The Rest Home

For Kenny Penn's unofficial October challenge. A true story to start the season right.

She couldn't recall the last time she had worked at these clients' home or why she had stopped, but she accepted the hours anyway. While driving to that corner on 19 Mile and 205th, she hadn't thought about anything but the Glee soundtrack blaring through her speakers. Now, as she sat in the driveway waiting for the track to finish, she felt a distinct chill and rush of adrenaline. She had felt it while working here before and realized now, at this moment, why she had traded her overnight shift at this house for one at another.

The house wasn't always unpleasant to work at. The residents, two elderly gentlemen with cognitive impairments, were sweet and fun to work with. The job was simple enough, and the pay was good. The overnight was especially easy because there was a staff bedroom to keep medications and do paperwork, with the bonus that once Rich and Rahj went to sleep, she could, too. She cooked their dinner, helped them get ready for bed, and ensured they received the correct meds. Then she went to sleep, always locking the staff bedroom door. She then woke up before either of them to cook breakfast. She would help them start their day and then go home and do the same for herself.

This was the routine for several months before anything went amiss. One night, she was in the staff bedroom filling out medication logs, Rahj was already asleep, and Rich was in the living room finishing his movie. She heard the movie end, but a soft voice continued speaking. She listened for a moment and realized the soft babbling was Rich's. She didn't think Rahj had gotten up; it seemed more likely that Rich was playing a game by himself, but she decided to check.

She walked to the living room, expecting to see one or both of them sitting on the floor with their toys, creating worlds and building experiences, but they weren't. It was only Rich, sitting backward on the couch, so he faced the wall, chatting with it incessantly. She listened closer. No, not chatting. Begging.

"She's a nice lady, leave her alone. She's my friend, please." He repeated this so fast she could barely make it out through his already stuttered speech. She didn't know what to think of this new behavior, so she gently coaxed him from his trance and sent him to bed. She returned to the staff room, closed the door, locked it, and then set to finishing her paperwork before getting some rest.

When she woke up for the first time, it was around one a.m. Her eyes darted awake, and she bolted upright. The room was dark except for the glow of the alarm clock. She listened closely, thinking one of the guys had gotten up to go to the bathroom, but she heard nothing. She peered into the depths, squinting her eyes as they adjusted to the lack of light. Nothing. She rolled over and went back to sleep.

This process of waking and sleeping again proceeded for the remainder of the night. Every hour, nearly on the hour, she was awoken by something she couldn't identify before falling back asleep. At five, she decided to get up and start her day early.

The shift ended without incident, but each overnight she worked after that got worse. She would wake up more frequently and take longer to fall back asleep. She tried sleeping with lights on to help put her mind at ease, but she still felt panic and dread upon waking. Finally, after another night of not sleeping a wink, she moved to the couch in the living room and turned on the T.V. She fell asleep within minutes and slept the rest of the night.

The following day, she woke more refreshed after the shift than in some months, but when she went to wake Rich and Rahj, she could not enter the hallway that passed the staff bedroom and led to theirs. As she neared the threshold, a wave of anxiety washed over her, eliciting a somatic response. Her knees locked, and her body froze. Her breathing became shallow, and her pulse quickened. She didn't move away until she felt the incredible urge to vomit. Once at the kitchen sink, the feeling passed, and she felt calm again.

It was Saturday, so she decided to let the residents sleep in. She prepped breakfast and the medications, then sat on the couch waiting for the next staff person to arrive.

That was the last shift she worked until today.

She roused herself from her car and stood in the driveway, staring at the house. Her skin pulled at her body while her head swam. Her watch beeped: five o'clock—time to go inside.

"Hey, stranger. Long time no see." Her coworker greeted her warmly as she came in.

"Hey, Anne. How are you doing?" She replied flatly.

"Better than you, it seems. What's up?"

"Oh, just remembering how much this place creeps me out."

"Don't tell me you believe that ghost story bullshit?" Anne inquired.

"What ghost story bullshit?" Her voice cracked.

"Well, the guy that replaced you quit a couple of weeks ago because he saw some lady outside the staff room in the middle of the night."

"Wait, what? He saw her in the hall?" Her breath stopped, and she couldn't ask anything more.

"Yeah, and he quit the next morning. Renee says that's the ghost that Rich talks to all the time. She says it's some lady that used to live here. I don't believe it, though."

She realized to see this woman he must have slept with the door open.

"Would you be willing to stay overnight tonight?" she asked.

"Nope. I've already been here for a double. I'm ready to go home. Call Renee if you need."

"No, it's all right. I'll be okay."