Elizabeth | Teen Ink

Elizabeth

November 11, 2019
By ashlinpw, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
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ashlinpw, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
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Author's note:

This story was written for my creative writing class.

The author's comments:

This is the entire short story.

I am now a spirit in a house of which I used to work at when I was alive. My job was that of an unusual one. People hired me to communicate with spirits and remove them from their homes. Before I arrived at the house I am current roaming, the small family who lived here tried to communicate with the suspected spirits via Ouija board. They had found out that these spirits used to be the most dangerous criminals imaginable; at least that’s what they told me. They did not want to move out of this house because it had been passed on from generation to generation. They were also afraid that these spirits would follow them everywhere. They decided to contact me so I could get rid of the spirits for them. I agreed, thinking it would be just like any normal day at work.

They rented a hotel for the night, and I got to work. When I parked my grey mini-van in their drive-way, I noticed that the house was very big; it had what looked like three floors and it was very wide. It was a dark brown color, but the color looked very old and faded. Part of the fence on their small front porch was broken, and the windows were very dense. I chuckled at the fact that this house looked like it came straight out of a horror movie; It had almost looked like a funny set-up by the family to me.

I put my backpack of all my ghost-hunting tools on my back and headed for the front door. I opened the door slowly, trying to prevent this already broken-down house from breaking even more. It creaked as I opened it. All the lights were turned off and you could barely see any sunlight inside due to the dense windows. I turned on my flashlight and my ghost-communicating telephone. I carried this around the house with me until it started to make a static noise. I now knew that there was a spirit in the kitchen.

I asked if there was a spirit in the room. I could hear a faint “yes” under all the loud static. I asked the spirit if I could communicate with them with my Ouija board so I could understand them. They said yes, so I turned off my ghost-communicating phone and placed my Ouija board on the floor. I knew that I wasn’t supposed to use the board by myself; it was the golden rule. But I had done this many times before, so I was confident that I would be okay. I placed my finger on the planchette and asked what the spirit’s name was. The planchette moved to the letters “E-L-I-Z-A-B-E-T-H”. “Pretty name,” I said. “May I ask you why you are in this house?” I waited patiently for the planchette to move, when a cabinet in the kitchen burst opened and dishes came flying out of it, falling to pieces on the floor.

“I apologize for angering you. I just would like to understand what is making you want to be here and haunt this family,” I explained to the spirit. The planchette moved to the letters “M-Y-H-U-S-B-A-N-D-I-S-A-M-U-R-D-E-R-E-R”. “Who is your husband?” I asked. “J-O-H-N”. That was the name of the husband and father who lived in this house. I was silent, but the planchette started to move. “T-O-P-D-R-E-S-S-E-R-D-R-A-W-E-R” the spirit spelled out. I assumed that she meant to look in the top dresser drawer of the husband and wife’s room.

With my flashlight, I walked upstairs to the bedroom. It was dark, so the only light I had was my flashlight. I walked over to the dresser and opened the top drawer. I dug around all the socks that were inside until I found something which felt like a small book. I took it out and placed it on the floor. I shined my flashlight on it and turned to the first page. “This Diary Belongs to Elizabeth,” it read. I turned to the next page. The date said May 17th, 1990. I started to read the cursive handwriting writing in blue pen.

“Today was just another normal day. I stayed home to take care of Lucas while John went to work. I wish I could work as well, but John still won’t let me go outside without his permission. There’s no way he’ll let me get a job.” I was shocked. John didn’t appear to be abusive like this. I turned to the next page. The date said May 18th, 1990. “I think I may be able to escape with my baby Lucas. I want to leave this house. I’m afraid John will catch me before I escape and beat me or even kill me. I’m going to do it tomorrow during the night.” The rest of the pages were blank.

I took the diary with me as I ran downstairs to the Ouija board. I placed my finger on the planchette and asked Elizabeth, “What happened when you tried to escape?” The planchette moved to the letters “B-E-H-I-N-D-Y-O-U”. I turned around and saw a knife on the kitchen table. I couldn’t let this man murder anyone else. I took out my cell phone and started to dial 9-1-1 when I was knocked over. John was holding me down. “You were supposed to get rid of this evil spirit in my house, not call the police!” He yelled at me. “You’re a murderer, John! I’m trying to save your current wife from dying, just like Elizabeth!” I yelled back to him. “If you can’t get rid of Elizabeth, then I’ll get rid of you, just like I did her,” he said in a quieter voice. He pulled out a knife and headed for my neck, but I grabbed it before he could stab me. I struggled to hold the knife in place; this man was very strong. Eventually, I let go. I couldn’t hold it anymore, and he made it to my neck.



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