THE CURSED HOUSE

Albert Jaekal was a self-made man who became a coffee mogul at twenty-two. After graduating at the top of his class from a top business college, Harvard University, where he pursued an MBA, he started Jaekal Coffee as CEO. Shortly after that, at the age of 26, he met Abigail. She was a beautiful woman by everyone's standards, and Albert thought luck was indeed with him the day she accepted his invitation to the opera house for dinner.

He and Abigail spent two years dating and knew each other well enough when he asked her to marry him. He sealed the engagement with a two-carat diamond ring, the most magnificent diamond anyone had ever seen, including Abigail and her parents.

Albert built their dream home shortly after meeting Abigail, so it was ready to move into by the time they were married. The mansion overlooked the town of River Falls. The city boasted a sturdy harbour to anchor the most magnificent sailboats and some of the most fertile land for growing acres of sweet corn.

Once they moved in, Abigail hired a gardener from town to plant herbs and vegetables in the backyard for drying and canning. At night, while Albert worked in Kenya overseeing their coffee plantation operations, Abigail lay on the vast, king-sized bed; she'd read Albert's letters to keep her loneliness at bay night after night.

Under a full moon in May, she planned where to plant the flower beds and drew a diagram of their locations throughout the front yard. She did it all for her husband, to surprise him when he returned home. She wanted him to notice how well she could accomplish tasks at home without him. Abigail finished the diagrams and drifted to sleep with the pencil still in hand.

She awoke suddenly to the sound of music. Alone and terrified, she armed herself with a candlestick that Albert's great-aunt had given them on their wedding night. Abigail thought she would be okay with that in hand to go and see what all the commotion was about, so she put on her slippers and housecoat, which her mother had given her last Christmas.

Down in the first-floor living room, she turned the radio off. As soon as she stepped towards the staircase, the radio again broadcast music. She turned it off and stepped back, arms folded, staring at the machine and defying it to make another sound. Its outburst was louder. Short circuit? She wondered as she ripped the plug from the wall—there was no way the radio would turn on again now, Abigail thought as she climbed the stairs, went back to bed, and slipped under the covers. An overwhelming silence permeated the house.

The next night, strange things happened again in the house. She was reading in the study when she heard people dancing and laughing in the ballroom. She was terrified. But then she thought perhaps Albert had arranged for some of their friends and neighbours to come to a party in the ballroom and that he had come home early from Kenya, where he was away overseeing their coffee plantations. She got up and approached the closed doors, but the sound stopped as she put her hand on the large door handles. The doors opened of their own accord. The big room was empty, and a bitter cold rush of air sent shivers down her spine.

She ran upstairs to the bedroom, shut the door, and locked it. Abigail lay under the covers, shivering. She curled up with her arms around her knees and tried to sleep. A loud bang on the door startled her, and she closed her eyes. She retreated to the far side of the bed. Her eyes popped open, and she kept her eyes on the door handle as it turned. Someone or something was behind the door, testing the lock. Her mind pleaded for Albert to come home. She screamed and fainted with fright.

The sun's warm hand awakened Abigail. She dressed and walked downstairs, out of the rear door, and into the garden. She spent the morning pulling weeds until the hired hand showed up.

"Good morning, Miss Abigail," James said. James Jefferson was six feet tall, pushing fifty, with broad shoulders, large hands, and brown skin.

"Good morning, James."

"It's a beautiful day for working in the garden."

"Yes, it is. I pulled most of the weeds."

"I'll get the rake."

Abigail watched him walk down the hill to his truck. He was agile on his feet for a tall man of his age.

She went into the house and bathed in her bedroom. The faucet was on, and the tub was full of water. She lay in warm water up to her breasts. She covered her chest and stomach with her hips. She moaned, "Albert."

The sound of heavy footsteps bewildered her. They echoed off the walls. She sat up. They approached the shower curtain and stopped.

"James, is that you?"

A large hand pulled the curtain down, snapping off the plastic hinges.

She continued to scream, covering her breasts with her arms. She stayed like that for a while. Assured no one else was in the room, she climbed out of the tub.

James didn't hear Abigail's screaming. He was dumping the weeds in the truck bed. He grabbed a long-handled hoe, walked up the hill, sat on a stone bench, and lit a cigarette.

The three windows over the sink provided ample light for the kitchen. The counter was awash with sunlight as she cut two pieces of bread and spread butter.

To give the plants oxygen, James cut the earth around them. There was one row left. He looked over his work with satisfaction.

On the second floor, Abigail found all the beds unmade, the sashes open, and the upstairs air filled with the smells of human sweat and sleep-soaked bodies. In the wee hours of the morning, Abigail woke up, got the bedrooms in order, and headed to the main floor.

She started her dinner and breakfast simultaneously: toast with apricot jam. Her dinner consisted of frozen chicken that she needed to thaw. She placed the chicken on one side of the sink.

By the time Albert got home from Kenya, she had recalled many strange occurrences throughout her days alone with him over drinks before their dinners. Her stories were unbelievable, but she trembled by the end and broke down. Albert didn't know what to think because he didn't believe the stories, so he offered to take her to see some of the best doctors in the city.

Abigail was furious that Albert would perceive her as insane and not believe her, as she had never imagined him acting in such a manner towards her. She stopped telling Albert about the horrors she experienced in the house. The last straw was when she saw drops of blood dripping from around the tub as she lay in it and slit her wrists.

She could see herself in the water-blood mixture with no life left. The razor sank near her bottom as her head rested on the tub's lip. Fearful at the thought of her death by suicide, she gasped and fled the room. She had never thought about suicide before, and the vision disturbed her.

Albert returned home and opened a bottle of their homemade wine. He poured two glasses, took his wife's hand, and led her to the outdoor patio off the kitchen next to the pool.

"My dear, I'd like to send out invitations to our friends to come to a party where we will have an orchestra play while guests dance." I thought we could use some cheer in the house."

Her eyes lit up, and she clapped her hands with delight. Her gaze met his, and they toasted their wine. Albert had already assembled the guest list. Albert shared the guest list with her as a formality, having already sent out invitations detailing the extravagant dinner, dancing in the grand ballroom, and fireworks on the balcony afterward. Abigail, excited for the first time in a while, wore a permanent smile and remained jolly.

She picked out wines from the cellar and talked to the head chef about the number of people and the seating arrangements for everyone. He suggested the guests sit outside for a moonlight feast while a sonata played. Abigail liked that idea, so they paid a moving company to move a baby grand piano outside onto their patio for the dinner hour. On the day of the party, the house was a buzz. Everyone was happy, and the mood was allegro. After the fireworks, everyone left and chattered about how much they loved the party.

The evening proved so successful that the Jackals started hosting four high-profile parties annually, attracting the interest of every wealthy individual in the United States to join the guest list. Albert and Abigail were also invited, which meant travelling and staying away from home. As much as Abigail loved the spotlight, she wanted to go home. After months, she asked Albert to decline a few offers so they could go home; she thought she was with a child. How pleased he became! He was glad to cancel all events and return to conquer the pregnancy woes alongside his wife.

He had no idea that his wife was deceiving him and that there was no baby. Abigail was almost sure that she would become pregnant within the following two weeks. She was completely carefree, but she was unaware that her husband was unwilling to jeopardize the health of the unborn child by engaging in sexual relations with her until after the child's birth. Her face hardened into a perplexed look. She made a doctor's appointment immediately after Albert left for work that day. The doctor told her he could come around to the house.

When he did, he discovered that she was indeed pregnant. Abigail fainted straight away. Albert sat beside her when she awoke in their big, beautiful, hand-carved bed. He kissed her and smiled.

"Dear, you terrified me so. Thank God you're alive, and the baby is too."

She smiled and said, "Oh, you spoke with the doctor?"

He looked at her oddly and said, "What doctor, darling?"

"Well, Dr. McCormick is the doctor in town."

"Honey, you must be delirious; that physician was a part of this town's founding." I know this because his office was once located in my building. When I took over the building, I thoroughly investigated the outstanding doctor. It turns out he wasn't a competent doctor at all. When men left for work, they mistreated their wives and flirted with their wives.

"Surely, I knew that, darling. We must've talked about this before."

Albert continued to host extravagant parties and invite numerous friends to the house. However, it wasn't long before his guests became punch drunk or something. Their thoughts about Albert and Abigail escaped their lips, and the truth was revealed. The guests could hear themselves saying horrible things about their hosts but could not stop. After hearing what they had to say, Albert invited everyone to the balcony for fireworks.

The party continued into the wee hours of the morning, and it was the last party Albert and Abigail ever threw. After the birth of their son, James, Abigail took her son and left for her mother's place.

Two weeks later, she returned home with the baby and her mother. Her mother had hired an au pair to take care of the baby. Albert was beside himself. Furious at his mother-in-law, he screamed at her, "We don't need you or your au pair. Now go. You and her."

But the mother-in-law did no such thing. She persisted, and nearly six months after her departure, the au pair took up residence in the house, earning Albert's affection.

"I see how you look at her, Albert," Abigail said one evening.

"Don't be ridiculous, darling. I would never find anyone else to be with but you."

"Don't lie to me; it makes it worse," she said, standing and facing him.

"Elizabeth could be our daughter, Abi, for God's sake!" Please think about what you are saying.

"I know what I'm seeing." You know it, too. I expect you to take care of it, Albert."

"There is nothing to take care of, darling, please. You've got to believe me."

"A woman knows these things, Albert said. Do not allow me to catch you; doing so will result in severe consequences for both of you." She gathered herself and climbed into bed. Albert watched her, grabbed his pillow, and headed down the hall to the room.

Abigail jumped out of bed and crept after him silently, like a mouse. She watched as Albert took off his clothes and jumped into bed. She was about to return to her room when she heard Elizabeth coming up the stairs. She saw her go into the room where Albert was. After a few minutes, when no one came out, Abigail entered the hallway and opened the door. She watched her on top of Albert and grabbed her by the hair. She continued to pull her by the hair, dragging her naked body into the hallway and lifting her across the landing. Then she hurled Elizabeth over the landing rail, causing her to crash to death two stories below.

Albert cupped his mouth as he gasped. She turned her gaze on him, and he ran. She had put the fear of God into him, and she gave chase. The back staircase was his only respite from her chasing after him. He closed the doorway and secured it on his side. He knew that if she fled to the other side, he could escape from this side. He placed his bet on her, overlooked this fact, and instinctively switched sides.

When he heard nothing from either direction, he removed the false wall and ended up in their bedroom. He got fully dressed and left the house. The workers called him while he was at work, informing him that they had found the au pair and Abigail dead in the house. James was crying alone, and he needed food and a nap.

Albert ran from his office to the house. He saw the rope from the noose where his wife had hung herself. If he had only come out last night to find her and deal with their issues head-on, she might be alive now. He turned his head and cried. A broken man felt the earth move under him so that nothing familiar made sense to him any longer. Nothing. Just darkness.

He had forgotten that the next party was to happen in two weeks. He said his goodbyes and shipped Abigail's body to her parents' hometown. He did the same with the au pair's body. Then he prepared for the party. He hired a woman to help him with James.

The party was a smashing success, and the women were all looking to impress Albert. Some women came together without a chaperone, hoping they would steal Albert's heart. However, Albert's perception of relationships and women had already shifted. He desired someone to care for his son. But he didn't necessarily want a partner for life. He enjoyed the attention of the various women.

She arrived late at the party on behalf of the Kodaks. She was their niece and the only heir to their fortune. Their only stipulation was that she marry someone of equal means or better. Of course, they thought she would never meet a man as mean as Albert Jaekal.

He watched her exit the kitchen and asked her to sit at his table opposite him. The servants arranged for the request without blinking an eye.

When she looked at him, she felt Albert's warmth and attractiveness. While he politely pretended she wasn't there, Albert didn't fall over her like the other men. She liked that about him. It made the intrigue more alluring.

Before her dance card was filled out, Albert ensured that after the third pass, they would be partnered to dance together for the duration of the dances. She and he looked surprised to be in each other's arms, but they danced like they had practiced for months.

She left the house, and he retired to his bed, thoughts of her running through his brain. It wasn't long before the two became a couple. James only knew Sylvie as the woman in his dad's life. Sylvie was sure to tell James about his mother.

Shortly afterward, the couple married, and James was sent to a boarding school overseas in England. It was around the same time that the hauntings began.

"Albert, did you hear that?" Sylvie asked.

"Hear what?" a yawning Albert said.

"A man and a woman were talking with raised voices. Didn't you hear it?" Sylvia put her arm at the side of her hip in bed and tilted her head with a raised voice.

"No, Sylvie,” he said with his head tilted, “but if you want, I'll see if someone is outside on the road."

"No, that's okay, hon; I don't hear it anymore."

When she woke up in the morning, she found her clothes strewn all over the house and her shoes on the stairs.

"Albert? Albert. Where are you?"

"What is it, Sylvie? Sitting by the pool, I just came in to get another cup."

"Why did you scatter my clothes throughout the house and abandon my shoes on the stairs?"

"I did no such thing. When I came downstairs, your clothes were all on the chaise."

"Well, how did they get there when I found them?"

"I have no idea."

But the truth was that Albert knew what Sylvie was talking about and chose to ignore it. He refused to admit anything was irregular in the house. They were a united front, and Abigail soon left them alone.

They resided in the house and lived in constant conflict with Abigail. Their housecoats strewn across the patio chairs; they lay face to face on the patio, one gunshot to the stomach and the other to the head. James graduated with an MBA and took his place in the Jackal business.