Ghost Story

Chapter 2

Emma slept in the next morning. She could hear muffled voices downstairs and dishes clanking together in the kitchen. She knew it was just her parents having their early morning conversation. She had a strange feeling. As if she was being watched. She glanced around her room, but no one was there. She figured it was just because it was her first night in a new place, and that was why she was feeling strange. She went to her closet and grabbed some clothes, and changed into them. She made her bed and went downstairs where her parents were.

"Good morning, Mom, Dad," Emma said happily as she grabbed a pop tart out of the cupboard.

"Morning, Em. How'd you sleep?" Mary Margaret asked.

"Good. But I thought I saw something last night. It had to have been my eyes playing tricks on me though. It was really late."

"It's going to take some time to adjust to the new house."

Emma nodded and went back upstairs. The first thing she noticed was that her nightstand drawer was pulled out. Her heartbeat increased. She walked over to it and her hand froze just short of the knob. The air surrounding it was freezing. Chills ran up her back and suddenly the air was warm again. She pushed the drawer in and sat down on her bed again. She glanced around the room, but just as before, she was alone.

"I'm not afraid," she repeated over and over again. She had seen plenty of television shows that were based on the paranormal. She knew that her nightstand drawer was closed before she went downstairs.

For the rest of the day, the house was quiet. Emma played on her computer while her parents put the finishing touches to everything in the house. When nighttime fell, Emma reluctantly went up to her room. She shut the door behind her and looked around the room. Everything was just as she had left it.

She changed into her pajamas and brushed her teeth, and then shut the light off. She squeezed her eyes tight and attempted to fall asleep, but she wasn't tired anymore. She cracked her eyes open and screamed. The pillow beside her looked as if someone was laying on it, or pressing their hand into it. There was an indent in it. She fell out of bed and backed all the way up to the wall beside her desk, trying to get as far away from the bed as she possibly could.

Her bedroom door burst open and she screamed again. David and Mary Margaret ran over to her, both with worry on their faces.

"Emma, what's wrong?" David asked.

"The house is haunted!" Emma yelled and wrapped her arms around her mother. "It-it was laying right next to me! Right on the bed!"

"Just calm down, Em." David stood up and went over to the bed. He looked it up and down, but nothing was wrong. Just that the blankets were scrambled. He pressed on it, making sure Emma was looking so she knew that everything was fine. "It's okay. There is nothing here."

"You don't know what I saw! Something was laying right next to me! There was an indent in the pillow."

"There is nothing here. You'll be fine. We are just down the hall if you need us," Mary Margaret whispered and pressed a kiss to her daughter's forehead. She led Emma to the bed and let her lay down. "I love you, my little angel." She pulled the blankets up to Emma's chin.

"I love you too," Emma said, barely above a whisper.

She watched her parents leave the room, closing the door with a soft click behind them. She sat straight up and her hands flew to her face as she quietly sobbed.

"Why don't they believe me?" She asked herself. When Emma finally fell asleep, she was welcomed by a nightmare.

Smoke.

That's all she could see and smell. As much as she wanted to wake up, she couldn't. She coughed and looked around, seeing a small body hunched in the corner. It was a figure of a boy or young man. She could hear screams, but the crackling of the fire around her was louder.

"Hey! You have to get out of here!" She yelled, but the boy didn't hear her. He stood up and went over to the window. She raced up behind him and looked out too, seeing three other people in front of a large crowd. She could see the family waving their hands and heard them shouting, but it was no use.

The young man breathed in the somewhat fresh air, and coughed even more. She knew he had to get out of here, but it was only a dream. She couldn't help. The room quickly burned faster. The wood of the house was breaking and collapsing. There was no way out.

The man fell to the ground on his back. Emma dropped to her knees and leaned over him. His face and hands were covered in black soot. He had brown, almost black hair and a matching beard. His clothes were burned and fringed. Emma put her ear to his chest, but there was no heartbeat. The man was dead.

She woke up with sweat dripping down her face. It was still dark outside, so she hadn't slept through the entire night.

She propped up on her elbows and her breath caught in her throat when she saw a man standing at the end of her bed. His haunting blue eyes staring right at her. It was the same man from her dream. He looked like he was in his late teens or early twenties. And Emma had to admit that he was really handsome for a ghost. His hands curled around the footboard, and he leaned over ever so slightly.

"What- what do you want from me?" She stammered, struggling to find her voice.

"Don't be afraid," was all he said before he disappeared.

She gently laid back down on her bed, but didn't fall back asleep for a long time. When she did, she woke up every hour, knowing that she would be afraid, even if there wasn't anything to be afraid of.