The Lights Go Out

I was so proud of myself...

That is what I remember most before it happened. I was a fresh graduate from nursing school. I loved helping others and I knew this was going to be the best career for me. I decided to become a live-in Home Healthcare nurse. It hadn't taken long after graduating to find a company to hire me; everyone was needing someone. I wish I had done more research before I signed the fifteen-page contract, but I was so excited I just glanced over the pages and then quickly signed. Three weeks later, my bag was packed and my phone was charged, the instructions to my first assignment saved into my maps app on my phone. I was ready to go.

I can do this...

I took a deep breath and pulled into the driveway of the large, rather spooky looking house. I parked the car, collected my bag out of the trunk and looked up at the big house. I can do this, I have had all the proper training and this is where it all begins.

I was so wrong, so utterly wrong.

As I started walking up to the house, my cell phone went off. I looked at it and saw my new boss's number, the head staffing nurse. I answered with a sweet "hello". She was calling to inform me that the last shift had already left for the day, normally they would have waited on me to arrive but, today, something had happened and they were unavailable to stay that long. I told her "that was perfectly alright", with a smile in my voice. I am sure I can handle things from this point. She told me that there should be a letter on the table just inside the door to the house, with all of the instructions I would need, then her voice got really serious.

"Meghan, I implore you, follow the direction to a tee please; the last shift did not and well..." She didn't finish, but after what she had said earlier, I shuddered. Had they gotten fired for not following directions? With another smile in my voice, I replied, "no problem whatsoever"...

I opened the door to the large house and walked inside. The door opened to a long hallway, and, just as she had said, there was a little table beside the door with a thick, yellow Manilla envelope. It had my name written across the front of it. I picked it up as I laid my bags down on the floor; I would see to them shortly. I slid the oddly heavy parchment out of the envelope and skimmed the first page.

Meghan,

For the next three weeks you will be taking care of Mrs. Anderson, a retired Army veteran who is seventy-six years old. She has dementia, although it is just starting to show. She forgets things and sometimes she has episodes that make it almost impossible for her to go more than a few hours by herself. The first thing you should do is check on her. She is probably in the den watching television; that is usually where she stays after dinner. She has already had her bath and will need help up the stairs to go to bed at promptly seven-thirty PM. She will not argue with you. She will most likely not speak to you at all during your stay as she doesn't talk much.

Make sure she takes her medicine, which is in her medicine cabinet in her bathroom attached to her bedroom. After her meds, she will sit and read until eight and then go to bed. At this time you must come back downstairs and lock the doors and windows. Please be sure to lock the garage door as well. Also, there is a padlock on the basement door. The key is in the metal box above the refrigerator, but NEVER go down in the basement. The floors are weak and the lights don't work half the time. Then you can make yourself something to eat if you need to. After you eat please, straighten up the downstairs area; it shouldn't be to difficult since it is your first night, and you usually only have to clean up after yourself.

Now, this is where it is going to start sounding odd, but I beg of you to follow these instructions. Do not turn on any electronics other than your own after ten PM. Please be in your room no later than eleven-thirty. There is a bathroom in your room and another door leading to Mrs. Andersons room; check on her often during the night to make sure she is resting well. At precisely four-fifteen AM, you will hear the car in the garage crank up, this is fine and completely normal please do not do anything about it; just stay in your room until morning, only leaving it to go to the restroom or to check on Mrs. Anderson. Around four-thirty there will be a knock on the front door, DO NOT ANSWER IT. Also, if the phone rings during the night DO NOT ANSWER IT. Just leave it be and it will pass. This will be your routine every night that you are here. In the morning, Mrs. Anderson will be awake and ready for her bath at six-thirty.

After her bath, give her the medication again and help her downstairs to the kitchen and make her breakfast. She is not picky about the food you prepare for her. She will go into the media room after breakfast and knit until lunch. After lunch she will clean the kitchen, do not try to stop her. Then, fix her supper around five-thirty and make sure she eats it; sometimes she will try to refuse supper. Then, she will go watch tv until time for bed. Fridays there are two boys that will bring groceries to the house. They will bring them in and put them up, they are a little odd and probably will not talk to you either. Other than that, make yourself at home and I hope to see you when your shift is over.

Pleasant dreams...

Angela.

There was a map of the house, and several keys to several doors, all labeled. This was all a little bizarre but I guessed they knew what they were doing. I looked at my watch to see that it was six-fifteen. I needed to get the introductions done before bed time. I found Mrs. Anderson in the living room. She was a very tall, very thin woman who looked like she was a very stern lady.

"Hello, Mrs. Anderson. I am Nurse Meghan, and I will be here for the next three weeks." I held out my hand to shake hers but she just looked at it until I slowly lowered it back down. Then, she looked at me, her eyes were faded, and she looked as if she were looking right through me. Then she smiled pleasantly and turned back to the tv. They were correct, she didn't talk much. I sat with her, watching old reruns of I Love Lucy, until bedtime.

At seven-thirty, I stood up and walked over to her.

"Are you ready to head upstairs and get ready for bed?"

She looked at me, confused, then looked up at the antique Grandfather clock standing by the wall. She looked back at me, smiled again, and nodded. She picked up the remote and turned the television off and I helped her stand, guiding her to the stairs. I held her elbow the entire way up, but she didn't really seem like she needed much help. She led me to her bedroom and sat down on her bed. I walked into the bathroom and looked in the medicine cabinet. There was a single bottle of pills with the name Susan Anderson on it. It said take two pills in the morning with water, and two at night before bed with water. There was also a cup there waiting to be filled.

I filled the cup with water and took out two of the pills; they were capsules with a deep red powder in them. I took them and the water to her. She didn't protest and had no problem taking them. She drank all of her water and handed me the cup. She said in a small weak voice, "Thank you". I told her she was welcome and took the cup back to the bathroom. I walked back out and she was propped against the headboard of the bed, reading glasses on and a very thick book in her hands. I explained that I was going to lock up the house and clean a bit and I would be back up to check on her soon. She looked at my with those cold, grey faded eyes, and smiled. I noticed her smile did not really reach her eyes. Then she went back to her book.

I closed her door behind me, but I heard her speak so opened it back up. "Lock it will you dear?" She asked me. I nodded my head and pulled out the keys and locked the door. I walked back downstairs, they creaked under me and I wondered if I was to busy trying to help Mrs. Anderson to notice when we came up. When I got down them I went and locked all the doors and windows, including the garage door. It had a window and sitting in the garage was an old time yellow car. It looked as if it hadn't run in ages. I walked over to the fridge and locked in. There was some kind of leftovers from dinner, but I wasn't sure what it was, so I decided to make a sandwich. I sat at the dining room table with my sandwich and a glass of cold milk. It was comforting. When I finished, I took my dishes to the kitchen and washed them. I wiped the table where I sat. There was nothing else to do so I walked around exploring for a while, confused about what to do. I pulled the letter out and reread it, looking for something I may have missed.

I was startled by the sound of a loud thud from upstairs. I ran up them and unlocked Mrs. Anderson's door, afraid she had fallen out of bed. No, she was in bed, covers tucked in around her, sound asleep. Her book on the night stand, her reading glasses perched on top of it. She had left her bedside lamp on, so I walked over and switched it off. The grandfather clock below rang out; I checked my watch to see it was ten o clock. I had another hour and thirty minutes before I had to be in bed, but I didn't know what else to do. The thud out of my mind, I decided to go have a nice warm bath. I walked back downstairs and went to the front door where I left my bag, collected it, and went back upstairs, turning the lights out in every room. I took my bag and entered my room; it was very nice, and had a king-sized bed. There was a chest of drawers and two nightstands there too, as well as a chest at the foot of the bed. There were four doors in my room; the one to the hallway and three others. I walked to the first one and opened it. It led into Mrs. Anderson's room and I saw her sleeping peacefully; the next door was a large walk in closet with clothes in it. The last door was a large bathroom.

I collect my body wash, poof, and shampoo, and went into the bathroom. The garden tub was enormous. I started running water and removed my clothes. I sank down into the hot tub of water and my body instantly relaxed. It felt so nice, I decided that since every night would be like this, with Mrs. Anderson going to bed early, I might just come and have another bath every night. I closed my eyes only for a second but when I opened them the light was off. I looked over at the switch and it was still in the on position. Had the lights went out? I closed my eyes again and without meaning to I drifted off to sleep.

I was awoken some time later by a loud crack of thunder and a flash of lightning from the little bathroom window. It scared me so badly that some of the water sloshed out of the tub onto the floor. I noticed the water was cold, so I had been asleep for quite some time. I stood and grabbed a towel, quickly drying the cold water off my body. I remembered I didn't bring my clothes to the bathroom with me, so I wrapped the towel around me and went back to my room. I put on some warm pajamas and a thick wool robe, some house slippers, and I wrapped the towel around my wet hair so it could dry. I went back to the bathroom to get my watch and noticed it wasn't there. The light was back on and I didn't even think about it going off before. I went back to my room and looked around for my watch. I was about to give up and look downstairs when I heard something that froze me. There was a slow sound coming up the hallway.

Footsteps... and the creak of floorboards, slowly one after the other, getting closer to my bedroom door. I quietly crept over and locked the door. The footsteps stopped in front of my door and I saw a shadow on the floor under my door, someone was there. They jiggled the handle to my room and I pressed my body to the door, praying they couldn't get in. It stopped and after a few moments I heard the steps slowly creaking to the next door.

...THE NEXT DOOR...

That was Mrs. Anderson's room, and I had forgotten to relock her door after the loud thud! I flung myself away from my door and through the door conjoining our room. She was still asleep in her bed, when I quietly dashed across the room to the door. I made it just in time to slam the door shut. Whoever it was had reached it first and was slowly trying to creak it open. I locked it as quick as I shut it and pressed my body to it as well. There was an angry hissing sound from the other side and I heard it start walking towards the stairs. One by one, every single stair creaked on the way down. Then I heard a door open and close down there, and then I heard the car crank up, the one in the garage, the one that looked as if it hadn't been ran in ages. I couldn't do anything but stand there with my body pressed against Mrs. Anderson's bedroom door; if she woke up and saw me she would think I was crazy.

I heard the garage open and the sound of the car backing out, and slowly getting quieter as it left the house. Who was that? Then I heard a soft knocking sound, I could tell it was coming from the front door. The letter said this might happen but not to answer it. I had no idea what time it was as my watch was no where to be seen. The knocking got louder and louder the longer I ignored it, finally becoming loud bangs echoing through the whole house. Then, it stopped as suddenly as it began. The phone in the room started ringing just then. I ran to it, taking it off the hook; I had no intention of answering it, but I wanted to stop the shrill sound before it awoke Mrs. Anderson. That's when my blood ran cold, I had instinctively put the phone up to my ear without thinking about it. I heard shallow breathing, and then a small child spoke into my ear, "Mommy, is that you? Where are you mommy?" The air caught in my throat, I didn't have any kids, and no one had ever called me mommy, so obviously the child was mistaken or confused.

"Mommy, I am coming to see you, I will be there soon..." I heard the child drop the phone instead of hanging it up, and I jumped when the phone hit something hard, bounced and hit it again. The child was laughing, I heard it from the phone and...

Oh my God I heard it in the house as well, the call had come from downstairs. I could hear the laughing coming up the stairs now. I didn't know what to do. I set the phone down off the hook so if it rang again it wouldn't disturb the sleeping woman in the bed. The laughing continued up the hall and and stopped in front of the bedroom door. There was a gentle knock on the door. "Mommy?" the voice said drawing out the word longer than it felt right to hear. "Mommy are you in there?" I kept looking from the door to Mrs. Anderson, knowing the child would wake her up, but she just kept sleeping.

I walked up to the door, I didn't know what else to do, and to be honest I was getting angry. "Leave me alone!" I said a lot more fierce than I actually felt. The laughing stopped, and was followed by soft crying. I heard the crying go back down the stairs. For a spilt second I felt bad for the child, then I remembered there is no child here, I am going crazy, I thought to myself. This could not be real. My anger rising again, I was mad at the company for not telling me that the house was haunted before I got here, I was mad at who ever decided that Mrs. Anderson could stay here in these circumstances. I was mad at myself for being so afraid. I decided I would do something about it and I would find a way to get Mrs. Anderson to safety.

I pulled out my cellphone only to see that it was dead. Of course it is, I took it back to my room and plugged it into the wall. It lit up with the charging battery symbol, then the lights went out. Now I was really mad. I was going to fix this. I stormed to my bedroom door and snatched it open. Everything was quiet. I stormed out of my room and down the stairs; I looked around. I found the envelope with the map in it and went to looking for the breaker box, my heart fell when my eyes finally found it. It was in the basement, where I was told not to go for any reason. I had no choice, I had to go down there. I walked over to the fridge and got the metal box down, heard the key slide around in the box. Everything was quiet around me... too quiet, as if the house itself knew what I was about to do, and it was waiting, with anticipation for my next move.

I opened the box and took out the key, I looked over at the door, praying the lights would come back on before I made it that far across the kitchen. With every step I wanted to cry, to run, to scream; but I just kept walking. For some unknown reason, I just knew that this time the lights would not come back on until I went down there. I reached the door and realized that I had been holding my breath the entire time. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, what would I find down here? I inserted the key into the lock and turned...

It's not so bad being a ghost. I really don't mind it. I do the same thing every single night, locking the doors, making sure Mrs. Anderson is taken care of, making sure she gets to her room on time before the others come out. I miss the outside world, but here I know what to expect. I know that if I don't get her there in time she could end up like me. I know that I can hide in my bedroom after I get her there and nothing will bother me now. The house had claimed me now so it wasn't worried about drawing me out anymore. I knew better than to go down in the basement, but I was not concerned about my safety at the time. All I knew was that I had to get the lights back on so I could call for help for Mrs. Anderson. My death wasn't really that violent, I mean, it was pretty bad but I didn't die seeking revenge or anything. I had died angry and that was why I was still here. When I opened the door the last thing I remember was a hand, a long, old, ghoulish hand reaching out of the darkness of the basement and grabbing my ankle. It snatched, causing me to fall backwards; I hit my head on every single step down into the basement, and by the time I was at the bottom, I was already dead. The ghoul drug my body deeper and deeper into the basement and then when it got as deep as it could go, I watched him eat my remains. It was horrible.

I never have to worry about that anymore; another good reason not to be upset about being a ghost. I can spend the rest of my days not being angry about anything and I like that. I am finally free.

If they ever send you to a place to watch someone like they did me, and they have instructions about how to take care of them, please listen to the instructions; and don't let anything talk you into breaking any of the rules. That way you don't have to be a ghost like me, walking the same halls over and over again.