Agatha

Imagine a stately manor - its walls echoing with the whispers of a shadowy past and its halls haunted by a spectral presence rumored through generations. 

This is the dwelling of Agatha, an aristocrat confined within her mansion's walls, dismissing the ghostly tales as mere fabrications. 

Yet, the veil of skepticism is about to be lifted. Accompanied by the intrepid ghost hunters Kyle and Ben, Agatha embarks on a quest to unearth a horrifying truth that was intended to remain shrouded in the abyss of the unknown. 

Penned by horror writer Casey Burrin, and narrated by the enigmatic Night Creeper, prepare to step with us through the portal of the unexplained into the eerie embrace of the Doorway to Darkness. 

For more horror, visit caseyburrin.com.

Transcript

People say my house is haunted, but I’ve lived here for years, and I’ve never seen a ghost. 

They say the entity has maimed six and killed three, but as I’ve walked these halls of white-honed marble in my Victorian home, set off by 100 acres, never did I ever see, hear or smell anything out of the ordinary. 

My assistant, Rosemary, who handles all my affairs, occasionally brings in the curious who want to touch the other side. 

Why some people need to do this, I can’t fathom. I find the living far more interesting than the long-forgotten, but some are drawn to the maudlin. Not me. Life is for living!

These short-term guests pay to wander my halls while I’m sequestered in my room as Rosemary shows them around. 

Since I live off of my inheritance, Rosemary believes another source of income that requires no work on my part best suits my position. 

I’d prefer it otherwise, but like I said, she’s been with me all these years, and I’m too tired to argue. What troubles her, I do not know, but I assure you she’s vexed. As a sensitive soul with refined manners, I do not pry. 

So, one day, after a long time away, Rosemary brought in what seemed to be two delightful young men. 

Wearing only my nightgown, I glided down the staircase just out of view. 

Since I wasn’t presentable as I’d just awoken from my daily nap, I didn’t wish to be seen, so I lingered on the staircase listening to their supple words. 

Unseemly, I know, but like I said, I wasn’t dressed yet but was quite curious about who Rosemary had brought me today. 

At first, I could only hear the ting-a-ling of Rosemary’s high-pitched voice, not making out any of her words. 

But as I got closer, I captured the gist of her utterances. Always with a penchant for the dramatic, my Rosemary introduced herself as a director of my estate – a bit of an exaggeration, I assure you. 

All I could do was roll my eyes and shake my head as my Rosemary made herself into something she was not. Quite typical, but she’s a dear soul, so I rarely correct her. It’s my nature to be merciful. 

As I moved in closer, I heard the rich dark tones of a male voice. I couldn’t be bothered with what he was saying as I sat mesmerized by the deepness of his words. 

Another male voice, not as refined or grand but no less delightful, permeated the air. 

Slightly higher, that voice bought a smile to my face as he rambled far too long about what I do not know.  

Finally, I got the courage to peek around the corner, hoping no one would see me. I caught a glimpse of these two fine young men before I hid around the corner again. 

I spotted a young man who I’d come to know as Ben. He had soft doe eyes that complimented his chestnut hair with flecks of reddish strands that glistened in the sunlight. He sat hunched over, wearing a plaid shirt over a grey t-shirt that covered his broad shoulders. 

I only glimpsed the other man, who later introduced himself as Kyle in profile. 

A much skinnier and lighter version of Ben, Kyle sat back in his chair, content to let Ben do the talking. But when it was his turn, he spoke at length about what I do not recall now as I felt too distracted by this pair. 

Rosemary giggled at times, only making a fool out of herself, as if she could possibly impress either one of them encased in five inches of blubber all the way around. But she’s prone to delusions, yet I do depend on her so.

I strained to hear on the staircase, so I inched up closer so I could find out more about my two fine visitors. 

“The entity is quite insane,” Ben said. “It’s completely deluded because it doesn’t know that it’s dead.”

“How does it not know it’s dead?” Rosemary said. “I don’t understand.”

“It believes it’s still alive. Its mind is so degraded it can think it’s interacting with the living sometimes,” Ben said. “It can hold complete conversations that are one-sided, so it thinks the living person is actually talking back to it, but it’s all in its mind – or what’s left of it.”

“So it talks to us?” Rosemary said. 

“With exceptionally deluded entities, that’s exactly what it does,” Kyle said. “It talks to you as if you were there and makes up what you’ve said in its mind. It’s so trapped in its own delusion, it may believe it’s in a relationship or a friendship with you.”

“So you’re saying it could actually think it’s talking to me, believing it’s interacting with me, just like we are now, but it’s making up the conversation in its own mind?” Rosemary said.  

“We had one entity fully believing it was married to a woman who it haunted for months,” Ben said. “It carried on whole fights with her, thinking the woman had fought back, but she didn’t even know it was there most of the time and had never spoken a word to it directly.”

“But she did speak to it indirectly,” Kyle said. “So if she was on the phone, talking to someone else, the entity thought she was speaking to it and responded to it. Like we said, it’s deluded and doesn’t understand its own surroundings. So, it can get violent sometimes.”

“Don’t worry, Rosemary,” Ben said. “We don’t know the nature of this entity, so it may not be engaging in this kind of behavior. We just don’t know yet.”

“In other words, this isn’t our first rodeo, Rosemary,” Kyle said. “You don’t have to worry about us. We know the history of this estate and the entity within it. We are quite prepared to deal with anything that comes our way.” 

Such confidence and strength, these two young men impressed me, so I ran upstairs as fast as I could to beautify. Whatever they were here for, I wanted to meet both of them. 

Even though they might be in their younger years, I’m not prudish enough to think an older woman might not be fancied by two beaus, no less in the springtime of life. 

Moreover, unlike all other women my age, I’ve maintained my figure, so I’m often mistaken for a younger lady than my years of accumulated wisdom would suggest. 

I’d not felt this young in so long, therefore, I wanted to make a good first impression, as a lady can only do that once. 

But I’d tired myself so badly that I required a nap, so I laid down on my bed for far too long. 

When I came back downstairs, Ben and Kyle had turned the entire sitting room into some kind of laboratory. A myriad of gadgets littered my front room with Rosemary nowhere in sight.

I wanted to barge in there, telling them to rid my home of this disturbance, but they looked so invested in their project – whatever it was – I didn’t have the heart to shoo them away. I’m just like that – a paragon of patience as a fond acquaintance of mine once remarked of me. 

I put my anger away before stepping into the front room. 

“Hello,” I said. “So good of you to join me at my home. I do hope Rosemary provided all that you need.”

But neither one turned toward me. Ben fiddled with what looked like a handheld radio but with more dials.

“You getting anything on the EVP?” Kyle said. 

“EMF meters got nothing too,” Ben said. “If it’s here, it’s not showing itself.” 

My soft-spoken nature didn’t serve me well, as they’d not heard me, so I tried again. 

“Hello, my name is Agatha,” I said. “I’m so pleased you could come here to test my home. Rosemary must not have told you enough about me. An oversight on her part, I assure you.” 

Ben rose first, shook my hand with a bear grip, but didn’t say much. Kyle grabbed my hand, holding onto it for a moment before letting it go. 

“Ghost hunting,” Kyle said as I watched Ben sit back down in his chair in front of that odd-looking radio. “We’re paranormal investigators, but you probably knew that already with all our gear here.”

“What is that thing?” I pointed to the gadget that Ben held. 

“EVP – electronic voice phenomena recorder,” Kyle said to me. “We’re looking to catch snippets of the entity in your home. We’ve also a handheld infrared thermometer, electromagnetic field meter and full spectrum cameras.”

 “What an impressive assemblage of equipment. That ghost will be caught in no time,” I said. “However, I must tell you I’ve lived here always, but I’ve never seen any ghosts.” 

“I don’t think I need to tell you how dangerous it is,” Kyle said. “It’s documented that it’s maimed six people, killed three.”

“All those incidents have been explained quite logically,” I said. “No one ever proved a ghost did any of those things.” 

Kyle toyed with a video camera mounted on a tripod, ignoring my last statement. 

I realized my last comment dashed their hopes of success, so I attempted to smooth it over. 

“Rosemary – my assistant – probably told you that I live on the other side of the estate, so as long as you stay here, you’ll not bother me, but I wanted to introduce myself since you’ll be my guests for…oh, how long will you be staying?”

As I stood in the middle of the room, I felt the blood rush to my face as I felt ignored. Ben hardly spoke to me and Kyle, while more attentive, seemed engrossed in his gizmos. 

“Dear God!” Ben said, jumping up from his chair. “Did you feel that?”

“It’s freezing in here,” Kyle said. “All of a sudden.”

Kyle pulled out this handheld gun-like contraption that displayed digits on a screen. He walked around the room, pointing it at various pieces of furniture.  

Ben exhaled, causing his breath to slightly steam up for only a second as if he’d been outside in the middle of winter. 

“It’s an old house,” I said, trying to downplay it. “Built in 1852. Cold spots abound everywhere – in every crack and crevice I assure you.” 

“Did you hear that?” Kyle said. 

“I hear nothing,” I said, although I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t beginning to feel frightened at the prospect of this entity being real.

“It’s definitely here,” Ben said. “In this room. With us.”

For the first time, I half believed it. As I watched these two young men scramble to record what I didn’t know, their beliefs began to rub off on me. 

I felt colder than I’d been just moments before as goosebumps rippled over my arms. Perhaps something lurked in the darker reaches of my home.

Ben and Kyle hunched over the video screen, scanning footage of what looked like an empty room to me, except for the three of us. 

We all strained to hear it speak more words, although I never heard anything yet. 

“If you can hear me, give us a sign,” Ben said.  

I waited to hear from this creature – to speak to us or let itself be known, but it declined to show itself again. 

“It’s gone,” Kyle said.  

“It’s still here – somewhere – but it’s just not talking to us now,” Ben said. “That was the first contact we’ve had yet in all this time.”

“Well worth the wait though,” Kyle said.  

“May I ask a question?” I said. “Why do you refer to it as an it, instead of he or she?” 

“Never refer to an entity as human. Never – no matter what – do that,” Kyle said to me. “It’s not human. By giving it a he or she designation, you’re forgetting it’s not of this world. Not anymore. It’s only a shell of its former self – completely unaware of its former life on this earthly plain. It’s not sane. Not sane at all.”

So intrigued with their work, I asked if I could assist them to which they both heartily agreed. 

So every day, I manned the EVP with my headphone aloft on my head while Kyle worked on the EMF meter, and Ben managed the digital video cameras. 

We walked the halls together, looking for cold spots and listening for the faintest words from this creature. 

Despite our lack of success, I’d never felt so alive. The thought of a ghost walking the halls of my home filled me with dread and excitement at the same time. 

I’d always believed it was a hoax, but spending time with Kyle and Ben made a believer out of me. 

Part of me wished it wasn’t true as I kept thinking, what if we really found something – then would they leave? I never wanted Ben or Kyle to leave me, so the prospect filled me with such misery. 

I’m an upbeat soul, so I’m rarely taken to the lachrymosity. But like a mother bird, I knew my babies would one day flee the nest, yet how I dreaded it. 

But for the time being, I’d had them in my grasp, so I spent every waking hour with them even though it made me so tired. 

One day, after Ben announced we’d take a short break, I asked a question. 

“What is the ghost’s name?” I said, simply out of curiosity.

The pair lifted their heads on cue, almost glaring at me as if I’d ask something tawdry. 

“Don’t you answer that!” Ben said. Unlike Kyle, he possessed a more gruff but focused nature, making him the leader of our little group. 

“Why so serious?” I said. “You both look like someone’s died.”

Although it’s a mark of immaturity, I burst into laughter at my own joke. 

“Of course, someone’s died!” I said. “We’re ghosthunters!” 

They couldn’t see the point of my levity, but that’s how I saw myself on the team – I was a bit of the lighter side – the comic relief if you will. Every day, I broke the tension, making everyone’s lives brighter as a result. 

“Did you hear that?” Kyle said. 

“I hear nothing,” I said.  

“Shhh…” Ben said. “I picked something up on my recorder.” 

We waited, frozen like marble statues for any utterance, but nothing more. 

“Play it back,” Ben said, pointing to the recorder. 

Since that was my station, I rewound the tape and played it forward. 

What I heard cut me cold. I’d never truly believed it all these years. I’d always thought the stories of the deaths, disfigurements and disappearances untrue. But now, as I sat there, I couldn’t deny it anymore. 

As we huddled around the recorder upon playback, I heard a garbled mess but through the static we heard what sounded like, the words, “Someone’s died.”

That night I did not sleep well as I tossed and turned, thinking about it. Should we even be contracting it? I wondered that to myself. But what happened the next day stunned me to my core, sending me into a well of rage. 

It started out well actually. Rosemary poked her head into the living room. I rose to meet her, and I threw my arms around her since I’d not seen her in so long. But directly behind her, I saw this woman who I disliked immediately. 

She stepped into the hallway, glancing around as her wispy blond hair hit slightly below her shoulders. 

Her eyes looked too big for her head, but some men like that, I guess. She wore jeans far too tight for her figure, showing off her ample assets that she likely enticed unsuspecting men to their doom. 

Ben shook her hand, followed by Kyle. But she ignored me since she knew I was her rival in everyone’s affection. 

Then Barbara – that was the harlot’s name – walked into my sitting room. 

“We’ve made contact, but it comes and goes,” Ben said to Barbara. “The first indicator was the ice-cold room on May 3. A week later, we started tape recording odd sounds, but on May 10, we made out two words – ‘someone’s died.’ We think it’s becoming aware of itself, instead of denying its death, it’s realizing it. As you know, that’s a very dangerous but promising time. But that’s as far as we’ve gotten. That’s why we called a psychic like you. We need to talk to it. Find out what it’s thinking and if our hunch is correct. We need to find out why it’s killed and hurt so many people.”

“It’s a powerful entity,” Barbara said. “I sensed it as soon as I walked in, which means it has already sensed me too, so we better be careful.”

How could Rosemary do this to me? I don’t mind people perusing my home from time to time. As a general rule, I spread joy wherever I go, but I’ve no patience for grifters. Mediums or psychics – whatever you call them – I call them carnival barkers. 

“Rosemary, maybe you should wait outside,” Ben said. “This could be bad, and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Kyle turned to me, “I know you’re part of the team, but...”

I stopped him right there. While Rosemary might be one of those women who can’t face the flames of fury, I’m made of sterner stuff. 

“I’m staying with my team,” I said. “I’m not going to discuss it further. But my Rosemary should leave. I can’t have anything happen to her.”

After Rosemary exited, Barbara compelled us all to sit around a table, holding hands for a seance. 

Barbara, Ben and Kyle shut their eyes, but I preferred to keep mine open. Until this moment, I’d been occasionally scared, but now I can honestly say that I felt true fear. 

After a few moments, Barbara scrummed up her face as if she was in some sort of pain. 

“Cold, angry, spiteful,” Barbara said. “Arrogant, very arrogant. And…lonely. So very lonely.”

Barbara’s trite pronouncements made my eyes rolled so far back in my head I almost went blind. 

“It’s searching for something,” she said. “Three. I hear the number three. A trio. No, a team. It’s on a team of three to find…an entity, but…I don’t understand. It’s looking for the entity, but…”

Quite suddenly, Barbara opened her eyes, locking onto mine. We stared at each other for less than a second before it happened. 

Her face opened up like a flower where every muscle contracted backward in sheer terror. I could see the blackness of the back of her throat like I was looking into the pit of hell. 

She lifted off her chair as she recoiled backward. 

Then her body was catapulted out of her chair, slamming her teeth into the hardwood floor. I saw two teeth jettison across the floor as they were dislodged from her gums. 

Blood dripped from her mouth as she crawled across the floor, heading for the door. 

Ben and Kyle pulled her up, so she was in the standing position. 

“Get me out of here!” she said. “It does not want me here!”

They dragged her outside onto the lawn. I watched as Rosemary whisked her off in her car, likely to a hospital. 

Ben and Kyle walked back inside, not even looking at me. They stood in the sitting room, around all their equipment. 

“We need to get out of here,” Kyle said. “We need to leave.”

“We’re so close,” Ben said. “I’d hate to leave now.”

“Did you not see what just happened here today?” Kyle said. “It attacked Barbara. It could’ve killed her.”

Ben turned his back toward Kyle while ripping his hands through his hair. 

“I hate to say it, but I think you’re right,” Ben said. “We need to cleanse this house of the entity.” 

“It’s too dangerous,” Kyle said. “This entity is unlike anything we’ve ever dealt with before. We need help.”

I could watch this no longer, so I offered my assistance. 

“Look boys, how well do you know this woman, Barbara?” I said. “Was that a show just for our benefit? She says it knocked two of her teeth out, but can’t be we sure that’s what we saw? Maybe she’s faking it. I’m not saying this house isn’t haunted, but I’m implying – and I think you both need to consider this – she’s no evidence of it.”

Ben and Kyle remained unmoved so I continued my plea.

“As part of this team, I think we should vote on that,” I said. “I vote to carry on together just as we’ve always have. Our little groups shouldn’t disband.” 

“We’ve missed something,” Kyle said. “What bothers me is what Barbara said about a team looking for an entity. It knows what we’re doing.”

“But how?” Ben said. “Is it toying with us?” 

“Maybe it’s having deluded conversations with us as if it’s living again?” Kyle said. “Does it think – all these weeks – that it’s working with us?” It’s part of our team – a team of three?”

“One,” Ben said, pointing to himself. 

“Two,” Kyle said, now pointing to himself. 

“Three,” Ben said, pointing out into the emptiness of the sitting room. 

Ben and Kyle stared out into the blank room so intently I could see their chests rise and fall with each breath. 

So silent was the room, I could hear the inner workings of the nearby grandfather clock ticking away. 

“Why is my opinion not being heard?” I said. “I know you are the real ghost hunters here, and I’m just an amateur, but may I remind you both that this is my house. For weeks now we’ve worked as a team together, but you’re acting like I’m not even here. We must entertain the idea that Barbara is a charlatan.”

“What if it figures out it’s not really one of us?” Ben said. “If for all these weeks…”

“Barbara is a fake!” I said. 

“We’ve been so stupid,” Kyle said. “We’ve got to get out of here now.”

“A fraud!” I said. 

“They both bolted for their equipment as Ben manhandled the recorders while Kyle shoved the EVP and other equipment into a bag.”

“I can’t leave right now!” I said. “I have to pack a bag! I have to call Rosemary!”

But no matter how I protested, they ignored my pleas. For weeks, we’ve stood by each other, entertaining each other during the downtimes and supporting one another during the scary moments. But all that mattered nothing to these two. They’d pull up and leave me without so much as a moment’s notice.

I’m not the crying type, but I felt my face going flush as my breathing became more labored. How could they not consider my feelings after everything we’d been through together?

Ben grabbed Kyle’s arm, stopping him from packing up. 

“Do you feel it?” Ben whispered. He exhaled, causing steam to come out of his mouth. Kyle did the same as puffs of steam rolled off his tongue like they were standing outside on a cold winter’s day. 

“It’s here now. It’s listening to us right now,” Ben said. “It’s up to us now to out of here alive.”

“You and me,” Kyle said, nodding his head. 

“Us three!” I insisted. 

“Right,” Ben said to Kyle. “It’s just you and me now.” 

And that’s when I got really pissed.