If Furniture Could Talk - 4. Boys In The Attic

Gordon Casey moved his family into the Monroe mansion on Friday, the tenth of June 2022. His wife Ruby, and sons Raymond and Shane all loved the place. Nineteen rooms made it an ideal candidate for a Bed and Breakfast. There were three bedrooms that would be used by the family and an additional eight that could be rented out. Situated on the banks of the Potomac River in the Fort Hunt section of Alexandria, Virginia, it was a mere sixteen miles from the White House. That all added up to a glorious opportunity for Gordon, who had a hotel management degree.

Rumors planted by Gordon of ghosts in the house gave it a second reason to become a popular tourist site. But that wasn't until nearly two years later when their mischievous sons were finally allowed to explore the attic.

Saturday

Thirteen-year-old Raymond and twelve-year-old Shane Casey had just finished having Shane's birthday party. The Media room and Game room were the sites of the party. But the boys weren't concerned with those rooms. They were promised they would get permission to explore the attic once they were both twelve and they were anxious to take advantage.

Two friends, Gregory Johnston, thirteen, and Jalen Allen, twelve, would spend the night with them, but an hour before dinner, Gordon gave Raymond the key to the door leading up to the attic.

"Don't break anything, I think some of the things up there are antiques and may be worth something."

Ray replied, "We'll be careful."

The second-floor hallway held that locked door. The mystery of two years knowing it was there but off-limits made the boys anxious. Ray unlocked and opened the doors to a wide staircase. The double doors opened to sixty-four inches; the stairs themselves were sixty inches wide. Being at one side of the house, the stairs made a right turn at a small landing six stairs up. Another ten stairs led to the attic itself. The boys had expected some ancient artifacts and were not disappointed.

The first thing they encountered was a chest that could easily have been found buried by pirates. Thoughts of buried treasure crossed their minds. They walked around to open the chest and now were facing the stairway. Opening the chest, they were vastly disappointed. All they found was old clothing.

'Over here' was whispered.

Raymond turned around, "What did you say?"

The other three denied saying anything.

"Come on. One of you said, 'Over here.'"

Once again, they denied saying anything. The four boys explored some more. A few minutes later, they heard the disembodied voice once again, 'Over here.'

Jalen started to be afraid, "Wa-where did that come from?"

They move to an old wind-up Victrola, but there was no record on it that could have played.

'Further.'

Against the far wall, there was an armoire, a dresser, and a desk. They looked in that direction and took a step.

'Yes.'

Jalen was even more frightened, "Can we leave?"

Ray and Shane both answered, "No way!"

They started walking toward the old furniture. Once again, the voice spoke to them, 'Left.'

The armoire was to their left, with the dresser to their right of it, and the desk to the right of the dresser. They approached the armoire slowly. Raymond reached out to pull on the handle. The door wouldn't open.

'Top drawer.'

Shane went to the desk and opened the center drawer. There was an old key in it.

"Found it!"

He handed the key to his brother, who put the key into the keyhole.

"Wait!" Greg exclaimed, "We don't know what we're setting free. It could be an evil spirit or something."

Ray let go of the key.

'No. Safe. Need to breathe.'

"What the fuck?"

Shane admonished his older brother, "I'm telling mom you said the 'f' word."

"Don't be a pussy."

Ray put his hand back on the key, but hesitated.

'Please.'

Ray mumbled, "I'm thirsty all of a sudden. Are you guys thirsty?"

Greg agreed, "I am. And it's starting to get darker in here."

They all knew it was a way to wimp out with grace. They all went back down to the kitchen. Nobody said anything, but they all went back into the game room as if they all had the same thought.

Sunday

After breakfast, the boys all had another chat about the attic.

Ray began, "So, are we going back up to check out that armoire?"

Greg wasn't so sure, "That was creepy. I don't know."

Jalen agreed, more fervently, "I don't trust it. I don't want to."

"Shane?"

"If we don't go, we'll be scared of the attic forever. I guess we should go."

"Greg, how about you and Jalen wait by the door, but just watch."

"That's OK with me."

Jalen agreed. So off to the attic they went.

Ray and Shane kept going in at the entrance. As they hit the same spot on the floor as yesterday by the Victrola, the voice spoke again, 'Further,' then a few seconds later, 'Yes.' They kept going, Ray once again put his hand on the key, 'Please.'

Ray let go of the key to wipe his sweaty hand on his pants.

'No. Safe. Need to breathe.'

He again put his hand on the key, 'Please.'

Ray turned the key and pulled.

"Where'd they go?"

"I don't know, Jalen, but it kind of looked like they dropped through the floor."

"We should go get Mr. or Mrs. Casey."

The two boys ran down the stairs as quick as they could, calling out to Mr. and Mrs. Casey. They tried to explain to Mrs. Casey what happened. She was obviously concerned. Mr. Casey was trying to hide a smile.

"The boys are missing, and you think it's funny?"

"Calm down, Ruby. They're fine. Follow me."

Gordon led them up to the second floor. Directly under the armoire they could hear muffled cries for help and thumps coming from behind the wall. Gordon pressed on a piece of wood paneling, and the wall opened. Standing there, each banging on a wall, were Ray and Shane.

"What the..."

"Let's all go downstairs, get a drink, and I'll explain everything."

They all sat around the kitchen table.

Gordon began, "About twenty years ago, when I was in college, this house was used as a scare house on Halloween. The attic was wired with pressure points in the floor. Depending on where one stepped, a recording directed them where to go. There were a few other gimmicks, but apparently all the traps were taken out except the one dealing with the armoire. If you actually got around to completely opening the armoire, which isn't really possible unless the trap door is locked, you'd have found a laptop with an external speaker. All the wiring was still there, so I thought I'd have a little fun with you boys and set up the voice again."

"But what if all four of us were in front of the armoire at the same time, Mr. Casey?"

"If you didn't come back down after a couple hours, I would have gone up to check. It worked out perfectly. The voice scared you enough yesterday to keep investigating. And today, well, you got trapped."

"That's mean, dad. We were scared."

"I guess. But no harm done."

The date was Sunday, April 1, 2024.

The End