The Last Call at Miller's Farm

The Legend

Halloween 1985

The man's body swung out towards her, dangling from a noose. Eyes wide and mouth open in a silent scream. The little girl shrieked loudly, running in terror. She ran out of the haunted house and into the woods. She tripped on some tree branches, fell and hit her head on some rocks. They say her ghost haunts the old Miller's Farm Haunted House. You can see her running into the woods if you visit in the dark...

Present time

Penny remembers the legend and the story of the little girl as she drives past the abandoned Miller's Farm. She was a teenager then, and had made many visits to the Haunted House attraction. She feels a chill as she remembers that night, when it was the last call for the morbid manor.

Moving back home was not what she had planned for herself. But her kids were grown, she was divorced, and she needed to be closer to her ailing Mom. She came home for Dad's funeral and never left. She found a small apartment, and put money down for it. Eventually she would go back for her things. Right now she was still in the swirl of grief for her Dad, and worry for her Mom. She traveled the many hills to get to her new place, deciding to stop at the local diner for dinner and much needed coffee.

After eating and finishing her coffee, she left to go home to her new place. It was October now, and the sun was already setting. She fumbled for the key to her place, an apartment in an old house with another downstairs. It was pitch black. She had forgotten to leave the porch light on. She took out her phone and shone the flashlight at the door. As she was attempting to unlock the door, she felt a cold breeze blow by her. "Should have brought my jacket," she mumbled to herself. Then she felt the cold touch her, like icy fingers. She screamed, and pushed the door open and closed quickly. She locked the door, feeling spooked and a little silly. "I'm too old to get scared of the dark" she told herself.

That night she dreamed of a girl, with blonde hair and brown eyes. The girl seemed lost. Her hair was matted with blood. Penny jolted up and turned on the lamp next to her bed. "Shelly" she whispers. The girl from the legend was showing up in Penny's dream. The girl she used to babysit. The girl she took with her to Miller's Farm that Halloween so many years ago.

Penny had pushed out of her mind the trauma of that night. She had repressed her memories. But Shelly had not forgotten. Penny began to sob, "I'm so sorry Shelly! I never meant for you to get hurt!" The lamp begins to flicker, and eventually the bulb pops, and it is dark again. Penny turns on her phone flashlight again just in time to see a ghostly girl approaching her. She says, "find me, " and then she is gone.

Penny remembers that Shelly's body was never found. They assumed her death back then because they never located her, and there was blood all over the rocks. Penny gets dressed and decides that she will find Shelly, so Shelly can rest in peace.

Penny needs to get into the abandoned haunted house. She sees in her mind, a trap door that opens to a basement. She remembers going in through that door with Allie Miller, her friend and daughter of the haunted house owner. She also remembers Allie's father being a creep who liked underage girls. Allie once told her, "This is where my Dad hangs out most nights." The basement was full of clowns, screaming animatronics, and real looking weapons. It was terrifying. Maybe Shelly made it back inside. Maybe it wasn't an awful accident. Maybe it was murder.

Penny begs the police to check the basement. When the trap door opens, she goes down with the police. Everything looks the same, except covered in dust and cobwebs. Penny hears a whisper, "find me, " and decides to look inside one of the display coffins. She finds a yellow dress, covering very small bones. She gasps and cries out to the officer, "I think I found her!"

The police confirm within days that the body was Shelly. Did she hide in there on her own or did someone place her there? The investigation is ongoing. Penny has not had a visit from Shelly since.