Welcome to Marredbury (Part 1 of 2)

An introduction to the horror-themed town. A surreal take on a haunted house story.

Asa and her husband's idyllic renovation project turns into a nightmarish ordeal when the history of the house intertwines with Asa's reality. In a bid to uncover the truth, Asa must confront the chilling tragedies that lurk within the house.

Paid Subscribers, enjoy the audio version. Thank you Carla Emmons for your work on this project!

A small sign on the highway read Marredbury, marking the exit into town. Asa would have missed it if not for the GPS. She passed a half a block of businesses on her way in, a market, bank, and a couple diner-like restaurants, and then weaved her way through the neighborhood. Turning onto a court, she spotted Old Shelton House at the end of the street. As she drove toward her new home, Asa caught glimpses of neighbors gaping from the sidewalks through her side view mirrors. She imagined she and her husband’s arrival would be town gossip by dinner.

They had taken a risk buying the house sight unseen. Pictures online could only show so much, but they had the payment in cash. Domenic’s new job at the local college gave them the fresh start they needed, space away from their family and their judgment.

Her first sight of the house flitted any lingering hesitation away. The Victorian-style was unheard of in the city. While the paint faded and chipped and the roof need replacing, Asa gaped at the architectural details, the sconces and ornate awning. She parked, eager to get inside.

She stepped through the front door and admired the bones of the house, as her father would have put it. Sure, the wallpaper was faded and peeling, debris covered the floors, and the bricks of the fireplace in the living room had begun to crumble, but no one had lived in the house for years. Despite the prolonged emptiness, it still breathed the life of all the families that had lived before. Asa never wanted to leave, wanted her feet always planted on the original wood floors.

She made her way back to the car to unpack boxes. A woman crossed the street to greet her as she popped the trunk and scooped out a box labeled “kitchen.”

“New to the neighborhood?” The woman bombarded Asa. She just wanted to get the boxes into her new house, but she couldn’t be rude. First impressions were important. “I’m Tamara Fulton.” The woman smiled and held out her hand.

Asa struggled to balance the box while taking her offered hand. “Asa Cortez,” she said.

“Anyone tell you about Marredbury?” Tamera continued.

“Not too much.” Not at all, actually. The first time she heard of the town was while reviewing their purchase. Searches of any news or updates about Marredbury had been unsuccessful. As far as she could tell, she’d moved to a quiet neighborhood with nothing to report.

Tamera glanced over her shoulder. The neighbors watched, and she huffed before facing Asa again.

She leaned closer. Asa inched away, but Tamera held her gaze. “We’re cursed.”

Asa shifted the box in her arms, a full frown on her face. “What?”

Tamera’s eyes flicked to an approaching man. He walked with a limp, dragging behind an oxygen tank, the hose connected to the mask attached to his face. Behind the mask, he scowled. Tamera narrowed her eyes and pressed her shoulders back, as if rearing up for a fight.

“Howdy.” A smile replaced his scowl, his lips warped by the mask. “Welcome to the neighborhood. I’m Paul.”

Asa greeted the old man. Tamera slipped away without another word. Asa glanced after the neighbor with the strange warning. The thought was soon pushed from her mind as Paul chatted about his role with neighborhood security. Asa smiled and leaned toward him to show she was listening. She thought he was sweet to make his way across the street in his condition. Asa wondered how much of an asset he would be on a security team. A honk interrupted them and Domenic pulled in behind the large moving van, an additional trailer attached to the back of their car. He honked his horn and waved at them through the open window.

“How’s it going,” Domenic introduced himself and then gave Asa a peck on the cheek.

“Paul’s head of neighborhood watch,” she explained.

“Pleasure,” Paul said. “You need any help with your things? I’m sure I can round up some more able bodies than my own to carry boxes.”

Asa’s gaze flicked to the watching neighbors. A dozen people stood on the sidewalks and stared. She thought she saw fear flicker across their faces. Tamara’s comment came to her mind again.

“We’ll be fine, really.” Domenic replied.

“Alrighty.” Paul gave a quick wave and then limped away. Asa piled an additional box on top of the one she carried before taking a trip into the house. With the immediate task of moving and unpacking, Tamera and Paul once again slipped from her mind. She and Domenic had found a gem of a fixer upper and she couldn’t believe their good fortune.

With the boxes unpacked from the vehicles and their rented van returned, Asa and Domenic settled in their box laden dining room with Chinese takeout and wine.

“To our new home,” Asa offered her glass for a toast.

Domenic grinned and clinked his against hers. His eyes hung heavy with exhaustion. Asa’s arms and legs were sore and fatigued. It had been a long day, the first of many.

“Where should we start?” Asa chewed a bite of noodles.

Domenic released a heavy breath and scanned the room. Through the wide entryway, they could see the shabby living room, the orange street lights outside glowing through the worn curtains. The kitchen door was closed behind them. Beyond the door, a narrow hallway snaked past the staircase to the front door and the other side of the living room. It felt like a maze. They could circle the entire house, no obvious start.

“What about the kitchen?” Asa said.

“You ready to pay for new appliances? I haven’t even started at the college yet.” Domenic refilled both of their glasses.

“Not the kitchen, then.” Asa thought for a moment. “We could start with a room upstairs.”

“For all the guests we’ll be having?” Domenic cocked an eyebrow.

She took a gulp, swallowing the bite of frustration along with the wine. “What do you think, then?”

“The living room.” He gestured to the entryway. “It would be nice to sit down and watch TV after a long day.”

He was right. Asa finished her food and poured herself another glass of wine. Domenic usually was right. Sometimes Asa thought it was a difference in their temperament, with her impatience to dive in and get her hands dirty, while he stood back and studied the situation, thinking through all his options before deciding.

“I’ll be back.”

Domenic didn’t look up from his plate as Asa exited the kitchen to the bathroom tucked beside the staircase.

She washed her hands with cool water. On her way out, she noticed the small door ajar under the stairs. Using the light from the bathroom, she opened the door and discovered a small storage space. The ceiling of the closet was made of the stairs underside. A few boxes and several frames and canvases were stacked inside. Asa retrieved a cardboard box on top of the pile and brought it into the light.

“Check out what I found.” She rejoined Domenic in the kitchen and set the box on the table.

He wrinkled his nose at the dust and shoved his plate away. Asa dug through the box filled with framed photos, a sepia tone to the pictures.

“These must be old owners of the house.” She held a photo of a woman for Domenic to see. The woman had her light hair twisted into braids that hung over her chest. She stared, unsmiling, at the camera, her hands resting on an extended belly.

“She’s pregnant.” Domenic leaned away from the photo, his eyes wide and teeth gritted.

Asa turned the photo in her direction. She hadn’t noticed at first. She’d been studying her dated hairstyle and clothing, guessing if the photo had been taken in the late 1800s or early 1900s. Now, Domenic’s words hung between them, the way they always did when that word passed lips.

Pregnant.

Neither of them wanted children, they’d agreed on that, but Domenic seemed terrified by the thought of it while Asa felt content with her decision. She had watched her friends go through pregnancies, commiserated the unpleasant side effects, cooed over their children once the baby was born.

Domenic’s fear made her roll her eyes. “Did you think pregnancy was catching? One glance at a photograph and I’ll be knocked up?”

He shrugged.

“We should hang it up somewhere,” Asa said. “It would be like paying tribute to the previous owners.”

Domenic pushed the food around his half-finished plate. “You want to have a photo of a random pregnant lady on our wall?”

“Why not?”

“It’s creepy.”

She scoffed and set the photo down beside the box. If she was in a better mood, she would have placed it face down so Domenic wouldn’t have to see the abomination of pregnancy, but cranky and tired after moving, she deliberately laid it so the photo was in his view. Her food grew cold as she continued digging through the box, all filled with images of the same woman. She posed with a man in many of them, his hair parted down the middle and gelled down, a mustache thick over his upper lip. There were several others of her with women, sisters Asa assumed by the resemblance, but no baby. The box of memories grew sad before her.

Domenic cleared the table. He took her plate without asking if she was done, and she assumed he was just as irritated with her as she was with him. He finished cleaning up dinner at the large sink, and Asa retrieved the photo of the pregnant woman again. She removed it from the frame and turned it over, finding what she hoped would be there. Written in black ink was a name and date: Serena Shelton, 1918.

After finishing their dinner, they made up their bed. Asa relaxed against her pillow, ready for sleep, when Domenic’s hand slipped around her waist. He pressed himself against her so she could feel his readiness on her back. Her exhaustion would wait. She turned around and allowed herself to be wrapped up in his arms.

Asa’s head ached. She squinted in the dark, her head heavy and mouth dry from the three glasses of wine she drank the night before.

She clicked the screen on and squinted at the bright screen. It was almost nine am. She sat up and winced with the sudden movement. Nine? Even with curtains drawn, Asa should see evidence of the morning sun, but the windows remained dim. She glanced at her phone again. Yes, just a couple minutes until nine. The date was correct and—

“Shit!” She leaned over the edge of her bed and felt around for the outlet. The charger was plugged in where she had inserted it the night before, secure. It should have charged her phone, but the battery read just under thirty percent.

Asa didn’t understand. The electricity worked fine the night before. Could it just be the outlet? It had to be, otherwise they would have a bigger, more expensive problem on their hands.

She loved the original floors, adored the crown molding around the windows and doors. Reminding herself of all of this, she dragged herself out of bed and shuffled to the window. Those details were the reason she and Domenic bought an old, rundown house. They could afford the run down ones and slowly modernize it as their incomes allowed. And it would be a slow process with Asa on a freelance graphic designer salary and Domenic applying to local colleges.

Outside, a thick fog shrouded the streets. A tint of indigo hung among the murk, like the color in the rainbow. It hovered, blocking out any sunlight, and sank low, clouding Asa’s view of her driveway. The street lamps created an eerie orange glow through the shifting haze. The entire neighborhood hadn’t lost their electricity. Asa pressed the tips of her fingers to her hangover heavy head. Just what they needed, an electrician bill.

She returned to the bed and checked her phone again. Still not charging. And the gloomy weather outside didn’t help her mood. She discarded her dying phone on the bed-side table, pulled a sweatshirt from a box to warm her chilled skin, and started toward the bathroom. There, she smeared toothpaste onto her brush and then turned on the faucet.

No water.

She tried again. Nothing.

“Shit!” She dropped the toothbrush onto the sink. It fell to its side and smeared paste on the surface. “Dom!” She hurried back to the bedroom and shook his shoulder. “Dom. Wake up.” He groaned. She gave him another shake. “The water and electricity are out.”

His eyelids appeared heavy as he blinked awake. “What?”

“Water and power. We’re dark.”

He sat up and rubbed sleep from his eyes. “It was working yesterday.”

“Yeah, but not now.” Asa eyed her dying phone.

“So we have power and water?” Domenic mumbled.

“No.” Asa gestured to her bedside table. “My phone’s not charging and I can’t brush my teeth.”

He pressed his palms to his eyes. “Jesus, Asa! What time is it?”

“Nine.” Asa snatched his phone off his bedside table and pressed the screen on.

Domenic took the phone. He sat up and yawned. “I’ll make some calls.”

She sighed. Didn’t help with the gritty feeling in her mouth, but there wasn’t much else they could do. Using the flashlight on her phone, she left the bedroom and started to the kitchen to retrieve a water bottle from the fridge.

The floorboards creaked in her hurry downstairs. The staircase deposited her in the house's entryway, and Asa took a sharp turn down the narrow hallway to the kitchen.

She caught movement in the corner of her eye. Asa froze and studied the dim space around her. Dark shadows shaded the living room and front door. In the dark, the house sat silent, as if holding its breath. Asa turned and discovered a gilded mirror hanging on a shadowed wall. Her reflection waved back at her, the only movement around. Uncaffeinated and startled by the mirror image of herself, she shook her head. It was just her reflection. Just her reflection. She forced the prickle of fear away and continued to the kitchen.

An hour later, after brushing their teeth with a bottle of water and slipping into work clothes, Asa and Domenic had opened all the curtains in the house. With the curtains drawn, Asa had a view of the empty sidewalks, the same heavy fog blanketing the concrete. Not a person in sight, but she couldn’t see much beyond her front yard.

Asa nibbled on a cold, dry bagel. She peered out their upstairs bedroom window as Domenic dug through boxes, searching for his work boots.

“Have you ever seen fog this thick?” she asked.

“I don’t know.” Domenic huffed.

Not even a breeze rustling the leaves of trees.

A knock thudded downstairs and Asa startled.

Domenic shoved a box away. “Hand me the next one, will ya?”

“I think someone’s at the door?” Asa set her bagel beside her dying phone and carried the box to her husband.

“I didn’t hear anything.” With his phone shoved in the crook of his neck, the flashlight lighting his way, he ran a key down the taped center of the box, wedged his hand into the opening.

The knock sounded again.

“See?” Asa gestured.

“You going to answer it?” Domenic raised an eyebrow, elbow deep in sweaters.

She sighed, snatched her phone, and hurried downstairs. The stillness of the house, along with the fog outside, pricked at her nerves.

The visitor knocked again as Asa made it to the landing. Her phone light reflected off the mirror. Asa bypassed the small hallway and opened the front door.

“Hi!” Tamera stood on the front step with another woman. She presented a basket to Asa. “We just wanted to stop by and check in on you guys. Figured you might need some things.”

The large basket held an assortment of food and drinks, home jarred jams and other packaged dishes and waters. Batteries and flashlights filled the front half of the basket. Asa tucked her phone in her sweatpants pocket and gathered the gift into her arms.

“Thank you.” She studied the contents. “We actually could use some things.” She spied a box of instant coffee. Her stove was gas powered, and with the two large jugs of water in the basket, she could afford to heat some of it up.

“You up for a cup of coffee?” Tamara peered over Asa’s shoulder into the house.

“Well…” Asa struggled to come up with words to tell her no. The house was dark. Boxes crowded the floors. She knew Domenic wouldn’t appreciate visitors.

“We’ll just stay a moment.” Tamara stepped inside. Asa staggered backwards, the bulky basket in her arms. “I have to admit, I’m curious how the house has fared.”

“Okay.” Asa stepped aside. She didn’t want to kick out her new neighbor. Tamara seemed friendly enough, and Asa would need friends.

Behind Tamara, the other woman hesitated. She tugged on her oversized sweater. Asa caught sight of a bandage on her right hand, her four fingers pressed together with only the tips visible.

“Come on, Mandeep.” Tamera ushered her to follow. Then she turned to Asa. “I’m sorry, I’ve been rude. Asa, this is Mandeep. She lives in the neighborhood, too.”

“Nice to meet you.” Asa greeted her with a smile, since her hands were full with the basket. “I’ll get some water heated.”

She led the way to the kitchen. The small hallway was dark, the walls just black barriers guiding her through. Asa glanced behind her, relieved to see the others following close. Mandeep’s wide eyes seemed to glow in the darkness. Asa found her nervous energy a kind of strange comfort. Even if the house left them both unnerved, at least Asa wasn’t alone. Their company wrapped around her like a security blanket as she continued down the narrow hallway.

Mandeep gasped as they passed the mirror, and Asa stopped before it and turned around.

“Where’d you get this picture?” Tamera raised an eyebrow at the framed photo hanging beside the mirror. Asa craned her neck to get a better look in the darkness.

It was Serena. Her unsmiling face, hand over her belly. When had Domenic put that up? Asa’s heart warmed. He had listened to her and was trying to apologize in his own way.

“We found it in a box under the stairs. Her name is Serena.”

“We know,” Mandeep muttered.

Asa’s knees quivered. It could have been the weight of the basket or her neighbor’s unease catching, unlike Serena’s pregnancy. Questions sat on her tongue and she’d ask them, but first she had to get them all to the kitchen, out of the cramped hall. She felt the pressure to hurry through the hall, like her neighbors couldn’t get through fast enough.

Asa invited them to sit around the small table they had brought from their apartment, just enough seats for all of them.

“What brought you to Marredbury?” Tamera asked from her seat at the table.

Asa filled a kettle with bottled water and fired up the stove. “Dom got a job teaching at the junior college outside of town. We took the opportunity to start somewhere new.”

“A fresh start?” Mandeep quoted the words that had been running through Asa’s head for weeks. The stove warmed the kitchen and she took a seat with her neighbors.

“Exactly.” The women didn’t respond, like they waited for her to continue. The kettle percolated behind her. “My family wants us to have kids. They’re having a hard time accepting that we don’t want that for ourselves.”

Tamera nodded her understanding. The kettle began to hiss and Asa got up to to prepare their drinks. She made an extra cup for Domenic and picked up the steaming mug.

“I’ll be right back.” She fished a flashlight and batteries from the basket on the way out of the kitchen.

Part of Asa wanted to take the time to open up the batteries, unscrew the top of the flashlight and insert them. She could prepare all the flashlights — enough for each person in this house and an extra for herself, to postpone leaving the kitchen, where the stove warmed the room. She found herself nervous to pass through the small hallway again, an urge to keep her gaze off the framed photo, but had no idea why.

She gripped the steaming mug and squeezed the batteries and flashlight. It was just the dark. Anyone would be nervous in the dark, especially in an old house. Even her neighbors seemed frightened. But it was just her overactive imagination, no monsters hiding in dark corners. Asa forced her feet to move, forced the fears from her mind. She was being ridiculous.

She even forced herself to look into the photo as she passed by. She glimpsed herself in the mirror beside her, her shoulder length dark hair disheveled and still tangled from sleep. There was nothing to be afraid of. It was her house, the house she dreamed of, nothing more.

The mirror caught the reflection of the hallway, the bottom of the stairs, and the entryway to the living room. With the fog outside dimming the view, Asa squinted at the reflection. Her legs stiffened and her feet grew heavy. The flashlight slipped from her fingers, and hot coffee splashed her bare feet as the mug crashed on the floor. She couldn’t move. The image in the mirror paralyzed her.

“You okay?” Tamera called from the kitchen.

“I…” Asa’s hands trembled. An icy chill nipped at her damp toes, like fear seeped from the floorboards. It weaved in and out of the cracks until it grabbed onto Asa. The grip slipped up her legs and squeezed the air from her chest. It caressed her like an embrace, welcoming her home.

Voice echoed in her mind. Anyone? Please, send anyone!

She flicked a gaze at Serena. Had a smile lifted the corner of her lips? Terror sunk deep into her bones before finally loosening its grip on her. Asa inhaled deeply.

“Domenic!”

Domenic held Asa against his chest, an arm over her shoulder. The two neighbors stood around them in the flashlight lit kitchen. Tamera held out a hand, offering it to Asa like a life preserver, but Asa’s gaze remained fixed on the tiled kitchen floor. She feared looking anywhere else, afraid of what she would see in the corner of her eye or in the reflection of the metal tea kettle resting on the table.

“Something was in the living room,” she repeated. “I saw it.”

“I checked the living room.” Domenic gave her the same response as the last three times she’s explained what she saw. “There’s nothing there.”

She shook her head. “It was there. A dark figure. Not really human, the way it hunched over. It had claws. It beckoned me. I couldn’t see its face, but it smiled at me. I saw it in the mirror.”

“The mirror?” Mandeep squeaked.

Tamera elbowed Mandeep. Asa caught the fear that flashed across her neighbor’s faces.

“What’s going on?” she pressed.

Mandeep stared wide eyed and slack jawed.

“Is your electricity and water out? Is the fog normally that thick?” Asa gestured to the shrouded sky through the small kitchen window over the sink.

Tamera shrugged. “The weather can be strange sometimes.”

Asa held Tamara’s gaze. The truth seemed to sit on her tongue. She had started the day before, before Paul had interrupted.

Tamera sighed. She pulled out a chair and faced it toward Asa and Domenic before taking her seat. She didn’t speak for a moment, but licked her lips.

“Marredbury is a special town,” she paused. Behind her, Mandeep tugged at a lock of her hair. Tamera continued, “There’s so many legends and stories about the town curse, it’s hard to tell what’s the truth and what’s fantasy.” She looked to the others for a moment, the glow of the flashlight casting shadows across the angles of her face. They just stared at her, their faces pale and slack. “There are phenomenons that can’t be explained, probably never will.”

Like the fog? Asa squeezed Domenic’s hand. He sniffed. She knew that sound; the air blowing quickly from his nose. She didn’t need to see him to know he rolled his eyes. He didn’t believe Tamera, but he also didn’t see the dark figure, didn’t feel the heavy evil that squeezed the air from Asa’s lungs and made her feel like she’d been dunked in ice.

“There are lots of stories,” Tamera said.

Asa’s bones still trembled. Stories like figures in the darkness?

“But that’s all they are.” Mandeep shot a sharp gaze at Tamera. “Just stories.”

For a moment, Asa believed that her new neighbor was keeping Tamera from scaring her further, but Mandeep huddled behind Tamera, her gaze shifting from side to side. Not comforting Asa, but cowering.

A chill froze the blood in Asa’s veins.

“There’s something going on.” Tamera spoke over her shoulder to Mandeep. “They should know. Why else would those scientists have moved into the duplex around the corner? They’re looking for answers.”

“Scientists are researching the fog?” Domenic raised an eyebrow.

“They’re researching the town,” Tamera replied.

Mandeep hugged herself. “I should really get home. I left Janani in charge. She’s never watched Aman this long before.” She met Tamera’s gaze, and the women stared at each other, like they were having a silent conversation.

Asa could have leapt across the table and clung to Mandeep to get her to stay. “Why are the scientists researching the town?”

“I’m so sorry.” Tamera blinked quicker, like she fought back tears. “We really should get going.”

“Wait.” Asa’s voice was small.

Tamera stood up. Her coffee remained half filled on the table, Mandeep’s untouched. She gestured to the basket. “I put my card in there. Call me if you ever want to talk.”

Despite the horror thudding against her chest, she found that final gesture comforting. As the women hurried from the kitchen, she couldn’t help feeling trapped in her new house. Tamera’s card became that life preserver, something she hoped she would never need, but knew in her gut that was just wishful thinking.

Domenic followed them out. Asa caught the way the two women avoided the mirror and photo as they passed. She sat alone for a moment, listening to their footsteps disappear through the front door and Domenic locking it behind them. She got up to meet him in the entryway.

He didn’t comment on their visitors. Instead, he gathered her into a hug.

“Are you okay?”

She faced the door. Part of her wanted to run out and catch them. She lost the safety of numbers, but she didn’t understand why she needed them.

“They’re loons. Probably spend too much time gossiping. Maybe they work from home and have gone a bit stir crazy.”

Asa nodded. Just gossip, nothing more.

Except she’d seen that figure. Tamera didn’t cause her to imagine that. Something was in their house and her neighbors’ stories were the only explanations she had.

“Come on.” Domenic released her from his hug. “At least they brought us some food. We can eat and then get working on your dream house.”

Finish the tale with Part 2

Welcome to Marredbury (Part 2 or 2)

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Welcome to Marredbury (Audio Version)