This story takes place in 2011, the summer before 7th grade. It was the tail end of the season, and school was right around the corner. My younger step-brother Will and I decided to walk over to our buddy Jimmy’s house around the block and see if he possibly wanted to hangout.
We got to his doorstep, rang the doorbell, and started playing the waiting game.
After about a minute or so, Jimmy came to the door rubbing his eyes.
“You guys DO know that it’s still summer, right? What’s with the wake up calls?”
“Hey man,” I replied. “That’s all on him – I’m just as tired as you are.”
I pointed over to Will, who had a grin on his face from ear to ear. He held up his airsoft gun he’d brought, showing it off like his prized possession.
“Come on man, gotta give you a reason to wanna shoot me if we’re gonna have a good war,” Will said slyly with a chuckle.
As if the timing couldn’t get anymore perfect, a loud crash of thunder rumbled through the sky.
Jimmy smirked at Will, “Looks like we’re gonna have to take a raincheck on that war, aren’t we buddy?”
Will, now slightly defeated, lowered his airsoft gun and accepted the situation. Jimmy opened the door a little wider, his expression softening.
“Look guys, I’m not really in the mood for being outside, but we can chill in here and play video games. Maybe watch some funny videos on YouTube or see what’s on Comedy Central. Hell, if the weather gets bad enough you can even crash here for the night if you want.”
That sounded fine to Will and I, so we stepped inside and slid our shoes off as Jimmy shut the door and locked it behind us.
We spent the evening doing typical teenager things. We played Xbox, watched movies and shows we weren’t supposed to, and stayed up into the night talking about girls and telling our favorite conspiracy theories.
At some point we all dozed off, and I woke up to the sound of rain slapping against the windows along with loud bursts of roaring thunder. There were occasional flashes of lightning that illuminated the now dark house. I sat up to get my bearings and remember my surroundings, when the living room lamp clicked on.
Click!
There was nobody near it.
It clicked off again.
“Yo, stop messing with the light, man,” Jimmy said groggily.
“It’s not me dude, I’m over here.” I sat up and looked over at Jimmy.
Will was still sound asleep, snoring lightly.
Click!
The lamp flicked on again.
“Alright dude, knock it off!” Jimmy sat up and looked at me, before looking over at the lamp.
Click!
We were submerged in darkness, and this time it woke Will up.
Click!
We all looked around at each other, all of us equally confused. We sat in silence for a minute, listening to the rain and thunder while the lightning flashed.
“Wait a second, hold on… I think I know what’s going on,” Jimmy said with his infamous smirk appearing across his face.
“Care to share with the rest of the class?” I replied.
“Grandma, is that you?”
Not two seconds after Jimmy asked that, the lamp clicked off again.
“I guess now would be a good time to tell you guys the story of my Grandma.”
I couldn’t see him but I knew he was smiling ear to ear. Will was still easily frightened, while I was actually starting to get into horror. I was scared of my own shadow as a kid, but as I got older I found a love for all things scary.
“I really never told you guys that she died in my basement?”
Click!
Will and I looked at each other uneasy.
“Relax. I know it sounds spooky, but if anything she’ll actually protect you.”
Jimmy then told us about how they took in his Grandmother when she was near the end of her life, and took care of her in a room in the basement until she passed away from breast cancer.
“Come on, I’ll show you the room.”
Jimmy leaped up from the couch and started out the living room, towards the stairs. I got up and followed close behind him, while Will stayed where he was. He was a little hesitant to come with us, but I coaxed him into it by promising him we’d get breakfast in the morning.
We followed Jimmy down the stairs one by one until we reached the bottom. We turned a left corner and came to a door, where Jimmy reached up and grabbed a small key off the top of the doorframe.
He looked back at us, a sad look in his eyes.
“When she passed, we locked the door and haven’t opened it… until now.”
He turned back towards the door and slid the key in, twisting it and undoing the deadbolt.
The door creaked open slowly, the dim basement hallway light shining just enough to cast shadows around the objects in the room. Jimmy reached over and flicked on a light switch, bringing the room to life.
There was a made hospital bed sticking out from one of the walls, with the IV drip still next to it. A chair sat closest to the pillow, and a small couch rested next to two cabinets on the other side of the room.
None of us said a word – we just stood there, looking around the room for what felt like hours.
I glanced at the pillow before being hit with a cold rush of air that knocked the wind out of me. It must’ve shown on my face, because Will looked at me pale as a ghost and said “Yeah, I felt that too – let’s go back upstairs.”
We made our way out of the room and Jimmy flicked off the light before shutting the door and locking it. He stashed the key back on top of the doorframe and we all started heading upstairs.
“I’m sorry for your loss, man. I can tell she meant a lot to you,” I told Jimmy when we hit the top of the stairs.
“I appreciate it, dude. But there was nothing we could do – she lived a good life.”
He paused for a moment, before glancing to his left. There was a hallway with a wall-mirror at the end of it.
“Wanna see something kinda freaky?” Jimmy asked us.
“Nah, I’m good – I’m going back out here,” Will said as he made his way back into the living room and flicking the light on.
Click!
“Damn it!”
He joined us back in the foyer, his head hanging sheepishly.
Jimmy led us to the end of the hallway and stopped in front of the large mirror.
“Grandma, if you’re here, make the mirror move.”
Silence.
“Grandma, please make the mirror move for my friends.”
Nothing.
“Gra-
Before any of us could move, the mirror vibrated in the middle and cracked at the top left corner.
Will and I looked at each other with the most amused yet horrified look on our faces.
“Alright guys, let’s go to bed. Austin, you can take the guest bed. Will, you’re chillin’ in the living room. I’m gonna go pass out in my room. Sleep good, guys.”
Jimmy disappeared into the room next to us, and Will and I made our way back down the hallway. I gave my step-brother a fist bump before entering the guest bedroom, which has motion activated lights. They would come on when you walked in and then turned off 5 seconds later.
I walked in, shut the door, and was soon embraced by a quick flash of light, followed by darkness.
I flopped down on the bed and turned the TV on. I started watching Godfrey’s special on Comedy Central and was dozing off when the bedroom lights flicked on.
My eyes flashed open as I laid there in shock.
The lights didn’t shut off until morning.