Chapter Three

Cleaning the house from top to bottom was a bit more of an undertaking than I had expected. The house was large, and I needed to start with the first floor before moving onto the bedrooms upstairs. I decided the best thing to do was to begin in the kitchen. I started clearing the counters off and getting rid of all unwanted garbage. I also had to start a donation pile. There was some room in the closet under the stairs to store things until I could take them to the local drop bin.

As I was wiping down the counters and removing any unwanted spider friends from the kitchen, I noticed that where I thought I dropped something, it seemed to move to the other side of the kitchen. It was starting to irritate me. I chided myself about not being able to keep track of anything.

The good part of my day was spent cleaning the kitchen and making it at least usable so that I could get some groceries. I was not the biggest fan of constantly having to order out. I much preferred making my own meals. While I was cleaning, I also had a list going so that I could stop at the grocery store nearby and stock the refrigerator with essentials for now. It was not as if I was going to have a house party soon.

I put the cleaning supplies underneath the sink and stood to examine my efforts. I was proud to say that after hours, the kitchen had been cleaned enough to be livable again. I grabbed the list from the counter and headed to the front door where I left my purse handing on a hook near the front door.

As I grabbed the doorknob, I felt something brushing the hair on the back of my neck. I shook it off as I took it as a breeze from the kitchen, moving the sweat dampen hairs that were currently sticking to the back of my neck. I pulled the door open and made sure to lock it behind me. I made my way to my car and took off in the direction of the grocery store I had spotted on my way home from the hardware store.

I was able to find everything on my list at the store. The younger girl who helped me to bag my groceries was chatty, and we talked about the local scene here in town. I made sure not to mention where I was living now, at least I heard again that the house was haunted.

I thanked the girl and took my groceries out to my Subaru. I bought a little more than expected. When I got back to the house, I had to make a few trips to get everything inside. As I began putting the items away in the fridge and the cabinets, I heard a knocking sound coming from above me. My hand stilled putting away the coffee cannister. My eyes rose to the ceiling above me. I waited for a few moments to see if the sound would come again. It did not.

After all the groceries were put away, I started to tackle the kitchen boxes from my apartment. It would be nice to have at least one room in the house down completely. I was also starving and hoping that I could make something to eat as well. However, I needed plates and utensils for that. The last of the 3 boxes for the kitchen were put away, and I began to pull out items for dinner.

I decided on a small batch of chicken alfredo. The sauce was easy enough to make, and I just needed chicken and noodles. Thankfully, I grabbed the food items needed from the store. Chicken alfredo was one of my go-to meals that I could make in a pinch.

The delicious aroma started to settle in the kitchen as everything began to come together. On the other side of the decently sized kitchen was a small table and two chairs. I put my food plate and glass on the table. When I turned around with my utensils in my hand, I saw that the chair had already been pulled out. My stomach dropped. I had not pulled that chair out yet.

I stood frozen for a moment. Staring at the small table and the now pulled out chair. There was no other logical explanation. I must have pulled it out and not remember. I shrugged. Not giving another thought as to what the cause might be and began to eat my dinner. I ate every bite and stood to clean off my plate and put away the leftovers.

I made a note to call the internet provider in the morning to get the internet started at the house. I wasn't sure if the house would be too old or if they even could. I would leave that to the experts. I grabbed a book out of the desk supply box and decided to read for a little while. I needed to get my mind off the chair in the kitchen earlier.

I was able to get lost in my book for a couple of hours. I looked back at my cell phone and realized it was 10 pm. I closed my book and set about getting myself ready for bed. I headed in the direction of the bathroom once more.

As I laid my head down on my pillow on the couch, my mind drifted once more to the odd things that had been happening in the house. I know for a fact that I was not being that forgetful. Too many things had been misplaced today while I was cleaning, and then the chair moved out on its own.

For the first time, I allowed myself to ponder the idea of the house being haunted. Even saying it in my mind sounded silly. How would you even go about trying to figure out if it was haunted? Was there someone you could call that wasn't a looney? The ghost shows I had caught in the past always seemed to be theatrical to be considered real.

I was not ignorant enough to think that there was absolutely no such thing as ghosts. However, I was also a "I need to see it to believe it" kind of person. That was the train of thoughts I had before my eyelids began to grow heavy, and I felt myself beginning to be pulled into the dream world.