crying at the girl's unexpected outbreak.
"Jen, where's Colleen?" Ben asked as he knelt in front of the frightened girl.
"I don't know. But, I saw her and I ran, she chased me! She told me she'd drown me just like she drowned!" Jen was practically screaming, choking on her words as strangled sobs escaped her throat.
"What aren't you supposed to tell?" Dean questioned, holding onto a frightened Timothy who was seated on Dean's lap and sobbing into the oldest brother's shoulder. Bryce had a tight grasp on the material of Dean's shirt and tears glistened in his eyes as well.
"Jen!" Came the frantic voice of Colleen.
The child in question screamed and grabbed for Ben, searching for the comfort of human touch. The camp chief pulled the girl close to him and allowed her the comfort that she sought. She screamed and sobbed into his chest, her hands fisted around the cloth at the back of his shirt and she twisted it nervously.
"Jen, there's nothing there, I just checked!" Colleen replied, taking up position behind Ben's back and trying to get the child to look at her over the man's shoulder.
"She was in there! I swear! I saw her, she was white and I could see through her!" Jen screamed, once again choking on the sobs that struggled to escape.
Ben held her tighter, whispering in her ear, trying to get her to calm down. Another counselor brought a cup of water to Ben and he gave it to the girl that clung to him.
"Here hun, drink this down. Slowly." Ben spoke.
The girl did as she was told, still holding onto Ben with one hand. The water soothed her throat and she worked to calm herself down, before loosening her grasp.
"Now, what do you think you saw and where was it?" Ben asked calmly.
"She was in the boathouse, behind the gate leading to the river. She screamed at me, told me to go away before she drowned me! I saw her there, I swear it!" Jen replied.
"Who did you see there?" Dean asked gently.
"The girl!" Jen shouted.
"Shhh, it's okay, it's okay. What did she look like?" Ben asked.
"I could see through her! Her hair was brown and her eyes were too! She was glowing, and she screamed! Then she yelled at me and I ran to find Colleen! The girl followed me! She chased me!" Jen sobbed.
"Calm down, sweetheart." Ben comforted. "Is she a camper here?" He questioned.
"At one time she was. Then she drowned. It was so cold! She was cold! And it was dark, she fell down the hill, hit her head and then the river ate her! She was just trying to capture the flag!" Jen screamed, seeming to become another person.
"No, she didn't fall, I was pushed! That boy, the one that liked me pushed me! He didn't mean to hurt me, he tried to save me and the river ate him too! We both drowned on the same night!" Jen shouted.
"I checked the boathouse, there was nobody there." Colleen replied, seeming to be shaken by the entire ordeal.
"It's because she chased me! She's angry and scared. She says that it's still dark and cold where she is, not all of her was found, she's still out there! Part of her is still out there in the river!" Jen's voice had become panicked and screaming again, but it seemed to belong to her.
"She knew where the flag was, her and Will were going to get it together. They were supposed to protect each other, but the river ate them both and part of Olivia is still out there! Part of me is still in the river! It's dark and cold here, I want out!" Jen shouted, her voice shifting before falling eerily silent.
The young blonde shook her head as though to clear the cobwebs from it and then looked up at Ben, her eyes searching his face, seeming to look right through him. For a split second the camp chief thought he saw the child's blue eyes flicker brown and then clear. The girl looked around and her face became confused.
"Why does everyone look so scared? Why are you crying Hayley? Why is everyone crying? What's wrong?" The child questioned, her voice sounding frightened.
"What's the last thing you remember, Jen?" Sam asked gently, recognizing the signs of partial spirit possession.
"Um, I was walking to the bathroom with Colleen and I looked out to the boats. That's it." The child stated and then her eyes welled with tears.
"What happened? How did I get back here? I don't remember." Jen said with a quivering voice.
"Hush now, it's okay, you're okay." Ben cooed, pulling the girl closer to him when she threw her arms around his neck.
"Am I sick?" The girl asked into Ben's shoulder.
"No, honey, you're not sick, you're fine. We're just gonna call your parents and tell them what happened, okay? Do you want me to tell them to come get you?" Ben asked.
The girl nodded into the camp chief's shoulder.
"Okay, alright let's go and do that." Ben said and gathered the girl in his arms before turning back to the frightened eyes of the campers.
"I think we've had enough ghost stories for the night, how about you all head back to your cabins and you can leave the lights on tonight if you want. I'll see you all in the morning for breakfast." Ben stated and carried the sobbing girl toward the kitchen so that he could call her parents.
