THE BELL WITCH HAUNTING

This is one of the most famous true life ghost stories.

• Year: 1817

• Country: United States of America 

• State/Region: Tennessee

• Place: Near the town of Adams in Robertson County.

I sat by at the front seat as Pa drove us in his old wagon.

We were just a regular family moving out of our old house to a new home, the one we were heading to right now.

The sun was starting to tan my elbow that I placed on the open window as I leaned closer, looking at the long stretched field filled with corn and some flowers.

I took a deep breath in and smiled, I loved the smell of damp earth, it was my favourite scent and mixed with flowers now, it smelled like heaven.

So far as I was concerned, the better life Pa promised to give us by buying this land was already starting.

As we stopped in front of our new house, my younger sister squealed, "Is this our new house?"

She hurriedly, jumped out of the car with Pa shouting after her, "Slow down now, we have all day!"

Honestly I couldn't blame her, it was beautiful, with carvings and crown stones on it, and so very high up I had to tilt my head to spot the top part of the house with the chimney on the side of it.

The house looked like a house for the royalty in the 1600s and I was excited to live in this kind of place.

"Sarah, help with the luggages," Pa said, calling me out of my admiration trance.

As I turned from the magnificent building and began opening the booth of the wagon, I didn't notice a figure in white dress, watching us from the left corner window of the second floor.

—---------------

Gen, my sister, was knitting on the dinner table, while I was reading a book as we both waited for Pa to finish with his shower and join us.

"So the food is ready?" 

Looking up from my book, I opened my mouth to reply but Gen beat my to it, stopping her knitting her a second so that she didn't end pricking her fingers with her knitting needle.

"Yes Pa. Mashed potatoes and butter milk, there's cheese as well."

"Wonderful," Pa said and I scoffed.

Our father had always been a glutton but Gen liked to encourage him with more food.

I closed my book and placed it on the table beside my plate, scooping a spoonful of the mashed potatoes into my mouth.

While chewing on the semi liquid food, I thought I had a knock and then a small whisper.

I stopped chewing and swallowed the rest of the food in my mouth whole, "Pa, did you hear that?"

Pa cut a cheese off the main plate and asked, "Heard what?"

I looked at Gen who was already looking at me, "Didn't you hear it?"

She shook her head.

"I thought I heard a knock." 

Gen rolled her shoulders, "I didn't hear anything." 

I was confused but Pa waved his spoon round in the air, "Probably the wind, Sarah. Nothing to worry about. Perhaps we heard it too fast."

Nodding, I went back to eating.

—---------

Late at night, I was lying in bed when I heard a scratching noise, like claws against wood.

"Gen?" I whispered to my sister laying on her bed on the other side of our room.

She turned over to face me, looking pale even in the moonlight. 

"I hear it too."

We stayed quiet for sometime, hearing nothing and finally adjusted our pillows to sleep only to hear it again—- the scratching noise.

It continued and started to grow louder, sounding at this corner then at another corner.

"Oh Sarah, look at the lamp post!"

It was moving and the scratching noise was still loud, the lamp post began to raise up in the air and Gen hurried over to me.

We held each other, trembling and jerking our heads at the sounds and also watched as the lamp kept on raising in the air.

The suddenly, it rushed towards us and we screamed.

"Pa! Pa, help!"

He burst through the door, holding a lantern in his hand. 

The light revealed nothing but our terrified faces and… 

An empty room.

Later when we told him what had happened he told us, "You girls were dreaming." 

But when he said that, I saw him furrow his brow. 

—------------

Days turned into weeks, and the scratching sound became worse.

I was alone in the kitchen one afternoon, cleaning the pot from the morning's use.

"Betsy..."

I turned but I didn't see Gen or Pa. 

"Who's there?"

I heard a short laugh that sounded like a crackled, "How are you?"

I screamed, dropping the pot I was holding. 

Pa came running in, but by then, the voice had stopped.

"What happened?" he demanded.

"It... it spoke to me," I stammered.

Pa's face squeezed up, "Enough of this nonsense. There's no such thing as ghosts."

—----------

That same evening, as we all gathered in the parlor, the air started to get cooler so Gen added more wood to the fireplace.

But then, the fire in the hearth twitched, then extinguished entirely.

"Pa?" Gen whispered.

Before he could answer, something grabbed my hair from behind yanking me backward while I clawed at whatever it was which i couldn't see.

"Let her go!" Pa roared, swinging his arms wildly, but there was nothing there to fight.

It let me go but threw me at the fireplace just as the hearth lit up again .

Fire cut on to my clothes and ran about wildly, beating at my dress till the fire caught my hands too.

I screamed, "Pa!!!!! Fire!! Fire!!! Fire!!!! WATER!!!!!

Pa rushed, beating at the fire with a broom while Gen ran to the Kitchen.

I was running and screaming as the flames from the fire completely burnt out my clothes and were chewing on my flesh.

And it wasn't helping that Pa was using a broom on me, it felt like he was whipping me.

I opened my mouth to tell him to stop but the pain was too much.

I heard a voice laugh aloud, echoing all over the room.

"You'll all pay for what you've done!"

"What do you want from us?" Pa shouted while flogging me with the broom, thinking it will quench the fire.

It didn't, what did was a bucket full of water Gen poured on me.

There was silence from the voice as I whimpered from the immerse pain I was in then…

"Justice."

That was all it said before my Pa shouted at it.

"Leave my family alone!"

Then I heard him scream, I opened my eyes to see him jumping in pain as an invisible cane flogged him tearing his clothes open.

"My name is Kate and you've wronged me, John Bell," she hissed through the house. 

"You poisoned my land. You cheated me out of what was rightfully mine. And now, you will pay."

 "I don't know what you're talking about," he said.

"Liar!" Kate screamed. 

More whipping sounds.

The windows shattered, shards of glass raining down on us.

Pa fell to his knees. "I'm sorry!" he cried. "Whatever I did, I'm sorry!"

But it was too late.

The next morning, we found Pa in his bed, lifeless. 

His face was twisted to the back of his head.

We buried Pa that afternoon, but the torment didn't end. 

Because some spirits never rest.