Who Is There?

In a forest beyond the city, there is a house that has been abandoned for a long time. The previous owners disappeared; it is unknown how or when the young couple disappeared. According to the police report, the neighbors told the police, "They were such a lovely couple!

"They would do anything to help you," another person said. An older couple, Flora, and Finn are the only ones to give their name to the police for the report. The older couple lived next to the missing couple.

The next-door neighbors could live as far as five miles away in the country.

"An odd-looking man was watching the house the day before the young couple disappeared," said Flora. One day they were at home, then gone the next day. "Not even a small trace they had ever lived there except the furniture they owned! It is, and if they fell off the earth," said Finn.

A few months later, new ownership took place, remodeled it, and the new owner is torn by the thought of keeping the house or putting it on the market. The home does not look like the old house that sat here, decaying, under the bright sun, day by day! No, it is beautiful with new walls, new paint, and new lighting fixtures all around the house. The real estate agent who bought the house cleaned up the yard. He usually flips houses for a living, but he wonders why he is so indecisive about this house.

It won't take long for the house to sell, primarily because of its location. Everyone wanted to get away and enjoy different scenery, especially those who lived in the city and only saw concrete every day. This house is only a thirty-minute drive from Central City. The real estate agent, Richard, who bought the home, has a brother who could take a break from the everyday toil in his life. Richard's brother lost his daughter two years earlier; Kelsy's death struck him particularly hard. She died at a youthful age, but Kevin's wife has moved on, but the death of his daughter hit Kevin in a way no one could understand but Kevin himself. He and his wife are having problems. His wife does not know why he is still hanging on to the hurt after two years, Kelsy went missing. Some people hurt more deeply and love more fiercely than others; Richard had told his brother's wife and asked that she join him at the house outside the city with Kevin.

"Give me the address, and I will join him later this afternoon. Friday is a hard time to break away from the office, but I will try," said Rose. Then Rose took the paper with its address and left for a meeting.

Later that evening, Kevin arrived at the house his brother had bought; he arrived at the house around three o'clock. He gets out of the car, grabs his suitcase out, walks up to the door, and for some reason, he looks over at an old rusty car in the yard. It reminded him of an old vehicle his daughter said she was helping a friend get into running order, but that couldn't be the one they were working on. Kevin shrugged his shoulders and proceeded into the house. The house was not as creepy as it looked the first time, he had seen it with his brother Richard. He was with his brother when he purchased the home and was not fond of it, but it looked nothing like the old run-down house he had seen previously.

After Kevin finished bringing in all the luggage from the car, his cell phone rang. It's his wife.

"Kevin, I decided to come after all. I will see you in a couple of hours. Love you, honey!" Then she hung up the phone. "Well, at least I won't be alone up here," thought Kevin as he walked through the house to see what all the rooms looked like; as he walked from the front door and headed towards the kitchen, he saw a fully functional kitchen.

"I thought Richard was going to flip this house, but it looks as if he plans on living here. After he entered the kitchen, there was a knock at the front door. Kevin turned around and answered the door. Slowly opening it up, he saw a friendly-looking old couple standing there.

"Hello. My name is Finn Davenport, and this is my wife, Flora. We came over to welcome our new neighbor."

"Hello Finn, I am Kevin, and my wife will be here later today; we are not your new neighbors. I am only here for a few weeks for a little rest and relaxation. Doctor's orders! While Kevin was talking to the Davenport's, he thought he heard someone walking in the kitchen. He turned and looked but saw nothing. My wife must be here," Kevin thought to himself, "but that is impossible. She is miles away."

"Would you like to come in?" Kevin asked.

"Yes, we can stay for a few minutes," said Flora.

The three went into the living room, and Kevin motioned for the Davenports to have a seat.

"I have just arrived, so I don't know if there are any refreshments, but if you're thirsty, I could go look and see what I have," Kevin said.

"No, thank you, we just had a big lunch, and we are not thirsty or hungry. Isn't that right, dear?" said Flora.

"Yes, dear, that's right."

"Do you know what happened to the couple who lived here?" Kevin asked, and he said it with a concerned look.

Finn spoke up and said," We don't know what happened to the young couple. It was as if they vanished into thin air."

"It was difficult to tell the police anything when they came around asking about the couple. The two lived here for about six months, and then they just seemed to vanish!" said Flora.

"You know they started talking about hearing footsteps in the house, and a couple of weeks later, they started seeing things," Finn said.

"What kind of things did they see?" Kevin asked.

"I think the young lady's name was Kelsy or Chelsea," Flora commented.

"Did you say, Kelsy?"

"Yes, I did," answered Flora.

"Kelsy was my daughter. No one knows what happened to her. Kelsy and her husband Rob moved into their new house, which was the last anyone heard from them again! After two years, they were legally declared dead, and everyone else moved on but me! I just can't give up on finding my daughter!"

"Would you like us to stay here until your wife arrives? We'll be happy to do it!" said Flora.

"No, thank you for the offer, but I will unpack and settle in; I might even go for a walk later today."

The Davenports excused themselves and assured Kevin if he needed anything, to call them. They also gave him a phone number to their home if he needed to talk to someone or anything else.

After the Davenports went home, Kevin thought how the Davenports reminded him of a couple who lived next to his family in the city. Kevin shrugged his shoulders and thought it was just a coincidence.

After looking around the house, Kevin went to the basement and noticed some empty boxes in the corner. On them was marked CCTV. "I wonder why Richard needed these," he thought to himself. Kevin decided to relax in the jacuzzi after putting away everything he had packed. He found his swimming trunks and relaxed in the jacuzzi; just as he was about to get in, he heard a car pull up. Kevin went to the door and saw his wife getting out. Kevin went outside to greet her.

"Did you have a pleasant drive, dear?" He looked at his watch and saw it was five-thirty in the afternoon.

"It was a nice drive for a Friday," said Rose.

"I am glad, dear. Let me take that for you."

Even though Rose does not understand why Kevin can't let Kelsy's death go, it kills Rose to talk about Kelsy, so her way of dealing with her daughter's death is to ignore the pain she was in and immerse herself in work, and that is precisely what she did for the past two years of her life. She turns her attention to her husband to get him past this part of his hurt. They walk into the house, and Kevin asks Rose a question.

"I am going to get into the jacuzzi. Do you want to join me?"

"That sounds wonderful. I will join you as soon as I get all this stuff unpacked."

"Let me help you with that, Rose. I want you to relax while you are here and enjoy yourself. Richard said he would like to take us out to dinner on Wednesday. What do you think?"

"I think that will be fine as long as he brings steak instead of the brats; he always gets to cook for us because your brother says he can cook brats, but he can't!

"I will make sure and tell him that."

"Don't tell him I said that just for him to bring the stakes."

Kevin helped Rose settle in with her unpacking and anything else she needed to do. By the time they finished, the sun was starting to go down. They headed toward the back porch, where the jacuzzi was located and tried to unwind from the day's activities.

"I will be down in a few minutes; I want to put my swimsuit on."

Kevin walked downstairs and turned on the jacuzzi, got in, and started watching the sun begin to set. Just as he was relaxing, Kevin thought he heard someone say his name just to the right of him, but when he turned to look, there was nothing there. His wife entered the jacuzzi with some wine and a small food tray. The sudden splash of the water startled him, and he jumped a little as he turned to look at his wife.

"What is wrong?" she asked with a concerned look.

"Oh, nothing! I thought I heard my name being called just over there." While he said that, he pointed to the right, where Kevin thought he heard someone say his name.

"You know it is just you and me out here and no one else. Right? There is no one else for miles. So, relax, spend some quality time with me, and maybe we can get reacquainted."

"This is going to be the best vacation!" Kevin thought.

Rose reached down and gave Kevin a deeply passionate kiss, and Kevin returned her affection. Then without hesitation, every move they made after that became increasingly passionate.

Afterward, the sun looked like it was disappearing into the mountain on the other side of the woods. Rose poured Kevin a glass of white wine, took the cheese out, and placed it on the table outside the jacuzzi. They toasted to the future, drank wine, ate cheese until well past the sunset, they got to know each other all over again!

The next day the couple woke up to the sun peaking over the horizon.

"What a gorgeous day," said Rose.

Kevin was staring at Rose, and he noticed their daughter looked exactly like her.

"What is it? Is something on my face?"

"No, I am just admiring how beautiful you look in the morning light," said Kevin.

"Let's go to the truck stop for breakfast," Rose suggested.

"I have a better idea. Why don't we stay here, and I will fix you breakfast."

"I'll take a rain check on that as we have friends who want to meet us for breakfast and see how we are doing."

"I really get tired of all of the attention they have been giving us lately. I understand our friends want to be good friends, and they are, but we need some time alone!" Kevin said.

"I agree it is only for breakfast, and it is the only time they will see us until we return from vacation. Nan and Jack went to Hawaii for their leisure vacation and are back with pictures."

"Oh, no! Not pictures!

"Yes, pictures, so you know what that means!" Rose said.

"Home video! You know they will have it on their iPad for us to watch while we eat!"

Rose and Kevin went to have breakfast with their friends and had an exciting time.

"I wish we could spend more time with them," Rose said.

"Yeah, they are a crazy couple, but Fred said he has to go to work on Monday, and he wanted to get settled in, rested before work."

As the couple reached the porch, they heard some talking inside the house.

"Did you leave the T.V? On?" asked Rose.

"I did not even know this place had a T.V. You stay here and let me see who is in there."

"Be careful!"

Kevin walked into the house and heard footsteps; he saw the T.V. was on.

"It is okay, Rose; the television was behind a panel. We could not see it."

"How did it get turned on when no one was here?"

"I don't know. We must watch the place and ensure no one is coming into this house when we are not here."

"How are we going to do that?" asked Rose.

"When I was around in the basement, I noticed some boxes with a few close-circuit television cameras. I will call Richard to find out how to access them." Kevin put his keys on a hook next to the front of

For the next few days, Kevin and Rose became reacquainted with one another, and the time they spent together reminded them of why they got married.

On Wednesday, Richard called Kevin. "I can't come out Today, Kevin. I must fix a glitch in the paperwork surrounding a house I am trying to sell. I will see you Saturday with the stakes that Rose ordered."

Hey, Richard, before you hang up, someone is coming into the house when Rose and I leave. Is it okay if I activate the CCTV cameras," Kevin asked.

"Sure, go into the office and turn them on; you should know where my password is inside the desk, and you know where my secret place is on all of my desks; that is where you will find it."

"Thanks, brother. See you on Saturday when you get here!" Kevin wasted no time. He went into the office and looked inside the top-drawer desk. Found the password and logged into the computer. When the computer came up, the only icon on the desktop was the app for the cameras. He clicked on it and activated all of them. Just then, Rose walked into the office.

"It looks like Richard was expecting trouble, too, as he has cameras installed everywhere. Even in the bedroom."

"Well, that is not good!" said Rose. "Don't worry! If you don't want it on when we go to bed, I will turn it off! Now that we have that settled, why don't we go for a walk?"

"Yes, that sounds wonderful!"

Kevin and Rose went for a leisurely walk on the trail laid out by the forest rangers, and there were signs up and down the trail that said, do not stray from the path. Kevin and Rose heeded the warnings and stayed on the trail until it rewound to the house, they were staying in.

"It was a beautiful walk, but there was nothing around there, not even birds," said Rose.

When Kevin and Rose made it back into the house, a few things were out of place.

"Kevin, did you take the blanket out of the closet and place it on the sofa before we left?"

"No, I did not! Let's check the cameras."

After reviewing the cameras, it looked like the blanket had just appeared there.

"Well, that is crazy! Blankets don't just walk on their own!" said Kevin.

"I can't believe what this crazy camera is showing us!"

Just then, they heard footsteps upstairs.

"That must be Richard; he must have finished his work and decided to come. Why don't you set the table, and I will ask him when dinner will be ready."

As Kevin walked up the stairs, he started talking to his brother, only to discover no one was there.

"I thought you were not going to be able to come here until Saturday?"

But when Kevin rounded the corner at the top of the stairs, nothing was there.

Kevin thought to himself, "I thought he was here!" Kevin then checked the bedrooms, as there were three, and when he came out of all the bedrooms, he looked as if he had seen a ghost! It did not make sense to him, so he decided to check the bathrooms as there were two. One in the master bedroom and one in the hall where he was standing. Kevin checked the bathroom in the hall, then the one in the master bedroom. To his amazement, there was no one there! Kevin ran back downstairs and looked at his wife, and she said," You look as if you have seen a ghost!"

"No, not a ghost, but I can't tell you whose footsteps were upstairs just now!"

"What?" She ran upstairs and looked all over, just as Kevin had.

"Now, you believe me!"

"Yes, sorry, I just had to be sure you looked everywhere!"

"Make some sandwiches for the road we are leaving! I will pack!" said Kevin.

"Right!" Rose went to work making sandwiches, but all the lights went out then!

"KEVIN!" Shouted Rose.

"It's okay. I remember a kerosene lamp being just over here. Kevin used his phone to light his way over to the lamp. Then he opened the drawer to see if there were any matches or lighters there. To his surprise, there was a book of matches, and without hesitation, he lit the lamp.

"What is this place, some kind of funhouse?"

"I am not laughing!" said Rose.

"Funhouses are not fun. It is a word used to draw people in only to find they are in a horror story. Let's check the basement and get the lights working again."

"I am for that, but I am going with you!"

The two of them walk toward the basement door, open it up, and down the stairs. They heard footsteps all over the first floor as they reached the bottom.

"There is no one here but the two of us! How can there be footsteps up there?" Rose shrieked.

Kevin hurried up to the breaker box, where he hoped he could get the lights turned back on so they could see what was going on, but just as he was about to turn on the light, a familiar sound struck his ears.

"Dad. Dad, is that you?"

Kevin froze in his tracks!

"Dad, who are you! I have been looking to you and Roran for a very

"Kelsy! Is that you?" said Rose.

"Mom, you're here too! Have you seen Uncle Richard?"

"He will be here on Saturday. Have you been down here all this time?" said Kevin?

"There is something odd about this house!" Rose said.

"It is not the house, but the land under it."

"Kelsy, I will turn on the light, and we will talk about it upstairs," said Kevin.

"Okay, but you have to hold my hand, or I will disappear with the footsteps you hear upstairs," said Kelsy.

Rose did not hesitate! She grabbed Kelsy's hand and did not let go of her until Kevin restored the lights. Kevin worked with the breaker box until the lights came back on.

"That is funny! There was nothing wrong with the breaker box! I kept turning the power on and off until the power stayed on! Kevin and Rose turned and looked at Kelsy. They stared at her until she grew tired of it and said something to them.

Mom, Dad, let's go upstairs quickly. Together the three of them go upstairs. Walk into the kitchen, and they sit down simultaneously.

"Would you believe me if I told you this land is built on a fifth-dimension portal?"

"What are you talking about?" said Rose.

"That is what you and Rod were working on when you disappeared!" said Kevin.

"Right, you remembered, Dad."

"What happened to Rod?" asked Rose.

"He will be here tonight when the portal opens again."

"This will all happen again at midnight," said Kevin.

"Yes, the atmosphere is the same as that night I disappeared two years ago."

"You know how much time has passed?" asked Kevin.

"Yes, do you remember my degree in Physics? I have been using all my skills to bring us back home. Rob and I went twenty years in the future and then two years in the past. I could see how it was for the two of you after I disappeared. I am sorry to have worried you so much, but I had an opportunity to use my skills. I had no idea we would be gone as long as we were."

Rose was making sandwiches while talking, and she had just finished.

"Why don't we eat and catch up on two years' worth of living? Then we can discuss the next step."

The three talked about what had happened in their lives until late. The next thing they knew, they started hearing footsteps upstairs.

"Is it already midnight?" said Kelsy.

The lights started to flash, and the house grew dark. Kevin grabbed the kerosene lamp and lit it.

"We experienced this just before you appeared," said Kevin.

"This one will not be that small as many people are coming through; hang on tight!" said Kelsy.

The whole house started to shake! Rumbles were felt two to three miles away. They could tell because the trees looked like they were dancing to the moon's lit sky. The three of them ran to the basement and waited.

"I hear someone yelling!" said Rose.

"That is not yelling, mom, but it sure sounds like it, doesn't it!"

With the house shaking off the foundation, they saw two people running down the basement stairs. It was Davenport's!

"What are you two doing here?" said Kevin.

"Who are they, Kevin?" asked Rose.

"No time for introductions now! Get over here with us and hold on tight!" shouted Kevin.

Kevin, Rose, and Kelsy held onto a long metal bar running along the wall near the stairs. The Davenports ran over and started holding onto the bar too!

The house started to moan as if it were going to implode. Then Kelsy yelled, "Don't worry about the house! It will be fine!"

"How do you know?" said Rose.

"I have done this before!"

The rumbling slowed down, and the screams got louder and louder!

"Everyone, cover your ears for this one!" yelled Kelsy.

At first, when they placed their hands over their ears, they could not hear the scream anymore, but after a few more minutes, they could start to hear the sound getting louder all at the same time.

A few more minutes passed, and everything stopped all at once!

"What happens now? A hole under the house that we will free-fall through?" said Rose condescendingly.

"How did you know, mom? Kelsey said in a returning condescending voice.

Kelsy grabbed a flashlight and walked over to the wall on the other side of the basement, flashed the light on the wall, and the wall seemed to disappear from view.

~To be continued~