"I can't believe we own this place!" Michelle Miller exclaims excitedly as she turns to face her new husband, Ben Miller. He returns a quick passing smile as he redirects his attention to their newly acquired house. Being over 200 years old with 6 bedrooms and 2 and a half bathrooms the happy couple couldn't have gotten a better deal on it.
Colonial homes like this one run for up to a half million dollars in some areas. Michelle and Ben knew that this was a once in a lifetime deal. They paid just $100,000 for the home and it was theirs for the taking. The back yard was spacious and even had a swing set and sandbox. It was the dream house for any family. It would be perfect to raise Bianca in. Michelle even hoped for more kids in the future. This house would be ideal for a big family.
"Mommy, who is that?" the 8 year old girl points towards the attic window with excitement gleaming in her eyes. Ben and Michelle glance up at the empty window simultaneously questioning their daughter.
"Bianca, there's no one there, honey." Ben replies to his daughter. Bianca pouts and stomps her foot on the cement.
"Daddy, she is right there!" Bianca points once more to the attic window that she exclaims to be occupied.
Being the more understanding of the two, Michelle kneels next to her daughter placing a hand on the child's shoulder. "And how does this little girl look?" She questions Bianca. Michelle knew that if a child could accurately describe a person then that means this person existed. Whether the child was seeing them now or remembered them from the past was another question.
"She has long black hair, and a white dress. Please, Mommy, she wants me to go play with her." Bianca begs her mother with pleading eyes.
"What is this girl doing right now?" Michelle asks her daughter. Ben remains quiet as he examines the outside appearance of the house. Michelle knew the girl was real since Bianca was able to describe her without any hesitation. Now was the real question. Could Bianca say what this girl was doing right now?
"She's waving at me." Bianca answers without any hesitation. Her eyes are glued on the attic window. Michelle opens her mouth to reply but Bianca doesn't wait on it. She runs up the driveway and into the living room. Ben and Michelle exchange a puzzled glance before following suit into the house. By the time they reach the living room their daughter is long gone. They figure she must have already went upstairs to play with her imaginary friend.
A few days have passed since the family has moved in and they love the new house. There isn't anything any of them would change. It was the perfect house after all. After pulling the car into a parking space Michelle climbs out and grabs the groceries from the trunk. She turns around to be startled by a woman quickly approaching her from the street.
"You're the new neighbors, I assume?" Michelle tries to steady her heart beat as she looks into the eyes of the elderly woman in front of her.
“Uh, yeah, yeah. We moved in on Monday. I'm Michelle, and you are?" Michelle politely extends her hand to the woman.
"Ida, dear. It's nice to meet you. I hope I'm not a bother but could I ask you something?" Ida stares into Michelle's eyes deeply. Michelle feels a bit uneasy talking to the woman but doesn't want to give a bad vibe to the other neighbors.
"Yeah, sure. Go ahead." Michelle nods with a smile.
"How much did you pay for the house" Michelle is visibly taken aback by this blunt question. It's an unwritten rule to not ask how much a person gets paid or how much they paid for their house especially if you've just met the person. Michelle stammers not sure of how to respond to such a rude intrusion.
"Oh, dear, I didn't mean to come off as rude. It's just, well, there are rumors about the house. They say…"
"Ida, I told you to stop that! Get back over here!" An angry old man yells from the across the street. Ida looks back at the man with a stunned look on her aged skin.
"I'm sorry, I must get going back to Henry…" Ida turns to leave but Michelle grabs her arm stopping her.
"Wait, what kind of rumors?" Michelle persists. Ida looks torn between Michelle and the old man.
"They say that there are things that happened in there that…"
"Ida! Stop harassing the owners of that house! You do this every time! Get the hell back over here!" Henry steps down from the stoop using his cane to support the majority of his weight. Ida does this every time? To the new owners of the house? Why? When? A million questions rush through Michelle's head.
Ida hobbles back to her husband as Michelle stands looking on seemingly mystified by the confrontation with Ida. Why is she so worried about the house? Michelle shrugs it off as she heads back up the drive way to the house. Ben greets her at the door taking the grocery bags from her with a kiss.
"Hey, baby. Who was that?" He questions Michelle as he peers suspiciously at the old disgruntled couple across the street.
"No one. Just the neighbor welcoming us." She replies not wanting the weird situation to bother Ben. Laughter from Bianca echoes down the stairs to Michelle and Ben.
Ben catches the wonder on Michelle's face at the sudden laughter. "She's been up there playing all afternoon." He explains to his wife.
"Really? Doing what?" Michelle asks as she places the peanut butter in the cupboard.
"Having a tea party, playing dress-up. Things like that." Ben shrugs the behavior off as normal.
"With who?" Michelle raises her brows as she rests an elbow on the counter. Ben shrugs in return.
"No one." He replies as he stuffs a doughnut in his mouth. Michelle used to be a little girl and she knew something wasn't quite right. Tea Party and Dress-Up were games you just had to have a partner to play. It was no fun alone. 'Maybe Bianca met one of the neighbor kids and invited them over. Ben just didn't notice it.' she thought as she set the fruit down on the counter.
Michelle lets her curiosity get the best of her as she ventures to investigate her daughter's playing. As she makes her way up the stairs she can hear laughter and soft talking coming from Bianca's bedroom.
Michelle slowly opens the door to find Bianca sitting alone on the carpet with a Barbie in her hand. "No, like this." Bianca runs a doll brush through the blonde locks of the Barbie. She falls into another fit of laughter as she focuses her attention on something across from her. Michelle's eyes follow Bianca's to land on nothing but an empty chair.
"Honey, who are you talking to?" Michelle asks her daughter as she takes one quick glance around the empty room again.
"Emily, Mommy. She likes to play dolls with me." Bianca looks back to the empty space and once again erupts with laughter.
"There's no one here, honey." Michelle exclaims hesitantly. Bianca throws her doll down angrily and jumps to her feet.
"You scared Emily away, Mommy!" Bianca pouts up at her mother who is speechless.
"Hey, I'm gonna order a pizza. Is that okay?" Ben cuts in as he appears in the doorway. Michelle slowly nods too distracted to give his words any deep thought.
Michelle turns the knobs on the bathtub for Bianca's bath. Her mind wonders to the incident with her daughter earlier. Bianca was clearly looking and talking to someone. But who? There was absolutely nobody else in that room with her daughter. And who is this Emily? Michelle rattles her brain for an answer.
No one in her class has that name. None of her friends have that name. Michelle was positive that Bianca had never even heard that name before. Must have been something on TV, Michelle assumed.
Bianca enters the bathroom and takes off her clothes before she steps into the water. "Ow!" She shouts at the water temperature.
"Sorry, sweetie." Michelle apologizes as she runs more cold water into the tub. She must have made the temperature too hot while she was thinking. Michelle stands up to leave the ba
throom and let Bianca have her privacy as usual.
"Mommy, wait." Michelle turns to face her daughter who looks pale. Concern immediately washes over Michelle as her motherly instincts kick in.
"What, baby? What's wrong?" Michelle stares down at her daughter hoping that everything was fine.
"Don't leave me alone. I'm scared." Her eyes grow wide.
"Of what?" Michelle asks just as any parent would.
"Emily said her mommy hurt her in the bath tub." Michelle stares back at her daughter for a full minute unable to speak. Dread fills Michelle's heart as she suspects something is not right with this Emily.
"Tell me more about this Emily." Michelle sits on the lid of the toilet watching over her scared child listening to the stories that Bianca tells her.
After sending her daughter to bed, Michelle gets a craving for ice cream. She offers to get Ben some as well and he accepts. Michelle places the ice cream container back in the fridge and grabs both bowls. A scratching sound on the window grabs her attention. She looks to the window and spots nothing. She turns her attention back to the ice cream only to hear the same noise again. She sets the bowls on the counter and walks up to the door leading to the back yard. She squints to get a better view of the yard. Something black runs across the yard.
"AHH!" Michelle screams out as she jumps from freight. Ben runs down the stairs frantically.