Ellis.
21-10-2005, 01:21 AM
Yes, I'm aware it's long. But please, it's worth the read. Please post your comments about the story ;D! I did not make up this story, I read it in an issue of Bathroom Readers and have tried my best to shorten the story. Thank you, and enjoy. ;)
The Ghost of Number 17
A few hundred years ago, an odd and peculiar man moved into house Number 17 on a quiet street. The man was quite handsome and well built (according to his neighbours) but was awkwardly shy. He barely left his house, only to fetch groceries for his weekly schedules. The only visitor he ever had was the cleaning lady who came once or twice a week. Several years had passed and he had not made a single friend in the peaceful, but dull neighbourhood.
Then one day, the man who had moved into the house had passed away. His neighbours had recalled strange men in black suits carrying his lifeless body into a car. People often wondered what they had done with his body, but no one ever found out. A few weeks later, the cleaning lady boarded up the house, locked the windows and doors, and left the lifeless house forever.
A few years later, a rumour had gone around the neighbourhood that Number 17 was haunted after the neighbours had heard moans and hard knocking from the walls of the house. Shortly after the rumours had died down, the house was purchased by a man who turned it into a boardinghouse; all was going well . . until the noises returned.
The maid who had worked there claimed to hear the same moans and poundings on the walls that the neighbours had heard long ago, but whenever she checked the attic, not a single person was found, but she always felt as if someone was watching her behind her back. That winter, a couple rented the attic. The first night they had stayed there, they ran screaming into the hall claiming to hear violent footsteps pacing towards where they slept and hysterical laughter all around the room. As they waited downstairs, a maid went upstairs to the attic to check for anyone in the room. As the owner and the terrified couple waited upstairs, they heard the maid give an utter shriek that could be heard from miles away. They rushed upstairs only to find the maid curled up into a ball in a little corner shivering and whispering the words “Look away, look away.” Those two words were the only words she said for the last 30 years of her life.
After that fateful night, rumours flew past the small town about the Ghost of Number 17 until a college graduate offered to stay in the attic from 10:00 pm to dawn to prove that ghosts were not real. So that night, the college graduate sat up in the attic, all by himself with a bell at his side that he would ring in case he needed help. So the owner and the remaining maids waited downstairs patiently and prepared for a long night. But within ten minutes, they heard the bell ringing frantically for a few seconds and then it died out. Worrying, the group rushed upstairs and burst into the attic to find the graduate student slumped in the armchair, his face frozen in an expression of sheer horror. The young student with a promising future had been frightened to death.
To this day, not a single person knows what the maid and the graduate student had seen nor what lurked in the depths of the attic of Number 17. Soon after the incidents, the owner sold Number 17 and moved away, never to be seen again. The house was once again boarded up. Years later, the houses became quite old and were torn down, ending any chance of solving the mystery of the murderous Ghost of Number 17.
The Ghost of Number 17
A few hundred years ago, an odd and peculiar man moved into house Number 17 on a quiet street. The man was quite handsome and well built (according to his neighbours) but was awkwardly shy. He barely left his house, only to fetch groceries for his weekly schedules. The only visitor he ever had was the cleaning lady who came once or twice a week. Several years had passed and he had not made a single friend in the peaceful, but dull neighbourhood.
Then one day, the man who had moved into the house had passed away. His neighbours had recalled strange men in black suits carrying his lifeless body into a car. People often wondered what they had done with his body, but no one ever found out. A few weeks later, the cleaning lady boarded up the house, locked the windows and doors, and left the lifeless house forever.
A few years later, a rumour had gone around the neighbourhood that Number 17 was haunted after the neighbours had heard moans and hard knocking from the walls of the house. Shortly after the rumours had died down, the house was purchased by a man who turned it into a boardinghouse; all was going well . . until the noises returned.
The maid who had worked there claimed to hear the same moans and poundings on the walls that the neighbours had heard long ago, but whenever she checked the attic, not a single person was found, but she always felt as if someone was watching her behind her back. That winter, a couple rented the attic. The first night they had stayed there, they ran screaming into the hall claiming to hear violent footsteps pacing towards where they slept and hysterical laughter all around the room. As they waited downstairs, a maid went upstairs to the attic to check for anyone in the room. As the owner and the terrified couple waited upstairs, they heard the maid give an utter shriek that could be heard from miles away. They rushed upstairs only to find the maid curled up into a ball in a little corner shivering and whispering the words “Look away, look away.” Those two words were the only words she said for the last 30 years of her life.
After that fateful night, rumours flew past the small town about the Ghost of Number 17 until a college graduate offered to stay in the attic from 10:00 pm to dawn to prove that ghosts were not real. So that night, the college graduate sat up in the attic, all by himself with a bell at his side that he would ring in case he needed help. So the owner and the remaining maids waited downstairs patiently and prepared for a long night. But within ten minutes, they heard the bell ringing frantically for a few seconds and then it died out. Worrying, the group rushed upstairs and burst into the attic to find the graduate student slumped in the armchair, his face frozen in an expression of sheer horror. The young student with a promising future had been frightened to death.
To this day, not a single person knows what the maid and the graduate student had seen nor what lurked in the depths of the attic of Number 17. Soon after the incidents, the owner sold Number 17 and moved away, never to be seen again. The house was once again boarded up. Years later, the houses became quite old and were torn down, ending any chance of solving the mystery of the murderous Ghost of Number 17.