Mind of a Maniac
Jake was excited to be moving into his new house. It was beautiful and was located in the middle of nowhere. Very private. Just how Jake liked it. Though the house was built in the early 1900’s, it was a well kept house. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and an attached one bedroom one bathroom apartment, with a detached garage. Jake loved that house, and all was well, until about a year after he moved in. Jake was walking in the hallway when he noticed a figure standing in the doorway to his bedroom. The figure soon vanished and Jake thought it was only his head playing tricks on him. He saw this figure many times after that. Once in the kitchen, a few times while sitting in the living room, and multiple times while he was in the garage. It got to the point where he started to get terrified, and started becoming very suspicious. Then one day, while cooking in the kitchen, Jake heard a noise beneath him. He stood there, in silence. Then turned around, but no one was there. This happened throughout the day, and Jake began to get very worried. He never believed in ghosts, but he couldn’t help but think that there was one in h is presence.
The next morning Jake went off to the library to do some research. He found a book that had the picture of the town on it. Chills ran down his body when he started reading page 24 of the book, Mr. and Mrs. Escrow were the people who owned the house before him in 1950. They had two children. Aria and Jacob. Ages 15 and 18. They were an attractive family, and sounded like they were close to perfect. Unfortunately the family got into a car accident and Mrs. Escrow was the only survivor. And for some odd reason, the bodies of Mr. Escrow, Aria, and Jacob were never found on the scene, and still to this day, they haven’t been found. Mrs. Escrow committed suicide two months later.
Jake arrived home and stood by the door. Mortified by what he read, he started to cry. He put his back against the door and slumped down onto the floor, resting his head in between his knees. He sniffled and lifted his head, resting the back of it against the door. His eyes went straight for the mirror in the hallway to his left. When he looked, he noticed it was all fogged up, and the words “she did it” were poorly written. He noticed bloody handprints smeared on the walls and bloody footprints leading to the kitchen, but suddenly stopped. Jake was frozen in terror, but forced himself to talk into the kitchen. He saw the footprints, and grabbed his hair, pulling it as if he wanted to rip it out. He then placed his hands against his ears and screamed, for he was swallowed up by whispers and faint screams. He ran into the dining room and picked up a chair, throwing it against the wall. He grabbed the pictures off the wall and broke the glass, leaving cuts on his hands. He flipped the table, and it crashed against the hardwood floors, breaking a couple planks of wood.
Jake looks down at the floor and mumbles a couple words of profanity. He bends down to examine the damage and notices the corner of a dusty red rug. Confused and shaking, he continues breaking other planks of wood, until finally, the entire rug is visible. He reaches down and lifts up the rug. Underneath, is a fairly good size trapdoor. It had a tiny lock, clearly stating that whatever was under that trapdoor shouldn’t be seen by others. He stands and searches for a key. After 10 minutes and no luck, he grabs a hammer and breaks the lock. Careful to not cut himself even more with the broken metal pieces, he takes off the lock and tosses it off to the side. He lifts the latch and slowly pulls open the trapdoor. The smell of rotting flesh leaves the door and he becomes sick. He looks inside but its too dark. He goes and finds a flashlight and points it down the trapdoor. Instantly he regrets looking down. There, in the little light from the flashlight, he sees the remains of Aria, Jacob, and Mr. Escrow. Jake becomes nauseous and weak and seconds later blacks out.
Groggy and in pain Jake wakes up in the hospital. The doctor looks at him and explains to Jake that he is in the hospital, and that a neighbor found him, passed out, with vomit leaving his mouth, house completely trashed. Jakes neighbors lived a mile away; it’s a miracle they found him. Jake asked the doctor about the bodies. The doctor looked at him with wide eyes and a straight face. Clearly not knowing what Jake was talking about. He sighs and tells Jake he is very ill. He soon leaves the room and Jake can’t seem to get his mind off those bodies of Aria, Jacob, and Mr. Escrow. He can’t get the image of their dead, cold, limp bodies out of his head. It was very clear to Jake that they never got into an accident, but that Mrs. Escrow brutally murdered them. Her whole family. He gets up to use the restroom, but his eyes have a different idea. As he walks to the counter, his eyes fall upon the clipboard. The doctor must have left in there by accident. The papers are his medical records, and he can’t believe what he’s reading. He starts sweating and his heartbeat increases. There must be a mistake. There has got to be another Jake Liam Manson in the hospital, there’s no way this can be accurate.
There, on his medical records, written in bold letters. Schizophrenia.