The House Next Door Read online

  “But how can a house do that?” Amanda asked.

  “It’s not the house so much as the land it was built on. We were as surprised and saddened as you are now,” Mrs. Goodwin replied. “We searched and searched until we found an answer. And it was hidden right before our very eyes. We found the original deed from the bank. In fine print, was a paragraph explaining that the land was historic and sacred . . . and cursed. If we built a house here, we were also responsible for the upkeep of the land. Of course we didn’t realize that the land also had certain supernatural elements that would require us to stay here forever.”

  “But what can we do?” moaned Alyssa. “We can’t stay here forever! We can’t even stay here overnight.”

  Mrs. Goodwin looked at the sisters with sympathy. She nodded, understanding. “This is our home,” she explained. “We are happy to stay here as a family forever. It turned out that the curse was actually a blessing for us, but that doesn’t have to be your fate.”

  “John and Michael had the misfortune of wandering into the house fifty years ago on New Year’s Eve,” Mr. Goodwin continued. “When the clock struck twelve, the curse was triggered, and they were trapped here with us just as you are now.

  “But John and Michael were not happy with their situation. They tried everything to get out of the house. They even tried to burn it down once, but the house found a way to extinguish itself. Then, maybe thirty years ago, the bank hired a psychic. The townspeople must not have wanted to tear down the house since it was the first house built in Glory, but they didn’t want it to be abandoned either. They wanted someone to buy it, but no one would, not until the rumors that it was haunted were squashed. Surprisingly, we were able to communicate with this psychic. And she was able to sense things about the curse—things we never could have known. We all listened, including John and Michael, as she explained about the curse taking hold every fifty years. And she explained about the loophole with replacements. Then all John and Michael had to do was wait for their turn to escape.

  “Like them, you will have just one opportunity to escape the curse—in fifty years on New Year’s Eve—but only if you find replacements. Once the house has claimed more souls, the number of souls has to remain the same.

  “We tried to warn you. We knew the boys planned to find replacements. Did you hear us calling out to you tonight? Telling you to stay away?”

  “We tried to contact you in other ways,” Mrs. Goodwin added. “To scare you even, so you’d run from the house. The dolls’ eyes blinking open. The rocking chair and wheelchair. We wanted to do more; to appear and simply tell you to leave.” She looked regretfully at the girls. “The house’s power is strong. All of our more substantial attempts at communication were blocked.”

  Amanda and Alyssa nodded, taking in and trying to believe all that they had heard.

  Suddenly, the front door swung open. Anne ran inside. Carrie was right behind her. They pointed their flashlights into each room, searching frantically for Alyssa and Amanda. Amanda ran over and tried to grab her younger sister. But her hand went right through Anne’s arm.

  “Alyssa! Amanda!” cried Carrie. She ran into the kitchen and continued searching for her friends. “I thought you said you left them here!” she yelled to Anne.

  “I did!” Anne replied. Tears started to spill from her eyes. “Where are they?”

  “Anne! Carrie!” Alyssa shouted. “We’re here!”

  Alyssa stood in front of Anne, so close she could feel her warm breath. She waved and flung her arms around wildly while screaming into her sister’s ear. But no matter how loudly Alyssa and Amanda shouted, it was useless—Anne and Carrie could not see or hear them. When she did gaze in their direction, Anne looked right through her two older sisters.

  Alyssa looked at the Goodwins with pleading eyes. They stood silently, shaking their heads. It was no use. The curse was too strong. Alyssa and Amanda stopped moving and yelling as they watched Anne and Carrie walk out the door and into the night—back to the Petersons’ home.

  “You cannot communicate with the outside world,” Mrs. Goodwin said. “In time, you may learn how to send whispers across the meadow, show your shadow to those outside the house, or even open and close the doors and shutters. But there will be no significant contact.”

  “Until New Year’s Eve in fifty years,” Alyssa said. “When we find our replacements.”

  EPILOGUE

  December 27th

  The rain poured down angrily on the old roof. The two sisters looked out of dingy window and watched the water splash against the glass. Amanda gazed longingly at the lush meadow in front of her; it separated the house she was in from the house next door. It was winter in Glory, Texas, and wildflowers were in bloom.

  “You’ll get to see them close-up soon enough,” Alyssa told her sister.

  “Hmm,” Amanda replied. She was hardly listening.

  “I thought you’d be more excited,” Alyssa replied. “After all, think of all the things we’ll see on the other side. There must be so many changes, and we’re still so young. Who knows? Maybe we can find everyone again.”

  Amanda walked over to the faded sofa. She opened a book she’d already read a million times, flipping through the pages and not really reading any of the words.

  “Seriously, why aren’t you more excited?” Alyssa asked.

  “I’m just not convinced that it’s fair,” Amanda said. “Think about it. We didn’t have a choice.”

  Alyssa looked away from the window and then walked over to join her sister on the sofa.

  “I just can’t stay here anymore,” Alyssa said. “We have to do it. We have to move forward with the plan!”

  “How do we know that all will be okay?” Amanda asked her.

  “It just will,” Alyssa replied. “And we know that it will work. It did with us.” And with that, Alyssa stood up anxiously. She couldn’t bear the thought of her sister backing out of the plan now. They had waited so long, and she didn’t want to face the outside world alone. They were destined to face it together. The house next door had remained empty for many, many years. Then one day last year, the FOR SALE sign was removed, and the girls excitedly watched a family moving boxes into it—a family with four teenage boys.

  The girls had known then that their turn was upon them. Alyssa went back to the window. The rain had lifted and was now just pitter-pattering on the grass.

  “Don’t you want to be out there again?” Alyssa asked pointing to the fields. “We’ve waited long enough!”

  Amanda rose from the sofa and then walked over to the window. She wrote an A in the foggy glass. “I guess we should try.”

  Alyssa grabbed Amanda’s hand. “That’s what I want to hear. Come on. We only have a few days, and there’s still so much to be done. Timing is everything.”

  “You don’t have to wait, Mom,” Kristi Chen said firmly.

  Mrs. Chen pursed her lips. “Are you sure, honey?” she asked. “It looks like the other parents are staying until the buses leave.”

  “But don’t you have an important meeting?” Kristi replied.

  “Yes,” Mrs. Chen admitted. As one of the busiest lawyers in the state, Mrs. Chen was always rushing off to a big meeting or a court date.

  “So go!” Kristi exclaimed. “Seriously, why waste your time standing around breathing in bus fumes?”

  “Okay,” Mrs. Chen finally gave in. She wrapped her arms around Kristi for a big hug. “Be careful, Kristi. Don’t go off by yourself; listen to your teachers; stay safe.”

  “Okay, Mom! Love you! Bye!” Kristi cried. She grabbed her overnight bag and backpack and bolted from the car before her mom could change her mind.

  The rest of the seventh graders at Jefferson Middle School milled around the two buses that were idling by the curb. Kristi had never seen her classmates so excited to be at school on a Monday morning. She adjusted her backpack as she moved toward the crowd, looking for her best friend, Olivia Papas. But, as usual, Olivia found Kristi f
irst.

  “Kristi!” Olivia shrieked. “Are you psyched? I can’t believe we’re finally going on the field trip!”

  “I know!” Kristi replied with a grin. Then she heard a familiar voice call out.

  “Olivia! Kristi!”

  Olivia’s smile immediately disappeared. She grabbed Kristi’s arm and dragged her around to the other side of the bus. “Oh, no. It’s my parents . . .”

  “Pretty bad this morning?” Kristi said sympathetically.

  “The worst ever.” Olivia groaned. “They brought the video camera and they’re interviewing kids about the trip. I’m gonna die of embarrassment.”

  Kristi couldn’t help laughing. “I’m sorry,” she said. “That’s rough. But look on the bright side—at least they’re not chaperoning.”

  “Shhh!” Olivia said, her eyes wide. “Don’t jinx it. Besides, I won’t believe that until the buses are moving and I know they’re not on them! How’d you get rid of your mom?”

  Kristi shrugged. “She had a meeting. The usual.”

  “Lucky,” Olivia replied. “I wish my parents had a life . . . outside of ruining mine.”

  Just then the girls heard a loud whistle. “Attention, seventh graders,” Mr. Tanaka, their social studies teacher, called above all the noise. “Please join me by the flagpole.”

  Everyone hurried over toward Mr. Tanaka. Ms. Pierce, the science teacher, stood next to him.

  “At last, it’s the day we’ve all been waiting for,” Mr. Tanaka announced. “The annual seventh-grade overnight field trip to Ravensburg Caverns is finally here. If you haven’t already done so, please leave your luggage by the side of the bus so Mr. Carlson and Mr. Reed can load it. Remember, you can keep your backpack with you, but no eating or drinking on the buses—we’ll stop for lunch when we’re halfway to the caverns.”

  “I’d like to remind everyone that even though we’ll be away from school for two days, the regular school rules are still in effect,” Ms. Pierce added. “If you break those rules, you will be sent home immediately.”

  Mr. Tanaka eyed the kids sternly for a moment, then he smiled. “Okay! If you’re on bus one, please follow me. If you’re on bus two, go with Ms. Pierce. And let’s get this show on the road!”

  “Hurry,” Kristi said to Olivia. “I want to get a good seat. In the back.”

  The girls pushed their way through the crowd to bus one—but Mr. and Mrs. Papas stepped in front of them.

  “One more hug!” Mrs. Papas cried as she reached for Olivia.

  Olivia rolled her eyes as her parents squashed her in a giant bear hug, but only Kristi could see.

  “We’re going to miss you so much, Poodle,” Mr. Papas said.

  “Dad. You promised you would stop calling me that,” Olivia said through gritted teeth. The nickname had been stuck to Olivia since second grade, when she used to wear her curly black hair in two enormous, fluffy pigtails.

  “Sorry.” Mr. Papas apologized as he gave Olivia’s ponytail a little tug. He turned to Kristi. “Take good care of each other, okay, Kristi?”

  “Absolutely, Mr. Papas. You can count on me,” Kristi said, trying not to laugh. “But we’d better go.”

  “I’m so bad at good-byes,” Mrs. Papas said, wiping her eyes. “I love you, sweetie. Please be careful in the caves. I’m going to be so worried about you.”

  “Come on, Mom, I’ll be back tomorrow night. You won’t even notice I’m gone,” Olivia replied. “Bye!” Then she hurried off to the bus, dragging Kristi behind her.

  On the bus, Kristi spotted an empty row of seats that was almost at the back.

  “Kristi, Kristi, wait,” Olivia said, pulling Kristi over to a row on the opposite side of the bus—and right near the front. “Let’s sit here.”

  “Here? In the front? Why?”

  “Because my parents are taking pictures on the other side,” Olivia explained. “They won’t be able to see us if we sit over here. Please, Kristi? Please?”

  Kristi sighed as she followed Olivia into the other row. Now they would be sitting just two rows behind Mr. Tanaka. It seemed pretty silly to Kristi to pick a seat for the entire bus ride just because Olivia’s parents wanted to take a couple of pictures of the bus leaving. But she knew how sensitive Olivia was about her parents, and how smothering they could be.

  Olivia dug around in her backpack and pulled out her bright pink hairbrush. “Want me to do your hair?” she asked.

  “Yes, please,” Kristi replied. She twisted around in the seat so that her back was facing Olivia. Kristi closed her eyes as Olivia started brushing her hair.

  An obnoxiously loud voice rang through the bus. “Hey, look at that! Usually the poodle is the one being groomed!”

  Kristi didn’t need to open her eyes to know who was talking. She’d know that voice anywhere. “Hi, Bobby,” she said.

  “Actually, what she meant to say was, ‘Shut up, Bobby,’ ” Olivia said.

  But Bobby Lehman had never shut up in his life, and he wasn’t about to start now. He threw his backpack into the seat in front of Kristi and Olivia. “Ooh, Olivia, will you do my hair next? Puh-leeease?” Bobby cooed in a high-pitched, squeaky voice.

  Olivia shot Bobby a dirty look as she put down her hairbrush and started playing around with her phone. Almost immediately, Kristi’s phone buzzed with a text from Olivia.

  K, u were so right about the seats. I wish we weren’t stuck behind bobby. UGH

  Kristi gave Olivia a little smile, but she didn’t text her back. She knew Bobby could be really annoying. He was so desperate to be the center of attention all the time that it often backfired, and Kristi felt a little sorry for him. Kristi never would have admitted it—not even to Olivia—but she actually thought Bobby was cute. Kinda. Sorta. And sometimes he was actually really funny. And when he wasn’t trying to show off, Kristi thought he could be really nice, too.

  “So are you guys looking forward to exploring the caves tomorrow?” Bobby continued as the bus pulled out of the school parking lot.

  Olivia put on some headphones and started listening to music from her phone. There was no way that Bobby could’ve missed the hint, but he ignored it completely.

  “I’m not,” Bobby answered his own question. “Those caves are scary. Not fun scary, really scary.”

  “What do you mean?” Kristi asked curiously.

  “My brothers told me all about it,” Bobby said loudly. “They said it should be criminal to take kids into the Ravensburg Caverns. After what happened there.”

  Kristi raised her eyebrows. She was pretty sure that Bobby was about to tell one of his over-the-top stories. But even so, she couldn’t help asking, “What? What happened?”

  “It was a long time ago,” Bobby began as kids in other seats stopped chatting and started listening in. “Almost a hundred years ago, actually. Well, the caves were a really big deal even back then. Like, every day people lined up for a chance to go inside and see the wonders of the Ravensburg Caverns. And schools—just like our school—sent kids there on field trips.”

  “So?” yelled Evan Hollis from a few rows behind Kristi.

  “So . . . ,” Bobby said, pausing dramatically, “so . . . one time a class disappeared in the caves. Twenty-one kids. Vanished. Gone without a trace.”

  Now it seemed like just about everyone on the bus was focused on Bobby. Even Mr. Tanaka had shifted in his seat, like he was listening with one ear.

  “The townspeople searched for months,” Bobby said, leaning over the seat back. He had everyone’s attention now and he was determined to keep it. “Even after they had lost all hope that the kids would be found alive, they kept looking. They brought in search-and-rescue dogs and they searched, and they searched . . . and they found nothing. Not a footprint. Not a fingerprint. Not a sweater. Not a hair bow. Not a body. Not even a bone. Twenty-one kids vanished off the face of the earth, as if they had never . . . even . . . existed.”

  “But what . . .” Kristi swallowed; her mouth was suddenly very dry.
She tried again. “But what happened to them?”

  Bobby shrugged. “Nobody knows. Most people think that they must have fallen into, like, an abyss or something. Some of those drops in the cave . . . Even now, they don’t know quite how far they go down. But I don’t think so.”

  “How come?” asked Olivia. Kristi wondered when she’d taken off her headphones.

  “Come on,” Bobby said confidently. “How would twenty-one kids all fall down the same hole? I mean, sure, two or three. Maybe even five. But wouldn’t the ones at the back be able to save themselves? They weren’t, like, babies. They were our age. So whatever happened to those kids was worse. Way worse. And my brother says . . .”

  “What?” Kristi and Olivia exclaimed at the same time.

  “My brother says that if you listen really carefully in the caves, you can still hear the echoes of their cries for help. Please . . . please . . . please . . . help . . . help . . . help . . . meeeee . . . meeeee . . . meeeee . . . . ,” Bobby said, raising his voice to a shrill whisper as he imitated the echoes.

  The sound of Bobby’s echoes made chills run down Kristi’s neck. But apparently she was the only one who responded that way: Everyone else on the bus burst into laughter. It was definitely not the response Bobby was hoping for. His whole face darkened.

  “Okay, okay, save it for Halloween, Mr. Lehman,” Mr. Tanaka said sternly. “An excellent tall tale . . . but not a true one. You’ll all learn about the real history of the Ravensburg Caverns on our tour tomorrow.”

  “It is true,” Bobby said stubbornly. “I know a lot more about the caverns than you do.”

  “Watch it, young man,” Mr. Tanaka said, and there was no mistaking the warning in his voice. “And face forward, please. No turning around in your seat while the bus is moving—you know better.”