The Scream Of Death!

Daniel, Beth and Jack waited patiently near the barn.
Suddenly they heard a scream, a scream of death.
They looked at each other with fear, but yet, with a determined look on their faces.

But let's start from the beginning. That is 400 years back in time...

The year is 1600. The place is "Old Village", England.
A family lives in a small house in the outskirts of the village.
Once a happy family, but now a family with nothing but broken dreams and despair.
Two years ago the family was perfect; a loving mother, a devoted father and three adorable children, but it all changed when the children's mother died of typhus a year and a half ago. The father, who couldn't stand the thought of his three children David, Elizabeth and John, growing up without the guidelines of a mother, remarried Sara.
But when the father suddenly died in a terrible accident, Sara turned out to be cold and cruel towards the children, whom she now had custody of.
She made them work all day after school and punished them for the smallest mistakes.
The family was now split, but in a way united; David, Elizabeth and John were together in smoke and in fire, in happiness and in despair. They shared the same unfortunate destiny, the same terrible suffering and the same unforgettable pain.

One evening David was on his way to the kitchen in the small house, to talk to Elizabeth, who was making supper. When he entered the kitchen door he came in time to see Sara hit Elizabeth on her face!

"How could you burn the supper?!" Sara yelled in anger.

"I didn't mean to. I really didn't, Ma'am," cried Elizabeth.

"Well, I am sick of you and your "little accidents"! Now, you go to your room and think about this. I will clean this mess up and cook new supper. Nothing for you!"

"But Ma'am..."

"No buts, young lady, act!"

Elizabeth ran crying out of the kitchen, to her room, while Sara turned around to fix supper.

"How can you be so cruel?" asked David from the door.

"Oh, David, I didn't see you. Have you finished your work for today?"

"How can you be so cruel to my sister?"

"She put herself in that position. It is my job to educate her."

"She is only eleven years old!"

"She must learn from a young age that I don't tolerate any carelessness in my house."

"Your house?!"

"Precisely."

"Let me get one thing straight; this is not your house, it has never been your house, nor is it ever going to be your house!"

"You need to take care of that big mouth of yours. I am the one with the money here, I am the one who takes care of you, feeds you, and raises you. While I do everything for you, you give me nothing in return but your ungratefulness.

"Our father is the one who left all the money after his death. I'd rather let a bunch of pigs take care of my siblings than you. You don't feed us, Elizabeth does and when it comes to raising us, I can't even put words to it. You are just a sad witch with nothing more to do in life than to make other people suffer, I wish you would just die and leave me and my siblings alone for good."

After that he stormed out of the kitchen and into Elizabeth's room.

"We have to do something about our whole situation." said David. "We have to change our lives and our future. I refuse to just stand by and watch her do this to you."

"So what do you suggest we do?" asked Elizabeth.

"I have a plan. Meet me at the barn tonight at midnight and we will talk about it. Don't tell John anything, he is too young to have anything to do with it."

"See you at midnight", she whispered.

The night arrived with its mysterious shadows, it's frightening sounds and its terrifying darkness.
It was all quiet around the little house, except for an owl that dropped to the ground for it's prey and the wind that rattled in the trees.
Now something else disturbed the peaceful night; two shadows moved slowly across the yard, heading for the barn.

"All right." said Elizabeth. "I am here. Now, tell me about your plan, David."

"We can't stay here." said David. "That's one thing for sure. We have to get away from her. She is taking yours and John's childhood away, that is something irreplaceable and very precious.

"So... are you saying that you want to run away...?"

"That is one solution, but I don't think she would give up looking for us until she found us, took us back and made our lives even more miserable than it is now. If a person like her finds someone that does all the work, without getting anything in return, she won't let them go that easily."

"So what is it, David. Tell me!"

David looked her straight in the eyes with a serious look on his face.

"I am going to kill her."

"David, what are you saying?" cried Elizabeth. "You can't just kill someone! The police will catch us and that's something that would really destroy our childhood."

"Calm down." said David, and put his arms around her. "We will run away from here, leaving no trail. The police won't even know she is dead until we are far away."

"So what are we going to tell John?"

"We won't tell him anything. We will just run away with him when the time is right."

"How are you going to do it...?"

"Well, first of all, we will have to do it at night time, so that no one will hear her scream. Then we will wake up John, get our bags with food, clothes and money, that we will have to get ready before the time, and just leave.

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

February 12

The night arrived for the killing. It was a dark night with no moon, just bright stars, covering the sky.
David and Elizabeth walked quietly through the hallway. David opened the door to Sara's room, holding a big, heavy hammer.
He entered the room and closed the door quietly.
A couple of seconds went by, Elisabeth stood next to the door, waiting for David to do what he had to do.
Then she heard a scream. A loud, terrifying scream. A scream of death. Elisabeth knew that that sound would haunt her forever.
The door opened to Sara's room and David came out with a face, white as snow.

"Is she...?"

"Yes." said David. "She is dead."

David, Elizabeth and John took all the money they could find in the house and left the town they were born in, the place were they grew up, never to look back or ever return.
They ended up in London, found a big old house and David got a nice job, considering he was only 18.

When Elizabeth and John got married and moved, David decided that his oldest child would always inherit and live in that house, and his son's oldest, and his grandson's oldest, and so on. David's son promised that he would keep it that way.
David never told anybody about what happened to him and his siblings, but when he was old he felt forced to at least write it down. He did, and hid it in his house together with... guess what...

The years passed by and now it is the twelfth of February 1700.
That is a hundred years after the day that Sara was killed...

"Honey, I have seen a woman dressed in white wandering around our properties", said Alec.

"It could be one of our son, Eric's girlfriends, he has so many."

"I don't think so." said Alec. "The woman I saw was our age, maybe she is a thief!"

"Do you really think so?"

"Well, I am sure not going to take any risks. Eric! Come here!" yelled Alec.

"What is it?" said an 18 year old boy that looked a lot like David.

"There is a woman wandering around our properties, and I think she is a thief. Come with me to the barn with the gun and help me look for her."

"But Father." said Eric. "You told me I was supposed to build new shelves in the kitchen this evening, remember?"

"Oh... right." said Alec. "Never mind, I will do it myself."

He went to the barn that evening and waited for the woman to appear. At twelve o’clock exactly he spotted her with her white, long dress, blowing in the wind.

Eric was building the kitchen shelves when he suddenly heard a scream. It was his father's voice. He ran out of the kitchen towards the barn and didn't even take the time to drop the hammer. When he got to the barn he saw her.
She wasn't even standing on the ground, her feet were half a meter up in the sky.
Eric realized that he was looking at a ghost!

When the ghost saw the hammer in his hand she screamed, a scream of death. And then vanished...

********************

"Laura, where are you?" asked Samuel.

"Right here." said Laura, and entered the room.

"Do you remember that silly story my grandfather told me, about the ghost that was afraid of a hammer?"

"Yes." Laura said with a smile. "What about it?"

"Well... I think I have seen her..."

"What are you talking about, Samuel?" said Laura "It's just a silly story."

"I am not so sure anymore..." said Samuel.

In the evening the twelfth of February 1800, Samuel went to the barn to see if the ghost would appear. He held a hammer tightly in his hand.

The clock turned twelve and the ghost appeared.
She was wearing her long, white, old dress. Her eyes were glowing white.

"That's strange." thought Samuel. "Grandfather never said anything about white eyes."

But Samuel didn't have any time to think; the ghost was getting closer and closer.
Suddenly he remembered the hammer in his hand. He held it up, and showed it to her.

"Ha, ha, ha, laughed the ghost. That hammer scared me last time. I am stronger now after resting for a hundred years!"

Samuel didn't know what to do. The ghost was getting closer, he could feel her presence. She reached out to him with her cold, dead hands, ready to break his neck.
Suddenly he had an idea. He walked towards the ghost with the hammer and raised it.
The ghost screamed the scream of death and disappeared.

********************

Another hundred years went by. 1900. In the old house lives Joe with wife and children.
Samuel told his son the story about the ghost and that it was true. He also told him to make sure that the story would be known to the next generations. Samuel thought that the ghost would probably come back after another hundred years.

"I have seen her", said Joe with a serious look on his face.

"You don't mean her, do you?" asked his wife, Melanie.

"Yes I do. The story my grandfather told me, that took place a hundred years ago right here, at this house, seems to be true. I saw the woman with the white, old dress!"

"You said you didn't believe in it."

"Well, I guess I was wrong. Grandfather told me that the ghost vanished when she saw a hammer and when it was raised towards her. I will go to the barn tonight and wait for her. I just hope that the part with the hammer is true too...

"Good luck..."

Joe went to the barn with his son, Peter. Both of them were armed with a hammer. When the clock turned twelve, the ghost appeared. Her eyes were glowing in an evil yellow color.

"Ha, ha, ha!" she laughed. "You can't stop me from taking my revenge of this family!"

Joe showed her his hammer.

"Ha, ha, ha! That won't do you any good! I am stronger now!" She was getting closer.

Suddenly Peter ran towards her, showed her the hammer, raised it, and hit it through her many times.

The ghost screamed the terrifying scream of death and yelled:

"Next time! Next time you won't stop me! I will have my final revenge! I will destroy you!!!" and she was gone.

Joe and Peter continued to pass the story on to the next generations, and just prayed they would be able to defeat the terrible ghost when she would come back again, twelfth of February the year 2000

The second half

©Annalill Pollack