Moegara House
“Hey guys, wait up,” a cheerful young girl called, her beautiful brown hair bouncing in unison with her large steps. She had brilliant brown eyes and was clad in a modern-day school uniform, consisting of long white socks and a navy-colored shirt and skirt.
“Hurry up, Elizabeth, you’re far behind,” another girl dressed in the same attire replied. She was walking with a few other students and quickly glanced back to hurry her friend on. Elizabeth’s pace quickened and it became noticeable that her significantly large backpack was weighing her down.
“I’m…sorry,” she breathed heavily, “It’s all of these silly books, Kristin.”
“It’s fine, really. Maybe you should try lightening your load a bit, though?” Kristin replied, slowing down and offering assistance to her exasperated friend. As an incredibly kind blonde-headed girl, she was always willing to help someone close to her.
“Thanks, I appreciate it,” Elizabeth said with a gracious tone as she handed some of the hefty books resting in her palms to Kristin. Elegant rays of glittering sunlight reflected off the dark pavement as the two girls strolled casually and took in their surroundings. Kristin’s short blonde hair and stunning blue eyes were a sharp contrast to the flowing brown hair and deep brown eyes of Elizabeth. With each step, they became more consumed in their own thoughts, playing over the events of the day. Suddenly, Elizabeth’s wandering mind was abruptly brought back to reality with a hard thud. The blinked her eyes once in an attempt to see what had collided with her unsuspecting body and saw that the group of students she and Kristin were walking with earlier had stopped. They stood intently on the sidewalk, curious heads turned in the same direction.
“What are you looking at?” Elizabeth wondered, glancing in the general area of their stares. A small, neglected house came into view. It appeared to have been built in the 1800’s and lacked any signs of occupants currently living in it. Although the sun was shining brightly, it had an ominous dark atmosphere around its peeling white walls.
“It’s a…house,” Kristin stated with a slightly sarcastic tone.
“Not just any house,” another student corrected, “that’s the Moegara house.”
“And…?” The young girls and boys with fixed stares quickly turned to gape at Kristin in disbelief.
“You…haven’t heard the stories?” one particularly pale boy asked in surprise. Kristin shook her head no and he cleared his throat as if preparing to give a lengthy speech. “Well, the story of Moegara house dates back to the late 1800’s. A family of immigrants was living there and had two children, one of which was a young girl named Naomi. She was about twelve years of age and as any child her age, occasionally forgot things she was told to do. Well, it is said that one day her mother told her to make sure she extinguished the fire in the fireplace. Weary and exhausted, Naomi fell asleep that night in the closet because her and her brother had been playing hide-and-seek and he had found himself unable to identify the location in which she was hiding. As the family slept that night unaware that Naomi had fallen asleep in the closet, some embers from the fireplace traveled through the stagnant air and landed on a nearby curtain, igniting a new fire. The family awoke to the fumes of the smoke and noticed that Naomi was missing, but could not find her. After several minutes of searching, they were forced to abandon hope and leave the house. Awakened by the sound of the roaring flames, Naomi sat crying, trapped within the walls of the small closet. She felt the heat of the flames surround her and was burned alive, left to die alone in that house. It was said that it took three days for her to die because the family returned and found her corpse. That’s the story of Moegara house.” Kristin and Elizabeth stood wide-eyed, shocked at the saddening story that had just been told to them.
“But if the house burned down, why is it still there?” Elizabeth wondered, finding an error in the tale.
“Well, that house that you see there was built on top of the original house,” the boy replied with an informative tone. The many students gathered around nodded in agreement, but one looked away in agitation.
“Even if that had actually happened, I bet it’s not haunted. There’s no such things as ghosts,” he sneered, glancing at Elizabeth, “You! You look brave. Why don’t you try and prove me wrong? I DARE you.”
“…me?” Elizabeth asked in surprise, her pale cheeks taking on a pink tone.
“Yes, you. Do it,” the boy commanded instigating cries of agreement from his fellow classmates. Peer pressure and an ultimate indifference towards anything paranormal convinced her to accept the dare.
“Fine, I’ll do it,” she sighed, setting down her backpack and beginning to slowly make her way towards the gloomy house.
“Be careful, Elizabeth…” Kristin said as she watched her friend become closer and closer to that formidable place. The soft ground sank beneath her feet as Elizabeth trotted among weeds and wildflowers. Calls from birds that were once friendly and bright became dull and foreboding, almost seeming to warn her of the danger ahead. Lost in thought, she looked up quickly and found herself standing on a cracked doorstep partially covered by weeds. The air was still and an unearthly silence pounded against her moist skin. In front of her stood the foundation on which an innocent girl was painfully burned alive and although she told herself that there was nothing to be afraid of, something still wasn’t quite right. As her hand moved closer to the rusty doorknob, Elizabeth could not help but feel as if she was being watched from the shadows held within the decrepit house. Shakily, she pushed past the door and was hit with a wave of moldy air, forced to remain motionless for what seemed like several decades. Her curious eyes darted from corner to corner, noticing furniture and other normal items you would find in a home covered with dust. Cobwebs hung from them, once home to spiders that had tried to live in that lifeless environment.
‘It’s so dark in here,’ Elizabeth thought as she widened her eyes in an attempt to see clearly. The only light entering the room was from the open door and a medium-sized window covered by moth-eaten curtains. An eerie feeling trickled through her veins as she saw a fireplace on the wall opposite to her. Her feet automatically carried her away from the unpleasant sighting and she traveled down a narrow hallway decorated with various portraits obscure in the mounds of dust that had encompassed their frames. Curiously, she lifted her hand and pushed off a handful of dust from one and noted that the person in the portrait did not appear to be foreign. ‘These must’ve been the people that lived in this house…’ Elizabeth thought, ‘I wonder what happened to them.’ Pushing aside the thought, she continued to walk until she turned into a small room, completely hidden by the darkness. Blinded, she stumbled across something on the floor and searched through her pocket to find her cell phone. A few moments passed by and the beep of her phone was the only comfort she could receive. A flood of light emitted from the device suddenly appeared and what she saw next made her stomach turn in a painful knot. The room in which she was standing was actually a closet. A small scream escaped her mouth and she tripped in an attempt to dash out of the room.
“Momma…” a doll’s voice called from the malevolent shadows. Looking around hurriedly to locate what had made the noise, Elizabeth saw a child’s doll looking up at her from the dark floor. Its piercing eyes shot panic through her heart and she backed up hard against something that was taller than she was. Nearly frozen in fear, she struggled to turn around and find that the door had been closed behind her.
“What? How did that happen?” she wondered, perplexed. She was very aware that she had not shut the door or even knew that it was there. As her baffled mind ran through possibilities, a familiar scent began to creep up her tense nostrils. “No…it can’t be,” Elizabeth whispered frantically as clouds of smoke barreled into the closet from underneath the door. In that moment she felt utter terror coursing through her veins and an adrenaline rush that caused her to grab the doorknob. “Ouch!” she cried, he her hand raw and burnt. Though weakened, she did not give up and forced herself one more time to open the door. It slammed against the wall with surprising force and Elizabeth found herself in a large cloud of smoke and heat. Eyes watering and throat burning, her body was falling victim to the inferno, but she was able to navigate her way through the smoke and out the front door. With a throbbing head, she walked a few yards and then passed out cold onto the damp weeds.
“Elizabeth!” a familiar voice screamed in the distance, “Are you okay?” It called a few more times and suddenly reality struck the unconscious girl.
“…Kristin?” Elizabeth whispered, gradually opening her foggy eyes.
“Elizabeth!” Kristin cried and pulled the bewildered girl into a warm embrace, “I was so worried about you. What happened?”
“What…happened?” Elizabeth said with an uncertain tone. She tried to remember the events of the past hour, but found that her pounding skull hindered her thoughts. “I…can’t remember,” she stammered, managing to sit up with her worried friend still attached to her. Kristin lifted her head from Elizabeth’s cold shoulder for a moment and looked deep into her eyes as if to ascertain what had just been said.
“You…don’t remember?” she questioned, furrowing her brow. Elizabeth’s lips fell in a small frown and she again tried to remember. Flashes of flames and smoke painfully revealed themselves as she fell to the ground whimpering.
“Fire and smoke. I remember. There was a fire. Look, my hand is burnt,” she sobbed, lifting her hand. A brief silence followed but was broken by Kristin’s hushed voice.
“Elizabeth…your hand is fine,” she said, closely watching her shaking figure.
“What? What do you mean? I know I burnt it, I know I did,” Elizabeth exclaimed, gathering the strength to bring her hand into view. It was the exact same as it had been before she went into the house.
“Elizabeth, are you alright? I think you need some rest,” Kristin said as she stood up and helped her feeble friend to her feet.
“You have to believe me, Kristin. I saw it.”
“Elizabeth, the only thing I can believe at the moment is the fact that you need to lie down,” she responded, placing her arm around Elizabeth’s shoulder and helping her walk. Weakened and dismayed, Elizabeth remained silent for the rest of the trip home.
Later that night after resting and assuring her mom that she was alright, she sat alone on her twin bed reflecting on the day’s events. The images of the barreling smoke and child’s doll were glued in her mind, like rolls of film playing over and over. Even in her sleep it seemed impossible to escape them. ‘Why did this happen to me?’ she pondered, placing her feet on the soft, white carpet but instead of the normal texture she was used to, she felt something different. It was cold and appeared to be grainy, sending a wave of surprise up Elizabeth’s spine. She glanced down and saw several small footsteps of gray ash, starting from her open door and leading to her bed. “What?!” she cried, flinging her body to the other side of the room. The footsteps had no logical explanation as all the doors and windows were securely locked, but yet there they were. Feeling a sensation of dread in the pit of her stomach, she dashed into the living room, where she remained for the rest of the night.
The next morning, Elizabeth awoke to warm rays of sunlight beating down upon her gentle face. Yawning, she rubbed her hazy eyes and sat up slowly in the comfortable couch that she had fallen asleep in the night before. As her vision became clear, she noticed her room at the other end of the house and was immediately reminded of the frightful encounter that had occurred there. The hair on the back of her neck stood up as she carefully made her way towards the room, arms tense at her sides. She swallowed with a quick, nervous motion and peered in at her quiescent bed. The footsteps of ash that were there hours ago had vanished. Astonished at their inexplicable disappearance, Elizabeth stood for a moment in contemplation but then realized that class had started two hours ago. “Oh no, I’m late for school!!” she cried, racing to the bathroom. After preparing herself in about five minutes, she headed out the door in a flash of white and dark blue.
Meanwhile, Kristin and several other anxious students sat at the local high school, already prepared to leave. “Where is Elizabeth?” Kristin wondered out loud, calling the attention of the people sitting around her. They couldn’t answer because they themselves didn’t know. Their uncertainty was short-lived, however, because at that exact moment the classroom door nudged open and a disoriented Elizabeth sat down quietly in her seat.
“Miss Elizabeth, is everything alright?” the intrusive teacher asked, putting the poor girl in the spotlight. She nodded briefly and whispers could be heard among her hushed classmates.
“What are those on your arm?” one hollered from the front row. Lowering her head, Elizabeth saw numerous burn marks dispersed on her pale skin.
“I…um…may I be excused?” she frantically asked, covering her arms with her sleeves. With the teacher’s permission, she dashed to the bathroom, where she collapsed on the cold tile floor. Her sleeves were slightly up and revealed the red, swollen blisters that ran along her arms. “What’s happening to me?” she whispered with a barely audible voice.
“Elizabeth! Everything okay?” Kristin suddenly yelled into the nearly vacant bathroom, “We’re going to take class pictures and we need you.”
“Sure, be there in a sec,” Elizabeth replied, gathered her strength and walking out to meet them. After a photo shoot taken by one of the students was complete, class continued normally until the bell rang around three in the afternoon. Elizabeth and the others took their normal route home, but when asked about her experience in Moegara house, Elizabeth would not speak. Her lips were frozen shut in terror and shock at the situation.
A few hours later, the phone rang and echoed throughout the rooms of Elizabeth’s home. Working on her homework intently, she grabbed the phone that sat next to her bed and answered distractedly.
“There’s something wrong with the pictures!!!” a female’s voice cried on the other end.
“What? What’s wrong with the pictures? Who is this?” Elizabeth replied, dropping her mechanical pencil in surprise.
“This is Kristin. The pictures…they’re all messed up. Something is wrong.”
“What is wrong?” she demanded once more.
“It’s…you,” Kristin spoke quietly, “you are what’s wrong with the pictures. There are dark marks all around and on you, it’s not natural at all. It couldn’t have been the camera, it is brand new.” Jaw dropped in astonishment, Elizabeth attempted to comprehend what had just been said to her. Grabbing her cell phone from inside her purse, she browsed quickly to a picture that had been taken earlier that day. Sure enough, there were eerie masses of black that seemed to cover her body. In addition, a ghostly cloud of dark matter in the shape of a human stood behind her in the background of the picture.
“Kristin, I’m going to have to let you go,” she said into the phone on her shoulder, eyes still focused on the incomprehensible picture. Carelessly, she allowed both phones to fall onto her bed and she stood up in utter disbelief. Her world was literally being torn apart in front of her. Images and events running through her mind, she began to feel light-headed from the confusion. Her fragile body ached with each beat of her heart and she looked down at her legs to see that they, too, had developed enigmatic burns. Suddenly, she felt her strength leave her and she fell to the ground in a whirlwind of colors and then finally a cold, dark abyss.
Over the next few days, Elizabeth was not at school. No one knew anything about her strange disappearance and her friends grew more anxious with each passing day. Rumors traveled throughout the school, but no one could say for sure what had happened to the friendly and innocent girl. Exactly four days after Elizabeth had visited the Moegara house, Kristin and her other friends decided to stop by her home on their normal route back after school. Hearts heavy and eyes expressing concern, silence was prevalent among them like a suffocating gas that prevented them from speaking. As they turned the corner, several police cars and fire trucks were lined along the street near Elizabeth’s house, busy with police and other officials running back and forth “Excuse me!” Kristin yelled to an officer that was near them, “What happened here?”
“Oh, well a girl’s died in there. About your age, too,” he responded with an informative but melancholy tone, “We have a release on a name. I think it’s Elizabeth.” The hearts of the students crowded around him suddenly sank and tears began to appear in some of their eyes.
“What’s…the…cause of death?” Kristin choked, putting forth her best effort to hold back painful tears.
“Her death was certainly a strange one. There was no evidence in the house but her body tells us that she burned alive around approximately this time yesterday.”
Reply
