Bistro Vendome!

Scott is taking me to a celebratory dinner at a French restaurant downtown! I am so excited! With that said I have to go! Go buy the book I helped write here: The Succession of England's Kings and enjoy these few pictures from this week!  

Our house has teeth

Scott is reading and by reading I mean napping with Myssa and Buddy.

Week 8 (23 February-1 March 2015)

The Girl in the Wall Part 2

When Morgan and Terra bought their home they knew it had a sordid past. In over 65 years there have been countless suicides and murders in the house. This caused a bit of alarm but the young newlyweds could not pass up the beautiful Victorian style home. Terra was pregnant, Morgan's company had moved him to the new city and the house was cheap. They quietly but happily moved into the spacious home. Their new home was more than they could have ever imagined. It had seven bedrooms, three studies with built-in book shelves in the wall, a well lit dining room and a grand staircase like something out of a movie. It was glamorous and something Terra could only dream of as a child.

Terra was elated with their new home. Yes, it had a dark history but the neighborhood was adorable and such a picturesque place to raise a child. They had the house blessed by a priest and even had it cleansed with sage. They weren't sure what caused such terror in their historic home but they wanted to change its story into a fairy tale. Strange things happened in their home after they moved in but nothing that raised any flags. Pictures fell off the wall and floors creaked. They chalked it up to the house being incredibly old. Terra thought she heard whispers when she walked throughout the kitchen at night but Morgan told her it was just her pregnant imagination. Life was like a Norman Rockwell painting and the two could not be happier.

“Morgan?”

“Yes my dear?”

“I think it's time we work on a nursery for our little princess. We have so many rooms, maybe we can make two of them into one super nursery.”

“Princess? We are having a girl? We are having a girl!” they were overjoyed and decided that day to plan out a perfectly pink nursery for their newest edition.

That night a storm rolled through town. The rain pounded on their windows and the thunder kept Terra awake. She tossed and turned and finally decided to get up rather than be restless in bed. She walked through the kitchen, filled up the tea kettle and put it on the stove. As she sat at the table rubbing her own achy feet she heard footsteps behind her.

“Go back to bed Morgan, I am okay. I just can't sleep. She turned around to show him she was fine but no one was there, “Huh... I thought... I guess,” she trailed off realizing she was talking to herself.

“Move...” came a voice over her shoulder, “Get out...” A chill shot through Terra's spine. This time she definitely heard a voice. This wasn't a whisper that could be explained as something else. This was a real voice but no one was behind her.

“Morgan? If you're playing games with me it's not funny! Where are you?” She yelled.

“It's not Morgan, my name is Marie,” Terra turned around and standing in front of her was a little girl.

“How did you get in here? Where did you come from?” asked Terra.

“I live in the wall. You need to leave. You need to move. Mr. Noble will paint the walls with your blood and keep your daughter. He has been waiting for a little girl, no one has had one and he killed them all. No one lives in this home. Move now!” Terra was baffled. She was not processing this information. Had she lost her mind? This was simply insane!

“You live in the wall? What is going on here?” Terra was in near tears from fear and exhaustion at this point. Marie explained who Mr. Noble was and how he killed her many years before. She was the towns missing girl who was lost in history thanks to time and many new homeowners. Her family never found her body and never knew what happened to her because Mr. Noble had encased her in the wall. The very wall Terra and Morgan were going to tear down to make their nursery. Terra decided right then, and it may have been from the hormones, to take a sledge hammer to the wall and see if she was actually going crazy or not. She began hitting the wall when Morgan came darting into the room.

“Terra! Stop! What are you doing?” as he grabbed her arm to stop her, Terra took one more swing and bust through the wall with all her force. Dark hair trickled through the hole in the wall. Attached to it was a small red bow. Terra began crying and explained to Morgan who the girl in the wall was. They called the police and explained the find as a pregnant woman anxious to start on the nursery. Terra knew the police would think she was crazy if she said she had seen a little girl, this little girl, in their kitchen.

“Mr. and Mrs. Lewis, my grandfather was one of the officers that searched for this little girl. Her murderer committed suicide without telling anyone what he did with her body. No one thought to look in the wall. You solved an old cold case file. Marie had a brother, we will try to find him and other family to tell them she can be laid to rest now next to her parents. It's a shame they didn't live to see her be found. We should be done here in a little bit. Get some rest, you guys will need it,” the officer winked at them and walked away. After finally succumbing to exhaustion, Terra and Morgan went to sleep.

That night, Terra dreamt about the little girl she saw in her kitchen. She dreamt of Marie riding her bike past the river and skipping rocks. She dreamt of her happy smile and joyful days as a ten year old girl in a quiet town. Then the nightmares came. She watched from afar as Mr. Noble snatched Marie and hid her away in the beautiful Victorian home. She saw Mr. Noble shoot Marie and shoot himself. Then she saw every person who ever lived in her home murder each other or kill themselves after months of psychological torture. Terra shot up out of her nightmares in a cold sweat. Breathing heavily she reached over for her water on her nightstand and found a note.

I am at rest now. I thank you for that. Please leave. For the safety of your baby. You took me from Mr. Noble and he is incredibly angry now. I fear your fate will be worse than those before you.

-Marie

All Terra could do was cry. Had they made a mistake in buying this house with a bloody past? Morgan reassured her everything would be fine. They decided to call their priest again and bless the house. It seemed as if all was well after that day. Terra had a calm pregnancy and Morgan excelled at his new job. They quickly forgot about the drama of the girl in the wall, especially after their daughter Anna Maria was born. All was quiet the first couple of months but one day Terra noticed Anna staring at the closet. No matter what she did or how she moved her, Anna stared intently at that closet. Terra put Anna down and walked over to the closet. She heard a slight humming, almost like a little girl. She opened the closet and nothing was there. She turned around, looked at Anna then looked back at the closet. In front of her appeared a demonic face. She screamed at the top of her lungs when the face opened its mouth and birds flew out of it.

SLAM!

“MORGAN! MORGAN! HELP! HELP ME!” she screamed as she pounded on the slammed nursery door. The birds were pecking at her and attacking.

“Terra! Open the door! Open the door!” Morgan could hear nothing but screams coming from the room as he pounded on the shut door. He twisted the handle and it was turning but it would not open.

“Morgan please! They're hurting me!”

“Who! Who is hurting you?” suddenly there was silence. Morgan shoved the door and it finally gave way. Terra was laying in a pile on the floor. Her hair was knotted, her face and hands were scratched and bloody and she was crying, “Terra! Oh my god! Are you okay? What happened?”

“Where did the birds go? Did you let them out?”

“Birds? What birds?” Terra looked up at him with a crazed look in her eye. She began sobbing and ran out the room. Morgan didn't know what to do. His wife was a rational person, she never even got hysterical when it was warranted so he was lost as to what was happening now. He looked up at the crib and heard Anna giggling. He took a deep breath and got up to pick her up. When he looked in the crib Anna was gone. The giggling stopped and the house was silent, “Anna? Terra!” Morgan raced through the house and couldn't find either of them. He knew Terra couldn't have taken their daughter, he watched her leave the room but they were both gone. He ran to the kitchen to grab his phone and call for help. When he reached the kitchen he heard a loud growl and a thud. Behind him was Terra, bloody and out cold. He ran over to see if she was okay and she opened her eyes.

“Morgan, help me...” she started to say when they heard Anna giggling in the basement, “Oh god, we should have left,” cried Terra.

Morgan propped Terra along the wall and ran downstairs. His family was under attack and fear raced through his veins. The basement smelled musty like someone had suffocated all light and air from the room for years. He could taste the cold, dusty air and felt the hairs raise on his arms. His daughter was there somewhere and he was going to save his family. Morgan was ready to battle but he had no idea was evil awaited him as he reached the bottom of the stairs.