Matt’s dreamless slumber was interrupted. He groaned as he felt someone shaking him vigorously by the shoulder. He sleepily opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed was the tent he put up was already gone. Matt turned on his back to find Emmy kneeling beside him, urging him to wake up.
Has she been crying?
The expression written on Emmy’s face was enough. Matt got up, propping himself by his elbows and took a look around. He did not speak for fear of waking up Jean who slept beside him. Noting nothing of import, he turned his eyes back to Emmy. She was not looking at him. Her eyes were transfixed on the door.
It was open. He squinted to adapt his eyes but saw nothing. Matt realized he might need to talk his wife out of it but before that, he needed to satisfy her. He felt her hand shake while she looked. He decided to pretend he was paying attention as he got up to a sitting position.
The next few seconds yielded nothing. It was qu
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The House By The River: A Paranormal Horror Novel Chapter 21
He knew it would not last. He knew it would not stand. But Matt did not know what else to say. Sleepwalking was common enough that people apparently made jokes about it on videos on the internet but spontaneous sleepwalking? And both his children together?Compared to his wife, Matt thought he was doing a good job of reigning it in. He went around the room inspecting things, what he expected to find, he had no idea. He admitted to himself that nothing made sense and that scared him. He knew he had to do something, supposed to do something, but what? So, he paced.Finding that it did not help, not him or Emmy, he went to check on Gina and Jean. Emmy had already done it. He did it anyway. First to the older daughter’s bed. He checked if she was comfortable then put a blanket over her. He felt her forehead and was relieved that she wasn’t burning up.Next, he went to where Jean lay. She was already under the covers so Matt didn’t have much to do e
The House By The River: A Paranormal Horror Novel Chapter 22
Voices. It sounded like a gathering of a hundred people was outside and all decided to speak at the same time. The voices sounded like they came from all around the four corners of the house, their words indecipherable. Emmy strained to hear what it sounded like. Matt did the same. To him, it sounded like each voice was talking about something entirely different from the other and each voice carried over eerily to where they were.Emmy ran to where Jean was sleeping and carried her to Gina’s bed. She placed a blanket over her and watched her husband.He peered out the window, squinting. Matt’s eyes was taking time to adjust. On the areas where the house’s own lights was able to reach, there was nothing to see. Meanwhile, the volume of the voices increased, taking in both low and high tones. Soon, the glass panel on the window started to vibrate. It felt like it was coming from deep within the earth. Then, it started to sound like it was ascending.
The House By The River: A Paranormal Horror Novel Chapter 23
Matt came back close to noon and set about preparing the materials he needed for what he planned to do. First, he hauled of a bunch of 2x2’s from the back of the pickup truck and laid it in front of the house. Next, he carried several bags with him and placed it near the lumber. He had several rolls of wires, boxes of screws and nails, boxes of lightbulbs, electrical tapes, and two cheap CCTV cameras.He did not purposely buy the cheap cameras. He asked for something easy enough to set up and was offered those. He could not understand the manual as it was all in Chinese but the man at the store showed him what to do and how to install the software. He showed him the different modes and told him about the limitations. The rep tried his hardest to upsell a better model to Matt but since most of them worked only with home Wi-fi networks and he didn’t have one set-up yet, Matt ended up with the cheapest. The rep was still okay, considering all the other purchases. He
The House By The River: A Paranormal Horror Novel Chapter 24
Works for me, he thought as he sipped from a bottle.The braying of a singer, lamenting about a lost love and the comforts beer and his truck provided oozed from the speakers of the small restaurant. He chuckled and shook his head. His thoughts dwelt on the default sentiment of people over the years.Despite the downsides, he has followed, passively, the progress of society and often reflected on it. The apparent discontent, feelings of inadequacy, insecurity, and depression seemed to pace with the times. The further society developed, the more these feelings grew among the general populace.For him, this was a good thing. Where it took dozens upon dozens of unwilling victims a few decades ago, to maintain his state, now he only needed a few. Back then, it was truly lucky to happen upon even a small fraction of what people subjected themselves to nowadays. Now, that same effect could be replicated just by walking a busy street in a big city like New Yor
The House By The River: A Paranormal Horror Novel Chapter 25
While Matt worked outside after she served him the snacks, Emmy noticed that her daughters started arguing. The TV programs from the broadcast channels had bored them. It was close to five in the afternoon and there were only dramas and reruns showing.Since no one was watching anymore, she turned the TV off and turned the radio on. Some music in the house would do them all some good, she reasoned. The reception from the stations were spotty, however, and Jean started pestering her to play her DVD instead. She relented. Gina fell asleep on the couch shortly after. Out of boredom, Emmy thought.Emmy only wanted to ensure they weren’t out of sight. As long as they were within range, she could act when needed. When Matt came in announcing he had gotten rid of the smell, she barely registered what he was saying. Absentmindedly, she proceeded to cook while her thoughts kept repeating her fears. Emmy dreaded nightfall.The only difference from the supper they ha
The House By The River: A Paranormal Horror Novel Chapter 26
He thought about getting coffee but decided there was no need for it. Caffeine would only elevate the beating of his already tired heart. His mind was a mess. As their house shook, he was ready to head out and confront the people outside, the people harassing him.Trying to cling to rational explanations, Matt paced the room. He had to find something, he knew. But as the minutes ticked by, not even their increasing confidence that it was already over help. Even Emmy began to check the room. Though they finally got the courage to move about, they kept to the second floor. The children didn’t wake up. Matt was at least thankful for that. Checking his watch for the time, he saw it was only two in the morning.Leaving the room for longer periods was not possible, so he paced instead. Every time he went out, Emmy begged him not to go and just be with them. Matt was split between going down and checking the feed or staying. Staying was the easier option.He felt
The House By The River: A Paranormal Horror Novel Chapter 27
Then there was smoke. Or something like it. Matt let the feed play at normal speed so he could check it closely. Then he played it again at twice the speed. His brows knotted.It wasn’t smoke. It did not behave like smoke. It appeared in different places, captured in different angles but they did not move like smoke would. Even the cloud of smoke that appeared in one area moved in several different directions, splitting into thinner veins.Fog?He discarded the notion. It was not thick enough and this place was never foggy. It was also high enough that if it were a fog bank, it would have covered the ground and hidden the tree trunks. The feed buzzed out.Matt almost jumped out of his chair as the sudden, jarring change in the video changed from normal picture to white noise, then to black. It buzzed out several times, changing from black to white to gray then settled on white. He was not prepared for it. Matt played the video at twic
The House By The River: A Paranormal Horror Novel Chapter 28
Just as he was about to go back to the chair near the door where the table with the laptop was, Matt heard shuffling from upstairs. Looking out the window, he noted the sun was already starting its ascent in earnest, the angle of its rays less steep than when he last peeked. Listening, he noted that it was the children who were moving about. He knew Emmy would not be able to go to sleep again, at least not soon, but noted the lack of her voice in the argument upstairs.At least they didn’t wake up when it was happening, he thought.That brought a smile to his face, albeit a short one. Reaching the chair, he noticed something strange on the monitor. It looked to him like the screen was glitching. He sat down and leaned forward to inspect what it was. It was not the screen. It was the video.Having dismissed the artefacts as dust and hardware limitation, Matt stood up where he sat relieved. The video was now playing the parts where the hazy appariti
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