his wife for answers. She is visibly shaken and scared. She points to the back yard and Ben doesn't need an explanation to figure out what she was talking about.
"Someone's out there?" He asks as he grabs a knife from the drawer. Michelle shakes her head and Ben nods in return. "I'll be back." He turns the door knob and steps out into the dark cool night. He glances around the yard feeling uneasy.
"Michelle, there's no one here!" He shouts back to the house. Michelle leans against the sink trying to calm herself down. Even if someone tried to break into their home she had nothing to worry about. Ben had guns and knew how to use them. He was an avid hunter and wouldn't let someone come in and harm his family. He could handle himself. She glances up at the window she heard the initial noises and screams once more.
A white ghostly face meets her eyes. Her screams bring Ben back in. Just as it appeared the face was gone. "What!?" He shouted for answers. Michelle tries to catch her breath. "Someone's out the window!" She points to the now-empty window.
“I'm gonna get this bastard." Ben mumbles under his breath as he heads back out the door determined to find whoever was spying on his wife. He walks around the corner of the house to the window. He looks around and once again spots nothing. "Who's out here!?" Ben yells out hoping the intruder would show himself.
Michelle climbs into bed and lies next to her husband. He glances at her knowing that she was scared. "It's fine, Michelle. Whoever was out there is gone now. I set the alarm and have my guns. We'll be fine." He rubs her upper arm trying to comfort her. She knew that Ben was right. It was probably just some neighborhood kids who thought the house was empty. Nothing to worry about, she tried to reassure herself. She couldn't help but let her already anxious mind wonder.
"Ben, who's Emily?" Michelle fixes her eyes on Ben. He lowers his newspaper slowly with discontent written all over his face. "Emily? I don't know anyone with that name. Why?"
Michelle opens her mouth to speak but nothing comes out. Ben's face drops as he reads the look on his wife's face.
"Michelle, I don't know what you've heard but trust me, I don't know any Emily. I'd never do anything to hurt you or our family. I..." Michelle sighs and grabs Ben by the forearm stopping him in mid-sentence.
"Not like that. It's Bianca. She's... she's acting strange. She was talking to this Emily earlier but there was no one there. And she was afraid to take a bath on her own because apparently Emily's mom hurt her in the bath tub." Michelle speaks faster than Ben's ears can keep up with.
"Woah, hold on. What now?" He peaks both brows as if this will help him keep track of what Michelle is telling him.
"Ever since we moved here Bianca is acting weird. She keeps talking about this Emily girl that was hurt by her mom in the bath tub."
"She has an imaginary friend, so what?" He shrugs it off as normal behavior for a little girl. But Michelle has second thoughts on what is considered normal.
"No, Ben. That's not normal. She's 8. She shouldn't know anything about a mother hurting her child. She said that Emily has bloody eyes for God's sake. Something is..."
"It's nothing. Emily is just an imaginary friend or something. She probably saw something on the news about some lady drowning a kid and was bothered by it. It's her minds way of trying to understand what she saw. Don't worry. It's normal."
"Well, what about the neighbors? The lady said that there are rumors about the house but she never told me what they were. There has to be something that happened for her to ask me about it." Michelle tries to make her point valid once more.
"She's an old woman. She's probably confused or something. Stop worrying about everything and try to get some sleep. Good night." He kisses Michelle on the forehead before rolling over. She lies there unable to sleep as her mind questions everything she thought she knew.
The next morning Michelle wakes up and resumes her normal routine. She gets Bianca up and ready for school. As Bianca searches the closet for something to wear Michelle notices a drawing on Bianca's dresser. Michelle smiles as she picks it up for a better look. She always enjoyed looking at Bianca's drawings. But joy turns to dismay as Michelle realizes what she was looking at.
At the top of the page was the name "Emily" in black crayon. A girl with X's where the eyes should be, a white bloodied dress, long black, messy hair, who appears to be floating in mid-air, stands next to a black circle on the ground. It looks almost like a hole. Next to the creepy girl is another little girl that resembles Bianca holding a Barbie.
Chills run down the worried mother's back. This isn't normal behavior for any child. She shouldn't be drawing people with X's over their eyes. That was the universal sign for death. How could an 8 year old little girl know about any of this? Michelle turns to face her daughter. "What is this?" She asks the girl.
"That's me and Emily. She's afraid of the hole." Bianca turns back to the mirror like everything is fine. She runs a comb through her blonde locks as Michelle's jaw drops slightly. Ben walks into the room dressed for work.
"How are my lovely ladies this morning? I poured you a bowl of cereal sweet heart." His grin spreads ear to ear. Without being able to respond Michelle quietly holds up the demented picture to show her husband.
"What is this?" He takes the picture and gives it a quick over sight. "Wow, this is pretty good, Bianca. Who's your little friend here?"
"That's Emily. She lives in the attic." Bianca puts the comb on her dresser and runs out of the room to go eat her breakfast. Michelle gives her husband a look of bewilderment. He laughs off Bianca's words.
"Ben, do you not see this? Look at the girl's eyes. They're X's. She's dead. She... She's a ghost, Ben. And she's haunting our daughter..." Michelle shakes the picture in front of Ben's eyes rapidly hoping to make him see what she sees. He takes it from her rather hastily as he rolls her eyes.
"Listen, it's normal, alright? She's a little girl. Her imagination is vivid and creative. She just moved and changed schools. She just made up this Emily because she feels lonely. She just needs to get settled in, make some friends, and then she'll be good to go. There's no such things as ghosts." Michelle scowls as her husband shoots her down.
"Stop fussing about this. All you're gonna do is get Bianca wound up." He reassures his wife with a kiss on the forehead before heading to the kitchen to join his daughter. Michelle stands in the middle of the room stunned and embarrassed. Why was this happening to her daughter? Who is Emily? And why does the neighbor have such an interest in the house? So many questions and no answers.
It was the weekend and a group of Bianca's friends are set to come over. Michelle was hesitant on inviting so many girls over but Ben insisted. He assured his wife that Bianca just needed some friends and this Emily would be nothing but a phase. Michelle hoped he was right. The last thing Michelle wanted was to have a house full of ghost-prone children to be corrupted by Emily.
Standing in the kitchen making dinner, Michelle glances out of the kitchen window at the girls in the back yard. They were playing around the swing set. Michelle smirked. She used to love swinging when she was young. She glances away from the window to stir the pasta when she hears a commotion outside. Michelle rushes back to the window to look at why the girls were screaming.
"Get away from the sandbox! You're making Emily mad!" Bianca runs towards the sandbox and pushes two girls out of it. Michelle drops her jaw appalled at the violence her daughter was displaying.
"Don't push people, Bianca!" Stephanie yells as she pushes Bianca in retribution. Michelle turns off the stove and heads into the back yard to settle the dispute.
"Hey now! Knock it off!" Michelle steps in between the bickering children. "What's the problem?"
"Bianca pushed me!" Stephanie points at Bianca. Bianca stares at her mother.
"I had to! They were in the sandbox and Emily told me to. She said that's where her daddy is sleeping." Bianca starts to tear up and Michelle nods understanding the situation.
"Okay, come on. Everyon
e come inside and we'll have a coloring contest. Who ever wins picks the flavor of ice cream for dessert." The girls shriek with excitement forgetting all about their squabble. Michelle sighs in relief. The last thing she wanted was more people seeing and listening to this Emily. Bianca was already one too many. Not only did Michelle have to worry about Emily talking to Bianca but now apparently Emily's father was sleeping in the sandbox. Whatever that meant. Was it a warning? A look into the future? Or a reference to the past?
It was well after midnight and the girls were thought to have been asleep by now. Michelle begins to make her way down the stairs to the kitchen when she hears whispering in the kitchen. She pauses on the stairs and strains her ears to hear them.
"I can't... Because my Mommy doesn't want me to go down there... No, Emily. I can't. I'll get into trouble. My mommy said the stairs aren't safe." Bianca's voice is hushed and stressed. Michelle turns on the living room light letting her presence be known.
"Bianca, is that you?" She calls out as she takes that one last step on the stairs. "What are you doing up? I thought you all went to bed?"
Bianca pops her head around the door frame trying her best to act casual. Michelle can see right through her daughter's behavior. Her eyes are wide and she appears to be afraid.
"Mommy?" Without saying