Haunting (Scary Story) by: Danielle Standiford

Jaime hated driving. To her, driving was exactly like being in a shiny metal death trap. Or not so shiny, she couldn’t really afford shiny. She had just bought a new house so of course she couldn’t afford a nice car. Buying a house for only one person was stupid, but it was a small house, and it was cheaper than a lot of places. It sucked though because she didn’t exactly live close to school.
Jaime didn’t see the car coming until it was right there in front of her and too late to do anything about it. The car hit her dead on. All Jaime was aware of was the car flipping and then everything went black.
* * *
Jaime woke up frightened. She’d been having that exact same nightmare for what seemed like a couple months so she was pretty used to it by now, but it wasn’t the nightmare that freaked her out this time though. What freaked her out was the loud bang from the kitchen that woke her.
Jaime got out of bed and walked to the kitchen keeping it dark by not turning on the lights. If there was an intruder it would be stupid to let them know she was there. However when she got to the kitchen she discovered nothing out of place and no one there.
Jamie went to check the locks on all her doors but they were still in place so she went back to bed. There was only a couple hours before she had to get up for school but when you were in college every minute is needed to stay focused.
When Jaime woke the next morning it was still dark. She was used to that because of school. She hadn’t needed an alarm clock for a long time. She supposed it was because of her internal alarm clock but it could have something to do with the nightmares waking her up off and on all night.
Jaime walked to the kitchen; turning on all the lights and remembering the events of last night. She wondered if she should call the police but decided against it. No one was here and all the doors had been locked still. It was probably all just her mind playing tricks with her. She had stepped into the kitchen and turned on the lights when a loud scream came from behind her. She spun around just in time to see a little girl standing there staring at her and then disappear into thin air.
Jaime stood there in shock. There was no explanation for what she had just witnessed. Though Jaime had always believed in ghosts to have that confirmed was startling. She wondered if that was why the house was so cheap when she bought it. It would make sense, though she thought there were laws about having to mention people dying in the house. Maybe the little girl didn’t die in the house though; maybe she was just familiar with the house, like she used to live here. She heard of ghosts doing that sometimes. She didn’t get why the ghost was just appearing to her now, though. She didn’t live in the house that long but a month is a good amount of time for ghosts to make themselves known isn’t it?
Jaime heard running in the house, but didn’t see anything when the sound of it made it to the kitchen. She did hear a male voice talking and a child crying. It was probably the little girl, and it didn’t sound like the little girl was alone. Jaime realized she probably wasn’t. She was probably with her parents, or at least a father. That would explain the male voice she could hear now.
“Who’s there,” Jaime called out. Maybe the ghosts would say who they were. She wasn’t going to make it to school today, obviously, but she could learn about the ghosts. She just bought the house, so she hoped she didn’t have to move out of the place.
The lights went out in the kitchen and then all the lights that she had turned on started going out. One booming male voice shouted the word: “Leave”. Or that was the only word she heard.
Jaime was scared now. When a ghost shouted the words “Leave” usually that meant it was time to move. That was ridiculous though for then to ask her to leave. She had been living here for a month. They were the ones who needed to leave. She decided to ignore the warning and go about her day; drinking juice and reading one of her favorite books.
A little while later Jaime heard a knock on the front door and went to answer it, but just as she was reaching out for the handle the door opened on its own. No one was there but she heard the voice of the man from earlier greeting someone. “He’s letting more ghosts in!” she thought and started to back away but stopped when she figured she could find out who these people were by what they were saying.
“Thanks for coming; we really need your help. She scared my daughter this morning. She keeps turning on the lights really early in the morning, too,” the male voice said. This was weird; Jaime didn’t know ghosts consulted other ghosts about humans moving in.
“How long ago did it start,” a women’s voice asked him. She must have been the ghost that the male ghost had let in.
“When we moved in, that was about two weeks ago,” he said. “Can you see her?”
“Yes, but she can’t see me. It seems like she doesn’t know she is dead.”
“What are they talking about?” Jaime thought aloud.
“This was her house in life,” the women continued. “She died in a car accident on her way home, to this house.”
Jaime thought of the nightmare; and she realized. She was the ghost not them.
Jaime started screaming. All the lights went on, flared extremely bright, and then shattered.
All Jaime was aware of was the car flipping and then everything went black.