The Black House around the Corner by Seraph Wedd (ebook audio reader .txt) 📖

Splashing sounds can be heard over the loud sound of the heavy downpour. The rain didn’t stop falling even after over half a day passed. Peering through the window, children wearing colorful raincoats are playing outside the house, splashing muddy water all around. I smiled a little.

Finishing my short break, I turned away from the window and faced the towering stack of boxes placed in a not so orderly manner around the room. Even though I had just finished moving all my clothes, curtains, blankets and others to their ‘would be’ proper places, the stack didn’t look like it was reduced at all.

If I am to arrange all these remaining boxes, a day wouldn’t be enough. Thinking so, I picked up the box that should contain my daily necessities and carried it towards the kitchen area.

Walking through the ebony floor, and passing through two doors, I reached my destination. A spacious room of about 5 by 10 yards. In the middle is a tiled working station where the stove, oven and cooking tools are placed.

I cleared a small area above the tiles and placed the box I am carrying. Opening it, several sets of ceramic plates, stainless spoon and fork appeared. I immediately arranged them on the cupboard above the sink. Knives, ladles, mortar and pestle, chopping boards, many cooking equipment are included. I arranged them neatly to systematic and easy to reach places.

After emptying the box, the sun had already set. Yet, the heavy rain is still going strong. I walked towards the living room once again and there, I tried to arrange the boxes to make it easier to move them for tomorrow. After arranging the boxes and taking a light dinner, I went up the slightly creaking stairs and entered the first room at the top of the stairs.

Inside the small room, a simple bed covered in silky white beddings, a small work table, a chair, and a large wardrobe was forcefully placed, making the room look cramped. A large rectangular glass window adorned the east wall on the side of the bed. A semi-transparent, red linen curtain covered the sides of the windowsill.

I headed to the window and closed it, before untying the curtain to cover the window completely. Then, I sat in front of the desk where some of my important files are placed. When I picked up a brown envelope, something fell off the table. It was a small rectangular piece of card made of polymer plastic. In front, it has the words Gerry H. Wilkins written beside a 1” by 1” photo.

Other details are written below the name such as the company, contact details and others. It was my ID. Picking it up, I placed it inside my brown leather wallet so as not to lose it. I then turned my attention to the brown envelope in my hands. Removing the seal, I checked its contents.

What was inside was the land title and the purchase receipt. After series of unlucky events, until my apartment burned down, I decided to move to the town of my grandparents. It was a remote village where the hands of technology barely reaches.

After careful consideration of my remaining money, and with the insurance that I received, I decided to purchase this piece of land in cash. I plan to take a break from the frantic life of living in the city.

This house, despite being colored with a deep black by the previous owner, is in a good condition. The ventilation, the piping and the drainage systems are working fine without problem. Despite that, its price is as low as the ground. Thanks to that, I managed to save quite a lot.

Placing the land title back to the envelope, I placed it carefully inside the drawer under the desk. I then headed back to bed and planned to take a rest.

The fatigue of travelling over the whole day and arranging some of my belongings finally caught up, making me feel sleepy beyond imagination. As proof, as soon as I properly laid down the bed, I fell into deep sleep almost instantly.

Clang! Crash!! BANG!!!

The loud crashing sound, overpowering the sound of rain, suddenly woke me up. Looking at my tablet phone, the time is just a little past 2 AM. The sound of crashing still continued. The source seems to be the kitchen.

I immediately got up and turned on the light of my room. I opened the door, ran down the stairs and opened the light of the living room. At the same time, a crashing sound, louder than before, was heard. A white flash of lightning followed by a clap of thunder lit my dark surrounding as I was running from the living room.

I reached the kitchen. Only the monotonous sound of the falling rain could be heard. There, I carefully scanned the dark surroundings. Only the vague outline of objects around could be seen. With this, I cannot see the situation clearly.

I slowly reached for the switch. With a flick, the light around the kitchen turned on, illuminating the surroundings. The scene I saw was clearly a mess. The pots and pans that I had set are scattered on the ground, some with cracks, even deformed. They are clearly not useable anymore.

The fridge was opened as the food inside was ravaged to the point of being inexplicable. Meat was shredded to pieces. Vegetables were smashed to a pulp. Fruits were scratched and diced. Even the cord of the fridge was snapped as if it was bit by a thousand rats.

The stove and the LPG tank was spared from damage, however, scratch marks can be seen on top of the tiles. The size, comparable to that of a bear. It dug out even the concrete under the thin white tiles.

I scanned the whole kitchen anew. The damage is quite severe. However, nobody can be seen around the scene of the crime. There are no signs of break in as the window is still in one piece. Nobody too could pass through the door as it was still locked. I was even standing in front of the only other exit connecting to the kitchen. I felt puzzled. My fuzzy consciousness cannot process the scene that I am seeing.

I tidied the room for a little. I placed the ravaged food in the garbage bag, placed the destroyed cooking tools on one corner, and pulled the remaining part of the fridge’s plug. Then went back to my room after checking the locks once again. Again, I slept as soon as I laid down. Looks like I’m much weary that what I thought.

Morning came. I woke up as the bright rays of light shone my face. Checking the time, it was almost eight. I tidied my bed hurriedly. Then, changing into easy to move clothes of a grey T-Shirt and a brown Short Pants. I walked towards the door and opened it. There, I stood wide eyed, shocked.

The outer part of the door is clearly out of shape as many scratches, the same at the kitchen, covered the whole surface. Even the walls around the door were not spared. The door knob was bent downwards with a dent on it as if it was hit from above.

Honestly, I was afraid. If this is some sort of animal, then this is clearly something dangerous. Good thing that I locked my door shut.

I meekly checked the outside of the door. Left wing. Clear. To the right side. Clear. Looks like it is safe for now. I headed back to my tablet phone and quickly called an acquaintance, requesting him to send in helpers and a new set of door knob. I even requested several other types of locks.

Knowing that it will arrive at around noon, Instead of just waiting around doing nothing, I decided to go around and greet my new neighbors. I just ate a loaf of bread and drank a hot coffee before moving.

I headed towards the front door, put on my favorite blue-and-white sneakers, and walked towards the yard. The ground is still wet from the long rain yesterday.

Looking around, I easily noticed the large maple tree in the middle of the yard. Slightly past that, over the other side of the road, a house could be seen. I immediately headed there, walking in light steps, while thinking.

Maybe I should bring some offerings. I thought. However, all the food items I have were now inside the bin. And I don’t have any practical gifts on hand that I can offer.

Crossing the barren road covered with green trees on both sides, where not a single car passes, I arrived at my nearest neighbor’s doorstep. I knocked softly on their door.

Not long after, they opened the door. A man with a beautiful white beard accompanied by a brown haired woman that is likely in her prime, greeted me with a smile.

“Good Morning. I’m Gerry, the one who moved across the street.” I greeted.

“You must be the new guy. The name’s Peter.” The white haired man spoke in a deep baritone voice.

After a short handshake, he then continued speaking.

“This is my daughter Cherian. There are also two more boys but they are currently still asleep.”

“It’s okay, I think I saw them already yesterday.”

Using my high communication skills, I managed to get invited inside their house to continue our chat. There, we chatted about random things for quite a while. I didn’t forget my main objective and tried gathering information slowly.

About half an hour later, I gathered quite a bit of information. It seems that the said house has been passed down to several owners already. And each owner never lasted a week before being found dead. Even the cause of death varied. Some died of Heart Attack, some jumped from the attic and died, some were seemingly killed by something, and others. The number of owners that bought this house seems to be quite large as a month after the previous owner’s death, a new owner would come.

Also, the surrounding households treated the black house as a haunted house as they sometimes see movements inside it despite being empty. And there are times when they hear groans of something coming from the house itself. Due to this, the kids are only allowed to play on the wide lawn in front of the house and are forbidden from entering or getting near it.

I continued visiting other neighbors until an hour before noon. Their anecdotes matches almost perfectly with each other. It was to the point that I was clearly weirded out. This is certainly not normal. At first, I thought it was an animal of some sort. But now, my confidence is fading. I returned home to this creepy black house.

I sat down the sofa placed in the middle of the living room, beside the large stack of boxes. I relaxed my tired nerves and closed my eyes slowly. I slowly relaxed as I listened to the sound of my own heartbeat. I let the sound of classic music playing acted as a background music as I regained my lost focus.

Slowly, even the sound of the music playing was lost. Only the rhythmic sound of my beating heart remained in my consciousness.

Suddenly, someone forcefully grabbed my left shoulder. Shudders ran from my head down to the tip of my toes. My heart felt like it was about to jump out of my chest. I quickly jumped into action and stood up while turning around.

There, a man stood. Correct that, a group of men. They are all wearing the same blue colored overalls. They must be the helpers that I was waiting for. I wept the cold sweat that ran down my forehead after realizing that I panicked for no reason.

Checking the time, it was already past noon. Looks like