Mr. Bellum

  Tay nervously chewed her lower lip as she to carefully formulate an answer. "Well?!" Jack said as his patience steadily thinned. Tay began popping her knuckles and finally mustered up a response. " Well, uh,, we...well, the girls and I all kept hearing noises. At first it was just something small here and there. Mostly just at night. We didn't really think much of it at first. I mean, this is an old house." "And then?" Jack lead, cutting her off. Tay held up her hand and continued. "Then, doors started opening. The one at the end of the hallway, mostly. We knew it wasn't one of us, because it's been locked since we moved in. The landlord didn't even have a key for it. It had been wallpapered over, and when we were cleaning and fixing up the place we found it."

  Jack quirked a brow. "Why were you removing wallpaper? I thought you guys were renting?" "The landlord told us if we cleaned and fixed the place up, he'd take money off the rent. Toni, one of the other girls, and I are going for our degrees in interior design and decorating. Leila, our other roommate is studying to be an architectural engineer. We're working together to make this one of school projects. Anyway, after the door thing, the footsteps started. Cat, er Catherine, got excited about the place being haunted. One night Toni brought home an ouija board, candles, and some sage. She'd stopped by a spiritual shop on her way home, and then grabbed some Chinese takeout. We decided we'd make a night of it."

  Tay paused for a moment, seeming to temporarily lose herself in a daze. Jack cleared his throat. She snapped out of it. " That night.. i-it all seemed so harmless." She stammered and trailed off for a moment. Jack sighed. " So what, you guys held a seance and scared yourselves silly?" He chuckled darkly, as his irritation steadily brewed. Tay looked up at him through long dark lashes, a serious, solemn look in her eyes. " We lit the candles, and followed the rules on the back of the board. Each of us placed our fingertips on the planchette, and asked if there were any spirits in this house. A moment later, it began moving in response towards the 'yes'. We asked for a name, and were given the name I told you earlier. We asked why he was here, what he wanted, how he died etc. He slowly spelled out his answers, pausing between each one."

  Tay maintained her gaze, as she tried to find the next words. " He told us that he used to live here, and still wanted to protect this place. This was his home, we were welcomed guests, and he'd look after us as well. He explained that he was murdered in his sleep by intruders, and that he did not like men in the house. We were welcome, so long as we didn't let any men stay over in his house. We agreed to his terms, and thanked him for his welcoming, and for his protection. We told him we were renovating his home here and there while we lived here, so we could restore it back to it's beauty. He told us he approved, as long as no one messed with the attic."

Jack couldn't even begin to comprehend what he was hearing got now. Spirit boards, dead men, and a missing sister. Nothing short of insanity could explain the connection between the three. "What happened after that night?" Tay heaved a heavy sigh. "After that night, everything seemed fine. I mean, sure there were little things here and there, but now knew it was just Mr. Bellum. We weren't scared, so we just continued about our lives as usual. Every couple of days or so, we would pull out the board to check in and chat with him. After two months of this, we got a call on the landline from an unknown number. Leila answered it, but she said all she heard was static. Not even two minutes later, the phone rang again. It was an unknown number, so she answered it. Again, static. This continued for about a week, two calls two minutes apart, both from an unknown number."

Her voice caught in her throat. She took a deep, long breath to stay herself. "At roughly the week mark, Cate finally yelled at whoever it was to stop it. There were no more calls for three days. On the fourth day, we got another call. Cate answered again, expecting static. She said she heard what sounded like a room full of screaming people. She hung up quickly. They called back. She was shaking as she answered the call, and after she'd said 'hello' she grew pale and handed me the phone. All I heard was static, but she swore she heard screams."  Tay started breathing erratically, and Jack swooped over and grabbed her as she fell.