Haunt

By R. F. Gammon

What a nightmare—the squealing brakes, the shouts, the crash.

It was enough to jolt Jenny out of bed and out the door in record time. She wasn’t sure what drew her to the old mansion, only that she had to go.

Leo had always hated that place.

The dark maw of the house before her yawned open, as if preparing to swallow her whole. Jenny wrapped her arms across her chest and forced herself to breathe. Invisible forces pulled her forward, closer, into the house’s embrace. Clammy cold hung on her skin, but she could not turn back. She had to go on.

Her instincts screamed no. Her feet said yes. She obeyed the stronger of the two and stepped through the front door.

The massive hall’s vaulted ceiling was riddled with holes. Vast swaths of white fabric draped across the vague shapes of furniture, like pale mausoleums rising out of the gloom. Jenny shivered.

Why was she here? The ache on her feet had drawn her here, yes, but in the end, she could not deny her main reason for entering the building. It was Leo’s fault. Just like everything else.

“And who are you, love?”

Jenny’s scream echoed in the shadows. She never saw the figure approach. One second it wasn’t there—only the pale bones of an ancient staircase now crumbling to dust—the next a young woman stood before her.

The girl’s teeth flashed white in her face when she smiled. Her black hair piled on her shoulders like a rat’s nest.

Jenny stepped back, away from the figure and toward the cold breeze at her back.

“I—I’m Jenny. Who are you?”

The pale girl smiled. “It’s not important,” she murmured. “For now, let’s get you checked in.”

“Checked in? I can’t stay! I have to—”

“Just one night, lovie. It’s growing late; you have to stay.” The girl turned and drifted down the hallway. “Come on, now.”

“She left me.” A boy in a bellhop costume entered the lobby. Jenny jumped, and her nerves frayed still further.

“No one cares,” the pale girl snapped. She smiled at Jenny and beckoned. “You’re on the second floor.”

The stairs looked rickety, and Jenny hesitated at the bottom. They climbed into the gloom, draped in shadow. Fear touched her stomach, but she couldn’t turn back now. Leo would’ve hated this—but Leo couldn’t stop her. She was invincible now, and she had to remember that.

“Up we go.” The pale girl seemed to float over countless holes as she ascended. Jenny squeezed her eyes shut and followed her. There was no way this crumbling staircase could hold her weight.

But it did, without even a creak. She found herself gliding up the stairs with a grace she’d never achieved before. Had this place turned her into something different? Wherever this place was…

Leo brought you here. You came here to escape Leo. His memory won’t follow you here.

“Dinner first,” the pale girl said, and at the top of the stairs, they entered a room full of figures sitting at long tables. The ceiling of the room disappeared high above them amidst the shadows.

“He was a real nice fella.” The pale girl took the seat beside her. “The tall, dark, handsome type. But then he fell for a different girl, and when I tried to show him how worthless she really was, he spat in my face. And then… he must have gone mad. He tried to kill me.”

“That’s awful.” Jenny shook her head. Leo had been awful towards the end. But he would never have done that.

“What about yours?” The girl quirked an eyebrow.

“Leo was nice too,” Jenny said softly. His face danced before her imagination, more realistic and concrete than anything in this place. “He was everything. But he dumped me.”

“For a different girl?” The pale girl sighed. “Everyone here understands, love. Believe me, we understand.”

Jenny lost her patience. “Where am I? What is this place?” She looked down at herself. A flowing white garment had appeared on her body without her even noticing. “Where are my clothes? What’s going on?”

The pale girl giggled. “You got your heart broken, love.”

“But where. Am. I?”

Someone tapped her shoulder. She shrieked and turned to see the bellhop boy standing behind her, dark tears streaking his face. In the same place where they’d been before. She pressed her hand against her chest to steady herself.

Except she had no heartbeat.

“Welcome to the real world. Well… not real anymore. No one here believes in us.” The girl leaned in closer. “Not yet. We make them believe.”

Jenny couldn’t scream. All she could do was stare at them in horror. The bellhop boy’s tears looked sympathetic; the pale girl’s smile, triumphant.

“You know how they say you’ll haunt his dreams later?” The girl let out a wild shriek of laughter. “Time to literally haunt them.”

She couldn’t be—

“The car accident was real. So was your broken heart. You’re dead, Jenny.”

“We all end up here. You’re one of us now.” The bellhop sniffled. “But don’t worry. It’s worth it.”

“Worth it?” She didn’t have a family. She was alone. Leo wouldn’t care… “How can death be worth it?”

“Leo abandoned you.” The girl smirked. “He tried to forget you. But he’ll never forget you again.”

Her heartbreak smoldered, fizzled out, and died. And all Jenny knew was a single word: haunt.

She smiled for the first time in weeks. “No, he won’t.”

Can you guess which song from the 1950's inspired this story? Share in the comments!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

R. F. Gammon is a high school student currently residing in the wilds of Maine with her family. She has written a number of novels, but Havok is her first publication. If she isn’t writing, she’s listening to Fall Out Boy, petting her cats, or playing Chopin. Most importantly, she’s a daughter of the One True King.

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