111 Grove Street

I'll never go back to that house.

I don't believe in ghosts, but I'll never go back.

It was late June, my buddy Justin and I were on a road trip back from Indiana, on our way to Florida we decided to stop at his aunt's house in southern Georgia, just outside of Savannah.

Savannah has a certain smell if you're not used to it. It's um, it's not that- it's shit. It smells like shit. When you get farther into town there's a lot of trees and flowers that make it not smell so bad, but on the outskirts of the city there exists a paper plant, that produces a most heinous smell. That on top of the marsh surrounding the town make it stagnant, and it- it smells like shit. No way around that.

If it were just the smell though, I would probably go back. Not now though.

Like I said, it was June and it was my buddy and I. And his girlfriend. Tessa. I can't remember exactly when, but they ended up breaking up. We called her Tess because we couldn't be bothered to pronounce the last -a-. She was fine, I mean she chewed with her mouth open. But she was fine. She also had a bad habit of slurping beverages. But she was fine. I didn't like Tess-a. But if it were just for her, I'd probably go back.

I don't know what happens in southern Georgia that people decide to lose all sense of motor skills. I don't think I've ever honked my actual horn at people in the north east and Florida. Just outside of Savannah Georgia, they have a death wish. If it were just for them though, I would probably go back.

In fact if it were for all of those reasons combined, I could still be convinced to go back. I'll visit that town even, I'd go on a road trip through those streets, and deal with Tess-a. I'll never go back to that house though.

111 Grove street in particular.

When we got there I assumed nothing about that house. It was the way that Justin was acting that had me a little concerned. When we pulled into the long dirt driveway he shifted in his seat, that at first would've suggested a pit stop, but instead he said,

"Hey Andrew, just something you should know about the house," I was expecting something along the lines of - don't use the toilette - or - it doesn't have heat so we're gonna have to use a lot of blankets - or even - it wasn't built that solid, so just be careful where you step - but then he said,

"It's a little haunted," and then didn't explain anymore. Like that was a sufficient sentence.

"What do you mean?" Tess-a said between large chomps on her strawberry flavored gum. I only knew the scent because she was a heavy breather too. She was fine.

"Well, like, just, you know nothing bad or anything. It's just a little haunted. Lights flicker and it's a little weird." Ohhhkay. I thought, so he's a little superstitious. Lights tend to flicker in older houses and any house makes pops with wind and certain A/C conditions.

It was an old house. A white two story colonial era something or other. His aunt had been explaining it to me in the kitchen. We had been there for maybe an hour or so when his Uncle Jared came into the kitchen and put his hands on his wife's shoulders.

"Sara we should probably tell them," and she nodded.

"The house is a little haunted," he said. Okay. Come on. Justin and I were teenagers, so I get being a little spooked at some stuff, but the aunt and uncle too?

"Justin told us, but what do you mean?" I asked.

"Nothing serious, it's just your first time here, so things are gonna happen." Aunt Sara said it with such matter-of-factness and a face that was so down to earth I'l admit, I was curious.

"The kitchen lights are going to flicker," Uncle Jared said "and it'll get a little colder than it should, some of the cabinets might open and close."

"You might hear footsteps on the ceiling," Sara added. Which I thought was strange considering it's a two story house so. duh.

"You might hear whispering too," Justin put in. I assumed at the time that he was just a victim to over imagination. And I supposed that everyone in their family was probably a little superstitious. For once Tess-a and I shared a mutual glance of understanding. These people were a little crazy. Nothing terrible and certainly nothing to write about.

But, if it was just a families superstition and, an overactive imagination given voice - I might've gone back.

We had a nice dinner in that kitchen, left over lasagna from a night previous.

Tess-a ended up going upstairs to sleep. She was supposed to have her own room, and then Justin and I would have a room to share upstairs. At some point during the night though Justin and I came up with a plot to watch t.v. all night long on the couch in the downstairs living room.

The hours crept on though and each of us had yawned a few times.

"Hey man I think I'm going to try and catch some Zs," he said.

"Man come on" I wasn't scared or anything but I didn't like the idea of being left downstairs alone either.

"You'll be fine, remember it's just a few flickering lights," and he left.

I'm almost certain he went into Tess-a's room. I can't prove that, but even if it had just been for that, I might've gone back.

I decided to continue watching t.v. until the night was over. Nothing bad can happen if you watch t.v. If cartoons are playing ghosts aren't allowed to spook you those are the rules.

I don't remember exactly when it happened, must've been around 2 or 3 in the morning, but I turned the t.v. off, and covered up with some blankets on the couch. I think at some point I was going to go up the stairs to the room that was waiting for me, but the dark staircase didn't exactly seem inviting either, and the t.v. remote was only inches away in case I needed that ghost repellent anyway.

Have you ever been scared? Truly frightened? To the point where you can't move an inch, you can hardly breathe?

I woke up like that.

My fingers hurt from clenching the blanket just below my chin. I could see my breath it had gotten so cold. I was frozen to that spot on my back. The t.v. was off. The lights in the kitchen were on.

Then they were off.

On again.

It was shoddy electricity of course. Then they stopped. I tried to turn the t.v. on but when I reached for the remote I dropped it - batteries scattering to the unknown recesses of underneath the coffee table.

I started to hear the tap, tap, of footsteps. Directly above me. As if they were on the ceiling. Walking in a circle, like a vulture.

A/C's can have weird popping noises, is what I told myself.

Then the cabinets started clapping. At first I thought I was being pranked. Of course I was, I had to be. This was all some elaborate ruse. How did they get it so cold in there - in southern Georgia - in June?

Everything stopped. The prank was over.

Then the whispers. Both near and distant. A language incomprehensible.

I'm not a religious man, never have been, but in that moment I prayed. I wanted an escape, I started praying - and then stopped.

As clear as you're reading this now, in common English a voice spoke. As if they had their mouth next to my ear but decided not to whisper. Not loud, not a scream, but a still and firm voice.

"Who are you praying to Andrew?" I've never been more terrified in my life.

I managed to close my eyes. I didn't recognize the voice, I didn't want to.

"He can't hear you" the voice teased, and then laughed. I thought for a second that it might've been a dream but as I tried to wake up I couldn't even do that.

"You can't feel in dreams Andrew" the voice said, and you can say whatever you want, I felt a hand on my ankle. Firm and true. I hadn't been speaking aloud for any of this, so how did he know I was trying to wake up?

The kitchen lights started flickering again, and the cabinets clapping. A dance overhead on the ceiling and the temperature dropping all mixed together.

That voice said my thoughts. It said things I had thought about teachers from years ago. It said things I have never told a soul. It knew things and it said them.

I started saying the only bible verses that I knew. Genesis 1:1 and Jonn 3:16. I said them in my head at first and then out loud. It didn't get any better. The whispering got louder, the cold got worse and my paralysis reached my vocal chords - I couldn't speak anymore.

I felt an icy pressure of an invisible finger on my lips, and then a voice dry and cold in my ear whispering "shhh"

I fainted.

When I woke up I could move, but didn't want to. The t.v. was off.

You can say it was all a dream.

Never before have I had a dream so real, so visceral and so terrifying. I looked for the t.v. remote to turn it back on, but it was on the ground, batteries missing.

You can say what you want to, but I'm never going back.