“Are we almost there yet?” Sebastian asks, getting tired of being in the car. They had just bought a house out in the middle of nowhere. It was a long drive, but it couldn’t have been much longer before they found the address. “Just 2 more minutes before we turn onto the street then another 5 to get to the house. Remember the movers don’t come in till tomorrow so be patient with this moving process” Savana responds to her son. Savana knew this move would be hard since her kids had grown up in their old house in Seattle, Washington. All her kids had to abandon their friends and other extracurricular activities.
As soon as they pull into their new driveway Sebastian lets out a sigh of relief. His sister Allison, who had been asleep the entire car ride, woke up to the sudden stop. Hailey pulled her earbuds out and wrapped them around her phone. “This is it?” she asked, trying not to sound disappointed. The Wi-Fi was somehow still accessible, so it didn’t affect her too much.
The house was 2 stories and looked like it had been built at least 300 years ago, but it was in good enough shape to sell to someone who wasn’t buying to fix the place up. According to the previous owners, the house was built by the wife’s ancestors and had been passed down for many generations. Sebastian started to wonder why they would sell it if the house had been in the family since it was built. Of course, his parents, Savana and Aiden, were just happy to move out of the city. Allison was still upset about leaving her friend group and having to stop playing soccer with her team right before the playoffs. Hailey couldn’t care less about the move. She liked being alone and in the new house, she got her own room.
They each have a suitcase so they had something to survive off of until the mover’s truck showed up, assuming they wouldn’t get lost trying to find the address. Everyone diverged into their new rooms and set up their sleeping bags on the floor and put the rest of the suitcase in the corner to keep it out of the way.
Savana decides to look around seeing as she had never been in the house before today. As she looked around, she found a letter from the previous owners. Savana picked it up and debates on opening it. Her curiosity got the best of her, and she opens it.
‘Dear new homeowner,
This house holds secrets that have been passed down from generation to generation. I’m sure you will love the new home just as we did. So long as you don’t look under the floor bords in the master bedroom. This house was once our pride and joy but with no children to pass it along to when we die it was better to have someone who didn’t know the dark powers this house possessed. Feel free to change what you like but whatever you do, DON’T OPEN THE FLOORBOARDS’
Savana read the letter and wasn’t sure how to process this letter. Was it a joke? Was it real? She wasn’t sure she wanted to find out. She knew her husband, Aiden, was into supernatural type things. If Aiden found this letter, he might try and find out.
Soon enough she hears a scream come from the master bedroom. She hurried up the stairs to get to the room only to find her husband in a corner and before she could ask, she notices a floorboard out of place. “What did you do?” she asks unsure if she wants to know the answer. Shortly after their three kids came running to the room. “We heard dad scream, is everything alright?” Sabastian asks standing in front of Allison and Haliey in a protective manner.
Before she could answer, the floorboard moved on its own and a hand rose from the new hole in the ground. One by one the floorboards shifted to the wall closest to them to make a hole in the middle of the room. As one of the newly found zombies rose up from underneath, vines came from the wall and wrapped around Aiden.
“Run” Savana manages to say to the kids. Savana didn’t want to leave her husband, but what choice did she have? She followed the kids out to the car and drove off. They go straight to the Police station to report what had happened only to be told the house never existed.
“There is no such thing as 17228 South Road,” one of the police officers told Savana. Savana tired pulling it up on her phone only to find it wasn’t on the map even though they used Google maps to find the house in the first place. Savana nodded and left the station. Her kids followed and they had no idea what to make of it. They knew the house was real, but they wouldn’t drive back to the house where potential danger was waiting for them.
Even after they moved on from that part of their life, they never fully processed the disturbing experience. Since no one else knew what happened that day nor saw what they saw, they only had each other to lean on for support when the memory was driving them insane. They had lost a father and a husband to a house that didn’t exist.
A few months later Savana drove back to the house by herself when her kids were at school. Just as the officer said, there was no house only a letter that looked a lot like the one she found when they first moved in, only this one was a stanza from a poem.
‘Dear Ex-Homeowner,
Your husband is safe with us
You should have listened to the original letter
Now your Aiden must pay the price
And you won’t get better’
Once she realizes what the poem means she gets into her car speeding to get out of this town. she drove too fast and went off the edge of the hill, never to be heard from again.
