The House on Moon Creek Avenue Read online

  E. Reyes

  The House on Moon Creek Avenue

  Copyright © 2020 by E. Reyes

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

  Cover Photo by Howliekat at Pixabay.com

  Cover Design by E. Reyes

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  First edition

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  Contents

  Also by E. Reyes

  Prologue

  I. THE HAUNTINGS

  The Move to Moon Creek Avenue

  An Old Story

  The Girl In the Gown

  Wally’s Food Corner

  A Surprise

  Night

  Another Time

  Montage of Hell

  Cindy Talks

  Visitors

  The Scary Man

  Enough

  A Message

  II. THE INVESTIGATION

  P.I.Gs

  10 p.m.

  Jack

  Daryl

  Vic

  Cindy

  Alexa

  III. THE REVELATION

  Antonio

  Home Again

  Cleansing

  The Sight

  Options

  Serene

  A Gift

  Author’s Note

  About the Author

  Before You Go

  Also by E. Reyes

  Devil’s Hill: An Anthology

  Strange Tales of the Macabre: Stories

  Mischief: A Short Story

  A Scurry Furry Christmas: A Short Story

  -

  Coming Soon:

  The Murders at Camp Ketchum

  The Ballad of Jack Forest

  -

  HalloweenEddie.BlogSpot.com

  Prologue

  Cindy sat at the edge of her bed, gazing out of her bedroom window. She was scared and anxious—feelings that had become so familiar now that they were like unwanted friends who showed up uninvited at any moment. She took a deep breath and exhaled softly as she watched the drunken October sun waver just above the desert mountains.

  It would be night soon, and that meant that the ghosts would be around as soon as the twilight kissed the sky with its pattern of twinkling stars, and the fading light from the sun casts a watered-down blue hue to the horizon.

  Although Cindy was already feeling fear making the small hairs on her neck stand, and the nervousness biting at her chest, she felt a strange kind of relaxation bestow her. It wasn’t relaxation in the sense of bliss; it was relaxation in the sense of weary submission. Tranquility crept over Cindy as the anxiety nipping away at her nerves suddenly lifted. It was as if she was succumbing to the horrors in her home. What else was she supposed to do? Make herself sick and faint by waiting to see which ghost was going to appear when and where? She didn’t want to look at the bathroom or her bedroom door anymore. She wanted to look outside of her window this late evening. She was going to let the orange glow of the melting sun bathe her skin with its gentle warmth until the cold of autumn dominated, and nature’s light clocked out for the day.

  Her daughter was with her sister, staying the night. The poor little girl was now too frightened to sleep another night in the house on Moon Creek Avenue. If she had to stay another night in her room, she feared that the man in her closet was going to hurt her this time. Cindy felt helpless and weak for not being able to protect her child. How was she supposed to protect her from something that was there but wasn’t? You couldn’t call the proper authorities for something that only showed up when it wanted to and then vanish without a trace. And it wasn’t only the man in the closet, for there were others.

  As Cindy now sat complacently with a veil of dread over her, a face appeared underneath her bed. The face was pale and skeletal. Thin, blue lips formed a small “0” shape on the man’s face, but his expression was frozen. The eyes were dead—the color of gray smoke, and they watched Cindy’s legs and her feet. The man underneath her bed remained still, like a snake waiting to strike.

  The bathroom door was closed, and there was a dead, naked woman standing right behind it. Her wrinkled cheek from marinating in blood and cold water was pressed up against the door as if she was eavesdropping a conversation. The woman smiled as she felt the misery that was emitting from the room behind the door. She pressed her face against the door harder, squishing the dead skin on her cheek and making water slide slowly down the door.

  A new visitor had appeared in the hall. The young man simply walked up quietly and started to peer in as Cindy gazed out the window. The young man was wearing a black newsboy cap that was ruined with dried blood on the left side. Beneath the cap was a terrain of gore that implicated a gunshot wound. The blood ran down his shirt and speckled the top of his gray cardigan. He stood in the hall and watched like an art admirer at a gallery. He had no clue why he was in the house, so he had started looking around.

  Cindy felt all of these eyes on her but didn’t care at this moment. Her mind hadn’t particularly gone to break, never to return just yet. She was just thinking why me? and wondering what was going to happen. Her options were slim to none. It was either write back to the ghost investigators and see if they can help, live with the ghosts and find some curandero to bless the house (she had been Googling local yerberia shops), or live with her dad—again, until she was able to save enough money to get her and her daughter an apartment. She didn’t want to go to a yerberia. She didn’t want to live with her dad and his envious new wife. She didn’t want to leave her nana’s house. She was now wrestling with the thought of having the paranormal investigators in her home. All she had to do was reply and they’d show up, but was she going to go forward with that?

  The sun finally dipped behind the mountain.

  The orange glow was now replaced by the dark blue shadows of dusk. The sun was on its way around the globe. Stars started to shimmer dimly as the sky started its transition into night.

  With a heavy feeling in her chest and stomach, Cindy thought she better turn on the light in her room.

  The man underneath reached out a bony hand and clasped it around Cindy’s right ankle.

  Cindy screamed.

  I

  The Hauntings

  1

  The Move to Moon Creek Avenue

  1

  Cindy couldn’t believe that she was finally getting a place of her own. It wasn’t under the best of circumstances, but she and her five-year-old daughter, Mallory, needed their own space. Cindy had grown weary and uncomfortable having to live with her sister, Gloria, and then with her mom, after her mom, it was her dad and his new wife, and… David’s parents—before hers and Mallory’s couchsurfing began. Cindy shook her head and sniffed at the thought of that name—David, that person, that— Cindy shook her head and took a deep breath. She placed her sweaty palms on her lap and looked out the window of her Tio Rudy’s Chevy truck. She didn’t want to think of Mallory’s deadbeat father who cared more about weed and getting drunk more than his daughter. This was supposed to be a good day—move-in day. She didn’t want to spoil something that she asked the universe for in tears on the daily: a home of her own.
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  They had left from packing all of her and Mallory’s stuff at her dad’s house on the north side of Devil’s Hill. Her dad’s house was the only place that she and Mallory were able to sleep on a bed, in a room. Her dad was an owner of two huge Mexican restaurants in Devil’s Hill called El Pollo del Diablo, so he had a very nice home and a new trophy wife to go with it. His wife, Margarita, was nice when she wanted to be, but Cindy felt her cold stare every time she saw her in the home. Cindy felt Margarita was jealous of her and her dad’s relationship in some sick way. She walked chin-up around the home, wagging her heavily injected faux Kim Kardashian ass with the boobs to match while Cindy and her daughter were uncomfortable in the room, waiting for her to leave so they can prepare something to eat in the kitchen. Margarita kept to herself, but Cindy didn’t want to live there much longer. And on the week when Cindy was breaking down in depression the most, unfortunately, her nana passed away. But fortunately, she gained a new home. It was a bittersweet moment that she still didn’t know how to feel about. If she was too happy was she disrespecting her nana? Did that mean she was happy that the poor old woman was dead? And if she wasn’t happy about it, was she being ungrateful about her nana putting her name in the will to inherit the home? Cindy decided to stay neutral about the whole situation, but Mallory was ecstatic about finally getting her own room, and that was okay. Her baby deserved a place to call home.

  Cindy and Mallory were now venturing to the side of town that was keen to home invasions, fatal shootings, robberies and late-night hovering from the ghetto birds in the sky. And not only was it poisoned with crime, but there were a few stories about bizarre and evil things going on around this side of town. A girlfriend from high school—Cynthia Gomez—said she swore she saw a walking scarecrow in the early hours of Halloween. Cynthia was an exaggerator who thrived on gossip and making up things just to talk to someone, so Cindy disregarded that outlandish story. But if it were true, Cindy hoped to never have to come face to face with anything supernatural.

  Cindy noticed how everything changed once she started drifting into this particular side of town. It went from Starbucks and pricey Sushi restaurants and smooth streets to pothole-filled streets and liquor stores and pawn shops that bought and sold firearms to whoever had a thick enough billfold. Looking at her surroundings only motivated her to keep on going with her online college courses as soon as classes were in session. She was determined to make a better life for her and Mallory. David had been out of the picture for a year, and she wasn’t about to bring him back into her or Mallory’s life for the sake of financial gains, no matter what.

  They pulled into Moon Creek Avenue.

  “Is that it, mommy?” said Mallory as she pointed at the street sign that read Moon Creek Avenue. She placed her small stubby nose on the truck’s window. Her light-brown hair shone beautifully in the autumn sun.

  “Yeah, that’s it, mija,” said Tio Rudy. He adjusted the red trucker hat on his head. Fluffs of thick wavy hair were sprouting out underneath the hat like overgrowth. “You and your mommy are going to be able to finally have your own space now. That means you can fart whenever and wherever you want now.”

  Mallory pulled away from the window, looking at her tio and giggled. “Ewww!”

  Cindy smiled and softly placed her hand on her daughter’s scabbed knee from playing with her cousin’s skateboard and falling on the street two days before. “Mallory farts wherever she goes. She doesn’t care who’s there,” said Cindy.

  Mallory’s jaw dropped. “No, I don’t!”

  Tio Rudy and Cindy laughed as Mallory sulked in the middle of them, crossing her arms over her chest. Cindy leaned over and gave a small peck on Mallory’s head. “I’m just kidding, Mal. Keep pouting and your lips are going to stay like that.”

  Tio Rudy looked over at Mallory and said, “Hey, maybe she wants to be like Kylie Jenner? Or a pinche fish!” He opened his mouth and puckered his lips, imitating a fish fresh out the water.

  They all started laughing, including Mallory. She pictured a huge catfish puckering its huge, red lipstick-covered lips over and over. She also pictured a bushy mustache on the fish just like Tio Rudy’s.

  As they were pulling into the driveway, Cindy took in the house. It wasn’t in the best neighborhood. She was indeed going to live on the “bad side” of town, far from where she was last staying with her father, but the house was beautiful if you took away the organic rustic appearance the exterior of the home had taken. The wood was beaten down and expanded by the monsoon storms and cold winters, but Cindy saw it as a project she could take on; fixing up her nana’s house—her house. It could be like one of those home renovations shows she loved to watch on the HGTV channel.

  The houses on both sides of Moon Creek Avenue all had a weary look to them, and they were the only two-story homes in the area. All of the other houses around the area were duplexes and small houses that were built in the 1950s; way before poverty and gangs took over. The gangs seemed to be gone now, finally getting on with the times, but there were still some crack heads roaming the streets, walking around aimlessly like zombies in a horror flick. Drugs were the only things that never got out of style, unfortunately. And there were plenty of drug dealers supplying the dope heads; their clean big-bodied cars sitting on huge chrome wheels in the driveways pointed them out like spotlights. Cindy would be careful with herself and Mallory.

  Tio Rudy parked his truck into the driveway and put the screeching clutch in park.

  Mallory got up from her seat enthusiastically. “Let’s go! Let’s go! I wanna see my room!”

  “Whoa, settled down, Mal. Let’s get a couple of things first, okay?” said Cindy, combing a loose strand of hair over Mallory’s pointy ear.

  “Your sister came by earlier. I think she thought you were already here. She wanted to help, but she had to go to work already,” said Tio Rudy.

  Cindy smiled. “Aw, that’s too bad. I miss Gloria. I’ll call her tomorrow.”

  They all started to unbuckle their seatbelts.

  “Is nana home?” said Mallory. Her wide, honey-brown eyes waited for a reply. Her chubby cheeks were turning a little red from the cold air.

  Cindy and Tio Rudy gave each other a solemn look and then quickly looked away. Tio Rudy adjusted his trucker hat and rubbed his nose.

  Cindy sighed and smiled. “Um, Mal, we talked about this, remember?”

  Mallory’s smile turned into a frown. She started gazing at the floor of the truck, poking at a cigarette butt with her shoe. “Yeah, I ‘member. She’s with the angels now.”

  Tio Rudy cleared his throat, snuffing a sob. His voice quivered, but not so much for Mallory to notice. “That’s right, Mal. And she will be watching over you and mommy in your new home, okay? You two will be safe here. Yeah, this used to be nana’s house, but now it’s yours and your mommy’s, mija. Your nana gave it to you two, okay?” Tio Rudy glanced over at Cindy and smiled. His thick mustache covered his quivering lip.

  Cindy returned the smile and glanced out the window. “Okay. Let’s get going.”

  “Yay!” screamed Mal as she got up from the seat.

  Cindy opened the door and felt the cold October air touch her face. She also felt the gentle warmth of the sun. It was good to get some fresh, crisp air. Her Tio’s truck smelled like stale cigarettes and old crusty socks. It was the smell of an unkempt party animal that was so boozed up they couldn’t smell themselves. Her Tia Carla usually locked the door on Rudy if he came home late from drinking, so it was most likely that he had slept in his truck the night before. So, if his truck smelled more sketchy and musty than usual, it was always most likely because he had to sleep in it the night before.

  “Mommy! Can we go in?” Mallory asked as she jumped impatiently on the stoop of the house. Tio Rudy was unstrapping the cables he had strapped all of Cindy’s things in from the bed of the truck.

  Cindy was gazing up at the windows, noticing how dark and lonely the home was since her nana had passed away
a month ago from a heart attack. She had three horrible strokes before her heart finally gave out for good. “Yeah, Mal. Let’s help your Tio Rudy first, okay? Then we can go in and you can play with your dolls.”

  “Hurry! Hurry! It’s gonna be fun!” Mallory said with a smile.

  Cindy smiled at her daughter. “Yes, it will be!” She looked back up at the home, looking at the window in the attic. She had a great feeling about the home—her home. She had the feeling that her life was going to be so much better now. But if Cindy were to look back now, she would have known how wrong she was at that moment. And she had come to terms with the fact that some things are just unavoidable no matter how much you wish you could have seen a sign.

  2

  They had to make three trips to and from Cindy’s dad’s house to gather all of their belongings, so the move became a strenuous and exhausting task for Cindy. Tio Rudy seemed fine. He was a big man—six-foot and three-inches tall and about two-hundred and fifty pounds, so he was quite used to being used for things like helping people move. The only discomfort he showed was wincing here and there and the slick sweat on his face. His wavy hair spilling out under his hat started sticking to his forehead.

  When the moving was done (once and for all, thank goodness) Cindy picked up carne asada burritos and super nachos from El Pollo del Diablo—free, of course, and a six-pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon for her tio. He wouldn’t take her money; he refused to do so over and over, so she just fed the man and bought him his favorite drink to show him her appreciation. He ate hungrily and quickly along with Mallory who always ate the burrito from the middle; an eating habit that drove Cindy mad. Don’t eat the burrito like that, Mal! Like what, mommy? And she’d bite into the middle some more.