Original Horror Fiction: Beyond Appearance

PART 3: I'M NOT CRAZY

William laughs, pointing to his mum and the ball coming towards him. Virginia runs towards him and grabs him. As the kids rush down the stairs, they come to a creaking halt, and what they witness makes them stop, petrified like stone statues. Their hearts are beating fast, and their eyes betray them. They can’t look away, as they can’t believe what they see.

“Mum!” Victor screams and starts crying.

Mary follows him. Little William is serene and has a big smile, still amused by his mysterious companion of games. After a few seconds, the ball stopped, and the kids stopped crying. The whole room was silent. Virginia doesn’t know what to do. Her eyes inspect every corner of the room like they are waiting for something unnatural to happen again. She tries to find a logical explanation for all of it.

Edward approached, confused as to what was going on downstairs.

“Virginia? Are you alright?”

She doesn’t answer.

“Kids?”

The children are still in shock. No one can logically explain what they saw or how they felt. Looking at Edward’s extreme concern, Virginia finds the courage to answer. She tries to stay calm and strong for the children, but all she wants is to burst into tears and let her tension go away after that uncanny event.

“We saw something weird, Ed, something very weird. The ball. William was playing with the ball, and I turned around, and it… it was like someone invisible was playing with him. The ball was coming back to him.”

“It was probably just the wind, Virginia. Ghosts don’t exist.”

“But Ed…”

“You should stop reading all those Gothic stories before bedtime.”

“I’m not crazy!” 

“Dad, it really happened. We saw something as well.” Mary looks at her father with her still shiny, dark eyes.

Edward goes towards the window in the kitchen.

“The window was open, and the wind moved the ball in William’s direction. It’s very windy and bad weather.”

“But Dad, Victor and I saw a ghost upstairs.”

“Mary, you and Victor were just scared, and your mind must have thought of seeing something that wasn’t real. Now, come on. Let’s all calm down and go to the creperie for a sweet treat.”

“Dad, please! Listen to us!”

Edward rushes toward Virginia and whispers in her ear, “Stop scaring the kids. You don’t know what you are saying.”

///

The next morning, Virginia wakes up and heads to church. Edward and the kids were still asleep.

The rain starts again, but this time, it is less heavy. The church is situated up on a hill. The mass has not started yet, but the people have started to arrive. She sees families dressed in nice clothing with laces and flowers. They all know each other. Some older women wore head coverings and prayed in the front seats. Virginia enters, and some of the residents turn at her, curious.

After mass, everyone gathered outside.

“Welcome.”

“So nice to meet you.”

“Hi, good to see you here.”

Virginia receives all kinds of welcome but feels like something is off. Everyone is whispering and staring at her.

The priest, who was beside the main door, approached her.

“Hi, Father Joseph! Welcome to St. Virgin Mary’s Church.”

“Thank you. Virginia. Virginia Lenore. The mass was lovely!”

Father Joseph smiles.

“What brings you here, Virginia?”

“Change. My family and I just wanted something different, quieter. We are staying at the old orchid house.”

After saying that, the Father frowns and starts acting nervously.

“Oh, great! I hope your family has settled well, and I hope to see you all next Sunday.”

He then leaves and goes to greet the others.

On her way home, Virginia was consumed by curiosity after the events of the previous day and the first encounter with the rest of the residents and the Father.
Virginia opens the house door and heads upstairs to her room. As soon as she opens the door, she notices her husband has red marks all over his body, but he is still asleep.

“Edward, Edward! Wake up! What have you done? Are you taking your pills? Why would you do that to yourself?”

Edwards opens his eyes, confused at what his wife was panicking about.

“Look!”

She points at his legs and arms.

“I don’t understand. I must have fallen. I was sleeping all the time.”

“Are you sure? You haven’t done anything to yourself?”

Edward tries to get out of bed.

“I’m going to have a coffee. As I said, I must have fallen,” he tells her, uninterested.

‘’Um, mum!” Virginia pauses and sighs.

“Coming!” she screams and leaves the room.

Everyone is awake.

Virginia goes into William’s room. His toys and some of the wooden horses that belonged to the hallway are all out on the floor, and William is out of bed. Holding one of the horse statues, she whispers, “How did you reach…?”

She then stops and looks at him, smiling.

“I was sure I put all your toys in the box before bedtime, pumpkin.”

She heads downstairs with William and joins the rest of the family.

///

It is an early cloudy afternoon; Edward is resting upstairs as always, Mary and Victor are playing in the back garden, and William is playing in front of the fireplace. Virginia reads, looking out for her little son coloring on the floor. She suddenly hears a door opening upstairs.

“Edward, is that you? Do you need help coming down?”

She receives no response.

After a few seconds, the door shuts. She stands up and heads upstairs. She slowly opens their bedroom door and finds Edward asleep. Once she has closed the door behind her, she decides to analyze the last room of the corridor to find more information about the house. She finds herself in the pitch dark, lights a candle, and opens the windows.

The room was full of dust, objects, and paintings. She could hear her kids playing from the window. She smiles, looking at them playing tag.

Virginia then looks at the different paintings and thinks they must have belonged to the original owner. They all look very similar, landscapes of nearby places, until she suddenly stops, confused at one canvas depicting the fireplace downstairs and the painter’s initials she saw once before, NB. However, something in the painting is very different from what she remembers. It looks so empty. She was sure she had seen a little boy in it before.

She stares, confused, and then stops again at the window, watching her kids playing.

Mary is chasing Victor, but she grows tired and takes a break. Victor continues running, thinking his sister is still chasing him.

Suddenly, Virginia starts shaking, her face becoming paler. Behind Victor, she sees a little boy, a small pale, almost vanished figure with black hair and grey eyes, running after him.

“Victor!” Virginia shouts from the window and runs downstairs.

///