Some people swore that house was haunted. Those who did were right. I should know, I’ve witnessed firsthand what happened in that house to my twin brother, Evan. He died in that house. All though, no one really knows what happened, if it was a fortuitous death or not. The whole investigation was so frustrating and equivocate for my parents. I almost felt bad for not telling anyone what happened. Alex and Jamie, Evan and my best friends, swore that they wouldn’t tell anyone. Just like I wanted.
*

“Come on Stacie! Come with us!” Evan yelled up the stairs to me.

“Go where? And with who?” I yelled back, a bit upset that he was interrupting me from my reading. Again.

“Alex and I are going to that house everyone thinks is haunted. We’re going to spend the night and see if it is what everyone thinks it is.” Evan replied standing in my doorway.

Evan was six foot four and only in the ninth grade. He was easily the tallest in his class and among the tallest in the school. His shaggy brown hair hung in that way that always made him flip is head to get it out of his eyes. Evan had the most gorgeous blue eyes anyone could come across. They were iced emerald crystals, always glowing happiness that you felt every time you made eye contact. Everything about him seemed so perfect and impeccable. Girls were constantly complimenting him about anything he did. Not only did he have the looks, he was also the star in everything he did. In cross country, ice hockey, baseball and school.

“When? Tonight? Are you sure Mom and Dad will be okay with us going?” I ask cautiously. I’m always afraid of getting in trouble. Evan just laughed, and what a great laugh he had.

“Yeah, it’s fine. I already went over it with them. And besides, it’s a Friday night! You gotta live a little Stacie!” We both laughed. “We’re going to leave in about fifteen minutes. Pack warm, it should be chilly tonight.” Evan closed the door behind him as I got up to get some stuff ready.

I passed the mirror and stopped to look at myself. There was no denying the fact that Evan and I were twins. I had the same color hair as him, mine styled long and always straightened pin straight. I hated my natural, curly hair; it was a mess. My eyes were the same emerald color, but they lacked the crystal texture and happiness that were always in Evan’s. I was almost as tall as him, easily reaching six foot. I also followed him in being the star in mostly everything I did, in school, cross country, long jump in track and one of the best on the hockey team.

Evan is my other half. We complement each other. I couldn’t live without him. I think to myself. Little did I know that my worst nightmare would come true that night.
~

“This isn’t too bad. It just seems like a regular house, only with no people living in it.” Alex says once an hour and a half has gone by in the so-called “haunted house.”

“Yeah, maybe it’s just some myth. I really doubt anything bad will happen.” Jamie, who was invited last minute, says biting into an apple.

“Even if we don’t see anything or if nothing happens it’s still going to be cool to say we got out of this alive.” I reply, causing everyone to laugh.

About another two hours go by with no events, just a group of us talking and laughing and having a good time in the living room. We were debating on weather to bail or to stay when we heard the house start to moan. Not like a normal creak or moan that comes from every house, but this sounded like an actual person.

“You hear that?” Evan whispered. We all nod, to afraid to vocalize ourselves. “I’m going to check out the rest of the house. Anyone care to join?”

Jamie and I stand, grabbing for each other’s hands and holding on tightly. The propensity action was what we always did when we need each other, either for support or if we were scared.

The four of us continued through the house in search for the spot where the moaning originated. It led us down to the basement. I was in a cold sweat, unsure of what would happen. Everyone was in a little train, Evan holding my hand and a flash light, my hand holding Jamie’s and Jamie holding Alex’s hand. We filed down the old, rotting wooden stairs and made it to the bottom in one piece.

The moaning suddenly turned into a growl.

We all froze in our spots, scared like never before, squeezing the circulation to a halt in each other’s hands. I quickly took not of the cement basement. There wasn’t much, a few metal shelves with a couple jars resting on them. Under the stairs were more jars, bigger and smaller jars. Spider webs were in every corner and surface there was.

A flash went darting before us, hissing. Jamie and I let out a scream, backing up to the stairs. We didn’t get far because the boys stayed put, and we didn’t want to let go. They both had a weird look on their faces as the stared towards the far corner of the basement.

That’s when I saw it. There was something, I don’t know what, but I wanted to go touch it. The figure was small and hunched over, dressed in what looked like a white nightgown, and it was glowing. The figure stood and slowly walked towards us. It was a little girl, around the age of eight or nine. She had an angel face, with curls that flowed down to her shoulders. The little girl walked until she was about five feet in front of us, then raised her thin index finger to her lips.

“Shhhh. Don’t wake him. You should really leave now. It’d be very bad if you stayed. Leave quickly. Bad thin…” The little girl was interrupted by a deafening screech. The sound reminded me of a pig being slaughtered. “Oh no. It’s to late. He’s awake and he’s unhappy. So unhappy you’re here.” The little girl starts to fade, shaking her head.

“Wait! Who’s he?” Jamie yells after the already gone little girl.

Just as Jamie finishes a tall man appears before us, dressed in a long black cloak. This man that stood before us was the scariest man I had ever seen. In the dark glow of Evan’s flashlight, the man had no color to his face. He was as white as a blank sheet of paper. He had a frown plastered on his face. But it’s his eyes that I will never forget. They were dark, mysterious pools of black. When I looked into them pure evil and hatred pulsed through me.

“You should not be here. Now, you must pay.” The man spoke, revealing row of sharp pointed teeth. He raised one hand and the basement’s floor rumbled beneath us.

“RUN!” Evan yelled, bolting for the stairs. The rest of us followed in quick pursuit, but none of us were fast enough. Evan was the first one that collapsed through the stairs, falling five feet and landing on his right leg. He bent it backwards and the snap echoed through the basement. The stairs then broke under all of us. Jamie landed on her back, a crack sounded as her head smashed on the cement. I fell on my arm wrong and snapped it. Alex was the lucky one, only falling a foot and landing on his feet.

There was no way to get out. All of us needed help, two had broken bones and another was unconscious possibly suffering of a concussion.

The man raised his hand again and I watched in horror as Evan was lifted into the air, moving rapidly towards one of the walls. The man was throwing him around like a rag doll. I couldn’t take any of this, between my own pain, seeing Evan’s pain and just the whole general situation. The sobs came from deep down inside me, vibrating through my whole body and coming out loudly along with long trails of tears pouring down my face.

The mysterious man that seemed to be slowly killing my other half stopped, letting Evan drop from the air. Evan was now unconscious and lying in a heap. I had no way of telling if he was dead or not. The man started towards me, his strides long, until he came face to face with me.

“No more. You live.” He said, lifting his white hands and placing them on my eyes and running his fingers down the path of tears.
~

I woke up to Evan calling me. His sweet voice waking me from a terrible dream including him being killed in that haunted house. I jumped out of bed only to realize that I heard crying coming from Evan’s room and that I had a cast on my arm.

“NO!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. “NO! THIS DIDN’T HAPPEN!” I ran to Evan’s room, only finding my parents clinging to each other crying in each other’s arms.

“Honey, he’s gone. They couldn’t save him.” My dad tried to tell me gently.

“It was true.” I say softly, referring to my ‘dream’. “What happened?” I ask, crying because I hate lying to them. I know exactly what happened, but I need to know the story they were told.

“When you guys went to that house you all fell through the basement stairs. Jaime is still in the hospital; she fell on her head and has a very serious concussion. We found her unconscious. She might even have brain damage. Alex is fine. Though, he doesn’t remember anything, claiming that he blacked out because he was so afraid he heard something. You fell and broke your arm. You have to stay in that cast for at least six weeks.” Mom told me, she glanced at Dad. She didn’t have the strength to continue on telling me how Evan died.

“Evan took the worse fall. He was near the top of the stairs, which were six or seven feet away from the cement floor. Plus there were jars under the stairs and he broke them open. He bled to death.

“How did we get out?” I asked. I couldn’t remember anything past the man touching me. Maybe I blacked out with Alex.

“Some how you got out and got help, but it was too late for Evan.” Mom wailed and I joined her and Dad in a huddle where we couldn’t tell whose sobs were who’s.
~

“Stacie! Stacie! Wake up!” I shot up in my bed, tears threatening to spill for my ears playing tricks on me. I thought I just heard Evan talking, trying to wake me. It’s only been two weeks since he died.

“It is me!” Evan said. The blood stopped cold in my veins, knowing that my ears can’t fool me twice. Now I was wide-awake.

“Evan?” I call to my empty room.

“I’m right here.” He says, materializing on the foot of my bed. “Now you’ve gotta listen to me. I don’t have much time.”

“What? Your dead! How can I see you?” I cannot believe I’m looking and talking to my dead brother right now.

“Well, believe it. You have a gift now, that’s why you can see me.” Evan says quickly.

“What gif…”

“Shut up so I can tell you.” Evan interrupts sternly. “Do you remember when that man that killed me touched your eyes? And how you don’t remember anything after that?” I nod. “That’s because he gave you a physic power. You can see the dead that haven’t crossed over yet. You have to help them, be a liaison between the dead and the living. It’s your job to help them, just like you have to help me now.”

“What do I need to do?” I ask. I’m so confused. What is happening?

“I know it’s confusing, but it’ll get easier. You need to help me stop whatever is in that haunted house. We can’t let anyone else get hurt. Or killed.”

“How?” Can he read my mind?

“Yes, I can read your mind. And I have a plan that’ll work. You have to go to city council and demand for the house to be torn down. Burned. Whatever. Just get it destroyed. Once that’s taken care of I will be able to find the man and girl and take them to The Fork.”

“What’s The Fork? How do you know this will work?” I ask, impatient that I know so little about what’s going on.

“It’s a bridge that splits into two, one makes you an angel and one sends you to burn for eternity. A force will pull you towards which ever you deserve; you can’t over come the force. And I know this will work. I just know. I have to go now but I’ll be back one you get that house taken care of.” Evan disappears before I can say anything else. I have a gift. A gift that let’s me see Evan and all the other dead people.
~

It took two months, a lot of evidence about my brother’s death there and two thousand signatures for the city council to let us do something with the building. The house was supposedly a landmark and they didn’t want it to be torn down. But they did decide to use it as a place for firefighter trainees to practice.

Standing there, watching the house burn, a powerful emotion washed through me. It felt as thought ten hundred pound weights were being lifted off of my shoulders. Evan was there, talking to me, all though or conversation was just him saying something and then reading my mind for a response. I was the only one who could see him.

“This will be the last time in awhile that you’ll see me.” Evan says sadly. Tears come to my eyes instantly.

Why?

“Don’t cry. I’ll be able to see you again, once you start helping the dead with their missions.” The crying slows. “I have to go now. The fighters are almost done with the house.” I nod.

I love you Evan.

“I love you too little sis. I’ll be back soon. Promise.” Evan fades before me once again.

I watch as the house burns and crumples. My attention is soon drawn to the three lights shooting into the clouds, one black, one brown and one white. Seconds after seeing the three lights disappear I see the black one reappear. It hurtles towards Earth at an amazing speed. The collision produces a great explosion and I look to see who else saw. I, of course, was the only one. Everyone else was in tears quietly saying their goodbyes to Evan.
*

I realized then that my life was changed. I was going to be the only one who saw a lot of different stuff. And I couldn’t tell anyone about it. That night in the haunted house changed my life forever in more than one ways. Nothing was ever the same after that.