Sleepy Hollow used to be a normal little town back in October of the 1930, that was  before my little family moved into town. We bought this scary little house next to the lake, I would soon call this place home.

My name is Ebony Kingz and I’m going to tell you a story about my life after my mothers death, so let’s start from the beginning. We did what every normal person did; we went to work , we would eat family dinners, and went to church every Sunday. But unlike other families we moved around a lot. You see my father doesn't know how to keep a job and we can’t afford that with a new baby on the way. This led our family to the newly opened Saw Mill in a small town called Sleepy Hollow it’s  in  Upstate New York. The day we moved was the day my world turned upside down! I didn't want to move again, this place just felt like home. We were  never in one place long enough for me to make friends.

My father bought this three bedroom house next to a small lake, with large willow trees that encompass most of our front yard. The grass was dead from the years of neglect. My first day,  in Sleepy Hollow people stared at us as if they’ve never seen a pregnant woman and her family. They would start pointing and saying things like “Leave we don’t want you here.” But we didn't listen, we just thought they were crazy . Rumors circulated that the house we were living in was haunted. I just kept thinking and saying to myself “It’s not true, it can’t be.” A house couldn't be possessed? “ Could it?” But I started to believe them after I started seeing shadows and no one was there; Followed by noises know one else heard.

Soon there after everything started going from bad to wrong again. I started to hear faint whispers coming from my room. But when I went inside there was nothing there. Days after we moved in and got everything unpacked I started to hear the same noises again as if the house was trying to tell us something. “Maybe I’m crazy.” I thought to myself. I tried to tell my mom I was hearing things one day before school started. She said “Its all in your head and told me to, just go to school.”

On my way out the door I heard the same noises again. This time it came from the willow tree in our yard. When I approached the willow tree there was nothing to be found. “How come only I can hear it.” I thought. My mind was racing.  I thought. “Am I really going crazy,Or is something in the house trying to warn me.” Every time I try to warn and tell my parents they looked at me with disbelief.

One night, I overheard my mother telling my father I was just acting out because of the new baby on the way.
“She’s only doing this for attention.” My mother said.

“Yes I know honey. I don’t believe her.” My father said
“ Maybe she just doesn't like it here? We have moved a lot.” Say my mother.
“We should have a long talk with her in the morning when she wakes up.” Dad says.

That night when I went to bed I could have sworn I saw something. Maybe a shadow? But how could there be a shadow, without any lights on at 11 o'clock at night? Suddenly I heard a loud scream. It sounded like it was coming from outside. I ran to my window and I couldn't see anything. So I ran down stairs to my parents room and my mother was gone and my father was freaking out...

I asked my father what I should do and before he could answer we heard a loud scream coming from outside. It was coming from not too far away . We ran towards her screams. When we reached her she was lying in the river bleeding to death. The baby was outside on the rivers edge. She was so small. My father made me go to the baby while he went to my mother. When he got to her it was too late.

The next couple of weeks were hard. I had to take a lot of time off from school to raise baby Esther while my father went to work.I didn't know what to do. I couldn't take care of myself let alone her.

I don't know how many years its been since Esther was born. I lost count after the first couple. But it just seems like yesterday my mother died. Everybody in town blamed it on my father. They said he should have been out there quicker. But how could we have known. We woke up to her screams.

As Esther was growing up she started to look like my mother. She was growing up so fast. Why is everything going by so fast? How is it going by so fast with Esther but not me?

I started to hear those noises again. Those noises I heard when we first moved in. I told my father but he just said I was crazy. I asked Esther if she could hear the noises too but she said no. How can't they hear them? The sounds are really loud. I thought to myself. The last time I heard the sounds my mother died. What's going to happen now? Why is this happening after so many years? Why now?

Something grabbed me from behind and dragged me out of my house. I kicked and I screamed but nothing happened. “Where are you taking me?”I asked the shadow. Then I saw it through the brush and the river. I asked myself “Why is the shadow taking me there?” “Stop” I yelled “Let go of me!” Why are you doing this? It looked at me with these cold dark eyes just before he held my head under the water. I could have sworn I saw my mother as my life flashed before my eyes. I couldn't breath and when I gasped in for all i got was water.
I don't know how long I sat in the shadows and watched as Esther changed. She wasn't the same little girl I left months ago. She looked meaner and scarier. She changed after my death, she became colder.

My father was blamed for my disappearance and the way Esther was acting. As I watched her I started to notice things happening. Things that happened just before she was born. But how could that happen then if its happening now, she wasn't alive then to cause it. As I stood watching her I began to start questioning the sweet innocent sister I once knew. “Was the shadow I saw, that drowned me really my little sister?”

My father was chased into his work and threatened to be shot if he didn't confess to our murders. I wanted to tell them to get away from him. I felt powerless to help him as i sat in the shadows knowing they couldn't hear or see me. As I sat in the shadows they killed my father and went to the house for my little sister, I was boiling with rage and I wouldn't allow them to harm her. It was not her fault that she was a monster, but at the same time you would say I was a monster.

As the mob arrived at the house they didn't know what they were in for. The town people came out of the shadows one by one. As they came Esther and I were ready to rip their throats out one by one . I didn't want to do it but the rage took over. They made the mistake to come after her and Ester was all i had left after what they did to my father. As the bodies of the townspeople lay scattered on the lawn I brought Ester to the river. I knew the only way to have a family again was for her to finally rest. As her head struggled to reach the surface, I kept telling myself this was how it had to be. My mother and father appeared in a distance smiling. We were once a happy family.

In 1990, the people would tell different versions about my families life. We see people go by our house during the day and they would run to get to the other side. They always think we’ll come out to get them but little do they know we have everything we need in our little house. Just don’t plan to stay too long.