Ben, a local college freshman dared his new friend Mike to spend Halloween night in the old and abandoned orphanage on the outskirts of town. Mike was hesitant and asked what was so special about staying at the orphanage. So, Ben explained that the owners of the Westinghouse orphanage each died in October of what most believe was from old age. This means that the orphanage has sat empty for about seven years now, is run down, and also has a sketchy history.
John spoke up and said that because of the various stories told, the orphanage has earned its reputation for being haunted. Ben went on and said, the story that he heard was that the owner and his wife killed at least ten of the kids that lived there since it opened in the early 1980s. The police reports say that the kids probably ran away so no charges were ever brought against the owners. Ben also told Mike that some of the townspeople say that they have seen ghosts and suspicious activity in and around the orphanage. While others say that it’s just a creepy old building and wished it would be torn down.
Mike looked at Ben and John and said that he would spend the night only if they would spend it with him. Ben looked at John and nodded yes. John was hesitant but agreed and said that he has a video camera that he will bring to film any activity. So, the three of them planned it for the spookiest night of the year, Halloween. They would bring sleeping bags, lanterns, and some food to tie them over until the next day. Ben was nervous but excited to explore the orphanage with his friends. His girlfriend Sarah however was concerned about him staying there. She believes that the owners were evil and killed the kids.
On Halloween night around 7 pm, John and Ben met Mike in front of the orphanage. It was very dark except for one street light about fifteen feet away and Ben's flashlight. There was a wrought iron fence that bordered the property, as well as a wrought iron gate that opened to the sidewalk. The building was a three-story Victorian-style home with dead vines still hanging on a tall trellis along one of the outer walls. It also had some boards on some of the broken windows.
“Okay, let’s go,” Ben opened the creaky gate to the property and pushed away an overgrown branch from a bush near the walkway.
Mike carried his sleeping bag, backpack, and two bags of food for all of them. He also pushed the overgrown branch out of the way. John followed behind them carrying his bag, and already filming their entrance in night vision. While Ben led the way up the steps of the large wood porch, a board broke as he stepped onto the porch itself. John filmed Ben as he pulled his foot out of the hole that now sits on the floor of the porch. Mike glanced around as he carefully stepped off to the one side of the front door. Ben dug in his pocket for the tools that he had to unlock the door. John slowly filmed the front porch that was full of spider webs while waiting.
Once Ben got the door unlocked he slowly turned the antique knob, and carefully pushed the door open. The big wooden door creaked as it slowly opened. Ben shined the flashlight inside and so far all was clear. Mike followed Ben inside the dark musty smelling house. John walked in behind them with his camera and closed the door. Mike set the bags down on the floor and then plopped his rolled sleeping bag down.
Out of his backpack Mike dug out a battery-operated lantern and turned it on, “There, that should help some.”
Ben dropped his sleeping bag and backpack down, then continued to look around with his flashlight.
John continued filming as he dropped his bag down to the floor. He saw a red brick-faced fireplace on the far wall with an old painting of a blonde-haired woman hanging above it. And a dusty green velvet-covered antique sofa that sat about ten feet in front of the fireplace.
“Hey, look at this,” John called out.
Mike carried the lantern over to John and saw the sofa, the fireplace, and the painting. Ben shined the flashlight in their direction and also saw what they were looking at.
“Hey, that’s Mrs. Westinghouse. She wasn’t too bad looking back then,” Ben walked over to them.
Just then, all three of them heard a loud bang upstairs. They looked at each other wondering what they should do. Bang! the noise went again.
“Okay chickens follow me,” Ben walked ahead.
Ben shined the flashlight at the wood staircase as he walked over to it. Mike and John followed about five and six feet behind Ben as he slowly walked up the stairs. The wood squeaked and creaked as Ben took each step up. Just as Ben got to the top of the stairs they heard another bang. Mike was halfway up the stairs when the sound stopped him in his tracks. Ben stood still and shined his flashlight around the second floor.
“Do you see anything?” Mike called out to Ben.
“Hold on,” Ben walked into the shadows.
Still filming, John rushed past Mike. When John got to the top of the stairs, he scanned his camera to the right. There he saw Ben levitating about two feet off the floor and struggling. It looked like Ben was trying to stop someone from choking him but John didn’t see anyone. John ran over to help Ben but was thrown down the hallway. Mike trotted the rest of the way up when he heard John yell. Mike saw Ben drop to the floor so he ran over to him.
“Ben, are you alright?”
Mike shook Ben, but Ben was no longer breathing. Mike stood up and glanced around looking for John. John was lying unconscious on the floor about 20 feet away. When Mike ran towards John, some force picked him up and then threw him against the wall. John came to and saw Mike slumped over about ten feet away from him.
“Mike… Mike, are you okay?” John struggled to stand up.
John staggered over to Mike and felt for a pulse, “he’s dead.”
John then made his way over to Ben and found him to be dead as well. Just as he grabbed onto the railing to go down the stairs, a force picked him up and flung him backward. John hit the wall behind him and broke his neck.
The next day when Ben didn’t answer the three phone calls from his girlfriend Sarah, she began to worry. She waited until late afternoon before calling the police and telling them where Ben and his friends stayed Halloween night. Two officers decided to check out Sarah’s story and drove over to Westinghouse Orphanage. They looked around outside, and then made their way inside. They did notice that the front door was unlocked, but didn’t see or notice any evidence of anyone recently being there.
If you liked this story, then please join me again next week for the 7th story of my series: Spook Season Stories.
Very bad and angry spirits there. I definitely don't want to go there !!