The Amity-Ville Horror part 1

A/N: Hey guys – I'm hoping the one-shot/collection format works for me. I am trying my best to find my stride. Thanks for sticking with me.

Not to completely out myself, but the idea for this chapter comes from a story told by on YouTube. It is absolutely one of my favorite scary stories so I wanted to adapt it for The Owl House.

If y'all are interested, I can share the video name.

"But Mom!" complained Amity, following her mother and father as they walked across the foyer of the large Blight home. "Why do you and dad have to go out TONIGHT?"

"Because dahling, tonight is the Emperor's Coven Gala for Excellence in Business. It is an EXCELLENT networking opportunity. Think about it – we may be able to afford that expansion on the house like we always wanted!"

"Like you always wanted" said Amity under her breath.

"What was that dear?" said Alador, Amity's father. Amity shook her head.

"Nothing, dad." She turned her attention back to her mother. "Mom, I was supposed to have my sleepover tonight! We talked about this; it's the only night this week that works for all of us."

Odalia looked thoughtful for a second. She put a finger to the corner of her mouth.

"Did we? Well, I must have forgotten. Blight Industries is quite busy this time of year, Amity."

Amity stomped her foot and clenched her fists.

"You never listen to me, mom! I have been good for the past month! I have kept up my grades, and I'm getting extra credit for helping at the library – knock it off, Ed!" She shouted at her brother, who was miming puking behind his mother. Odalia signed.

"Amity, dear, I'm sorry, but this event is important to our family and business. This matter is closed."

Alador tried to lighten the mood.

"With no parents in the way, I bet you three can have so much fun together."

Edric, Emira, and Amity glanced at each other for a split second before bursting out laughing. Edric took pity on his father.

"Dad, I appreciate the optimism, but I don't see the three of us playing board games tonight."

Odalia flicked open a heavy golden pocket watch. She turned to her husband and offered her arm.

"Dahling, we really must be going. The Brewers are always fashionable early and I want to beat them there."

Alador took his wife's arm and led her towards the door. He glanced back over his shoulder.

"We'll be back when we get back. Emira is in charge." Edric looked dejected while Emira gave him a grin and thumbs up. Alador pointed at all of his children in turn. "No parties. No boys. Don't burn the house down. Have fun, you three!"

The door closed behind them. The three siblings glanced at one another. Amity spoke first.

"Yeah, I am having that slumber party. You two do what you want."

Edric and Emira looked at each other. Emira shrugged.

"Whatever, sis. Easy job for me if you just stay in your room all night."


While large, Amity's room was cramped almost to capacity; five teenage witches were splayed out on various surfaces.

Amity was leaning against her back wall, having given up her bed to a few of her friends.

Boscha Brewer sat in a chair close to the window. Her family were potion-makers and somewhat rivals to Amity's parents. Years before, Odalia Blight had coerced her daughter into spending time with the Brewer's own young daughter instead of Willow Park. Penstagram was Boscha's life, as it was for most witches her age. Boscha and her friends used the platform to bully fellow Hexside students. As captain of the Hexside grudgby team The Banshees, Boscha was coolest of the cool and she knew it.

Skara Coin sat on the end of Amity's bed, scrolling (pun intended) through her own Penstagram; If Boscha had a strong right hand, it was Skara. Enrolled in the bard track at Hexside, Skara loved music and musical instruments of any kind, a passion Boscha pretended to dislike, went out of her way to mock, but secretly admired. Another member of the Banshees, Skara was fiercely loyal to Boscha but also valued her friendship with Amity. Her parents worked for a smaller company that contracted with Blight Industries. Once, Skara asked Amity why she didn't "hang out with that Willow girl anymore". Amity never gave her an answer beyond "my parents don't like her".

Cat Armstrong sat in between Skara and Amelia McGill, whom we will get to in a second. Cat was enrolled in the healing track at Hexside and only a "loose dingleberry on my friend group" according to Boscha (although she meant it as a joke, she never said it within earshot of Cat). A fairly new addition to the grudgby team, Cat took longer than most to learn the basics. Despite her outward demeanor, Boscha spend countless hours showing her the metaphorical ropes.

Finally, Amelia McGill was lying at the head of Amity's bed, her legs sprawled over Cat and Skara. As a member of the plant track at Hexside, she secretly admired Willow, who had recently switched and was quickly becoming a favorite in the plant homeroom. Amelia scored two goals during her grudgby tryout – against Boscha, mind you – and was quickly absorbed into the friend group after. One day after practice, Amelia opened the door to the changing room and discovered Cat sitting with her knees hugged to her chest and her shoulders shaking as she sobbed. Amelia sat with her hand on Cat's back until the young witch was able to pull herself together. Neither had mentioned the incident to each other since. Amelia's curiosity was at the bursting point, but she could never muster up the courage to ask Cat what had upset her.

"Did you guys see the pictures Willow posted?" Boscha asked, breaking the silence in the room. While the girls were often too invested in their own Penstagram accounts to carry on idle chitchat, they made sure there was always music playing in the room. Boscha began to read off the captions to Willow's pictures.

"Hashtag NightAtTheOwlHouse. Oh, my titan, look at those three dorks." Willow, Luz, and Gus were smooshed cheek to cheek for a selfie.

"Hashtag OwlORTube? – What the hell is that….thing coming out of the door?" A picture taken from outside the Owl House; Luz was standing with Hooty wrapped around her body, the young human planting a kiss on Hooty's forehead. "Ewwwww, she's kissing it! I bet you're jealous, right, Amity?" she said, a knowing glint in her eye.

Amity flushed bright red. She picked up a decorative pillow and tossed it at Boscha, who caught it easily.

"Oh, touched a nerve, Mittens?" Amity looked away. Boscha stalked towards her.

"I forgot, you've actually been there, right? What did you think?"

"The Owl House is….different." said Amity, looking thoughtful. "Hooty really creeps me out." She hastily added "The bird in the door" after seeing the confused looks on her friend's faces. Cat returned to her scroll, looking through the remainder of the pictures.

"Hashtag MostPowerfulWitch – oh my titan, where's her head?" Skara and Amelia leaned in and gaped the picture of Eda, who was holding her head out of frame. Amity chuckled.

"I saw her do that a few times – it's really freaky when you first see it…" she trailed off, remembering that day on the Knee.

"Is she really the most powerful witch?" asked Skara.

"Well, she did put a Slitherbeast to sleep with a single spell – "

"Wow!" said Amelia, under her breath.

" – and it was pretty much the fastest spellcasting I have ever seen. She has some….unorthodox teaching methods, but she is pretty incredible."

"NO WAY!"

The girls looked over at the window; Boscha was on her feet, her scroll hovering in front of her, her mouth locked in a scowl. She pointed at the hovering scroll.

"Hashtag FutureWitch? There is no way that…that…human – " she practically spat the word human" – will ever be a real witch."

The rest of the girls scrolled down to the picture in question. A smiling Luz and Eda were standing shoulder to shoulder, each cupping a ball of light with their hands.

"Have you ever had a conversation with her, Boscha?" asked Amelia, surprising everyone. Boscha looked up. Amelia gulped and continued.

"She's going to Hexside whether you like it or not. She's….nice." Her voice died as Boscha continued to glare at her.

"Well, maybe you should go hang out at the freaky owl factory or whatever."

"Enough, guys!" Cat said, looking from Amelia to Boscha. "Have you guys seen what Skara can do when she whistles now?" All eyes flicked to Skara, who flushed and held up her hands.

"Oh, it's nothing special – "

"Come on, show us!" said Cat. Amity began to chant.

"Show up, show up, show us!"

Skara held up her hands.

"Ok, ok! Boscha, pass me that water bottle."

Boscha drew a circle in midair and the water bottle on the desk next to her rose into the air and floated into Skara's outstretched hand. Amity, Cat, and Amelia all bunched in to watch. Boscha stayed where she was, but with a curious expression on her face. Skara brought the bottle up to her lips and let out a whistle – it rang out like a bell and the water in the bottle instantly froze.

Amelia clapped her hands. Amity leaned over and wrapped her arms around Skara.

"Skara, that was amazing!"

"Thanks, guys. I still can't thaw it all the way out, but I'm really happy!"

Boscha held up her scroll.

"Hey, if I unfreeze it, let's post you freezing it again! Show those owl nerds who the real witches are!"

Cat and Amelia grinned.

"Hell yeah!"

"Ok, hand it over." Boscha said, extending her hand. Skara tossed over the now frozen water bottle. Boscha lit a small ball of blue fire underneath her finger and held it under the bottle. After a minute, she pulled her finger away.

"Let me get a good angle." She said as she handed the bottle back to Skara. "All of you get in close."

Boscha began to record the video and centered it on the four witches crammed on the bed.

"Take notes, owl nerds! This is how real witches cast spells. Do it, Skara!"

Pausing for dramatic effect, Skara raised the bottle to her lips and gave a long whistle. The water sloshed back and forth before freezing solid.

"That's my girl!" Boscha exclaimed as she stopped the video. "Ok, let's post it and see if they watch it."

She tapped her scroll. Tapped it again. After a few seconds, she tapped it a third time before glancing at Amity.

"Um, Blight? Why isn't this working?"

Amity smirked. She held out her hand. "Here, let me do it." Boscha shot her a look but handed her scroll over. Amity's fingers flew over the screen – Amity scrunched up her face and repeated the motion.

"Hmm, I guess the network may be down." She passed the scroll back to Boscha. "Usually that only happens when – " She crossed to the window, throwing open the curtains. Rain lashed the glass and a thick fog obscured the view. "Wow! I guess the weather took a turn for the worst."

Suddenly, the lights went out. Cat let out a cry of shock and grabbed onto Amelia. Both girls looked at each other and burst out laughing. Only Boscha looked annoyed. "Well, now what do we do?"

Amity's bedroom door burst open and Emira came into the room.

"The lights are out in here to, huh? You girls doing ok?"

The girls nodded. Amity shrugged.

"I guess we can always pull out those board games like dad suggested."

"Board games? EW?" Boscha made a retching noise. "What are we, five?"

Emira snapped her fingers. A ball of light appeared above her palm. She brought it close to her face, casting shadows across her features.

"We could always tell spooky stories!"

Silence.

"Barf!" Boscha, of course.

But Cat and Amelia perked up. Skara clapped her hands.

"I love scary stories!"

Emira nodded and walked further into the room. She sank down and sat on Amity's carpeted floor. She summoned three more balls of bluish light, which slowly floated around her and cast ominous shadows across the walls. The five witches gathered around her.

"A few years ago, a witch named Edward Martin was injured one day at work. He was reaching for something over his head and pulled something in his back. Despite several trips to the local healers, Edward found that he could not perform his job any longer and was forced to quit."

"Because of this, Edward's wife Michelle had to find work of her own. She was a healer herself, but a few years behind the times after spending time at home raising their daughter Nina. As such, she was only able to find part-time work at a small clinic. The clinic was willing to train her but could not offer full-time employment. Unfortunately, her income was not enough to allow them to continue living in the city."

"Luckily for Michelle, her parents, who had unfortunately passed away, had left her a sizable parcel of land out in the Notch, close to the sternum. Even today, the Notch is covered in these thick forests and barely any people live out there. Michelle was able to get a job in one of the small towns thanks to some old friends of her parents."

"Now, the Martin's daughter Nina was around my age and was not too thrilled about moving to the middle of nowhere in the woods. Because the area was so remote, Michelle's meager income actually was more than enough to live comfortably on."

"Michelle's parents had left them a farmhouse surrounded by fields that extended for a few hundred feet before abruptly ending in a sudden line of trees. These trees extended for miles in every direction; there were no paths or trails leading through them save for the road the Martins used to get to town."

"Edward and Michelle had a ritual every night; they would sit on the porch drinking apple blood and watch the sun go down behind the trees. Michelle and Eric would talk and talk and often would stay up long after the sun went down."

"One evening, Edward and Michelle were sitting on their porch watching the sun go down behind the trees. Because the trees were so dense, they could only see patches of sunlight coming from between the trunks. As they talked, Michelle kept glancing at the tree line. After a few times, Edward gets curious and asks her why she keeps looking at the trees. Michelle tells him that she thinks she can see something running between the trees. Edward stops talking and stares out at the trees. Before too long, he notices it as well."

"Because the area was so remote, Edward was worried about witches hunting on his land. The Martin's son Seamus was staying with them that night and Edward calls over his shoulder for him. When Seamus comes out of the house, Edward tells him to watch the tree line. Seamus does and eventually tells his father he can see movement. The two decide to walk to the trees and scare away whoever is on their land."

"About halfway across the field, Edward and his son began to notice that it was deadly silent. This was a warm summer evening – it should have been filled with birdsong and insect noises; in fact, it had been, not too long ago. But now everything was quiet. Edward and Seamus began to feel uneasy as they approached the tree line."

Skara gulped and wrapped her arms around Cat, her eyes locked on Emira. Amelia was hugging a pillow to her chest and looked enthralled and uneasy, her eyes shut tight. Boscha tried to look bored, but inwardly she was captivated and terrified, her overactive mind buzzing with scary imagery. The flickering shadows on the walls and ceiling of Amity's room formed all sorts of monsters in her eyes. Amity held her breath.

"Edward and Seamus stepped into the forest; immediately, everything became darker. Because the tree growth was so thick, it was not a very easy walk. The only noises were the sounds of footsteps and cracking tree limbs. Edward suddenly grabbed his son's arm and whispered for him to stop. The two stood stock still, listening for any movement. Before too long, they began to hear footsteps – long, drawn out footsteps. Now, neither witch was moving, so they knew it wasn't coming from them. In the past, the Martins had spent time on this farm when Michelle's parents had been alive. They knew what kind of creatures lived in these woods."

"Seamus suddenly felt the hair on the back of his neck rise up. Already spooked, he decided that he and his father had to leave, right away. He grabbed his father's arm and began to pull him back the way they had come. Then entire walk back to the edge of the forest, the two men could heard branches snapping and crunching just out of their sightline. They left the forest and jogged back to the farmhouse. Edward looked over his shoulder once they were safely on the porch of the farmhouse. While his eyesight was not what it been when he was younger, he was able to spot something slinking back into the cover of the trees."

Emira's voice trailed off, leaving the room in silence. She looked around the room. Five teenage witches stared back at her, eyes unblinking, hands wrapped around friends and pillows, and, in Boscha's case, herself. Emira got to her feet. Skara broke the silence, voice barely above a whisper.

"Wait! Is there more?"

Emira nodded.

"There's more, but you guys look pretty scared. I don't know if I should tell it…"

She paused.

"Want me to go on?"

All five of the girls nodded.

"I need to go to the bathroom first. I'll be right back."

With that, Emira walked to the bedroom door, pulled it open, and disappeared into the dark hallway, leaving the door slightly ajar.


Emira turned off the water and dried her hands. She looked at herself in the mirror and took a deep breath.

"Show time." She said to her reflection, flashing a dazzling smile.

On tiptoes, Emira crossed to her twin brother's room. She gently rapped on the door; after a few seconds, Edric poked his head out into the dark hall. Emira grinned.

"Alright, I have them pretty captivated. Give me a few more minutes and then you're on."

Edric nodded at this sister.

"Oh, I'll do my part."